After being imprisoned for 27 years, Nelson Mandela and F.W. De Klerk reached an agreement in late 1989 to legalize the previously banned…
The Black Atlantic is a network of cultures spanning Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean and Europe forged, in the first instance, by the transatlantic slave trade. This timeline records some of the political, intellectual, aesthetic and activist work done in this transnational cultural formation since 1945.
1990
01
Feb
1989
04
Jul
Public Enemy Releases “Fight the Power”
The 1980s recognized a global emergence of a new generation of Black youth who interpreted the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s…
1988
01
Aug
Unrest in LA
Over the course of August 1988, “Operation Hammer” resulted in in dozens of families being left homeless after more than 80 officers raided apartment buildings in South LA. This event solidified…
1981
10
Apr
Brixton Riots
The Brixton Riots were a series of violent confrontations between police and protestors as a result of increased police presence in the community that was already tense due to being disproportionately…
1977
18
Feb
Fela Kuti Releases “Zombie”
Inspired by The Black Panther party while travelling in the United States in 1969, Fela Kuti released the album Zombie that attacked the corrupt Nigerian…
1963
21
Dec
Sam Cooke Records “A Change is Gonna Come”
Inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and after his tourmates were arrested for trying to book a ‘whites only’ hotel, Cooke recorded and released the song which became a massive success in the Black community…
1960
23
Sep
Kwame Nkrumah Addresses the United Nations
Nkrumah’s address called for an end to white supremacy and discussed Africa’s role in the world and the future role of the world in Africa…
1945
15
Oct
The Fifth Pan-African Congress Demands the End of Colonialism
After an 18 year hiatus, the Pan-African Congress reconvened for the fifth time after WWII in 1945 in Manchester, England. This Congress was…