KRLemmons African American History

August 16 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – August 16 *

1890 – Alexander Clark, journalist and lawyer, is named minister
to Liberia.

1922 – Louis Lomax is born in Valdosta, Georgia. He will become
an author and journalist. He will be the editor of “When
the Word is Given,” a collection of early speeches by
Malcolm X, and the author of “To Kill a Black Man,” “The
Negro Revolt,” and “The Reluctant African.” He will begin
his career as a reporter for the Baltimore Afro-American
and, at the time of his first interview with Malcolm X,
was the first Black television newsman at WNTA-TV. He will
meet Malcolm in 1959 and work with him on the early
editions of “Muhammad Speaks.” He will make a point of
covering stories that have a direct impact on the Black
community and will himself be a devout supporter of civil
rights organizations such as CORE (for which he will help
organize a telethon that will raise $50,000 for the
Freedom Rides), SNCC, and the SCLC. He will join the
ancestors on July 30, 1970 after being involved in an
automobile accident in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.

1938 – Revolutionary blues singer Robert L. Johnson joins the
ancestors after a mysterious death in Greenwood,
Mississippi. A revival of interest in his music will
occur in the 1990’s when a boxed set of 41 of his
recordings is issued to critical and popular acclaim.

1952 – Reginald VelJohnson is born in Queens, New York. He will
become an actor and will be best known for his role as
Carl Winslow in the TV series “Family Matters” and his
role as a policeman in the movie “Die Hard.”

1958 – Angela Evelyn Bassett is born in New York City, New York.
She will become an actress. She will attend Yale
University and receive her B.A. in African American
studies in 1980. In 1983, she will earn a Master of Fine
Arts Degree from the Yale School of Drama. At Yale, she
will meet her future husband Courtney B. Vance, a 1986
graduate of the drama school. Her acting career will
begin in the theater in 1985, when she will appear in
J.E. Franklin’s “Black Girl” at Second Stage Theatre. She
will appear in two August Wilson plays at the Yale
Repertory Theatre under the direction of her long-time
instructor, Lloyd Richards. The Wilson plays featuring
her were “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (1984) and “Joe
Turner’s Come and Gone” (1986). She will star in the
movies “Boyz n The Hood,” “Malcolm X,” “What’s Love Got
to Do With It,” “Waiting To Exhale,” and “How Stella Got
Her Groove Back.”

1961 – Christian Emeka Okoye is born in Enugu, Nigeria. He will
become a professional football player with the Kansas City
Chiefs, as a running back. He will amass 4,897 yards from
1987-1992. He will be UPI’s AFL offensive player of the
year in 1989.

1963 – Independence is restored to the Dominican Republic.

1970 – Activist Angela Davis is named in a federal warrant
issued in connection with George Jackson’s attempted
escape from San Quentin prison.

1972 – A Methodist clergyman of African descent from Dominica,
West Indies, Rev. Philip A. Potter, 51, is named General
Secretary of the World Council of Churches. Serving
until 1984, Potter will give strong spiritual guidance
to the work of the WCC.

1987 – Charles Wesley joins the ancestors in Washington, DC at
the age of 95. Noted historian and African American
college president, he authored over a dozen books on
African American life, including “The Negro in the
Americas,” “The Quest for Equality,” “Negro Labor in the
U.S. 1850-1925,” “Richard Allen, Apostle of Freedom,”
and “The History of the National Association of Colored
Women’s Clubs, published when he was 92 years old.

1988 – Jailed Black South African nationalist Nelson Mandela,
is stricken with tuberculosis.

2003 – Idi Amin, former Ugandan dictator, joins the ancestors
in Saudi Arabia at the age of 80, after succumbing to
multiple organ failure.

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

KRLemmons African American History

August 5 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – August 5 *

1763 – William Richmond is born in Cuckold’s Town, near,
Richmond, Virginia. He will relocate to Staten Island,
New York, where will he will become a freedman and the
first black professional boxer from America. He will
work as a shipyard laborer and be noticed by a British
commander named Hugh Percy on the docks having a fight
with a dock sailor. Percy convinced Richmond’s parents
to let him travel to England where he could establish a
better life. He will become a cabinetmaker, and learned
boxing for self-defense. Known as “Black Terror,” he will
knock out his first Englishman in just 25 seconds. By
1800, he will become a recognized semi-professional
boxer. After enough wins, he will be booked to fight the
English champion Tom Cribb. The Richmond/Cribb fight will
bring in thousands of English fans, including dukes and
nobles. The hype of the fight on October 8, 1805 will be
immediately publicized as Cribb and Richmond (The Black).
He will be 41 at the time, lose his fight to Cribb, and
“the crowd was pleased that a Black man had been put in
his place.” One of the first African Americans to attempt
winning a title in any sport, he will continue boxing
until he was 52. He will join the ancestors on Dec. 28,
1829.

