Black History Month 2024

'louisiana' - 12 results

1811 German Coast Uprising



Louisiana - Qumana and Harry, with Charles Deslondes, led the largest slave revolt, in United States history. It began on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, in Louisiana.

On Tuesday evening, January 8th, 1811, the slave uprising moved downriver to New Orleans. They marched on River Road. The plan was to raid New Orleans, and end slavery.

500 people joined the march to New Orleans. But, before their goal was reached, the local militia stopped them.

Half the total deaths (about 40) were from the militia. Another 55 were executed. About 100 escaped. The rest were returned to bondage (slavery).

Charles Deslondes, a 'free' man, was executed by the militia. He was burned alive.


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New Orleans Massacre of 1866



New Orleans, Louisiana - On Monday, local police and other whites killed 34-50 Black Americans and injured another 150. The race riot happened in one day.

By 1864, the American Slavery War ended for Louisiana. On May 27th, 1864, Louisiana created a new constitution. It promised Black Americans, such as soldiers, land owners, and those who were literate, the right to vote.

On April 11th, 1865, Lincoln promised all Black Americans the right to vote. Lincoln's killer, John Wilkes Booth, was at the speech. Booth killed Lincoln 4 days later.

Black codes followed Lincoln's death. These limited the rights of Black Americans in Louisiana and other Southern states. This increased hostility toward Black Americans in Louisiana.

May 1st to 3rd, whites massacred Black Americans in Memphis, sparked by white police violence. This was fresh in the mind in New Orleans, as a constitutional convention was held July 27th.

Ex-Confederate soldiers, led by New Orleans Sheriff Harry T. Hays, disrupted the convention. It was moved to July 30th.

At 12:00 p.m. (noon), July 30th, the convention was held. A crowd of white opponents waited outside. 200 freedmen (mostly veterans) paraded to the convention in support.

The freedmen neared the convention. The opposition bothered the freedmen more the closer they got to the convention. Sheriff Hays arrived and began to fire blindly into the crowd. Many Black Americans died. Others ran into the Mechanics Institute.

General Absalom Baird wired the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton.

Baird said the following 'It was no riot. It was an absolute massacre by the police, which was not excelled in murderous cruelty by that of Fort Pillow. It was a murder which the Mayor and police of the city perpetrated without the shadow of a necessity.'

This massacre and the one in Memphis, May 1st-3rd, led to Reconstruction policies of the former Confederate South.


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Opelousas Massacre



Opelousas, Louisiana - Whites rampaged through the area and killed 150 people because Black Americans voted. A white supremacist group, called Knights of the White Camelia began the violence.

Source:

Opelousas Massacre


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St. Bernard Parish Massacre



St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana - Whites went on a multi-day killing spree of Black Americans. It began due to white fear that Black American voters chose candidates that did not support white supremacy. Whites killed dozens of Black Americans. There were possibly more than 100 killed.

Source:

St. Parish Massacre


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The Colfax Massacre



Colfax, Louisiana - Whites killed 150 Black Americans at random because Republicans won control of the state government in the 1872 elections.


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The Thibodaux Massacre



Thibodaux, Louisiana - Whites murdered 60 Black American farm workers. They tried to unionize for better pay from whites. In response, whites shot to death the leaders, allies, and other Black Americans just for being there.

Source:

Thibodaux Massacre

Violence Against Black Workers


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Plessy v. Ferguson Decided



Washington, D. C. - The United States Supreme Court decided Black Americans can be legally segregated in America. This decision made state segregation laws into national law. Black Americans were made into legal second-class citizens, nationwide.

It all began, in Covington, Louisiana. A passenger was denied access to the white section of a train. Since the rider was 7/8 th white, he was told to go to the 'black' section. He refused and was arrested, under the Jim Crow Car Act of 1890.

Once the United States Supreme Court decided the case, it set several key precedents.

The state had sole power to decide who was black or white.

The Thirteenth (13th) and Fourteenth (14th) Amendments gave no protection to Black Americans from legal segregation.

Segregation of Black Americans had not harmed them.

The government owed no debt to Black Americans, if harmed by segregation.


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Huey P. Newton Born



Monroe, Louisiana - Huey P. Newton was born, on Tuesday. Newton co-founded the Black Panther Party, with Bobby Seale.

Newton was the youngest child of Armelia Johnson and Walter Newton. His father, Walter Newton, was a sharecropper and Baptist lay preacher.


