James Baldwin – The CamaraIfe Maktaba

May 3, 2015May 3, 2015 KRLemmons African American History

April 23 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – April 23 *

1856 – Granville Tailer Woods is born in Columbus, Ohio. He will
become an inventor of steam boilers, furnaces, incubators
and auto air brakes and holder of over 50 patents. He will
become the first American of African ancestry to be a
mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War.
Self-taught, he will concentrate most of his work on trains
and streetcars. One of his notable inventions will be the
Multiplex Telegraph, a device that sends messages between
train stations and moving trains. His work will assure a
safer and better public transportation system for the
cities of the United States. He will join the ancestors on
January 30, 1910.

1872 – Charlotte E. Ray becomes the first African American woman
lawyer in ceremonies held in Washington, DC admitting her
to practice before the bar. She had received her law degree
from Howard University on February 27.

1894 – Jimmy Noone is born in Cut off, Louisiana. He will become a
jazz clarinetist and a major influence on the swing music of
the 1930’s and 1940’s. He will be a band leader and be best
known as the leader of “Jimmy Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra.”
Two of the people most influenced by Jimmy Noone’s style will
be Benny Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey. He will join the ancestors
after suffering a fatal heart attack, while performing with
“Kid” Ory on April 19, 1944.

1895 – Jorge Mateus Vicente Lima is born in União dos Palmares, Brazil.
He will become a poet, novelist, essayist, painter, doctor,
and politician. He will become best known as a writer,
manipulating Brazilian subjects, at the same time analyzing
Afro-Brazilian culture and heritage. He will become a
fixture in the Brazilian experience during the 1920’s. Even
though he became a physician, he will exhibit his talents
as a writer in writings from his youth. His most famous
writing will be a poem, “Essa Nega Fulo” (That Black Girl
Fulo), written in 1928. The poem will explore the dynamics
between a slave master, the slave and her mistress. He
will join the ancestors on November 15, 1953 in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.

1898 – Alfredo da Rocha Viana Jr. is born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He will become a composer and bandleader best known as
“Pixinguinha.” By the time he was a teenager, he will be
respected for his talent as a flutist. After traveling with
his first band to France in 1922, he will open the door of
Brazilian music to the world. He will be credited with
assisting to invent the “samba.” He is generally referred
to as the King of Samba and the Father of Musica Popular
Brasileira. He will join the ancestors on February 17, 1973
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

1913 – The National Urban League is incorporated in New York City.
The organization is founded in 1910 when the Committee on
Urban Conditions Among Negroes met in New York to discuss
means to assist rural African Americans in the transition
to urban life. Founders include Mrs. Ruth Standish Baldwin
and Dr. George Edmund Haynes, who becomes the league’s
first executive director.

1941 – New Yorkers are treated to a performance of Cafi Society at
Carnegie Hall by a group of jazz artists that includes
Albert “Jug” Ammons, Hazel Scott, and Art Tatum. It also
marks the first performance of Helena (later Lena) Horne,
who sings “Summertime,” among other songs.

1944 – The NAACP Youth Council and Committee for Unity in Motion
Pictures selects its first Motion Picture Award recipients.
Given to honor actors whose roles advance the image of
African Americans in motion pictures, awards go to Rex
Ingram for “Sahara,” Lena Horne for “As Thousands Cheer,”
Leigh Whipper for “The Oxbow Incident” and “Mission to
Moscow,” Hazel Scott for her debut in “Something to Shout
About” and Dooley Wilson for his role as Sam in
“Casablanca,” among others. The awards will be the fore-
runner to the NAACP’s Image Awards.

1948 – Charles Richard Johnson in born in Evanston, Illinois. He
will become an novelist, essayist and screenwriter. He
will begin his career after graduating from the State
University of New York at Stonybrook with a Ph.D. in
philosophy. He will be mentored by W.E.B. Du Bois, Ralph
Ellison, Jean Toomer, Richard Wright and John Gardner. He
will be known for his works, “Middle Passage,” “Oxherding
Tale,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” and “Being and Race:
Black Writing Since 1970.” He will win the 1990 National
Book Award for “Middle Passage.”

1954 – Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, of the Milwaukee Braves, hits the
first of what will be 755 career home runs, in a game
against the St. Louis Cardinals. The score will be 7-5 in
favor of the Braves.

1955 – U.S. Supreme Court refuses to review a lower court decision
which would ban segregation in intrastate bus travel.

