KRLemmons African American History

October 16 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 16 *

1849 – George Washington Williams is born in Bedford Springs,
Pennsylvania. He will become the first major African
American historian and founder of two African American
newspapers, “The Commoner” in Washington, DC, and
Cincinnati’s “The Southern Review.”

1849 – Charles L. Reason is named professor of belles-lettres
and French at Central College in McGrawville, New York.
William G. Allen and George B. Vashon also will teach
at the predominantly white college.

1855 – More than one hundred delegates from six states hold a
Black convention in Philadelphia.

1855 – John Mercer Langston, one of the first African Americans
to win public office, is elected clerk of Brownhelm
Township, Lorain County, Ohio.

1859 – Osborne Perry Anderson, a free man, is one of five
African Americans in John Brown’s raid on the United
States Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.

1872 – South Carolina Republicans carry the election with a
ticket of four whites and four Blacks: Richard H.
Gleaves, lieutenant governor; Henry E. Hayne, secretary
of state; Francis L. Cardozo, treasurer; and Henry W.
Purvis, adjutant general. African Americans win 97 of
the 158 seats in the General Assembly and four of the
five congressional districts.

1876 – A race riot occurs in Cainhoy, South Carolina. Five
whites and one African American are killed.

1895 – The National Medical Association is founded in Atlanta,
Georgia.

1901 – Booker T. Washington dines at the White House with
President Theodore Roosevelt and is criticized in the
South.

1932 – Chi Eta Phi sorority is founded in Washington, DC.
Aliene Carrington Ewell and 11 other women establish
the nursing society, which will grow to 72 chapters in
22 states, the District of Columbia, and Liberia and
will eventually admit both men and women.

1968 – Tommie Smith and John Carlos hold up their fists in a
Black Power salute during the 1968 Summer Games in
Mexico City, Mexico. Their actions will come to
symbolize the Black Power movement in sports and will
result in their suspension from the games two days
later.

1973 – Maynard Jackson becomes the first African American mayor
of a major southern city when he was elected mayor of
Atlanta, Georgia. Jackson, at the age of 35, becomes
one of the youngest mayors of a major city to ever be
elected.

1984 – Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa is awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as a unifying figure
in the campaign to resolve the problems of apartheid in
South Africa.

1990 – Art Blakey, jazz drummer (Jazz Messengers), joins the
ancestors, after a bout with cancer, at the age of 71.

1995 – Minister Louis Farrakhan of The Nation of Islam speaks at
The Million Man March in Washington, D.C., which he
called for, and organized. It is known as the “Day of
Atonement.”

2000 – The Million Family March, called for by Minister Louis
Farrakhan, is held in Washington, DC.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 15 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 15 *

1877 – Jackson College in Jackson, Mississippi is established.

1883 – The U.S. Supreme Court declares that The Civil Rights Act
of 1875 is unconstitutional. The Civil Rights Act of
1875 stated that “All persons within the jurisdiction of
the United States shall be entitled to the full and
equal enjoyment of the accomodations, advantages,
facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances
on land or water, theaters, and other places of public
amusement; subject only to the conditions and
limitations established by law and applicable alike to
citizens of every race and color, regardless of any
previous condition of servitude.”

1890 – Savannah State College in Savannah, Georgia is
established.

1890 – The Alabama Penny Savings Bank is founded in Birmingham,
Alabama by Reverend William Reuben Pettiford with $2,000
in capital. Although, so strapped for funds in its initial
months that its officers will not draw salaries, the bank
will prosper so well that during the panic of 1893, it will
remain open when larger, white banks in Birmingham fail.

1917 – The first significant group of African American officers
is commissioned by the U.S. Army.

1949 – William Hastie is nominated for the U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals. He will be the first African American to
sit on the court.

1953 – Toriano Adaryll Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana. He
will become a singer and member of The Jackson Five
known as Tito.

1957 – The Sickle Cell Disease Research Foundation opens in Los
Angeles, California. It is the forerunner to a national
association and over 50 local chapters dedicated to
providing education, screening, counseling, and research
in the genetic disease that affects over 50,000
individuals, mostly African Americans.

1964 – Bob Hayes wins a gold medal for the 100-meter dash in the
1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo with a time of ten seconds,
equaling the world record.

1968 – Wyomia Tyus becomes the first person to win a gold medal
in the 100-meter race in consecutive Olympic games.

1969 – Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke, President of Somalia, is
assassinated.

1974 – The National Guard is mobilized to restore order in the
Boston school busing crisis.

1989 – South African officials release eight prominent political
prisoners, including Walter Sisulu, a leader of the
African National Congress.

