KRLemmons African American History

October 26 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 26 *

1868 – White terrorists kill several African Americans in St.
Bernard Parish, near New Orleans, Louisiana.

1868 – B.F. Randolph, state senator and chairman of the state
Republican party, is assassinated in broad daylight at
Hodges Depot in Abbeville, South Carolina.

1911 – Mahalia Jackson is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Known
as the “Gospel Queen,” Jackson will become instrumental
in the popularization of gospel music and songs.
Jackson’s traditional gospel audiences transcended
beyond African American churchgoers through her
recordings, radio performances and concert tours in
America and abroad. Her recordings will sell millions of
copies. She will join the ancestors on January 27, 1972.

1919 – Edward William Brooke III is born in Washington, DC.
After serving in World War II and obtaining a law degree
from Boston University, he will be elected attorney
general of the State of Massachusetts and serve a term
of four years before being elected to the United States
Senate as a Republican in 1966, the first African
American Senator elected since Reconstruction. In the
Senate, Brooke will oppose President Nixon’s policies in
Southeast Asia, advocate low-income housing, and oppose
quotas to meet affirmative action goals. Among his
awards will be the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1967.

1921 – Solomon Porter Hood is named minister to Liberia.

1934 – At a New York City conference, representatives of the
NAACP and the American Fund for Public Service plan a
coordinated legal campaign against segregation and
discrimination. Charles H. Houston, Vice-dean of the
Howard University Law School, is named director of the
NAACP legal campaign.

1950 – Walter E. “Chuck” Foreman is born in Frederick, Maryland.
He will become a star running back for the Minnesota
Vikings. He will be NFC Rookie of the Year in 1973 and
NFC Player of the Year in 1974 and 1976. He will also
play in losing efforts in Super Bowls VIII, IX, and XI.

1951 – William Collins is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He will
become a rhythm and blues performer and bandleader known
as “Bootsy” Collins. He will form his first group, the
Pacesetters, in 1968. From 1969 to 1971, the group will
function as James Brown’s backup band and will be dubbed
the JB’s. In 1972, Bootsy will join George Clinton’s
Parliament/Funkadelic. He will launch Bootsy’s Rubber
Band as a spin-off of P-Funk in 1976. He will record
with Warner Brothers from 1976 through 1982. After a
six year hiatus, he will sign with Columbia Records in
1988 and actively record into the 1990s.

1951 – Joe Louis is defeated by Rocky Marciano in the eighth
round in a bout at Madison Square Garden.

1962 – Louise Beavers, who starred in more than 100 films,
including “Imitation of Life”, “The Jackie Robinson
Story”, and “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House”,
joins the ancestors in Los Angeles, California.

1970 – Following 3 1/2 years of forced isolation from boxing,
Muhammad Ali returns to the ring and beats Jerry Quarry
in Atlanta, Georgia.

1976 – Trinidad & Tobago becomes a republic.

1977 – Dr. Clifford R. Wharton Jr. is named chancellor of the
State University of New York.

1980 – Ten African American Roman Catholic bishops issue a
pastoral letter asserting that “the Church must seize
the initiative to ‘share the gift of our blackness with
the Church in the United States.'”

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 1 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 1 *

1851 – William “Jerry” Henry, a runaway slave and craftsman who had
settled in Syracuse, New York, is arrested by a United
States Marshal and scheduled to be returned to slavery.
Ten thousand citizens of the city will storm the sheriff’s
office and courthouse, free Henry, and aid his escape to
Canada via the underground railroad.

1872 – Morgan State College (now University) is founded in
Baltimore, Maryland.

1886 – Kentucky State College (now University) is founded in
Frankfort, Kentucky.

1897 – Virginia Proctor Powell, first female African American
librarian is born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. She will
follow in her mother’s footsteps and continue her education
at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. In 1919, She will earn
her Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Oberlin.
She will move back to Pittsburgh where, although having
adequate training and experience, she was unable to pursue her
desired goal of teaching and spent some time working at her
aunt’s salon as a beautician. Aware of her passion for children
and books, Charles Wilbur Florence, her future husband, will
encourage her to pursue a career in librarianship. During a
time when African Americans were rarely considered for
admission into predominantly white universities, she will be
considered for admission into the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library
School (now the University of Pittsburgh School of Information
Sciences). There is much debate about allowing a Black person
into the program. School officials were concerned with how
white students might react to having a Black peer and the
likelihood that she would not find work upon completion of the
program. She will finish the program in 1923. OVer time she
would work as a librarian in Richmond, Virginia and Washington,
D.C. She will join the ancestors in Richmond, Virginia in 1991.

1937 – The Pullman Company formally recognizes the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters.

1937 – The Spingarn Medal is awarded to Walter White, NAACP
secretary, for his leadership and work in the anti-
lynching movement.

1945 – Donny Hathaway is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will be
an influential pop and Rhythm & Blues singer of the 1970s
whose hit songs will include “The Ghetto” and “The Closer
I Get to You” (with Roberta Flack). His collaborations with
Roberta Flack will score high on the charts and win him the
Grammy Award for “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with
Vocal” for the duet, “Where Is the Love” in 1973. He will join
the ancestors, after commiting suicide, on January 13, 1979.