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Deacons for Defense



Bogalusa, Louisiana - The first chapter, of the Deacons for Self Defense was formed. The Deacons for Self-Defense was started in November, 1964, in Jonesboro, Louisiana. However, the first chapter started on this day.

This was not the first armed Black American self-defense group, in the United States. But, it was one of the most prominent of the Black Rights period. Twenty (20) other chapters came later, in Mississippi and Alabama.

The goal of the group was to protect Black Rights activists and their families. The Ku Klux Klan and white vigilantes were the worst threats. Police workers were just as bad, but had state power behind them.


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Katrina Hit New Orleans



New Orleans, Louisiana - Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans. The levees that protected the lower Ninth Ward were destroyed. The United States military used explosives to breach the levee and flood eastern New Orelans.

On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was spotted. It started as a tropical storm. On August 25, 2005, it became a hurricane, in Florida. On August 26, 2005, Katrina moved into the Gulf of Mexico and got worse.

On Sunday, August 28th, 2005, thousands of people took shelter in the New Orleans Superdome. This included 150 National Guardsmen.

Over time, the military sent more to shelter there. It reached 15,000-20,000 people. It included the old, women, children, the sick, and the disabled. The vast majority were Black American.

On Monday, August 29th, 2005, just after midnight, Katrina hit New Orleans. The rain began. Hurricane force winds battered the buildings. It continued until about 7 a.m.

At 6:20 a.m., the power failed in the Superdome. Medical equipment failed. Only emergency lights worked in the almost dark building.

By 7:00 a.m., the worst of the storm had passed. Katrina dumped 5-10 inches of rain on New Orleans, in 24 hours. There was minor flooding and property damage. The leevees were intact.

Between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., the 7th Street levee was destroyed. the United States military used explosives to breech the levee. It made a hole that was 3 football fields long.

This was the largest leevee in the city. It sat next to the Lower Ninth Ward, in southeast New Orleans. At the time, it was 98% Black American. Many were homeowners.

At 9:00 a.m., the roof of the Superdome began to fail. People saw the sky, through the roof. Rain poured into the building. The military stopped anyone from leaving.

At the same time, a 10 foot wave of water rushed into the Lower Ninth Ward. It flooded the entire ward. 100,000 homes were destroyed. Most of the Black American homeowners never recovered and never returned.

The highest parts of the Lower Ninth Ward were flooded. This included private homes and the Holy Cross School. The school served as a shelter during Hurricane Betsy, in 1965. The government broke those levees, too.

By 11:00 p.m., Mayor Ray Nagin said there was major damage to the city. Bodies were seen in the water, mainly in the Lower Ninth Ward.

On August 30th, 2005, the Superdome began to fill with water. There was no clean water, no toilets, and an awful odor.

By August 31st, 2005, three (3) people had died, in the Superdome. Two were elderly. One man committed suicide.

New Orleans lost at least 1,800 lives due to the blown levees. Most lived in the Lower Ninth Ward and Lakeview neighborhoods. City-wide, over 150,000 homes were flooded. The hardest hit was the Lower Ninth Ward.


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Alton Sterling Killed By Police



Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Alton Sterling was shot at point blank range, by two white Baton Rouge police workers. Sterling died as a result of the shooting. The shooting was videotaped.

At 12:35 a.m., Monday morning, police arrived at 2112 North Foster Drive. The police were in the parking lot of Triple S Food Mart. A police call reported someone waved a gun and had threatened another. The store owner said Sterling had not caused any problems.

The two police workers saw Sterling, a large Black American man. They moved to arrest him. It is unclear what crime the two white police workers claimed Alton Sterling had committed.

The two police workers tasered and dragged Sterling to the ground. Howie Lake II placed his knee on Sterling's back. At the same time, Blane Salamoni grabbed Sterling's arms.

Lake shouted that Sterling had a gun. Salamoni pulled his gun and fired 3 shots into the back and chest of Sterling. Salamoni paused and shot Sterling 3 more times (totaled 6 shots), which caused Sterling's death.

The two white killers were never charged and kept their jobs with the police.


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Gavin Long Killed By Police



Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Gavin Long allegedly killed 3 police workers in Louisiana. Long was killed by the police. It was claimed Long was motivated by recent murders of Black American men, by police.

Sunday, 8:48 a.m., Long was shot and killed, from 100 yards away. He was killed by a Special Weapons Assault Team (SWAT) worker of the Louisiana State Police. It was near Benny's Car Wash, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.


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