1864 – John Lawson, an African American gunner on the flagship of
Admiral David Farragut, exhibits marked courage in the
Battle of Mobile Bay and wins the Congressional Medal of
Honor.

1865 – President Andrew Johnson moves to reverse the policy of
distributing abandoned land to freedmen.

1892 – Harriet Tubman receives a pension from Congress for her
work as a nurse, spy, and scout during the Civil War.
She, along with Sojourner Truth, Susie King and almost
200 other African American women, served as nurses during
the war at 11 hospitals in three states.

1900 – James Augustine Healy, the first African American Roman
Catholic bishop, joins the ancestors in Portland, Maine.
He is the brother of Patrick Francis Healy, the first
African American to receive a Ph.D. and first African
American president of a predominantly white university
(Georgetown University).

1936 – Jesse Owens wins his third gold medal by running a 200-
meter race in 20.7 seconds at the Olympic Games held in
Berlin, Germany.

1938 – James Hal Cone is born in Fordyce, Arkansas. He will
become a theologian, best known for his advocacy of Black
liberation theology. His 1969 book “Black Theology and
Black Power” provides a new way to articulate the
distinctiveness of theology in the black Church. His work
will become influential from the time of the book’s
publication and remain influential today. His work has
been both utilized and critiqued inside and outside of the
African American theological community. He will become the
Charles Augustus Briggs “Distinguished Professor of
Systematic Theology” at Union Theological Seminary in the
City of New York and is currently in that position, at this
time.

1945 – Jeannette (Ja’net) DuBois born in Brooklyn, New York. She
will become an actress and singer. In the late 1960’s, she
will perform in the original Broadway production of “Golden
Boy” with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Lou Gossett. This will be
her introduction to live theatre. She will go on to appear
in some of the biggest shows on Broadway, including “A
Raisin in the Sun” and “Nobody Loves An Albatross.” A role
on the soap opera, “Love of Life”, will give her
recognition as the first black female to regularly appear
on a serial. A pivotal point in her career will occur when
she relocates to the West Coast. During a performance of
“Hot L. Baltimore” in Los Angeles, she will capture the
attention of Norman Lear, creator of “Good Times.” She and
Lear will develop the vivacious and independent “Willona,”
for the popular sitcom, which will air on CBS from 1971 to
1979. She will usually find herself playing roles which
make her seem much older than she her actual age. For
example, when “Good Times” premiered in 1974, she was a
few years older than Jimmie Walker, while the show made
her out to be much closer in age to Esther Rolle, who was
53 at the time. In 1970, she will play the part of a
quarrelsome laundress alongside Carrie Snodgrass in the
cult classic, “Diary of a Mad Housewife”. She will co-star
in the movie “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” and the sitcoms
“Moesha” and “The Steve Harvey Show.” She will play the
grandmother on the hit show, “The Wayans Bros.”. She will
appear in the 2003 movie “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.”
Among her other credits, she will appear in the 1969 made-
for-TV holiday film “J.T.”. She will also appear in former
“Good Times” co-star Janet Jackson’s “Control” music video
as her mother. She will also appear in “Love of Life”
between 1970-1972 as Loretta Allen, years prior to
starring in “Good Times.” She will win an CableACE Award
for her work on the TV movie “Other Women’s Children”,
based on the novel by Perri Klass, and she will also win
two Emmy Awards for her voiceover work on the animated
program “The PJs.”

1962 – Nelson Mandela is charged with incitement and illegally
leaving South Africa.

