KRLemmons African American History

January 17 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – January 17 *

1759 – Paul Cuffee is born in Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts. He will
become a successful shipowner, philanthropist, and a force
in the movement for African Americans’ repatriation to
Africa. He was of Aquinnah Wampanoag and African Ashanti
descent and helps to colonize Sierra Leone. He will build a
lucrative shipping empire and establish the first racially
integrated school in Westport, Massachusetts. He will join
the ancestors on September 9, 1817.

1874 – Armed white Democrats seize the Texas government and put an
end to Radical Reconstruction in Texas.

1917 – The United States pays $ 25 million for the Danish Virgin
Islands.

1923 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to George Washington
Carver, head of the department of research, Tuskegee
Institute, for his pioneering work in agricultural
chemistry.

1923 – The first session of the Third Pan-African Congress convenes
in London, England. The second session will be held in
Lisbon.

1924 – Jewel Plummer Cobb is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will
be a prominent cancer research biologist before becoming a
professor and administrator at Connecticut College and
Rutgers University and, in 1990, president of California
State University, Fullerton, the first African American
woman to hold such a position in the CSU system.

1927 – Eartha Mae Keith is born in North, South Carolina. She will
start her career at the age of 16 as a professional dancer
with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe, which will take her
to Paris, where she will tour as a nightclub singer. She
will become known as Eartha Kitt. She will eventually
return to the United States and roles on Broadway and in
films. In 1968, her career will take a sudden turn when, at
a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson, she will
speak out against the Vietnam War. For many years
afterward, she will be blacklisted by many in the U.S.
entertainment industry and be forced to work abroad where
her status will remain undiminished. In 2007, She will
celebrate her 80th birthday. This remarkable milestone will
be celebrated with a special performance at New York’s
Carnegie Hall in June. She will join the ancestors on December
25, 2008.

1931 – James Earl Jones is born in Arkabutla, Mississippi. He will
become renowned as an actor, both on the stage and the
screen, earning a Tony award in 1969 for his portrayal of
boxing great Jack Johnson in the “The Great White Hope” as
well as acclaim for his Broadway roles in “A Lesson From
Aloes,” “Fences,” and many others. Among his film and
television credits will be the voice of Darth Vader in
“Star Wars” and leading roles in “Paris” and “Gabriel’s
Fire.”

1931 – Lawrence Douglas Wilder is born in Richmond, Virginia. He
will graduate from Virginia Union University and serve in
the U.S. Army in Korea, where he will receive the Bronze
Star for heroism. He will attend and graduate from, the
Howard University School of Law and become a successful
trial attorney. In 1969, he will be elected as Virginia’s
first African American state senator since Reconstruction.
In 1985, he will become Virginia’s first African American
Lieutenant Governor. He will make history for a third time
on January 13, 1990, when he takes office as the first
elected African American governor in U.S. history.

1942 – Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. is born in Louisville, Kentucky.
Early in his boxing career, Clay converts to Islam. As
Muhammad Ali, he is one of the first African American
athletes to intermingle political and social consciousness
with sports. He will become the dominant heavyweight boxer
of the 1960s and 1970s, winning an Olympic gold medal,
capturing the professional world heavyweight championship
on three separate occasions, and defend his title
successfully 19 times. Ali’s extroverted, colorful style,
both in and out of the ring, will introduce a new mode of
media-conscious athletic celebrity. Through his strong
assertions of Black pride, his conversion to the Muslim
faith, and his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali
will become a highly controversial symbol of the turbulent
1960s.

1961 – Patrice Lumumba, African revolutionary and first Congolese
Premier of the Republic of Congo, joins the ancestors after
being murdered at the age of 36, by the secessionist
Tshombe’s soldiers.

1966 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. opens his civil rights campaign
in Chicago, Illinois. This marks the first time, during the
civil rights movement, that the campaign takes place in a
northern city.

1970 – John M. Burgess is installed as bishop of the Protestant
Episcopal diocese of Massachusetts.

1978 – Dr. Ronald McNair is named by NASA as a participant on a
space mission.

