KRLemmons African American Biography, African American Poetry, Resources

April 27 Poet of the Day: Cornelius Eady

Cornelius Eady, author of eight poetry books, and co-founder of Cave Canem, a summer workshop/retreat for African American poets, is April 27 Poet of the day.  Read about this fascinating poet here:

NPR: http://www.npr.org/2008/05/05/90184195/a-poets-hardheaded-reflection-on-life

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/poetryeverywhere/uwm/eady.html

Poets.org: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15244,

Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/cornelius-eady

Cave Canem: http://www.cavecanempoets.org/

Interview about Cave Canem: http://www.pw.org/content/qampa_eady_sees_cave_canem_success

 

KRLemmons African American History

April 27 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 27 *

1883 – Hubert Henry Harrison, is born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands.
He will become, by the 1920s, one of the nation’s most
prominent atheists. Harrison will recognize the connection
between racism and religion, and point this out quite
bluntly. The Bible was a slave master’s book in Harrison’s
eyes, which not only sanctioned the keeping of slaves, but
even gave advice on their handling. He will state that
any African American person who accepts Christianity was
either ignorant or crazy. He also will address Islam by
stating that the slave masters may have been largely
Christian, but many of the slave traders were Muslims,
apparently not deterred by their faith. He will join the
ancestors on December 17, 1927.

1903 – The publication of W.E.B. DuBois’s “The Souls of Black Folk”
crystallizes opposition to Booker T. Washington’s program
of social and political subordination.

1903 – Maggie L. Walker is named president of Richmond’s St. Luke
Penny Bank and Trust Company and becomes the first woman to
head a bank.

1903 – The U.S. Supreme Court upholds clauses in the Alabama state
constitution which disfranchises African Americans.

1927 – Coretta Scott is born in Marion, Alabama. She will marry
Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1953 and be an integral part of
his civil rights activities. After his assassination in
1968, she will continue her civil rights activities,
founding the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent
Change in Atlanta, Georgia. She will join the ancestors on
January 31, 2006 after succumbing to complications of a
stroke and heart attack.

1944 – Cuba M. Gooding, Sr. is born in New York City, New York. He will
become the lead singer of the soul group, The Main Ingredient
best known for its two biggest hits, “Everybody Plays the
Fool” (1972) and “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely” (1974).
He will also have a brief solo career on Motown Records
during the late-1970s and early-1980s. His biggest
international success will be Brian Auger’s “Happiness Is
Just Around the Bend” in 1983, which in recent times will be
sampled by several Rhythm & Blues artists, as well as
hitting the charts again as a remix by United Kingdom
Hardcore Rave group Altern-8 in 1991. In the same year,
samples from the song will also feature prominently in
Bizarre Inc’s single “Playing With Knives.” He will release
a single called “Politics” in September, 2007. He will also
develop a film project called “Everybody Plays the Fool: The
Cuba Gooding Story.” The film will highlight three
generations of the Gooding Family: Dudley “Cuba” Gooding,
Cuba Gooding, Sr., and Cuba Gooding, Jr. 00n the Boat Trip DVD
trivia track, it will state that he will appear in the 2003
romantic-comedy “The Fighting Temptations,” which will star
his son Cuba Gooding, Jr., but he will not be in the movie.
In 1999 he, along with Mark Yardley and David James will write
the international house hit, “Back and Forth” by the Supakings.

1949 – Herbert Lee (Herbie) Murrell is born in Lane, South Carolina. He
will become a member of the Rhythm and Blues group, the
Stylistics. Formed in 1968 in Philadelphia, the Stylistics will
first achieve some regional attention in 1971 with the
simplistic “You’re A Big Girl Now,” most notable for its
contrast to the work they will record a year later. Their Avco
Records debut will be a Philly Soul masterpiece, containing a
basket of marvelous compositions by Thom Bell and co-writer
Linda Creed that will become soul standards covered by other
artists for the next 30 years. “You Are Everything,” “Betcha By
Golly Wow,” “Stop Look Listen” and “People Make the World Go
Round” will all rocket up the Pop and Soul charts, and
immediately make the Stylistics the most sought after Soul
balladeers. The Stylistics will team with veteran producer
Preston Glass in 2009 and record a new album, “That Same Way,”
which wILL be released in Europe and Asia in late 2009 and in
the United States in 2011. It will be a great return to form
and the group’s best album in a quarter century. It will also
win the group a nomination for the 2011 SoulTracks Readers’
Choice Awards. The Stylistics will continue to tour regularly
and actively around the world.

