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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · 23d

100 years ago today, B.B King, “The King of the Blues,” was born on a plantation near Itta Bena, Mississippi.

In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 2006, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the greatest civilian honor.
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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · 24d

#OnThisDay in 1963, the KKK planted a bomb inside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing 4 young girls, Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson. The bombing became a turning point in the civil rights movement.
mississippitoday.org/2024/09/15/1...

1963: Klan bombs 16th Street Baptist Church - Mississippi Today

On this day in 1963, Klansmen planted a bomb inside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young girls and blinded a fifth.

mississippitoday.org

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 22

#OnThisDay in 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer testified before the DNC’s credentials committee about violence against Black Mississippians who tried to vote. Her testimony ran on all the networks. “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/22/1...

1964: Fannie Lou Hamer testifies at DNC - Mississippi Today

On this day in 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer testified before the Democratic National Convention’s (DNC) credentials committee.

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 21

#OnThisDay in 1781, Elizabeth Freeman successfully sued for her freedom in Massachusetts after hearing that all people were born free and equal. Her case helped lead the Massachusetts Supreme Court to declare slavery was incompatible with the state constitution.
mississippitoday.org/2023/08/21/o...

1781: Elizabeth Freeman, a slave, sued for her freedom - Mississippi Today

On this day in 1781, more than 80 years before the Emancipation Proclamation, Elizabeth Freeman sued for her freedom from slavery.

mississippitoday.org

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 20

#OnThisDay in 1619, 20+ Africans, kidnapped by Portuguese forces, landed in Point Comfort VA on an English ship, the 1st recorded Africans to arrive in England’s American colonies. By the time slavery ended, nearly 15M Africans had landed in the Americas.
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/20/1...

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 19

#OnThisDay in 1958, the NAACP Youth Council in Oklahoma City, led by Clara Luper, began sit-ins to challenge the all-white lunch counters at Katz. Days later, Katz desegregated lunch counters. In all, she was arrested 26 times for her protests.
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/19/1...

1958: Clara Luper leads Oklahoma's first sit-in - Mississippi Today

On this day in 1958, high school history teacher Clara Luper led the first sit-in in Oklahoma to challenge all-white lunch counters.

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 18

#OnThisDay in 1963, when James Meredith became 1st Black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi, NAACP lawyer Constance Baker Motley cheered him. She shepherded his successful admission through courts. 1st Black female to serve as federal judge. mississippitoday.org/2023/08/18/1...

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 17

#OnThisDay in 1959, innovative trumpeter Miles Davis released his album, “Kind of Blue,” profoundly influencing jazz, rock & classical music. Many critics regard it as the most outstanding jazz album ever released. Received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 17

I've heard that rumor, too!

Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 16

#OnThisDay in 1938, legendary bluesman Robert Johnson died at 27. Legend has it that he went to a Mississippi Delta crossroads and sold his soul to the devil in exchange for playing guitar. His blues helped inspire the R&B & rock'n'roll that followed.
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/16/1...

1938: Bluesman Robert Johnson dies - Mississippi Today

On this day in 1938, legendary bluesman Robert Johnson died mysteriously at the age of 27. His burial also remains a mystery.

mississippitoday.org

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 16

Best-selling author Greg Iles died today. He was an absolute ball of fire, a mind that went from 0 to 90 in just a few seconds. I will definitely miss him!
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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 15

#OnThisDay in 1906, the Niagara Movement, forerunner to NAACP, called for enforcement of 13th-15th Amendments: “The Negro race in America ... needs help and is given hindrance, needs protection and is given mob-violence ... needs bread and is given a stone.” mississippitoday.org/2024/08/15/1...

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 14

#OnThisDay in 1908, about 5,000 white men in Springfield, Illinois, wanted to lynch two Black men in jail. When the mob discovered the men had been moved, they began to terrorize Black Americans & their supporters, killing 16+. Massacre inspired NAACP's creation.
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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 13

#OnThisDay in 1954, Lamar Smith, a WWI veteran who organized Black Americans to vote, was shot dead on the courthouse lawn in Brookhaven, Mississippi. An all-white grand jury refused to indict, despite the fact the sheriff saw the killer covered in blood.
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/13/1...

