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.

KRLemmons African American Biography, African American Poetry, Resources

April 26 Poet of the Day: Jayne Cortez

Jayne Cortez is April 26 Poet of the Day.  A poet and performance artist, Jayne was born on May 10, 1934.  Read more about this revolutionary poet here:

Additional resources about Jayne Cortez:

Poets.Org: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/464

Modern American Poetry: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cortez/poetry.htm

Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/jayne-cortez

West African Research Association: http://www.bu.edu/wara/warc-black-history-2013-cortez/

The Project for Innovative Poetry (PIP) Blog: http://pippoetry.blogspot.com/2013/01/jayne-cortez.html

5 Points Where Poetry Meets Jazz NPR: http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2014/04/11/301435058/5-points-where-poetry-meets-jazz

YouTube videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-moyZ7Rld2w, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h0qYZTXaiI, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPQcFI1s1qE

KRLemmons African American History

April 25 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 25 *

1905 – Doxey Alphonso Wilkerson is born in Excelsior Springs, Missouri.
He will become an educator at Howard University in Washington, DC
and Yeshiva University in New York City. In 1944, he will publish
an essay in the anthology, “What The Negro Wants,” which will
illustrate comparisons between the Allied struggle in Europe
during World War II and the civil rights struggle of African
Americans in the United States. As a member of the American
Communist Party, he will work as a civil rights activist. This
affiliation will cause him to be repeatedly investigated by
the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities. After
resigning from the Communist Party in 1957, he will continue to
be active in civil right activities and educational pursuits
until his retirement in 1984. He will join the ancestors on
June 17, 1993 in Norwalk, Connecticut.

1916 – Madeline M. Turner receives a patent for the fruit press.

1918 – Ella Fitzgerald is born in Newport News, Virginia. Discovered
at an amateur contest at the Apollo Theatre in 1934, she will
be a leading jazz vocalist of the swing era. Known for her
renditions of such songs as “A Tisket, A Tasket” (her first
million-seller), her unique scat styling and series of recordings
of great American songwriters will make her an enduring favorite
of jazz lovers. She will join the ancestors on June 15, 1996 in
Beverly Hills, California.

1942 – Ruby Doris Smith Robinson is born in Atlanta, Georgia. She will
become a civil rights activist and a founding member of The
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She will be
one of the original “Freedom Riders,” and will assist in creating
the policy of “jail, no bail,” employed by activists to fill
southern jails and bring national attention to the civil rights
struggle. After becoming SNCC’s first and only female executive
secretary, she will become ill with leukemia and joins the
ancestors on October 7, 1967 in Atlanta, Georgia.

1944 – The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is founded by Dr. Frederick
Douglass Patterson, then president of Tuskegee Institute, with 27
charter colleges and universities and a combined enrollment of
14,000 students.

1944 – George Herriman joins the ancestors in Los Angeles, California
at the age of 63. He had been a successful cartoonist who was
the author of the comic strip “Krazy Kat.” The comic strip ran
successfully from 1913 until this date.

1945 – The United Nations is founded at a San Francisco meeting
attended by African American consultants, most notably W.E.B.
Du Bois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ralph J. Bunche and Walter White.

1950 – At the NBA’s annual players draft, the Boston Celtics select
Charles “Chuck” Cooper. He is the first African American ever
drafted by an NBA team.

1960 – A consent judgment in a Memphis federal court ended restrictions
barring voters in Fayette County, Tennessee. This was the first
voting rights case under the Civil Rights Act.

1972 – Major General Frederick E. Davidson becomes the first African
American to lead an Army division when he is assigned command of
the 8th Infantry Division in Europe.

1979 – Olodum, an internationally recognized Afro-Brazilian Carnival
association, is founded in Bahia, Brazil. The music of this
group celebrates Black history and protests racial discrimination.
The name Olodum is derived from the name of the supreme Yoruba
deity, Olodumare’.

