KRLemmons African American History

December 18 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 18 *

1852 – George H. White is born in Rosindale, North Carolina.
He will become a lawyer, state legislator, and in 1896,
the only African American member of the United States
House of Representatives, where he will be the first to
introduce an anti-lynching bill. White will also found
the town of Whitesboro, New Jersey, as a haven for
African Americans escaping southern racism.

1860 – South Carolina declares itself an “independent
commonwealth.”

1865 – Congress proclaims the ratification of the thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. The
ratification process had been completed on December 6,
1865.

1917 – Raiford Chatman “Ossie” Davis is born in Cogdell, Georgia.
While he will be best known as an actor in such plays as
“Jeb” (where he will meet his wife, Ruby Dee) and “Purlie
Victorious” and films like “Let’s Do It Again,” “Do The
Right Thing,” and “Jungle Fever,” he will be a playwright,
screenwriter, and director(Cotton Comes to Harlem). In
1969, he will win an Emmy for his role in “Teacher,
Teacher” and will be a featured performer in television’s
“Evening Shade.” He will join the ancestors on February 4,
2005.

1958 – Niger gains autonomy within the French Community of Nations.

1961 – Wilt Chamberlain of the NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 78
points vs the Los Angeles Lakers.

1964 – Funeral services are held in Chicago for Sam Cooke. Hundreds
of fans will cause damage to the A.R. Leak Funeral Home,
where Cooke’s body is on display.

1971 – Jesse Jackson announces the formation of Operation Push
(People United to Save Humanity), a new African American
political and economic development organization. Jackson,
who resigned from Operation Breadbasket, the economic arm
of the SCLC, says, “the problems of the 1970’s are economic
so the solution and goal must be economic.”

1971 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Rev. Leon H.
Sullivan, founder of Opportunities Industrialization
Centers of America (OIC) for his leadership.

1989 – Ernest Dickerson wins the New York Film Critics Circle Award
for best cinematography for the movie “Do the Right Thing.”

1996 – The Oakland, California School board becomes the first in
the nation to recognize Black english, a.k.a. Ebonics, as a
separate language, NOT a dialect or slang.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 17 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 17 *

1920 – South Africa receives League of Nations mandate over South
West Africa.

1937 – Art Neville is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He will
become a member of the popular singing group, “The
Neville Brothers.”

1939 – Eddie Kendricks is born in Union Springs, Alabama. He will
become one of the original members of the Motown group,
“The Temptations”. He will begin a solo career in 1971 and
will have many successful hits such as “Keep on Truckin”
and “Boogie Down.” In 1982, he will rejoin the Temptations
for a reunion tour and again in 1989, when the group is
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He will
join the ancestors after succumbing to cancer in 1992.

1945 – Ernie Hudson is born in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He will
become an actor and best known for his role in the movie
“Ghostbusters.”

1971 – Congressman Charles Diggs, Jr. resigns from the United
States’ delegation to the United Nations in protest of the
Nixon administration’s policies regarding Africa.

1975 – Noble Sissle joins the ancestors in Tampa, Florida at the
age of 86. A protege of James Reese Europe, Sissle traveled
with the famous bandleader to Europe as the drum major in
the 369th Regimental Band and teamed with Eubie Blake to
form the writing team of Sissle and Blake. Together with
Flourney Miller and Aubrey Lyles, Sissle and Blake wrote
“Shuffle Along” and other musicals. A founding member of
the Negro Actor’s Guild, Sissle was a successful orchestra
and bandleader in his own right, touring Europe in the
1930’s and with the USO during World War II.

1975 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Henry (“Hank”)
Aaron “for his memorable home-run record which stands as a
landmark” and for his sportsmanship.

1979 – In a case that aggravates racial tensions, Arthur McDuffie,
a Black insurance executive, is fatally beaten after a
police chase in Miami. Four white police officers are
later acquitted of charges stemming from McDuffie’s death.

