IMPORTANT MOMENTS IN BLACK RESISTANCE HISTORY IN JULY

“I am a race man and historian. A race man loves his people. A historian who is a race man tries to uplift his people by instilling in them knowledge of self. Knowledge of self for Black people is healthy. It makes us feel good about ourselves and gives us a strong sense of self-worth.When you know what you have given to the world, you do not easily allow yourself to be disrespected and abused.” — Master Teacher, Dr Runoko Rashidi.

In August 2020, Mutapa Afrocentric Dialogues hosted a tribute lecture in honour of the great Afrocentric grand master teacher, Baba Dr Runoko Rashidi.

As part of that lecture, and inspired by Dr Rashidi’s vast body of work, I published a section titled Critical Moments of Black Resistance That Occurred in the Month of August.

At the time, I indicated that this section of the Rashidi lecture deserved specialised attention and that I might consider developing it on a month-to-month basis.

For more than six years, Mutapa has hosted the Afrocentric Lecture Series: structured, interactive, Blacks-only critical conversations on moments and individuals that are important in the history of global Black resistance.

Our focus is particularly on black moments and individuals who have been erased from, or ignored by, so-called mainstream discourses in the media, politics, academia and other spaces.

The overall objective of the Mutapa Afrocentric Lecture Series is not only to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the study and narration of authentic Black history. It is also to plant seeds for the liberation of the Black mind from the cognitive cage of Europe and other anti-black forces in the world.

Consistent with the pledge I made during the Dr Rashidi lecture, this essay presents a list of important moments in the history of Black radical resistance connected to the month of July.

The list does not claim to be exhaustive; there may be moments or individuals I have omitted.

July 1969: Launch of SASO

July this year marks the 57th anniversary of the official launch of the Black Consciousness organisation, the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO). SASO’s inaugural conference was held at the University of the North, now the University of Limpopo, in 1969.

2 July 1925: Patrice Emery Lumumba

The 2nd of July this year marks the 101st birthday of Patrice Emery Lumumba, the first legitimate Prime Minister of Congo. Born in 1925, Lumumba remains critical to our understanding of the persistent, minerals-driven armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the broader persistence of neocolonialism in Afrika.

2 July 1925: Medgar Evers

The 2nd of July also marks the 101st birthday of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. He was born on 2 July 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi, USA, and was assassinated by white supremacists on 12 June 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi, USA.

3 July 1990: Muntu Myeza

The 3rd of July this year marks the 36th anniversary of the mysterious death of Black Consciousness giant and AZAPO leader Muntu Myeza.

Myeza led one of the most significant moments of Black resistance in South AfriKKKa: the 1974 Viva FRELIMO rallies. He died under questionable circumstances on 3 July 1990.

16 July 1998: Dr John Henrik Clarke

The 16th of July this year marks the 28th anniversary of the passing of Dr John Henrik Clarke, one of the pre-eminent Afrocentric scholars of our race.

Dr Clarke, who passed on in 1998, was one of the pioneers of radical contemporary Afrocentric thought and scholarship.

16 July 1947: Assata Olugbala Shakur

The 16th of July also marks the 79th birthday of Black revolutionary Assata Olugbala Shakur. Born in 1947, Shakur was framed for the murder of a white police officer.

In 1979, she escaped from prison and later went into exile in Cuba, where she lived for more than four decades and continued her political activism. On 25 September 2025, she died in Cuba at the age of 78.

20 July 1925: Frantz Omar Fanon

The 20th of July this year marks the 101st anniversary of the birth of Frantz Omar Fanon, one of the most influential black thinkers and revolutionaries of the past century.

Born in 1925, Fanon’s work has influenced revolutionary movements across the world and continues to shape decolonial studies and praxis in the Global South.

20 July 1967: First Black Power Conference

The 20th of July this year also marks the 59th anniversary of the first Black Power Conference, held in Newark, New Jersey, in 1967.

30 July 1947: Muziwakhe Lembede

The 30th of July this year marks the 79th anniversary of the mysterious death of Muziwakhe Lembede, the leading Afrikan Nationalist theoretician and first president of the ANC Youth League.

In my view, Lembede is one of the most significant black philosophers and thinkers of the 20th century, and his work deserves far greater intellectual attention than it currently receives. Lembede died in 1947.

Makhosi amakhulu!