IT is my honor, my pleasure and my duty to continuing to offer the recognition of Black History Month to the People of the CNMI. As Dr. King once asked me and others “if not you then who, and if not now then when” will anyone whole-heartedly promote and embrace Black History Month in appreciation of the many accomplishments by African-Americans. It is my sincere hope and prayer that this will ONE DAY inspire a Local Chamorro/Carolinian Month with a Calendar.
Feb 22, 1979 – Frank E. Peterson Jr. became the first black general in the Marine Corps.
Feb. 23, 1965 – Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough president, the highest elective office held by a black woman in a major American city.
Feb. 24, 1864 – Rebecca Lee became the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree.
Feb. 25, 1870 – Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi was sworn in as first black U.S. senator and first black member of Congress.
Feb. 25, 1948 – Martin Luther King was ordained as a Baptist minister.
Feb. 25, 1971 – President Nixon met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and appointed a White House panel to study a list of recommendations made by the group.
Feb. 26, 1869 – Fifteenth Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote sent to the states for ratification.
Feb. 26, 1926 – Carter G. Woodson started Negro History Week. This week would later become Black History Month.
Feb. 27, 1869 – John W. Menard spoke in Congress in defense of his claim to a contested seat in Louisiana’s Second Congressional District. Congress decided against both claimants. Congressman James A. Garfield of the examining committee said “it was too early to admit a Negro to the U.S. Congress.” Menard was the first black to make a speech in Congress.
Feb. 27, 1988 – Figure skater Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to win a medal (bronze) at the winter Olympic Games.
Feb. 28, 1859 – Arkansas legislature required free blacks to choose between exile and enslavement.
Feb. 28, 1932 – Richard Spikes invented/patented the automatic gear shift.