1991 – Michael Jordan, outstanding guard for the Chicago Bulls, who
led his team to their first-ever NBA championship, is named
the 1991 “Sport Illustrated” Sportsman of the Year.
Jordan’s likeness will appear on the December 23rd issue of
the magazine in the form of a full-color holographic
stereogram, a first for a mass-market publication.

1999 – Jazz great Grover Washington, Jr. joins the ancestors
resulting from a heart attack following a taping session.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 16 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 16 *

1834 – George Lewis Ruffin is born in Richmond, Virginia. The
son of free African Americans, he and his wife, Josephine
St. Pierre Ruffin (1842–1924), will flee to England after
the Dred Scott decision (1857), and return soon to
Boston. While making his living as a barber, he will
speak out on matters concerning African Americans. He
will read the law in Boston and become the first Black
to graduate from Harvard Law School (1869). While
maintaining a thriving practice in Boston, he will serve
in the Massachusetts legislature (1869–71) and Boston
City Council (1876–8), and will be named a municipal
judge (1883). An active Baptist and able speaker, he will
attend national conventions of African Americans and
become a close friend of many prominent people of his
day, including Frederick Douglass. His wife was a partner
in his many efforts to improve the lot of fellow
African Americans. He will join the ancestors in 1886

1838 – The Zulu chieftain Dingaan is defeated by the Boers in
South Africa.

1859 – Shields Green and John Anthony Copeland, two of five
African American freedom fighters, are hanged for their
participation in John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry.
Copeland will be led to the gallows shouting “I am dying
for freedom. I could not die for a better cause. I had
rather die than be a slave.”

1859 – The last slave ship, the Clothilde, landed a shipment of
slaves at Mobile Bay, Alabama.

1870 – The Colored Methodist Church of America is established at
Jackson, Tennessee. The organization will change its
name in 1954 to the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
The denomination will grow to include approximately 3,000
congregations.

1875 – Charles Caldwell, a militant African American militia
officer, joins the ancestors, after being assassinated in
Clinton, Mississippi.

1875 – Alabama A&M College, Knoxville College and Lane College are
established.

1875 – Governor Daniel H. Chamberlain, acting in concert with
white Democrats and conservatives, refuses to resign his
commission.

1875 – William J. Whippers is elected judge of the circuit court
of Charleston by the South Carolina General Assembly.

1895 – Andy Razafkerief(Razaf) is born in Washington, DC. He will
become an important lyricist and musical collaborator with
Eubie Blake and Fats Waller. His most famous songs will
include “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” and the
lyrics to “Stomping at the Savoy.” He will be inducted
into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 1972.

1934 – John Edward Jacobs is born in Trout, Louisiana and will be
raised in Houston, Texas. Jacobs will serve the National
Urban League in many capacities and in 1982 will replace
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. as its president.

1937 – Augusta Savage, sculptress, is commissioned to sculpt a
piece for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The sculpture
is to symbolize the African American contribution to the
field of music. It is the first such commission given to
an African American.

1946 – The first coining honoring an African American and designed
by an African American is issued. The fifty-cent piece
contains the bust of Booker T. Washington.

1962 – William “The Refrigerator” Perry, is born in Aiken, South
Carolina. He will become a NFL defensive lineman with the
Chicago Bears. He will be best known for his occasional
performance as a running back on short yardage situations.

1967 – Wilt Chamberlain, of the NBA Philadelphia 76ers, scores 68
points against the Chicago Bulls.

1973 – Jim Brown’s single season rushing record in the NFL is
smashed by O.J. Simpson. Brown rushed for 1,863 yards,
while Simpson ran for 2,003 yards.

1976 – Rep. Andrew Young is appointed Ambassador and Chief
representative to the United Nations by President Jimmy
Carter.

1990 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected president of Haiti in
the country’s first democratic elections.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 15 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 15 *

1644 – A Dutch land grant is issued to Lucas Santomee, son of
Peter Santomee, one of the first 11 Africans brought to
Manhattan. Among the land granted to Santomee and the
original Africans is property in Brooklyn and Greenwich
Village.

