In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated
In 1941, (Momma age 13) an attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii sent the USA into the throws of World War 2 where the first all-black group of military pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen served from until 1949. Also during this time, 5 million women dropped their aprons, left the confines of their kitchens and joined the workforce for the very first time. The Thyne Institute, which was originally established as a Presbyterian church in 1876, provided an opportunity for newly freed black men to get an education. It enriched the lives of thousands of black folks in the years following the end of slavery. The Thyne Institute was the prototype for what became known as HBCUs and our Momma likely graduated from there around 1945. We’re not sure exactly when Momma moved from her hometown in Southern VA to Baltimore but we do know she one of 6 million African Americans who moved out of the Jim Crow south to escape poor economic conditions and racial violence during The Great Migration. In May of 1954 (Momma 25, and most likely living here in Baltimore) The US Supreme Court ruled against the “separate but equal” doctrine which began the desegregation of public schools and heightened the racial tension preceding the Civil Rights Movement. One of the first successful anti-segregation sit-ins happened right here in Baltimore at a drug store that sat at the corner of Lexington St. and Howard St. In Aug 1963. (M, 35) Dr. Martin Luther King' Jr gave his most famous "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
In 1966, Huey P Newton founded the Black Panther Party of Self Defense and In 1967 fellow Baltimorean Thurgood Marshall is sworn into office as the first black Supreme Court Justice. In 1968, When Momma was 40 years old, Dr. King is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. According to The Baltimore Sun, Momma moved her family into a 3 bedroom apartment in the Murphy Holmes Housing Community in 1978. The article states that while she originally resented living in public housing, she grew to love her community and was brought to tears when it was demolished. On Jan 20 1986, Momma was 57 years old when the US observed MLK Day as a federal holiday for the very first time. In 1999, The Baltimore Sun reports that Momma, at 70 years old and after being a resident of MHP for twenty years, was permitted to press the button that blew up the buildings. She was quoted stating, “The man told me, he said, one, two, three, and I pushed the button, but… I don’t think I blew it up, I think I just pushed a button and it looked like I did.” Continue Reading On Next Page >>>>>>>>>>>
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