Black History 2021 Super Quiz: Year-End Round-Up Trivia

Le Parisien newspaper reported Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, that singer, dancer, actress, civil rights activist, and perhaps most notable, French Resistance agent, Josephine Baker, will be reburied at the Pantheon monument Paris. Baker is the first Black woman to get France’s highest honor. French President Emmanuel Macron decided on a Nov. 30, 2021, ceremony at the Paris monument, which houses the remains of scientist Marie Curie, the French philosopher Voltaire, writer Victor Hugo, and other French greats.

President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday,  June 17, 2021, establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, following a bipartisan Congressional bill. Under the new law, the federal holiday is known as Juneteenth National Independence Day in all 50 states. The legislation made Juneteenth the 12th federal holiday.

Before it became a federal holiday, how many states recognized Juneteenth?

Until June 2021, 48 states and Washington, D.C., recognize Juneteenth as either a state holiday or ceremonial holiday. Hawaii passed legislation on April 27, 2021, to acknowledge the holiday, but it is still waiting for Hawaii's governor to sign the bill into law. South Dakota had not recognized the holiday before it became federal.

Singer Beyoncé won her 28th Grammy on Sunday, Mar. 14, 2021, passing the bluegrass musician Alison Krauss to become the most honored woman in the Grammys history. 

Bonus Fact:

Ella Fitzgerald was the first woman to win multiple Grammys. She won two at the very first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1958.

Singer Drake has logged the most songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 232 entrees and 45 Top 10 hits.

Drake 2021 Artist of the Decade Billboard Award

Drake extended his record as the most decorated winner in the history of the Billboard Music Awards to 29 wins Sunday, May 23, 2021, with the Artist of the Decade Award.

With 11 wins, host and producer RuPaul broke the record for the most Emmy wins by a Black person as “RuPaul's Drag Race” won the “outstanding competition program” award at the 2021 Emmys. The series is the most-awarded reality competition show at the Emmys.

What other history was made in the 2021 Emmys?

No contemporary musical had won an Emmy until 2021’s “Hamilton,” as adapted for TV by Disney+. The documented Broadway musical won the 2021 Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) Emmy award, beating out Friends' and The West Wing's reunions, David Byrne’s American Utopia, Bo Burnham’s Inside, and Dave Chappelle’s 8:46.

“Soul” is the first Pixar movie to have a Black character in the lead. 

Another fact:

It is also the first feature-length Pixar released as a Disney+ Original, without wide theatrical distribution. 

Oxford Languages define colorism as prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group.

Colorism in the News:

“In the Heights,” a big-budget film based on the musical created by Lin-Manuel Miranda, was called out for its short supply of dark-skinned, Black Latinos in leading roles. Miranda, best known as the creator of the Broadway musical “Hamilton” and a longtime champion of including Latinos in the arts, recognized his own short-sightedness in addressing colorism and issued an apology.

While according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, blackfishing is Scottish for the illegal catching of blackfish, the term gained a very different meaning in recent years. It describes the behavior of people pretending to have darker skin on social media - through hair, makeup, and accessories, to blur their actual racial background.

Blackfishing News Fact:

Rapper Iggy Azalea met accusations of Blackfishing in her latest music video for "I Am the Stripclub." Azalea addressed the issue on her Twitter account, explaining, “I’m the same color as I always am, just in a dimly lit room with red lights. It’s the same makeup from every other part of the video, just with a Smokey eye and different wig.”

“The war on cannabis, which was at its core a war on people in Black and Brown communities, not only caused injustices and increased disparities in our state, it did little to protect public health and safety,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement June 17, 2021, after the State Senate passed the bill.

Old Aunt Jemima originated as a song of field slaves. Aunt Jemima is an image referencing slavery - Nancy Green, born into slavery, portrayed the original Aunt Jemima character.

2021 Fact

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, PepsiCo announced it would change its Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup brand name to Pearl Milling Company.

The Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021, overshadowed Georgia’s election of the same day. Nonetheless, it saw historical results. Raphael Warnock became the first African-American to represent Georgia in the United States Senate. He’s also the first Black Democrat to be elected to the Senate from a Southern state. Jon Ossoff became the first Millennial senator of the US.

R.I.P Mary Wilson, a founding member of The Supremes. Wilson passed away on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, just two days after she published a video commemorating Black History Month and announcing “surprising new songs” that she hoped to have out by her birthday on March 6. Watch Wilson’s final public video message.