1706 – A slave named Onesimus arrives in the home of Cotton
Mather. The slave’s experience and explanation of
African inoculation will result in Mather’s encouragement
of Dr. Zabdiel Boylston to inoculate for smallpox in
1721.

1864 – In one of the decisive battles of the Civil War, two
brigades of African American troops help crush one of the
South’s finest armies at the Battle of Nashville.
African American troops open the battle on the first day
and successfully engage the right flank of the rebel line.
On the second day Col. Charles R. Thompson’s African
American brigade makes a brilliant charge up Overton Hill.
The Thirteenth U.S. Colored Troops will sustain more
casualties than any other regiment involved in the battle.

1896 – Julia Terry Hammonds receives a patent for the apparatus
for holding yarn skeins.

1934 – Maggie Lena Walker, the first woman to head a bank, joins
the ancestors at the age of 69.

1934 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Award is awarded to William Taylor
Burwell Williams, Tuskegee dean and agent of the Jeanes
and Slater funds, for his achievements as an educator.

1939 – Cynthia Ann “Cindy” Birdsong is born in Mount Holly
Township, New Jersey. She will become a singer with Patti
LaBelle and the Bluebells and Diana Ross and the Supremes.

1941 – Lena Horne records the torch classic for Victor Records,
that will become her signature song: “Stormy Weather.”

1943 – Thomas W. “Fats” Waller joins the ancestors, outside Kansas
City, Missouri at the age of 39, from pneumonia. The self-
taught piano player began recording as a teenager and
became one of a small group of African American pianists to
make piano rolls for the growing player piano industry.
Waller’s first solo recording in 1926 led to his own radio
show and three tours of France. Waller was known for such
popular songs as “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “I’m Gonna Sit Right
Down and Write Myself a Letter,” and “Honeysuckle Rose.”
He also wrote music for the stage and the movies, most
notably “Stormy Weather.”

1943 – The San Francisco Sun-Reporter is established. Its co-
founder, Thomas Fleming will be its editor and a working
journalist into his nineties.

1943 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to William H. Hastie
“for his distinguished career as a jurist and as an
uncompromising champion of equal justice.”

1950 – Ezzard Charles knocks out Nick Barone to retain his
heavyweight boxing title.

1954 – The Netherlands Antilles become a co-equal part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands.

1961 – Dr. Kenneth B. Clark, psychologist and educator, is awarded
the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for pioneering studies that
influenced the Supreme Court decision on school
desegregation.

1961 – Police use tear gas and leashed dogs to stop a mass
demonstration by fifteen hundred African Americans in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana.

1980 – Dave Winfield signs a ten-year contract with the New York
Yankees, for somewhere between $1.3 and $1.5 million. He
will become the wealthiest player in the history of U.S.
team sports. The total package for the outfielder is said
to be worth over $22 million dollars.

1985 – Businessman J. Bruce Llewellyn and former basketball star
Julius Erving become owners of Philadelphia Coca-Cola
Bottling, the fourth-largest African American business in
the United States.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 14 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 14 *

1829 – John Mercer Langston is born in Louisa County, Virginia.
He will have a distinguished career as an attorney,
educator, recruiter of soldiers for the all African
American 5th Ohio, 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments,
dean of the law school and president of Howard University,
diplomat, and U.S. congressman.

1915 – Jack Johnson becomes the world heavyweight boxing champion.

1920 – Clark Terry is born in St. Louis, Missouri. He will become
a trumpeteer and flugelhorn player who will be known for
his association with Duke Ellington on the 1950’s, his
innovative flugelhorn sound, and unusual mumbling scat
singing.

1939 – Ernest “Ernie” Davis is born in New Salem, Pennsylvania.
He will become the first African American to win the
Heisman Trophy (1961). He will join the ancestors on May
18, 1963, succumbing to acute monotypic leukemia before
he is able to play in the National Football League.

1945 – Stanley Crouch is born in Los Angeles, California. He will
become a drummer, poet, and writer for “The Village Voice.”
Among his books will be “Notes of a Hanging Judge,”
published in 1990.