1945 – Rodney Cline “Rod” Carew, baseball Hall of Famer, is born in Gatún,
Panama, (formally Panama Canal Zone). He will win the American
League’s Rookie of the Year award in 1967 and be elected to the
first of 18 consecutive All-Star game appearances. He will steal
home seven times in the 1969 season to lead the majors, just
missing Ty Cobb’s Major League record of eight and the most in the
major leagues since Pete Reiser stole seven for the Brooklyn
Dodgers in 1946. His career total of 17 steals of home currently
puts him tied for 17th on the list with former New York Giant MVP
Larry Doyle and fellow Hall of Famer Eddie Collins. In 1972, He
will lead the American League in batting, hitting .318, and
remarkably, without hitting a single home run for the only time in
his career. He is, to date, the only player in the American League
or in the modern era to win the batting title with no home runs.
In 1975, he will join Ty Cobb as the only players to lead both the
American and National Leagues in batting average for three
consecutive seasons. In the 1977 season, he will bat .388, which is
the highest since Boston’s Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941, and win
the American League’s Most Valuable Player award. He will be
inducted into MLB Hall of Fame in 1991. He will also be inducted
into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame.

1945 – Heavyweight champion, Joe Louis, is discharged from the
army.

1947 – United States’ control of Haitian Custom Service and
governmental revenue ends.

1948 – The California Supreme Court voids state statute banning
interracial marriages.

1948 – Edward Dudley is named Ambassador to Liberia.

1951 – The 24th Infantry Regiment, last of the all African
American military units authorized by Congress in 1866,
is deactivated in Korea.

1954 – The British colony of Nigeria becomes a federation.

1955 – Howard Hewitt is born in Akron, Ohio. He will move to Los
Angeles where he would eventually meet Soul Train dancer
and future first wife Rainey Riley-Cunningham, then a
secretary of the show’s creator and original host Don
Cornelius. It was Cornelius who introduced him to fellow
Soul Train dancers Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniel, and
their group, Shalamar, was born. The trio is best known
for songs such as “Second Time Around”, “A Night to
Remember”, “Dancing in the Sheets” and the ballad “This Is
For The Lover In You”. He will be the group’s lead singer
from 1979 until 1985. When Shalamar breaks up in the mid
1980s, he will go on to pursue a solo career. In 1986 he
will be arrested and indicted in Miami with his fiance Mori
Molina for possession with an intent to distribute cocaine.
He subsequently married Molina who will be convicted and
serve prison time. He will then be acquitted of the charges.
He will sign with Elektra Records and record 1986’s I Commit
To Love (R&B #12), a relatively solid urban album that will
yielded two R&B hits, “I’m For Real” (R&B #2) and “Stay”
(R&B #8). The album will also include “Say Amen”, a gospel
tune that became a surprise hit on the Gospel charts and is
his signature song. He will contribute vocals to La Toya
Jackson’s Hot 100 hit single “Heart Don’t Lie” in 1984.

1960 – Nigeria proclaims its independence from Great Britain.

1961 – East & West Cameroon merge and become the Federal
Republic of Cameroon.

1963 – Nigeria becomes a republic within the British
Commonwealth.

1966 – The Black Panther party is founded in Oakland, California
by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.

1977 – Brazilian soccer great, Pele’, retires with 1,281 goals
in 1,363 games.

1989 – Dallas Cowboy, Ed “Too Tall” Jones records his 1,000th
NFL tackle.

1991 – Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell assumes her duties as dean of
New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. A noted
art historian, Schmidt had previously served as
commissioner of cultural affairs, director of the
Studio of Harlem, and chair of the Smithsonian
Institution’s Advisory Committee that recommended
creation of a national African American museum.

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

KRLemmons African American History

September 27 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – September 27 *

1785 – David Walker, who will become an abolitionist and write
the famous “Walker’s Appeal,” is born free in Wilmington,
North Carolina. He will join the ancestors on June 28, 1830.

1822 – Hiram R. Revels, is born free in Fayetteville, North
Carolina. He will become the first African American U.S.
Senator, elected from Mississippi.

1862 – The First Louisiana Native Guards, the first African
American regiment to receive official recognition, is
mustered into the Union army. The Regiment is composed of
free African Americans from the New Orleans area.

1867 – Louisiana voters endorse the constitutional convention and
elect delegates in the first election under The
Reconstruction Acts. The vote was 75,000 for the
convention and 4,000 against.

1875 – Branch Normal College opens in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. A
segregated unit of the state university, the college is
established by Joseph C. Corbin.

1876 – Edward Mitchell Bannister wins a bronze medal for his
painting “Under the Oaks” at the American Centennial
Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The award to
Bannister will cause controversy among whites who think
African Americans incapable of artistic excellence.

1877 – John Mercer Langston is named Minister to Haiti.

