The historical importance of August 28th
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In the annals of modern American history, August 28th has proven time and again to be a critically important date:
August 28, 1955—Emmitt Till, a 14-year old Chicago boy, was lynched to death in Mississippi by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam after Bryant's lying wife, Carolyn, falsely accused the child of whistling at her and grabbing her around the waist. Till’s gruesome death and pictures of his grotesque remains were two of the leading catalysts for what would soon be called the “direct action” phase of the Civil Rights Movement, one in which boycotts, sit-ins, protest marches, and freedom rides would confront systemic racism and racists all across the South.
The late Emmett Till, 14, and the mendacious men who murdered him, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam…
August 28, 1963—An all star cast of Civil Rights leaders, organized by Bayard Rustin and A. Phillip Randolph, led the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream Speech.” The roster of presenters that day read like a Who's Who in American history, including HBCU alumni James Farmer (Wiley), Whitney Young (Kentucky State), future Congressman John Lewis (Fisk), Diane Nash Bevel (Fisk), march organizer A. Phillip Randolph (Bethune-Cookman), Gloria Richardson (Howard), Mrs. Medgar (Myrlie) Evers (Alcorn State), Rosa Parks (Alabama State), Bayard Rustin (Wilberforce/Cheyney), Morehouse President Emeritus Benjamin E. Mays (S.C. State) and his prized pupil, Dr. Martin L. King (Morehouse).
Program from the March on Washington and the most noted speaker of the day, Dr. Martin Luther King
August 28, 2008—Then Sen. Barack Hussein Obama (D-Illinois) became the first Black American to be nominated for president by a major party, the Democratic Party, 15 years ago today! Obama was deemed a longshot when he announced a presidential bid in 2007 that would pit him against the presumptive nominee, then New York Senator (and former First Lady) Hillary Rodham Clinton.
But a few factors fell into Obama's favor including early endorsements by media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Carolyn Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of the beloved former President John F. Kennedy, along with his dominant win over Clinton in the early South Carolina Democratic Primary (55 percent to 27 percent)—one that propelled him to a string of historic primary wins that would end with a solid victory over Republican nominee John McCain that November!
The Obamas on election night 2008
August 28, 2018—Then Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum made history by becoming the first Black American to win a major party nomination for governor in Florida when he bested a crowded field that included presumed front-runner Gwendolyn Graham, a Democratic member of Congress and daughter of beloved formed Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham (D). A graduate of Florida A&M University, Gillum, with the help of his longtime campaign advisor/manager Sharon Lettman-Hicks, was first elected to the Tallahassee City Commission at the age of 23 before becoming the city's third elected leadership mayor in 2014. After completely dominating Republican Gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis in their two televised debates, Gillum came closer than any Democrat since Lawton Chiles (1990-98) to winning the gubernatorial race, losing by only a few percentage points to DeSantis that November.
The Gillums on election night 2018
Lest we forget…