1962 – Patrick Aloysius Ewing is born in Kingston, Jamaica. He
will star in cricket and soccer. He will be 13 years old
when he arrives in the United States with his family,
settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he will learn
to play basketball at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, a public
high school. He will attend Georgetown University in
Washington, DC. In the 1984 season, he and Georgetown will
win the NCAA title with an 84-75 win over the University of
Houston. He will be one of the best college basketball
players of his era, as Georgetown will reach the
championship game of the NCAA tournament three out of four
years. He will be a first team All-American in 1983, 1984,
and 1985. Although injuries will mar his first year in the
NBA, he will be named NBA Rookie of the Year, averaging 20
points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. Soon after he
will be considered one of the premier centers in the
league. He will enjoy a successful career, eleven times
named a NBA All-Star, an All-NBA First Team selection once,
a member of the All-NBA Second Team six times and the NBA
All-Defensive Second Team three times. He will be a member
of the original Dream Team at the 1992 Olympic Games,
winning a second gold medal. In 1996, he will also be given
the honor of being named one of the 50 greatest players in
NBA history. While he will enjoy a stellar career in the
NBA, he will never win a title as a professional.

1966 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is stoned by hecklers during a
Chicago, Illinois civil rights march.

1968 – Senator Edward Brooke is named the temporary chairman of
the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida.

1984 – Track and field stars Evelyn Ashford and Edwin Moses win
Gold medals in the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles,
California.

1992 – Federal civil rights charges are filed against four Los
Angeles police officers acquitted of state charges in the
videotaped beating of Rodney King. Two of the officers
will be convicted later of federal charges of violating
King’s civil rights.

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

KRLemmons African American History

August 4 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – August 4 *

1810 – Robert Purvis is born in Charleston, South Carolina to a
wealthy white cotton merchant father, William Purvis and
a mulatto mother, Harriet Judah. After graduating from
Amherst College in Massachusetts, he will move to
Pennsylvania. In 1833, he will help William Lloyd
Garrison establish the American Anti-Slavery Society,
sign its Declaration of Sentiments and will be on the
first board of managers. In the same year, he will help
establish the Library Company of Colored People. In 1838,
he will draft “Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens
Threatened with Disfranchisement,” which supports the
repeal of a new state statute barring African Americans
from voting. As a supporter of the Underground Railroad,
he will serve as chairman of the General Vigilance
Committee from 1852 until 1857. According to records that
he will keep, from 1831 until 1861, he estimates that he
helped one slave achieve freedom per day. According to
these figures, he helped 9,000 slaves achieve freedom.
He will join the ancestors on April 15, 1898.

1870 – White conservatives suppress the African American vote and
capture the Tennessee legislature in an election marred
by assassinations and widespread violence. The campaign
effectively ends Radical Reconstruction in North Carolina.
The conservative legislature will impeach Governor Holden
on December 14.

1875 – The Convention of Colored Newspapermen is held in
Cincinnati, Ohio. The meeting is attended by J. Sella
Martin of the “True Republican”, Mifflin W. Gibbs, former
publisher of California’s “Mirror of the Times”
representing the “Pacific Appeal”, Henry McNeal Turner of
Philadelphia’s “Christian Recorder”, the San Francisco
“Elevator’s” L. H. Douglass, and Henry Scroggins of the
“American Citizen” (Lexington, Kentucky). Chairman P.B.S.
Pinchback states the aim of the national organization: “to
make colored people’s newspapers self-sustaining.” At the
time of the convention, Martin’s “New Era” and Frederick
Douglass’ “North Star” are among eight African American
newspaper failures.

1885 – W.C. Carter invents the umbrella stand.

1890 – Sam T. Jack’s play “Creoles” opens in Haverhill,
Massachusetts. It is the first time African American women
are featured as performers on the stage.

1891 – George Washington Williams joins the ancestors in Blackpool,
England at the age of 41. He was the first major African
American historian and published his major work, “History
of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880” in 1883.

1896 – W.S. Grant patents a curtain rod support.

1897 – Henry Rucker is appointed collector of Internal Revenue for
Georgia.

1901 – Daniel Louis Armstrong is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
He will become a jazz musician specializing in the cornet
and trumpet. He will win a Grammy Award for his rendition
of “Hello, Dolly!” in 1964. He will be awarded the
Lifetime Achievement Award in 1971. Some of his other hits
will be “It’s a Wonderful World,” “Mack the Knife,” and
“Blueberry Hill.” He will also be featured in films: “The
Five Pennies,” “The Glenn Miller Story,” “Hello Dolly!,”
and “High Society.” He will be referred to as the American
ambassador of good will and will be inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Throughout his life, he will
resent the nickname “Satchmo”, short for satchel mouth. He
will join the ancestors on July 6, 1971.

