Washington, D. C. - The Moynihan Report ('The Report') was released. It was written by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He studied the plight of Black Americans, in the United States.
Moynihan was Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy, Planning and Research. He served from 1963 to 1965. This period covered the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson eras.
His work during this period, was used by President Johnson, in his War on Poverty. At the same time, it was used as a pretext to send Black American youth to the Vietnam War. At the time it was released, there was major unrest in the South, over Black American voting rights.
The Report stated the Black American family was at fault, for its poverty. It made family failure the cause of Black American dysfunction. It blamed single mothers and absent fathers as the root cause.
In 1971, 'Blame the Victim' was published. It showed the Moynihan Report to be self-serving and simple-minded. The Report ignored racism and bigotry as causes. It instead relied on the 'cultural deprivation' fallacy. 'Blame The Victim' also called this, Savage Discovery.
Source:
Moynihan Report
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New York, New York - King Kong was shown for the first time. The movie was created in the middle of the Great Depression and Jim Crow.
King Kong was a story of a giant ape that whites found on a tropical island. The whites were there to film a movie, on location.
The whites chained the black ape and sent it to New York, to make money. The black ape was shown to whites, in a show. There the black ape became angered. King Kong broke his chains and attacked whites.
The black ape grabbed a white woman and climbed the Empire State Building. Whites sent the air force to kill the black ape and save the white woman. In the end, the white woman was saved and King Kong was dead.
Jack Johnson, the heavyweight boxing champion, was the model for the might and size of King Kong. The name Kong came from the Congo, in Africa. New York was a former slave trading port.
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Washington, D. C. - Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. It divided the rebel states into 5 districts of military control.
The military controlled the law and the courts of the states that rebelled, until constitutions were written that followed United States law.
This was an attempt to protect the righs of Black Americans after the defeat of the Confederate slave state. The Act passed over the veto of President Andrew Johnson.
Source:
First Reconstruction Act
Reconstruction Map
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Washington D. C. - A gathering of white church members met to create a school for missionaries in the South and Africa. It began as a Seminary.
Later, Major General Oliver Otis Howard was brought into the plan. Howard was known as a christian fundamentalist and was head of the Freedmen's Bureau.
On March 2, 1867, a Charter was approved by Congress. It was signed into law by President Andrew Johnson. This Act created Howard University.
On May 1, 1867, Howard University opened its doors to students. The first students were all white women. Two were daughters of the founders.
The initial reason for the school was to train Black American preachers. However, all were allowed to attend. Over 100,000 freed Black Americans were served by the school.
Howard University is still in operation, as of 2021.
Source:
Act to Establish The Howard University
Origin of The Howard University
Howard University history
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Los Angeles, California - Rodney King was beaten by four (4) white police workers. They worked for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Stacey Koon tasered King twice. Laurence Powell clubbed King. Timothy Wind beat King with a baton. Ted Briseno kicked King.
The attack on King was videotaped. It showed the different assaults on King, by police. King was unarmed and alone.
There was a jury trial and verdict, the following year (1992). The jury had no Black Americans on it. They said all the police workers were not guilty of the assaults on King.
On April 29th, the day of the verdict, the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 started.
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Washington, D. C. - The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln. It became part of the War Department (called the Defense Department after 1949).
The supposed goal of the Act was to help freed Black Americans find relief and become self-sufficient. Since it was a product of the Slavery War, the bill was to expire after one (1) year.
Major General Oliver Otis Howard was the first commissioner of the bureau. This is the same Howard that helped found Howard Seminary (later, Howard University).
A second Freedmen's bill was passed in 1866, which extended the duration of the Bureau until 1868.
In 1872, the Bureau closed.
Source:
Freedmen's Bureau
Otis Howard
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Washington, D. C. - Thomas Jefferson signed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves. It went into effect, January 1st, 1808.
This did not abolish slavery. It did not emancipate the enslaved. It only made the entry of enslaved people, into the United States, illegal.
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New York City, New York - HBO showed Leaving Neverland, in two (2) parts. Part One (1) was shown Sunday and Part Two (2) was shown Monday.
The story made claims that Michael Jackson hurt two young white boys, from sexual acts. There were no facts, no evidence, and no one else to confirm the claims. Further, the two white boys never claimed Michael Jackson harmed them, until they got money to do so.
Michael Jackson died June 25, 2009, almost ten (10) years before this show aired. Jackson had no record for any crime of child abuse. While he had been tried, courts found no facts to support any charges against him.
Leaving Neverland implied Jackson was a child abuser. This was not backed by the courts, the law, nor any past record of abuse.