1991 – Judge Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate
justice of the United States Supreme Court, despite
sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill, with a
Senate vote of 52-48. He becomes the second African
American to sit on the Supreme Court.

1993 – African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and South
African President F.W. de Klerk are awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize for their work to end apartheid and laying
the foundations for a democratic South Africa.

1994 – Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide returns to his
country, three years after being overthrown by army
rulers. The U.N. Security Council welcomes Aristide’s
return by voting to lift stifling trade sanctions
imposed against Haiti.

2005 – The Million More Movement convenes on the National Mall
in Washington, DC. In addition to celebrating the 10th
anniversary of the Million Man March, there is a call
for an end to the war in Iraq, and pointed criticism of
the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 14 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 14 *

1834 – Henry Blair of Glen Ross, Maryland, receives a patent for
a corn planting machine.

1864 – The first African American daily newspaper, the New
Orleans Tribune, is published in both French and English.

1916 – Sophomore tackle and guard Paul Robeson is excluded from
the Rutgers football team when Washington and Lee
University refuse to play against an African American.
The exclusion will be temporary and the young Robeson
will go on to be named a football All-American twice.

1947 – Charles “Charlie” Joiner, Jr. is born in Many, Louisiana.
He will become a professional football player after being
picked in the fourth round of the 1969 NFL draft. He will
be a wide receiver for the Houston Oilers from 1969-1972,
the Cincinnati Bengals from 1972-1975, and the San Diego
Chargers from 1976-1986. In eighteen seasons, he will
play in 239 games (most ever for a wide receiver at the
time of his retirement) and compile a career record of 750
catches, 12,146 yards, and 65 touchdowns. He will catch
586 passes as a Charger and was a key element in vaunted
“Air Coryell” offense. He exceeded 50 catches in seven
seasons, was a 100-yard receiver in 29 games, and played
in three Pro Bowls. In his last thirteen years, he will
miss only one game. He will be inducted into the Football
Hall of Fame in 1996.

1958 – The District of Columbia Bar Association votes to accept
African Americans as members.

1964 – Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. is announced as the recipient of
the Nobel Peace Prize for his civil rights activities.
King is the second African American to win the Peace
Prize.

1969 – A racially motivated civil disturbance occurs in
Springfield, Massachusetts.

1971 – Two people are killed in a Memphis, Tennessee racially
motivated disturbance.

1980 – Bob Marley performs in his last concert before he
untimely joins the ancestors succumbing to cancer.

1995 – Sports Illustrated places Eddie Robinson on the cover
of its magazine. He is the first and only coach of an
Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to
appear on the cover of any major sports publication in
the United States.

1999 – Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s first president, joins the
ancestors in a London hospital at age 77.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 13 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 13 *

1831 – Jo Anderson, a slave, helps invent the grain harvester
reaper.

1876 – Meharry Medical College, formally opens at Central
Tennessee College.

1901 – Edith Spurlock (later Sampson) is born in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. She will graduate from the John Marshall
Law School in Chicago in 1925 with a Bachelor of Laws
degree. In 1927, she will become the first African
American woman to receive a Masters of Laws degree from
Loyola University. She will become a member of the
Illinois bar in 1927, and be admitted to practice before
the Supreme Court in 1934. She will become the first
African American woman to be named a delegate to the
United Nations. She will serve from 1950 to 1953, first
as an appointee of President Harry S. Truman and later
during a portion of the Eisenhower Administration. She
will join the ancestors on October 8, 1979.

1902 – Arna Bontemps is born in Alexandria, Louisiana. He will
become a prolific poet, librarian, and author of
historical and juvenile fiction. Among his best-known
works will be “God Sends Sunday” and “Black Thunder”,
the juvenile books “We Have Tomorrow” and “The Story of
the Negro”, and “American Negro Poetry”, which he edited.
In 1943, after graduating from the University of Chicago
with a masters degree in library science, Bontemps was
appointed librarian at Fisk University in Nashville,
Tennessee. He will hold that position for 22 years and
will develop important collections and archives of
African American literature and culture. Through his
librarianship and bibliographic work, he will become a
leading figure in establishing African American
literature as a legitimate object of study and
preservation. He will join the ancestors on June 4, 1973.

