President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln University, a black college, is chartered in Oxford, Pennsylvania

William Lloyd Garrison publishes first issue of abolitionist journal, The Liberator.

Importation of slaves into the United States is banned by an act of Congress, but illegal imports continue.

Haiti declares its independence from France.

Kwanzaa: Imani  (Faith). To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Kwanzaa: Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build our own businesses, control the economics of our own communities, and share in all our communities’ work and wealth.

By The Editors
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) applauds the ruling of California’s 2nd District Court of Appeals  recognizing that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) may continue efforts to integrate its schools pursuant to an existing court order.

By Stacey Patton: Now that we have elected our first black president, some folks fervently believe that America has solved its long-ailing “Negro Problem.” We are now a post-racial society. This means we can finally get rid of affirmative action and even historically black colleges and universities, which some suggest are reminders of the segregation [...]

More than 200 of the surviving 300-plus Tuskegee Airmen have responded in the affirmative to a special invitation to view the Inaugural swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol from a priority-seating area near the podium. The invitation is highly appropriate for men who fought bravely for their country in World War II, while receiving unequal treatment [...]