Famous Black Love Power Couples
this 44th President of the United States married his sweetheart in 1992 at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ.
Who are President Barak and Michele Obama
This person was Chicago’s first black Mayor from 1983- 1987. This Mayor was elected Chicago’s 51st mayor on April 12, 1983, and was elected to a second term as mayor on April 7, 1987.
Who is Mayor Harold Washington
This boycott was born after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus In Montgomery, AL to a white male passenger. The next day, Dec. 1, 1955, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Proposed a citywide boycott against racial segregation on the public transportation system that Continued for 381 days. In June 1956, a federal court ruled that the laws in place to keep buses segregated were unconstitutional, and the U.S. Supreme Court eventually agreed. This boycott was one of the first major movements that initiated social change during the civil Rights movement.
This American R&B/pop group was formed in Boston, MA in 1978 and had young girls all over signing their hit songs such as Can you stand the rain, Cool it now, Jealous Girl, I’m leaving you again, Count me Out.
Who is New Edition
This contemporary singer, songwriter, and producer emerged in the early 90’s with many hit songs such as Melodies from heaven, Silver & Gold, Now Behold the Lamb, and Stomp.
Who is Kirk Franklin
This Grammy winning singer and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback started dating in 2015 and tied the knot in July 2016.
Who are Russell Wilson and Ciara
This place is known as the first black neighborhood in Chicago. This neighborhood is known as the “Black Metropolis” and the “Black Belt” and is the center of African American history Chicago’s South Side, just 10 minutes south of downtown. Scores of this country’s greatest entertainers, intellectuals, artists, and writers hailed from this neighborhood such as Nat King Cole, Sam Cook, Quincy Jones, Mahalia Jackson, aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman, author Richard Wright, activist and writer Ida B. Wells, Olympic legends Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalf, boxer Joe Louis, and Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Gwendolyn Brooks.
What is Bronzeville
This was the largest political rally for human rights ever in the U.S. an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 participants converged on the Mall in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28, 1963, to protest for jobs and freedom for Blacks. King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This was credited with helping pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
What is the March on Washington
This American R&B quartet was form in 1988 Charlotte, NC and had hit songs such as Get on up, Come and talk to me, Forever my lady, Stay, Cry for you.
Who is Jodeci
This American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer, and pastor had many hit songs in the 70’s and 80’s such as Let the Church say Amen, Soon and Very Soon, Can’t Nobody Do me Like, and Oh it is Jesus.
Who is Andre Crouch
This couple first met as students at Yale University in the 1980’s but sparks didn’t fly until they reconnected and began dating in 1994 and married in 1997. This acting couple starred in many blockbuster movies separately such as The Preacher’s Wife, The Tuskegee Airmen, Office Christmas Party, 911, What’s Love Got to Do with it, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
Who are Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett
This person became the first African American quarterback in NFL history on Oct. 18, 1953, and played for the Chicago Bears. This person replaced an ineffective George Blanda in a loss to the 49ers at Wrigley Field. This person ompleted 3 of 8 passes for 27 yards before Blanda was reinserted and played in only one more game for the Bears in 1953 before being released. This person was given the chance to play in only two games in his entire NFL career. Once, when Blanda was struggling, this person was substituted into the game and threw 8 passes, moving his team all the way down the field, at which point he was substituted out of the game, allowing Blanda to come in to record the touchdown.
Who is Willie Thrower
This movement was formed to protest segregated housing, educational deficiencies and employment and health disparities based on racism. The movement included multiple rallies, marches and boycotts to address the variety of issues facing Black Chicago residents. By Jan. 7, 1966, King announced plans to get involved in this movement. On Aug. 5, 1966, he led a march near Marquette Park in a white neighborhood. The marchers were met with rocks, bottles and firecrackers. Thirty people were injured, including King, who was hit in the head with a brick. After negotiations with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, an agreement was announced on Aug. 26, 1966, to build public housing in predominately white areas and to make mortgages available regardless of race or neighborhood. This movement continued through 1967 and credited with inspiring the Fair Housing Act, passed by Congress in 1969.
What is the The Chicago Open Housing Movement, also called the Chicago Freedom Movement.
This group was formed in Gary, IN in 1964 and had hit songs such as Blame it on the Boogie, I want you back, I’ll be there, Shake your body, Never can say goodbye
Who are the Jackson 5
This gospel singer, musician, and composer, known as the “King of Gospel” was a friend to Aretha Franklin’s father. This person took Aretha Franklin under his wing, teaching her how to sing and play piano.
Who is James Cleveland
This Grey’s Anatomy star stated that their 40+ year secret to their marriage is common interest. This person husband was a basketball star that played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.
Who are Norman Nixon and Debbie Allen
In 1994, this person was named co-anchor of the ten O'clock news at the ABC Chicago affiliate WLS-7, becoming the first African American woman to occupy such a position.
Who is Diann Burns
This march went down in history for the violent beatings state troopers inflicted on protesters as they attempted to march peacefully from Selma, Ala., to the state capital, Montgomery. The march was aimed at fighting the lack of voting rights for Blacks. An estimated 600 protesters were to travel from Selma on U.S. Highway 80 to the state capital on March 7, 1965, led by John Lewis, then chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Rev. Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Police violence against protesters brought the march to a shocking end. Footage of the brutality broadcast across the nation sparked public outrage and boosted support for the civil rights movement.
What is Bloody Sunday.
This American hip hop group was founded in Lawrenceville, GA in 2008. They have hit songs such as Bad and Bougie, Motor sport, Stir fry, and I Get the bag.
Who are the Migos
This American gospel singer, actor, and host of their own nationally syndicated morning gospel show has many hit songs such as The battle is the Lord’s, Open my heart, In the midst of it all.
Who is Yolanda Adams
This couple was set up on a blind date in the early 90’s and the chemistry wasn’t necessarily off the charts. However, they found love and this Hanging with Mr. Cooper and 21 Jump street star married an NFL quarterback in June 1995.
Who are Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete
This library opened on Chicago’s Southside, in the Bronzeville neighborhood on January 18, 1932. The library opening followed a rigorous campaign by Dr. George Cleveland Hall, a member of the Chicago Public Library’s Board of Directors and a co-founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) who had long advocated for a full-service library in Bronzeville, an area booming with African American migrants from the South. Hall’s interest in having an accessible library branch for black patrons on Chicago’s Southside fit his lifelong interest in preserving and promoting African American history and culture. This library is located at 4801 S. Michigan Ave.
What is George Cleveland Hall Library; now Hall Branch Chicago Public Library
This riot was fueled by simmering tensions and sparked by the stoning and drowning of a Black teenager named Eugene Williams. Williams had been on a raft with friends when they floated across the line dividing the White and Black beaches. George Stauber, a 24-year-old White man, began throwing rocks at the youths. One rock struck Williams, who fell off the raft and drowned. The police at the murder scene refused to arrest Stauber. The riots began at the beach on July 27th and lasted until August 3rd, 38 people were killed and 537 injured during the Chicago Race Riots. The violence ended after the National Guard stepped in.
What is the Chicago Race Riot of 1919
This American soul group originally from Cincinnati, OH that began as a vocal trio and had hit songs as Voyage to Atlantis, For the Love of you, Between the sheets, Groove with you, Footsteps in the dark.
Who are the Isley Brothers
This retired family man attended church almost every Sunday with his beautiful wife and three kids and was the lead male singer of the Melatone’s Gospel Choir at Mt. Olive AME Church that was located on the South East side of Chicago. One of their songs that they would lead that had the church shouting was “There’s a Leak in this old building”.
Who is Aaron Purnell Jr.