1906 – J. Saunders Redding is born in Wilmington, Delaware. He
will become a literary and social critic and author of
non-fiction works on the African American experience. He
will earn an advanced degree in English at Brown
University (1932) and will be a professor at various
colleges and universities, including Morehouse, Hampton,
and Cornell. In 1949, his stint as a visiting professor
at Brown will make him the first African American to hold
a faculty position at an Ivy League university. He will
write many books and articles on African American culture
and other topics, including “To Make a Poet Black” (1939),
a landmark history of African American literature; “No Day
of Triumph” (1942), an autobiographical account of a
journey through southern black communities; and “Stranger
and Alone” (1950), a novel, as well as several more general
historical and sociological works. He will also edit with
Arthur P. Davis, an important anthology, “Cavalcade: Negro
American Writing from 1760 to the Present” (1971). He will
join the ancestors on March 2, 1988 at his home in Ithaca,
New York.

1914 – Garrett Augustus Morgan, the son of former slaves, receives
a patent for an invention he calls the “Safety Hood and
Smoke Protector,” which came to be known as a gas mask.

1925 – Garland Anderson’s “Appearances” opens at the Frolic Theatre
on Broadway. It is the first full-length Broadway play by
an African American.

1946 – Demond Wilson is born in Valdosta, Georgia. He will become
an actor and will be best known as Lamont Sanford on the
long-running television show, “Sanford & Son.”

1962 – Jerry Lee Rice is born in Crawford, Mississippi. He will
become a professional football player, selected as the
16th pick overall in the first round of the NFL draft by
the San Francisco 49ers in 1985. He will be considered to
be the greatest NFL receiver of all time. He will retire
as the leader in a number of statistics. His 1,549
receptions were 448 receptions ahead of the second place
record held by Cris Carter. His 22,895 receiving yards
were 7,961 yards ahead of the second place spot held by
his Raiders teammate Tim Brown. His 197 touchdown
receptions were 67 scores more than Carter’s 130, and his
207 total touchdowns were 32 scores ahead of Emmitt
Smith’s second place spot of 175. He will retire from the
NFL on August 24, 2006.

1979 – Clarence Muse joins the ancestors in Perris, California at
the age of 90. He was a pioneer film and stage actor who
appeared in 219 films. His first film was the second
talking movie ever made.

2000 – Isiah Thomas and Bob McAdoo are enshrined into the
Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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

KRLemmons African American Literature, African American Young Adult Literature, Resources

Ann Petry and The Street

On this day, Ann Petry was born, and would later write a classic novel, The Street.  This novel explores issues of race, class, gender, motherhood, and more in 1940s Harlem.

A few resources are listed below.

NPR: http://www.npr.org/2008/06/16/91556698/an-unflinching-street-view-of-the-american-dream

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/video/ANthestreet.html

Voices From the Gaps: http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/petryAnn.php

KRLemmons African American History

October 12 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 12 *

1904 – William Montague Cobb is born in Washington, DC. He will
become the only Black physical anthropologist with a
Ph.D. before the Korean War, He will hold the only Black
perspective on physical anthropology for many years.
He will serve as the Chairman of the Anthropology
Section of the American Association for Advancement of
Science and be the first African American President of
the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
He will be not only a famous physical anthropologist
because of his race, but also because of the great
contributions he made to the field of anthropology. He
grew up pondering the question of race, which ultimately
led him to his studies of anthropology. After graduating
from Dunbar High School, he will continue his studies at
Amherst College, where he will study a wide variety of
subjects and graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
After his graduation from Amherst, he will research
embryology at the prestigious Woods Hole Marine Biology
Laboratory in Massachusetts. He will then attend Howard
University Medical School, where he will earn an Masters
Degree in 1929 and will later spend much of his
professional career. The next few years, he will spend
his time at Case Western Reserve University, where he will
earn a Ph.D. and work on the Hamann-Todd Skeletal
Collection. He will return to Howard University in 1932
and begin working on a laboratory of his own to conduct
skeletal research. He will also continue his research on
human cranio-facial union at the Hamann-Todd Collection
and the Smithsonian Institute during the summers. In his
mind, his two best papers on this subject were “The
Cranio-Facial Union and the Maxillary Tuber in Mammals”
(1943), and “Cranio-Facial Union in Man” (1940). These
publications will establish him as a functional anatomist.
He will also make significant contributions in the issue
of race in athletics, where he will claim race was
insignificant to athletics and also profile the biology
and demography of the African American race during the
1930’s. He will leave his legacy of skeletal research with
the Laboratory of Anatomy and Physical Anthropology at
Howard University. This collection of over 600 skeletons
will be considered one of the premiere collections of its
kind. He will also be the editor of the Journal of the
National Medical Association from 1949 to 1977. He will
join the ancestors on November 20, 1990.

1908 – Ann Lane Petry is born in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She
will become the author of “The Street and the Juvenile
Work”, and “Harriet Tubman, Conductor of the
Underground Railroad.” She will join the ancestors on
April 28, 1997.

