KRLemmons African American History

August 24 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – August 24 *

1854 – John VanSurley deGrasse, M.D., who received his medical
degree from Bowdoin College in 1849, becomes a member of
the Massachusetts Medical Society, a first for an African
American.

1854 – National Emigration Convention meets in Cleveland with one
hundred delegates. William C. Munroe of Michigan is
elected president.

1937 – Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola is born in Abeokuta,
Nigeria. He will a member of a very poor household of
Yoruba-speaking Muslims. He will attend the Islamic Nawar
Ud-Deen School and the Christian-run African Central
School. After graduating from the Baptist Boys’ High
School, he will work as a bank clerk and a civil servant.
He will go on to win a scholarship to Glasgow University
to study accounting. He will graduate with several awards
in 1965. He will return to Nigeria and will work for
major firms before launching his own company, Radio
Communications of Nigeria, in 1974. He will accumulate
great wealth in a short period of time. His business
interests will span 60 countries and include firms engaged
in banking, shipping, oil prospecting, agriculture,
publishing, air transportation, and entertainment. His
Nigerian companies alone will employ close to 20,000
workers. He will oppose the Nigerian military
dictatorship and on June 12, 1993, will be elected
president in a long awaited presidential election, only to
have the election results nullified by the country’s
military leader. When Abiola announces a year later that
he is the country’s legitimate leader, he will be
imprisoned by the current dictator, General Sani Abacha.
After Abacha joins the ancestors suddenly in 1998,
attempts were made to free Abiola, but he will also join
the ancestors on July 7, 1998, before his freedom becomes
a reality. His death will cause violence to occur and spur
anti-government anger throughout the country.

1965 – Reggie Miller is born. He will become a professional
basketball player and guard for the Indiana Pacers. He
will play on the ‘Dream Team’ in the 1996 Olympics.

1967 – Amanda Randolph joins the ancestors at the age of 65. She
had been an actress and was best known for her roles on
the Danny Thomas Show and television’s Amos ‘n’ Andy
(Mama).

1987 – Bayard Rustin, longtime civil rights activist, early
Freedom Rider, and a key organizer of the 1963 March on
Washington, joins the ancestors in New York City. A
Quaker, Rustin was best known as a civil rights advocate,
first as one of the founders of the Congress for Racial
Equality (CORE), then as a key advisor to a young Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

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

KRLemmons African American History

August 11 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – August 11 *

1841 – African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivers
his first public speech before the Massachusetts Anti-
Slavery Society in Nantucket. Having escaped from
slavery only three years earlier, Douglass is legally a
fugitive when he delivers his speech about his life as a
slave. The Massachusetts Society immediately hires
Douglass as a full-time lecturer.

1873 – John Rosamond Johnson is born in Jacksonville, Florida.
He will, with Bob Cole, be part of the famous vaudeville
team Cole & Johnson. He will best be remembered as a
composer who, with his brother James Weldon Johnson
providing the lyrics, will write “Lift Every Voice and
Sing.” He will join the ancestors on November 11, 1954.

1921 – Alexander Murray Palmer Haley is born in Ithaca, New York.
He will become an award-winning author, most notably for his
authorship with Malcolm X of the latter’s autobiography and
for “Roots”, which will win a special Pulitzer Prize.
“Roots” will be his most successful work, selling over 1
million copies and contributing to a new interest in
African American history. He will join the ancestors on
February 10, 1992 in Seattle, Washington.

1925 – Carl T. Rowan is born in Ravencroft, Tennessee. He will
become one of America’s most outspoken journalist with
NBC News and The Chicago Daily News. As an author, he
will write “Dream Makers, Dream Breakers:The World of
Justice Thurgood Marshall,” “Breaking Barriers,” “Wait
Till Next Year,” “Go South in Sorrow,” and “South of
Freedom.” He will be appointed to the positions of
Director: U.S. Information Agency and U.S. Ambassador to
Finland. He will join the ancestors on September 23, 2000.

1942 – Otis Taylor is born in Houston, Texas. He will become a
professional football player with the Kansas City Chiefs,
playing wide receiver. He will be the UPI AFC Player of
the Year in 1971, and will help lead his team to Super
Bowl I and a victory in Super Bowl IV.

1948 – Amanda Randolph appears on the television series “The
Laytons” on the Dumont Network. She and Bob Howard of
CBS’ “The Bob Howard Show”, which premiered earlier in
the summer, are the first African Americans to be
featured in a national network television series.

1949 – Peter Marshall Murray of New York is appointed to the
American Medical Association’s House of Delegates.

1960 – The African country of Chad declares independence from
France.

1962 – After integrated groups try to use the facilities, police
close the Municipal parks and library in Albany, Georgia.

1964 – A racially motivated disturbance occurs in Paterson, New
Jersey.

1965 – Racially motivated disturbances start in the Watts section
of Los Angeles, California. In six days, the death toll
will stand at 34, 1,032 persons will be injured, 3952 will
be arrested and $ 35 million in property will be lost.

1965 – The U.S. Senate confirms the nomination of Thurgood
Marshall as U.S. Solicitor General.

1980 – Reggie Jackson hits his 400th homer.