1989 – The Phoenix Suns/Miami Heat game is cancelled, due to racial
unrest in Miami.

1990 – The Four Tops, Hank Ballard, and The Platters are inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1996 – Former U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan joins the ancestors
in Austin, Texas, at the age of 59.

1998 – Louis Stokes, the first African American congressman from the
state of Ohio, announces his retirement from Congress at the
age of 73. He has been a congressman for three decades.

2000 – Nearly 50,000 people march to South Carolina’s Statehouse on
Martin Luther King Day to demand the Confederate battle flag
be taken down. They are protesting the Confederate flag as a
symbol of slavery and racism.

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

KRLemmons African American History

January 5 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – January 5 *

1804 – Ohio begins the restriction of the rights and movements of
free African Americans by passing the first of several
“Black laws.” It is a trend that will be followed by most
Northern states.

1869 – Matilda Sissieretta Jones is born in Portsmouth, Virginia.
She will become a gifted singer (soprano), who will rise
to fame as a soloist and troupe leader during the later
part of the nineteenth century. She will be nicknamed
“Black Patti”, after a newspaper review mentioned her as
an African American equal to the acclaimed Italian soprano
Adelina Patti. American racism will prevent her from
performing with established white operatic groups. She will
tour Europe, South and North America and the West Indies as
a soloist. In 1896, she will form her own troupe, “Black
Patti’s Troubadours,” which will combine the elements of
opera and vaudeville, creating musical comedy. She will
join the ancestors on June 24, 1933.

1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity is founded on the campus of
Indiana University by Elder Watson Diggs, Byron Kenneth
Armstrong, and eight others. It will be the first African
American fraternity to be chartered as a national
organization.

1929 – Wilbert Harrison is born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He
will become a singer and will be best known for his
recordings “Kansas City,” and “Let’s Work Together.” In
2001, his recording of “Kansas City” will be given a Grammy
Hall of Fame Award. He will join the ancestors in Spencer,
North Carolina on October 26, 1994.

1931 – Alvin Ailey is born in Rogers, Texas and will move to Los
Angeles, California at the age of twelve. There, on a
junior high school class trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo, he will fall in love with concert dance. In 1958, Mr.
Ailey will found his own company, the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater, which makes its debut in New York. Mr. Ailey
will have a vision of creating a company dedicated to the
preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance
heritage and the uniqueness of Black cultural expression.
In 1969, Alvin Ailey will found the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Center, the official school of the Ailey Company, and
he will go on to form the Repertory Ensemble, the second
company, in 1974. His commitment to education is the
foundation of the organization’s long-standing involvement
in arts-in-education programs, including AileyCamp. He will
join the ancestors on December 1, 1989 in New York City.

1938 – James Ngugi is born in Kamiriithu, Kenya. He will become a
writer whose works will depict events in colonial and post
colonial Kenya. He will integrate Marxist-Leninist beliefs
into his novels, which will include “Weep Not Child,” “The
River Between,” “A Grain of Wheat,” “Petals of Blood,” and
“Matigari ma Mjiruumgi.” He will later change his name to
Ngugi wa Thiong’o. His writings will cause him to be
imprisoned by the Kenyan government and he will later leave
the country for England and the United States.

1943 – George Washington Carver joins the ancestors after succumbing
to anemia at the age of 81. He was a pioneering plant
chemist and agricultural researcher noted for his work with
the peanut and soil restoration while at Tuskegee Institute.

1943 – William H. Hastie, civilian aide to the secretary of war,
resigns to protest segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces.

1947 – Ted Lange is born in Oakland, California. He will become an
actor and be best known for his role as ‘Isaac’ on the TV
series, “The Love Boat.”

1948 – A commemorative stamp of George Washington Carver is issued
by the U.S. Postal Service. The posthumous honor bestowed
upon the famed agricultural expert and researcher is only
one of the many awards he received, including the 1923
Spingarn Medal and membership in the NYU Hall of Fame.

1957 – Jackie Robinson announces his retirement from professional
baseball.

