Eddie Robinson – The CamaraIfe Maktaba

April 4, 2015 KRLemmons African American History

April 3 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 3 *

1865 – The Fifth Massachusetts Colored Cavalry and units of the
Twenty-fifth Corps are in the vanguard of Union troops
entering Richmond. The Second Division of the Twenty-Fifth
Corps help to chase Robert E. Lee’s army from Petersburg to
Appomattox Court House, April 3-10. The African American
division and white Union soldiers are advancing on General
Lee’s trapped army with fixed bayonets when the Confederate
troops surrender.

1889 – The Savings Bank of the Order of True Reformers opens in
Richmond, Virginia.

1934 – Richard Mayhew is born in Amityville, New York. A student
at the Art Students League, Brooklyn Museum Art School, and
Columbia University, as well as the Academia in Florence,
Italy, Mayhew will be one of the most respected and
revolutionary landscape artists of the 20th century. He
will also form “Spiral,” a forum for artistic innovation
and exploration of African American artists’ relationships
to the civil rights movement, with fellow artists Romare
Bearden, Charles Alston, Hale Woodruff, and others.

1936 – James Harrell McGriff is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He will be surrounded by music as a child, with both parents
playing piano and cousins Benny Golson and Harold Melvin,
who were pursuing their own musical talents. He will be
influenced to play the organ by neighbor Richard “Groove”
Holmes, with whom he will study privately. He will also
study organ at Philadelphia’s Combe College of Music and at
Julliard. In addition, he will study with Milt Buckner and
with classical organist Sonny Gatewood. His first hit will
be with his arrangement of “I Got A Woman”, on the Sue
label, which made it to the top five on both Billboard’s
Rhythm and Blues and Pop charts. There will be close to 100
albums with Jimmy McGriff’s name at the top as leader. He
will record for Sue, Solid State, United Artists, Blue Note,
Groove Merchant, Milestone, Headfirst and Telarc. Over his
prolific career, he will record with George Benson, Kenny
Burrell, Frank Foster, J.J. Johnson and a two-organ jam
affair with the late “Groove” Holmes. He will join the
ancestors on May 24, 2008, succumbing to complications of
multiple sclerosis.

1944 – The U.S. Supreme Court (Smith v. Allwright) said that “white
primaries” that exclude African Americans are unconstitutional.

1950 – Carter G. Woodson, “the father of black history,” joins the
ancestors in Washington, DC at the age of 74.

1961 – Edward “Eddie” Regan Murphy is born in Brooklyn, New York. A
stand-up comedian and star of “Saturday Night Live” before
pursuing a movie career, Murphy will become one of the
largest African American box office draws. Among his most
successful movies will be “48 Hours,” “Trading Places,”
“Beverly Hills Cop,” “Coming to America,” and “Harlem
Nights.”

1963 – Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the Birmingham anti-
segregation campaign begins. Before it is over, more than
2,000 demonstrators, including King, will be arrested. The
Birmingham Manifesto, issued by Fred Shuttlesworth of the
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights the morning of
the campaign, summarizes the frustration and hopes of the
protesters: “The patience of an oppressed people cannot
endure forever…. This is Birmingham’s moment of truth in
which every citizen can play his part in her larger
destiny.”

1964 – Malcolm X speaks at a CORE-sponsored meeting on “The Negro
Revolt What Comes Next?” In his speech “The Ballot or
Bullet,” Malcolm warns of a growing black nationalism that
will no longer tolerate patronizing white political action.

1968 – Less than 24 hours before he is assassinated in Memphis,
Tennessee, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
delivers his famous “mountaintop” speech to a rally of
striking sanitation workers.

1990 – Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan joins the ancestors in suburban
Los Angeles, California, at the age of 66.

1996 – Ron Brown will join the ancestors when an Air Force jetliner
carrying the Commerce Secretary and American business
executives crashes in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.

2007 – Eddie Robinson, the longtime Grambling University coach who
transformed a small, Black college into a football power
that sent hundreds of players to the NFL, joins the
ancestors at the age of 88. The soft-spoken coach spent 57
years at Grambling State University, where he set a
standard for victories with 408 and nearly every season
relished seeing his top players drafted by NFL teams.

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

February 15, 2015 KRLemmons African American History

February 13 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – February 13 *

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1818 – The first African American Episcopal priest ordained in the
United States, Absalom Jones, joins the ancestors in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was an instrumental force in
the development of the early African American church and
benevolent society movements.