1934 – Greg Morris is born in Cleveland, Ohio. He will come to
Hollywood in the early 1960s to become an actor after
some minor stage experience in Seattle. He will have
guest roles on such series as “Dr. Kildare,” “The Dick Van
Dyke Show” and “The Twilight Zone” before being cast in
“Mission: Impossible.” He will be one of the first African
American actors to star in a hit series during the 1960s,
playing Barney Collier, the quiet, efficient electronics
expert on “Mission: Impossible,” which ran from 1966 to
1973. In 1979, he will go to Las Vegas to film the
television series “Vega$,” in which he plays Lt. David
Nelson. He will like the city so much he will decide to
make it his home. He will join the ancestors after
succumbing to cancer there in 1996.

1936 – Don Cornelius is born. He will become the creator,
producer, and host of the TV show, “Soul Train” in 1970.
The show will become the longest running program
originally produced for first-run syndication in the
entire history of television. The show’s resounding
success will position it as the cornerstone of the Soul
Train franchise which includes the annual specials: “Soul
Train Music Awards,” the “Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards”
and the “Soul Train Christmas Starfest.”

1940 – African American leaders protest discrimination in the U.S.
Armed Forces and war industries at a White House meeting
with President Roosevelt.

1944 – Stephanie Pogue is born in Shelby, North Carolina. She
will become an artist and art professor whose works will
be collected by New York City’s Whitney Museum of American
Art and the Studio Museum of Harlem while she will exhibit
widely in the United States, Europe, Japan, and South
America.

1950 – Heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles defeats Joe Louis.

1953 – Diane Abbott is born in the working-class neighborhood of
Paddington in London, England. Her mother (a nurse) and
father (a welder) had moved there in 1951 from Jamaica. A
graduate of Cambridge University, she will make history on
June 11, 1987, becoming the first female of African
descent to be a member of the British Parliament. Her
outspoken criticism of racism and her commitment to
progressive politics will make her a controversial figure
in Great Britain’s Labour Party.

1954 – Public school integration begins in Washington, DC and
Baltimore, Maryland.

1961 – Sierre Leone becomes the 100th member of the United Nations.

1967 – Washington, DC’s Anacostia Museum, dedicated to informing
the community of the contributions of African Americans to
United States social, political and cultural history,
opens its doors to the public.

1988 – Several athletes, among them black Canadian sprinter Ben
Johnson, are expelled from the Olympic Games for anabolic
steroid use. Johnson’s gold medal, won in the 100-meter
dash, is awarded to African American Carl Lewis, the
second-place finisher.

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

KRLemmons African American History

September 24 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – September 24 *

1825 – Frances Ellen Watkins Harper is born free in Baltimore,
Maryland. She will grow up to be one of the most famous
African American poets. Harper’s mother will join the
ancestors before she is three years old, leaving her an
orphan. Harper will be raised by her uncle, William
Watkins, a teacher at the Academy for Negro Youth and a
radical political figure in civil rights. Watkins will
be a major influence on Harper’s political, religious,
and social views. Harper will attend the Academy for
Negro Youth and the rigorous education she will receive,
along with the political activism of her uncle, will
affect and influence her poetry. In 1850, she will
become the first female to teach at Union Seminary in
Wilberforce, Ohio. After new laws pass in 1854, state
that African Americans entering through Maryland’s
northern border could be sold into slavery, Harper will
become an active abolitionist and writer. She will be
known for her writings, “Forest Leaves,” “Poems on
Miscellaneous Subjects,” “Moses: A Story of the Nile,”
“Achan’s Sin,” “Sketches of Southern Life,” “Light
Beyond the Darkness,” “Iola Leroy: Or Shadows Uplifted,”
“The Martyr of Alabama and Other Poems,” “Atlanta
Offering Poems,” and “Idylls of the Bible.” She will join
the ancestors on February 22, 1911.

1883 – The National Black convention meets in Louisville,
Kentucky.

1894 – Sociologist and professor at Morehouse College, Fisk
University, and Howard University, E.(Edward) Franklin
Frazier is born in Baltimore, Maryland. He will organize
the Atlanta University School of Social Work (for African
Americans), later becoming its director. He will write
the controversial publication (1927) “The Pathology of
Race Prejudice” in Forum Magazine. His writings will
include “The Negro Family in the United States” (1939),
among the first sociological works on African Americans
researched and written by an African American. He will
also write “Negro Youth at the Crossways” (1940) and
“Race and Culture Contacts in the Modern World” (1957),
which deals with African studies. Frazier will have a
distinguished career at Howard University as chairman of
its sociology department as well as serving as the first
African American president of the American Sociological
Society. He will join the ancestors on May 17, 1962.

1931 – Cardiss Robertson (later Collins) is born in St. Louis,
Missouri. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1973
after the death of her husband, George, she will serve in
a leadership capacity often in her Congressional career,
most notably as chairman of the Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and
Competitiveness.

1935 – World Heavyweight Champion, Joe Louis, becomes the first
African American boxer to draw a million dollar gate.

