Black History Month – February 12, 2016

We salutes African Americans who've made & continue to make American history. To the artists, entrepreneur, business moguls, doctors and educators from the canvas to the stage.  To the poets, the authors, the inventors, innovators and trailblazers, we honor and remember them all, this and every Black History Month.

On this day in 1909 a group of black and white citizens committed to social justice, started the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, best known as the NAACP, in New York City.  It is the nation's largest and strongest civil rights organization, whose objective is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority citizens in the U.S. and eliminate race prejudice.

The NAACP seeks remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes. This mission to secure civil rights is accomplished by seeking the enactment and enforcement of federal, state and local laws, and by informing the public of the adverse effects of racial discrimination. The NAACP works to ensure school desegregation, fair housing, employment and voter registration, to health and equal economic opportunity. For more than ninety one years, the NAACP has been built on the individual and collective courage of thousands of people of all races, nationalities and religious denominations, united on one premise, that all men and women are created equal.

1934 - NBA legend William "Bill" Felton Russell was born

The great William Felton Russell, aka "Bill" Russel, turns 82 today!  The legendary NBA player he was player (1956-1969) and coach (1966-1969) of the Boston Celtics basketball team. Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana.

1948 - Nancy C. Leftenant became the First black Lt

First Lt. Nancy C. Leftenant became America's first Black accepted in the regular army nursing corps.

1956 - Aresnio Hall celebrates his birthday

The first black late-night talk show host in history, Arsenio Hall turns 60 today.