1963 – Singer Dinah Washington joins the ancestors after a sleeping
pill overdose at the age of 39 in Detroit, Michigan. She
popularized many, many great songs, including “What a
Diff’rence a Day Makes”, “Unforgettable” and several hits
with Brook Benton, including “Baby (You’ve Got What it
Takes)” and “A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall
in Love)”.

1968 – Sammy Davis Jr. is awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for
his “superb and many-faceted talent,” and his contributions
to the civil rights movement.

1968 – Classes of San Francisco State University are suspended
after demonstrations by the Black Student Union and Third
World Liberation Front.

1972 – Johnny Rodgers, a running back with the University of
Nebraska, is awarded the Heisman Trophy. Rodgers gained a
total of 5,586 yards for the Cornhuskers in three years.

1980 – Elston Howard, a New York Yankee catcher for many years,
joins the ancestors.

1991 – Desmond Howard, of the University of Michigan wins the
Heisman trophy.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 13 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 13 *

1903 – Ella Baker is born in Norfolk, Virginia. A civil rights
worker who will direct the New York branch of the NAACP,
Baker will become executive director of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference in the 1960’s during
student integration of lunch counters in the southern
states. She also will play a key role in the formation
of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and its
voter registration drive in Mississippi. She will join
the ancestors on December 13, 1986 in New York City.

1913 – Archibald Lee Wright is born in Benoit, Mississippi.
Better known as Archie Moore, he will become a boxer and
win the light heavyweight crown in 1952. He will reign
as champion until 1959 and again in 1961. His will be one
of the longest professional careers in the history of
boxing. In 2002, he will be inducted into the St. Louis
Walk of Fame. In 2006, he will become a California Boxing
Hall of Fame Inductee and Ring Magazine will name him
boxing’s fourth Ring Magazine Best Punchers of all time
in 2003. He will join the ancestors on December 9, 1998.
He still holds the record for the most career knockouts
by any boxer, at 145.

1924 – Lawrence Eugene “Larry” Doby is born in Camden, South
Carolina. He will become the first African American in
baseball’s American League, playing for the Cleveland
Indians. He will be the 1954 RBI leader. His career
statistics include a .283 career average with 253 home
runs and 970 RBI in 1533 games. He will hit at least 20
homers in each season from 1949-56, leading the league in
1952 (32) and 1954 (32), and appearing between the top
ten leaders in seven seasons (1949, 1951-56). He will hit
for the cycle (1952), and also lead the league in runs in
1952 (104), RBI in 1954 (126), on base percentage in 1950
(.442), slugging average in 1952 (.541), and OPS in 1950
(.986). He will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1998. He will join the ancestors on June 18, 2003 in
Montclair, New Jersey.

1944 – The first African American women complete officer training
for the WAVES (Women’s Auxiliary Volunteers for Emergency
Service). They had been admitted to the corps two months
earlier.

1958 – Tim Moore, an actor best known for his portrayal of
Kingfish on the Amos ‘n’ Andy television show, joins the
ancestors at the age of 70.

1981 – Popular African American comedian Dewey “Pigmeat” Markham
joins the ancestors after a stroke at the age of 75. He
became famous in mainstream America, late in his life for
his “here comes de judge” routine popularized in
television’s “Laugh-In.”

1989 – President De Klerk of South Africa meets with imprisoned
Nelson Mandela, at de Klerk’s office in Cape Town, to talk
about the end of apartheid.

1997 – Charles Woodson, of the University of Michigan, is awarded
the Heisman Trophy. He is the first defensive player ever
to win the coveted prize.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 12 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 12 *

1870 – Joseph Hayne Rainey is the first African American to serve
in Congress representing South Carolina. He is sworn in
to fill an unexpired term.

1872 – U.S. Attorney General George Williams sends a telegram to
“Acting Governor Pinchback,” saying that the African
American politician “was recognized by the President as
the lawful executive of Louisiana.”