1941 – John Mackey is born in New York City. He will become a
football player in the National Football League in 1963
and will play all but one of his pro years with the
Baltimore Colts. His career record will include 331
catches, 5,236 yards, and 38 touchdowns. He will be
enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame in 1992 (the
second tight end to be so honored).

1946 – Charles Edward “Mean Joe” Greene is born in Temple, Texas.
He will become a star football player for North Texas
State and will be a number one draft pick in the National
Football League in 1969 and will play his entire career
(1969-1981) with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He will become
the “cornerstone of franchise” that dominated the NFL in
the 1970s. He will be an exceptional team leader,
possessing size, speed, quickness, strength, and
determination. He will be NFL Defensive Player of The
Year twice (1972 and 1974). He will be All-Pro or All-
AFC nine years and will play in four Super Bowls (won
all four), six AFC title games, and 10 Pro Bowls. He
will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
1987. He will become a defensive line coach with
Pittsburgh after his retirement as an active player.

1953 – “Take a Giant Step”, a drama by playwright Louis Peterson,
opens on Broadway.

1954 – Patrick Kelly is born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. A
fashion design student, Kelly will move to Paris, where
his innovative and outrageous women’s fashion designs,
featuring multiple buttons, bows and African American
baby dolls, will win him wide acclaim and make him the
first and only American designer admitted to an
exclusive organization of French fashion designers.

1957 – President Eisenhower makes an address on nationwide TV and
radio to explain why troops are being sent to Little Rock,
Arkansas. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, earlier in the
day sends 1,000 U.S. government paratroopers to Little
Rock to aid in the desegregation of the public schools.
The troops will escort nine school children to Central
High School in the first federally supported effort to
integrate the nation’s public schools. The nine Black
students who had entered Little Rock Central High School
in Arkansas were forced to withdraw because of a white
mob outside.

1962 – United States Circuit Court of Appeals orders the
Mississippi Board of Higher Education to admit James
Meredith to the University of Mississippi or be held in
contempt of court.

1973 – Leaders of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea
and Cape Verde (PAIGC) declare the independence of
Guinea-Bissau from Portugal. Portugal will recognize this
independence the following year. The PAIGC was formed by
Amilcar Cabral and Raphael Barbosa in 1956. Luis Cabral,
Amilcar’s half-brother, will become Guinea-Bissau’s first
president.

1977 – Rev. John T. Walker is installed as the sixth — and first
African American bishop of the Episcopal Church when he
is installed in the diocese of Washington, DC.

1988 – Jackie Joyner-Kersee of the United States sets the
heptathlon woman’s record (7,291).

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

KRLemmons African American History

June 25 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – June 25 *

1876 – The most famous Native American uprising, at Little
Big Horn, begins in the Dakota territories (present-
day Montana). General George Armstrong Custer leads
three U.S. Army battalions to their deaths, including
Isaiah Dorman, an African American cavalryman, scout,
and intermediary between the Sioux and the United
States government, who had warned Custer of the
hostile Native American presence.

1933 – James Howard Meredith, the first African American
student at the University of Mississippi, is born in
Kosciusko, Mississippi.

1935 – Eddie Lee Floyd, rhythm and blues recording artist
(“California Girl,” “Knock on Wood”) and songwriter is
born in Montgomery, Alabama. His recording career did
not keep him from being one of his label’s most
productive writers. Virtually every Stax artist will
record his material, often co-written with either
Steve Cropper or Booker T. Jones, including Sam & Dave’s
“You Don’t Know What You Mean to Me”, Rufus Thomas’ “The
Breakdown”, Otis Redding’s “I Love You More Than Words
Can Say”, and Johnnie Taylor’s “Just the One (I’ve Been
Looking For)”. The latter will play during the opening
credits of director Harold Ramis’s film “Bedazzled.”
In 1980, he will also release material on the UK record
label I-Spy Records, owned and created by the UK band,
Secret Affair. He will join old Stax collaborators
Cropper and Dunn, and front The Blues Brothers Band on
a series of world tours, and in 1998, he and Wilson
Pickett will appear on screen dueting on “634-5789” in
Blues Brothers 2000. As well as singing with The Blues
Brothers Band, he will be the special guest with former
Rolling Stone Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings on several
dates in the US and the UK. In 2008, he will return to
Stax Records. His first new album in six years, “Eddie
Loves You So,” will be released in July 2008.

1935 – Joe Louis defeats Primo Carnera at Yankee Stadium.

1941 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order
8802 forbidding racial discrimination in war industries
and government service and creating the Federal
Employment Practices Committee.

