On April 17, 1990, legendary playwright August Wilson was awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his acclaimed play The Piano Lesson. Part of his ten-play cycle chronicling the African American experience across each decade of the 20th century, The Piano Lesson explores themes of legacy, generational trauma, and cultural inheritance through the story of a family divided over a priceless heirloom—a piano carved with the faces of their enslaved ancestors. Wilson’s profound storytelling and lyrical dialogue cemented his status as one of the most influential voices in American theater.

On April 17, 1990, Rev. Ralph David Abernathy—close friend, confidant, and co-strategist to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—died of heart failure at age 64. As a founding member and key leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Abernathy played a central role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and many of the most significant civil rights campaigns of the 1960s. After King’s assassination in 1968, Abernathy assumed the presidency of the SCLC and led the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C. Though often overshadowed by King, Abernathy’s voice, vision, and leadership were foundational to the movement for racial justice in America.

On April 17, 1872, William Monroe Trotter—an uncompromising voice for Black equality—was born in Boston, Massachusetts. A Harvard graduate and trailblazing journalist, Trotter founded The Boston Guardian, a radical newspaper that fiercely challenged racial injustice. He co-founded the Niagara Movement alongside W.E.B. Du Bois, which later evolved into the NAACP. Trotter was also a vocal critic of Booker T. Washington’s accommodationist approach, advocating instead for immediate civil rights and full equality. In 1915, he famously led protests against the racist film The Birth of a Nation, one of the first major demonstrations against media racism in American history.

On April 17, 1823, Mifflin Wistar Gibbs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A visionary jurist, publisher, and diplomat, Gibbs made history in 1873 when he became the first African American judge elected in the United States, serving in Arkansas. Before his judicial appointment, he was a fierce abolitionist and political organizer, and from 1850 to 1858, Gibbs served as the U.S. consul to Madagascar—one of the first Black Americans to hold such a diplomatic post. His contributions spanned law, international relations, and civil rights, making him a foundational figure in the struggle for Black political power during Reconstruction.

On April 17, 1758, Francis Williams—an Afro-Caribbean scholar, educator, and poet—published a collection of Latin poetry that demonstrated the intellectual power of the African diaspora during the colonial era. Born in Jamaica to formerly enslaved parents who gained freedom and wealth, Williams was educated in Britain and became one of the first known Black men in the Americas to publish works in classical Latin. His poems often reflected themes of education, racial dignity, and human reason—challenging European ideas about Black inferiority. Williams’ work remains a symbol of resistance and scholarly excellence in the face of systemic oppression.