Kimberly Reid, author of the books, No Safe Place, My Own Worst Frenemy, Creeping With the Enemy, and Sweet 16 to Life is Day 20 of The Brown Bookshelf 2014 28 Days Later. Read about her writing journey here and on her website.
February 20 African American Historical Events
Today in Black History – February 20 *
1864 – Confederate troops defeat three African American and six white
regiments at the Battle of Olustee, about fifty miles from
Jacksonville, Florida. The African-American units are the
8th U.S. Colored Troops, the 35th U.S. Colored Infantry, and
the famous 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry. It is the
54th Massachusetts’ fighting that allowed General Truman
Seymour’s Union forces to retreat. One white veteran of the
battle states: ” The colored troops went in grandly, and they
fought like devils.” A regrettable episode in the aftermath
of the battle is the apparent mistreatment of Union African
American soldiers by the Confederates.
1895 – Frederick Douglass, famous African American abolitionist and
diplomat, joins the ancestors in Washington, DC at the age of
78. His home in Washington will be later turned into a
national monument under the auspices of the National Park
Service.
1911 – Frances Ellen Watkins Harper joins the ancestors in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of 85. She had been a
writer and antislavery, women’s rights, and temperance
activist.
1925 – Alex La Guma is born in Cape Town, South Africa. He will
become a novelist whose writings reflect the lives of the
ghetto dwellers in the ‘Coloured’ sections of Capetown,
portrayed best in his novel, “A Walk in the Night.” The
ghettos and shanties of the Cape were his milieu, and he will
never depict the lives of the impoverished with either
rancor or self-pity. The powerful strokes of his pen will
paint a picture of the starkness and reality of their lives.
He allowed the tin and hessian fabrics of the rat-infested,
leaking hovels to spell it out. He will become involved
with the South African Coloured People’s Organisation,
playing a very active part in its affairs. He will be
exiled in 1966 and move with his family to London. At the
time he joins the ancestors in 1985, he was the Chief
Representative of the African National Congress in Cuba.
1927 – Sidney Poitier is born prematurely in Miami, Florida, weighing
only three pounds. His parents are on a regular trip to the
U.S. to sell tomatoes and other produce. He will be raised
in the Bahamas and return to the United States as a teenager
to live with his older brother in Miami. He will move to New
York City in 1945 to study acting. He will become one of the
modern movies’ leading men, making his screen debut in 1950
and earning praise in such films as “Cry the Beloved Country,”
“Blackboard Jungle,” “Porgy and Bess,” “A Raisin in the Sun,”
“To Sir With Love,” “In the Heat of the Night,” and “Guess
Who’s Coming to Dinner.” His 1965 role in “Lilies of the
Field” will earn him an Oscar, the first for an African
American in a leading role.
1929 – Writer Wallace Thurman’s play “Harlem” opens in New York City.
It is the first successful play by an African American
playwright.
1936 – John Hope, president of Atlanta University, joins the ancestors
at the age of sixty seven.
1937 – Nancy Wilson is born in Chillicothe, Ohio. She will become a
well-known jazz and pop singer, singing with Cannonball
Adderly, George Shearing, Art Farmer and Chick Corea, among
others. She will make more than 50 albums, including “With My
Lover Beside Me,” featuring the lyrics of Johnny Mercer and
the music of Barry Manilow.
1951 – Emmett L. Ashford, one of baseball’s most popular figures,
becomes the first African American umpire in organized
baseball. Ashford is certified to be a substitute in the
Southwestern International League. He will later (1966)
become the first African American major league umpire, working
in the American League.
1963 – Baseball great, Willie “The Say Hey Kid” Mays, signs with the
San Francisco Giants as baseball’s highest paid player (at
that time). He will earn $100,000 a year.
1963 – Charles Barkley is born in Leeds, Alabama. He will forego his
senior year at Auburn University to enter the NBA as a forward
for the Philadelphia 76ers. Barkley will post averages of 20
or more points and at least 10 rebounds per game for 11
seasons. His achievements during that span will be remarkable.
He will be an All-NBA First Team selection in 1988, 1989,
1990, 1991 and 1993, an All-NBA Second Team pick in 1986,
1987, 1992, 1994 and 1995 and an All-NBA Third Team choice in
1996. He will be selected to 10 consecutive All-Star Games,
and receive more All Star votes than any other player in 1994,
and will be MVP in the 1991 All-Star classic.
1968 – State troopers use tear gas to stop civil rights demonstrations
at Alcorn A&M College in Mississippi.
1991 – African Americans win Grammys including Mariah Carey for
Best New Artist and female pop vocal, Anita Baker for female
R&B vocal, Luther Vandross for male R&B vocal, Living Colour
for best hard rock performance, M.C. Hammer for best rap solo
and best R&B song for “U Can’t Touch This,” and Chaka Khan and
Ray Charles for best R&B vocal by a duo or group. Quincy
Jones becomes the all-time non-classical Grammy winner when he
wins six awards at these 33rd annual Grammy Awards, including
album of the year, “Back on the Block.”