1942 – Willis Reed is born in Hico, Louisiana. He will become
a professional basketball player for the New York Knicks
after an All-American career at Grambling State University.
An All-Star in his first seven professional years
(1964-71), he will lead the New York Knicks to their
first-ever title in 1970 before injuries began slowing
him down. For years, He will bang against NBA greats Wilt
Chamberlain, Wes Unseld and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and it
will gradually take its toll. Tendinitis in his knees will
obliterate the 1971 and 1972 seasons, but his unrelenting
will and spirit will enable him to overcome the
frustration and anguish and return in 1973. The left-
handed Reed will contribute athletically and spiritually
to another Knick NBA title in 1973. Torn cartilage in his
right knee will force him to retire in 1974, cutting short
a marvelous career. A physical inside player with a soft
outside jump shot, he will be the only player named MVP of
the All-Star Game, regular season and playoffs in the same
year (1970). A five-time All-NBA selection, he will tally
12,183 points (18.7 ppg) and grab 8,414 rebounds (12.9 rpg).
Playing with a Hall of Fame cast of Dave DeBusschere, Bill
Bradley, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe and Jerry Lucas, He will
lead the Knicks in scoring five seasons and in rebounding
six seasons. His number 19 jersey will be retired by the
Knicks. He will be enshired in the Hall of Fame in 1982.
He will named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in
1996.

1947 – James Carter “Jimmie” Walker, comedian (“JJ” on “Good Times,”
“At Ease”) is born in the Bronx, New York City. In 2012,
his autobiography, “Dyn-o-mite! Good Times, Bad Times, Our
Times – A Memoir,” will be published by Da Capo Press.

1948 – Joe Louis KOs Jersey Joe Walcott in 11 rounds to retain the
heavyweight championship of the world.

1950 – Charles H. Houston is posthumously awarded the NAACP’s
Spingarn Medal for his legal work with the association
Legal Committee. He is cited as a “stalwart defender of
democracy, inspired teacher of youth, and leader in the
legal profession.”

1964 – Racially motivated disturbances erupt in Saint Augustine,
Florida, when a mob of 800 whites attacks part of a parade
of several hundred African Americans participating in an
integration parade.

1968 – Lincoln Alexander of Hamilton West in Ontario, Canada, is
the first Canadian of African descent to become a member
of the Canadian Parliament.

1968 – Bobby Bonds hits a grand slam in his first major league
game playing for the San Francisco Giants.

1975 – Mozambique gains its independence from Portugal. Samora M.
Machel, leader of the Mozambique Liberation Front, becomes
the republic’s first president.

2005 – The NAACP selects retired Verizon executive Bruce S. Gordon
to be its new president.

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

KRLemmons African American History

June 22 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – June 22 *

1772 – Slavery is outlawed in England.

1868 – Congress readmits the state of Arkansas on the
condition that it would never change its constitution
to disenfranchise African Americans.

1909 – Katherine Dunham is born in Joliet, Illinois. She
will become one of the revolutionary forces in modern
dance through her introduction and use of African and
Caribbean styles. Successful on the stage and in
movies, including “Stormy Weather”, in the late 1960’s,
she will form the Katherine Dunham Center for the
Performing Arts and in 1983 will be awarded Kennedy
Center honors. She will spend her later years residing
in East St. Louis, Illinois. She will join the
ancestors on May 21, 2006.

1937 – Joe Louis knocks out James Braddock to become the
heavyweight boxing champion of the world. The fight
is won in eight rounds before 45,000 fans, the largest
audience, to date, to witness a fight.

1938 – Joe Louis defeats German boxer Max Schmeling in a
rematch of their 1936 fight and retains his world
heavyweight crown. Because of the Nazi persecution of
Jews in Europe and Hitler’s disdain for people of
African descent, the fight will take on mythic
proportion, with Louis seen by many as fighting to
uphold democracy and the race. He succeeds
convincingly, ending the fight in 2:04 of the first
round at Yankee Stadium.

1941 – Ed Bradley is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A
CBS correspondent covering the Vietnam conflict,
Bradley will become co-anchor of CBS’ “60 Minutes” and
win at least six Emmy awards. He will join the ancestors
on November 9, 2006 after succumbing to leukemia at the
age of 65.

1947 – Octavia Butler is born in Pasadena, California. She
will become a science fiction writer and winner of the
Hugo Award for excellence in science fiction writing in
1984.

1949 – Ezzard Charles defeats Jersey Joe Walcott to win the
heavyweight championship of the world.

1962 – Clyde ‘The Glide’ Drexler is born in Houston, Texas.
He will become a basketball star at the University of
Houston and will lead Houston’s “Phi Slamma Jamma” team
to the NCAA Final Four two years in a row, 1983 and 1984.
He will be drafted by the NBA Portland Trailblazers,
where he will play twelve seasons, and will lead them to
the NBA FInals twice. In 1992, he will be selected to the
U.S. Olympics basketball team, nicknamed “The Dream Team”,
which will win the gold medal in Barcelona. After being
traded to the Houston Rockets, he will join his teammate
from the University of Houston, Hakeem Olajuwon and help
the Rockets win the NBA championship in 1995. After
retiring from the NBA, he will become the head coach at
his alma mater, the University of Houston. He will later
become the color commentator for the Houston Rockets. He
will be inducted into the Naismth Memorial Basketball Hall
of Fame on September 10, 2004, in his first year of
eligibility. He will be named one of basketball’s fifty
greatest players by the NBA.

1963 – “Fingertips – Pt 2” by Little Stevie Wonder is released.
It becomes Wonder’s first number one single on August 10th.
Stevie Wonder will have 46 hits on the pop and Rhythm &
Blues music charts between 1963 and 1987. Eight of those
hits will make it to number one.