1964 – James Baldwin’s play, “Blues for Mr. Charlie” opens on
Broadway. Starring Al Freeman, Jr., Diana Sands, and
others, the play reveals the plight of African Americans in
the South.

1971 – Columbia University operations are virtually ended for the
year by African American and white students who seize five
buildings on campus.

1971 – William Tubman, president of Liberia, joins the ancestors at
the age of 76. He had been president of Liberia since
1944.

1998 – James Earl Ray, who confessed to assassinating the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and then insisted he was
framed, dies at a Nashville hospital at age 70.

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

February 4, 2015February 4, 2015 KRLemmons African American History

January 31 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – January 31 *

1863 – The first African American Civil War regiment, the South
Carolina Volunteers, are mustered into the United States
Army.

1865 – Congress abolishes slavery with the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution. The vote in the House is 121 to 24.

1914 – Arnold Raymond Cream is born in Merchantville, New Jersey.
He will become “Jersey Joe Walcott” and World Heavyweight
Champion at the age of 37. After retiring from boxing, he
will stay active in boxing as a referee and later will
become chairman of the New Jersey Athletic Commission. He
will be elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame
in 1990. He will join the ancestors on February 25, 1994.

1919 – Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson, the first African American
to break racial barriers in modern major league baseball,
is born in Cairo, Georgia. He will start playing baseball
in the Negro Leagues in preparation for a career as a
physical education coach. His major league baseball career
with the Brooklyn Dodgers will begin in 1947 and he will
play for nine years before leaving baseball to become a bank
official, land developer, and director of programs to
fight drug addiction. Among his honors will be the NAACP’s
Spingarn Medal in 1956. He will join the ancestors
on October 24, 1972 in Stamford, Connecticut after succumbing
to complications of diabetes.

1920 – Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity is incorporated at Howard
University.

1925 – Benjamin Hooks is born in Memphis, Tennessee. He will
become a public defender and minister after graduating
from DePaul University Law School. Through this work, he
will become a prominent leader in the civil rights
movement. In 1965, he will become the first African
American criminal court judge in Tennessee. He will also
become the first African American to become a commissioner
on the Federal Communications Commission. In 1977, he will
become the executive director of the NAACP. He will join the
ancestors on April 15, 2010.

1928 – Harold “Chuck” Willis is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He will
become a rhythm and blues singer and be best known for his
recording of “C.C. Rider” in 1957. He will join the
ancestors in 1958 after succumbing to peritonitis.

1931 – Ernest “Ernie” Banks is born in Dallas, Texas. He will
become the first African American baseball player to wear
a Chicago Cubs uniform (September 17, 1953). Banks will
also be quick to say “Let’s play two!” Banks will be the
Cubs’ outstanding shortstop from 1954 to 1960. In 1961 he
will be moved to left field, then to first base, where he
will spend the rest of his career. In 1969, Ernie Banks
will be voted the Cub’s best player ever by Chicago fans.
‘Mr. Cub’ will retire in 1971. He will be elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. He will join the ancestors on January 23, 2015 after succumbing to a heart attack at the age of 83.

1934 – Etta Moten sings for President and Mrs. Franklin D.
Roosevelt at a White House dinner for family and friends.
Moten, a stage and screen star, sings songs from her role
in the movie “Golddiggers of 1933 and “Swing Low Sweet
Chariot.” It is the first time an African American
actress performs at the White House.

1962 – Lt. Commander Samuel L. Gravely assumes command of the
destroyer escort, USS Falgout. The Navy reports that he
is the first African American to command a U.S. warship.

1963 – James Baldwin’s influential collection of essays “The Fire
Next Time” is published.

1972 – Aretha Franklin sings “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” at
Mahalia Jackson’s funeral. Over 40,000 mourners view the
coffin.

1988 – Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams is named Most
Valuable Player for leading his team to a 42-10 win over
the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. He is the first
African American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl game.

2006 – Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
joins the ancestors after succumbing to complications of a
stroke and heart attack at the age of seventy eight.

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

December 3, 2014 KRLemmons African American History

December 1 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 1 *

1641 – Massachusetts becomes the first colony to give statutory
recognition to the institution of slavery.

1821 – Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) proclaims independence
from Spain.

