Congressman William Gray elected Democratic Whip of the House of Representatives, the highest ranking position ever held by a African American in Congress.

Cheryl Adrienne Brown wins Miss Iowa pageant and becomes the first African American to compete in the Miss America beauty pageant.

On this day in 1971, Justice Department filed suit against the St. Louis suburb of Black Jack, charging the community with illegally using municipal procedures to block an integrated housing development.

On this day in 1952, Dr. Harold D. West is named President of Meharry Medical College

On this day in 1946, Marla Gibbs, television personality, born

On this day in 1941, John Edgar Wideman, Rhodes scholar, writer, born

On this day in 1939, The Ethel Waters Show, a variety special appears on NBC. It is the first time an African American appears on television

On June 14, 1877, Henry Ossian Flipper became the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Born into slavery in Georgia in 1856, Flipper overcame enormous racial hostility and isolation during his time at the academy. Despite being ostracized by his classmates and subjected to intense scrutiny, Flipper graduated 50th in a class of 76. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and assigned to the 10th Cavalry, a distinguished all-Black regiment known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Flipper\’s achievement marked a major milestone in U.S. military and civil rights history. Though later wrongfully discharged, he spent the rest of his life fighting to clear his name—a campaign that finally succeeded in 1999 when President Bill Clinton granted him a posthumous pardon.

On June 14, 1951, William L. Patterson, representing the Civil Rights Congress, delivered the petition “We Charge Genocide” to the United Nations, asserting that the U.S. government was guilty of genocide against African Americans. The 237-page document, co-authored by figures like Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois, cited systematic killings, social deprivation, and economic exploitation. It drew from the UN\’s Genocide Convention, arguing that centuries of racism and structural violence qualified as genocidal acts. The petition was a bold move at the height of McCarthyism and Cold War tensions and led to intense backlash in the U.S., including surveillance of contributors. Though not formally acted upon by the UN, the petition had global impact—highlighting the civil rights struggle on an international stage and framing Black oppression as a human rights issue. It remains a landmark document in the global civil rights movement.

On June 14, 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Just days earlier, Evers had been assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi, for his work as the NAACP field secretary. A World War II veteran, Evers returned from the battlefield to fight another war at home—against segregation, lynching, and voter suppression in the Deep South. His death shocked the nation and drew international condemnation. The massive turnout at his funeral, and the honor of burial at Arlington, recognized not only his military service but also his bravery in America’s civil rights battle. Evers\’ legacy continues to inspire activism and justice, especially in Mississippi, where his murder trial was famously retried decades later—leading to a conviction in 1994. His life and sacrifice remain a powerful symbol of resistance.