President Johnson pushes the Civil Rights Act through Congress that prohibited discrimination in public places, gave the Justice Department permission to sue states that discriminated against women and minorities and promised equal opportunities…
The Black Atlantic is a network of cultures spanning Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean and Europe forged, in the first instance, by the transatlantic slave trade. This timeline records some of the political, intellectual, aesthetic and activist work done in this transnational cultural formation since 1945.
1964
02
Jul
1961
15
Mar
Ray Charles Refuses to Play for Segregated Audience
When it was announced that Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia, would be segregating Ray Charles’s show, Charles immediately cancelled his appearance. This came after a refusal to include Augusta in his tour for “What’d I Say”…
1960
21
Mar
Sharpeville Massacre
The Sharpeville massacre occurred after a day of demonstrations against pass laws when South African police opened fire on a crowd, killing 69 and injuring 180. It triggered mass underground resistance and international solidarity…
1959
17
May
Murder of Kelso Cochrane
Kelso Cochrane, a young Black man, was stabbed to death in Golborne Road by white youth who were never apprehended. His murder sparked a new era of community race relations in Britain thanks to the lack of…
1958
29
Aug
Notting Hill Race Riots
Between August 29 and September 5, 1958, there were a series of racially motivated race riots in Notting Hill between ‘Teddy Boys’ and Caribbean Immigrants. Some of these riots included…
1957
06
Mar
Ghana Obtains Independence
Kwame Nkrumah, a renowned pan-Africanist, leads Ghana to independence as Britain’s first African colony to obtain majority-rule independence. Ghana stood, as Nkrumah stated, as proof that “Africans conduct their own affairs…
1948
10
Dec
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights became the foundation for human and civil rights movement after WWII. For the Black Atlantic, the Declaration emphasized the recognition of fundamental rights and freedoms by their colonial leaders…