1971 – The Harlem Globetrotters lose 100-99 to the New Jersey Reds,
ending their 2,495-game win streak.

1975 – The Broadway premiere of “The Wiz” opens, receiving
enthusiastic reviews. The show, a Black version of “The
Wizard of Oz” will run for 1,672 shows at the Majestic
Theatre. Moviegoers, however, gave a thumbs down to the
cinema version of the play that starred Diana Ross and
Michael Jackson years later. One memorable song from the
show is “Ease on Down the Road.”

1987 – David Robinson becomes the first player in Naval Academy
history to score more than 2,000 points. This was
accomplished when the Midshipmen defeat East Carolina
91-66. He will go on to become a major star of the NBA.

1993 – Reggie Jackson is inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame with
94% of the votes.

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 12 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – July 12 *

1864 – George Washington Carver, African American botanist is born
in Diamond Grove, Missouri. He will receive a B.S. from
the Iowa Agricultural College in 1894 and a M.S. in 1896.
He will become a member of the faculty of Iowa State
College of Agriculture and Mechanics in charge of the
school’s bacterial laboratory work in the Systematic Botany
department. His work with agricultural products develops
industrial applications from farm products, called chemurgy
in technical literature in the early 1900s. His research
will develop 325 products from peanuts, 108 applications
for sweet potatoes, and 75 products derived from pecans. He
will move to Tuskegee, Alabama in 1896 to accept a position
as an instructor at the Tuskegee Institute of Technology
and remain on the faculty until he joins the ancestors on
January 5, 1943. His work in developing industrial
applications from agricultural products will derive 118
products, including a rubber substitute and over 500 dyes
and pigments from 28 different plants. He will receive the
Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 1923. He will be
responsible for the invention in 1927 of a process for
producing paints and stains from soybeans, for which three
separate patents were issued. George Washington Carver will
be bestowed with an honorary doctorate from Simpson College
in 1928. He will be made a member of the Royal Society of
Arts in London, England. Dr. Carver will be honored by U.S.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on July 14, 1943 when
$30,000 is committed for a national monument to be
dedicated to his accomplishments. The area of Carver’s
childhood near Diamond Grove, Missouri will be preserved as
a park, with a bust of the agricultural researcher,
instructor, and chemical investigator. This park will be
the first national monument dedicated to an African
American in the United States. He will be inducted
posthumously into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in
1990.

1887 – Mound Bayou, an all African American town in Mississippi, is
founded by Isaiah Montgomery.

1936 – Actress Rose McClendon joins the ancestors after succumbing
to pneumonia in New York City. A student at the American
Academy of Dramatic Art in Carnegie Hall, McClendon won
fame for her roles in the plays “Deep River”, “In Abraham’s
Bosom”, and “Porgy.” She also founded, with Dick Campbell,
the Negro People’s Theater and with Campbell and Muriel
Rahn, the Rose McClendon Players.

1936 – Cornelius Johnson sets the world record in the high jump.

1937 – William Henry “Bill” Cosby is born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. He will become one of the most popular African
American entertainers, first in comedy, where his albums
will earn him five Grammy awards, then in Las Vegas and
elsewhere. He will later star in the television series “I
Spy”, which will be the first of several successful
television series. These series will include “The Bill Cosby
Show,” “The New Bill Cosby Show,” and “The Cosby Show.” “The
Cosby Show” will hold the number one rating for three years.
He will also author numerous books, including “Fatherhood,”
and “Love and Marriage.” His successes will reward him with
financial success and he will become a leading
philanthropist.

1944 – Donna Denise Nicholas is born in Detroit, Michigan. After
graduating from the University of Michigan, she will become
an actress starring in “Room 222” as Liz McIntyre, “In the
Heat of the Night” as Harriet DeLong, “Baby, I’m Back”, and
“Ghost Dad.” After appearing in a variety of televion shows
from the 1960s through the 2000s, she will write her first
novel, “Freshwater Road,” published by Agate Publishing in
August, 2005.