1997 – T. Uriah Butler joins the ancestors in Fyzabad, Trinidad at the
age of 100. Born in Grenada, he had been a major labor
organizer and politician in Trinidad. In 1975, he was awarded
Trinidad’s highest honor, The Trinity Cross.
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.
Now Available #Betrayed Book One Part FOUR (City Boys) #Smashwords @AmazonKindle & coming Soon @nookBN
The wait is over and I deeply thank you for your patience.
Jordyn and Jackson are back and going through their rollercoaster wild ride that has new twists and turns in Betrayed Series. If you haven’t picked up previous books, please click on this link (Amazon & Smashwords) and catch up!
This is the fourth installment of The City Boys Series of Betrayed Book One. An urban romance suspense where revenge is a dish best served cold.
In Betrayed Book One Part Four (City Boys Series) Jordyn has made the decision that she cannot under ANY circumstances see Jackson anymore, but unfortunately her body has not gotten the message. Leaving him was the hardest thing to do, but she knows her revenge must come first and she must keep a cold heart in order to pull off a successful con.
Now the con not only hinges on success…
View original post 133 more words
February 19 African American Historical Events
Today in Black History – February 19 *
1919 – The first Pan-African Congress, organized by W.E.B. Dubois,
opens in Paris, France. Fifty-seven delegates from 16
countries and colonies will meet for three days and declare
“The natives of Africa must be allowed to participate in the
government as fast as their development permits.” Blaise
Diagne of Senegal is elected president and Dubois is named
secretary. The Pan-African movement is started by these
African American, African and Caribbean intellectuals,
stressing the unity of Black people, whether living in Africa
or in the various parts of the world to which Africans had
been brought as slaves. African independence and nationalism
were its goals. These representatives from the Americas,
Europe, and Africa gather to discuss the situation of
Africans living under colonialism. Also taking place in Paris
at that time are the negotiations for the post-WWI Treaty of
Versailles. Since the fate of the European powers’ African
colonies is being discussed in these negotiations, Du Bois
hopes to influence the decisions that will come out of the
peace conference.
1940 – William “Smokey” Robinson is born in Detroit, Michigan. As
part of the Motown group “The Miracles” and in his solo
career, Robinson will be an enduring Rhythm and Blues and
pop performer. He will also become a Vice-President of Motown
Records.
1959 – Gabon adopts its constitution.
1987 – A racially motivated civil disturbance erupts in Tampa,
Florida, after a young African American man dies from
injuries resulting from a police chokehold.
1992 – John Singleton is nominated for two Academy Awards for best
director and best screenplay for his first film, “Boyz N the
Hood.” Singleton is the first African-American director ever
to be nominated for the Academy Award.
1995 – A day after being named the new chairwoman of the NAACP,
Myrlie Evers-Williams outlines her plans for revitalizing the
civil rights organization, saying she intended to take the
group back to its roots.
1999 – President Bill Clinton posthumously pardons Henry O. Flipper.
Flipper was the first African American to graduate from the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Flipper was acquitted
on charges of embezzlement of commissary funds, but was
found guilty of “conduct unbecoming an officer” for lying to
investigators. He received a dishonorable discharge in 1882.
He had been a victim of racism from the time he went to West
Point to the time he was railroaded out of the military. Mr.
Flipper joined the ancestors in 1940 at the age of 84.
2002 – Vonetta Flowers becomes the first Black athlete from any
country to win a gold medal in the Olympic Winter Games. She
and her partner win the women’s two-person bobsled event at
the Salt Lake City games. They finished their two runs in 1
minute 37.76 seconds
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.
Happy Birthday, Toni Morrison!
Toni Morrison celebrates her 83rd birthday today! A Nobel Prize winning author, Morrison shares her love for language, meaning, and storytelling through her books. I am personally grateful that I read such books like The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Jazz, Sula, and Tar Baby. To learn about this fascinating woman, click here.
The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Day 18: Christopher Myers
The Brown Bookshelf is pleased to spotlight award winning illustrator, Christopher Myers. Son of Walter Dean Myers, Christopher has made a name for himself with his award winning books like, Harlem, Black Cat, and H.O.R.S.E., A Game of Basketball and Imagination To read more about this talented illustrator, click here.
Christopher Myers also has a facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/myers.studio?fref=ts).
February 18 African American Historical Events
Today in Black History – February 18 *
1688 – The first formal protest against slavery by an organized white
body in the English American colonies is made by Germantown,
Pennsylvania Quakers and Mennonites at a monthly meeting. When
some members of the Quaker community began to buy slaves,
Francis Daniel Pastorius, the founder of Germantown, was
outraged. On this day, Pastorius will meet with three other
Germantown Quaker men to draft a denunciation of slavery.