1882 – Henry Highland Garnet, abolitionist, preacher, diplomat and
protest leader, joins the ancestors in Monrovia, Liberia at
the age of 66.

1892 – The first African American performers, the World’s Fair
Colored Opera Company, appear at New York City’s Carnegie
Hall less than one year after the hall’s opening. In the
company is concert singer Matilda Sissieretta Jones, who will
have her solo debut at Carnegie Hall two years later.

1907 – Wendell P. Dabney establishes “The Union.” The Cincinnati,
Ohio paper’s motto is “For no people can become great without
being united, for in union, there is strength.”

1919 – Eddie Robinson is born in Jackson, Louisiana. He will accept
the head coaching position in 1941, at the Louisiana Negro
Normal and Industrial Institute in Grambling, Louisiana
(later named Grambling State University. Over the next 54
years, he will become the winningest college football coach.
On October 7, 1995, he will win his 400th game, establishing
a record and securing his status as a legend. Sports
Illustrated will place Robinson on the cover of its October
14, 1995 issue, making him the first and only coach of an
historically Black university to appear on the cover of any
major sports publication in the United States. To his credit,
he will produce 113 NFL players, including four Pro Football
Hall of Famers. He will join the ancestors on April 3, 2007.

1920 – The National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs is
founded by Andrew “Rube” Foster. They will be called the
Negro National League. It will become the first successful
African American professional baseball league. Two other
leagues had previously been started, but failed to last more
than one season.

1923 – The first African American professional basketball team “The
Renaissance” is organized by Robert J. Douglas. It is named
after its home court, the Renaissance Casino. They will
play from 1923 to 1939 and have a record of 1,588 wins
against 239 losses. They will become the first African
American team in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

1957 – The Southern Leadership Conference is founded at a meeting of
ministers in New Orleans, Louisiana. Martin Luther King, Jr.
is elected its first president. Later in the year its name
will be changed to the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.

1976 – General Murtala Mohammed, head of Nigeria, who came to power
in 1975 after General Gowon is ousted, joins the ancestors
after being killed in an unsuccessful counter-coup. His
chief of staff, General Olusegun Obasanjo, will assume
Mohammed’s post and his promise to hand over political power
to civilian rule.

1996 – Minister Louis Farrakhan, of the Nation of Islam, visits Iran
to celebrate its 1979 revolution ousting the Shah.

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

November 27, 2014 KRLemmons African American History

November 25 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – November 25 *

1841 – Thirty-five survivors of the “Amistad” return home to
Africa.

1935 – Namahyoke Sokum Curtis, who led a team of 32 African
Americans to nurse yellow fever victims during the
Spanish-American War, joins the ancestors. She will
be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

1941 – Annie Mae Bullock is born in Nutbush, Tennessee. She
will meet Ike Turner in the early 1950’s at a St.
Louis, Missouri club. Soon after, she will begin
singing with his band on occasional engagements, and
in 1959, form the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. After
separating from Ike and the band, she will build an
even more successful career on her own, which will
include the multi-platinum album, “Private Dancer”
and five Grammy awards.

1949 – Dr. Ralph J. Bunche receives the Spingarn Medal for
his contributions to the Myrdal study and his
achievements as UN mediator in the Palestine
conflict.

1949 – The St. Louis chapter of CORE presses a sit-in
campaign designed to end segregation in downtown St.
Louis facilities.

1955 – The Interstate Commerce Commission bans segregation
in interstate travel. The law affects buses and
trains as well as terminals and waiting rooms.

1987 – Harold Washington, the first African American mayor
of Chicago, Illinois, joins the ancestors, in office
at the age of 65.

1997 – Legendary Eddie Robinson, of Grambling State University,
coaches his last game as head coach. This will close
out a career spanning 57 years. He has the NCAA record
for wins at 402. The closest to Eddie Robinson’s record
is ‘Bear’ Bryant of the University of Alabama at 323
wins.

1998 – Comedian Flip Wilson joins the ancestors in Malibu,
California, at the age of 64.

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

October 26, 2014 KRLemmons African American History

October 14 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 14 *

1834 – Henry Blair of Glen Ross, Maryland, receives a patent for
a corn planting machine.

1864 – The first African American daily newspaper, the New
Orleans Tribune, is published in both French and English.

1916 – Sophomore tackle and guard Paul Robeson is excluded from
the Rutgers football team when Washington and Lee
University refuse to play against an African American.
The exclusion will be temporary and the young Robeson
will go on to be named a football All-American twice.

