Happy Birthday to Emmett Till. He would've been 83 years old today.

At just 14, two white men kidnapped and brutally murdered him through mutilation for 'whistling' at a white woman.
decades later, Carolyn Bryant admitted to lying that Emmett Till made a pass at her.

THREAD On 28th August 1955, Emmett Till, 14, was kidnapped and brutally murdered for 'whistling' at a white woman.

On this day in 1972, Reporters exposed the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment — a secret study to examine the effects of untreated syphilis in Black men.

American medicine has been built upon the abuse of black people with no oversight.

A THREAD! The Tuskegee syphilis Experiment: It began in 1932. In the syphilis study, doctors were trying to find out more about syphilis test subjects (impoverished African American men), and didn't treat them for syphilis even after they knew penicillin could cure the infection.

65 years ago today, jazz musician and singer-songwriter, Billie Holiday died. Rest in Power!

Events leading up to her death.

A THREAD In 1939, Billie Holiday recorded the first great protest song of the Civil Rights Movement, 'Strange Fruit’ The Chilling Story of Strange Fruit and Billie Holiday.

In 1969, when Black Americans were prevented from swimming alongside whites, Mr. Rogers decided to invite officer Clemmons to join him and cool his feet in a pool, breaking a well known color barrier.
Breaking Color Barriers.

A THREAD! Bill Robinson aka Bojangles wasn't allowed to hold Shirley Temple's hand while filming the stair scene in the movie, "The Little Colonel." She insisted anyway and grabbed his hand during the act becoming the first time where an integrated couple was filmed dancing together.

Everyone knows Lewis & Clark, but did you know that there was a black man who was also part of the expedition?

As he was enslaved by William Clark, he participated as a full member of the expedition & was present when the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean.

A THREAD What’s the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

It was an expedition, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark, during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, to explore the American Northwest, newly purchased from France. (Louisiana Purchase).

On this day in 1944, Lieutenant and baseball legend, Jackie Robinson boarded an Army bus and refused to sit at the back of the bus because of his race.

This led to a court martial & he was prohibited from being deployed overseas, thus he never saw combat action.

THREAD

While waiting for hospital test results on the ankle he had injured in junior college, Robinson boarded an Army bus.

Although the Army had commissioned its own unsegregated bus line, the bus driver ordered Robinson to move to the back of the bus. Robinson refused.

The British almost eliminated the entire aborigine Tasmanian Population of Australia in the 1800s by kidnapping, enslaving, torturing and murdering them.  

A THREAD! Tasmania is an island located about 200 miles off the southeast coast of Australia. Archaeologists estimate that Black indigenous people crossed into the island on an ancient bridge which connected Tasmania to the continent of Australia.

Happy Birthday to Patrice Lumumba, the first legally elected prime minister of D.R Congo.

He was assassinated in 1961 following a military coup supported by U.S.A & Belgian imperialism which was admitted by the State Dept in 2013 authorized by president Eisenhower.

A THREAD For 126 years, the US and Belgium have played key roles in shaping Congo's destiny. In April 1884, seven months before the Berlin Congress, the US became the first country in the world to recognise the claims of King Leopold II of the Belgians to the territories of the Congo.

In Louisiana, black women were put in cells with male prisoners and some became pregnant.

All children born in the penitentiary to blacks were property of the state.

At 10 years, they would be auctioned off. The proceeds were used to fund schools for white children.

-THREAD- Before the Civil War, most prisoners in the South were white. The punishment of enslaved African Americans was generally left up to their owners. Louisiana, however, did imprison enslaved people for "serious" crimes, generally involving acts of rebellion against the slave system.

On this day in 1942, Job Maseko, a WW2 hero, sank a NAZI ship with a bomb made from a tin can with condensed milk. He was denied the highest military decoration, due to his race.  

A THREAD Maseko was working as a delivery driver when he volunteered for service in the South African Native Military Corps during WWII (NMC). Later he was sent to the 2nd South African Infantry Division after finishing basic training in North Africa.

