KRLemmons African American History

March 20 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – March 20 *

1852 – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by white abolitionist Harriet Beecher
Stowe, is published. The controversial novel will be
credited by many, including Abraham Lincoln, with sparking
the Civil War. Mr. Lincoln will later tell Mrs. Stowe,
that she was “the little woman who wrote the book that
started this great war”.

1852 – Martin R. Delany publishes “The Condition, Elevation,
Emigration and Destiny of the Colored People of the United
States,” the first major statement of the African American
nationalist position. Delany says, “The claims of no people,
according to established policy and usage, are respected by
any nation, until they are presented in a national capacity.”
He adds: “We are a nation within a nation; as the Poles in
Russia, the Hungarians in Austria, the Welsh, Irish, and
Scotch in the British dominions.”

1883 – Jan Matzeliger receives patent #274,207 for his shoe lasting
machine. His invention will revolutionize the shoe industry,
allowing for the first mass production of shoes.

1890 – The Blair Bill, which provides federal support for education
and allocates funds to reduce illiteracy among the freedmen
is defeated in the U.S. Senate, 37-31.

1950 – Dr. Ralph Bunche receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his work
as a mediator in the Palestine crisis. He is the first
African American to be so honored.

1957 – Shelton “Spike” Lee is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He will
grow up in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York,
the son of an accomplished jazz bassist and art teacher,
Bill Lee. He will become a motion picture director,
producing many of his own films. His films, among them
“She’s Gotta Have It,” “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle
Fever” explore the social, political, and interpersonal
relationships between African Americans and whites similar
to the early work of director Oscar Micheaux.

1970 – Students strike at the University of Michigan and demand
increased African American enrollment. The strike ends on
April 2, after the administration agrees to meet their
demands.

1973 – Roberto Clemente is elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame, 11
weeks after he joins the ancestors. He becomes the first
person of African descent to be elected to the Hall of Fame
in a special election (before the five-year waiting period).
He also is the first person of Hispanic descent to enter the
Hall of Fame.

1987 – “Hollywood Shuffle” premieres. The film is directed by,
produced by, and stars Robert Townsend. Townsend also used
his own money to bring his comedic vision to the screen.

2000 – Former Black Panther Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, once known as H.
Rap Brown, is captured in Alabama. He is wanted in the fatal
shooting of a sheriff’s deputy in Atlanta, Georgia. Al-Amin
will maintain his innocence. On March 9, 2002, he will be
convicted of 13 criminal charges, including the murder of
sheriif’s deputy Kinchen. Four days later, he will be
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He will then be assigned to Georgia State Prison, the state’s
maximum security facility near Reidsville, Georgia. In August,
2007, he will be transferred from state custody to Federal
custody, as Georgia officials decide that he is too high-
profile an inmate for the Georgia prison system to handle.
He will be subsequently moved to a Federal transfer facility
in Oklahoma pending assignment to a Federal penitentiary. On
October 21, 2007, he will be transferred to the ADX Florence
supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. After being diagnosed
with multiple myeloma, he will be transferred again, on July
18, 2014, to Butner (FMC) Federal Medical Center in North
Carolina.

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

KRLemmons African American History

January 24 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – January 24 *

1885 – Martin R. Delany joins the ancestors at the age of 72 in
Wilberforce, Ohio. Delany served as a physician and was
the first commissioned African American officer in the
Union Army during the Civil War. He also was a leader in
the fight to end racial job discrimination. Delany will
encourage African Americans to seek their own identity and
is considered by some historians to be the father of
American Black nationalism. He is the author of “Search
for a Place: Black Separatism and Africa,” and “The
Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the
Colored People in the United States.”

1941 – Aaron Neville is born in New Orleans Louisiana. He will
become a rhythm and blues singer and will enjoy his first
hit in 1967, “Tell It Like It Is.” He will win a Grammy for
his 1990 single, a duet with Linda Ronstadt, “Don’t Know
Much.” He will become equally well known for performing
vocals and keyboards with the group The Neville Brothers,
together with his three musically accomplished siblings.
Their albums, reflecting rock, R&B, soul, and jazz
influences, will be compiled in “Treacherous: A History of
the Neville Brothers, 1955-85” (1986).

1977 – Howard T. Ward becomes Georgia’s first African American
Superior Court Judge.

1985 – Four-term Los Angeles mayor Thomas Bradley is awarded the
NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for his long career as a public
servant and for “demonstrating…that the American dream
not only can be pursued but realized.”

1988 – Forty-eight African American writers and literary critics
sign a controversial statement that appears in “The New York
Times Book Review” supporting author Toni Morrison and
protesting her failure to win the “keystone honors of the
National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize.”

1989 – Reverend Barbara Harris’ election as suffragan bishop is
ratified by the Diocese of Massachusetts. Her election and
consecration occur amid widespread controversy regarding the
role of women bishops in the Episcopal Church. She will be
the first female bishop in the church’s 450-year history.

1993 – Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court
Justice, joins the ancestors in Washington, DC. He will be
buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was one of the
most well-known figures in the history of civil rights in
America and served on the Supreme Court for 24 years.

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

KRLemmons African American History

May 6 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 6 *

1787 – Prince Hall forms African Lodge 459, the first African
American Masonic Lodge in the United States.

1794 – Haiti, under Toussaint L’Ouverture, revolts against France.

1812 – Martin R. Delany is born free in Charlestown, Virginia. He
will become the first African American field officer to
serve in the Civil War. He will also be a noted physician,
author, explorer, and a newspaper editor.

1930 – Noted actor Charles Gilpin joins the ancestors. The founder
and manager of the Lafayette Theatre Company, one of the
earliest African American stock companies in New York,
Gilpin achieved fame for his performance as Brutus Jones
in Eugene O’Neill’s play “The Emperor Jones.” In 1921, he
won the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in recognition of his
theatrical career.

1931 – Willie Mays is born in Westfield, Alabama. He will become a
professional baseball player at the age of 16, for the
Birmingham Black Barons. After graduating from high school,
he will be signed by the New York Giants. His 7095 putouts
will be the all-time record for an outfielder. His career
batting average will be .302. For eight consecutive years,
he will drive in more than 100 runs a year, and his 660 home
runs will put him in third place for the all-time home run
record. He will win the Gold Glove Award 12 times. He will
be voted Most Valuable Player in the National League in
both 1954 and 1965. He will be inducted into the Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1979.

1960 – The Civil Rights Act of 1960 is signed by President
Eisenhower. The act acknowledges the federal government’s
responsibility in matters involving civil rights and
reverses its customary “hands-off” policy.

1967 – Four hundred students seize the administration building at
Cheyney State College.

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