Source:
Why No Criticism About Leaving Neverland
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New York, New York - After Neverland aired, on HBO, hosted by Oprah Winfrey. It followed Leaving Neverland Part 2. In the show, three (3) white males joined Winfrey in verbal attacks against the long-dead Michael Jackson. The two white accusers were Wade Robson and James Safechuck. They were joined by the white director of Leaving Neverland, Dan Reed. Winfrey had no one to defend Jackson, on the show.
In the hour-long show, Winfrey gave the two white men a platform to make abuse claims against Jackson. The audience was picked from sexual abuse victims. No facts were given by the white men to support or verify their claims of abuse by Jackson.
Later that year, Winfrey tried to distance herself from After Neverland. She removed videos and comments she made. Winfrey denied it was an attack on the legacy of Jackson. The Jackson estate and Jackson family strongly denied and disputed any claims of child abuse by Jackson.
Source:
Oprah Backtracks After Neverland
Something Is Wrong
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Washington, D. C. - Dred Scott v. Sandford was decided, by the United States Supreme Court. Sandford was a clerical error on the case. The real name was Sanford.
Dred Scott was born in 1799, in Virginia, enslaved. Scott's enslaver was Peter Blow. In 1818, Blow moved to Huntsville, Alabama. He took Scott and five (5) other enslaved people with him. Blow farmed, with Scott, until 1830.
In 1830, Blow moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Blow sold Scott to U.S. Army surgeon, Dr. John Emerson. Emerson sent Scott to Fort Armstrong, in Illinois. At the time, Illinois was a 'free' state.
Illinois had no law for slavery, in its state constitution. Yet, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 made slave catching legal in 'free' states. This gave whites the power to enslave 'free' Black Americans and send them to slave states. 'Free' states never punished slave owners in its borders.
In 1836, Emerson moved. He took Scott, to Fort Snelling in the Wisconsin territory (now Minnesota). It was a 'free' territory. There, Scott married Harriet Robinson. She was enslaved, to a different white man.
On February, 1838, Emerson was sent to Fort Jesup in Louisiana. There, Emerson married Eliza Irene Sanford. Scott and Robinson stayed in the Wisconsin territory. Emerson hired out their services while he was away.
In Louisiana, Emerson sent for Scott and Robinson. On the way, Robinson gave birth to Eliza. Eliza was born on the Mississippi River, in 'free' territory. It is unclear how Emerson enslaved Robinson.
In late 1838, Emerson returned to Fort Snelling. In 1840, Sanford took Scott and Robinson to St. Louis, Missouri.
By 1843, Emerson had left the army. He died in Iowa territory. Sanford, his wife, inherited his entire estate. This included Scott and Robinson.
In 1846, Scott tried to buy his family's freedom from Sanford, but she refused. Scott went to court. Since Scott's family had been in 'free' areas, he said they should be free.
The United States Supreme Court ruled against Scott. They ruled only whites were United States citizens. Black Americans, free or not, were subjects of white rule. Enslaved Black Americans were merchandise. No Black American, mulatto, nor Indian was a citizen.
The court hoped to settle the slave question. Instead, it set the stage for the American Slavery War (1861-1865).
Source:
Full Dred Scott Decision & Opinions
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Selma, Alabama - White state troopers and sheriff workers attacked hundreds of Black Civil Rights marchers. The march was to go 54 miles. The route went from Selma to Montgomery, the Alabama state capital.
The march was a protest of a death from the first Selma march. His name was Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young Black American man. The other goal, of the march, was to get Black Americans able to vote.
Over five hundred (500) marched toward the Edmund Pettus Bridge. There Alabama state troopers and sheriff workers waited. Once the marchers reached the other side of the bridge, the Alabama state troopers told them to stop and disperse.
The marchers walked off the bridge and the Alabama troopers and sheriff workers attacked. They used tear gas, batons, kicked, and beat the unarmed marchers. The march was stopped. It never made it out of Selma.
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Media, Pennsylvania - Documents were stolen that exposed COINTELPRO. They were taken, at night, in a break-in, from a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field office.
COINTELPRO stood for COunter-INTELligence PROgram. It was a years-long government effort to disrupt, confuse, and spy on Black Americans and groups. It began at the start of the Black (later Civil) Rights movement, in 1956.
The break-in happened during the 'Fight of the Century' the same day. It was hoped the spectacle of the fight was enough to divert attention from the break-in. The plan was carried out by the Citizen’s Commission. They were never caught. Their names were not known until 2014.
Targets of COINTELPRO were Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, The Nation of Islam, The Black Panther Party, and Fred Hampton, to name just a few victims.
The FBI claimed COINTELPRO ended, in 1971.
Source:
COINTELPRO Exposed
FBI COINTELPRO statement
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New York, New York - At a press conference, Malcolm X made a formal statement that he left the Nation of Islam. He changed his position from Black separatism to Black nationalism.
