Today in “Hidden” History is a daily listing of important but little-known events illustrating the range of innovators, contributors, or incidents excluded from formal history lessons or common knowledge. Hidden history is intended not as an exhaustive review, but merely as an illustration of how popular narratives "hide" many matters of fundamental importance. Bookmark this page and check daily to quickly expand your knowledge. Suggest entries for Today in “Hidden” History by clicking the Contact Us link. Entries for August 05:
| Date | Type | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1938 |  Theologian James Hal Cone, best known for his advocacy of Black theology and Black liberation theology, is born. His 1969 book Black Theology and Black Power provided a new way to comprehensively define the distinctiveness of theology in the Black church. His message was that Black Power, defined as Black people asserting the humanity that white supremacy denied, was the gospel in America. Jesus came to liberate the oppressed, advocating the same thing as Black Power. He argued that white American churches preached a gospel based on white supremacy, antithetical to the gospel of Jesus. Cone's work was influential from the time of the book's publication, and his work remains influential today. His work has been both used and critiqued inside and outside the African-American theological community. He was the Charles Augustus Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Columbia University-affiliated Union Theological Seminary until his death. Learn more. | |
| 1953 |  The nearly decade-long cycle of anti-Black riots in the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA) Trumbull Park Homes is ignited, as white residents attack the home of Betty Howard with rocks and fireworks, with police doing little to stop them. The attacks continued for weeks, and recurred over years. Trumbull Park is a public housing project located in the South Deering neighborhood on the Far-South Side of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1938, it consists of 55 buildings and 434 apartments. CHA had moved Ms. Howard and her family into the project — the first African Anerican family to reside in Trumbull Park — six days before, on July 30. In October 1953, the CHA decided to move 10 more Black families in, sparking a new wave of violence. It was not until 1963 that Blacks could go to the neighborhood park without police protection. Learn more. | |
| 1969 |  The Atlanta Police Department leads a police raid on a screening of the film Lonesome Cowboys at a movie theater in Atlanta, Georgia. The raid targeted members of the city's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trangender, Queer, and other gender 0r sexually non-conforming (LGBTQ+) communities. The aftermath of the raid let to the creation of the Georgia Gay Liberation Front and an increased push for gay liberation in the area. The event has been compared to New York City's Stonewall Riots, which occurred a little over a month before the raid. Atlanta Pride, one of the largest pride parades in the United States, was started in part as a response to the raid. Learn more. | |
| 2012 |  Six people are killed in a racially motivated attack at Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. A white man named Wade Michael Page opened fire on worshippers at a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six people and seriously injuring several others before taking his own life. Between 30 and 35 people, including several children, were inside the temple that morning as community members prepared for their usual Sunday services. The investigation revealed images of Mr. Page wearing a “white power” shirt and posing in front of Nazi flags, which he had posted to public social media pages. The six people killed in the attack were Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Prakash Singh, Suveg Singh, and Paramjit Kaur Saini. Baba Punjab Singh, a priest at the temple, initially survived a gunshot wound to the head that left him paralyzed; he died from his injuries in 2020. After 9/11, crimes against South Asian, Muslim, and Arab Americans became more common. Sikh men in particular, who often wear turbans, increasingly became victims of racial profiling and racialized attacks. Learn more. | |
| 2014 |  John Crawford III, a 22-year-old African-American man, is shot and killed by a police officer in a Walmart store in Beavercreek, Ohio, near Dayton, while he was holding a BB gun that was for sale in the store. The shooting was captured on surveillance video and led to protests from groups including the NAACP and the Black Lives Matter movement. Police officers initially claimed Crawford did not respond to verbal commands to drop the BB gun and lie on the ground, and eventually began to move as if trying to escape. However, the store's security video shows Crawford talking on his cell phone while holding the BB/Pellet air rifle and that the police officer fired almost immediately after entering the store and sighting Crawford holding the BB gun. A grand jury declined to indict the two officers involved on criminal charges. The City of Beavercreek eventually settled civil claims for wrongful death brought by Crawford's estate and family. Learn more. |
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