1916 – The United States purchases the Danish Virgin Islands for
$25 million.

1931 – Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, heart surgeon, founder of
Chicago’s Provident Hospital, joins the ancestors.

1936 – “Long” John Woodruff, of the University of Pittsburgh, wins
a gold medal in the 800-meter run at the Olympic Summer
Games in Berlin, Germany. He, like Jesse Owens (who had won
his second medal earlier in the day), will be snubbed by
Adolph Hitler, who believes that blacks are incapable of
athletic achievement.

1936 – Jesse Owens sets a new Olympic running broad jump record by
leaping 26′ 5 5/16″.

1953 – The movement of African American families into the Trumbull
Park housing project in Chicago, Illinois, triggers
virtually continuous riot conditions which will last more
than three years and require the assignment of more than
one thousand policemen to keep order.

1962 – Nelson Mandela is captured and jailed by South African
police.

1964 – James E. Chaney and two other civil rights workers’ bodies
are found in an earthen dam on a farm in Philadelphia,
Mississippi. They had been missing since June 21. The FBI
says that they had been murdered on the night of their
disappearance by segregationists. Eighteen whites,
including several police officers, were charged with
conspiracy to deprive the victims of their civil rights.

1969 – Willie Stargell is the first to hit a home run out of Dodger
Stadium.

1980 – Maury Wills is named manager of the Seattle Mariners. He is
the third African American to be named a major league
manager.

1985 – California Angel Rod Carew gets his 3,000th base hit.

1996 – On the final day of the Atlanta Olympics, Josia Thugwane
became the first Black South African to win a gold medal as
he finished first in the marathon.

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 18 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – July 18 *

1753 – Lemuel Haynes, colonial American Congregational clergyman,
is born in West Hartford, Connecticut. He will be
abandoned at five months old by his African father and
Anglo mother. He will be indentured to a white family in
Massachusetts. When he becomes a free man at age 21 in
1774, one of his first choices is to join freedom’s cause
and serve in a military unit from Connecticut. He will
not only fight on the battlefield, but will write about
freedom in poems and essays. He will be inspired by the
Declaration of Independence, and in 1776 will write an
essay about the need to extend freedom to Africans. His
essay is called, “Liberty Further Extended.” After the
American Revolutionary War, he will study Latin, Greek
and theology, and will be licensed to preach in 1780. In
1785, he will be ordained to a church in Torrington,
Connecticut, making him the first African American to
pastor a white congregation. He also will become the
first African American to receive an honorary degree
(M.A.) from a White college (Middlebury College), in 1804
at its second commencement. He will serve as pastor in
Bennington, Manchester, and Granville, New York, until he
joins the ancestors on September 28, 1833 at the age of
eighty.

1863 – The 54th Massachusetts Volunteers charge Fort Wagner in
Charleston, South Carolina. Although the Union forces
suffer great losses, Sergeant William H. Carney of Company
C exhibits bravery in battle by maintaining the colors
high despite three bullet wounds. Although cited for
bravery, it will take 37 years for Carney to receive the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions.

1899 – Patent number 629,286 is issued to L.C. Bailey for a
folding bed.

1905 – Granville T. Woods patents railway brakes.

1918 – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is born near Umtata in Transkei,
South Africa in the Eastern Cape, into the royal family
of the Tembu, a Xhosa-speaking tribe. His father is Chief
Henry Mandela. He will be educated at University College
of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and
qualifies to practice law in 1942. He will join the
African National Congress in 1944 and engage in resistance
against the ruling National Party’s apartheid policies
after 1948. He will go on trial for treason in 1956-1961
and be acquitted in 1961. After the banning of the ANC in
1960, he will argue for the setting up of a military wing
within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive will
consider his proposal on the use of violent tactics and
agree that those members who wished to involve themselves
in his campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the
ANC. This will lead to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe.
He will be arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years’
imprisonment with hard labor. In 1963, when many fellow
leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe are arrested,
he will be brought to stand trial with them for plotting
to overthrow the government by violence. His statement
from the dock will receive considerable international
publicity. On June 12, 1964, he is among eight accused,
that will be sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to
1982, he will be incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off
the shore from Cape Town; thereafter, he will be at
Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland. He will be
released on February 11, 1990. After his release, he will
plunge himself wholeheartedly into his life’s work,
striving to attain the goals he and others had set out
almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first
national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa
after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela
will be elected President of the ANC while his lifelong
friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, will become the
organization’s National Chairperson. He will become the
first Black African President of South Africa on May 10,
1994 (Inauguration Date). Happy 95th birthday, President
Mandela.

