On January 10 1966, Julian Bond, communications director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, denied seat in Georgia House of Representatives because of his opposition to Vietnam War.
(AP Photo/Horace Cort)
On January 10 1957, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded in New Orleans, Louisiana by five ministers including Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Joseph Lowery, Fred Shuttlesworth and C.K. Steele. Dr. King was the founding president, Abernathy president emeritus and Rep. Walter Fauntroy, D-District of Columbia, was chairman of the board of directors.
(AFP/Getty Images)
On January 12 a year ago, Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7 earthquake. The quake killed as many as 300,000 residents and left more than 1.5 million people homeless.
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ivanoh Demers, Montreal La Presse)
On January 11 1984, the album Thriller by Michael Jackson became the all-time best selling L-P – at the time, anyway. Thriller with 10 million copies sold, passed the previous best-seller, the soundtrack from Saturday Night Fever. Thriller has gone on to sell over 25 million copies in the US — the top-selling album ever by a solo act.
(Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)
On January 13 1999, Michael Jordan announces his second retirement from the NBA.
(Jonathan Daniel/Getty)
On January 13 1990, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia is inaugurated as the first African-American to be elected governor in the U.S. Wilder won the election in Virginia by less than half a percent in a state once the heart of the Confederacy.
(Frederick Watkins, Jr./Ebony Collection via AP Images)
On January 13 1979, singer Donny Hathaway died in a fall from a hotel window in New York City. He was only 34.
(Stephen Verona/Getty)
Robert Weaver became the first African-American appointed to a presidential cabinet when President Lyndon B. Johnson named him to head the newly created Department of Housing and Urban Development on January 13, 1966.
(Hulton Archive/Getty)
The Martin Luther King Jr., commemorative stamp was presented by the Postmaster General in Atlanta Saturday, Jan. 13, 1979 to Rev. Martin Luther King Sr., and Coretta King (seated at right).
(AP Photo)
On January 13 1987, Evan Mecham, then governor of Arizona, rescinded the gubernatorial decree by Gov. Bruce Babbit that established the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
(AP Photo/Jeff Robbins/Pool)
On this January 13 1996, Janet Jackson signed a four-album deal with Virgin Records worth an estimated $80 million. Until that time, recording deals for superstars such as her brother Michael and Madonna were in the $60 million range.
(Getty Images)
On January 14 1972, Sanford and Son made its premiere on NBC. The show starred comedian Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson as a junkman and his son.
(Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank via AP Images)
Michael Jordan retired for the second time, Sanford and Son debuted and R&B legend Donny Hathaway died; 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.
