Know Your Important Dates
As a result of the Moorish conquest of Spain skin color became the norm of racist identification. The Moors were Black, or dark-skinned people, who conquered Spain for over 7 centuries. The Moors were defeated in 1492, and unlike ancient slavery bondage based on skin color took hold. Contrary to popular belief the first slaves did not come in 1619. The Portuguese and Spanish had already brought Africans to the Americas as early as 1520. In 1619, Africans were brought to the colony Jamestown, Virginia by the Dutch. The Stono Rebellion was the largest slave revolt ever staged in the 13 colonies. However, on Sunday, Sept. 9, 1739, about 20 slaves under the leadership of a man named Jimmy provided whites with a painful lesson on the African desire for liberty.
Moreover, the German Coast Uprising (1811), was a large revolt of “Woke” slaves in Louisiana. The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), which was spearheaded by Toussaint Louverture who fought and won freedom, struck fear in the hearts of slave owners everywhere; it struck a loud and electrifying chord with African slaves in America and was a rallying cry for Black soldiers during the Civil War. The British often employed Blacks and did so in the War of 1812. In fact, “The British enlisted Black runaways into a battalion known as the Colonial Marines.” These men became the best troops in the British forces. In 1829, during the Deiz y Seiz celebrations, Afro-Mexican President Vicente Guerrero abolished in Mexico, which included Texas, and is what caused white settlers to rebel against Mexico and the real reason for the Battle of the Alamo and San Jacinto. As early as January of 1836, free Blacks were ordered out of Texas unless sponsored by a white man, were light-skinned Mulattos that had Black slaves, or unless authorized by the Texas Congress. The free black presence in Texas would be completely eliminated when Mexico was defeated.
Between August 21–22, 1831, was the Nat Turner Revolt. Turner-killed 60 slave owners in Virginia in 1831. Historians refer to Turner as the Spartacus of his time. In the Dred Scott Case (1857), the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is quoted as saying,
A black man has no rights which a white man is bound to respect.
On October 16, 1859. John Brown’s Raid at Harpers Ferry, which is the real reason for the start of the Civil War (1861). On February 12, 1909, the NAACP founded, and on May 17, 1954: the Supreme Court rules 9-0 in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation is unconstitutional. On February 1, 1960, SNCC (The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) was founded and was the most radical in providing advice to Martin Luther King’s movement.
On August 23,1963: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and on February 21, 1965 Malcolm X was assassinated. Malcolm’s ideas would continue with the founding, on October 15, 1966, in Oakland, CA, of the Black Panther Party for self Defense which was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. In an attempt to destroy the freedom movement on April 4, 1968, MLK was assassinated. On June 7,1998, James Byrd Jr. was dragged to death in Jasper, Texas, and on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States, and the first Black President of the United States. There are many more important dates and all of them show that Black resistance to white supremacy cannot be destroyed.