1892 – Minnie Evans, visual artist and painter, is born in Pender
County, North Carolina. One of her more famous works will
be “Lion of Judah.” She will be inducted into the
Wilmington, NC “Walk of Fame.” She will join the ancestors
on December 16, 1987.

1899 – Boston native, dentist, and avid golfer, George F. Grant
receives a patent for a wooden golf tee. Prior to the
use of the tee, wet sand was used to make a small mound
to place the ball. Grant’s invention will revolutionize
the manner in which golfers swing at the ball.

1912 – Henry Melody Jackson, Jr. is born in Columbus, Mississippi.
He will move with his family to St. Louis, Missouri and
become a boxer known as Henry Armstrong. In 1938 he will
become the first boxer to hold three titles at the same
time after winning the lightweight boxing championship.
He will be inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame as well
as the International Boxing Hall of Fame. His boxing record
at the time of his retirement in 1945 will be 150 wins, 101
wins by knockout, 21 losses, and 10 draws. After retiring
from boxing, he will become a Baptist minister and will
teach young upcoming fighter how to box. He will join
the ancestors on October 22, 1988 in Los Angeles, California.

1913 – James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens is born in Oakville, Alabama.
He will become a world-class athlete in college, setting
world records in many events. He will go on to win 4 gold
medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, spoiling Hitler’s
plans to showcase Aryan sports supremacy. He will join the
ancestors on March 31, 1980.

1918 – Famed jazz singer Joe Williams is born in Cordele, Georgia.
Williams will sing for seven years in Count Basie’s band,
where he will record such hits as “Every Day I have the
Blues.” He will join the ancestors on March 29, 1980.

1929 – Vincent Dacosta Smith is born in New York City. He will
exhibit his works on four continents and be represented in
the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the National
Museum of American Art, and the National Museum of Afro-
American Artists in Boston. He will join the ancestors on
December 27, 2003.

1938 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Missouri that a state must
provide equal educational facilities for African Americans
within its boundaries. Lloyd Gaines, the plaintiff in the
case, disappears after the decision and is never seen
again.

1941 – Dionne Warwick is born in East Orange, New Jersey. Warwick
will sing in a gospel trio with her sister Dee Dee and
cousin Cissy Houston, and begin her solo career in 1960
singing the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. She
will become a three-time Grammy winner.

1943 – Grover Washington, Jr. is born in Buffalo, New York. He
will become a renown jazz artist and famous for his
recording of “Mr. Magic.” He will join the ancestors on
December 17, 1999.

1961 – Martin Luther King Jr., along with over seven hundred
demonstrators is arrested in Albany, Ga., after five mass
marches on city hall to protest segregation. The arrests
trigger the militant Albany movement.

1963 – Kenya achieves its independence from Great Britain with
Jomo Kenyatta as its first prime minister.

1963 – Medgar Wiley Evers is awarded the Spingarn Medal
posthumously for his civil rights leadership.

1965 – Johnny Lee, an actor best known for his portrayal of
“Calhoun” on “The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show,” joins the ancestors
at the age of 67.

1965 – Gale Sayers, of the Chicago Bears, scores 6 touchdowns and
ties the NFL record.

1968 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first African American to be ranked
Number One in tennis.

1975 – The National Association of Black Journalists is formed in
Washington, DC. Among its founding members are Max
Robinson, who will become the first African American anchor
of a national network news program, and Acel Moore, a
future Pulitzer Prize winner.

1979 – Rhodesia becomes the independent nation of Zimbabwe.

1986 – Bone Crusher Smith knocks out WBA champion Tim Witherspoon
in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

2007 – Ike Turner, whose role as one of rock’s critical architects
was overshadowed by his ogre-like image as the man who
brutally abused former wife and rock icon Tina Turner,
joins the ancestors at his home in suburban San Diego at the
age of 76.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 11 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 11 *

1872 – America’s first African American governor takes office as
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback became acting governor
of Louisiana.

1916 – John E. Bush, former slave and teacher, joins the
ancestors. He had been appointed receiver of the United
States Land Office in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1898.

