Today in Black History – October 9 *
1823 – Mary Ann Shadd (later Cary) is born free in Wilmington, Delaware, the eldest of thirteen children. She will become the publisher of Canada’s first anti-slavery
newspaper, “The Provincial Freeman”, devoted to displaced
African Americans living in Canada. This also makes her
the first woman in North America to publish and edit a
newspaper. She will then become a teacher, establishing
or teaching in schools for African Americans in
Wilmington, Delaware, West Chester, Pennsylvania, New
York, Morristown, New Jersey, and Canada. She will also
be the first woman to speak at a national Negro
convention. In 1869, she will embark on her second
career, becoming the first woman to enter Howard
University’s law school. She will become the first
African American woman to obtain a law degree and among
the first women in the United States to do so. She will
join the ancestors in 1893.
1894 – Eugene Jacques Bullard is born in Columbus, Georgia.
1906 – Leopold Senghor is born in Joal, Senegal, French West Africa (now in Senegal). He will become a poet and
president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Senghor will
attempt to modernize Senegal’s agriculture, instill a
sense of enlightened citizenship, combat corruption and
inefficiency, forge closer ties with his African
neighbors, and continue cooperation with the French. He
will advocate an African socialism based on African
realities, free of both atheism and excessive
materialism. He will seek an open, democratic,
humanistic socialism that shunned such slogans as
“dictatorship of the proletariat.” A vigorous spokesman
for the Third World, he will protest unfair terms of
trade that work to the disadvantage of the agricultural
nations. In 1984, Senghor will be inducted into the
French Academy, becoming the first Black member in that
body’s history.
1929 – Ernest “Dutch” Morial is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.He will become the first African American mayor of New Orleans in 1978 and be re-elected in 1982.
1940 – The White House releases a statement which says that government “policy is not to intermingle colored and
white enlisted personnel in the same regimental
organizations.”
1959 – Mike Singletary is born in Houston, Texas. He will
become a second-round draft pick for the Chicago Bears
in 1981. He will be the first or second leading tackler
for each of his eleven seasons. Over his career he will
amass 1488 tackles (885 solo), 51 passes defended, 13
fumble recoveries, and 7 interceptions. He will be an
All-NFC selection nine straight years from 1983-1991,
will be selected to ten consecutive Pro Bowls, and
Defensive Player of the Year in 1985 and 1988. He will
be enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
1961 – Tanganyika becomes independent within the British
Commonwealth.
1962 – Uganda gains its independence from Great Britain.
1963 – Uganda becomes a republic within the British Commonwealth.
1989 – The first NFL game with a team coached by an African American, Art Shell, takes place as his Los Angeles
Raiders beat the New York Jets 14-7 on Monday Night
Football.
1999 – Milt Jackson, a jazz vibraphonist who made the instrument sing like the human voice as a longtime member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, joins the ancestors at the age of
76. He succumbs to liver cancer in a Manhattan hospital.
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 