Mentored along with Harry Belafonte and others by Paul Robeson, Poitier was red baited during the McCarthy period. He resisted naming names and studio demands that he sign loyalty oaths.
On February 19, 2002, Vonetta Flowers became the first black gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.
He became a leader of the abolitionist movement after escaping slavery in 1838, and went on to become an excellent lecturer and writer.
Gerard ran down a range of progressive initiatives Obama has proposed during his five years in the Oval Office. Then he launched his blast at the GOP.
Her voice was "rich, supple and shining, it was in its prime capable of effortlessly soaring from a smoky mezzo to the pure soprano gold of a perfectly spun high C."
White supremacist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in the murder of African-American civil rights leader Medgar Evers, over 30 years after the crime occurred.
He won five Grey Cups, and is notable for helping to erase the prejudice within the world of sports that black quarterbacks could not succeed in professional football.
In a 1965 speech, King stated, "The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress."
On this day in 1891, Zora Neale Hurston, novelist and folklorist, was born. She is seen as one of the most important black writers in American history.
In 1775, General George Washington prohibited recruiters from enlisting African Americans into the Patriot Army. However, African Americans served in some units and some segregated divisions were formed.