Respecting Negro demand, the New York Times announces that the “N” in the word “Negro” and “Negress” would be capitalized in its pages. The New York Time became the first major newspaper to recognize the spelling.

On this day in 1987, Lloyd Richards wins a Tony as best director for the August Wilson play Fences. The play also wins Tony’s for best play, best performance by an actor, and best performance by a featured actress.

On this date in 1958, Composer, musician and singer Prince Rogers Nelson born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On this day in 1943, Born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. on June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nikki Giovanni became a leading poet of the Black Arts Movement, Giovanni graduated from Fisk University and published her first poetry collection, Black Feeling.

Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize, was born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas. Her poetry captured the lived realities of Black Americans with unmatched clarity and grace. From A Street in Bronzeville to The Bean Eaters, Brooks chronicled inner-city Black life, womanhood, and resistance. In 1950, she won the Pulitzer for Annie Allen, cementing her legacy as a literary icon.

On this day in 1868, Marie Laveau, the “Queen of the Voodoo,” was dethroned because of old age. Believed to be born in New Orleans in 1794 and died in New Orleans on June 15th, 1881. A free woman of color as well as a Quadroon (African, Indian, French and Spanish), she became the most famous and powerful Voodoo Queen in the world.

On this day in 1863, Three regiments and small detachment of white troops repulsed division of Texans in hand-to-hand battle at Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana.

On June 7, 1943, Black American soldiers stationed in Bamber Bridge, England, engaged in an armed standoff with white military police. The conflict, sparked by segregationist treatment and racial abuse, highlighted the hypocrisy of fighting for freedom abroad while enduring racism within the ranks. British locals supported the Black soldiers, rejecting U.S. Jim Crow policies. This “mutiny” led to a deeper examination of military segregation and prompted change in military race relations.

On June 7, 1966, civil rights activist James Meredith was shot by a sniper in Mississippi during his “March Against Fear,” a solo walk from Memphis to Jackson intended to challenge racism and encourage Black voter registration. Though wounded, Meredith survived. His shooting galvanized leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael, who continued the march, helping birth the “Black Power” movement. Meredith’s bravery remains a pivotal act of resistance in civil rights history.

Mattie Della Shaw, mother of music icon Prince, was born on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis. A jazz singer and cultural influence on her son, she helped shape Prince’s artistic identity, infusing his early life with music and expression. Her background in the Black arts scene and her relationship with Prince’s father, John Nelson, also a musician, created the environment that would cultivate one of the most innovative artists in history.