Timeline
2000-present
This is a timeline of the history of Africans and their descendants in what is now the United States, from 1565 to the present.
Census of 2000, U.S. population: 281,421,906; Black population: 34,658,190 (12.3%).
Rev. Vashti M. McKenzie becomes the first woman bishop of the African Methodist Zion Church.
Lillian Elaine Fishbourne is the first black woman admiral in the U.S. Navy.
On January 20, Colin Powell becomes Secretary of State.
Cynthia McKinney introduces the Martin Luther King, Jr., Records Collection Act.
On June 23, The U.S. Supreme Court in Grutter v. Bollinger upholds the University of Michigan Law School's admission policy. However, in the simultaneously heard Gratz v. Bollinger the university is required to change a policy.
On June 21, Edgar Ray Killen is convicted of participating in the Mississippi civil rights worker murders.
On October 15, The Millions More Movement holds a march in Washington D.C.
On October 25, Rosa Parks dies at age 92. Her solitary action spearheaded the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. Her body lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. before interment.
On March 26, Capitol Hill police fail to recognize Cynthia McKinney as a member of Congress.
Alabama state trooper James Bonard Fowler is indicted for the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson on February 18, 1965.
On June 28, parents involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 decided along with Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education prohibits assigning students to public schools solely for the purpose of achieving racial integration and declines to recognize racial balancing as a compelling state interest.
On December 10, U.S. Supreme Court rules 7–2 in Kimbrough v. United States that judges may deviate from federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine.
On June 3, Barack Obama receives enough delegates by the end of state primaries to be the presumptive Democratic Party of the United States nominee.
On July 12, Cynthia McKinney accepts the Green Party nomination in the Presidential race.
On July 30, United States Congress apologizes for slavery and “Jim Crow”.
On August 28 at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, in a stadium filled with supporters, Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
On November 4, Barack Obama is elected 44th President of the United States of America, opening his victory speech with, “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”
On January 20, Barack Obama sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, the first African-American to become president.
On January 30, Former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele becomes the first African-American Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
The U.S. Postal Service issues a commemorative six-stamp set portraying twelve civil rights pioneers.
On October 6, Judge Keith Bardwell refuses to officiate an interracial marriage in Louisiana.
On October 9, Barack Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
On October 28, Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act authorizes federal prosecution of all racially motivated hate crimes.
Census of 2010, U.S. population: 299,736,465; Black population: 38,929,319 (12.6%).
On July 19, Shirley Sherrod first is pressured to resign from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and immediately thereafter receives its apology after she is inaccurately accused of being racist towards white Americans.
On August 3, Fair Sentencing Act reducing sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine to an 18:1 ratio.
On January 14, Michael Steele, the first African-American Chairman of the RNC lost his bid for re-election.
On August 22, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. opens to the public, and is officially dedicated on October 16.
On November 19 was the killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr.
On February 26 was the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida.
On December 1, Journalist A. F. James MacArthur arrested at his house by a SWAT team.
On January 20, Barack Obama is sworn in for his second term as president.
On March 9, New York police officers shoot 16-year-old Kimani Gray, triggering weeks of protests in Brooklyn.
On May 9, Malcolm Shabazz was killed in Mexico.
On May 2, FBI promotes Assata Shakur to list of “most wanted terrorists”.
On June 24, State of Florida v. George Zimmerman begins.
On June 25, The U.S. Supreme Court overturns part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder.
On July 13, George Zimmerman is acquitted, provoking nationwide protests. The Black Lives Matter movement is created by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, in response to the ongoing racial profiling of and police brutality against young black men.
On August 9th was the shooting of Michael Brown by Police Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri is followed by demonstrations and protests which include the term “Hands up, don't shoot“. Demonstrations focused on the incident, using the “Hands up” expression, are held across the U.S. and overseas.
On July 17, Eric Garner died in Staten Island, New York City, after a police officer put him in a chokehold for 15 seconds.
On June 17, nine African Americans are killed in the Charleston Church Shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, S.C.
In the U.S. Supreme Court case Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 576 U.S. ___ (2015), the Court held that Congress specifically intended to include disparate impact claims in the Fair Housing Act, but that such claims require a plaintiff to prove it is the defendant's policies that cause a disparity. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race.
On November 1, Michael Bruce Curry becomes the first African-American Presiding Bishop of the The Episcopal Church, having been elected by an overwhelming margin on the first ballot of the 78th General Convention the preceding June.
Simone Biles became the first African-American and woman to bring home four Olympic gold medals in women’s gymnastics at a single game (as well as a bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Also, in Rio, Simone Manuel was the first African-American woman to win an individual event in Olympic swimming.
Carla Hayden was confirmed as the first female African-American head of the Library of Congress.
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing operations. On August 4, 2022, Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officer Brett Hankison and three other officers were federally charged with violating Taylor's civil rights, unlawful conspiracy, obstruction, and unconstitutional use of force. One of the four officers, Kelly Goodlett, later pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy, marking the first convictions in the case.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face-down in a street. Floyd's murder led to worldwide protests against police brutality, police racism, and lack of police accountability.
Black Birders Week is a week-long series of online events to highlight Black nature enthusiasts and to increase the visibility of Black birders, who face unique challenges and dangers when engaging in outdoor activities. The event was created as a response to the Central Park birdwatching incident and police brutality against Black Americans. The inaugural event ran from May 31 to June 5, 2020. The week of events was organized by a group of STEM professionals and students known as the BlackAFinSTEM collective.
On the night of June 12, 2020, Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old African American man, was fatally shot by Atlanta Police Department (APD) officer Garrett Rolfe. On August 23, 2022, prosecutors announced that both officers would no longer face charges, stating “the use of deadly force was objectively reasonable and that they did not act with criminal intent.”
First African-American to be nominated as a major party U.S. vice-presidential candidate: Kamala Harris, Democratic Party.
On August 23, 2020, Jacob S. Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot and seriously injured by police officer Rusten Sheskey in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Sheskey shot Blake in the back four times and the side three times after Blake opened the driver's door to his girlfriend's SUV and attempted to reach inside. In January 2021, Kenosha County prosecutors announced that the officers involved in the shooting would not be charged, and Sheskey returned to regular police duty in April 2021.
Kamala Harris sworn in as 49th Vice President of the United States, the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president as well as the first woman vice president.
On April 11, 2021, Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by police officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop and attempted arrest for an outstanding warrant in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, United States. On February 18, 2022, she was sentenced to sixteen months in prison, with credit for time served. Wright's family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the City of Brooklyn Center on June 21, 2022, for $3.25 million. The events led to several changes in Taser policies, in Brooklyn Center and elsewhere in the U.S.
A 2022 Buffalo shooting occurs killing 10, with the shooter live streaming the attack on Twitch. The majority of victims are African American, with the shooter driving over 200km to reach the supermarket in which it occurred in. Governor Kathy Hochul promised policy changes in the state as a result of the attack, while condemning the shooter