BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 5.

Frederick Douglass gave his speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?".

He was an African American abolitionist, orator, newspaper publisher, and author. He became the first Black U.S. marshal.

Douglass was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Talbot County, Maryland. When he was seven years old, he was sent to his master, Captain Aaron Anthony, at a nearby plantation.

On September 3, 1838, Douglass escaped from slavery. With identification borrowed from a free Black seaman, he traveled to New York City.

He remained an avid reader throughout his adult life. In 1847, he began publishing his own abolitionist newsletter, the North Star. 

He became a powerful orator, often traveling six months out of the year to give lectures on abolition. 

When radical abolitionists, under the motto "No Union with Slaveholders", criticized Douglass's willingness to engage in dialogue with slave owners, he replied: "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong."

In July 5, 1852, he  delivered his speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York.

The speech explores the constitutional and values-based arguments against the continued existence of Slavery in the United States.

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BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 4.

Marian Anderson and Ralph Bunche receive the first Medals of Freedom.

She was an American singer, and an important figure in the struggle for African-American artists to overcome racial prejudice.

Bunche was an American political scientist, diplomat, member of the United Nations for more than two decades, activist of the US civil rights movement, and the first African American and first person of African descent to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

In 1955, Anderson became the first African American singer to perform as a member of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Bunche was one of the leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for more than 20 years.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal are the highest civilian awards of the United States.

It was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, superseding the Medal of Freedom that was established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945 to honor civilian service during World War II.

JFK’s assassination in November meant that he was not alive to present the awards at the  ceremony that December. His successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, presented them in his place. 

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BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 3.

Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era.

After demonstrating exceptional athletic ability during high school and junior college, he excelled at baseball, football, basketball, and track at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

He left UCLA in 1941 and briefly played professional football before being drafted into the U.S. Army. During his service, he refused to sit at the back of a bus and was threatened with a court-martial, but the charges were dropped and he was given an honorable discharge in 1945.

Robinson made his major league debut in April 1947. The chief problem he had to overcome was controlling his fiery temper in the face of continual racial slurs from the crowds and other ballplayers, including some of his own teammates.

After retiring from baseball early in 1957, Robinson engaged in business and in civil rights activism. He was a spokesperson for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and made appearances with Martin Luther King, Jr.

Robinson's major league debut brought an end to approximately sixty years of segregation in professional baseball, known as the baseball color line.

Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation that had then marked many other aspects of American life.

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BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 2.

Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.

In the landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional.

The 10 years that followed saw great strides for the African American civil rights movement, as non-violent demonstrations won thousands of supporters to the cause.  Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights movement had been gathering force.

John F. Kennedy made passage of a new civil rights bill one of the platforms of his successful 1960 presidential campaign.

In early 1964, House supporters overcame the Rules Committee obstacle by threatening to send the bill to the floor without committee approval. 

Passage of the act was not easy. House opposition bottled up the bill in the House Rules Committee. In the Senate, Southern Democratic opponents attempted to talk the bill to death. The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. 

It banned discriminatory practices in employment and ended segregation in public places such as swimming pools, libraries, and public schools.

This document was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.

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BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 1st.

Roland Hayes named soloist with Boston Symphony Orchestra.

He was the first African American singer to achieve success on the classical concert stage.

Hayes was born in Curryville, Georgia, to Fanny and William Hayes, who were former slaves. He wanted an education, but he had to drop out of school to help support his family and worked at many jobs.

He moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where he found a job singing at a silent movie theater. He had to sing offstage so that people could hear his voice but not see his skin color.

To earn money he went on a tour of black churches and colleges in the South. In 1917 he announced his second concert, which would be held in Boston's Symphony Hall. 

In 1920 Hayes performed his first European concert in London, England. While in London he received a message from King George and Queen Mary of England, requesting that he perform for them. 

He toured Europe several more times, singing in seven different languages, and by the late 1920s he had become the highest-paid tenor in the world.

After the 1930s, Hayes stopped touring in Europe because the change in politics made it 

unfavorable to African Americans.

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BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 30.

Lena Horne was born.

She was an African-American dancer, actress, Grammy-winning singer, and civil rights activist.

Horne left school at age 16 to help support her ailing mother and became a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City.  She was discovered by producer John Hammond, and soon after she performed in a solo show at Carnegie Hall.

A remarkably charismatic entertainer, Horne was one of the most popular singers of her time. One of her albums, Lena Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria, was a longtime best seller, and her first featured performance on Broadway.

She also was noted for her work with civil rights and political organizations; as an actress, she refused to play roles that stereotyped African American women. 

In 1984 Horne received a Kennedy Center honor for lifetime contribution to the arts, and in 1989 she was given a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.

"Stormy Weather", a well-received biography of Horne's life, was published in 2009 and written by James Gavin. Horne also published her own memoir, "Lena", in 1965.

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BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 29.

NAACP chairman S.G. Spottswood criticize Nixon's administration.

Stephen Gill Spottswood was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He went on to Albright College, earning a B.A. in history in 1917; Gordon Divinity School; and Yale Divinity School, where he earned his doctorate.

He joined the NAACP in 1919 and was an active voice for racial equality throughout his adult life.

He became president of the NAACP's Washington branch in 1947 and was elected to the national board of the NAACP in 1955, vice-president in 1959, and finally chairman in 1961, a post he held until 1975.

Spottswood earned a reputation as an outspoken critic of racial injustice and several times  attracted press coverage for his political censures.

His most prominent criticism was directed at Richard Nixon and his administration's treatment of African-Americans, calling it "anti-Negro".  At the following year's convention, Spottswood used his keynote address to soften the NAACP's stance on Nixon.

Newly unearthed recordings show former President Richard Nixon mentioned racist language in conversations with his close associates.

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BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 28.

The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the use of racial quotas for university applications. 

The medical school at the University of California, as part of the university’s affirmative action program, had reserved 16 percent of its admission places for minority applicants.

Allan Bakke, a white California man who had twice unsuccessfully applied for admission to the medical school, filed suit against the university.

Citing evidence that his grades and test scores surpassed those of many minority students who had been accepted for admission, Bakke charged that he had suffered unfair “reverse discrimination” on the basis of race.

The Supreme Court, agreed that the university’s use of strict racial quotas was unconstitutional and ordered that the medical school admit Bakke.

Although the ruling legalized the use of affirmative action, in subsequent decisions during the next several decades the court limited the scope of such programs, and several U.S. states prohibited affirmative action programs based on race.

Regents of University of California v. Bakke established a pragmatic means of reconciling well-intentioned quota and affirmative action programs with the Constitution's zealous protection of equality. 

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