1925 – Xavier University, America’s only African American
Catholic college, becomes a reality, when the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences is established. The
first degrees were awarded three years later. (The
Normal School was founded in 1915.)

1929 – Napoleon Brown Goodson Culp is born in Charlotte, North
Carolina. He will become a blues singer better known as
“Nappy” Brown. He will begin his career as the lead singer
for the gospel group, The Heavenly Lights, recording for
Savoy Records. In 1954, Savoy will convince Brown to
cross over to secular music. For the next few years,
he will ride the first wave of rock and roll until his
records stop selling. After years away from the
limelight, he will resurface in 1984 with an album for
Landslide Records. He will then regularly perform and
record for the New Moon Blues independent label. He will
join the ancestors on September 20, 2008.

1932 – Richard Claxton Gregory is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
He will be better known as “Dick” Gregory and in the
1960’s will become a comedic pioneer, bringing a new
perspective to comedy and opening many doors for Black
entertainers. Once he achieves success in the
entertainment world, he will shift gears and use his
talents to help causes in which he believes. He will
serve the community for over forty years as a comedian,
civil and human rights activist and health/nutrition
advocate. On October 9, 2000, his friends and
supporters will honor him at a Kennedy Center gala,
showing him their “appreciation for his uncommon
character, unconditional love, and generous service.”

1935 – Samuel David Moore is born in Winchester, Georgia. He
will become a rhythm and blues singer and one half of
the group: Sam & Dave (Dave Prater). The two singers
will be brought together onstage at Miami’s King of Hearts
nightclub during an amateur night venue. Sam and Dave
will record for the Alston and Roulette labels before
being discovered by Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler,
who caught their act at the King of Hearts in 1964 and
then sent them to Memphis-based Stax to record the
next year. They will be best know for their hits,
“Hold On! I’m a Comin'”, “Soul Man”, “I Thank You”,
and “You Got Me Hummin'”. Sam and Dave will finally
call it quits after a performance in San Francisco on
New Year’s Eve in 1981. Samuel Moore will live to see
the induction of Sam and Dave into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 1992 (Dave Prater will be killed in an
automobile accident on April 9, 1988).

1968 – Equatorial Guinea gains independence from Spain.

1972 – Forty-six African American and white sailors are
injured in a racially motivated insurrection aboard
the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, off the coast of
North Vietnam.

1989 – George Beavers, Jr., the last surviving founder of
Golden State Life Insurance Company of Los Angeles,
California, joins the ancestors. He co-founded this
company in 1925, which is the third largest African
American life insurance company, with $120 million in
assets and $5 billion of insurance in force.

1989 – Herschel Walker is traded from the Dallas Cowboys to
the Minnesota Vikings for 12 players. The trade will
turn out a lot better for Dallas than for Minnesota.

1999 – Wilt Chamberlain joins the ancestors. He succumbs to
a heart attack at the age of 63 in his Bel Air home
in Los Angeles, California. Chamberlain was a center
so big, agile and dominant that he forced basketball
to change its rules and is the only player to score
100 points in an NBA game.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 11 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 11 *

1864 – Slavery is abolished in Maryland.

1865 – Jamaican national hero, Paul Bogle leads a successful
protest march to the Morant Bay Courthouse. Poverty and
injustice in Jamaican society and lack of public
confidence in the central authority had urged Paul Bogle
to lead the march. A violent confrontation with official
forces will follow the march, resulting in the death of
nearly 500 people. Many others will be flogged and
punished before order is restored. Paul Bogle will be
captured and hanged on October 24, 1865. His forceful
demonstration will pave the way for the establishment of
just practices in the courts and bring about a change in
official attitude, making possible the social and economic
betterment of the Jamaican people.

1882 – Robert Nathaniel Dett, is born in Ontario, Canada. He will
become an acclaimed concert pianist, composer, arranger,
and choral conductor. He will receive his musical
education at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory in
Lockport, NY, Oberlin College (BM, 1908, composition and
piano), and the Eastman School of Music (MM, 1938). He
will become President of the National Association of Negro
Musicians from 1924-1926. His teaching tenures will
include Lane College in Tennessee, Lincoln Institute in
Missouri, Bennett College in North Carolina, and Hampton
Institute in Virginia. It will be at Hampton Institute
that he develops the choral ensembles which will receive
international acclaim and recognition. He will join the
ancestors on October 2, 1943, in Battle Creek, Michigan,
after succumbing to congestive heart failure.

1887 – A. Miles registers a patent on an elevator.

