DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince made history by winning the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance with their hit Parents Just Don’t Understand. Although the award was not televised—sparking controversy and a boycott by several rap artists—the win marked a major milestone in the recognition of hip-hop by the mainstream music industry.

Julius Winfield Erving II, famously known as “Dr. J,” was born in Roosevelt, New York. A revolutionary figure in professional basketball, Erving was known for his acrobatic slam dunks and graceful style of play. He played a key role in popularizing modern basketball and bridging the ABA and NBA eras, becoming one of the sport’s most influential players.

Ishmael Reed, an influential American poet, novelist, and essayist, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Known for his satirical style and sharp critiques of American culture, Reed is a key figure in the Black Arts Movement and has been a powerful voice for African American expression through works like Mumbo Jumbo and The Free-Lance Pallbearers.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, known as the “Bronze Muse,” died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A prolific writer, lecturer, and activist, Harper published over a dozen books, including Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects (1854), Moses: A Story of the Nile (1869), and Sketches of Southern Life (1872). She was one of the most prominent female poets of the 19th century and a powerful voice in both the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements.

Frazier B. Baker, a Black postmaster appointed by President McKinley, was lynched by a white mob in Lake City, South Carolina. The mob set his home on fire and shot him as he tried to flee with his family. His wife was wounded, and their six children were fired upon—his infant daughter Julia was killed, and the others were maimed or traumatized for life. This brutal act of racial violence highlighted the deadly resistance to Black federal appointments and spurred early civil rights advocacy efforts.

Horace Pippin, a self-taught African American painter, was born on this day in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Despite being wounded in World War I, he went on to become one of the most important American painters of his time. Pippin’s powerful works often depicted themes of war, racial injustice, and African American life. His notable painting “John Brown Going to His Hanging” is part of the collection at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Grafton Tyler Brown was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He became the first African American artist to depict the American West, gaining recognition as a skilled lithographer and landscape painter. His work documented the scenery and development of the Western frontier, and he later became one of the few Black artists of his era to achieve commercial success in the fine arts.