The Congressional Black Caucus was organized by African American members of the U.S. House of Representatives to effectively address the issues of black constituents before Congress.

Commercial Real Estate Broker Monica Cost is born.

The film Sweet Sweetback's Baadaass Song is released on this date. It was written, produced, directed, and distributed by Melvin Van Peebles. The cast included Van Peebles in the title role, John Amos, and a young Mario Van Peebles. The film grossed $15 million, a first for a Black-oriented film.

National Urban League Executive Director Whitney M. Young drowns in Lagos, Nigeria.

Rev. Leon Sullivan is elected to the Board of Directors of General Motors. He has helped provide job training for millions of Blacks with his Opportunities Industrialization Centers.

Influential in changes to national public policy, the Reverend Walter E. Fauntroy is elected the first since Reconstruction of ten terms as District of Columbia’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Spoken word artist 1912">Malik Yusef is born on this date in Chicago, Illinois.

The U.S. Supreme Court reiterated, in a series of unanimous decisions, the constitutionality of busing as a means of achieving the desegregation of schools. The rulings, made in separate cases brought to the court by southern states and school boards, affirm the Court’s commitment to desegregation.

Civil Rights Activist Fannie Lou Hamer addressed the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Institute in New York on this date. Hame described the achievements of her "Freedom Farm".

The conspiracy trial against Bobby G. Seale and other defendants ended in a hung jury. The judge ordered all charges dropped. The following year the federal government suspended the contempt charges and released Seale from prison.

Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. became the first Black Admiral in the U.S. Navy on this date. Gravely served as vice admiral on the U.S.S. Jouett. He is also a veteran of World War II, and both Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Vernon Jordan, the former executive director of the United Negro College Fund, is appointed to the directorship of the National Urban League. He will later leave this post after an attempt on his life.

Daniels & Bell, Inc. makes history as the first-black-owned firm to become a member of the New York Stock Exchange.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on this date for complete desegregation of 81 southern school districts.

Louis Armstrong, the legendary jazz trumpeter and bandleader, dies at the age of seventy-one years old.

Illustrator & Freelance Artist Gregory Christie is born.

Cleveland Brown running back Jim Brown is inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. Brown is known as "one of the most gifted running backs" in the National Football League.

Ralph Bunche died on this date in New York City. He was the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.

Following the Reverend Jesse Jackson’s resignation from the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), he announces to four thousand cheering blacks the founding of a new organization for economic and political action called PUSH (0">People United to Save Humanity).