|
Here we take a walk through historical events that had a direct impact on the African American way of life. In fact, these events afftected all Americans.
Historical Events in Time
Events in Time will take you through nine five year
capsules of time. We will point out events that happen and was a
indirect or direct cause of the way we, as African Americans are viewed in
this world. You can examine more recent occurrences that helped
shaped our views and politics as we close out the 20th century and
look to the year 2000 and what it changed our lives..
Each section and page that follows under Historical Events in Time will capture an unforgettable event. |
"An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people"
------ Thomas Jefferson
Our Flag & the Declaration of Independence (DOI).
Historians are correct when they say the DOI did not point out
that slavery was acceptable when our forefathers signed this document. Yet it
laid the groundwork for all citizens of the United States of America to be
free.
It eventually would take a Civil
War to free black people from bondage in the land of the free.
|
Desegration of Schools
Note: On May 17, 1954, Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the U.S. read the
supreme court decision on segregation of blacks and whites in public
school. The ruling was unanimous and affected the mandatory
segregation laws in 17 states. For twenty-eight minutes a packed
court chamber listened intently to one of the most important
decision to confront the Supreme Court in the 20th
century. The court simply stated that that racial segregation in
public schools violates the Constitution of the United States of
America. The justices flatly rejected the South’s "equal but
separate" facilities for white and black children.. | |
Highlights
In December, Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to
white passengers. This after being ordered by a Montgomery,
Alabama bus driver. She was arrested and fined $10.00 (a
misdemeanor) for disobeying the instructions of a City lines bus
driver.
Ray Charles, a blind piano playing singer, fused
gospel and Rhythm & Blues to make the hit "I’ve Got a Woman".
"He is singing from his soul" some would
remark. Would this be the first Soul Singer?
|
1956
Bell Telephone labs report a change in the size and inner
workings of a room size Computer. Replacing bulky vacuum
tubes with tiny transistor’s, and germanium diodes shrinks the
units size to three cubic feet. It is said to use one-twentieth
of the power utilized by the old vacuum-tube computer.
A skinny young man with long sideburns and backed by a three
piece band introduces himself, his music, and his never ending
gyrations to a screaming teenage (mostly girls) audience.
Everyone begins to form an opinion of what this does or will
mean to the music industry. After all, this Rock n Roll is
based upon Negro blues.
Nat King Cole, renown singer and actor became the
first African American to host a network television series. The
show could not attract sponsors and was cancelled in 1957. |
1957
Lena Horne starred in ‘Jamaica’ on New York’s
Broadway. It ran for two years. Althea Gibson captured
the women’s singles title at Wimbledon Tennis Championship in
England.
n mid September, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ordered
State National Guardsman to surround and place Central High
School "off limits to Negroes".
The U.S. Supreme Court called for "all deliberate
speed" in implementation of its school-desegregation
decision. Federal District Judge Ronald Davies was assigned the
responsibility to sat in judgment at a hearing that would listen
to Governor Faubus evidence to support his actions. The Governor
sent his lawyers to the hearing. All motions (delaying tactics
drawn up to get around the Supreme Court decision) were
overruled by Judge Davies. The lawyers asked and were granted
permission to be excused. With no evidence to support their
sides’ claims, their strategy was dead on arrival.
|
1957
n a move that will affect millions of
Americans during the next decade…the Viet Cong began
acts of rebellion against the South Vietnam regime.
The Civil Rights Act authorized the
Federal Government to take legal action to ensure the voting
privileges of minorities. Their right to vote could no longer be
denied. The
Southern Christian Leadership Conference was established, under
a little known Baptist minister named Martin Luther King.
Richard Wright, the father of the modern American
black novel, released a timely novel entitled White Man,
Listen! The book is an essay on racial issues. Among other
non-fiction book, he also authored Black Power (about an
emerging African nation). His most noted novel is Native Son,
a story of a black Chicago youth victimized by a white-dominated
society. The author would die in self-imposed exile (Paris) in
1960.
| |
1956 |
|
At the Republican’s Convention in San Francisco, Washington State Governor Arthur B. Langlie delivered the Keynote speech which included the following quote;
On civil rights-"Through every agency in government, except Congress, we have witnessed the greatest gains for civil rights over a period of eighty years. We have not given mere lip service, we have acted."
Asa Philip Randolph - organizer of the first black union (Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters) became the first black vice president of the AFL - CIO. He retired in 1968 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon Baines Johnson. | | |
|
1958
VThe U.S. launches its
first satellite-The Explorer I. Mainframes (series 7000)
pioneered IBM’s entry into the first transistorized
computers. The machines were five times faster than their
vacuum-tube predecessors, and a lot more dependable. Used mainly
in the scientific community in the early sixties, the
Computers were priced at $3 million dollars. Needless to
say, some companies leased rather than bought. IBM reportedly
sold or leased over 400 of these units. |
Althea Gibson successful defended her title at Wimbledon
Tennis championships in England.
Toyota, one of two of Japans major auto maker’s shipped 800
Toyota sedans to America. The compact
got 30 miles to a gallon of gas and sold for $2,222.00. Nissan,
Toyota’s competitor shipped 800 Datsun’s. that got 40 miles to a
gallon and sold at a modest price of $1762.00. Both auto makers
are predicting shipments of 500 per month in 1959. |
1959
Benjamin O. Davis becomes the first armed forces
general as he is promoted to Brigadier General.
Hawaii becomes the 50th State in the Union
following Alaska, which became the 49th earlier.
Fidel Castro communist regime begins in Cuba. NASA selects
the first seven United States Astronaut.. | |
1959
Lorraine Hansberry, a African American playwright,
wrote A Raisin in the Sun. It was also the first Broadway play
produced, directed and performed by African Americans. Ray
Charles continues to "sing from his soul" and
releases his hit single "What’d I Say".
|
1959
Hitsville USA- with a $800.00 loan from his family,
twenty-nine year old, Barry Gordy laid the foundation
that would put his Motown Record Company and Detroit
Michigan in the forefront of Rhythm and Blues. A two story house
with garage (converted to a recording studio) and a large
picture window in front became the studio that produced hits forSmokey Robinson and the Miracles, Diana Ross and the
Supremes, and The Temptations, to name a few. The
record company would later develop into one of the largest African American
business in America.
| |
1959 |
- Meanwhile, "down home" (the south -to a most
northern blacks) Stax Records was also founded. Its recording
artists singing style were characterized as The Memphis Sound,
an obvious reference to the labels geographical location in
Tennessee. It housed such stars as Otis Redding, Isaac
Hayes, and Booker T. and the M.G.’s
 | | | | |
|
|
|
Historical Events I
