1979

Butler's time-travel novel, in which a modern Black woman is repeatedly pulled back to antebellum Maryland, became the first serious work of science fiction to center on American slavery and is now one of the most taught novels in American high schools and colleges. It launched a genre — neo-slave narrative science fiction — and cemented Butler as the mother of Afrofuturism.

Chic releases Good Times, whose bass line becomes one of the most sampled in music history and directly inspired the bass line in the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight, bridging funk and hip-hop.

Amalya Kearse is appointed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Carter, becoming the first Black woman to serve on a U.S. federal circuit court of appeals, a major milestone in Black legal achievement.

Amalya Kearse is appointed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Carter, becoming the first Black woman to serve on a U.S. federal circuit court of appeals, a major milestone in Black legal achievement.

The Sugarhill Gang releases Rapper's Delight on Sugar Hill Records, the first hip-hop single to become a top-40 pop hit, introducing rapping to a mainstream American and international audience and commercially validating hip-hop.

Willie Stargell leads the Pittsburgh Pirates to the 1979 World Series title, winning the World Series MVP, the NLCS MVP, and sharing the regular season NL MVP, the only player ever to win all three awards in the same season.

Willie Stargell leads the Pittsburgh Pirates to the 1979 World Series title, winning the World Series MVP, the NLCS MVP, and sharing the regular season NL MVP, the only player ever to win all three in the same season.

Richard Pryor's Live in Concert, the first stand-up comedy concert film, is widely considered the greatest stand-up performance ever recorded. Pryor's unflinching comedy about race, poverty, and American life influenced virtually every major comedian who followed and redefined what comedy could say and do in public.

Arrington was reelected multiple times throughout the 1980s and 1990s, serving until 1999 — making him one of the longest-serving Black mayors of a major Southern city.

The Sugarhill Gang's single becomes the first rap record to reach the pop charts, taking hip-hop to the masses.