On this day in 1865, enslaved people in Texas were notified by Union Civil War soldiers about the abolition of slavery. This was 2.5 years after the final Emancipation Proclamation which freed all enslaved Black Americans. #Juneteenth 

But Slavery continued…

A THREAD In 1866, a year after the amendment was ratified, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor.

On this day in 1944, George Stinney, 14, became the youngest person executed in the US in the 20th century. He was so small they had to stack books on the electric chair.

Due to no evidence, his conviction was posthumously vacated 70 years after his execution!

A THREAD! George was accused of killing two white missing girls, 11-Year-old Betty and 7-year-old Mary, their bodies were found near the house where he lived with his parents in Alcolu, South Carolina march 1944.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks' cells were taken without her knowledge (HeLa Cells) at Johns Hopkins Hospital and they became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, gene mapping, vitro fertilization and more...

A THREAD Henrietta Lacks was black woman who unknowingly was the source of cells (from her cancerous tumor) which were cultured by George Otto Gey to create the 1st known human immortal cell line for medical research.

Sarah Saartjie Baartman was cruelly exploited in Europe by being exhibited as a freak show attraction because of her protruding butt. After her death, her body was displayed in a Paris museum for over 100yrs.

The exploitation of Sarah Baartman.

A THREAD! SARAH "Saarjte" Baartman of the khoikhoi people of South Africa was born in 1789 and was one of 2 women put on display as a "FREAK SHOW" act in England and then later France.

On this day in 1790, Jean Baptist Pointe Desable founded the city of Chicago.

A THREAD Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable was born in Saint-Domingue, Haiti (French colony at the time) during the Haitian Revolution. At some point he settled in the part of North America that is now known as the city of Chicago and was described in historical documents as "a handsome negro"

On this day in 1852, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was first published.

Most people have used the term UNCLE TOM to refer to a sell-out.

The real Uncle Tom was a hero, Josiah Henson, was an abolitionist who helped slaves escape among other great things.

A THREAD Josiah Henson was born into slavery in 1789 in Charles County, Maryland. Growing up he watched his father receive beatings for standing up to his slave owner and also witnessed his father's ear being severed as part of the punishment and also his father being sold off.

The Battle of Bamber Bridge, 1943.

Racist US military police attacked black US troops on British soil.

US military authorities demanded the town’s pubs impose a colour bar, the local landlords responded with signs that read “Black Troops Only” which pissed them off.

A THREAD In 1943 Black American soldiers faced off with white American Military police during World War 2 on British soil. Black American soldiers had to fight their own white American soldiers, while in England, where they were fighting the world war.

On this day in 1921, The Tulsa Race Massacre happened in the affluent black community of Greenwood in Tulsa (Black Wall Street)

White supremacists killed more than 300 African Americans and looted & burned to ground homes & businesses.

History of Tulsa before the riot

A THREAD Ottawa W. Gurley created the Black Wall Street, the affluent black community in Greenwood in Tulsa.

The origin of Memorial Day trace back to 1865 when freed slaves started a tradition to honor fallen Union soldiers and to celebrate emancipation and commemorate those who died for that cause.

A THREAD In 1865, black people in Charleston, South Carolina, held a series of memorials & rituals to honor unnamed fallen Union soldiers and celebrate the struggle against slavery. One of the largest memorial took place on May 1st 1865.

In May of 1946, The Fultz Sisters or Fultz Quads, became the first identical Black-American quadruplets on record. The Doctor named them and also put them on display for curious onlookers.

The Fascinating and Tragic story of the quadruplets,

A THREAD The Fultz Quadruplets were born May 23, 1946 at 3 pounds each. Dr. Klenner took the responsibility of naming the children upon himself since the parents could not read. He decided to name them all Mary followed by the names of the women in the Klenner family.

On this day in 1896, the U.S Supreme Court delivered its decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine and authorizing discrimination by states.

This marked the formal beginning of Jim Crow Laws.

THREAD In 1866, a year after the amendment that ‘abolished slavery’ was ratified, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor.