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100 years ago, thirteen black men put together their savings and founded Safe Bus Company, making it the largest black owned bus company at that time. It was formed in Winston-Salem to serve the black neighborhoods due to segregation and operated till 1972. Thirteen Black men pooled their life savings to purchase $100,000 in stock, forming Safe Bus Co., Inc. on May 26, 1926. The company quickly grew into the largest African American–owned bus company in the nation. Safe Bus expanded rapidly and was once described as the largest Black-owned transportation company in the world. By 1955, the company grossed $825,000. At its peak, it carried approximately 15,000 passengers per day, earned $18,000 weekly, and employed 75 people. Early fares began at five cents and increased as the company expanded. The fleet grew from 35 to 42 buses, serving roughly 20 percent of the city. Black bus drivers earned between $1.60 and $2.50 per hour—wages that exceeded those of many schoolteachers at the time. By 1968, Safe Bus provided transportation across the entire city. However, following integration, the company experienced a sharp decline in ridership. Changing social attitudes and increased competition led to significant financial losses. In 1972, stockholders voted to sell Safe Bus to the city. The Winston-Salem Transit Authority then assumed responsibility for public transportation, marking the end of one of the most successful Black-owned transit companies in American history.

“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” —Maya Angelou

On this day in 1952, the British colonial government declared a state of emergency in Kenya in response to the Mau Mau rebellion against their rule. The declaration allowed for the use of wartime powers, leading to mass arrests, detentions without trial, and harsh crackdowns on suspected Mau Mau fighters and sympathizers.

A young girl in a school for black civil rights activists being trained to not react to hair being pulled and smoke blown in her face, 1960. In 1960, young civil rights activists were trained to endure abuse without reacting. many of them teenagers and children—were taught how to remain calm while facing physical and verbal harassment. The goal was preparation for sit-ins, marches, and protests where hostility was expected.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” —Martin Luther King

When people hear the Black Panther Party, most think only of armed patrols and confrontations with police. That image is incomplete. What’s often left out is the work they did at the community level. The Panthers created survival programs to address basic needs that government institutions ignored in Black neighborhoods. They operated free medical clinics that provided testing and treatment when hospitals were inaccessible or discriminatory. They ran the Free Breakfast Program, feeding tens of thousands of children before school so hunger wouldn’t interfere with learning. They organized free grocery programs for the elderly, many of whom were living on limited incomes. They established free schools, where children were taught academic skills alongside Black history and political education. These programs were structured, disciplined, and effective. They weren’t symbolic gestures. They filled real gaps in housing, healthcare, nutrition, and education. Reducing the Black Panther Party to a single narrative ignores the reality of what they built and why they existed.

Kwame Nkrumah about to lay a wreath at a special memorial service in honour of late Patrice Lumumba in Accra on February 14, 1961. Just weeks earlier, Lumumba had been killed during a period of intense political crisis following Congo’s independence from Belgium in 1960. His death sent shockwaves across Africa and the wider world. For many newly independent African nations, Lumumba symbolized sovereignty, unity, and the right of African countries to determine their own political and economic futures. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President and a leading advocate of Pan-African unity, viewed Lumumba’s death as more than a national tragedy — it was a continental moment. Ghana had gained independence in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African colony to do so in the modern era. Nkrumah believed that African liberation movements were interconnected, and that the independence of one nation strengthened the entire continent. The memorial service in Accra reflected this broader vision. It was not only a tribute to a fallen leader, but also a reaffirmation of solidarity among African states during the era of decolonization. Across the continent, Lumumba’s assassination intensified conversations about foreign influence, Cold War politics, and the fragile nature of newly formed governments. This moment captures more than a ceremony. It represents a pivotal period in African history — a time when independence movements were reshaping global politics and leaders like Nkrumah and Lumumba were defining what post-colonial leadership could look like. Their legacies continue to influence discussions about sovereignty, unity, and the long-term challenges of nation-building in Africa.

On this day in 1944, US Navy began accepting black women to serve. Harriet Ida Pickens and Ensign Frances Wills were the first two Black officers to be commissioned into the Women’s Reserve. On October 19th, 1944, the U.S. Navy began admitting black women to serve as administrative officers in the Women's Reserve of the U.S. Navy,better known as WAVES( Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). Despite this groundbreaking order, Black women remained largely unrepresented in the naval branch. Of the more than 80,000 women serving during World War II, only 72 were black. The U.S. military's history of racial segregation formally came to an end on July 26, 1948, when President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, the legislation that integrated all branches of the U.S. armed forces. On December 26, 1944 Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Harriet Ida Pickens, and Ensign Frances Wills were commissioned as the first African-American WAVES.