1990 – Tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon joins the ancestors in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of 67. A leading influence
in the bop movement along with Billy Eckstine and Dizzy Gillespie,
Gordon played in London in the early 1960’s and stayed until the
mid-1970’s. Elected to the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1980, his role in
the 1986 movie “‘Round Midnight” will revive interest in his music
and earn him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

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

KRLemmons African American Biography, African Authors, Resources

April 25 Poet of the Day: Kwame Dawes

April 25 Poet of the Day is Kwame Dawes.  Born in Ghana, Kwame Dawes later moved to Jamaica and spent most of his childhood and early adult life there.  In addition to poetry, Kwame also writes fiction, nonfiction and plays.  Read about this multitalented artist here:

Additional resources about Kwame Dawes:

Poets.Org: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/2118, http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/22007

Poetry Archive: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=17247

Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/kwame-dawes

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/poetryeverywhere/uwm/dawes.html, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/poet-kwame-dawes-remembers-uncle-kofi-awoonor-with-reading-of-the-weaver-bird/

Calabash Interview: http://www.nyu.edu/calabash/vol5no1/0501115.pdf

Kickstarts Fund for African Poetry: http://www.dailynebraskan.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_db86abbe-0b67-11e2-88e2-001a4bcf6878.html

YouTube Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puv51J7RBXo When Disaster Strikes (Haiti): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DsSpTUQuSg, Poetry reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx5Vohf5rW0

KRLemmons African American Biography, African American Poetry, Lesson Plans, Resources

April 24 Poet of the Day: Lucille Clifton

Lucille Clifton is April 24 Poet of the Day.  Poet, Educator and Author of the Everett Anderson children’s books series, Lucille Clifton was born on June 27, 1936 in Depew, New York.  Read about this prolific writer here:

Additional resources about Lucille Clifton:

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/poetryeverywhere/clifton.html

NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124113507

Shmoop Lesson Plan on “Homage to My Hips”: http://www.shmoop.com/homage-hips/ May have to register in order to access all resources.

Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lucille-clifton

Voices From the Gap: http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/cliftonLucille.php

Poets & Writers Interview: http://www.pw.org/content/no_ordinary_woman_lucille_clifton

Modern American Poetry: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/clifton/clifton.htm

YouTube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPr6EOggzm0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEVdSYqyk2Y

 

KRLemmons African American History

April 24 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 24 *

1867 – The first national meeting of the Ku Klux Klan is held at
the “Maxwell House” in Nashville, Tennessee.

1867 – African American demonstrators stage ride-ins on Richmond,
Virginia streetcars. Troops were mobilized to restore
order.

1884 – The Medico-Chirurgical Society of the District of Columbia
is founded. It is the first African American medical
society.

1886 – Augustine Tolton is ordained as a Catholic priest after
studying at the College of the Propagation of the Faith in
Rome for five years. Tolton will distinguish himself as a
speaker and a pastor at Catholic churches in New Jersey,
New York City, Chicago, and Quincy, Illinois.

1895 – The National Association of Colored Physicians, Dentists and
Pharmacists is organized at the First Congregational Church
in Atlanta, Georgia. It will change its name to the
National Medical Association in 1903.

1937 – Joseph “Joe” Henderson is born in Lima, Ohio. He will make
his initial reputation in what might be called Blue Note
Records’ second classic phase in the early 1960s, when a
new generation of young musicians began to extend the basic
hard bop framework of the label’s seminal 1950s output in
more experimental directions. He will be one of the players
at the core of that development, both as a leader and in
recordings as a sideman with artists like Kenny Dorham, Lee
Morgan, Andrew Hill, McCoy Tyner, Larry Young and Horace
Silver, among others. His firm grasp of the root idiom
combined with his experimental nature made him an ideal
exponent of the new style, which did not abandon jazz
structures in as radical a fashion as the free jazz
movement. He will join the ancestors on June 30, 2001 in
San Francisco.

1943 – Speaking on race relations and racial equality at Wayne
State University, Langston Hughes says, “I am for the
Christianity that fights poll tax, race discrimination,
lynching, injustice and inequality of the masses. I don’t
feel that religion should be used to beat down Jews [and]
Negroes, and to persecute other minority groups.

1944 – In Smith v. Allwright, the Supreme Court rules that a
“white primary” law that excludes African Americans from
voting is a violation of the 15th Amendment and thus
unconstitutional.

