October 9 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 9 *

1823 – Mary Ann Shadd (later Cary) is born free in Wilmington,
Delaware, the eldest of thirteen children. She will
become the publisher of Canada’s first anti-slavery
newspaper, “The Provincial Freeman”, devoted to displaced
African Americans living in Canada. This also makes her
the first woman in North America to publish and edit a
newspaper. She will then become a teacher, establishing
or teaching in schools for African Americans in
Wilmington, Delaware, West Chester, Pennsylvania, New
York, Morristown, New Jersey, and Canada. She will also
be the first woman to speak at a national Negro
convention. In 1869, she will embark on her second
career, becoming the first woman to enter Howard
University’s law school. She will become the first
African American woman to obtain a law degree and among
the first women in the United States to do so. She will
join the ancestors in 1893.

1894 – Eugene Jacques Bullard is born in Columbus, Georgia.

1906 – Leopold Senghor is born in Joal, Senegal, French West
Africa (now in Senegal). He will become a poet and
president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Senghor will
attempt to modernize Senegal’s agriculture, instill a
sense of enlightened citizenship, combat corruption and
inefficiency, forge closer ties with his African
neighbors, and continue cooperation with the French. He
will advocate an African socialism based on African
realities, free of both atheism and excessive
materialism. He will seek an open, democratic,
humanistic socialism that shunned such slogans as
“dictatorship of the proletariat.” A vigorous spokesman
for the Third World, he will protest unfair terms of
trade that work to the disadvantage of the agricultural
nations. In 1984, Senghor will be inducted into the
French Academy, becoming the first Black member in that
body’s history.

1929 – Ernest “Dutch” Morial is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
He will become the first African American mayor of New
Orleans in 1978 and be re-elected in 1982.

1940 – The White House releases a statement which says that
government “policy is not to intermingle colored and
white enlisted personnel in the same regimental
organizations.”

1959 – Mike Singletary is born in Houston, Texas. He will
become a second-round draft pick for the Chicago Bears
in 1981. He will be the first or second leading tackler
for each of his eleven seasons. Over his career he will
amass 1488 tackles (885 solo), 51 passes defended, 13
fumble recoveries, and 7 interceptions. He will be an
All-NFC selection nine straight years from 1983-1991,
will be selected to ten consecutive Pro Bowls, and
Defensive Player of the Year in 1985 and 1988. He will
be enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

1961 – Tanganyika becomes independent within the British
Commonwealth.

1962 – Uganda gains its independence from Great Britain.

1963 – Uganda becomes a republic within the British Commonwealth.

1989 – The first NFL game with a team coached by an African
American, Art Shell, takes place as his Los Angeles
Raiders beat the New York Jets 14-7 on Monday Night
Football.

1999 – Milt Jackson, a jazz vibraphonist who made the instrument
sing like the human voice as a longtime member of the
Modern Jazz Quartet, joins the ancestors at the age of
76. He succumbs to liver cancer in a Manhattan hospital.

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

September 5 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – September 5 *

1804 – Absalom Jones is ordained a priest in the Protestant
Episcopal Church.

1846 – John Wesley Cromwell is born into slavery in Portsmouth,
Virginia. After receiving freedom, he and his family
will move to Philadelphia. In 1865, he will return to
Portsmouth to open a private school, which will fail due
to racial harassment. He will enter Howard University in
Washington, DC in 1871. He will receive a law degree and
be admitted to the bar in 1874. He will be the first
African American to practice law for the Interstate
Commerce Commission. He will found the weekly paper, “The
People’s Advocate” in 1876. In 1881, he will be elected
President of Bethel Library and Historical Association in
Washington, DC. He will use this position to generate
interest in African American history. He will inspire the
foundation of the Association for the Study of Negro Life
and History in 1915. He will also be the Secretary of the
American Negro Academy. He will join the ancestors on
April 14, 1927.

1859 – “Our Nig” by Harriet E. Wilson is published. It is the
first novel published in the United States by an African
American woman and will be lost to readers for years
until reprinted with a critical essay by noted African
American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 1983.

1877 – African Americans from the Post-Civil-War South, led by
Benjamin ‘Pap’ Singleton, settle in Kansas and establish
towns like Nicodemus, to take advantage of free land
offered by the United States government through the
Homestead Act of 1860.

1895 – George Washington Murray is elected to Congress from South
Carolina.

1916 – Novelist Frank Yerby is born in Augusta, Georgia. A student
at Fisk University and the University of Chicago, Yerby’s
early short story “Health Card” will win the O. Henry
short story award. He will later turn to adventure novels
and become a best-selling author in the 1940’s and 1950’s
with “The Foxes of Harrow”, “The Vixens” and many others.
His later novels will include “Goat Song”, “The Darkness
at Ingraham’s Crest-A Tale of the Slaveholding South”,
and “Devil Seed”. In total, Yerby will publish over 30
novels that sell over 20 million copies. He will leave
the United States in 1955 in protest against racial
discrimination, moving to Spain where he will remain for
the rest of his life. He will join the ancestors on
November 29, 1991, after succumbing to congestive heart
failure in Madrid. He will be interred there in the
Cementerio de la Almudena.

