Category Archives: Uncategorized

On this day in American history, August 28, 1955 — Emmett Till, 14-year-old Chicago Youth, Abducted and Murdered in Mississippi Delta

On August 20, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till boarded a train in Chicago, Illinois, headed for Money, Mississippi, to spend two weeks with his great-uncle and cousins. A few days into his visit, Till and a group of friends went into … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 26, 1874 — Mob of 400 Lynches Sixteen Black Men Kidnapped from Tennessee Jail

On August 26, 1874, sixteen African American men were held in the Gibson County Jail in Trenton, Tennessee, transferred from Picketsville, a neighboring town where they’d been arrested and accused of shooting at two white men. Around 2:00 a.m. that … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 25, 1956 — Montgomery, Alabama, Home of Bus Boycott Supporter Bombed

On the night of April 25, 1956, several sticks of dynamite were thrown into the yard of Pastor Robert Graetz’s Montgomery, Alabama, home where they exploded, breaking the home’s front windows and damaging the front door. A young white minister … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 24, 1923 — Black Man Lynched in Jacksonville, Florida

On August 24, 1923, a 34-year-old black farmhand Ben Hart was killed based on suspicion that he was a “Peeping Tom” who had that morning peered into a young white girl’s bedroom window near Jacksonville, Florida. According to witnesses, approximately … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 23, 1989 — Black Teen Murdered by White Mob in Brooklyn, New York

On August 23, 1989, 16-year-old Yusef Hawkins and three friends went to the predominately white Bensonhurt section of Brooklyn, New York, to inquire about a used Pontiac for sale. On their way through the neighborhood, the three black boys encountered … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 22, 1905 — Whites Riot After Black Man Enters Pittsburgh Restaurant

According to newspaper reports, an African-American man named Charles Julius Miller, and an unnamed African-American woman entered Café Neapolitan, a Pittsburgh restaurant, on August, 22, 1905. The couple was immediately refused service and ordered to leave. When Miller refused to … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 21, 1831 — Nat Turner Leads Enslaved Black People in Virginia Rebellion

Nat Turner was an enslaved black man who lived in Southampton, Virginia. By many accounts, Turner was a very religious man who ministered to fellow enslaved blacks as well as whites. Turner studied the Bible fervently and often claimed to … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 20, 1619 — First Enslaved Africans Land in Jamestown, Virginia

The stage was set for slavery in the United States as early as the 14th century, when Spain and Portugal began to capture Africans for enslavement in Europe. Slavery eventually expanded to colonial America, where the first enslaved Africans arrived … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 18, 1995 — NAACP Protests Uncovering of “Faithful Slave” Monument

On August 18, 1995, the NAACP sent a letter of protest to the Department of the Interior to protest the uncovering of a decades-old monument in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. In October 1859, white abolitionist John Brown led a raid … Continue reading

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On this day in American history, August 17, 1965 — Days of Riots End in Watts

On the evening of August 11, 1965, a police officer pulled over brothers Marquette and Ronald Frye in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. A crowd gathered to watch and quickly grew as officers questioned the young men. Police … Continue reading

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