Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia

Jet magazine founded by John H. Johnson, publisher of Ebony magazine.

First issue of the Crisis published by editor W.E.B. Du Bois.

Barack Obama is elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois. He becomes the second African American elected to the Senate from that state, and only the fifth black U.S. senator in history

President Ronald Reagan signs law designating the third Monday in January Martin Luther King Jr Day, 1983

Democrats suppressed Black vote by fraud and violence and carried Mississippi election. “The Mississippi Plan” staged riots, political assassinations, massacres and social and economic intimidation was used later to overthrow Reconstruction governments in South Carolina and Louisiana.

Harold Ford elected congressman from TN, 1974

Spingarn Medal presented to Paul Robeson “for his outstanding achievement in the theater, on the concert stage, and in the general field of racial welfare.”

Carol Moseley Braun is the 1st African American woman to be elected to the US Senate

Hulan Jack was elected first Black Borough President of Manhattan, NYC, 1953