John Thompson of Georgetown University becomes the first African-American coach to win an NCAA basketball tournament.

Singer Marvin Gaye is born in Washington, D.C.

Singer Marvin Gaye is shot to death by his father in Los Angeles, California.

Charles R. Drew, who developed techniques for processing and preserving blood, dies in Burlington, North Carolina.

Write, singer and poet Gil Scott-Heron is born in Chicago, Illinois.

Blacks vote in municipal election in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

By Lee A. Daniels

The honors cascade upon Elaine R. Jones, woman of extraordinary accomplishment, like an avalanche schussing down a high mountain slope. But, albeit the honors, awards, compliments from prominent organizations, institutions and civic groups, Elaine Jones remains the same: An ebullient personality handling with aplomb a whirlwind schedule – while holding fast to and holding up the banner of the struggle for freedom.

By Leslie Wilson
John Hope Franklin, the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History and America’s authority on race, died of congestive heart failure at Duke Hospital on the morning of March 25. Although not the father of African-American history, he deserves a place on the podium with George Washington Williams, W.E. B. Du Bois, and Carter G. Woodson. He changed the field as a scholar, teacher, leader and activist.

By Farah Jasmine Griffin
An exquisite jewel of a book, Paule Marshall’s memoir, Triangular Road, is a welcome work of nonfiction by one of our greatest writers. Neither tell-all nor confessional, Triangular Road does tell the story of a writer in motion, a self-described “traveling woman,” one who has devoted her life to creating complexly rendered novels and stories about the historical, psychological and political dimensions of the African Diaspora.

By Smita Ghosh
Experts urge U.S. schools to take a page from other nations … Racial categories grow more inclusive in Washington, DC schools … High praise for the progress in New Orleans schools … new California curriculum highlights Mexican Americans … Roanoke, Virginia School Board grapples with rezoning and diversity … Republicans in Omaha may sue over school levy … Berkeley lawsuit against school district heads to State Supreme Court.