KRLemmons African American History

February 15 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – February 15 *

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1848 – Sarah Roberts is barred from a white school in Boston,
Massachusetts. Her father, Benjamin Roberts, files the first
school integration suit on her behalf.

1851 – African American abolitionists invade a Boston courtroom and
rescue a fugitive slave from federal authorities. The fugitive,
Shadrach Minkins was about his job as a waiter in Boston when
United States federal officers showed up at his workplace and
arrested him. Minkins had escaped from slavery in Virginia
the previous year. An act passed by Congress in 1850, the
Fugitive Slave Law, had just been enacted, allowing slave
holders to enlist the aid of the federal government in
recapturing runaway slaves. The Minkins case is to be an
early test of the new law. Within a few hours of his arrest,
Minkins is brought before a federal commissioner. But as he
is being led from the courtroom, a group of Boston African
Americans overpower the guards and free him. He immediately
disappears and is never seen in Boston again. With the help
of the Underground Railroad, Minkins will travel north through
New Hampshire and Vermont, crossing into Canada six days after
his rescue. Out of reach of the U.S. government, Minkins will
settle in Montreal, marry an Irish woman and raise two children
before his death in 1875. Minkins’s rescue will come to
symbolize the spirit of resistance to the legal institutions of
the slave system.

1960 – Darrell Ray Green is born in Houston, Texas. He will become a
professional football player with the Washington Redskins. He
will, for 20 years, be a defensive threat and one of the
fastest men in the NFL. He will retire in 2002 at the age of
42, the oldest Redskin, having played for six head coaches.
He will be enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in
2004. On February 2, 2008, he will be voted into the NFL Hall
of Fame on his first ballot, and will be inducted with former
Redskins teamate Art Monk on August 2, 2008.

1961 – U.S. and African Nationalists protesting the slaying of Congo
Premier Patrice Lumumba disrupt United Nations sessions.

1964 – Louis Armstrong’s “Hello Dolly,” a song the world-renowned
trumpeter recorded and almost forgot, becomes the number-one
record on Billboard’s Top 40 charts, replacing The Beatles’
“I Want to Hold Your Hand.” It is Armstrong’s first and
only number-one record.

1965 – Nat King Cole, singer and pianist, joins the ancestors in Santa
Monica, California at the age of 45. He succumbs to lung
cancer.

1968 – Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a
symphony orchestra in the United States when he is named
director of the New Jersey Symphony.

1969 – Noted historian John Henrik Clarke, speaking before the Jewish
Currents Conference in New York City, says, “You cannot
subjugate a man and recognize his humanity, his history…so
systematically you must take this away from him. You begin by
telling lies about the man’s role in history.”

1978 – Leon Spinks defeats Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight
boxing championship in a 15-round decision in Las Vegas,
Nevada.

1992 – At memorial services attended by over 1,600 in Memphis,
Tennessee, author Alex Haley (“Roots,” “Autobiography of
Malcolm X”) is eulogized by his wife, who says, “Thank you,
Alex, you have helped us know who we truly are.”

1992 – NAACP Executive Director, Benjamin L. Hooks, announces that he
would retire from the organization in 1993. He will have
headed the organization for sixteen years.

1999 – The body of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African gunned down
by New York City police, is returned to his native Guinea.

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

KRLemmons African American History

February 10 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – February 10 *
Subscribe to the Munirah Chronicle and receive Black Facts every day of the year. To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]> In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name

1868 – Republican conservatives draft new constitution which
concentrates political power in the hands of the governor and
limits the impact of the Black vote. This is made possible by
Conservatives, aided by military forces, who seize the
convention hall and establish control over the reconstruction
process in Florida.

1927 – Mary Leontyne Violet Price, who will be acclaimed as one of the
world’s greatest operatic talents, is born in Laurel,
Mississippi. She will amass many operatic firsts, being the
first African American to sing opera on network television and
the first African American to receive the Presidential Medal
of Freedom. Among her honors will be the NAACP’s Spingarn
Medal, three Emmys, and Kennedy Center Honors.

1937 – Roberta Cleopatra Flack is born in Black Mountain (Asheville),
North Carolina. She will begin her professional singing career
in Washington, DC. She will go on to win Grammys for “The First
Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Where Is the Love,” and “Killing
Me Softly with His Song.”

1942 – Mary Lovelace O’Neal is born in Jackson, Mississippi. Educated
at Howard and Columbia universities, she will become a
professor of fine arts and head of the Art Department at
University of California at Berkeley. Academia will allow her
the freedom to become a painter who will exhibit her work
in museums in the United States, Morocco, and Chile.

