This Week In Black History April 10-16, 2024

APRIL 10 1943—Tennis great Arthur Ashe is born in Richmond, Va. Ashe’s spec­tacular abilities on the tennis court enabled him to become the first Black member of the American Davis Cup team; the first Black to win the U.S. Open and the first Black to win the men’s single’s title at Wimble­don in England. Unfortunately, Ashe would die of AIDS after receiving a contaminated blood transfusion. APRIL 11 1948—On this day Jackie Robinson signed a contract that would officially make him the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. Robinson became a symbol of pride for Blacks as well as a star player. However, the admitting of Blacks into Major League Baseball helped bring about the demise of the old Negro Baseball League whose teams had become major economic institutions in cities throughout the nation. 1967—The voters of Harlem, N.Y., defy Congress and re-elect the out­spoken and often flamboyant Adam Clayton Powell Jr. His opponents in Congress had recently expelled him. The decision of the Harlem voters was rendered legally sound when the United States Supreme Court later ruled that the congressional expulsion was unconstitutional. Pow­ell was returned to Congress, but without his seniority. He died April 4,...