#250yearsofblackhistory: 1969 - Shirley Chisholm, Harlem Culture Festival, Pulitzer Prize Photograph

These important moments in Black History took place in 1969, what others would you spotlight?

• Having been elected in 1968, Chisholm was sworn in as the first Black woman in Congress in January 1969, representing New York's 12th District.
• The Harlem Cultural Festival, often referred to as "Black Woodstock," took place over six Sundays in the summer of 1969 at Mount Morris Park. While the event was largely overshadowed by the Woodstock festival that same summer, its recent resurfacing through the documentary Summer of Soul has restored its place as a monumental showcase of Black excellence and the "Black is Beautiful" movement.
• Photographer Moneta Sleet Jr. became the first Black man to win a Pulitzer Prize for his iconic image of Coretta Scott King at her husband's funeral.
• In July 1969, thousands gathered in Algeria for the first Pan-African Cultural Festival. It positioned Algiers as the "Mecca of Revolution," hosting Black Panthers alongside African liberation fighters from Angola and Mozambique.
• On December 4, Chicago police and the FBI conducted a raid that killed 21-year-old BPP Chairman Fred Hampton and Mark Clark while they slept.
• On December 8, the LAPD utilized the world's first SWAT team to conduct a massive, five-hour shootout at the BPP's Southern California headquarters.

#250yearsofblackhistory #america250