November 17 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History - November 17            *

1842 - Fugitive slave George Latimer, is captured in Boston.  
	His capture leads to the first of the fugitive slave 
	cases which strain relationships between the North and 
	South. Boston abolitionists will raise money to purchase 
	Latimer from his slave owner.

1911 - Omega Psi Phi Fraternity is founded on the campus of 
	Howard University. 

1945 - Elvin Hayes, NBA star and Basketball Hall of Famer - "The
	Big E" (San Diego, Houston Rockets, Baltimore Bullets; 
	5th on list of most games played in ABA/NBA; University 
	of Houston, All America in 1967 and 1968), is born.

1956 - Fullback Jim Brown of Syracuse University scores 43 pts 
	against Colgate, establishing a NCAA record.

1967 - Ronnie DeVoe, rhythm and blues singer (New Edition; Bell 
	Biv DeVoe), is born.

1978 - Two FBI agents testify before the House Select Committee 
	on Assassinations that the bureau's long-term 
	surveillance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was based 
	solely on J. Edgar Hoover's "hatred of the civil rights 
	leader" and not on the civil rights leader's alleged 
	communist influences or linkages with radical groups. 

1980 - Howard University's WHMM-TV starts broadcasting.  It is 
	the first African American-owned public-broadcasting 
	television station. 

1990 - Itabari Njeri receives the American Book Award for 
	Outstanding Contribution in American Literature for her 
	book, "Every Good-bye Ain't Gone."  Also honored is poet
	Sonia Sanchez, who receives a lifetime achievement award.

1998 - Representative James Clyburn (D-SC) is elected as 
	chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus.  He is the 
	first Southerner to head the group, since it was founded 
	in 1971. He had been first elected to Congress in 1992, 
	the first African American to represent South Carolina 
	since Reconstruction.

1998 - Esther Rolle, the Emmy Award-winning actress, who won 
	acclaim on the hit CBS sitcom "Good Times" as well as on 
	stage and in the movies, joins the ancestors at her home 
	in Los Angeles, at the age of 78.

2006 - Ruth Brown, the gutsy Rhythm and Blues singer whose career 
	extended to acting and crusading for musicians’ rights, 
	joins the ancestors in Las Vegas at the age of 78 
	succumbing to complications of a heart attack and stroke
	following surgery. 

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle archives and is edited by Rene' A. Perry.