Francis Louis Cardoza, South Carolina’s first black Secretary of State, dies in Washington, D.C.

Abraham Lincoln reads the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.

The first victory in the Korean War is won by black troops (24th Infantry Regiment) who capture Yechon.

Stormy Weather, one of the most successful musicals, opens in New York City.

The National Association of Colored Women is founded in Washington, D.C. Dr. Mary Church Terrell is elected as its first president.

The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAC) is formed and accepts black women.

The first national “Black Power” conference opens in Newark, New Jersey and more than 1,000 people attend.

By Dionne Ford
It doesn’t make sense. I’m a black woman married to a white man with two biracial daughters, living in a town known for its diversity and open-mindedness. I see myself as accepting, always wanting the best for everyone, respecting people of all kinds. So why does the topic of immigration enrage me so?

By Lee A. Daniels
I don’t mean to be flippant. But, as I’ve watched Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, testifying this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, that snippet of the tune sung to salute the newly-crowned winner of the Miss America beauty pageant, kept cycling through my mind.

By The Editors
John Payton vigorously defended Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s fitness to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday in a charged debate with conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan on the MSNBC program “Hardball with Chris Matthews.”