This Week In Black History April 17-23, 2024

APRIL 17 1872—Activist and fiery journalist William Monroe Trotter is born on this day in Boston, Mass. A close friend of W.E.B. Du Bois, Trotter was one of the most militant Black leaders of the late 1800s and early 1900s. He helped found the Niagara Movement, which led to the estab­lishment of the NAACP but then refused to join, claiming the group was too moderate and elitist. He was also a leading opponent of the accommodating policies of Booker T. Washington. Trotter’s primary ve­hicle of expression was his newspa­per—the Boston Guardian. APRIL 18 1818—Military leader Andrew Jackson (later president) leads the defeat of a force of Indians and Blacks at the Battle of Suwanee, bringing an end to the First Semi­nole War. The Seminoles had been the target of a government military campaign because they possessed lands, which Whites in Florida great­ly desired, and because they had provided safe haven for escaped slaves. Indeed, Blacks such as John Horse would become major Semi­nole leaders. It would take at least two more major military campaigns before the Seminoles and their Black allies lost possession of those lands. 1977—Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” is awarded the Pulitzer Prize. APRIL 19 1910—The National...