1960 – Cassius Clay of Louisville, Kentucky, wins the gold medal
in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome,
Italy. Clay will later change his name to Muhammad Ali
and become one of the great boxing champions in the world.
In 1996, at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia,
Muhammad Ali will have the honor of lighting the Olympic
flame.

1960 – Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet, politician, is elected
President of Senegal.

1972 – Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway win a gold record — for
their duet, “Where is the Love”. The song gets to number
five on the pop music charts and is one of two songs for
the duo to earn gold. The other will be “The Closer I Get
To You” (1978).

1995 – O.J. Simpson jurors hear testimony that police detective
Mark Fuhrman had uttered a racist slur, and advocated the
killing of Blacks.
Information retrieved from the  Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

October 9 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 9             *

1823 – Mary Ann Shadd (later Cary) is born free in Wilmington, Delaware, the eldest of thirteen children.  She will become the publisher of Canada’s first anti-slavery
newspaper, “The Provincial Freeman”, devoted to displaced
African Americans living in Canada. This also makes her
the first woman in North America to publish and edit a
newspaper.  She will then become a teacher, establishing
or teaching in schools for African Americans in
Wilmington, Delaware, West Chester, Pennsylvania, New
York, Morristown, New Jersey, and Canada. She will also
be the first woman to speak at a national Negro
convention. In 1869, she will embark on her second
career, becoming the first woman to enter Howard
University’s law school. She will become the first
African American woman to obtain a law degree and among
the first women in the United States to do so.  She will
join the ancestors in 1893.

1894 – Eugene Jacques Bullard is born in Columbus, Georgia. 

1906 – Leopold Senghor is born in Joal, Senegal, French West Africa (now in Senegal).  He will become a poet and
president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980.  Senghor will
attempt to modernize Senegal’s agriculture, instill a
sense of enlightened citizenship, combat corruption and
inefficiency, forge closer ties with his African
neighbors, and continue cooperation with the French. He
will advocate an African socialism based on African
realities, free of both atheism and excessive
materialism. He will seek an open, democratic,
humanistic socialism that shunned such slogans as
“dictatorship of the proletariat.” A vigorous spokesman
for the Third World, he will protest unfair terms of
trade that work to the disadvantage of the agricultural
nations. In 1984, Senghor will be inducted into the
French Academy, becoming the first Black member in that
body’s history.
  
1929 – Ernest “Dutch” Morial is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.He will become the first African American mayor of New Orleans in 1978 and be re-elected in 1982.
  
1940 – The White House releases a statement which says that government “policy is not to intermingle colored and
white enlisted personnel in the same regimental
organizations.”

1959 – Mike Singletary is born in Houston, Texas.  He will
become a second-round draft pick for the Chicago Bears
in 1981.  He will be the first or second leading tackler
for each of his eleven seasons. Over his career he will
amass 1488 tackles (885 solo), 51 passes defended, 13
fumble recoveries, and 7 interceptions.  He will be an
All-NFC selection nine straight years from 1983-1991,
will be selected to ten consecutive Pro Bowls, and
Defensive Player of the Year in 1985 and 1988. He will
be enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

1961 – Tanganyika becomes independent within the British
Commonwealth.

1962 – Uganda gains its independence from Great Britain.

1963 – Uganda becomes a republic within the British Commonwealth.

1989 – The first NFL game with a team coached by an African American, Art Shell, takes place as his Los Angeles
Raiders beat the New York Jets 14-7 on Monday Night
Football.

1999 – Milt Jackson, a jazz vibraphonist who made the instrument sing like the human voice as a longtime member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, joins the ancestors at the age of
76.  He succumbs to liver cancer in a Manhattan hospital. 

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

September 5 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – September 5 *

1804 – Absalom Jones is ordained a priest in the Protestant
Episcopal Church.

1846 – John Wesley Cromwell is born into slavery in Portsmouth,
Virginia. After receiving freedom, he and his family
will move to Philadelphia. In 1865, he will return to
Portsmouth to open a private school, which will fail due
to racial harassment. He will enter Howard University in
Washington, DC in 1871. He will receive a law degree and
be admitted to the bar in 1874. He will be the first
African American to practice law for the Interstate
Commerce Commission. He will found the weekly paper, “The
People’s Advocate” in 1876. In 1881, he will be elected
President of Bethel Library and Historical Association in
Washington, DC. He will use this position to generate
interest in African American history. He will inspire the
foundation of the Association for the Study of Negro Life
and History in 1915. He will also be the Secretary of the
American Negro Academy. He will join the ancestors on
April 14, 1927.

1859 – “Our Nig” by Harriet E. Wilson is published. It is the
first novel published in the United States by an African
American woman and will be lost to readers for years
until reprinted with a critical essay by noted African
American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 1983.

