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On this day in 1972, a security guard Frank Wills noticed an unlocked door at the Democratic National Committee office at the Watergate Complex in Washington, DC. This discovery led to the Watergate scandal that eventually brought down President Nixon. Despite his detective work, Wills, who is Black, never received the recognition others received for this major American story.

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Tennis great Venus Williams was born on this day in 1980 Lynwood, California. With her sister, Serena, the Williams sisters have taken tennis to heights it has never been. Venus has been ranked number 1 in the world in both singles and doubles; won all the major titles, and won many tennis laurels.

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James Weldon Johnson was born on this day in 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida. As Executive Secretary of the NAACP, Johnson was a top spokesperson for the NAACP and a staunch civil rights activist. He was also a writer, songwriter, poet, novelist during the Harlem Renaissance. One of Johnson’s greatest legacies was to write the lyrics to the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.

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On this day in 1923, Marcus Mosiah Garvey gave his “A Last Word Before Incarceration” speech in New York. As a major voice for Black empowerment in all its forms, Garvey was about to be jailed, and the speech was a call for Black people to stand up.