1960 – Togo achieves its independence from France. Sylvanus
Olymplo serves as its first prime minister.

1961 – Sierra Leone obtains its independence from Great Britain
with Dr. Milton Margai as its first prime minister.

1961 – Kwame Nkrumah, African statesman and the first president of
Ghana, joins the ancestors in exile, in Conarky, Guinea at
the age of 62.

1977 – Artist Charles Alston joins the ancestors in New York City.
After studying at Columbia University and Pratt Institute,
he had traveled to Europe and the Caribbean before
executing murals for Harlem Hospital and Golden State
Mutual Life Insurance Company in Los Angeles. A recipient
of the National Academy of Design Award, he also received
the first-place award of the Atlanta University
Collection’s 1942 show for his gouache “Farm Boy.” His
best known works are “Family” and “Walking.” Among his
other notable works are “School Girl,” “Frederick Douglass,”
and “Nobody Knows.”

1994 – The first “Freedom Day” takes place in South Africa.

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

KRLemmons African American History

April 26 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 26 *

1798 – James Pierson Beckwourth is born in Fredericksburg,
Virginia. He will become a legendary American Western
mountain man, trapper, warrior, Indian chief, and
trailblazer. He will maintain a lifelong friendship with
the Crow Indian nation. He will work as an Army scout
during the third Seminole War and will be a rider for the
Pony Express. In 1850, he will discover a pass through the
Sierra Nevada mountains that will enable settlers to more
easily reach California. The Beckwourth Pass is still in
use today by the Union Pacific Railroad and the U.S.
Interstate Highway System. He will join the ancestors in
1866.

1886 – William Levi Dawson is born in Albany, Georgia. A graduate
of Fisk University, he will move to Chicago, serve in the
365th Infantry in World War I, become an attorney and
initially be involved in Republican politics upon his
return to the city after the war. Elected to his first
term in the United States Congress in 1942, he will serve
27 years in the House, where he will become the first
African American representative to chair a committee of
Congress, the Committee on Expenditures in Executive
Departments, in 1949.

1886 – Gertrude Pritchett is born in Columbus, Georgia. She will
become a blues singer and vaudeville performer. She will
marry William “Pa” Rainey and will become the “Ma” half of
“Rainey and Rainey: The Assassinators of the Blues.”
Between 1923 and 1928, she will record 93 songs, many of
which were her own compositions. She will perform
nationwide and will have a loyal fan base, even after her
recording contract with Paramount is terminated. She will
have a great impact on performers who will follow her and
will be immortalized by being included in August Wilson’s
play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and the poem of Sterling
Brown, “Ma Rainey.” She will join the ancestors on
December 22, 1939 and will be inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

1964 – The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form
Tanzania. The name is derived from the first syllable of
each country’s name.

1968 – Students seize the administration building at Ohio State.

1984 – Jazz musician great William “Count” Basie, joins the
ancestors in Hollywood, Florida at the age of 77. NOTE:
Many sources will have 1904 for Count Basie’s birth year.
Our source for his birth and death is the Kennedy Center
Archives documenting “The Honors” bestowed on him in 1981.

1991 – Maryann Bishop Coffey is named the first woman and the first
African American co-chair of the National Conference of
Christians and Jews.

1992 – “Jelly’s Last Jam” opens at Virginia theater on Broadway.
Gregory Hines will portray the great jazz composer Jelly
Roll Morton and will receive a Tony award as best actor in
a musical in that role.

1994 – Voting begins in South Africa’s first all-race elections.

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