1947 – Charles “Charlie” Joiner, Jr. is born in Many, Louisiana.
He will become a professional football player after being
picked in the fourth round of the 1969 NFL draft. He will
be a wide receiver for the Houston Oilers from 1969-1972,
the Cincinnati Bengals from 1972-1975, and the San Diego
Chargers from 1976-1986. In eighteen seasons, he will
play in 239 games (most ever for a wide receiver at the
time of his retirement) and compile a career record of 750
catches, 12,146 yards, and 65 touchdowns. He will catch
586 passes as a Charger and was a key element in vaunted
“Air Coryell” offense. He exceeded 50 catches in seven
seasons, was a 100-yard receiver in 29 games, and played
in three Pro Bowls. In his last thirteen years, he will
miss only one game. He will be inducted into the Football
Hall of Fame in 1996.

1958 – The District of Columbia Bar Association votes to accept
African Americans as members.

1964 – Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. is announced as the recipient of
the Nobel Peace Prize for his civil rights activities.
King is the second African American to win the Peace
Prize.

1969 – A racially motivated civil disturbance occurs in
Springfield, Massachusetts.

1971 – Two people are killed in a Memphis, Tennessee racially
motivated disturbance.

1980 – Bob Marley performs in his last concert before he
untimely joins the ancestors succumbing to cancer.

1995 – Sports Illustrated places Eddie Robinson on the cover
of its magazine. He is the first and only coach of an
Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to
appear on the cover of any major sports publication in
the United States.

1999 – Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s first president, joins the
ancestors in a London hospital at age 77.

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

October 26, 2014 KRLemmons African American History

October 7 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 7 *

1821 – William Still is born in Burlington County, New Jersey.
He will become an abolitionist and will be involved in
the anti-slavery movement working for the Pennsylvania
Society for the Abolition of Slavery. After the Civil
War, he will chronicle the personal accounts of former
runaway slaves, who had traveled on the Underground
Railroad. His publication, “Underground Railroad,”
published in 1872, will provide a revealing look into
the activities of the flight of fugitive slaves. Still
will be a civil rights activist, researcher and writer,
until he joins the ancestors on July 14, 1902.

1857 – Moses Fleetwood Walker is born in Steubenville, Ohio.
He will become a baseball player when he and his brother
Welday join the first baseball team at Oberlin College.
He will become a professional baseball player after
leaving Oberlin when he joins the Toledo Blue Stockings
of the Northwestern League in 1883. When he plays his
first game for the Blue Stockings in the American
Association the next year, he will become the first
African American to play in the major leagues. He will
join the ancestors on May 11, 1924. After the 1884 season,
no other African Americans will play in the major leagues
until Jackie Robinson in 1947.

1873 – Henry E. Hayne, secretary of state, is accepted as a
student at the University of South Carolina. Scores of
African Americans will attend the university in 1874 and
1875.

1886 – Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba.

1888 – Sargent C. Johnson is born in Boston, Massachusetts. He
will be a pioneering artist of the Harlem Renaissance,
known for his wood, cast stone, and ceramic sculptures.
Among his most famous works will be “Forever Free” and
“Mask.

1889 – Clarence Muse is born in Baltimore, Maryland. He will
become a pioneer film and stage actor. He will appear
in the second talking movie ever made and go on to appear
in a total of 219 films. His career will span over 60
years. He will join the ancestors on October 13, 1979.

1891 – Archibald John Motley, Jr. is born in New Orleans,
Louisiana. He will become one of the more renowned
painters of the 1920’s and 1930’s. He will join the
ancestors on January 16, 1981.

1897 – Elijah Poole is born in Sandersville, Georgia. He will
become better known as The Honorable Elijah Muhammad,
one of the most influential leaders in the Nation of
Islam. Poole will be trained by Master Wallace Fard
Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam, and will lead
the organization to become the largest African American
movement since Garveyism until he joins the ancestors
on February 25, 1975.

1931 – Desmond Mpilo Tutu is born in Klerksdorp, South Africa.
He will become the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1984, and
Archbishop of the Anglican Church (First Anglican bishop
of African descent) of Johannesburg, South Africa.

1934 – LeRoi Jones is born in Newark, New Jersey. He will be
better known as Amiri Baraka, influential playwright,
author, and critic of the African American experience.

1954 – Marian Anderson becomes the first African American singer
hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.

1981 – Egypt’s parliament names Vice President Hosni Mubarak to
succeed the assassinated Anwar Sadat.

1984 – Walter Payton passes Jim Brown as NFL’s career rushing
leader.