1948 – James Melvin Washington is born in Knoxville, Tennessee.
He will become a leading theologian whose emphasis was the
African American religious experience. He will be a
professor at the Union Theological Seminary in New York
from 1975 until he joins the ancestors on May 3, 1997. His
published works will include “Frustrated Fellowship: The
Black Baptist Quest for Social Power” (1986), “A Testament
of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King Jr.”
(1986), and “Conversations with God: Two Centuries of
Prayers by African Americans” (1994).

1954 – Wesley Cook is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He will
become an activist during his teenage years and will be
arrested and beaten for demonstrating against presidential
candidate governor George Wallace of Alabama. He will be a
founding member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Black
Panther Party in 1968 and will be known as Mumia Abu-Jamal.
After spending the summer months in 1970 working on the BPP
newspaper in California, he will return to Philadelphia to
work as a radio journalist with the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting and will have his own talk show on station
WUHY. He will lose his position as a radio journalist after
his continual criticism of mayor Frank Rizzo and
specifically his coverage of the police treatment of the
militant organization MOVE. While working as a taxicab
driver, he will be accused of killing a Philadelphia
policeman, Daniel Faulkner in 1981. Faulkner is killed in
an altercation with Mumia’s brother, after wounding Mumia.
Mumia is presumed to be the shooter and will be convicted
of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. This
verdict is handed down ignoring testimony of witnesses who
saw the killer flee and irregularities during the trial.
On death row since the trial, Mumia will have numerous
appeals turned down. His case will attract worldwide
attention as a racist miscarriage of justice.

1965 – An armed revolt against the dictatorship in the Dominican
Republic is ended with an invasion by United States troops.
Participating in the revolt is Maximiliano Gomez Horatio,
the leader of the Dominican Popular Movement.

1972 – James M. Rodger, Jr., of Durham, North Carolina, is honored
in a White House ceremony as National Teacher of the Year.
He is the first African American to receive the honor.

1972 – Robert Wedgeworth is named director of the American Library
Association. He is the first African American to head the
organization.

1993 – Oliver Tambo joins the ancestors in Johannesburg, South
Africa at the age of 75. He was the former president of
the African National Congress (ANC), law partner of Nelson
Mandela and an important anti-apartheid leader.

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

KRLemmons African American Biography, African American Poetry, Resources

April 23 Poet of the Day: Michael S. Harper

April 23 Poet of the day is Michael S. Harper.  Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1938, he has published more than ten books and written several collections.  Read about this award-winning Poet Laureate of Rhode Island here:

Additional resources on Michael S. Harper:

Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/michael-s-harper

Lunch Poems: Poetry reading on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY8R7APJ8uM

Michael S. Harper reading “Dear John, Dear Coltrane”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESdDn9njMcM

Modern American Poetry: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/harper/harper.htm

KRLemmons African American Biography, African American Poetry, Resources

April 22 Poet of the Day: Sonia Sanchez

April 22 Poet of the day is Sonia Sanchez.  Born September 9, 1934, this poet, activist, educator is often associated with the Black Arts Movement.  Read more about this multitalented woman here:

Additional resources on Sonia Sanchez:

Poets.org: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/276

Poetry Foundation: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/sonia-sanchez

MSNBC Video: http://www.msnbc.com/the-cycle/watch/sonia-sanchez-on-activism-and-poetry-101378115761

Def Poetry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X8gIrkUTh0

Democracy Now: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/21/poet_activist_sonia_sanchez_at_peace

Art & Power in Movement: http://blip.tv/amherstmedia/sonia-sanchez-art-power-in-movement-4977129

Voices From the Gap: http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/sanchez_sonia.php

National Visionary Leadership Project: http://www.visionaryproject.org/sanchezsonia/

Interview with Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/a-qanda-with-poet-laureate-sonia-sanchez/2012/10/24/eb76c68c-1e02-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_blog.html

KRLemmons African American History

April 23 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 23 *

1856 – Granville Tailer Woods is born in Columbus, Ohio. He will
become an inventor of steam boilers, furnaces, incubators
and auto air brakes and holder of over 50 patents. He will
become the first American of African ancestry to be a
mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War.
Self-taught, he will concentrate most of his work on trains
and streetcars. One of his notable inventions will be the
Multiplex Telegraph, a device that sends messages between
train stations and moving trains. His work will assure a
safer and better public transportation system for the
cities of the United States. He will join the ancestors on
January 30, 1910.

