Upperman African American Cultural Center

Civil Rights Activist Floyd McKissick gets today's Uppdate spotlight. Born on this day in 1922, McKissick would go on to become a leader in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and would later attempt to start Soul City, a community funded by the federal government and run and steered by African-American interests.

Today's Uppdate celebrates the accomplishment of Phyllis Mae Dailey. On this day in 1945, Dailey became the first black woman sworn in as a Navy nurse. Her pioneering work would pave the way for future African American nurses to breakthrough the racial barriers that existed in the Navy.

Uppdate solemnly remembers the peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery that was responded to with violence, arrests and beatings. Known as "Bloody Sunday", the following coverage horrified America and is considered a turning point in the fight for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that was passed later that year.

On today's Uppdate we look back at the historic and impactful career of singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba. Known as "Empress of African Song" Makeba is credited as the first African musician to popularize African music and sound across the globe. She also was an ardent support of the movement to end Apartheid in her home of South Africa, which led to her passport being revoked in 1960. She would later regain it and come home in 1990 with Apartheid was ended.

The Freedmen's Bureau is the subject of today's Uppdate. Officially titled "The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands" but coined "The Freedmen's Bureau", the organization was established on this day in 1865 by President Lincoln to aid recently liberated slaves in the Southern states.

Today's Uppdate is on the Associated Negro Press (ANP). Founded in this day in 1919, the ANP was the first national news service for African-Americans. Written, edited and ran by blacks, the paper was the largest news service dedicated to the African-American experience and perspective. The paper ended in 1967 but it's legacy and standard of journalism lives on.

Uppdate kicks off March with a look at novelist and literary critic Ralph Ellison on what would've been his 104th birthday. Ellison's most well-known novel "Invisible Man", published in 1952, looked at the varying social, intellectual and political issues for blacks in the United States at that time. The book would go on to win the 1953 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction.

Uppdate wishes a happy birthday to beloved actor LeVar Burton,whose most prominent roles include playing Kunta Kinte in "Roots" (one of the most watched television mini-series ever) and Geordi La Forge in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Burton is also known as the host of "Reading Rainbow", a program that has motivated countless children to read over the years.

On this date in Uppdate history, Henry Lewis made history by becoming the first black conductor and music director of a major American orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and as the first black to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He continued to serve as music director of the Opera-Music Theater Institute of New Jersey and of the Netherlands Radio Orchestra until his death.

Happy Birthday to Richard Allen, founder of the first national black church in the United States, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1816. Born a slave in 1760, Allen eventually became free, educated, and a staunch abolitionist.

Uppdate's spotlight falls onto the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the civil rights organization first led by Martin Luther King Jr. The organization was instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's, and its contemporary members continue to strive for the elimination of environmental classism and racism.

Uppdate wishes a happy birthday to Arsenio Hall, who was born on this date in 1956. Hall made history with his program, The Arsenio Hall Show, which made him the first black late-night TV host; the show ran from 1989 to 1994. Hall also has an accomplished career as a comedian and film actor.

Uppdate takes a look at the origin of Black History Month, Negro History Week. The week was originated by Carter G.Woodson, and was observed for the first time in 1926. “We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements.”

Today in 1867, the Peabody Fund for black education in the South established. The fund provided money for construction, endowments, scholarships, teacher and industrial education for newly freed slaves.

It is considered by scholars to be one of the first truly modern philanthropies because of the way it went about giving its capital. The Peabody trustees devised a system of self-help by which the Foundation would provide challenge grants to local communities.

Uppdate wishes a happy birthday to Hank Aaron, who was born on this day in 1934. Considered one of the best baseball players of all time, Aaron broke Babe Ruth's hallowed record of 714 home runs in 1974, finishing with a career total of 755.