By Kelli Green
In February Americans and Canadians celebrate Black History Month. In honor of that celebration here are a few interesting black history facts.
- During the Haitian revolution, led by Toussaint L’Overtute, the colony of Santo Domingo (now, Dominican Republic) abolished slavery in 1801 and on January 1, 1804, former slave and revolutionary general, Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared the country of Saint Domingue free from French rule and renamed it Haiti.
- On March 2, 1955, 15 year old, Claudette Colvin was the first person arrested in Montgomery, AL for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus, eventually leading to the famous Bus Boycott.
- In keeping with the theme of love, Loving v. Virginia in 1967 was the Supreme Court case that made it legal for the first time in the U.S. for an interracial couple to be wed in all 50 states. The couple that brought the case to the Supreme Court, were ironically named, Richard and Mildred Loving.
- In 1936, Jesse Owens became the first American track-and-field athlete to win 4 gold medals at the Olympics in Berlin. The iconic Olympic event will be portrayed in the up and coming film, Race, which opened on February 19th!
Remember, black history is world history!
Photo retrieved from Pensacola State College’s Facebook page
