Tag: Maxine Waters

Today in Black History – August 15 *

1824 – Freed American slaves establish a settlement in West Africa
that will eventually become the country of Liberia.

1843 – The National Black Convention meets at Buffalo, New York,
with some seventy delegates from twelve states. The
highlight of the convention will be a stirring address by
Henry Highland Garnet, a twenty seven-year-old Presbyterian
pastor who calls for a slave revolt and a general slave
strike. Amos G. Beman of New Haven, Connecticut, is
elected president of the convention.

1900 – Riots erupt in New York City as a white plainclothes
policeman is killed in a fight with an African American man.
It is the fourth racial riot in the city’s history.

1906 – At the second meeting of the Niagara Movement at Harpers
Ferry, West Virginia, W.E.B. DuBois demands equal
citizenship rights for African Americans, saying, “We will
not be satisfied to take one jot or title less than our full
manhood rights…”

1925 – Oscar Peterson is born in Montreal (Quebec), Canada.
Classically trained in the piano, he will work with top
Canadian jazz bands until 1949, when he will first appear in
New York City’s Carnegie hall. He will be recognized as a
jazz innovator who forges a synthesis of bop and swing into
his own unique style. He will join the ancestors on
December 23, 2007.

1931 – Roy Wilkins joins the NAACP as assistant secretary.

1931 – The Spingarn Medal is awarded to Richard B. Harrison for his
Portrayal of “De Lawd” in “The Green Pastures.”

1935 – Vernon Eulion Jordan, Jr, is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He will
become a civil rights activist. In 1962 he will be appointed
Georgia field director for the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), leading a boycott of
Augusta, Georgia merchants who refused to serve African
Americans. After four years as NAACP field director, in 1966
he will become director of the Southern Regional Council’s
Voter Education Project. The project will sponsor voter
registration campaigns in 11 southern states and conduct
seminars, workshops, and conferences for candidates and
office holders. After four years, he will take a six-month
appointment as a fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Politics
at Harvard and then, in 1970, will become executive director
of the United Negro College Fund. When Whitney Young,
executive director of the National Urban League, joins the
ancestors in 1972, he will be appointed Young’s successor.
As director of the league, he will continue its emphasis on
African American uplift through training, employment, and
social service programs, but the organization will also begin
to emphasize research and advocacy as part of its thrust
toward implementing promises of the 1960s civil rights
reforms. For example, during his administration the league
will develop a highly regarded research and information
dissemination capability, including a policy journal – The
Urban League Review – and the annual State of Black America
reports. The State of Black America, issued each January to
coincide with the president’s State of the Union address,
will become a principal source of systematic data on the
African American condition in the United States and an
important resource for identifying African American policy
perspectives. During his tenure at the League he will be
recognized as a leading African American spokesman, writing a
weekly syndicated column, lecturing, and appearing on national
television interview programs. A frequent adviser to government,
corporate, and labor leaders, he will be frequently appointed
to presidential advisory boards and commissions.

1938 – Maxine Waters is born in St. Louis, Missouri. A longtime
California state legislator, in 1990, she will be the
second African American woman from California elected to
the United States Congress.

1945 – Gene Upshaw is born in Robstown, Texas. He will become a
professional football player and a guard for the Oakland
Raiders. After retirement from football, he will become the
longtime president of the NFL Players Association. He will
join the ancestors on August 20, 2008.

1960 – The Republic of the Congo gains independence from France.

1962 – The Shady Grove Baptist Church is burned in Leesburg,
Georgia.

1964 – A racially motivated disturbance occurs in Dixmoor, (a
Chicago suburb) Illinois.

1964 – Ralph Boston of the United States, sets the then long jump
record at 27′ 3″.

1975 – Joanne Little is acquitted of murder charges in the August
27, 1974, killing of a white jailer. The defense said she
stabbed the jailer with an ice pick after he made sexual
advances.

1979 – Andrew Young resigns under pressure as U.N. ambassador
after unauthorized meeting with representatives of the
Palestine Liberation Organization. His resignation creates
a storm of controversy and divides the African American
and Jewish communities.

1999 – Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship, becoming the youngest
player to win two majors since Seve Ballesteros.

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