In his remarks, he was open to cooperation with civil rights groups. This included those in the southern states. Malcolm X said he was still a Muslim.
Thursday, March 12, 1964, in a press conference, Malcolm X expanded on his future plans. It was called, 'A Declaration of Independence.'
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Louisville, Kentucky - Breonna Taylor was shot to death, in her home. The killers were three (3) white male workers, of the Louisville Police Department. They were Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove. Taylor was in her apartment, in bed, and naked, when she was shot.
It all began with a no-knock search warrant, for suspected drugs. Just after 12:00 a.m. (midnight), the three (3) police workers came to Taylor's apartment. Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend was in the apartment. After Mattingly broke through the door, Walker got his licensed gun.
The other two (2) police workers waited outside. Walker fired one shot, with Mattingly in the apartment. Mattingly, then fired six (6) shots. Cosgrove fired twelve (12) shots and Hankison fired ten (10) shots into the apartment.
Walker survived unharmed. The Louisville Police arrested Walker. He was charged with assault and attempted murder of Mattingly. The charges against Walker were later dropped. The apartment was never searched.
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Washington, D. C. - The cotton gin was awarded a patent, by the United States government. It was given to Eli Whitney. The patent was not validated until 1807.
The cotton gin exploded the demand for enslaved labor. It was not the primary cause for the massive increases in cotton production, to come. But, it did remove a key bottleneck, that made slavery very profitable.
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Selma, Alabama - A third Selma march began. It was to end in Montgomery, the state capitol.. It began at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Thousands began the march.
Unlike the earlier Selma marches, the march itself was peaceful. It had the support of President Johnson and military protection. More than 20,000 took part.
After the march, Viola Liuzzo was killed, by the KKK. She came from Detroit to join the march. As she and a Black American teenager drove marchers back to Selma, the KKK shot, into the car.
Liuzzo was killed by the gunfire. Le Roy Moton, who was in the car with her, was unharmed. He was nineteen (19) years of age. This helped push whites to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Source:
Selma Marches
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Lowndes County, Alabama - The Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) was formed. It used the black panther for its voter drives. This was an early step toward the Black Power movement, in the United States.
Some call the LCFO the first Black Panther Party since it used the black panther image. The Black Panther comic book character appeared later, July 1, 1966. The Oakland, California Black Panther Party was founded October 15, 1966.
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London, England - The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. This Act ended the Transatlantic Slave Trade, by law, in the United Kingdom.
Great Britain stopped slavery, in 1772, in the country. It was due to a ruling from Somerset's Case, of that year. It was ruled that slavery had no place on English soil. This had no effect on slavery in the British colonies. The law that barred it in the colonies came later, in 1833.
After the United States formed, the African slave trade became less profitable for Britain. Its slave sugar colonies in the Caribbean needed lots of support. Sugar competition, from Spanish Cuba and Portuguese Brazil hurt. Add to that, Britain needed its navy for its India colonies.
British-made sugar was a costly effort. Instead, Britain found that trade, with Portugal and Spain, for their sugar was better. British finished goods were sent to pay for the sugar. This led to more profit for Britain. At the same time, Napoleon saw how it helped Britain. He wanted it stopped. Britain also controlled sugar refining. Napoleon wanted that too.
The demands on the navy, by Britain, were many. There were the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). Britain wanted to protect its India project. The navy, of Britain, had to secure trade routes with Cuban and Brazilian slave colonies. African slave trading was more trouble than it was worth by 1807. So, it was stopped, by law.
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Southern Tennessee - Nine (9) Black American youths rode a freight train with several white males and two white women. Near the Lookout Mountain tunnel, a fight erupted between the white and Black American youths.
The whites got kicked off the train. They went to a sheriff, from the nearby town, Paint Rock, Alabama.
The white youths claimed the Black youths assaulted them on the train. The sheriff raised a posse. He ordered the posse to search for and 'capture every Negro on the train.'
All Black American passengers from the train were arrested. All were charged with assault, by the posse.
The Scottsboro boys were put on trial. It was an all-white jury, white judge, and white prosecutor. 8 of the youths were convicted. They were sentenced to death.
As a result of appeals to the United States Supreme Court, none were executed. The Court ruled that race could not be used to exclude a juror.
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Washington, D. C. - Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. met for only one time. It was at the U. S. Capitol. They attended a filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights bill.
On Thursday morning, it was in the low 70s, and partly cloudy. Malcom X flew from New York. He came and sat in the visitors' gallery, in the Senate. King was in the gallery, on the far end.
Later a press conference was held. As it ended, King and Malcolm X went through separate doors. It is speculated James 67X, made sure they ran into each other.
King offered to shake Malcolm X's hand. As they shook hands, Malcolm X said, 'Now you’re going to get investigated.' Both smiled.
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