1989 – The government of Angola and the anti-Communist rebels of
the UNITA movement agree to a formal truce in their
14-year-old civil war.

1990 – African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, speaking
before the United Nations, states that a democratic,
nonracial South Africa is “within our grasp.”

1991 – “Kaleidoscope”, an exhibit of the work of over 30 African
American photographers, opens at the Anacostia Museum in
Washington, DC. Among those exhibited are masters Addison
Scurlock and Robert Scurlock as well as contemporary
photographers Matthew Lewis, Sam Yette, Sharon Farmer, and
Brian Jones.

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

KRLemmons African American History

June 19 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – June 19 *

1809 – The first African Baptist Church in the U.S. became
an organized body in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1862 – Slavery is abolished in U.S. territories by Congress.

1864 – In a famous duel between the USS Kearsage and the CSS
Alabama off Cherbourg, France, a brave African American
sailor, Joachim Pease, displays “marked coolness” and
will win a Congressional Medal of Honor. The CSS
Alabama will be sunk.

1865 – Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in
1863, slavery will continue in Texas, until General
Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston with Union forces,
announcing that all slaves in Texas are free. One
third of the people in Texas are slaves. Juneteenth
will be celebrated annually with picnics and barbecues
at public emancipation grounds, some of which will be
used past year 2000. Juneteenth will become a legal
Texas state holiday in 1980. “JUNETEENTH” celebrations
will come to commemorate the emancipation of African
Americans everywhere.

1867 – P.B.S. Pinchback urges African Americans to use their
franchise privileges. “The Congress of the United
States has conferred upon our People the Elective
Franchise and it is our important duty to see that we
use it well….”

1868 – Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby removes the mayor and aldermen
of Columbia, South Carolina, and makes new appointments,
including three African Americans: C.M. Wilder, Joseph
Taylor and William Simonds.

1914 – Ernest Crichlow is born in Brooklyn, New York.
Studying at the Art Students League, Crichlow will be
associated with the Harlem Art Center during the 1930’s
as a noted painter and illustrator whose objectives will
be to advocate social commentary and communication
through art. He will join the ancestors on November 10,
2005.

1926 – DeFord Bailey becomes the first African American
musician to perform on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry show.

1936 – Joe Louis is knocked out by Max Schmeling in the 12th
round of their heavyweight boxing match. The German boxer
earns his victory at Yankee Stadium in New York.

1946 – Joe Louis fights Billy Conn, in New York City, in the
first championship prize fight to be televised.

1948 – Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rashad, actress (best known for
playing the part of Clair opposite Bill Cosby on the long-
running “Cosby Show”) is born in Houston, Texas.

1953 – Albert W. Dent, president of Dillard University, is
elected president of the National Health Council.

1953 – A bus boycott begins in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1959 – Mark DeBarge is born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He will
become a recording artist as a member of the rhythm & blues
group DeBarge. The group will be composed of three brothers,
Randy, James and Eldra and sister Bunny. They will actively
perform from 1978 to 1991.

1962 – Paula Julie Abdul, singer/choreographer, is born in Van
Nuys, California.

1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved by the Senate,
73-27, after surviving an 83-day filibuster.

1965 – “I Can’t Help Myself” by the Four Tops tops the pop and
Rhythm & Blues charts. The Motown group will get their second
and only other number one hit with “Reach Out I’ll Be There”
in 1966. Their other hits include: “It’s the Same Old Song”,
“Standing in the Shadows of Love”, “Bernadette” and “Ain’t No
Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)” (their only million seller).
The group calls Motown, Detroit, Michigan home and got their
start in 1953 as the Four Aims. Levi Stubbs, Renaldo ‘Obie’
Benson, Lawrence Payton and Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir will place 24
hits on the charts from 1964 to 1988. They first recorded as
The Four Tops for Leonard Chess and Chess Records in 1956;
then went to Red Top and Columbia before signing with Berry
Gordy’s Motown label in 1963. The Tops, who will have no
personnel changes in their more than 35 years together will
be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

1968 – Fifty thousand demonstrators participate in Solidarity Day
March of the Poor People’s Campaign. Marchers walk from the
Washington Monument to the Lincoln Monument, where they are
addressed by Vice President Hubert Humphrey, presidential
candidate Eugene McCarthy, Coretta Scott King and Ralph
Abernathy.

1969 – Illinois State troopers are ordered to Cairo, by the
governor, to quell racially motivated disturbances.

1971 – The mayor of Columbus, Georgia declares a state of emergency
due to racial disturbances.

1986 – Len Bias, a senior at the University of Maryland and the
1st-round pick of the Boston Celtics, joins the ancestors
after suffering a fatal cocaine-induced seizure.

1990 – Opening statements are presented in the drug and perjury
trial of Washington D.C. Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr. Barry is
later convicted of a single count of misdemeanor drug
possession, and sentenced to six months in prison. He will
resume a career in politics after prison, when he is elected
to the DC City Council representing Ward 8.

