TJMS

As the world continues to mourn the great Muhammad Ali, many are reflecting on the champ’s stellar boxing career. In his second to last fight, Ali fought Larry Holmes. Ali and Holmes, former training and sparring partners, met in the ring on October 2, 1980 in Las Vegas. It was reported that Holmes didn’t want […]

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Stephanie St. Clair was a notable crime boss in Harlem, New York who worked alongside fellow gangster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson. St. Clair’s numbers operation was so prominent, it caught the attention of the Mob and sparked a brief but violent war. St. Clair was born on the island of Martinique in 1886 and arrived in […]

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The NAACP annually awards the Spingarn Medal to individuals who have contributed greatly to the African-American community. On this day in 1920, scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois became the sixth recipient of the coveted award for his work with the Pan-African Congress. The Spingarn Medal was established in 1914 by then-Chairman J.E. Spingarn, and […]

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Rev. David E. Gay Jr., the pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was the a social and mental health worker prior to his life in ministry. In 2000, he became the first Black director of Bryce Hospital, the largest psychiatric facility in the state. Rev. Gay’s journey began after graduating Druid High School […]

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Ursula Burns, the pioneering and longtime CEO of Xerox, will be stepping down from her position at the end of the year. Burns has worked at the company since 1980. Her resignation leaves the Fortune 500 without a single Black women as CEO. Burns, who was raised in a tough housing project in New York […]

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On this day in 1956, FAMU students Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson sat on a city bus in Tallahassee, Florida. and began what would become a seven-month boycott of the transit system. Through the efforts of a local church leader and civic groups, protesters were able to get Black drivers hired and integrate the bus […]

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Joan Trampauer Mulholland achieved a series of notable firsts over the course of her life. She holds the distinction of being the first white student to integrate Mississippi’s Tougaloo College, and she is also the first white student to join the Black Greek sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. Born Joan Nelson on September 14, 1941, Mulholland […]

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Many may lay claim to the “Black Panthers” name, but the 761st Tank Battalion of World War II, were one of the first groups to use it. The tank unit is considered by the U.S. Army as the first Black armed tank unit to enter combat during World War II. The 761st was comprised of […]

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Samuel Sharpe was a Jamaican preacher who led a 10-day slave revolt on the island nation that moved the British Empire to end slavery in 1833. The so-called “Baptist War” because of the denomination of many involved, or the “Christmas Rebellion of 1831,” left over several hundred slaves dead. Sharpe was born around 1801, according […]

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Sidney Bechet is considered by some jazz experts to be the greatest soprano saxophonist ever and he was equally adept with the clarinet as well.…

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Dr. Marie M. Daly made history in 1947 after obtaining her Ph.D in chemistry, the first Black woman to do so. Marie Maynard Daly was…

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During the Space Race between Cold War rivals the United States and the former Soviet Union, there was stiff competition between the nations to build…