1917 – 13 African American soldiers are hanged for alleged
participation in a Houston riot.

1917 – The Great Jazz migration begins as Joe Oliver leaves New
Orleans and settles in Chicago, to be joined later by
other stars.

1917 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Harry T.
Burleigh, composer and accomplished opera singer, for
excellence in the field of music.

1926 – Willie Mae Thornton is born in Montgomery, Alabama. She
will be better known as “Big Mama” Thornton, a blues
singer whose recording of “Hound Dog” in 1952 will be
mimicked by Elvis Presley, much to his success. She
also recorded the hits “Ball & Chain,” and “Stronger
than Dirt.” She will join the ancestors on July 25, 1984.

1928 – Lewis Latimore joins the ancestors in Flushing, New York.
Employed as a chief draftsman, Mr. Latimore created the
drawings for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone in 1870.

1931 – The British Statute of Westminster gives complete
legislative independence to South Africa.

1940 – Lev T. Mills, who will become an artist and chairman of
the art department at Spelman College, is born in
Tallahassee, Florida. His prints and mixed-media works
will be collected by the Victoria & Albert and British
Museums in London and the High Museum in Atlanta and
include glass mosaic murals for an Atlanta subway station
and the atrium floor of Atlanta’s City Hall.

1954 – Jermaine Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana. He will become
a singer and musician with his brothers and perform with
their group, The Jackson Five.

1961 – U.S. Supreme Court reverses the conviction of sixteen
sit-in students who had been arrested in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.

1961 – Langston Hughes’ musical, “Black Nativity,” opens on
Broadway.

1964 – Sam Cooke joins the ancestors after being killed. Bertha
Franklin, Manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles,
claimed she killed the singer in self-defense after he’d
tried to rape a 22-year-woman and then turned on Franklin.

1980 – George Rogers, a running back for the University of South
Carolina, is awarded the Heisman Trophy. He achieved 21
consecutive 100-yard games with the gamecocks and led the
nation in rushing.

1981 – Muhammad Ali’s boxes in his 61st & last fight, losing to
Trevor Berbick.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 10 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 10 *

1810 – Tom Cribb of Great Britain defeats beats African
American Tom Molineaux in the first interracial boxing
championship. The fight lasted 40 rounds at Copthall
Common in England.

1846 – Norbert Rillieux invents the evaporating pan, which
revolutionizes the sugar industry.

1854 – Edwin C. Berry is born in Oberlin, Ohio. He will become
a hotel entrepreneur and erects a 22-room hotel, Hotel
Berry, in Athens, Ohio. He will be known, at the time
of his retirement in 1921, as the most successful
African American small-city hotel operator in the
United States. He will join the ancestors in 1931.

1864 – A mixed cavalry force, including Fifth and Sixth Colored
Cavalry regiments, invades southwest Virginia and
destroys salt mines at Saltville. The Sixth Cavalry
was especially brilliant in an engagement near Marion,
Virginia.

1910 – Smarting from the humiliation of seeing the Ty Cobb-led
Detroit Tigers tie the Negro Havana Stars in a six game
series 3-3, the “Indianapolis Freeman” states: “The
American scribes refused to write on the matter, it cut
so deep and was kept quiet.” Not quiet enough, however,
to prevent a ban on Negro teams, even the Cuban-named
clubs, from playing whites.

1943 – Theodore Wilson is born in New York City. He will become
an actor and will star on television in “That’s My Mama”
(Earl the Postman), and “Sanford Arms”.

1950 – Dr. Ralph J. Bunche is the first African American to be
presented the Nobel Prize. He is awarded the Peace Prize
for his efforts as under-secretary of the United Nations,
working for peace in the middle east.

1963 – Zanzibar becomes independent within the British
Commonwealth.

1964 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize.
In his acceptance speech, he dramatically rejects racism
and war and reaffirms his commitment to “unarmed truth
and unconditional love.” He is the youngest person to
earn the award.

1965 – Sugar Ray Robinson permanently retires from boxing with
six victories in title bouts to his credit.

