KRLemmons African American History

May 18 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 18 *

1652 – Rhode Island enacts the first colonial law limiting slavery.
This law, passed by the General Court of Election,
regulates Black servitude and places Blacks on the same
level as white bondservants. This means they were free
after completing their term of service of ten years.

1848 – William Leidesdorff joins the ancestors in San Francisco,
California. The first man to open a commercial steamship
service on San Francisco Bay, Leidesdorff developed a
successful business empire, including a hotel, warehouse,
and other real-estate developments. Active politically,
he served on San Francisco’s first town council and became
city treasurer. A street in the city will be named in his
honor.

1877 – Louis-Dantès Bellegarde is born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He
will become Haiti’s most well known diplomat in the
twentieth century. He will enter government service in
1904 and will serve under many administrations until he
retires in 1957 at the age of 81. W.E.B Du Bois, in 1926,
will refer to Bellegarde as the “international spokesman
of the Negroes of the world.” He will join the ancestors
on June 14, 1966.

1880 – George Lewis wins the sixth running of the Kentucky Derby
astride Fonso. He is one of ten African Americans to win
the Kentucky Derby in the years between 1877 and 1902.

1896 – In Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds
Louisiana’s “separate but equal” segregation laws. The
ruling is a major setback for integration and marks the
beginning of Jim Crow laws, changing a largely “de facto”
system of segregation into a legally defined system in
the South. It will be overturned 58 years later in the
case of “Brown v. Board of Education.”

1911 – Joseph Vernon “Big Joe” Turner, Jr. is born in Kansas City,
Missouri. He will become one of the best blues shouters
and a critical link between Rhythm and Blues and Rock &
Roll. In 1951 Turner will sign a recording contract with
Atlantic Records and cut a string of Rhythm & Blues
classics that will lead the way straight into Rock & Roll.
His most famous hit, “Shake, Rattle and Roll” will be
released in 1954, and make it to number 1 and will be
covered shortly thereafter by Bill Haley and the Comets.
But before “Shake” , will come the million-selling “Chains
of Love,” which will reach number 2 on the Rhythm & Blues
charts and number 30 on the pop side, plus “Chill Is On,”
“Sweet Sixteen,” “Don’t You Cry,” “TV Mama,” and the number
1 smash, “Honey Hush.” Turner’s chart success will continue
after “Shake” with “Well All Right,” “Flip Flop and Fly,”
“Hide and Seek,” “The Chicken and the Hawk,” “Morning,
Noon, and Night,” “Corrina Corrina,” and “Lipstick Powder
and Paint.” Turner will nearly dominate the Rhythm &
Blues charts from 1951 to 1956. He will continue to
perform through the 1980’s. He will join the ancestors on
November 24, 1985, succumbing to a heart attack having
suffered earlier effects of a stroke and diabetes. He will
be posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1987.

1912 – Walter Sisulu is born in the Engcobo district, Transkei,
South Africa. He will become a major player in the fight
against apartheid in South Africa and will become deputy
president of the African National Congress. He will be a
mentor to Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo and will be
imprisoned with Mandela on Robben Island for many years.
While in prison, Sisulu will write the history of the
African National Congress. Even though he was given a life
sentence when imprisoned, he will be released in 1989 as
South Africa began to dismantle the system of apartheid.
He will be elected ANC deputy president in 1991 and will
resign from the post in 1994 at the age of 82. He will
join the ancestors on May 5, 2003.

1946 – Reginald Martinez Jackson is born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania.
He will be better known as Reggie Jackson, star baseball
player for the Oakland A’s and the New York Yankees. He
will set or tie seven World Series records and will be
known as “Mr. October.” He will retire from baseball in
1987 and will be elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in
1993.

1955 – Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and founder of the National
Council of Negro Women and Bethune-Cookman College, joins
the ancestors in Daytona Beach, Florida at the age of 79.

1960 – Yannick Noah is born in Sedan, France. He will become a
professional tennis player. Arthur Ashe will spot his
talents while on a three-week, goodwill tour of Africa in
1971, and arrange for Noah to be sent back to France to
further develop his game. Noah will go on to win the
French Open in 1983, a Grand Slam event. During his
career, he will win 23 singles titles and be runner up at
13 others.

1971 – President Nixon rejects the sixty demands of the
Congressional Black Caucus, saying his administration
would continue to support “jobs, income and tangible
benefits, the pledges that this society has made to the
disadvantaged in the past decade.” The caucus expressed
deep disappointment with the reply and said the Nixon
administration “lacked a sense of understanding, urgency
and commitment in dealing with the critical problems
facing Black Americans.”