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

KRLemmons African American History

June 15 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – June 15 *

1864 – Congress passes a bill equalizing pay, arms, equipment
and medical services of African American troops.

1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper, born a slave in Thomasville,
Georgia, in 1856, is the first African American cadet
to graduate from the United States Military Academy at
West Point, New York. Flipper, who was never spoken to
by a white cadet during his four years at West Point,
was appointed a second lieutenant in the all-African
American 10th Cavalry, stationed at Fort Sill in Indian
Territory. He will join the ancestors on May 3, 1940.

1921 – Bessie Coleman, a 28-year-old native of Amarillo,
Texas, who learned French in order to communicate with
instructors, receives a pilot’s certificate from the
Federation Aeronautique Internationale in France. She
is the first African American woman to become a licensed
pilot.

1921 – Erroll Garner is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He
will become an accomplished pianist who will play by ear.
Much of his early work will be lost because it will not
be written down. His best known composition will be
“Misty.” He will be an ASCAP Award-winning jazz pianist.
Some of his other hits will be “Dreamy,” “That’s My Kick,”
“Moment’s Delight,” and “Solitaire.” He will be honored
on a stamp by the U.S. Postal Service. He will join the
ancestors on January 2, 1977.

1938 – Billie Leo Williams, baseball player (Rookie of the Year
1961), and Chicago Cubs outfielder, is born in Whistler,
Alabama. After accumulating a lifetime .290 batting average
with 426 homers and 1475 runs batted in, he will be elected
to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. His number 26 will be
retired at Wrigley Field. His will be the second number
retired by the Cubs, the first being Ernie Banks’ number 14.
Following his departure from the Cubs, the number has been
reassigned to other players from time to time, although he
will reclaim it during several intervals of coaching with
the Cubs after his playing days had ended. In 1999, he will
be named as a finalist to the Major League Baseball All-
Century Team. During the 2010 season, the Cubs will honor
him with a statue outside of Wrigley Field. The statue will
be unveiled in a pre-game ceremony before their game on
September 7 against the Houston Astros. In 2011, he will be
appointed as a member of the Hall of Fame’s Veterans
Committee “Golden Era” group.

1951 – Joe Louis knocks out Lee Savold in a closed-circuit TV
fight seen by fight fans in movie theatres in six cities.

1969 – O’Shea Jackson is born in Los Angeles, California. Known
later as “Ice Cube,” he will be the first member of the
seminal Californian rap group N.W.A. to leave, and he will
quickly establish himself as one of hip-hop’s best and
most controversial artists. From the outset of his career,
he will court controversy, since his rhymes were profane
and political. As a solo artist, his politics and social
commentary will sharpen substantially, and his first two
records, “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted” and “Death Certificate,”
will be equally praised and reviled for their lyrical
stance, which happens to be considerably more articulate
than many of his gangsta peers. As his career progresses,
Ice Cube’s influence begins to decline, particularly as he
tries to incorporate elements of contemporary groups like
Cypress Hill into his sound, but his stature never
diminished, and he will remain one of the biggest rap stars
throughout the ’90s. He will also become an actor and will
have his acting debut in John Singleton’s “Boyz N the Hood.”

1971 – The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of
closing Jackson, Mississippi, swimming pools rather than
integrating them. The ruling is considered by many to
indicate the Court’s resistance to increased integration.

1971 – Vernon E. Jordan Jr., former executive director of the
United Negro College Fund, is appointed executive director
of the National Urban League.

1987 – Michael Spinks defeats Gerry Cooney in round five of their
heavyweight boxing match in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

1990 – St. Clair Drake joins the ancestors after succumbing to a
heart attack in Palo Alto, California. The noted sociologist
and anthropologist was the author of numerous books,
including the important ‘Black Metropolis’ which he
co-authored with Horace Cayton. In 1969, he established and
served as Director of the African and Afro-American Studies
Program at Stanford University, a program often imitated by
other colleges and universities.

1996 – Ella Jane Fitzgerald joins the ancestors. Dubbed the
‘First Lady of Song,’ she was the most popular female jazz
singer in the United States for more than half a century.
During her lifetime, she sold over 40 million albums and won
13 Grammy awards. Born in Newport News, Virginia, Fitzgerald
began singing after impressing the audience at the Apollo
Theater’s Amateur Night in 1934. She could imitate every
instrument in an orchestra and worked with all the jazz
greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Nat King Cole
to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Goodman. She
performed at top venues all over the world, and her
audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. She received
the National Medal of Arts, France’s Commander of Arts and
Letters Award, Kennedy Center Honors, and numerous honorary
doctorates for her continuing contributions to the arts.

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

KRLemmons African American History

May 23 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – May 23 *

1844 – Charles Edmund Nash is born in Opelousas, Louisiana. He will become
the first African American representative to the U.S. House of
Representatives from the State of Louisiana.

1878 – Attorney John Henry Smyth is named minister to Liberia. He will
serve from 1878 to 1881 and again as minister from 1882 to 1885.