1872 – Charlotte E. Ray becomes the first African American woman
lawyer in ceremonies held in Washington, DC admitting her
to practice before the bar. She had received her law degree
from Howard University on February 27.

1894 – Jimmy Noone is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He will
become a jazz clarinetist and a major influence on the
swing music of the 1930’s and 1940’s. He will be a band
leader and be best known as the leader of “Jimmy Noone’s
Apex Club Orchestra.” Two of the people most influenced by
Jimmy Noone’s style will be Benny Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey.
He will join the ancestors after suffering a fatal heart
attack, while performing with “Kid” Ory on April 19, 1944.

1895 – Jorge Mateus Vicente Lima is born in Alagoas, Brazil. He
will become a poet, novelist, essayist, painter, doctor,
and politician. He will become best known as a writer,
manipulating Brazilian subjects, at the same time analyzing
Afro-Brazilian culture and heritage. He will become a
fixture in the Brazilian experience during the 1920’s. Even
though he became a physician, he will exhibit his talents
as a writer in writings from his youth. His most famous
writing will be a poem, “Essa Nega Fulo” (That Black Girl
Fulo), written in 1928. The poem will explore the dynamics
between a slave master, the slave and her mistress. He
will join the ancestors in 1953 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

1898 – Alfredo da Rocha Viana Jr. is born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He will become a composer and bandleader best known as
“Pixinguinha.” By the time he was a teenager, he will be
respected for his talent as a flutist. After traveling with
his first band to France in 1922, he will open the door of
Brazilian music to the world. He will be credited with
assisting to invent the “samba.” He is generally referred
to as the King of Samba and the Father of Musica Popular
Brasileira. He will join the ancestors on February 17, 1973
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

1913 – The National Urban League is incorporated in New York City.
The organization is founded in 1910 when the Committee on
Urban Conditions Among Negroes met in New York to discuss
means to assist rural African Americans in the transition
to urban life. Founders include Mrs. Ruth Standish Baldwin
and Dr. George Edmund Haynes, who becomes the league’s
first executive director.

1941 – New Yorkers are treated to a performance of Cafi Society at
Carnegie Hall by a group of jazz artists that includes
Albert “Jug” Ammons, Hazel Scott, and Art Tatum. It also
marks the first performance of Helena (later Lena) Horne,
who sings “Summertime,” among other songs.

1944 – The NAACP Youth Council and Committee for Unity in Motion
Pictures selects its first Motion Picture Award recipients.
Given to honor actors whose roles advance the image of
African Americans in motion pictures, awards go to Rex
Ingram for “Sahara,” Lena Horne for “As Thousands Cheer,”
Leigh Whipper for “The Oxbow Incident” and “Mission to
Moscow,” Hazel Scott for her debut in “Something to Shout
About” and Dooley Wilson for his role as Sam in
“Casablanca,” among others. The awards will be the fore-
runner to the NAACP’s Image Awards.

1948 – Charles Richard Johnson in born in Evanston, Illinois. He
will become an novelist, essayist and screenwriter. He
will begin his career after graduating from the State
University of New York at Stonybrook with a Ph.D. in
philosophy. He will be mentored by W.E.B. Du Bois, Ralph
Ellison, Jean Toomer, Richard Wright and John Gardner. He
will be known for his works, “Middle Passage,” “Oxherding
Tale,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” and “Being and Race:
Black Writing Since 1970.” He will win the 1990 National
Book Award for “Middle Passage.”

1954 – Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, of the Milwaukee Braves, hits the
first of what will be 755 career home runs, in a game
against the St. Louis Cardinals. The score will be 7-5 in
favor of the Braves.

1955 – U.S. Supreme Court refuses to review a lower court decision
which would ban segregation in intrastate bus travel.

1964 – James Baldwin’s play, “Blues for Mr. Charlie” opens on
Broadway. Starring Al Freeman, Jr., Diana Sands, and
others, the play reveals the plight of African Americans in
the South.

1971 – Columbia University operations are virtually ended for the
year by African American and white students who seize five
buildings on campus.

1971 – William Tubman, president of Liberia, joins the ancestors at
the age of 76. He had been president of Liberia since
1944.

1998 – James Earl Ray, who confessed to assassinating the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and then insisted he was
framed, dies at a Nashville hospital at age 70.

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