In 1875, a 19-year-old Black jockey named Oliver Lewis made history in the Kentucky Derby, then quietly disappeared. Lewis became the first jockey to ever win the Kentucky Derby, America’s longest-running sporting event. At the time, the race was watched by 10,000 spectators and held at the Louisville Jockey Club, now known as Churchill Downs. What makes his victory even more striking is that he wasn’t supposed to win. Lewis rode Aristide, one of two horses entered by the same owner. The favored horse, Chesapeake, was expected to take the prize. Lewis was reportedly instructed to set the pace and tire the field so Chesapeake could surge late. But things didn’t go as planned. As the race unfolded, Chesapeake fell far behind. In the final stretch, Lewis found himself neck and neck with another horse, Volcano. He seized the moment. Aristide pulled away and won by two lengths. With that decision, Oliver Lewis became the first Kentucky Derby champion. At that first Derby, 13 of the 15 jockeys were African American, as was Aristide’s trainer, Ansel Williamson—facts rarely mentioned in popular accounts of the sport today. Despite his success, Lewis would never ride in the Kentucky Derby again. He retired after that season for reasons that remain unknown. He later worked as a laborer, then as a bookmaker when it was legal in Kentucky. He raised a family of six children and died in 1924 at the age of 68. The man who won the very first Derby helped build the sport—yet history nearly left him behind.

Happy birthday to the Father of Rock N' Roll, the legendary, Chuck Berry! He would have been 100 today! Chuck Berry is perhaps the defining musician of the early rock & roll era, the one figure responsible for the music's sound, style, and sensibility that created the blueprint for the generations that followed. A guitarist who wanted to play like T-Bone Walker and croon like Nat King Cole, Berry married these two styles to a swinging beat that spliced jump blues with juke joint R&B and hillbilly boogie -- a blend that arrived nearly fully realized with his 1955 debut single "Maybellene," a record that topped the R&B charts and crashed into the pop Top Ten. Berry quickly followed "Maybellene" with a series of fleet-fingered, quick-witted singles like "Roll Over Beethoven," "School Day," "Sweet Little Sixteen," and "Johnny B. Goode" that constitute one of the richest and deepest American songbooks of the 20th century, a collection of tunes that captures the exuberance of post-war popular culture, a period filled with automobiles, teenagers, and rock & roll music. It was also a period of great racial strife, something Berry alluded to in his work -- witness the Black pride of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." Berry's prison sentence for violating the Mann Act coincided with a cooling of rock & roll's commercial fortunes in the early 1960s. When he was released, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had revived rock & roll, an opening Berry seized with a series of terrific hit singles: "No Particular Place to Go," "You Never Can Tell," and "Nadine." During the late '60s, Berry became the only one of his rock & roll peers to actively court a younger audience of hippies, a move that eventually paid off in 1972 when the ribald "My Ding-A-Ling" gave him his only number one hit. Berry effectively retired from active duty after 1979's Rockit, but he continued to play regular gigs with pickup bands and experienced the occasional revival, such as Taylor Hackford's 1987 celebratory concert film and documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll. During his later years, Berry retired to his hometown of St. Louis, playing regular gigs at Blueberry Hill until the late 2010s. Upon his 90th birthday in 2016, Berry announced the release of his first album in decades but he would not live to see the release of Chuck in 2017; he passed on March 18, 2017.

Mother smiles as she poses with her eight children, circa 1950s

George Taliaferro was the first black player drafted in the NFL. In the 1949 NFL Draft, Taliaferro was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 13th round (129th overall), breaking a barrier in a league that had long been slow to include Black athletes in its formal selection process. Although he chose to honor a contract with the Los Angeles Dons of the rival All-America Football Conference that year, his selection marked a historic first in NFL history — a moment that helped open doors for the generations of Black athletes who followed. Before the pros, Taliaferro was already a force at Indiana University, starring in multiple positions, earning three All-American honors, and leading the Hoosiers to their only undefeated Big Ten season. In the NFL and the AAFC, he continued to showcase his versatility, playing halfback, quarterback, defensive back, receiver, punter, and returner over his professional career. Beyond the gridiron, Taliaferro dedicated his life to education and community service — earning a master’s degree, supporting youth programs, and advocating for equality off the field. Taliaferro passed away in 2018 at the age of 91, but his impact lives on every time players of all races take the field, every time the draft brings excitement and opportunity, and every Super Bowl weekend reminds us how far the game — and the country — has come

On this day in 1806, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a leader of the Haitian Revolution and later Emperor of Haiti, was assassinated. He led armies to defeat France to become the first free colonial society. It was the greatest slave uprising since Spartacus. It was a powerful reminder that Black liberation Could be achieved.

Lonnie Johnson, NASA engineer, invented the Super Soaker. He made your childhood hot summers fun, 1980s.