November 17
1842—Fugitive slave George Latimer is arrested in Boston, setting in motion a legal battle between North and South over the degree to which free states were required to aid slave states in capturing escaped slaves. The Latimer incident was resolved when at least 100 Black men surrounded the jail where Latimer was being held. Fearing for his safety if he tried to take Latimer back South, the slave owner decided to “sell” Latimer and left with a small amount of money and no slave.
1911—The Omega Psi Phi fraternity is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. It goes on to become one of the largest and most influential Black Greek-letter organizations.
1972—Despite massive Black voter support for the Democrat George McGovern, Republican Richard M. Nixon is elected president carrying all states except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. The Black view of Nixon would later be vindicated when he is forced from office because of the Watergate scandal. Nixon was referred to as “tricky dick.”
November 18
1797—Abolitionist and orator Sojourner Truth is born Isabella Baumfree in Ulster County, N.Y. She struggled for an end to slavery and for a woman’s right to vote. She became so well known that she even consulted with President Abraham Lincoln.
1977—White supremacist and terrorist Robert Edward Chambliss is convicted of first degree murder in connection with the 1963 bombing of Birmingham, Alabama’s 16th Street Baptist Church. The bombing killed four little Black girls, shocked the nation and helped mobilize the civil rights movement.
1993—Black majority rule comes to South Africa as Black and White leaders reach agreement on a democratic constitution that gave Blacks the right to vote and ended Apartheid—the system of laws and regulations which had maintained White minority rule.
November 19
1985—Stepin Fetchit, the first major Black movie star, dies of pneumonia in Woodlawn Hills, Calif., at the age of 83. Fetchit (real name Lincoln Perry) was harshly criticized by most major Black organizations because he made his money playing a lazy, shiftless, easily frightened Black character during the 1940s and 1950s. However, the role, which appealed to many Whites and some Blacks, made him a millionaire.
November 20
1867—Howard University is founded in Washington, D.C., as a result of a Congressional order. The school goes on to become an incubator of African Americans who play major roles in civil rights as well as Black intellectual and cultural development. It has approximately 12,000 students and is thus one of the largest predominantly Black universities in the nation.
1923—Prolific Black inventor Garrett T. Morgan is awarded a patent for his t-shaped traffic signal—the basis of modern traffic lights. Morgan later sold the rights to the General Electric Corporation for $40,000. Shortly before his death in 1963, the U.S. government awarded Morgan a citation for his invention. He also invented the gas mask.
1939—The state of Maryland purchases Morgan State College in Baltimore. The predominantly Black educational institution was originally founded in 1867 by the Methodist Episcopal Church as the Centenary Bible Institute. It was renamed Morgan College in 1890. It currently has 6,000 students and is one of the leading Black universities in the nation.
1962—President John F. Kennedy issues an executive order barring racial discrimination in all federally financed housing. It was one of several acts which led to the Kennedy name being highly revered by many Black voters.
1976—Gold medal winning Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes is born in Silver Spring, Md.
1977—Chicago Bear great Walter Payton sets an NFL record by running for 275 yards in one game.
November 21
1865—Shaw University is founded in Raleigh, N.C. While virtually all historically Black colleges and universities were established after the Civil War, Shaw can rightfully claim to be the first established in the South.
November 22
1865—The Mississippi legislature enacts the first “Black Codes” aimed at controlling the former slaves. These laws, many of which other Southern states adopted, were so restrictive that they amounted to the re-enslavement of Blacks. In line with the view that much of racism has an economic basis, Blacks were specifically banned from owning farmland. Some of the “Black Codes” were eliminated during Reconstruction, but many actually remained on the law books until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
1884—Militant Black journalist and rights advocate T. Thomas Fortune starts the New York Freeman, which later became the New York Age. He was born in Mariana, Fla., in 1856 and died in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1928. Fortune was easily one of the most driven and influential Black journalists in American history.
1884—The Philadelphia Tribune is founded by Christopher J. Perry.
1930—The Nation of Islam is founded in Detroit, Mich. A lot of controversy surrounds the founding. But the general view is that the NOI was founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad was his immediate successor. The Nation of Islam reached its height during the days of Min. Malcolm X advocating self-respect and economic development. It is currently headed by Min. Louis Farrakhan.
1963—The 35th president of the United States John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas, sending shock waves throughout the nation and the world. Black Americans were especially hard hit because many had come to view Kennedy as the first modern anti-racist, pro-Black president. Conspiracy theories still abound which reject the official version of who killed him and why.
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