1949 – Frederick M. Jones patents an air conditioning unit.

1951 – Governor Adlai Stevenson, calls out the Illinois National
Guard to stop rioting in Cicero, Illinois. A mob of 3,500
racists try to keep an African American family from moving
into the all-white city.

1958 – “Yakety Yak”, by The Coasters, becomes the number one song
in the country, according to “Billboard” magazine. It is
the first stereo record to reach the top of the chart.

1959 – Rolonda Watts is born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She
will become an African American actress and television
talk show host. She will be the host of “The Rolonda Show,”
a syndicated talk show that will run for four seasons
during the 1990s.

1960 – Congo, Chad & The Central African Republic declare their
independence.

1963 – Maryland National Guard troops impose limited martial law in
Cambridge, Maryland after open confrontations between civil
rights demonstrators and white segregationists.

1966 – A racially motivated disturbance begins in the city of
Chicago, prompting the governor to call in the Illinois
National Guard.

1967 – Five days of racially motivated disturbances begin in Newark,
New Jersey. Over twenty three persons are killed. The
racial uprising involves ten of the city’s twenty-three
square miles. More than 1,500 persons are injured and 1,300
are arrested. Police report 300 fires. The Newark
rebellion, the worst outbreak of racial violence since the
Watts riots (in Los Angeles), spread to other New Jersey
communities, including New Brunswick, Englewood, Paterson,
Elizabeth, Palmyra, Passaic, and Plainfield. The New Jersey
National Guard is mobilized.

1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

1979 – Minnie Riperton, a singer best known for her recording of
“Lovin’ You,” joins the ancestors after succumbing to breast
cancer at the age of 32.

1980 – John W. Davis, civil rights activist and former president of
West Virginia State College, joins the ancestors in
Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 92.

1991 – “Boyz in the Hood”, a film written and directed by John
Singleton, premieres. A coming-of-age film set in gang-and-
violence-ridden South Central Los Angeles, its positive
message will earn Singleton critical acclaim and two Academy
Award nominations.

1992 – In an emotional farewell speech, Benjamin Hooks, outgoing
executive director of the NAACP, urges the group’s
convention in Nashville, Tennessee, to show the world that
it remains vital.

2001 – Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant tortured in a New York
City police station, agrees to an $8.7 million settlement.

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

KRLemmons African American History

January 5 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – January 5 *

1804 – Ohio begins the restriction of the rights and movements of
free African Americans by passing the first of several
“Black laws.” It is a trend that will be followed by most
Northern states.

1869 – Matilda Sissieretta Jones is born in Portsmouth, Virginia.
She will become a gifted singer (soprano), who will rise
to fame as a soloist and troupe leader during the later
part of the nineteenth century. She will be nicknamed
“Black Patti”, after a newspaper review mentioned her as
an African American equal to the acclaimed Italian soprano
Adelina Patti. American racism will prevent her from
performing with established white operatic groups. She will
tour Europe, South and North America and the West Indies as
a soloist. In 1896, she will form her own troupe, “Black
Patti’s Troubadours,” which will combine the elements of
opera and vaudeville, creating musical comedy. She will
join the ancestors on June 24, 1933.

1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity is founded on the campus of
Indiana University by Elder Watson Diggs, Byron Kenneth
Armstrong, and eight others. It will be the first African
American fraternity to be chartered as a national
organization.

1929 – Wilbert Harrison is born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He
will become a singer and will be best known for his
recordings “Kansas City,” and “Let’s Work Together.” In
2001, his recording of “Kansas City” will be given a Grammy
Hall of Fame Award. He will join the ancestors in Spencer,
North Carolina on October 26, 1994.

1931 – Alvin Ailey is born in Rogers, Texas and will move to Los
Angeles, California at the age of twelve. There, on a
junior high school class trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo, he will fall in love with concert dance. In 1958, Mr.
Ailey will found his own company, the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater, which makes its debut in New York. Mr. Ailey
will have a vision of creating a company dedicated to the
preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance
heritage and the uniqueness of Black cultural expression.
In 1969, Alvin Ailey will found the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Center, the official school of the Ailey Company, and
he will go on to form the Repertory Ensemble, the second
company, in 1974. His commitment to education is the
foundation of the organization’s long-standing involvement
in arts-in-education programs, including AileyCamp. He will
join the ancestors on December 1, 1989 in New York City.

