1 December
- 1955 Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama.
2 December
- 1859 John Brown Is Executed Abolitionist John Brown is hanged in Charles Town, Virginia, for his raid on Harpers Ferry.
3 December
- 1847 Frederick Douglass Launches 'The North Star' Frederick Douglass publishes the first issue of his antislavery newspaper 'The North Star' in Rochester.
4 December
- 1906 Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Founded Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate historically Black fraternity, is founded at Cornell University.
- 1969 Fred Hampton Is Killed in a Police Raid Black Panther leader Fred Hampton is shot dead in his bed during a pre-dawn raid by Chicago police and the FBI.
5 December
- 1955 The Montgomery Bus Boycott Begins Black residents of Montgomery launch a mass boycott of city buses and elect Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association.
6 December
- 1865 The 13th Amendment Is Ratified The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime throughout the United States.
7 December
- 1941 Doris Miller's Heroism at Pearl Harbor Navy mess attendant Doris 'Dorie' Miller mans an anti-aircraft gun during the attack on Pearl Harbor despite having no training, then helps move wounded sailors.
8 December
- 1925 Sammy Davis Jr. Is Born Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. is born in Harlem, New York.
9 December
- 1872 P.B.S. Pinchback Becomes Governor of Louisiana P.B.S. Pinchback becomes acting governor of Louisiana, the first Black person to serve as a U.S. state governor.
10 December
- 1950 Ralph Bunche Wins the Nobel Peace Prize Diplomat Ralph Bunche becomes the first Black person awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for mediating armistice agreements in the Middle East.
11 December
- 1926 Big Mama Thornton Is Born Blues singer Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton is born in Ariton, Alabama.
12 December
- 1899 George Grant Patents the Golf Tee Dentist and inventor George Franklin Grant patents an improved wooden golf tee.
13 December
- 1903 Ella Baker Is Born Organizer Ella Baker is born in Norfolk, Virginia.
14 December
- 1829 John Mercer Langston Is Born John Mercer Langston, future congressman and founder of Howard University's law school, is born free in Virginia.
15 December
- 1883 William A. Hinton Is Born Physician William A. Hinton, developer of a widely used test for syphilis, is born in Chicago.
16 December
- 1976 Andrew Young Is Named U.N. Ambassador President-elect Jimmy Carter selects Andrew Young, a civil rights veteran, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
17 December
- 1986 Max Robinson Dies Max Robinson, the first Black American to anchor a major network's nightly news, dies at age 49.
18 December
- 1865 Slavery Is Officially Declared Abolished Secretary of State William Seward certifies the ratification of the 13th Amendment, formally ending slavery in the United States.
19 December
- 1875 Carter G. Woodson Is Born Historian Carter G. Woodson, the 'Father of Black History,' is born in New Canton, Virginia, to formerly enslaved parents.
20 December
- 1956 The Montgomery Bus Boycott Ends A federal desegregation order takes effect in Montgomery, ending the 381-day bus boycott; the city's buses are integrated the next morning.
21 December
- 1911 Josh Gibson Is Born Negro Leagues legend Josh Gibson, often called the greatest power hitter in baseball history, is born in Georgia.
22 December
- 1960 Jean-Michel Basquiat Is Born Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is born in Brooklyn, New York.
23 December
- 1867 Madam C.J. Walker Is Born Sarah Breedlove, later Madam C.J. Walker, is born to formerly enslaved parents on a Louisiana plantation.
24 December
- 1832 The Georgia Infirmary Is Chartered Georgia charters the Georgia Infirmary in Savannah, among the first hospitals established to care for Black patients.
25 December
- 1760 Jupiter Hammon Becomes the First Published Black Poet Jupiter Hammon, an enslaved man on Long Island, publishes 'An Evening Thought,' the first poem published by a Black author in America.
26 December
- 1966 The First Kwanzaa Is Celebrated Maulana Karenga leads the first celebration of Kwanzaa, a week-long observance of African heritage and community values.
27 December
- 1862 An Independent Black Church Rises in the Occupied South Black worshippers in Union-occupied New Bern, North Carolina, organize an African Methodist Episcopal Zion congregation as freedom approaches.
28 December
- 1905 Earl 'Fatha' Hines Is Born Jazz pianist Earl 'Fatha' Hines is born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania.
29 December
- 1923 Cheikh Anta Diop Is Born Historian and physicist Cheikh Anta Diop is born in Senegal.
30 December
- 1928 Bo Diddley Is Born Musician Bo Diddley is born in McComb, Mississippi.
31 December
- 1862 Watch Night: Freedom's Eve Black congregations gather on New Year's Eve to await the Emancipation Proclamation taking effect at midnight on January 1, 1863.