Questions and Answers about
Black History
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What made Target pull a Civil Rights-related item during Black History Month 2024?
Answer: In a blunder that made headlines on Feb. 2, 2024, Target faced backlash for misidentifying Black leaders on products intended to celebrate Black History Month. Target swiftly removed these items and apologized. The mistakes in the Civil Rights Magnetic Learning Activity went viral after a Las Vegas high school teacher found them and posted…
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Which of these living US presidents is the only one whose ancestors DIDN’T enslave people?
Answer: According to a Reuters special report published on June 27, 2023. Donald Trump is the only living US president whose ancestors didn’t enslave people. His family history is mostly European, with his paternal grandparents immigrating from Germany and his mother from Scotland. Joe Biden had just one direct ancestor, five generations distant, who owned…
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What 1973 event is widely regarded as the birth of hip-hop culture?
Answer: On August 11, 1973. DJ Kool Herc held a party in the recreation room of an apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York City. He introduced his technique of extending record drum breaks by switching between two turntables, creating a continuous rhythm loop. This event is considered the birth of…
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As of February 2023, how many Black people have achieved EGOT status?
Answer: After Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, and Jennifer Hudson. Viola Davis is the fourth Black person to achieve EGOT status. She won the Grammy for narrating the audiobook of her memoir “Finding Me” on Feb. 5, 2023._x000D_
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Who is the first Black politician to lead either party in the US Congress?
Answer: The House Democrats formally elected Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York to be their leader on Jan. 3, 2023, uniting around the liberal lawyer to fight a Republican majority. At 52, Jeffries represents a generational shift for House Democrats after two decades under Nancy Pelosi. He’s the first black politician to lead either party…
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Who was the first Black host of a US network television game show?
Answer: In 1975 Adam Wade became the first Black host of a network television game show – CBS’s weekly afternoon game show, “Musical Chairs.” The show was canceled after less than five months. Wade, better known for his singing and acting careers, died on July 7, 2022, at his home in Montclair, N.J. He was…
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Karine Jean-Pierre is the first White House Press Secretary to be what?
Answer: On May 5, 2022, President Joe Biden appointed Karine Jean-Pierre, 44, to replace Jen Psaki as spokeswoman, making her the first Black woman and first openly gay person to hold the high-profile position. Psaki’s last day as press secretary will be May 13. She is expected to take an on-air role with MSNBC.
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When did lynching become a federal crime in the US?
Answer: On March 29, 2022, President Biden signed a bill making lynching a federal crime for the first time in the United States. The law is named for Emmett Till, the Black boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955. The anti-lynching movement first introduced legislation to criminalize lynching in 1935, but it was repeatedly blocked more…
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What was Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu most famous for?
Answer: Most famous for opposing apartheid in South Africa and helping the country’s peaceful transition to majority rule, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu died on Dec. 26, 2021, at age 90. He had won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize and was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to…
