Today In Black History
Facts You Should Know!
Issue #423 Black History Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Welcome to this Today in Black History post. Black History IS American History, no matter how hard some people try to erase our history and contributions.
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Today’s Black WOW!
In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the “Servicemen’s Readjustment Act,” also known as the “G.I. Bill,” intended to help returning WWII veterans with funds for college education, unemployment assistance, and housing/mortgage assistance. Not surprisingly, although African Americans were not specifically excluded in the wording of the bill, it was structured so that the 1.2 million Black veterans were shut out of receiving benefits. Implementation was given to the states instead of being a national program, and the wide receipt disparity helped to drive huge gaps in generational wealth, education, and civil rights for Black Americans.
Today’s Black History
- In 1871, the first federal trials for the Ku Klux Klan began in South Carolina. The Department of Justice was formed specifically to capture and prosecute the Ku Klux Klan and to protect freed slaves.
- In 1950, Black inventor F.M. Jones patented a two-cycle gasoline engine.
- In 1960, the African nation of Mauritania gained its independence from France.
- In 1961, Ernie Davis became the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.
- In 1997, Coleman A. Young, the first Black mayor of Detroit died of respiratory failure. Young served an unprecedented five 4-year terms as mayor.
- In 2017, Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for a 2nd term as president of Kenya.
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