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

KRLemmons African American History

August 24 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – August 24 *

1854 – John VanSurley deGrasse, M.D., who received his medical
degree from Bowdoin College in 1849, becomes a member of
the Massachusetts Medical Society, a first for an African
American.

1854 – National Emigration Convention meets in Cleveland with one
hundred delegates. William C. Munroe of Michigan is
elected president.

1937 – Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola is born in Abeokuta,
Nigeria. He will a member of a very poor household of
Yoruba-speaking Muslims. He will attend the Islamic Nawar
Ud-Deen School and the Christian-run African Central
School. After graduating from the Baptist Boys’ High
School, he will work as a bank clerk and a civil servant.
He will go on to win a scholarship to Glasgow University
to study accounting. He will graduate with several awards
in 1965. He will return to Nigeria and will work for
major firms before launching his own company, Radio
Communications of Nigeria, in 1974. He will accumulate
great wealth in a short period of time. His business
interests will span 60 countries and include firms engaged
in banking, shipping, oil prospecting, agriculture,
publishing, air transportation, and entertainment. His
Nigerian companies alone will employ close to 20,000
workers. He will oppose the Nigerian military
dictatorship and on June 12, 1993, will be elected
president in a long awaited presidential election, only to
have the election results nullified by the country’s
military leader. When Abiola announces a year later that
he is the country’s legitimate leader, he will be
imprisoned by the current dictator, General Sani Abacha.
After Abacha joins the ancestors suddenly in 1998,
attempts were made to free Abiola, but he will also join
the ancestors on July 7, 1998, before his freedom becomes
a reality. His death will cause violence to occur and spur
anti-government anger throughout the country.

1965 – Reggie Miller is born. He will become a professional
basketball player and guard for the Indiana Pacers. He
will play on the ‘Dream Team’ in the 1996 Olympics.

1967 – Amanda Randolph joins the ancestors at the age of 65. She
had been an actress and was best known for her roles on
the Danny Thomas Show and television’s Amos ‘n’ Andy
(Mama).

1987 – Bayard Rustin, longtime civil rights activist, early
Freedom Rider, and a key organizer of the 1963 March on
Washington, joins the ancestors in New York City. A
Quaker, Rustin was best known as a civil rights advocate,
first as one of the founders of the Congress for Racial
Equality (CORE), then as a key advisor to a young Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

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

KRLemmons African American History

August 11 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – August 11 *

1841 – African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivers
his first public speech before the Massachusetts Anti-
Slavery Society in Nantucket. Having escaped from
slavery only three years earlier, Douglass is legally a
fugitive when he delivers his speech about his life as a
slave. The Massachusetts Society immediately hires
Douglass as a full-time lecturer.

1873 – John Rosamond Johnson is born in Jacksonville, Florida.
He will, with Bob Cole, be part of the famous vaudeville
team Cole & Johnson. He will best be remembered as a
composer who, with his brother James Weldon Johnson
providing the lyrics, will write “Lift Every Voice and
Sing.” He will join the ancestors on November 11, 1954.

1921 – Alexander Murray Palmer Haley is born in Ithaca, New York.
He will become an award-winning author, most notably for his
authorship with Malcolm X of the latter’s autobiography and
for “Roots”, which will win a special Pulitzer Prize.
“Roots” will be his most successful work, selling over 1
million copies and contributing to a new interest in
African American history. He will join the ancestors on
February 10, 1992 in Seattle, Washington.

1925 – Carl T. Rowan is born in Ravencroft, Tennessee. He will
become one of America’s most outspoken journalist with
NBC News and The Chicago Daily News. As an author, he
will write “Dream Makers, Dream Breakers:The World of
Justice Thurgood Marshall,” “Breaking Barriers,” “Wait
Till Next Year,” “Go South in Sorrow,” and “South of
Freedom.” He will be appointed to the positions of
Director: U.S. Information Agency and U.S. Ambassador to
Finland. He will join the ancestors on September 23, 2000.

1942 – Otis Taylor is born in Houston, Texas. He will become a
professional football player with the Kansas City Chiefs,
playing wide receiver. He will be the UPI AFC Player of
the Year in 1971, and will help lead his team to Super
Bowl I and a victory in Super Bowl IV.

1948 – Amanda Randolph appears on the television series “The
Laytons” on the Dumont Network. She and Bob Howard of
CBS’ “The Bob Howard Show”, which premiered earlier in
the summer, are the first African Americans to be
featured in a national network television series.

1949 – Peter Murray Marshall of New York is appointed to the
American Medical Association’s House of Delegates.

1960 – The African country of Chad declares independence from
France.

1962 – After integrated groups try to use the facilities, police
close the Municipal parks and library in Albany, Georgia.

1964 – A racially motivated disturbance occurs in Paterson, New
Jersey.

1965 – Racially motivated disturbances start in the Watts section
of Los Angeles, California. In six days, the death toll
will stand at 34, 1,032 persons will be injured, 3952 will
be arrested and $ 35 million in property will be lost.

1965 – The U.S. Senate confirms the nomination of Thurgood
Marshall as U.S. Solicitor General.

1980 – Reggie Jackson hits his 400th homer.

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