1900 – Civil War hero, Sergeant William H. Carney of the 54th Massachusetts
Colored Infantry, becomes the first African American Congressional
Medal of Honor winner. He will be cited almost 37 years after the
Battle of Fort Wagner, where he carried the colors and led the
charge after the original standard-bearer was shot.

1910 – Benjamin Sherman “Scatman” Crothers is born in Terre Haute, Indiana.
He will become an entertainer and will appear in, or use his voice
in over 52 films. A noted character actor, he will best known
for his role in the TV series, “Chico and The Man.” Some of his
best remembered films will be “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,”
“The Shining,” “Lady Sings the Blues,” and “Roots.” He will also
make numerous guest appearances on a variety of television programs.
He will join the ancestors on November 22, 1986.

1920 – The Methodist Episcopal Church conference, meeting in Des Moines,
Iowa, elects two African American bishops, Matthew W. Clair of
Washington, DC, and Robert E. Jones of New Orleans, Louisiana.

1921 – “Shuffle Along,” the first of a popular series of musicals featuring
all African American casts, opens at the 63rd Street Music Hall in
New York City. The musical is written by Noble Sissle and Eubie
Blake and features Florence Mills and a young Josephine Baker in the
chorus. William Grant Still and Hall Johnson play in the orchestra.

1941 – Joe Louis defends his heavyweight boxing title for the 17th successful
time, as Buddy Baer is disqualified at the beginning of the seventh
round. Baer’s manager refused to leave the ring when the round was
ready to begin.

1954 – “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler is born in Newark, New Jersey. He will
become the World Middleweight Champion in 1980. Hagler will make 12
successful title defenses. Among his victims will be Vito Antuofermo,
Mustafa Hamsho, Roberto Duran, Juan Roldan, John “The Beast” Mugabi,
and Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns. His thrilling three-round shootout with
Hearns will be regarded as one of the best fights of all-time. His
last fight will be in 1987 when Sugar Ray Leonard comes out of
retirement and wins an exciting, but controversial 12-round split
decision for the WBC middleweight title. Hagler will retire after
Leonard does not give him a rematch. He will end his career with 62
wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws. He will be elected to the International
Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.

1961 – Twenty-seven Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi.

1975 – Loretta Mary Aiken, better known by her stage name of Jackie “Moms”
Mabley, joins the ancestors in White Plains, New York at the age of
81. Best known as a comedienne, she began her career as a singer at
the age of 14 and traveled the vaudeville circuit, appearing in
theaters and nightclubs. Making her comedy recording debut in 1960,
Mabley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show as well as in movie roles.

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

KRLemmons African American History

March 29 African American Historical Events

 

* Today in Black History – March 29 *

1918 – Pearl Mae Bailey is born in Newport News, Virginia. She will
achieve tremendous success as a stage and film actress,
recording artist, nightclub headliner, and television
performer. Among her most notable movies will be “Porgy and
Bess” and “Carmen Jones” and she will receive a Tony Award
for her starring role in an all-African-American version of
“Hello Dolly.” Bailey will be widely honored, including
being named special advisor to the U.S. Mission to the
United Nations and receiving the Presidential Medal of
Freedom. She will join the ancestors on August 17, 1990.

1940 – Joe Louis knocks out Johnny Paycheck to retain his
heavyweight boxing title.

1945 – Walt Frazier is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He will become a
basketball player and, as a guard for the New York Knicks,
lead his team to NBA championships in 1970 and 1973. He
will also earn the nickname “Clyde” (from the movie Bonnie
and Clyde) for his stylish wardrobe and flamboyant lifestyle
off the court. Frazier will score 15,581 points (18.9 ppg)
during his career, lead the Knicks in scoring five times,
dish out 5,040 assists (6.1 apg), and lead the Knicks in
assists 10 straight years. He will be elected to the
Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987.

1955 – Earl Christian Campbell is born in Tyler, Texas. He will
become a star football player at the University of Texas and
will amass 4,444 rushing yards in his college career. He
will win the 1977 Heisman Trophy and will go on to become a
first player taken in the 1978 NFL draft. As a star running
back for the Houston Oilers, he will become NFL rushing
champion, Player of Year, All-Pro, Pro Bowl choice in 1978,
1979, and 1980. His career-high will be 1,934 yards rushing,
including four 200-yard rushing games in 1980. His career
statistics will be: 9,407 yards, 74 TDs rushing, 121
receptions for 806 yards and five Pro Bowls. He will retire
after nine seasons and will be enshrined in the Pro Football
Hall of Fame in 1991.

1959 – Barthelemy Boganda, president and founder of the Central
African Republic, joins the ancestors in a plane crash.

1968 – Students seize building on the campus of Bowie State College
in Bowie, Maryland.

1990 – Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwan scores the 3rd NBA quadruple double
consisting of 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists & 11
blocked shots vs the Milwaukee Bucks.

2005 – Johnnie L. Cochran, whose legal career representing both
victims of police abuse and celebrities in peril reached its
peak under media scrutiny when he successfully defended O.J.
Simpson from murder charges, joins the ancestors after
succumbing to brain cancer, at the age of 67.

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