1943 – Eta Phi Beta, the national business and professional sorority,
is incorporated in Detroit, Michigan. It will have chapters
throughout the United States and number among its members
civil rights activist Daisy Bates and artist Margaret T.
Burroughs.

1945 – The United States, Russia, Great Britain, and France approve a
peace treaty with Italy, under which Italy renounces all
rights and claims to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

1945 – The Chicago Defender reports that over a quarter of a million
African Americans migrated to California during the years 1942
and 1943. As the percentage of African Americans in
California increases from 1 1/2% to more than 10% of the
total population, so does the practice of racial segregation.

1971 – Bill White becomes the first African American major league
baseball announcer when he begins announcing for the New
York Yankees.

1989 – Ronald H. Brown, who had served as Jesse Jackson’s campaign
manager, becomes chairman of the Democratic National
Committee, the first African American to hold the position
in either party.

1990 – South African President, Frederik Willem de Klerk announces
that Nelson Mandela will be set free on February 11th after
27 years in prison.

1992 – Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” and “Autobiography of Malcolm
X,” joins the ancestors while on a lecture tour in Seattle,
Washington at the age of 70.

1992 – Mike Tyson is convicted in Indianapolis, Indiana of raping a
contestant in the Miss Black America competition and
sentenced to six years in an Indiana prison.

1998 – Dr. David Satcher is confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become
Surgeon General.

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

KRLemmons African American History

February 10 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – February 10 *

1868 – Republican conservatives draft new constitution which
concentrates political power in the hands of the governor and
limits the impact of the Black vote. This is made possible by
Conservatives, aided by military forces, who seize the
convention hall and establish control over the reconstruction
process in Florida.

1927 – Mary Leontyne Violet Price, who will be acclaimed as one of the
world’s greatest operatic talents, is born in Laurel,
Mississippi. She will amass many operatic firsts, being the
first African American to sing opera on network television and
the first African American to receive the Presidential Medal
of Freedom. Among her honors will be the NAACP’s Spingarn
Medal, three Emmys, and Kennedy Center Honors.

1937 – Roberta Flack is born in Black Mountain (Asheville), North
Carolina. She will begin her professional singing career in
Washington, DC. She will go on to win Grammys for “The First
Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Where Is the Love,” and “Killing
Me Softly with His Song.”

1942 – Mary Lovelace O’Neal is born in Jackson, Mississippi. Educated
at Howard and Columbia universities, she will become a
professor of fine arts and head of the Art Department at
University of California at Berkeley. Academia will allow her
the freedom to become a painter who will exhibit her work
in museums in the United States, Morocco, and Chile.

1943 – Eta Phi Beta, the national business and professional sorority,
is incorporated in Detroit, Michigan. It will have chapters
throughout the United States and number among its members
civil rights activist Daisy Bates and artist Margaret T.
Burroughs.

1945 – The United States, Russia, Great Britain, and France approve a
peace treaty with Italy, under which Italy renounces all
rights and claims to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

1945 – The Chicago Defender reports that over a quarter of a million
African Americans migrated to California during the years 1942
and 1943. As the percentage of African Americans in
California increases from 1 1/2% to more than 10% of the
total population, so does the practice of racial segregation.

1971 – Bill White becomes the first African American major league
baseball announcer when he begins announcing for the New
York Yankees.

1989 – Ronald H. Brown, who had served as Jesse Jackson’s campaign
manager, becomes chairman of the Democratic National
Committee, the first African American to hold the position
in either party.

1990 – South African President, Frederik Willem de Klerk announces
that Nelson Mandela will be set free on February 11th after
27 years in prison.

1992 – Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” and “Autobiography of Malcolm
X,” joins the ancestors while on a lecture tour in Seattle,
Washington at the age of 70.

1992 – Mike Tyson is convicted in Indianapolis, Indiana of raping a
contestant in the Miss Black America competition and
sentenced to six years in an Indiana prison.

1998 – Dr. David Satcher is confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become
Surgeon General.

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

KRLemmons African American History

November 12 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 12 *

1775 – General George Washington issues an order forbidding
recruiting officers from enlisting African Americans.

1779 – Twenty slaves petition New Hampshire’s legislature to
abolish slavery. They argue that “the god of nature
gave them life and freedom upon the terms of most
perfect equality with other men; that freedom is an
inherent right of the human species, not to be
surrendered but by consent.”