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 12

#OnThisDay in 1932, comedian & civil rights activist Dick Gregory was born in St. Louis. 1st Black comic to talk on “Tonight Show.” When he heard surplus food was cut off to Mississippi Delta in 1963, he sent 14K lbs of food. Arrested w/ protesters in Greenwood.
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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 11

#OnThisDay in 1921, Alex Haley, the author of “Roots” and “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, was born in Ithaca NY. His interview with Malcolm X became a highly regarded 1965 book on the civil rights leader before he experienced the immense success of “Roots.”
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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 10

#OnThisDay in 1920, Mamie Smith sang “Crazy Blues,” detailing the “outrage by a woman driven mad by mistreatment,” music critic David Hajdu wrote in the NYT. The song popularized the blues, selling 2M+ copies and paving the way for other Black female performers.
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/10/1...

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 9

#OnThisDay in 1936, Jesse Owens won his 4th gold medal as part of the 4×100-meter relay team. The success of him and other Black athletes defeated Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s plans to showcase “Aryan superiority.” mississippitoday.org/2024/08/09/1...

1936: Jesse Owens wins 4th gold medal - Mississippi Today

On this day in 1936, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal as a member of the 4x100-meter relay team that set a world record of 39.8 seconds.

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 8

#OnThisDay in 1925, 30,000 KKK members marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The group reached 4M, tapping into fears surrounding immigration. The states with the most members were IN, OH, TX, PA, IL, OK & NY & even served in legislatures.
mississippitoday.org/2023/08/08/1...

1925: Ku Klux Klan marches in D.C.

On this day in 1925, in a show of force, thousands of Ku Klux Klan members marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

mississippitoday.org

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 7

#OnThisDay in 1904, diplomat Ralph Bunche was born in Detroit. He was a member of the “Black Cabinet,” which #FDR consulted on minority issues. He negotiated the 1948 armistice agreements between Israel & Arab states. Received Nobel Peace Prize.
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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 6

#OnThisDay in 1963, a 1,000 Black Mississippians defied arrest and KKK threats by the KKK to cast protest votes in Mississippi. “I had fear in my heart,” said activist Billie Johnson b/c she knew police would beat her. When they didn't, she thanked God 3 times.
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/06/1...

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 5

#OnThisDay in 1966, #MLK and others marched in Chicago to protest racial discrimination in housing. About 700 white counter-protesters threw bricks, bottles & rocks. Tension continued until Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley negotiated an agreement for fair housing.
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/05/1...

1966: MLK leads Chicago Freedom Movement protest - Mississippi Today

On this day in 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and others marched to protest housing discrimination, one of many Chicago Freedom Movement efforts.

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 4

#OnThisDay in 1901, Louis Armstrong, trumpeter known around the globe as “Satchmo,” was born in New Orleans. His inventive playing & gravelly voice reached far beyond jazz, prompting singer Bing Crosby to declare, “He is the beginning & end of music in America.”
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/04/1...

1901: Louis Armstrong is born - Mississippi Today

On August 4, 1901, trumpeter Louis Armstrong was born in an impoverished area of New Orleans known as “the Battlefield.”

mississippitoday.org

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 3

#OnThisDay in 1979, Patricia Roberts Harris began serving as secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter. 1st Black woman to serve in the presidential cabinet and 1st Black woman to enter the presidential line of succession.
mississippitoday.org/2024/08/03/1...

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Jerry Mitchell @jmitchellnews.bsky.social · Aug 2

#OnThisDay in 1924, James Baldwin was born in Harlem. His book “The Fire Next Time” became a best-seller. He wrote notes for a novel about Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. His words were captured in the 2016 documentary, “I Am Not Your Negro.”
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