The Election of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States
The election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States is truly a milestone in both African American History and the history of the United States. It, as said elsewhere, “marks a remarkable moment in our country's history--a milestone in America's scarred racial landscape and a victory for the forces of decency, diversity and tolerance.” Obama’s team and campaign respect for decency, dignity, and intelligence of the American people was reflected their organizing strategy and mantra-Respect, Empower, Include.” Engagement of ordinary, everyday American people and the historical possibility of electing the nation’s first African American president drove a record-shattering turnout, especially among African Americans and contributed to Obama’s decisive victory. Put another way, Obama's election was the realization of so many people who fought for equality and justice in the 20th century and before.

The Civil War
As historian Benjamin Quarles writes, in the Civil War, the African Americans were both a symbol and participants in the war and their own liberation. African Americans furnished a concrete expression of one of the most ennobling goals of the war- that of enlarging the compass of human liberty. From the start, African Americans were active participants in their own liberation. Following the Congressional and Presidential edits issued 1862, thousands of black men and women crossed union lines to secure their freedom.

Black Reconstruction
Reconstruction, the immediate period after the American Civil War, witnessed the unfolding of a democratic experiment out of which America had its most inclusive participatory democracy. This period broke new ground in protecting the civil rights of African Americans, instituting universal manhood suffrage, and establishing public schools for all races. Reconstruction as a legal fact and process was enshrined in the civil right act of 1865, defining people born in the United States as national citizens, entitled to the rights of citizenship regardless of race.

The 1954 Brown Decision
May 17, 1954, marks the day of the landmark decision by United States Supreme Court on Brown v. Board of Education. On this day, the Supreme Court, in the case of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, ended federally sanctioned racial segregation in pubic schools by ruling unanimously that “separate educational facilities were inherently unequal.” A groundbreaking case, Brown not only overturned the precedent of Plessey v. Ferguson (1896) which had declared “separate but equal facilities constitutional, but also provided the legal foundation of the1960s Civil Rights Movement.

Black Power Movement
Most prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Black Power Movement emphasized racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture and promote black collective interests, advance black values, and secure black autonomy. Black Power expresses a range of political goals, from defense against racial oppression, to the establishment of separate social institutions and a self-sufficient economy.

Congressional Black Caucus
The decades of the 1970s and 1980s witness sweeping and significant changes in the American political landscape brought about through and by the 1960s Movement. The 1970s saw the emergence of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), made up of black members of the House of Representatives. The CBC became a political force in keeping the Civil rights Agenda before the nation.