1873 – The 43rd Congress (1873-75) convenes with seven African
American congressmen: Richard H. Cain, Robert Brown
Elliott, Joseph H. Rainey and Alonzo J. Ransier, South
Carolina; James T. Rapier, Alabama; Josiah T. Walls,
Florida; John R. Lynch, Mississippi.

1873 – Mifflin Wister Gibb is elected city judge in Little Rock,
Arkansas and becomes the first African American to hold
such a position.

1873 – Bennett College (Greensboro, North Carolina) and Wiley
College (Marshall, Texas) are founded.

1874 – Queen Esther Chapter No. 1, Order of the Eastern Star, is
established at 708 O Street, N.W., Washington, DC in the
home of Mrs. Georgiana Thomas. The first Worthy Matron
is Sister Martha Welch and the first Worthy Patron is
Bro. Thornton A. Jackson. This establishes the first
Eastern Star Chapter among African American women in the
United States.

1877 – Jonathan Jasper Wright, the first African American state
supreme court justice, resigns from the state supreme
court in South Carolina. He resigns knowing that whites
would soon force him off the bench after overthrowing
the Reconstruction government. He will later join the
ancestors on February 19, 1885, in obscurity, of
tuberculosis.

1934 – Paul Williams is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He
will become Billy Paul, rhythm and blues singer, best
known for his song, “Me and Mrs. Jones”. The song,
recorded in 1972 will earn him a Grammy Award.

1935 – Lou Rawls is born in Chicago, Illinois. A successful
rhythm, blues, and jazz singer, he will record over 30
albums including “Unmistakably Lou”, a 1977 Grammy
winner for best R & B vocal performance. He will also
be a strong supporter of African American colleges, as
host of the annual UNCF telethon. He will join the
ancestors on January 6, 2006.

1940 – Richard Franklin Lennox Pryor III is born in Peoria,
Illinois. Raised in a brothel owned by his grandmother,
Pryor will try music as a drummer before his big comedy
break on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and a series of
successful, Grammy-winning comedy albums. Pryor will
also make movies, most notably “Stir Crazy” and “Silver
Streak”. Pryor will also battle drug abuse and illness
in his career, including his near death from burns
inflicted while freebasing cocaine and a battle against
multiple sclerosis. He will join the ancestors on
December 5, 2005.

1955 – Rosa Parks, a seamstress, refuses to take a back seat on
a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Her refusal to move will
result in her arrest and will begin a 382-day boycott
of the bus system by African Americans and mark the
beginning of the modern American Civil Rights movement.

1958 – The Central African Republic is made an autonomous
member of the French Commonwealth of Nations.

1980 – George Rogers, of the University of South Carolina, is
named the Heisman Trophy winner. Rogers will go on to
achieve success with the Washington Redskins.

1980 – United States Justice Department sues the city of
Yonkers, New York, citing racial discrimination.

1981 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surpasses Oscar Robertson as
basketball’s second all-time leading scorer (second
only to Wilt Chamberlain). Kareem gets to the total of
26,712 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah
Jazz 117-86. Chamberlain’s record will fall in 1984,
when Kareem’s scores reach 31,259. Kareem will wind up
his career in 1989 with 38,387 points.

1982 – Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller” is released and will
go on to become the best-selling album in history, with
over 40 million copies sold worldwide.

1987 – James Baldwin, author, joins the ancestors in St. Paul
de Vence, France, of stomach cancer, at the age of 63.
He explored the plight of oppressed African Americans in
20th century America in a variety of literary forms.
His output included novels and plays, but it was above
all, as an essayist, that he achieved a reputation as
the most literary spokesman in the struggle for civil
rights in the 1950s and 1960s. His three most important
collection of essays were “Notes of a Native Son” in
1955, “Nobody Knows My Name” in 1961, and “The Fire Next
Time” in 1963. The most highly regarded of his novels
were the first three, “Go Tell It on the Mountain” in
1953, “Giovanni’s Room” in 1956, and “Another Country”
in 1962.

1989 – Dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey joins the ancestors
in New York City. Ailey began his professional career
with Lester Horton, founded, and was the sole director
of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958.
Initially performing four concerts annually, he took
the company to Europe on one of the most successful
tours ever by an American dance troupe. Among his
honors were the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1977, and
Kennedy Center Honors.

1992 – Pearl Stewart becomes the first African American woman
editor of the Oakland Tribune, which has a circulation
of over 100,000.

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

December 1, 2013 KRLemmons African American History