This Week In Black History September 11-17, 2024

SEPTEMBER 11 1740—Was he America’s first Black doctor and or dentist? It is unclear but on this day in 1740 the Phila­delphia Gazette carries a report of a “Negro” named Simon who was skilled in the abilities to “bleed and draw teeth.” During the colonial peri­od, such a phrase was normally used in reference to doctors and dentists. 1851—In a fairly unusual develop­ment, a group of Blacks on this day in 1851 rout a group of slave catch­ers who had come to Christiana, Pa., to re-capture runaway slaves. One White was killed and a second one was seriously wounded. SEPTEMBER 12 1913—Track and field athletic leg­end Jesse Owens is born on this day in Oakville, Ala. Owens would achieve international fame when he won four gold medals at the 1936 summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. His feat helped under­mine Adolph Hitler’s myth of Aryan or White superiority. 1977—One of the greatest unsung heroes of the struggle against then White-ruled South Africa’s system of racial suppression known as apart­heid is murdered on this day by South African law enforcement of­ficials. Steve Biko was a leader of the country’s Black Consciousness Movement. He believed that one of the most destructive attitudes...