BLACK HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN JUNE!
JUNE 1, 1920:
W.E.B. Dubois was awarded the NAACP Springarn medal for his work founding the Pan-African Congress, a series of gatherings aimed at addressing the issues facing Africa as a result of European colonization.
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JUNE 2, 1993:
Ray Charles received the Songwriters Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award.
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JUNE 3, 1967:
Josh Gibson hit a home run in a Negro League game at Yankee Stadium that struck two feet from the top of the wall. It circled the center field bleachers, about 580 feet from home plat.
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JUNE 4, 1870:
Ed Brown became the first African-American jockey to win the Belmont Stakes, with the racehorse Kingfisher.
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JUNE 5, 1950:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Mclaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents case and The Sweatt v. painter case. These cases were regarding civil rights in education.
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JUNE 6, 2004:
Phylicia Rashad became the first Black woman to win best actress in a dramatic leading role at the Tony Awards.
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JUNE 7, 1998:
One of the biggest hate crimes of the 20th century occurred when three white supremacists attacked a Black man solely because he was black.
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JUNE 8, 2001:
Shaquille O' Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers tied the NBA record for most blocked shots in an NBA Finals game when he rejected eight shots in Game 2 of NBA Finals 2001.
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JUNE 9, 1990
M.C. Hammer's "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em" album started a record breaking 21 week stay at the top of the U.S. Album charts. It was the longest uninterrupted stay at the top since the album charts started.
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JUNE 10, 2020:
Netflix added a Black lives Matter section to its genre tab, responding to viewers' interest in titles related to racial injustice, discrimination, and systematic racism.
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JUNE 11, 1993:
Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls and Charles Barkley of the phoenix Suns each scored 42 points. This was the first time in NBA Finals history that opposing players each scored 40 or more points in a Finals game.
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JUNE 12, 1963:
Medgar Evans, a civil rights leader, was assassinated by a white supremacist. H
is killer was not initially convicted of the crime, because of two hung juries. Thirty years later, his killer was finally convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
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JUNE 13, 1893:
Thomas Stewart received a patent for his redesigned mop.
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JUNE 14, 1970:
Cheryl Aldrienne Brown won the Miss Iowa pageant and became the first African American to compete in the Miss America pageant.
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JUNE 15, 1921:
Bessie Coleman became the first black woman to earn her pilot's license.
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JUNE 16, 1966:
Stokely Carmichael changed the civil rights mantra from "freedom" to "Black Power".
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JUNE 17, 1972:
Frank Wills, a security guard at the Democratic National Headquarters, jumpstarted the Watergate Scandal. He called the police after discovering that the locks at the complex had been tamperered with.
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JUNE 18, 1844:
The Provisional Government passed Oregon's first black exclusion law. It stated that Blacks that tried to live in Oregon would be publicly punished.
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JUNE 19, 1865:
Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform enslaved African Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended.
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JUNE 20, 1960:
Harry Belafonte won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series.
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JUNE 21, 1974:
The U.S. District Court ruled in Morgan v. Hennigan to desegregate Boston schools through busing.
JUNE 22, 2010:
The United States Postal Service issued the Oscar Micheaux stamp.
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JUNE 23, 1983:
New York's Kool Jazz Festival began and lasted for eleven days. It featured Miles Davis, Ray Charles, B.B. king, and many more jazz and blues legends.
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JUNE 24, 1936:
Mary McLeod Bethune became the first Black woman to head a department of a federal agency when she officially joined the NYA Washington staff as director of the Division of Negro Affairs.
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JUNE 25, 1964:
A wade-in took place at St. Augustine Beach in Florida. A group of white segregationists attacked a group of Black activists as they began to swim.
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JUNE 26, 1996 AND 2003:
Both N.B.A. draft classes included (arguably) some of the best players. The 1st overall selection in the 1996 draft was Allen Iverson. The 1st overall selection of 2003 was Lebron James.
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JUNE 27, 1987:
Whitney Houston became the first female singer to have an album debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
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JUNE 28, 1964:
Malcolm X spoke at the founding rally of the Organization of AFro-American Unity in New York. He called for freedom, justice, and equality "by any means necessary."
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SQUARE IMAGE.
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JUNE 29, 1953:
The original Drifters recorded their first four songs as back-up singers for Clyde McPhatter. The original members were quickly replaced. Due to copyright issues, there has been approximately 60 groups calling themselves "The Drifters" since then.
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JUNE 30, 1978:
Larry Doby became the manager of the Chicago White Sox, making him the second black manager in the major leagues.
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