1967 – Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays (Otis’
backup group) join the ancestors after being killed in
the crash of a private plane near Madison, Wisconsin.
Redding is 26 years old. His signature song, “(Sittin’
On) The Dock of the Bay” was recorded just three days
before his death. It will be #1 for four weeks beginning
February 10, 1968.

1982 – Pamela McAllister Johnson becomes the first African
American woman publisher of a mainstream newspaper, the
“Ithaca Journal.”

1984 – South African Anglican Bishop, Desmond Tutu receives the
Nobel Peace Prize.

1999 – Actress Shirley Hemphill joins the ancestors in West
Covina, California at the age of 52. She was best known
for her role as the “waitress with an attitude” on the
television series, “What’s Happening!”

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 9 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 9 *

1867 – The Georgia constitutional convention, consisting of 33
African American and 137 whites, opens in Atlanta,
Georgia.

1872 – P. B. S. Pinchback is sworn in as governor of Louisiana
after H.C. Warmoth is impeached “for high crimes and
misdemeanors.” He becomes the first African American
governor of a state.

1919 – Roy deCarava is born in New York City. He will become a
leading photographer of the African American experience.
The first African American photographer to be awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship, his first book, “The Sweet
Flypaper of Life,” will be a collaboration with poet
Langston Hughes. He will also found and direct Kamoinge
Workshop for African American photographers in 1963.

1922 – John Elroy (Redd Foxx) Sanford, is born in St. Louis,
Missouri. His off-color records and concerts will
catapult him to fame and his own television show,
“Sanford and Son,” and a later series, “The Royal
Family,” his last before he suddenly joins the ancestors
on October 11, 1991.

1938 – The first public service programming aired when Jack L.
Cooper launches the “Search for Missing Persons” show.
In 1929, he debuted “The All-Negro Hour on WSBC in Chicago.
He is considered to be the first African American disc
jockey and radio announcer.

1953 – Lloyd B. Free is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will
become a professional basketball player and will later
change his name to World B. Free. He will be a NBA
guard with the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers,
Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the
Houston Rockets. He will leave the NBA in 1988 with
17,955 career points and a career scoring average of
20.3 points per game.

1961 – Tanganyika gains independence from Great Britain and
takes the name Tanzania.

1961 – Wilt Chamberlain of the NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores
67 points vs. the New York Knicks.

1962 – Tanzania becomes a republic within the British
Commonwealth.

1963 – Zanzibar gains independence from Great Britain.

1971 – Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, Nobel Peace Prize winner and
Undersecretary of the United Nations from 1955 to his
retirement in October, 1971, joins the ancestors in New
York City at the age of 67.

1971 – Bill Pickett becomes the first African American elected
to the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. He is the
cowboy that invented the bulldogging event famous in
today’s rodeos.

1976 – Tony Dorsett is awarded the Heisman Trophy. Dorsett, a
running back for the University of Pittsburgh, amasses
a total of 6,082 total yards and will go on to play
with the Dallas Cowboys and help lead them to the Super
Bowl.

1984 – The Jackson’s Victory Tour comes to a close at Dodger
Stadium in Los Angeles, after 55 performances in 19
cities. The production is reported to be the world’s
greatest rock extravaganza and one of the most
problematic. The Jackson brothers receive about $50
million during the five-month tour of the United States
– before some 2.5 million fans.

1984 – Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears records another first
as he runs six plays, as quarterback. He is intercepted
twice, but runs the ball himself on four carries. The
Green Bay Packers still win 20-14. Payton says after
the game, “It was OK, but I wouldn’t want to do it for a
living.”

1984 – Eric Dickerson, of the Los Angeles Rams, becomes only the
second pro football player to run for more than 2,000
yards (2,105) in a season. He passes O.J. Simpson’s
record of 2,003 as the Rams beat the Houston Oilers
27-16.

1989 – Craig Washington wins a special congressional election in
Texas’ 18th District to fill the seat vacated by the
death of George “Mickey” Leland.

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