The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is welcomed with a kiss by his wife Coretta after leaving court in Montgomery, Ala., March 22, 1956. King was found guilty of conspiracy to boycott city buses in a campaign to desegregate the bus system, but a judge suspended his $500 fine pending appeal. On December 20, 1956 the African-American community of Montgomery, Alabama voted unanimously to end its 385 day bus-boycott.
(AP Photo/Gene Herrick)
On December 20 1981, the musical Dreamgirls opened on Broadway. The show starring Jennifer Holliday ran for 15-hundred-22 performances and won six Tony Awards in 1982. Dreamgirls is based primarily on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes. The play was also made into a movie starring Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson, who won an Oscar for her work in the film.
Cast members from the Broadway show Dreamgirls are seen at Sardi’s in New York, May 12, 1982, following Tony nominations. From left to right: actor Obba Babatunde; actress Sheryl Lee Ralph; director Michael Bennett; actress Jennifer Holliday, who has been nominated for Best Actress in the Broadway musical; actor Ben Harney; and actor Cleavant Derrick.
(AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett)
On December 20 1986, Max Robinson the first black network anchor, died of AIDS.
On this day on December 21 1988, Jesse Jackson urges and there by coined the term African-American.
(AP Photo/Frankie Ziths)
It was on December 21 1969 that Diana Ross and the Supremes made their last appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” They sang “Someday We’ll Be Together.” Ross left the group for a solo career. Years later Ross toured with two other former members of the Supremes in what was billed as the “Return To Love” tour. It turned out to be more like the “Return The Tickets” tour. It was poorly supported and eventually was cut short.
(Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank via AP Images)
Anthony Griffith, 22, the younger brother of Michael Griffith, consoles his mother Jean Griffith at a news conference at Our Lady of Charity Catholic Church in Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 31, 1986. On December 21, 1986 Michael Griffith is hit by a car and killed while attempting to escape a mob of whites who were beating him in Howard Beach, Queens NY
(AP Photo/Susan Ragan)
A woman walks past the Motown Historical Museum on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Feb. 1, 2005. Berry Gordy lived upstairs and operated what became known as the Motown Record Corporation downstairs and christened it Hitsville U.S.A. On December 21 1959 Motown Records was established by Berry Gordy Jr.
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
U.S. President Jimmy Carter watches as Patricia R. Harris is sworn in Washington, Friday, August 3, 1979 as Secretary of Health, Education Welfare. Harris, the first of the President’s new Cabinet appointees to be sworn replaces Joseph Califano. On December 21 1976, Harris was named the secretary of housing and urban development by President Carter.
(AP Photo/Cook)
On this December 22 1993, Michael Jackson defended himself against child molestation allegations during a live statement that was broadcast on TV. He complained of being subjected to a full body search by investigators, calling it “the most humiliating ordeal” of his life. Jackson did not take any questions after his comments, which were broadcast by satellite from his Neverland ranch.
On this December 22 1995, the hot movie to see was Waiting to Exhale. It starred Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon, in the film adaptation of Terry McMillan’s best-selling novel about four women struggling with life and love. The film also had a blockbuster soundtrack.
On December 22 1943, W.E.B. Du Bois was the first African American elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
A woman holds a sign of singer/songwriter James Brown as his body passes in a horse-drawn carriage en route to the Apollo Theater in New York, in this Dec. 28, 2006 file photo, where Brown’s body will lie in repose for a public viewing. On December 25 2006, The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, passed away of congestive heart failure caused by complications from pneumonia
(AP Photo/Kathy Willens, file)
On December 23, 1863 the heroic action at the victorious battle off the coast of South Carolina earned Robert Blake the Naval Medal of Honor, the first African American to receive such an honor.
On this date December 26 1966, Kwanzaa was originated by Dr. Maulana Karenga.
(AP Photo/John Amis)
Motown was founded, Michael Jackson denied child molestation allegations and the Godfather of Soul passed away; this is an incredibly historic week by any standard. The slideshow below takes a look a back on some of the pivotal cultural moments that have occurred this week in African-American history.