1941 – Martha Reeves is born in Eufaula, Alabama. Her family will
move to Detroit, Michigan before her first birthday. As a
child, she will sing in her grandfather’s church and in
school, and continue her vocal training through high school.
After graduating in 1959, she will join a girl group called
the Fascinations, and the following year co-founds the
Del-Phis, whose membership will include the future
Vandellas. In 1961, she will win a talent contest as a solo
act and get a nightclub engagement performing as Martha
LaVaille. There she will be noticed by Motown executive
William “Mickey” Stevenson, who will invite her to stop by
the label’s offices. She will not land an audition right
away, but will parlay her visit into a secretarial job in
the A&R department. She will catch a lucky break when backup
singers are needed for a recording session, and the Del-Phis
will wind up supporting Marvin Gaye on his first hit, 1962’s
“Stubborn Kind of Fellow.” Stevenson will be impressed
enough to record a Del-Phis (renamed the Vels) single,
“You’ll Never Cherish a Love So True (‘Til You Lose It),”
and release it on Motown’s Mel-O-Dy subsidiary. One day,
Mary Wells fails to show up for a recording session, and
musicians’ union rules demand that a lead vocalist be
present on the microphone — so she will be hastily tapped
to sing “I’ll Have to Let Him Go.” That song will become
the first single credited to the newly renamed Martha & the
Vandellas in 1963. Their second single, the ballad “Come
and Get These Memories,” will reach the Rhythm & Blues Top
Five. Martha & the Vandellas will rack up an impressive
slate of Motown classics that will include the Top Five
smashes “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” and “Dancing in the
Street,” plus “Nowhere to Run,” “I’m Ready for Love,”
“Jimmy Mack,” and “Honey Chile,” all of which will make the
Rhythm & Blues Top Five. Martha & the Vandellas’ run of
success will continue through 1967. They will continue to
perform and record for several more years, but will never
match their past success and will disband in December 1972
after a farewell concert in Detroit. She will eventually
leave Motown and record for other labels with minimal
success. In 1989, she will reunite with original Vandellas
Annette Sterling and Rosalind Holmes and cut the single
“Step Into My Shoes” for British producer Ian Levine’s
Motor City label. However, she will continue to make her
primary living on the nostalgia circuit. She will be
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

1951 – Jersey Joe Walcott, at age 37, becomes oldest boxer to date,
to win the World Heavyweight Championship knocking out
Ezzard Charles in five rounds.

1959 – William Wright becomes the first African American to win a
a USGA title, the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
He is 23 and a senior at Western Washington University.

1964 – Racially motivated disturbances occur in Harlem in New York
City. The civil unrest will last until July 22 and will
spread into the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

1970 – Willie Mays gets his 3,000th base hit.

1998 – The “Spirit of Freedom Memorial” and “Theme Park” is
unveiled in Washington, DC to honor the U. S. Colored
Troops, who fought in the U.S. Civil War.

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

KRLemmons African American History

June 26 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – June 26 *

1893 – William Lee Conley “Big Bill” Broonzy, blues singer,
is born in Scott, Mississippi.

1894 – The American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, calls
a general strike in sympathy with Pullman workers.

1934 – W.E.B. Du Bois resigns from the NAACP over the
association’s policies and strategies. Du Bois had
been editor of the association’s “Crisis” magazine and
director of publicity and research. The resignation
brings control of the magazine under the leadership of
chief executive Walter White and its new editor and
NAACP assistant secretary, Roy Wilkins.

1938 – James Weldon Johnson, joins the ancestors after
succumbing to injuries received in an automobile
accident near his summer home in Wiscosset, Maine.

1940 – Billy Davis Jr., singer with the 5th Dimension, is
born in St. Louis, Missouri. He will later leave the
group with his wife, Marilyn McCoo, with whom he will
enjoy continued success as a duo.

1950 – The American Medical Association seats the first
African American delegates at its convention.

1952 – The African National Congress begins its Defiance of
Unjust Laws campaign in South Africa.

1956 – Jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown joins the ancestors
after being killed in an auto accident on the
Pennsylvania Turnpike. Founder of the Brown-Roach
Quintet with Max Roach two years earlier, Brown had
built a reputation as one of the finest jazz
trumpeters of his day as a major proponent of hard bop.