1986 – John William “Bubbles” Sublett joins the ancestors in New
York City at the age of 84. He had been half of the piano
and tap dance team, “Buck and Bubbles” from 1912 to 1955.
He was known as “father of rhythm tap,” and developed a
tap style called “jazz tap.” He will continue to perform
(after the death of Ford “Buck” Washington in 1955) until
1980, when he appeared in the revue “Black Broadway.”

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 5 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 5 *

1784 – African American poet Phyllis Wheatley joins the
ancestors in Boston at the age of 31. Born in Africa
and brought to the American Colonies at the age of
eight in 1761, Wheatley was quick to learn both English
and Latin. Her first poem was published in 1770 and
she continued to write poems and eulogies. A 1773
trip to England secured her success there, where she
was introduced to English society. Her book, “Poems on
Various Subjects, Religious and Moral”, was published
late that year. Married for six years to John Peters,
Wheatley and her infant daughter died hours apart in a
Boston boarding house, where she worked.

1832 – Sarah Gorham, the first woman appointed by the African
Methodist Episcopal Church to serve as a foreign
missionary in 1881, is born.

1881 – The Forty-Seventh Congress (1881-83) convenes. Only two
African American congressmen have been elected, Robert
Smalls of South Carolina and John Roy Lynch of
Mississippi.

1895 – Elbert Frank Cox is born in Evansville, Indiana. He will
become the first African American to earn a doctorate
degree in mathematics (Cornell University – 1925).

1918 – Charity Adams (later Earley) is born. She will become
the first African American commissioned officer in the
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942. She will serve in
the Army for four years and hold the rank of Lt. Colonel
at the time of her release from active duty.

1931 – James Cleveland is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will
sing his first gospel solo at the age of eight in a
choir directed by famed gospel pioneer Thomas Dorsey.
He will later sing with Mahalia Jackson, The Caravans,
and other groups before forming his own group, The
Gospel Chimes, in 1959. His recording of “Peace Be
Still” with the James Cleveland Singers and the 300-
voice Angelic Choir of Nutley, New Jersey, will earn him
the title “King of Gospel.” He will join the ancestors
on February 9, 1991.

1932 – (“Little”) Richard Penniman is born in Macon, Georgia.
He will be known for his flamboyant singing style, which
will be influential to many Rhythm and Blues and British
artists.’ His songs will include “Good Golly Miss Molly”,
“Tutti Frutti”, and “Lucille.”

1935 – The National Council of Negro Women is established by Mary
McLeod Bethune.

1935 – Langston Hughes’s play, “The Mulatto”, begins a long run
on Broadway.

1935 – Mary McLeod Bethune is awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal
for her work as founder-president of Bethune Cookman
College and her national leadership.

1946 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to Thurgood Marshall,
director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,
“for his distinguished service as a lawyer before the
Supreme Court.”

1946 – President Truman created The Committee on Civil Rights by
Executive Order No. 9808. Sadie M. Alexander and Channing
H. Tobias were two African Americans who will serve as
members of the committee.

1947 – Jersey Joe Wolcott defeats Joe Louis for the heavyweight
boxing title. It is also the first time a heavyweight
championship boxing match is televised.

1949 – Ezzard Charles defeats Jersey Joe Walcott for the
heavyweight boxing title.

1955 – The Montgomery bus boycott begins as a result of Rosa
Parks’ refusal to ride in the back of a city bus four
days earlier. At a mass meeting at the Holt Street
Baptist Church, Martin Luther King Jr. is elected
president of the boycott organization. The boycott will
last a little over a year and be the initial victory in
the civil rights struggle of African Americans in the
United States.

1955 – Asa Philip Randolph and Willard S. Townsend are elected
vice-presidents of the AFL-CIO.

1955 – Carl Murphy, publisher of the Baltimore Afro-American, is
awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for his contributions
as a publisher and civil rights leader.

1957 – New York City becomes the first city to legislate against
racial or religious discrimination in housing market
(Fair Housing Practices Law).

1957 – Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the NAACP’s Spingarn
Medal for his leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1981 – Marcus Allen, tailback for the University of Southern
California, wins the Heisman Trophy. Six years later,
Tim Brown of the Notre Dame “Fightin’ Irish” will win
the award.

1984 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, at age 37, is the oldest player in
the National Basketball Association. He decides to push
those weary bones one more year by signing with the Los
Angeles Lakers – for $2 million.

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