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1992: Author Terry McMillan publishes "Waiting To Exhale", which follows four middle-class women, each of whom is
looking for the love of a worthy man. The Book's wild poopularity leads to a film adaptation.
1993: Poet Maya Angelou, author of "I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings" (1970), composes and delivers a poem for the
inauguration of President Bill Clinton. The work was autobiographical.
1993: Writer Toni Morrison, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for "Beloved", receives the Nobel Prize for
Literature.
1996: At the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., sprinter Michael Johnson becomes the first man to win gold medals in the 200 meters
and the 400 meters, setting a 200-meter world record of 19:32
Second Lieutenant Emily J. T. Perez graduated from trhe U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2005. At West
Point, she was the first Black woman to serve as Corps Commander Sergeant Major, and finished academically in the top 10 percent
of her class. In Iraq, she served as a Medical Services Corps Officer and was assigned to the 204th Support Battalion,
2d Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. She deployed in December 2005, and died in Al Kifl, Iraq on September
12, 2006. She was 23 years old.
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| Pres. Barack Obama |
2008: Senator
Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, became the first African American to receive the nomination of a major political party
to compete for the office of President of the United States in the General Election. He beat out Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
of New York in the Primary, and faces Senator John McCain, a Republican, in the General Election, and went on to become
the first African American elected President of the United States.
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1992: Mae Jemison becomes the first African American woman astronaut, spending more than a week orbiting the Earth in the
space shuttle Endeavor"
1993: Cornel West, progressive postmodern philosopher, finds a mainstream audience with the publication of his text "Race
Matters", which closely examines the black community around the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
1995: In one of the most celebrated criminal trials in American history, former running back O.J. Simpson is acquitted of
the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
1997: Michael Jordan, often considered the greatest all around player in the history of basketball, leads the Chicago Bulls
to their fifth championship.
David Paterson was sworn in as governor of the State of New York on Monday, March 17, 2008, and became New York's first
Black governor. Paterson, formerly Lieutenant Governor, succeeded Governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned after allegations of
wrongdoing. The new Governor was given a 2-minute standing ovation. His response; "We move forward. Today is Monday. There
is much to be done. There's trust that needs to be restored. There are issues that need to be addressed". His wife, Michelle
Paige Paterson, had tears in her eyes for most of the ceremony.
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| General William E. Ward |
2007: General William E. Ward, the 5th African
American to be promoted to the rank of 4-Star General in the U.S. Army became the first Commander of the newly created U.S.
Africa Command (AFRICOM). The goal of the new command is to help build the capacity of African nations and African organizations,
according to the Defense Department in a July 10, 2007 news release. General Ward has been a U.S. Army officer since 1971,
and is a graduate of Morgan State University, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was designated by the Secretary of State as U.S.
security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority f rom March to December 2005, and also commanded the NATO Stabilization
Force in Bosnia and commanded an infantry brigade in Somalia, among other important assignments.
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1992: Carol Moseley Braun becomes the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, representing the state of Illinois.
1993: Poet Rita Dove, author of the Pulizer Prize winning "Thomas and Beulah", is chosen as poet laureate of the
United States.
1995: Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, rises to the height of his influence as the most prominent
organizer of the "Million Man March" of African-American men in Washington, D.C.
| LeRoy W. Homer, Jr. |
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On September 11, 2001 LeRoy was flying with Captain Jason Dahl on United Flight 93. Based on information from several
sources that day, we know that LeRoy and Jason were the first to fight against the terrorist threat to the airplane.
LeRoy was a graduate of the Air Force Academy, Class of 1987, served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and later supported
operations in Somalia. LeRoy joined United Airlines in 1995, rising quickly to First Officer on the B727/767 in 1996, where
he remained until September 11, 2001. He has received many awards and citations posthumously, for his actions on Flight
93,including the Congress Of Racial Equality-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, the Southern Christian Leadership Conferenvce-Drum
Major for Justice Award, and others.
Deval Patrick was sworn in as Governor of Massachusetts on January 4, 2007, becoming the first Black Governor of that
state and only the second elected Black Governor in U.S. history. Patrick grew up on Chicago's South side, attended Harvard
and its law school, then worked as a civil rights lawyer for the poor and then in a corporate law firm in Boston. Among those
present for the occasion was L. Douglas Wilder, who became the first elected Black Governor when he was elected Governor of
Virginia in January 1990
Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr. is the first African American to serve as the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. He was chosen by his peers on the Supreme Court bench in 2003.
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