Week of June 18 to June 24

June 18

1941—Labor and civil rights leader A. Phillip Randolph initially rejects a plea by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to call off the first-ever Black-organized March on Washington designed to protest unfair employment practices by the military and the defense industry. The march was planned by Randolph, Bayard Rustin and A.J. Muste—all relatively unsung heroes of the early civil rights movement. The march was not cancelled until Roosevelt signed the Fair Employment Act. Ironically, over 20 years later, Randolph would be one of the principal figures helping Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organize his historic 1963 March on Washington.

Week of June 11-17

June 11
1963—President John F. Kennedy declares during a nationwide radio and television address that segregation was “morally wrong” and told the U.S. Congress it was “time to act” (pass legislation) to end all segregation of the races. That statement and similar ones endeared Kennedy to millions of African-Americans. However, a few months after making the declaration Kennedy was assassinated (November) in Dallas, Texas. But most of his legislative ideas would be implemented by his successor President Lyndon B. Johnson.

President John F. Kennedy

by Jasmyne A. Cannick

WASHINGTON D.C. (NNPA)—Toyota Motor Sales USA executives have angered NNPA Chairman Danny Bakewell Sr. and America’s preeminent Black newspaper publishers after the troubled carmaker backed out of a multi-million dollar advertising campaign targeting Black consumers. In a letter to Bakewell and the NNPA, Toyota executives said that Black consumers of Toyota products receive their advertising message from a number of media channels which include mainstream media (White media), thus implying that advertising in Black newspapers was unnecessary.

Akio Toyoda Toyota president and CEO

This decision comes after months of meetings between Toyota executives and the NNPA, a network of 200 Black publishers which represents over 19.8 million weekly readers, approximately half of America’s Black population.

by Adrienne Leon
For New Pittsburgh Courier

ATLANTA (NNPA)—Spelman College is receiving national media attention for hosting an unprecedented summit on lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender issues at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The Chronicle of Higher Education, National Public Radio, BET, and Color Lines News for Action are among the media outlets that wrote about the significance of the conference in dealing with gay and lesbian issues on Black college campuses.

UNPRECEDENTED SUMMIT—Panelists address audience members at an unprecedented summit on lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and, transgender issues at historically Black colleges and universities. (Photo by Anare V. Holmes)