1938 – James Ngugi is born in Kamiriithu, Kenya. He will become a
writer whose works will depict events in colonial and post
colonial Kenya. He will integrate Marxist-Leninist beliefs
into his novels, which will include “Weep Not Child,” “The
River Between,” “A Grain of Wheat,” “Petals of Blood,” and
“Matigari ma Mjiruumgi.” He will later change his name to
Ngugi wa Thiong’o. His writings will cause him to be
imprisoned by the Kenyan government and he will later leave
the country for England and the United States.

1943 – George Washington Carver joins the ancestors after succumbing
to anemia at the age of 81. He was a pioneering plant
chemist and agricultural researcher noted for his work with
the peanut and soil restoration while at Tuskegee Institute.

1943 – William H. Hastie, civilian aide to the secretary of war,
resigns to protest segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces.

1947 – Ted Lange is born in Oakland, California. He will become an
actor and be best known for his role as ‘Isaac’ on the TV
series, “The Love Boat.”

1948 – A commemorative stamp of George Washington Carver is issued
by the U.S. Postal Service. The posthumous honor bestowed
upon the famed agricultural expert and researcher is only
one of the many awards he received, including the 1923
Spingarn Medal and membership in the NYU Hall of Fame.

1957 – Jackie Robinson announces his retirement from professional
baseball.

1971 – The Harlem Globetrotters lose 100-99 to the New Jersey Reds,
ending their 2,495-game win streak.

1975 – The Broadway premiere of “The Wiz” opens, receiving
enthusiastic reviews. The show, a Black version of “The
Wizard of Oz” will run for 1,672 shows at the Majestic
Theatre. Moviegoers, however, gave a thumbs down to the
cinema version of the play that starred Diana Ross and
Michael Jackson years later. One memorable song from the
show is “Ease on Down the Road.”

1987 – David Robinson becomes the first player in Naval Academy
history to score more than 2,000 points. This was
accomplished when the Midshipmen defeat East Carolina
91-66. He will go on to become a major star of the NBA.

1993 – Reggie Jackson is inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame with
94% of the votes.

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 12 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – July 12 *

1864 – George Washington Carver, African American botanist is born
in Diamond Grove, Missouri. He will receive a B.S. from
the Iowa Agricultural College in 1894 and a M.S. in 1896.
He will become a member of the faculty of Iowa State
College of Agriculture and Mechanics in charge of the
school’s bacterial laboratory work in the Systematic Botany
department. His work with agricultural products develops
industrial applications from farm products, called chemurgy
in technical literature in the early 1900s. His research
will develop 325 products from peanuts, 108 applications
for sweet potatoes, and 75 products derived from pecans. He
will move to Tuskegee, Alabama in 1896 to accept a position
as an instructor at the Tuskegee Institute of Technology
and remain on the faculty until he joins the ancestors on
January 5, 1943. His work in developing industrial
applications from agricultural products will derive 118
products, including a rubber substitute and over 500 dyes
and pigments from 28 different plants. He will receive the
Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 1923. He will be
responsible for the invention in 1927 of a process for
producing paints and stains from soybeans, for which three
separate patents were issued. George Washington Carver will
be bestowed with an honorary doctorate from Simpson College
in 1928. He will be made a member of the Royal Society of
Arts in London, England. Dr. Carver will be honored by U.S.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on July 14, 1943 when
$30,000 is committed for a national monument to be
dedicated to his accomplishments. The area of Carver’s
childhood near Diamond Grove, Missouri will be preserved as
a park, with a bust of the agricultural researcher,
instructor, and chemical investigator. This park will be
the first national monument dedicated to an African
American in the United States. He will be inducted
posthumously into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in
1990.

