Black History Month 2024
'sports' - 9 results
Atlanta, Georgia - The name of the first Black American baseball league was the Southern League of Colored Base Ballists. The Georgia Champions’ won against the Memphis Eclipse. The score was 11-10.
The league only lasted one year. But, it was not the last. The next year, the National Colored Base Ball League began in 1887. The leagues were formed due to racial exclusion laws in the United States.
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Washington, D. C. - The Mann Act, or White-Slave Traffic Act, became law. It was passed to stop boxing champion Jack Johnson, a Black American man, from travelling with the white woman, Lucille Cameron.
Whites tried to use Cameron to make a case against Johnson. She refused to help. Whites went to Belle Schreiber. She was a white woman Johnson knew before the Mann Act had passed (1909 and early 1910). In court, she said Johnson was with her. An all-white jury convicted Johnson of being with a white woman.
To escape jail, Johnson fled the country, for seven (7) years. When he came back, federal agents arrested him. Johnson was sent to the Federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. He was behind bars from September 1920, until July 9, 1921.
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The Bronx, New York - Heavyweight champion Joe Louis beat Max Schmeling, in Yankee Stadium. It was an historic fight because Schmeling was German, when the Nazi Party and Hitler were at their height.
The Nazis promoted racial dominance of whites over Black Americans, in mind and body. With the defeat, it showed the belief to be a lie. These race beliefs of the Nazis led to World War 2, the next year.
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Louisville, Kentucky - Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born. He became Muhammad Ali, in 1966.
Ali was an American professional boxer, activist, and member of the Nation of Islam.
Many consider Ali one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century. In boxing, Ali was called 'The Greatest' of his time.
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Brooklyn, New York - Jackie Robinson became the first Black American player in the Major Leagues. He made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbetts Field (now demolished).
Black American customers flocked to cities, wherever the Dodgers played. This led to the end of the Negro Leagues of baseball, as it lost its fans to the white Major League.
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Houston, Texas - Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted to go to the Vietnam War. As a result, the United States government immediately attempted criminal action. The New York State Athletic Commission and the World Boxing Association stripped Ali of his titles, that day.
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Mexico City, Mexico - Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos (right) each raised a fist at the award podium for the 200m race, at the 1968 Olympic Games.
Smith and Carlos were shoeless on the platform to show their black socks, which represented Black American poverty. Carlos wore a bead necklace to represent lynchings in the United States.
Carlos and Smith raised their gloved hand, when the Star Spangled Banner played, at the awards ceremony and bowed their heads.
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Los Angeles, California - Orenthal James (O. J.) Simpson was found not guilty in the murder of a white male and a white female. It was an extremely rare case. Normally, a Black American man was convicted when a victim was white. In those cases, evidence rarely mattered, in the United States.
Unfortunately, the white press, white politicians, and white media have complained about this outcome until this very day.
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Chicago, Illinois - A jury convicted Chicago police worker, Jason Van Dyke. He was on trial for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald.
White police worker, Van Dyke was found guilty of second (2nd) degree murder. The jury found him guilty of 16 counts of aggravated battery. Each count was for a bullet he shot at Laquan McDonald.
McDonald was a Black American male. He was 17 years of age when Van Dyke killed him.
Source:
Van Dyke Convicted of Murder
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