1919 – Arthur “Art” Blakey is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Blakey, a jazz drummer credited as one of the creators of
bebop, will be best known as the founder of the Jazz
Messengers. The band will become a proving ground for some
of the best modern jazz musicians, including Horace Silver,
Hank Mobely, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins,
Wynton Marsalis, and Branford Marsalis. He will join the
ancestors on October 16, 1990.

1939 – Coleman Hawkins records his famous “Body and Soul” in New
York City.

1939 – The NAACP organizes the Education and Legal Defense Fund.

1972 – A major prison uprising occurs at the Washington, DC jail.

1976 – The United Nations Day of Solidarity with South Africa is
declared by the membership of the United Nations. A
special day of solidarity is observed with the numerous
political prisoners who are being held in South Africa.

1980 – Billie Thomas joins the ancestors after a heart attack in
Los Angeles, California at the age of 49. He was an actor,
most notable as the third child to portray Buckwheat in
the Our Gang comedies, a role he played in some 80
episodes of the popular film series.

1985 – President Reagan bans the importation of South African gold
coins known as Krugerrands.

1991 – Redd Foxx (John Elroy Sanford), comedian (Sanford & Sons,
Harlem Nights), joins the ancestors at the age of 68.

1994 – U.S. troops in Haiti take over the National Palace.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 10 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 10 *

1874 – South Carolina Republicans carry the election with a
reduced victory margin. The Republican ticket is
composed of four whites and four Blacks.

1899 – J.W. Butts, inventor, receives a patent for a luggage
carrier.

1899 – I. R. Johnson patents his bicycle frame.

1901 – Frederick Douglass Patterson is born in Washington, DC.
He will receive doctorate degrees from both Iowa State
University and Cornell University. Dr. Patterson will
serve as the president of Tuskegee Institute from 1935
to 1955. In 1943, he will organize a meeting of the
heads of Black colleges to conduct annual campaigns
for funds needed to help meet the operating expenses of
27 Black colleges and universities. This will result
in the formation of the United Negro College Fund. Dr.
Patterson will serve as its first president.

1917 – Thelonious Monk is born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
He will become an innovative jazz pianist and composer
of ‘Round Midnight.’ Monk will be considered one of the
fathers of jazz improvisation and in 1961 will be
featured on the cover of Time magazine, only one of
three jazz musicians so honored at that time.

1935 – George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” premieres at the
Alvin Theater in New York City.

1946 – Ben Vereen is born in Miami, Florida. He will become a
dancer and multi-faceted entertainer.

1953 – Gus Williams is born. He will become a professional
basketball player and NBA guard with the Golden State
Warriors, Seattle Supersonics, and Washington Bullets.

1957 – President Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister
of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused
service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.

1961 – Otis M. Smith is appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court
and becomes the first African American on the high
court.

1978 – Congressman Ralph H. Metcalfe joins the ancestors in
Chicago at the age of 68.

1989 – South African President F.W. de Klerk announces that
eight prominent political prisoners, including African
National Congress official Walter Sisulu, would be
unconditionally freed, but that Nelson Mandela would
remain imprisoned.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 9 African American Historical Events

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 8 African American Historical Events

 Today in Black History – October 8            *

1775 – A council of general officers decides to bar slaves and
free African Americans from serving in the Continental
Army.

1930 – Faith Ringgold is born in New York City. She will become
a multimedia artist whose paintings, face masks, fabric
and soft sculptures, and quilts will earn her praise for
her reaffirmation of African American women’s values and
unique perspective.

1941 – Rev. Jesse L. Jackson is born in Greenville, South
Carolina.  He will be a civil rights leader and founder
of Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) in
1971, an organization that will focus attention on the
economic disparity between whites and African Americans.
In 1988, he will be a candidate for the Democratic
presidential nomination.

1950 – Robert “Kool” Bell is born. He will become a Rhythm and
Blues singer and will become the leader of his own group,
“Kool & the Gang.”

1963 – The Sultan of Zanzibar cedes his mainland possessions to
Kenya.

1969 – Police officers and African Americans exchange sniper
fire on Chicago’s West Side. One youth is killed and
nine policemen are injured.

1992 – The Nobel Prize for literature is awarded to West Indies
poet, Derek Walcott.

1993 – The U.N. General Assembly lifted almost all its remaining
economic sanctions against South Africa, begun in the
1960s and built up in subsequent years because of
Pretoria’s policy of racial apartheid.

1999 – Laila Ali, the 21-year-old daughter of Muhammad Ali,
makes her professional boxing debut by knocking out
opponent April Fowler 31 seconds after the opening bell
in Verona, New  York.

2009 – Abu Talib, bluesman who recorded and toured with Ray Charles and Little Walter under his given name, Freddy Robinson,
joins the ancestors in Lancaster, California after
succumbing to cancer

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