 Cicely Tyson was an Honorary Oscar winner, Oscar nominee, multiple Emmy winner, and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, among other honors. After her death on Jan. 28, 2021, her recently published memoir became a #1 bestseller on Amazon. The 432-page book fell “temporarily out of stock,” but an audio version of the biography is still available. Tyson herself narrates in part on the audiobook alongside How To Get Away with Murder co-star Viola Davis.

While written and originally recorded by Otis Redding in 1965, “Respect” became a signature hit for the late Soul-Queen Aretha Franklin, who covered a rearranged version of the song in 1967.

Respect News Facts

“Respect,” a definitive Aretha Franklin-sanctioned biopic starring Jennifer Hudson, opens Friday, Aug 13, 2021. The film traces Franklin’s life from age 10 through 29 when she was already a global icon. Watch the trailer.

Maya Angelou is an American poet and civil rights activist who received the presidential medal of freedom from Barack Obama and the national award of arts from Bill Clinton. She also spoke at the latter’s inauguration.

Maya Angelou Barbie

Mattel issued a Maya Angelou barbie in 2021. The new Barbie, wearing a head-wrap, and floral print dress, joins Rosa Parks, Ella Fitzgerald, and Florence Nightingale in the “Inspiring Women” series of Barbie dolls.

James Weldon Johnson wrote the lyrics for "Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sang" – the song known as the Black National Anthem in the United States - in 1900. His brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, set those lyrics to music for the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1905.

Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing News Fact

Vanessa Williams performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” for PBS’s holiday broadcast Capitol Fourth celebration on Sunday, July 4, 2021 - Which incited conservative critics, saying the move was divisive and un-American. Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing was also performed on the nationally broadcasted Macy’s New York July 4th, 2021 fireworks show.

Kunta Kinte is a character in the 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. Haley based Kunta Kinte on one of his ancestors: a Gambian man born in 1750, enslaved and taken to America, who died in 1822. “Roots” earned Haley a Pulitzer Prize and was turned into a TV miniseries watched by a record-setting 130 million people in 1977.

Alex Haley News Fact

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, Alex Haley’s legacy is being invoked at the renovated Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center, which opened Friday, Aug 13, 2021. Visitors are welcome to view a short documentary film, visit a galley that includes a life-size replica of a slave ship, and tour the boyhood home of Alex Haley.

Stevie Wonder wrote the tribute song “Happy Birthday” to urge the government to establish a Martin Luther King Jr. Day formally. King was born Jan. 15, 1929, and his birthday is celebrated in the US on the third Monday every January. Wonder released a video message on MLK day 2021  as an open letter to King, who was assassinated in 1968. The legendary musician is urging the incoming Biden administration to form a national commission on equality in the letter.

• Listen to Stevie Wonder on Amazon Music Unlimited. 
• Read or listen to Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? By Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Audiobook, Kindle, or print.

Amanda Gorman’s reading of the inaugural poem on Jan. 20, 2021, made her a household name. Two of her books, which are only available from September 2021, the picture story “The Change We Sing” and a poetry collection featuring “The Hill We Climb,” already occupied the top two spots on Amazon.com. She signed an endorsement deal with IMG Models, whose other clients include Kate Moss.

Anything Else?

She also appeared at the Feb. 7 Super Bowl event in Tampa, Florida.

Kanye West’s 10th studio album is titled Donda, after West’s late mother, Dr. Donda C. West, a professor of English at Clark Atlanta University and the Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University, until retiring to serve as his manager. She died in 2007, at the age of 58.

Donda News Fact

Universal Music Group unexpectedly released Donda, Kanye West’s 10th studio album, on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. West said they released the album without his approval, adding on an Instagram post, “THEY BLOCKED JAIL 2 FROM BEING ON THE ALBUM.” Listen to Jail Pt. 2 on YouTube.

Former Us President Barack Obama celebrated his 60th birthday Saturday, Aug 7, 2021, in an outdoor gathering of about 200 family members and close friends in his 29-acre $12 million Martha's Vineyard estate.

Obama 60th Bash Fact

At Obama's 60th birthday party, the guest list included Gayle King, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Steven Spielberg, and performances from John Legend, H.E.R., and Erykah Badu. The Obamas uninvited some guests to scale down the event due to the surge of the coronavirus delta variant. Among the uninvited: David Axelrod, Larry David, and talk-show hosts David Letterman and Conan O'Brien. Stephen Colbert was, however, spotted at the event.