1877 – African Americans from the Post-Civil-War South, led by
Benjamin ‘Pap’ Singleton, settle in Kansas and establish
towns like Nicodemus, to take advantage of free land
offered by the United States government through the
Homestead Act of 1860.

1895 – George Washington Murray is elected to Congress from South
Carolina.

1916 – Novelist Frank Yerby is born in Augusta, Georgia. A student
at Fisk University and the University of Chicago, Yerby’s
early short story “Health Card” will win the O. Henry
short story award. He will later turn to adventure novels
and become a best-selling author in the 1940’s and 1950’s
with “The Foxes of Harrow”, “The Vixens” and many others.
His later novels will include “Goat Song”, “The Darkness
at Ingraham’s Crest-A Tale of the Slaveholding South”,
and “Devil Seed”. In total, Yerby will publish over 30
novels that sell over 20 million copies. He will leave
the United States in 1955 in protest against racial
discrimination, moving to Spain where he will remain for
the rest of his life. He will join the ancestors on
November 29, 1991, after succumbing to congestive heart
failure in Madrid. He will be interred there in the
Cementerio de la Almudena.

1960 – Cassius Clay of Louisville, Kentucky, wins the gold medal
in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome,
Italy. Clay will later change his name to Muhammad Ali
and become one of the great boxing champions in the world.
In 1996, at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia,
Muhammad Ali will have the honor of lighting the Olympic
flame.

1960 – Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet, politician, is elected
President of Senegal.

1972 – Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway win a gold record — for
their duet, “Where is the Love”. The song gets to number
five on the pop music charts and is one of two songs for
the duo to earn gold. The other will be “The Closer I Get
To You” (1978).

1995 – O.J. Simpson jurors hear testimony that police detective
Mark Fuhrman had uttered a racist slur, and advocated the
killing of Blacks.

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

October 9 African American Historical Events

  Today in Black History – October 9             *

1823 – Mary Ann Shadd (later Cary) is born free in Wilmington,
        Delaware, the eldest of thirteen children.  She will
        become the publisher of Canada’s first anti-slavery
        newspaper, “The Provincial Freeman”, devoted to displaced
        African Americans living in Canada. This also makes her
        the first woman in North America to publish and edit a
        newspaper.  She will then become a teacher, establishing
        or teaching in schools for African Americans in
        Wilmington, Delaware, West Chester, Pennsylvania, New
        York, Morristown, New Jersey, and Canada. She will also
        be the first woman to speak at a national Negro
        convention. In 1869, she will embark on her second
        career, becoming the first woman to enter Howard
        University’s law school. She will become the first
        African American woman to obtain a law degree and among
        the first women in the United States to do so.  She will
        join the ancestors in 1893.

1894 – Eugene Jacques Bullard is born in Columbus, Georgia.

1906 – Leopold Senghor is born in Joal, Senegal, French West
        Africa (now in Senegal).  He will become a poet and
        president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980.  Senghor will
        attempt to modernize Senegal’s agriculture, instill a
        sense of enlightened citizenship, combat corruption and
        inefficiency, forge closer ties with his African
        neighbors, and continue cooperation with the French. He
        will advocate an African socialism based on African
        realities, free of both atheism and excessive
        materialism. He will seek an open, democratic,
        humanistic socialism that shunned such slogans as
        “dictatorship of the proletariat.” A vigorous spokesman
        for the Third World, he will protest unfair terms of
        trade that work to the disadvantage of the agricultural
        nations. In 1984, Senghor will be inducted into the
        French Academy, becoming the first Black member in that
        body’s history.

1929 – Ernest “Dutch” Morial is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
        He will become the first African American mayor of New
        Orleans in 1978 and be re-elected in 1982.

1940 – The White House releases a statement which says that
        government “policy is not to intermingle colored and
        white enlisted personnel in the same regimental
        organizations.”

1959 – Mike Singletary is born in Houston, Texas.  He will
        become a second-round draft pick for the Chicago Bears
        in 1981.  He will be the first or second leading tackler
        for each of his eleven seasons. Over his career he will
        amass 1488 tackles (885 solo), 51 passes defended, 13
        fumble recoveries, and 7 interceptions.  He will be an
        All-NFC selection nine straight years from 1983-1991,
        will be selected to ten consecutive Pro Bowls, and
        Defensive Player of the Year in 1985 and 1988. He will
        be enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

1961 – Tanganyika becomes independent within the British
        Commonwealth.

1962 – Uganda gains its independence from Great Britain.

1963 – Uganda becomes a republic within the British Commonwealth.

1989 – The first NFL game with a team coached by an African
        American, Art Shell, takes place as his Los Angeles
        Raiders beat the New York Jets 14-7 on Monday Night
        Football.

1999 – Milt Jackson, a jazz vibraphonist who made the instrument
        sing like the human voice as a longtime member of the
        Modern Jazz Quartet, joins the ancestors at the age of
        76.  He succumbs to liver cancer in a Manhattan hospital.

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