1887 – Mound Bayou, an all African American town in Mississippi, is
founded by Isaiah Montgomery.

1936 – Actress Rose McClendon joins the ancestors after succumbing
to pneumonia in New York City. A student at the American
Academy of Dramatic Art in Carnegie Hall, McClendon won
fame for her roles in the plays “Deep River”, “In Abraham’s
Bosom”, and “Porgy.” She also founded, with Dick Campbell,
the Negro People’s Theater and with Campbell and Muriel
Rahn, the Rose McClendon Players.

1936 – Cornelius Johnson sets the world record in the high jump.

1937 – William Henry “Bill” Cosby is born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. He will become one of the most popular African
American entertainers, first in comedy, where his albums
will earn him five Grammy awards, then in Las Vegas and
elsewhere. He will later star in the television series “I
Spy”, which will be the first of several successful
television series. These series will include “The Bill Cosby
Show,” “The New Bill Cosby Show,” and “The Cosby Show.” “The
Cosby Show” will hold the number one rating for three years.
He will also author numerous books, including “Fatherhood,”
and “Love and Marriage.” His successes will reward him with
financial success and he will become a leading
philanthropist.

1944 – Donna Denise Nicholas is born in Detroit, Michigan. After
graduating from the University of Michigan, she will become
an actress starring in “Room 222” as Liz McIntyre, “In the
Heat of the Night” as Harriet DeLong, “Baby, I’m Back”, and
“Ghost Dad.” After appearing in a variety of televion shows
from the 1960s through the 2000s, she will write her first
novel, “Freshwater Road,” published by Agate Publishing in
August, 2005.

1949 – Frederick M. Jones patents an air conditioning unit.

1951 – Governor Adlai Stevenson, calls out the Illinois National
Guard to stop rioting in Cicero, Illinois. A mob of 3,500
racists try to keep an African American family from moving
into the all-white city.

1958 – “Yakety Yak”, by The Coasters, becomes the number one song
in the country, according to “Billboard” magazine. It is
the first stereo record to reach the top of the chart.

1959 – Rolonda Watts is born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She
will become an African American actress and television
talk show host. She will be the host of “The Rolonda Show,”
a syndicated talk show that will run for four seasons
during the 1990s.

1960 – Congo, Chad & The Central African Republic declare their
independence.

1963 – Maryland National Guard troops impose limited martial law in
Cambridge, Maryland after open confrontations between civil
rights demonstrators and white segregationists.

1966 – A racially motivated disturbance begins in the city of
Chicago, prompting the governor to call in the Illinois
National Guard.

1967 – Five days of racially motivated disturbances begin in Newark,
New Jersey. Over twenty three persons are killed. The
racial uprising involves ten of the city’s twenty-three
square miles. More than 1,500 persons are injured and 1,300
are arrested. Police report 300 fires. The Newark
rebellion, the worst outbreak of racial violence since the
Watts riots (in Los Angeles), spread to other New Jersey
communities, including New Brunswick, Englewood, Paterson,
Elizabeth, Palmyra, Passaic, and Plainfield. The New Jersey
National Guard is mobilized.

1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

1979 – Minnie Ripperton, a singer best known for her recording of
“Lovin’ You,” joins the ancestors after succumbing to breast
cancer at the age of 32.

1980 – John W. Davis, civil rights activist and former president of
West Virginia State College, joins the ancestors in
Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 92.

1991 – “Boyz in the Hood”, a film written and directed by John
Singleton, premieres. A coming-of-age film set in gang-and-
violence-ridden South Central Los Angeles, its positive
message will earn Singleton critical acclaim and two Academy
Award nominations.

1992 – In an emotional farewell speech, Benjamin Hooks, outgoing
executive director of the NAACP, urges the group’s
convention in Nashville, Tennessee, to show the world that
it remains vital.

2001 – Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant tortured in a New York
City police station, agrees to an $8.7 million settlement._

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

KRLemmons African American History

January 5 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – January 5 *

1804 – Ohio begins the restriction of the rights and movements of
free African Americans by passing the first of several
“Black laws.” It is a trend that will be followed by most
Northern states.

