TJMS: If You Missed It

On this date in 1968, a student-led strike at San Francisco State University led to the suspension of classes. The Black Student Union and a multicultural group of student activists known collectively as the Third World Liberation Front joined forces to challenge SFSU to make ethnic studies a part of its curriculum and to protest […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

The Baton Rouge lunch counter protests of 1960 were inspired by the Greensboro protests of that same year. A group of Southern University students were expelled from school because of their peaceful protests in support of Greensboro, but their case was overturned on December 11, 1961 with help from the NAACP and President John F. […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong is currently the Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Since 1970, Judge Armstrong has made epic strides in her career both as a policewoman and as an attorney with a couple of historic achievements along the way. Mrs. Armstrong was born in 1947 […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

Richard Pryor is, without doubt, one of the most influential stand-up comics of all time and was an inspiration to Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Mike Epps and others. Pryor would have been 76 today after his life was cut tragically short in 2005. Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was born in Peoria, Ill. and raised […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

Gwen Ifill was a pioneering Black journalist, providing a role model for young Blacks aspiring to media careers, especially women. Ms. Ifill succumbed to her battle with cancer Monday at the age of 61, prompting a nation to mourn one of its most respected journalists. Ifill was born September 29, 1955 in New York City […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

Toni Cade Bambara was an educator, author, and community activist who was one of the leading voices of the Black feminist movement in the early ’70’s. Ms. Bambara’s works include short stories, anthologies, and screenplays that documented varying levels of the Black experience. Bambara was born Miltona Mirkin Cade on March 25, 1939 in Harlem, […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

Thanks to Hollywood blockbusters, the image of the modern jewel thief typically features a dashing leading man who can charm anyone. However, America’s top jewel thief is a Black woman by the name of Doris Payne, who was so infamous at her craft that she was hunted internationally by Interpol. Ms. Payne, 86, celebrated a […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

The second game of the World Series took place Wednesday night between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Some might be surprised to know that there is a rich piece of Black history attached to the former Jacobs Field, along with a connection to actress Kym E. Whitley’s family. In the early […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

Dr. Justina L. Ford was a pioneering physician who practiced medicine in Colorado, despite facing the barriers of race and gender. Dr. Ford, better known as the “Lady Doctor,” was rumored to have delivered 7,000 babies in her lifetime and was the lone Black female doctor in the state for the first half of the […]

TJMS: If You Missed It

Racial cleansings have occurred in America at various instances throughout history. But in 1912, an incident in Forsyth County, Ga. is remembered as the largest case of Black expulsion ever recorded. Back in September of that year, two white women were attacked at separate intervals, allegedly by Black residents of the predominately white county. Ellen […]