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 Mr. Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

August 22 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – August 22 *

1788 – The British settlement in Sierra Leone is founded to
provide a home in Africa for freed slaves and homeless
Africans from England.

1791 – The Haitian Revolution begins with revolt of slaves in the
northern province.

1791 – Mathematician Benjamin Banneker serves on commission which
will survey the District of Columbia.

1843 – Henry Highland Garnet issues a call for slave revolt in “An
Address to Slaves of the United States” before a national
convention of African Americans in Buffalo, New York.

1867 – Fisk University is established in Nashville, Tennessee.

1880 – George Herriman is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. A
perfectly ordinary-looking guy from beginning to end,
albeit with a few small quirks (such as never allowing a
picture to be taken of him without a hat). But behind that
relatively normal exterior lurked the unique genius who
created the cartoon Krazy Kat. His family moved to Los
Angeles, CA, when he was six years old, although from
various accounts, he seems to have kept his New Orleans
accent (very different from standard Southern) well into
adult life. He called Los Angeles his home town because it
was there that his family shed the labels that accrued to
them as a result of their partially African ancestry. He
will join the ancestors on April 25, 1944.

1917 – John Lee Hooker, who will become a renowned blues singer
and guitarist, is born in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

1950 – Althea Gibson becomes the first African American competitor
in national tennis competition.

1951 – The Harlem Globetrotters play in Olympic Stadium, Berlin,
Germany before 75,052 non-paying spectators. This is the
largest crowd to witness a basketball game (up to that
time).

1978 – Jomo Kenyatta (original name KAMAU NGENGI), president of
Kenya, joins the ancestors after succumbing to heart
failure in his sleep while vacationing in Mobasa, Kenya at
the age of 83. He was the leading force in Kenya’s
independence struggles.

1979 – 200 African American leaders meet in New York City in
support of Andrew Young (after he had resigned as U.N.
ambassador under pressure for “unauthorized” meeting with
the PLO) and demand that African Americans be given a voice
in shaping American foreign policy.

1984 – Evelyn Ashford of the United States ties the world women’s
mark for the 100 meters (10.76 seconds).

1984 – New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden becomes the 11th rookie
to strikeout 200 batters.

1989 – Huey Percy Newton joins the ancestors in Oakland,
California. The founder of the Black Panther Party is
shot to death outside a crack cocaine house, allegedly by
a drug dealer whom Newton had robbed (Gunman Tyrone
Robinson will sentenced later to 32 years to life in
prison).

2011 – Nickolas Ashford joins the ancestors at the age of 70, after
succumbing to complications of throat cancer. With Valerie
Simpson, his songwriting partner and later his wife, he wrote
some of Motown’s biggest hits, like “Ain’t No Mountain High
Enough” and “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” before they
remade their careers as a recording and touring duo.

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

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 History

August 22 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – August 22 *

1788 – The British settlement in Sierra Leone is founded to
provide a home in Africa for freed slaves and homeless
Africans from England.

1791 – The Haitian Revolution begins with revolt of slaves in the
northern province.

1791 – Mathematician Benjamin Banneker serves on commission which
will survey the District of Columbia.

1843 – Henry Highland Garnet issues a call for slave revolt in “An
Address to Slaves of the United States” before a national
convention of African Americans in Buffalo, New York.

1867 – Fisk University is established in Nashville, Tennessee.

1880 – George Herriman is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. A
perfectly ordinary-looking guy from beginning to end,
albeit with a few small quirks (such as never allowing a
picture to be taken of him without a hat). But behind that
relatively normal exterior lurked the unique genius who
created the cartoon Krazy Kat. His family moved to Los
Angeles, CA, when he was six years old, although from
various accounts, he seems to have kept his New Orleans
accent (very different from standard Southern) well into
adult life. He called Los Angeles his home town because it
was there that his family shed the labels that accrued to
them as a result of their partially African ancestry. He
will join the ancestors on April 25, 1944.

1917 – John Lee Hooker, who will become a renowned blues singer
and guitarist, is born in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

1950 – Althea Gibson becomes the first African American competitor
in national tennis competition.

1951 – The Harlem Globetrotters play in Olympic Stadium, Berlin,
Germany before 75,052 non-paying spectators. This is the
largest crowd to witness a basketball game (up to that
time).

1978 – Jomo Kenyatta (original name KAMAU NGENGI), president of
Kenya, joins the ancestors after succumbing to heart
failure in his sleep while vacationing in Mobasa, Kenya at
the age of 83. He was the leading force in Kenya’s
independence struggles.

1979 – 200 African American leaders meet in New York City in
support of Andrew Young (after he had resigned as U.N.
ambassador under pressure for “unauthorized” meeting with
the PLO) and demand that African Americans be given a voice
in shaping American foreign policy.

1984 – Evelyn Ashford of the United States ties the world women’s
mark for the 100 meters (10.76 seconds).

1984 – New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden becomes the 11th rookie
to strikeout 200 batters.

1989 – Huey Percy Newton joins the ancestors in Oakland,
California. The founder of the Black Panther Party is
shot to death outside a crack cocaine house, allegedly by
a drug dealer whom Newton had robbed (Gunman Tyrone
Robinson will sentenced later to 32 years to life in
prison).

2011 – Nickolas Ashford joins the ancestors at the age of 70, after
succumbing to complications of throat cancer. With Valerie
Simpson, his songwriting partner and later his wife, he wrote
some of Motown’s biggest hits, like “Ain’t No Mountain High
Enough” and “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” before they
remade their careers as a recording and touring duo.

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

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.