1882 – Lane College is founded in Jackson, Tennessee.

1896 – 1st Sgt. Moses Williams (Ninth Calvary) is awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in the Battle
of Cuchillo Negro Mountains, in New Mexico, fought on
August 16, 1881.

1922 – Sigma Gamma Rho sorority is founded in Indianapolis,
Indiana, by seven school teachers: Mary Lou Allison
(Gardner Little), Bessie Mae Downey (Martin), Hattie
Mae Annette Dulin (Redford), Nannie Mae Gahn (Johnson),
Dorothy Hanley (Whiteside), Cubena McClure, and Vivian
White (Marbury). Founder Vivian White Marbury was able
to witness the progress of the sisterhood she helped
create until she joins the ancestors on July 30, 2000.

1941 – Opera instructor Mary Cardwell Dawson and coloratura
Lillian Evanti establish the National Negro Opera
Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to provide more
opportunities for African Americans to sing and study
opera. The company’s first opera, Verdi’s “Aida”, will
be staged the following August at the annual meeting of
the National Association of Negro Musicians. In its
21-year history, its performers will include Evanti,
Minto Cato, and Robert McFerrin.

1974 – South Africa is suspended from the U.N. General Assembly
over its racial policies.

1977 – Ernest N. (Dutch) Morial is elected mayor of New Orleans,
Louisiana. He is the first African American to hold
that post.

1977 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to Alexander P.
Haley “for his unsurpassed effectiveness in portraying
the legendary story of an American of African descent.”

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

KRLemmons African American History

February 10 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – February 10 *

************************************************************
“Once a year we go through the charade of February being
‘Black History Month.’ Black History Month needs to be a
12-MONTH THING. When we all learn about our history, about
how much we’ve accomplished while being handicapped with
RACISM, it can only inspire us to greater heights, knowing
we’re on the giant shoulders of our ANCESTORS.” Subscribe
to the Munirah Chronicle and receive Black Facts every day
of the year.
To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]>
In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name
************************************************************

1868 – Republican conservatives draft new constitution which
concentrates political power in the hands of the governor and
limits the impact of the Black vote. This is made possible by
Conservatives, aided by military forces, who seize the
convention hall and establish control over the reconstruction
process in Florida.

1927 – Mary Leontyne Violet Price, who will be acclaimed as one of the
world’s greatest operatic talents, is born in Laurel,
Mississippi. She will amass many operatic firsts, being the
first African American to sing opera on network television and
the first African American to receive the Presidential Medal
of Freedom. Among her honors will be the NAACP’s Spingarn
Medal, three Emmys, and Kennedy Center Honors.

1937 – Roberta Flack is born in Black Mountain (Asheville), North
Carolina. She will begin her professional singing career in
Washington, DC. She will go on to win Grammys for “The First
Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Where Is the Love,” and “Killing
Me Softly with His Song.”

1942 – Mary Lovelace O’Neal is born in Jackson, Mississippi. Educated
at Howard and Columbia universities, she will become a
professor of fine arts and head of the Art Department at
University of California at Berkeley. Academia will allow her
the freedom to become a painter who will exhibit her work
in museums in the United States, Morocco, and Chile.

1943 – Eta Phi Beta, the national business and professional sorority,
is incorporated in Detroit, Michigan. It will have chapters
throughout the United States and number among its members
civil rights activist Daisy Bates and artist Margaret T.
Burroughs.

1945 – The United States, Russia, Great Britain, and France approve a
peace treaty with Italy, under which Italy renounces all
rights and claims to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

1945 – The Chicago Defender reports that over a quarter of a million
African Americans migrated to California during the years 1942
and 1943. As the percentage of African Americans in
California increases from 1 1/2% to more than 10% of the
total population, so does the practice of racial segregation.

1971 – Bill White becomes the first African American major league
baseball announcer when he begins announcing for the New
York Yankees.

1989 – Ronald H. Brown, who had served as Jesse Jackson’s campaign
manager, becomes chairman of the Democratic National
Committee, the first African American to hold the position
in either party.

1990 – South African President, Frederik Willem de Klerk announces
that Nelson Mandela will be set free on February 11th after
27 years in prison.

1992 – Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” and “Autobiography of Malcolm
X,” joins the ancestors while on a lecture tour in Seattle,
Washington at the age of 70.

1992 – Mike Tyson is convicted in Indianapolis, Indiana of raping a
contestant in the Miss Black America competition and
sentenced to six years in an Indiana prison.

1998 – Dr. David Satcher is confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become
Surgeon General.

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