Today marks the first day of Black History Month. Despite being the shortest month in the year, the contributions of Black people to American history far outweighs the 28-day celebration.
Originally introduced as a week of acknowledgement by Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Studio of Negro Life and History, “Negro History Week,” was launched in February of 1926. The week was chosen because it marked the birthday month of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
It wasn’t until 1976 that the federal government acknowledged the expansion from a week-long event to a month-long commemoration. However, the first Black History month celebration took place at Kent State in February of 1970,
In celebration of Black History Month, Hip-Hop Wired is spotlighting John Rock, the first black attorney to be admitted to argue in the U.S. Supreme Court. Born in 1825, Rock worked as teacher, doctor, dentist, lawyer and abolitionist.
He was born free in Salem, N.J., and is credited for coining the phrase “Black is beautiful.”
Rock was also one of the first Black people to earn a medical degree.
As a staunch abolitionist, Rock participated in a campaign aimed at the legal desegregation in Boston public schools. On Feb. 1, 1865—one day after Congress approved the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery—Charles Sumner introduced a motion making Rock the first Black attorney admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was the first Black person to be received on the floor of the United State House of Representatives.
Click below to see photos of other poignant political figures in Black History.
Photos: Wikipedia/Biography.com
Carter G. Woodson
Woodson was a historian, journalist, and author. He founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the Journal of Negro History.
W.E.B. DuBois
DuBois was as a noted Civil Rights leader, and founder of the N.A.A.C.P.
Denmark Vesey
An African-Carribean slave, Vessey bought his freedom and planned one of the largest slave rebellions in the country. Details of his plan were leaked, leading to the arrest of plot leaders before the uprising could be carried out.
Matthew Gaines
Gained was a former slave and Republican Texas State Senator. In 1870 Gained played an integral role in passing the Militia Bil creating a state police force to combat lawlessness and protection over voter intimidation.
Col. Allen Allensworth
Born into slavery in 1842, Allenworth escaped and became a Union solider. He is most noted for founding the town of Allensworth, Calif, in 1908.
Marcus Garvey
Garvey, a Jamaican political leader, became famous for his push for Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements. He is most famously known as the face of the Black-to-Africa movement.
Toussaint Louverture
L’Ouverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution. It his political and military genius that led to the establishment of the independent Black state of Haiti, a move which changed the entire slave society to a free, self-governing people.
Benjamin Banneker
Banneker was a free scientist, surveyor, farmer, and almanac author. He shared his views about slavery in a letter to Thomas Jefferson placed in his 1793 almanac. He engineered the first striking clock in 1753, was the fist high-profile Black Civil Rights leader, and belonged to the first presidential appointed team in charge of establishing the nation’s capitol. His revelations on discoveries on science and space, predate Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
William Harvey Carney
Carney was a soldier during the Civil War. He was the first Black person awarded the Medal of Honor for his work during the Battle of Fort Wagner. He didn’t receive the honor until 37 years later.
Alexander Twilight
Twilight was born free in Vermont in 1795. He became the first Black person to earn a bachelors degree from an American college. In 1836 he was elected to the Vermont General Assembly as the first Black person to be elected to a state legislature.
