November 18 African American Historical Events

 Today in Black History - November 18          *

1797 - Abolitionist and orator, Sojourner Truth, is born a 
	New York slave on the plantation of Johannes 
	Hardenbergh.  Her given name is Isabelle VanWagener 
	(some references use the name Isabelle Baumfree). 
	She will walk away from her last owner one year 
	prior to being freed by a New York law in 1827, which 
	proclaimed that all slaves twenty-eight years of age 
	and over were to be freed.   Several years later, in 
	response to what she describes as a command from God, 
	she becomes an itinerant preacher and takes the name 
	Sojourner Truth.  Among her most memorable appearances 
	will be at an 1851 women's rights conference in Akron, 
	Ohio.  In her famous "Ain't I a woman?" speech she 
	forcefully attacks the hypocrisies of organized 
	religion, white privilege and everything in between.

1900 - Howard Thurman is born in Daytona Beach, Florida. A 
	theologian who studied at Morehouse with Martin L. 
	King, Sr., he will found the interracial Church of 
	Fellowship of All Peoples. The first African American 
	to hold a full-time faculty position at Boston 
	University (in 1953), Dr. Thurman will write 22 books 
	and become widely regarded as one of the greatest 
	spiritual leaders of the 20th century. He will join the 
	ancestors on April 10, 1981.

1936 - John Henry Kendricks is born in Detroit, Michigan.  He will 
	become a prolific songwriter as well as a major rhythm 
	and blues singer better known as Hank Ballard. He will 
	perform with his group, The Midnighters, and make the 
	following songs popular: "There's A Thrill Upon The Hill"
	(Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go), "The Twist"(made famous 
	later by Chubby Checker), "Finger Poppin' Time", "Work with 
	Me Annie", "Sexy Ways", and "Annie Had a Baby". He will be
	enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. He 
	will join the ancestors on March 2, 2003. 

1949 - Jackie Robinson, of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is named the 
	National League's Most Valuable Player.

1956 - Harold Warren Moon, professional football player 
	(Minnesota Vikings, Houston Oilers, and Seattle Seahawks 
	quarterback), is born in Los Angeles, California. He will
	be the first undrafted quarterback and first African 
	American quarterback to be elected to the Football Hall
	of Fame in 2006.

1964 - The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar 
	Hoover, describes Martin Luther King as a "most 
	notorious liar".  This statement is indicative of the 
	agency head's dislike of the civil rights leader.

1969 - The National Association of Health Services Executives is 
	incorporated.  NAHSE's goal is to elevate the quality of
	health-care services rendered to poor and disadvantaged
	communities. 

1975 - Calvin Murphy of the Houston Rockets, ends the NBA free 
	throw streak at 58 games.

1977 - Robert Edward Chambliss, a former KKK member, is 
	convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the 
	1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 
	Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four African American 
	teenage girls. 

1978 - The NAACP's Spingarn Medal is presented to Ambassador 
	Andrew J. Young "in recognition of the deftness with 
	which he has handled relations between this nation and 
	other countries" and "for his major role in raising the 
	consciousness of American citizens to the significance 
	in world affairs of the massive African continent."

1980 - Wally "Famous" Amos' signature Panama hat and embroidered 
	shirt are donated to the National Museum of American 
	History's Business Americana collection.  It is the 
	first memorabilia added to the collection by an African 
	American entrepreneur and recognizes the achievement of 
	Amos, who built his company from a mom-and-pop 
	enterprise to a $250 million cookie manufacturing 
	business. 

1983 - "Sweet Honey in the Rock," a capella singers, perform
	their 10th anniversary reunion concert in Washington, DC.

1994 - Bandleader Cab Calloway joins the ancestors in Hockessin, 
	Delaware, at age 86.

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