1869 – Matilda Sissieretta Jones is born in Portsmouth, Virginia.
She will become a gifted singer (soprano), who will rise
to fame as a soloist and troupe leader during the later
part of the nineteenth century. She will be nicknamed
“Black Patti”, after a newspaper review mentioned her as
an African American equal to the acclaimed Italian soprano
Adelina Patti. American racism will prevent her from
performing with established white operatic groups. She will
tour Europe, South and North America and the West Indies as
a soloist. In 1896, she will form her own troupe, “Black
Patti’s Troubadours,” which will combine the elements of
opera and vaudeville, creating musical comedy. She will
join the ancestors on June 24, 1933.

1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity is founded on the campus of
Indiana University by Elder Watson Diggs, Byron Kenneth
Armstrong, and eight others. It will be the first African
American fraternity to be chartered as a national
organization.

1929 – Wilbert Harrison is born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He
will become a singer and will be best known for his
recordings “Kansas City,” and “Let’s Work Together.” In
2001, his recording of “Kansas City” will be given a Grammy
Hall of Fame Award. He will join the ancestors in Spencer,
North Carolina on October 26, 1994.

1931 – Alvin Ailey is born in Rogers, Texas and will move to Los
Angeles, California at the age of twelve. There, on a
junior high school class trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo, he will fall in love with concert dance. In 1958, Mr.
Ailey will found his own company, the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater, which makes its debut in New York. Mr. Ailey
will have a vision of creating a company dedicated to the
preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance
heritage and the uniqueness of Black cultural expression.
In 1969, Alvin Ailey will found the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Center, the official school of the Ailey Company, and
he will go on to form the Repertory Ensemble, the second
company, in 1974. His commitment to education is the
foundation of the organization’s long-standing involvement
in arts-in-education programs, including AileyCamp. He will
join the ancestors on December 1, 1989 in New York City.

1938 – James Ngugi is born in Kamiriithu, Kenya. He will become a
writer whose works will depict events in colonial and post
colonial Kenya. He will integrate Marxist-Leninist beliefs
into his novels, which will include “Weep Not Child,” “The
River Between,” “A Grain of Wheat,” “Petals of Blood,” and
“Matigari ma Mjiruumgi.” He will later change his name to
Ngugi wa Thiong’o. His writings will cause him to be
imprisoned by the Kenyan government and he will later leave
the country for England and the United States.

1943 – George Washington Carver joins the ancestors after succumbing
to anemia at the age of 81. He was a pioneering plant
chemist and agricultural researcher noted for his work with
the peanut and soil restoration while at Tuskegee Institute.

1943 – William H. Hastie, civilian aide to the secretary of war,
resigns to protest segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces.

1947 – Ted Lange is born in Oakland, California. He will become an
actor and be best known for his role as ‘Isaac’ on the TV
series, “The Love Boat.”

1948 – A commemorative stamp of George Washington Carver is issued
by the U.S. Postal Service. The posthumous honor bestowed
upon the famed agricultural expert and researcher is only
one of the many awards he received, including the 1923
Spingarn Medal and membership in the NYU Hall of Fame.

1957 – Jackie Robinson announces his retirement from professional
baseball.

1971 – The Harlem Globetrotters lose 100-99 to the New Jersey Reds,
ending their 2,495-game win streak.

1975 – The Broadway premiere of “The Wiz” opens, receiving
enthusiastic reviews. The show, a Black version of “The
Wizard of Oz” will run for 1,672 shows at the Majestic
Theatre. Moviegoers, however, gave a thumbs down to the
cinema version of the play that starred Diana Ross and
Michael Jackson years later. One memorable song from the
show is “Ease on Down the Road.”

1987 – David Robinson becomes the first player in Naval Academy
history to score more than 2,000 points. This was
accomplished when the Midshipmen defeat East Carolina
91-66. He will go on to become a major star of the NBA.

1993 – Reggie Jackson is inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame with
94% of the votes.

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