Black History Knowledge — August 13

What happened on this day. These are the August 13 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1906 — The Brownsville Affair begins in Texas

On the night of August 13, 1906, gunfire in Brownsville, Texas, was blamed on Black soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Infantry despite conflicting evidence and their denials. President Theodore Roosevelt later discharged 167 soldiers without honor and without individual trials, destroying careers and livelihoods.

1920 — UNIA adopts a global declaration of Black rights

On August 13, 1920, delegates at the Universal Negro Improvement Association convention adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World. The document demanded equality and self-determination and established red, black, and green as the colors of the African race.

1955 — Voting-rights activist Lamar Smith is murdered in Mississippi

On August 13, 1955, Lamar Smith was shot and killed on the courthouse lawn in Brookhaven, Mississippi, after helping Black residents exercise their voting rights. Although witnesses saw the attack in broad daylight, no one was convicted, illustrating the deadly resistance to Black political participation.