1985 – Lynette Woodward, is chosen as the first woman to play
with the Harlem Globetrotters.

1989 – Ricky Henderson steals a record 8 bases in a play off
(5 games).

1993 – Writer, Toni Morrison, is awarded the Nobel Prize in
literature.

1995 – Coach Eddie Robinson, of Grambling State University, wins
his 400th game and sets a NCAA record that clearly
establishes him as a legend.

1997 – MCA Records offers, for sale, fifteen previously
unreleased tracks of legendary guitarist, Jimi Hendrix.
Hendrix joined the ancestors in 1970.

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

October 26, 2014 KRLemmons African American History

October 5 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – October 5 *

1867 – Monroe Baker, a well-to-do African American businessman,
is named mayor of St. Martin, Louisiana. He is probably
the first African American to serve as mayor of a town.

1872 – Booker T. Washington leaves Malden, West Virginia to enter
Hampton Institute.

1878 – George B. Vashion joins the ancestors after succumbing to
yellow fever in Rodney, Mississippi. He was the first
African American lawyer in the state of New York and an
educator and poet whose most famous work was “Victor Oge”
(1854), the first narrative, nonlyrical poem by an
African American writer.

1929 – Autherine Lucy (later Foster) is born in Shiloh, Alabama.
She will be the first African American student to enroll
at the University of Alabama (1956).

1932 – Perle Yvonne Watson is born in Los Angeles, California. As
Yvonne Braithwaite, she will serve as staff attorney on
the McCone Commission investigating the causes of the
Watts riots and will become the first African American
woman elected to the California state assembly, as well
as the first African American woman elected to the House
of Representatives. She also will be the first woman to
sit on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors as a
result of an appointment by Governor Brown. Some years
later, she will become the first woman elected to the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

1985 – Grambling’s coach Eddie Robinson wins his record 324th
college football game.

1992 – Eddie Kendrick, one of the original members of the Motown
group, The Temptations, joins the ancestors after
succumbing to lung cancer.

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

April 5, 2014 KRLemmons African American History

April 3 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 3 *

1889 – The Savings Bank of the Order of True Reformers opens in
Richmond, Virginia.

1944 – The U.S. Supreme Court (Smith v. Allwright) said that “white
primaries” that exclude African Americans are
unconstitutional.

1950 – Carter G. Woodson, “the father of black history,” joins the
ancestors in Washington, DC at the age of 74.

1990 – Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan joins the ancestors in suburban
Los Angeles, California, at the age of 66.

1996 – An Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown
and American business executives crashes in Croatia,
killing all 35 people aboard.

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

February 16, 2014 KRLemmons African American History

February 13 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – February 13 *

1882 – Henry Highland Garnet, abolitionist, preacher, diplomat and
protest leader, joins the ancestors in Monrovia, Liberia at
the age of 66.

1907 – Wendell P. Dabney establishes “The Union.” The Cincinnati,
Ohio paper’s motto is “For no people can become great without
being united, for in union, there is strength.”

1996 – Minister Louis Farrakhan, of the Nation of Islam, visits Iran
to celebrate its 1979 revolution ousting the Shah.

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

November 26, 2013 KRLemmons African American History

November 25 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – November 25 *

1841 – Thirty-five survivors of the “Amistad” return home to
Africa.

1922 – Marcus Garvey electrifies a crowd at Liberty Hall in
New York City as he states the goals and principles
of the Universal Negro Improvement Association
(UNIA): “We represent peace, harmony, love, human
sympathy, human rights and human justice…we are
marshaling the four hundred million Negroes of the
world to fight for the emancipation of the race and
for the redemption of the country of our fathers.”
a
1935 – Namahyoke Sokum Curtis, who led a team of 32 African
Americans to nurse yellow fever victims during the
Spanish-American War, joins the ancestors. She will
be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

1949 – Dr. Ralph J. Bunche receives the Spingarn Medal for
his contributions to the Myrdal study and his
achievements as UN mediator in the Palestine
conflict.

1949 – The St. Louis chapter of CORE presses a sit-in
campaign designed to end segregation in downtown St.
Louis facilities.

1955 – The Interstate Commerce Commission bans segregation
in interstate travel. The law affects buses and
trains as well as terminals and waiting rooms.

1987 – Harold Washington, the first African American mayor
of Chicago, Illinois, joins the ancestors, in office
at the age of 65.

1998 – Comedian Flip Wilson joins the ancestors in Malibu,
California, at the age of 64.

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

October 14, 2013 KRLemmons African American History

October 14 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 14 *