Africana Studies at Penn

- 2000: Black communities worldwide enter the new millennium confronting both extraordinary gains and persistent challenges, contested U.S. presidential election sparks questions over black voting rights, Colin Powell nominated secretary of state, The Launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Africa.

These important moments in Black American History took place in 2000, what others would you spotlight?

Listen to Ben Jealous discuss the complicated legacy of Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party and draw a through-line to Jesse Jackson and the importance of fighting for working people in the op-ed entitled “Reconciling Jackson and Jackson”, now on the Africana Studies at Penn website.
https://africana.sas.upenn.edu/news/2026/06/10/reconciling-jackson-and-jackson

- 1999: At 17 Serena Williams became the first African American woman since Althea Gibson to win a Grand Slam singles title, Nigeria returned to civilian government with the election of Olusegun Obasanjo, the Organization of African Unity issues the Sirte Declaration in Libya to shift toward replacing the colonial-era framework, South Africa's first peaceful democratic transition with the election of Thabo Mbeki, scholars and artists increasingly embrace Afrofuturism, and the release of "Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience" represented a landmark achievement in Black scholarship.

These important moments in Black American History took place in 1999, what others would you spotlight?

The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation's Author Events Series presents "Sarah J. Jackson | A Second Sight", In Conversation with Sara M. Lomax.

One of our nation’s foremost scholars of American media, Sarah J. Jackson, presents an appraisal that situates Black mediamakers at the vanguard of telling the American story. Brilliant, urgent and illuminating, A Second Sight is an authentic and candid grappling with a discordant thread in the American fabric and, in tracing a bolder vision for the nation, presents a way forward. Register today for this June 16, 2026 event at 1pm!

Sarah J. Jackson | A Second Sight The Author Events Series presents Sarah J. Jackson | A Second Sight In Conversation with Sara M. Lomax Since the nation’s founding, Black Americans have had a unique perspective on the U.S.

- 1998: The Second Congo War begins, and violence, disease, and displacement follows; Lauryn Hill’s solo debut "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" strikes a monument for global Black Art, South African President Nelson Mandela marries international human rights advocate Graça Machel, Olympic icon Florence Griffith-Joyner ("Flo-Jo") dies suddenly at age 38, devastating the global sports world; 49-year-old James Byrd Jr is killed by three white supremacists, shocking the nation; Hurricane Georges devastates the Caribbean and exposes deep-seated economic inequality and environmental vulnerability.

These important moments in Black American History took place in 1998, what others would you spotlight?

- 1997: Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan became the first Black African to serve as Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Million Women March brings together hundreds of thousands of Black women on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Christopher Wallace aka The Notorious B.I.G. is murdered in Los Angeles, Black-woman-directed "Eve’s Bayou" is released, Rebel forces led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila oust the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in Kinshasha and the nation is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 21-year-old Tiger Woods became the first African American to win the prestigious Masters Tournament, renowned jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis wins the Pulitzer Prize for "Blood on the Fields", and Scholars and activists marked the twentieth anniversary of the landmark 1977 Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture 🌍👩🏿‍🎨

These important moments in Black American History took place in 1997, what others would you spotlight?

- 1996: U.S. Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown, President Bill Clinton signed sweeping welfare reform legislation that significantly reduced federal public assistance programs, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigates crimes committed during apartheid, Tupac Shakur’s murder shocked the music world, and The Fifth Caribbean Festival of Arts takes place.

These important moments in Black American History took place in 1996, what others would you spotlight?

- 1995: Astronaut Bernard Harris becomes the first Black man to walk in space, a historic call for hundreds of thousands of Black men to gather at the National Mall in D.C., reactions to the O.J. Simpson verdict expose profound racial divisions in public trust toward the American criminal justice system and urban police departments, Ogoni activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa executed for protesting the ecological devastation of the Niger Delta by multinational oil companies, and Waiting to Exhale is released. 🌬

These important moments in Black American History took place in 1995, what others would you spotlight?

On June 27th at 1 PM, join us at the Philly Free Library's Main Branch for a discussion that examines the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's recent Derek Lee decision and its implications for felony murder sentencing, resentencing, and reentry. “Justice Reconsidered: The Derek Lee Decision and New Pathways to Freedom and Reentry” will be a public discussion moderated by our Sr. Staff Director Kelly Harris, and featuring Keenan Hudson, founder of The Re-Entry Connect Organization, and Bayah Thomas, Founder & Executive director of Redemption Seekers Alliance. Register today! https://tinyurl.com/JusticeReconsidered

- 1994: South Africa's first fully democratic multiracial gets huge turnout and elects Nelson Mandela, UN and Western powers fail to intervene in the systematic killings of Tutsis in Rwanda, President Bill Clinton signs Omnibus Crime Bill, and U.S.-led/UN-sanctioned military interventions allows democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return to Haiti.

These important moments in Black American History took place in 1994, what others would you spotlight?