KRLemmons African American Authors, African American Poetry, Resources

April 18 Poet of the Day: Haki Madhubuti

April 18 Poet of the Day is Haki Madhubuti.  Born Donald Luther Lee in Little Rock, Arkansas, be is poet, essayist, editor and educator. He cofounded, along with two others, Third World Press. Read more about this multitalented poet here:

Additional resources on Haki Madhubuti:

Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/haki-madhubuti

African American Literature Book Club (AALBC): http://aalbc.com/authors/haki.htm

Third World Press: http://www.thirdworldpressbooks.com/

Black Past: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/madhubuti-haki-r-don-l-lee-1942

Interview on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss1ZwA9Zx9U

Speech given at Bethel AME Church in Baltimore, MD via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfsfCzoitxQ

KRLemmons African American History

April 18 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 18 *

1818 – Andrew Jackson defeats a force of Indians and African
Americans at the Battle of Suwanee, ending the First
Seminole War.

1861 – Nicholas Biddle becomes the first African American in
uniform to be wounded in the Civil War.

1864 – The First Kansas Colored Volunteers break through
Confederate lines at Poison Spring, Arkansas. The
unit will sustain heavy losses when captured African
American soldiers are murdered by Confederate troops
as opposed to being taken as POWs, which is the
standard treatment for captured whites.

1877 – The American Nicodemus Town Company is founded by six
African American settlers in northwestern Kansas. The
town will be settled later in the year.

1924 – Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown is born in Vinton, Louisiana.
He will become a blues musician and will be inspired by
the sounds of T-Bone Walker, Count Basie and Duke
Ellington. He will become a Grammy winner and be
nominated six times. He will be unrivaled in his
ability to seamlessly combine blues, country, soul and
jazzy Rhythm & Blues. He will be best known for his
hits, “Okie Dokie Stomp,” “Boogie Rambler,” “Just
Before Dawn,” “Dirty Work At The Crossroads,” and
“Gatemouth Boogie.” He will join the ancestors on
September 10, 2005,

1941 – Bus companies in New York City agree to hire African
American drivers and mechanics. This agreement ends a
four-week boycott.

1941 – Dr. Robert Weaver is named director of Office of
Production Management section, charged with integrating
African Americans into the National Defense Program.

1955 – The Bandung Conference of leaders of “colored” nations
of Africa and Asia opens in Indonesia. Hosted by
Indonesian President Sukarno, the conference is
attended by representatives of 29 African and Asian
countries. Its main objective was to express their
opposition to the colonialist and imperialist policies
of First World nations.

1961 – James Benton Parsons is the first African American judge
of a U.S. district court in the continental United
States. Chicago attorney Parsons is appointed judge of
the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois.

1983 – Alice Walker is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “The
Color Purple.” Ten days later, the novel will also win
the American Book Award for fiction.

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

KRLemmons African American History

April 17 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 17 *

1758 – Frances Williams, the first African American to graduate
from a college in the Western Hemisphere, publishes a
collection of Latin poems.

1818 – For unknown reasons, Daniel Coker is expelled from the
AME Church. Coker had been a key organizer in the
church’s early history and was elected its first bishop,
a position he declined possibly because of his fair
complexion.

1947 – Jackie Robinson bunts safely for his 1st major league
hit.

1978 – Thomas W. Turner, founder of the Federation of Colored
Catholics, civil rights pioneer and charter member of
the NAACP, joins the ancestors in Washington, DC, at
the age of 101.

1980 – Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, gains its
independence. Reggae stars Bob Marley and the Wailers
and others perform in the celebration festivities.
Robert Mugabe will be sworn in the following day as
prime minister of the newly formed nation.

1987 – Julius Erving becomes the 3rd NBA player to score 30,000
points.

1990 – Reverend Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist, joins
the ancestors at the age of 64 in Atlanta, Georgia.

1991 – African American and African leaders meet in Abidjan,
Ivory Coast, in the first Summit Meeting of Africans
and African Americans. The summit, organized by the
Reverend Leon H. Sullivan, calls for closer ties
between Africans and African Americans and urges
Western governments to cancel Africa’s foreign debt.
“Hold on, Africa!” the Rev. Sullivan says in his
keynote speech. “We are coming! Home of our heritage,
land of our past, we can help. We have 2 million
college graduates in America. We earn $300 billion a
year. Three centuries ago they took us away in a boat,
but today we have come back in an airplane.”

1993 – A federal jury in Los Angeles convicts two former police
officers of violating the civil rights of beaten
motorist Rodney King. Two other officers are acquitted.

2003 – Earl King, Rhythm & Blues guitarist, joins the ancestors
at age 69 after succumbing to complications of diabetes.
His hits include the Mardi Gras favorite “Big Chief”
and “Come On (Let the Good Times Roll).”

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

KRLemmons African American History

April 16 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 16

1862 – Slavery is abolished in Washington, DC, and $993,407 in
compensation is paid to slave owners for their lost
“property.”

1868 – Louisiana voters approve a new constitution and elect
state officers, including the first African American
lieutenant governor, Oscar J. Dunn, and the first
African American state treasurer, Antoine Dubuclet.
Article Thirteen of the new constitution bans
segregation in public accommodation: “All the persons
shall enjoy equal rights and privileges upon any
conveyances of a public character; and all places of
business, or of public resort, or for which a license
is required by either State, Parish or municipal
authority, shall be deemed places of a public
character and shall be opened to the accommodation and
patronage of all persons, without distinction or
discrimination on account of race or color.”

1869 – Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett is appointed Consul General
to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the first African
American to serve in a diplomatic position for the
United States. Bassett will hold the post for 12
years.

1947 – Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. is born in New York City.
He will become one of the finest basketball players in
history, first with UCLA, then with the Milwaukee Bucks
and, from 1975 to his retirement in 1990, with the Los
Angeles Lakers. After his conversion to Islam in
1971, he will change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
early in his professional career. The all-time leading
scorer in the NBA, he will lead the Lakers to five NBA
championships, including back-to-back titles in 1987
and 1988.

1962 – Three Louisiana segregationists are excommunicated by
Archbishop Joseph Rummel for continuing their
opposition to his order for integration of New Orleans
parochial schools.

1965 – Maj. General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., assistant deputy
chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, is named
lieutenant general, the highest rank attained by an
African American to date in the armed services.

1973 – Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African American
female to be elected mayor of a U.S. city when she
takes office in the small town of Taft, Oklahoma. She
will hold the position for 13 years.

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