By Martha Southgate
In its very incoherence, it gave a hint of just how vast and wide-ranging our experiences and our lives are—how utterly woven into the American story black lives are.

The 14th Amendment, granting citizenship to blacks, is ratified.

Author Chester Himes is born.

Maggie Lena Walker, business and civic leader, opens the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Virginia. Walker becomes the first black woman to head a bank.

Senator Barack Obama gives the Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention.

Pianist Teddy Wilson dies.

Arnette R. Hubbard becomes the first black woman president of the National Bar Association.

Elijah Muhammad calls for the creation of a black state within the boundaries of America.

Activist Whitney M. Young, Jr., Executive Director of the National Urban League, is born.

About 300 black employees, denied promotions because of racial discrimination, are paid $3.5 million in back pay by the U.S. General Accounting Office.