Known as “The Germantown Protest,” it is regarded as the first
protest against slavery by whites in the American colonies.
The reasoning of the denunciation was based on the Golden
Rule: since white people did not want to be slaves themselves,
they had no right to enslave black African men and women.
Despite the Germantown Protest, some Quaker families continued
to keep slaves. Nonetheless, by the 19th century Quakers were
prominent in the movement to abolish slavery in the United
States.
1865 – Confederate Troops abandon Charleston, South Carolina. The
first Union troops to enter the city include the Twenty-first
U.S. Colored Troops, followed by two companies of the Fifty-
fourth Massachusetts Volunteers.
1867 – The Augusta Institute is founded in Georgia. It is established
as an institution of higher learning for African American
students, and moves to Atlanta in 1879. In 1913, the name is
changed to Morehouse College.
1894 – Paul Revere Williams is born in Los Angeles, California. He
will become one of the most famous African American
architects, designer of private residences in Los Angeles,
the Hollywood YMCA, the Beverly-Wiltshire Hotel, UCLA’s Botany
Building and many others. Among his many awards will be the
NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1953.
1931 – Toni Morrison is born in Lorain, Ohio. She will become one of
the most celebrated modern novelists of the 20th century,
winning the National Book Critics Award in 1978 for “Song of
Solomon” and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988 for
“Beloved.” In 1993, she will become the first African
American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1965 – The Gambia gains its independence from Great Britain.
1973 – Palmer Hayden joins the ancestors in New York City. One of the
principal artists of the Harlem Renaissance who, like Henry 0.
Tanner and others, studied in Paris, his most enduring work
often depicted everyday scenes of African American life.
1979 – The miniseries “Roots: The Next Generations” premiers on ABC
TV.
1995 – The NAACP replaces veteran chairman William Gibson with Myrlie
Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar
Evers, after the rank-and-file declared no confidence in
Gibson’s leadership.
2006 – Shani Davis, from Chicago’s South Side, becomes the first Black
athlete to claim an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic
history, winning the 1,000-meter speedskating race in 1 min.,
8.89 seconds.
2013 – Damon Harris, former member of the Motown group The Temptations,
joins the ancestors at the age of 62 after succumbing to prostate
cancer. Harris joined the Temptations at age 20 in 1971 and
replaced Eddie Kendricks, one of the group’s original lead
singers. He was with the group until 1975, and was best known for
singing tenor on the band’s hit, “Papa was a Rolling Stone.”
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.
The Brown Bookshelf 28 Days Later Day 17: Nikki Shannon Smith
The Brown Bookshelf is please to spotlight, Nikki Shannon Smith, the author of a current Little Golden book titled The Little Christmas Elf. You can read about her journey to become a published author here. Visit her website at: http://www.nikkishannonsmith.com
February 17 African American Historical Events
Today in Black History – February 17 *
1870 – Congress passes a resolution readmitting Mississippi to the
Union on the condition that it will never change its
constitution to disenfranchise African Americans.
1918 – Charles Hayes is born in Cairo, Illinois. He will be elected
to the House of Representatives succeeding Harold Washington
in 1983.
1933 – Bobby Lewis is born. He will become a Rhythm and Blues singer,
who will be at his peak in the 1960’s, and will be best-known
for his recordings of “Tossin’ & Turnin’,” and “One Track
Mind.”
1936 – Jim Brown is born in Saint Simons, Georgia. He will be
considered one of the greatest offensive backs in the history
of football, establishing records with the Cleveland Browns,
for most yards gained and most touchdowns. Brown will also
develop a film career, establish the Negro Industrial and
Economic Union, and work with African American youth.
1938 – Mary Frances Berry is born in Nashville, Tennessee. She will
be an influential force in education and civil rights, become
the first woman of any race to serve as chancellor of a major
research university (University of Colorado in 1976), and a
member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
1941 – Joe Louis retains his world heavyweight boxing crown by
knocking out Gus Dorazio.
1942 – Huey P. Newton, a co-founder and minister of defense for the
Black Panther Party, is born in Monroe, Louisiana.
1962 – Wilt Chamberlain, of the NBA Philadelphia Warriors, scores 67
points against St. Louis.
1963 – Michael Jeffrey Jordan, who will be a star basketball player
for the University of North Carolina, the 1984 Olympic gold
medal team and the Chicago Bulls, is born in Brooklyn, New
York. Jordan’s phenomenal style and scoring ability will earn
him universal acclaim and selection on more than eight all-
star NBA teams and NBA Most Valuable Player more than four
times.
1982 – Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist and composer, joins the ancestors
at the age of 64.
1989 – The African countries of Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
& Libya form an economic common market.
1997 – The Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the
state song, “Carry me back to Old Virginny,” a tune which
glorifies the institution of slavery.
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.
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