Flashback: On this DATE in Black History...

February 8, 

1865 - The first African American major in the United States Army is a physician, Dr. Martin Robinson Delany.

1871-Justina Ford ,an African-American physician and humanitarian was born. As a doctor breaking down barriers for Blacks and women, Ford also worked as a humanitarian: her expertise in gynecology, obstetrics, and pediatrics was often provided to low-income and indigent people of all races. She delivered over 7000 babies during her distinguished practice of more than 50 years.

1894 - Congress repeals the Enforcement Act, which makes it easier for some states to disenfranchise African American voters.

1898- The “Grandfather Clause” was enacted for voting purposes. It was a legal and constitutional mechanism passed by seven Southern states during reconstruction to deny suffrage to black Americans. It meant that those who had enjoyed the right to vote prior to 1867, or their lineal descendants, would be exempt from educational, property, or tax requirements for voting. As a result, even if they met all the requirements, they were not allowed to vote.

Because the former slaves were not granted that right until the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, these clauses worked effectively to exclude Blacks from voting and assured the vote of many impoverished and illiterate whites. In 1915 the Supreme Court declared the grandfather clause unconstitutional because it violated equal voting rights guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment.

1924-Joe Black, an African-American baseball player in the Negro Leagues and author is born. He became the first Black pitcher to win a World Series game

1925 - Marcus Garvey is sent to federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia for mail fraud in connection with the sale of stock in his Black Star Line. His prosecution was vigorously advocated by several prominent African American leaders, including Robert Sengstacke Abbott and others. Garvey was railroaded because of the power he had amassed over the African American population of America.

1925 - Students stage a strike at Fisk University to protest the policies of the white administration at the school.

1944 - Harry S. McAlpin of the "Daily World" in Atlanta, Georgia, is the first African American journalist accredited to attend White House press conferences.

1965 - Dr. Joseph B. Danquah, Ghanaian political leader, joins the ancestors. He had been the leader of the United Gold Coast Convention, a political body which had pressed the British for a gradual relinquishing of colonial rule.

1968 - Gary Coleman is born in Zion, Ohio. He will become a child actor portraying "Arnold" in the television series, "Different Strokes," which aired from 1978 to 1986. Go ahead and say it "What you talking bout Willis?" May he R.I.P. 

1968 - Highway Patrol Officers kill three South Carolina State University students during a demonstration in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Students are protesting against a whites-only Orangeburg bowling alley.

1970 - Alonzo Mourning is born in Chesapeake, Virginia. He became a basketball star at Georgetown University and went on to play for the NBA Charlotte Hornets, New Jersey Nets and later the Miami Heat. He was praised for his courage for making a comeback after undergoing a kidney transplant and years later winning his first NBA Championship with the Miami Heat in 2006. 

1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers scores 27 points while leading his team to a 111-109 victory over the Boston Celtics. Abdul-Jabbar passed Wilt Chamberlain's NBA career record of 12,682 field goals. 

1986 - Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show.

1986 - 5' 7" Spud Webb, of the Atlanta Hawks, wins the NBA Slam Dunk Competition.

1990 - CBS News suspends resident humorist Andy Rooney for racial comments he supposedly made to a gay magazine; Rooney denies making the comments.

1995 - The U.N. Security Council approves sending 7,000 peacekeepers to Angola to cement an accord ending 19 years of civil war. 

1995- This date observes National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID).

2000 - Edna Griffin, an Iowa civil-rights pioneer best known for integrating lunch counters, passes away at the age of 90. In 1948, Griffin led the fight against Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines, which refused to serve blacks at its lunch counter. Griffin staged sit-ins, picketed in front of the store and filed charges against the store's owner, Maurice Katz, who was fined. The Iowa Supreme Court then enforced the law which made it illegal to deny service based on race. She organized Iowans to attend the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 march on Washington, D.C., and helped start the former radio station KUCB. On May 15, 1999, Des Moines' mayor proclaimed "Edna Griffin Day." On February 5, 2000, Griffin was inducted into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame.

Source: http://www.informationman.com/today.htm