On this day in 1806, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a leader of the Haitian Revolution and later Emperor of Haiti, was assassinated. He led armies to defeat France to become the first free colonial society. It was the greatest slave uprising since Spartacus. It was a powerful reminder that Black liberation Could be achieved.

In 1875, a 19-year-old Black jockey named Oliver Lewis made history in the Kentucky Derby, then quietly disappeared. Lewis became the first jockey to ever win the Kentucky Derby, America’s longest-running sporting event. At the time, the race was watched by 10,000 spectators and held at the Louisville Jockey Club, now known as Churchill Downs. What makes his victory even more striking is that he wasn’t supposed to win. Lewis rode Aristide, one of two horses entered by the same owner. The favored horse, Chesapeake, was expected to take the prize. Lewis was reportedly instructed to set the pace and tire the field so Chesapeake could surge late. But things didn’t go as planned. As the race unfolded, Chesapeake fell far behind. In the final stretch, Lewis found himself neck and neck with another horse, Volcano. He seized the moment. Aristide pulled away and won by two lengths. With that decision, Oliver Lewis became the first Kentucky Derby champion. At that first Derby, 13 of the 15 jockeys were African American, as was Aristide’s trainer, Ansel Williamson—facts rarely mentioned in popular accounts of the sport today. Despite his success, Lewis would never ride in the Kentucky Derby again. He retired after that season for reasons that remain unknown. He later worked as a laborer, then as a bookmaker when it was legal in Kentucky. He raised a family of six children and died in 1924 at the age of 68. The man who won the very first Derby helped build the sport—yet history nearly left him behind.

Kwame Nkrumah about to lay a wreath at a special memorial service in honour of late Patrice Lumumba in Accra on February 14, 1961. Just weeks earlier, Lumumba had been killed during a period of intense political crisis following Congo’s independence from Belgium in 1960. His death sent shockwaves across Africa and the wider world. For many newly independent African nations, Lumumba symbolized sovereignty, unity, and the right of African countries to determine their own political and economic futures. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President and a leading advocate of Pan-African unity, viewed Lumumba’s death as more than a national tragedy — it was a continental moment. Ghana had gained independence in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African colony to do so in the modern era. Nkrumah believed that African liberation movements were interconnected, and that the independence of one nation strengthened the entire continent. The memorial service in Accra reflected this broader vision. It was not only a tribute to a fallen leader, but also a reaffirmation of solidarity among African states during the era of decolonization. Across the continent, Lumumba’s assassination intensified conversations about foreign influence, Cold War politics, and the fragile nature of newly formed governments. This moment captures more than a ceremony. It represents a pivotal period in African history — a time when independence movements were reshaping global politics and leaders like Nkrumah and Lumumba were defining what post-colonial leadership could look like. Their legacies continue to influence discussions about sovereignty, unity, and the long-term challenges of nation-building in Africa.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” —Martin Luther King