1959 – Prince Edward County, Virginia, abandons (closes) the
public school system in an attempt to prevent school
desegregation.

1959 – Floyd Paterson loses the Heavyweight Boxing
Championship to Ingemar Johansson of Sweden.

1966 – The 220-mile voter registration march from Memphis,
Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi ends with a rally of
some thirty thousand at the Mississippi state capitol.

1970 – Frank Robinson hits 2 grand slams as Baltimore Orioles
beat the Washington Senators 12-2.

1960 – Madagascar becomes independent from France.

1978 – “Girl,” a single-sentence two page short story of a
mother’s preachy advice to her daughter, appears in the
“New Yorker” magazine. Written by Jamaica Kincaid, the
story will make her a literary celebrity and will be
followed by short story collections and the novels
“Annie John” and “Lucy”.

1979 – Muhammad Ali announces that he was retiring as world
heavyweight boxing champion. The 37-year-old fighter
said, “Everything gets old, and you can’t go on like
years ago.” The “Float like a butterfly, sting like a
bee” act was no more.

1990 – African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela
addresses the U.S. Congress, asking for “material
resources” to hasten the end of white-led rule in South
Africa.

1995 – During a state visit to Ethiopia, Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak escapes an attempt on his life.

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 20 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – June 20 *

1858 – Charles Waddell Chestnutt is born in Cleveland, Ohio. He
will at one time maintain four careers simultaneously –
stenographer, lawyer, author, and lecturer. He will also
serve three years as principal of the Fayetteville State
Colored Normal School in North Carolina. His most famous
literary works will be a biography of Frederick Douglass
and the short story collection “The Conjure Woman”. In
1928, he will receive the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for his
literacy accomplishments. He will join the ancestors on
November 15, 1932.

1871 – Ku Klux Klan trials begin in federal court in Oxford,
Mississippi. Many whites, including doctors, lawyers,
ministers and college professors, are arrested and jailed
in the anti-Klan campaign. Of the 930 indicted in
Mississippi, 243 will be tried and found guilty. Some 1180
are indicted in South Carolina and 1849 are indicted in
North Carolina.

1911 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People is incorporated in New York City. It had been
founded on February 12, 1909.

1926 – Mordecai W. Johnson becomes the first African American
president of Howard University.

1929 – “Hot Chocolates” premieres at the Hudson Theatre in New
York City. With music by Fats Waller and lyrics by Andy
Razaf, the musical will introduce the songs “Ain’t
Misbehaving” and “Black and Blue”.

1936 – Jesse Owens of the United States sets the 100 meter record
at 10.2 seconds.

1943 – Thirty-four persons are killed in race riots in Detroit,
Michigan. Federal troops are called in to control the
violence, which stems from African Americans’ frustration
over exclusion from civilian defense jobs.

1946 – Andre’ Watts is born in Nuremburg, Germany. He will
make his debut as a concert pianist at age nine, have his
New York Philharmonic debut in 1963, and become a world-
famous classical pianist. In 2004 he will join the faculty
at Indiana University, where he will hold the Jack I. and
Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in The Jacob School of Music.

1949 – Lionel Ritchie is born in Tuskegee, Alabama. He will be
one of the most successful singers/songwriters in
contemporary popular music, known for his efforts in Pop,
Rhythm & Blues, and country music. Once a member of the
Commodores, Richie will establish a solo career, win
Grammys in 1982 and 1984, and be a featured performer at
the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in
Los Angeles.

1950 – Willie Mays graduates from high school and immediately
signs with the New York Giants for a $6,000 bonus. ‘The
Say Hey Kid’ would play most of his career for the Giants
— in both New York and San Francisco — becoming a
baseball legend. As his career comes to a close, Mays
will be traded to the New York Mets. Mays, an all-star
center fielder, will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of
Fame in his first year of eligibility – 1979.

1960 – Harry Belafonte wins an Emmy for his variety special
“Tonight with Harry Belafonte”. It is the first Emmy
awarded to an African American.

1960 – Floyd Patterson wins back the world heavyweight title by
knocking out Ingemar Johanson of Sweden in round five of
a title bout at the Polo Grounds in New York City.

1967 – Muhammad Ali is convicted in Houston, Texas, in federal
court for violating the Selective Service Act by refusing
induction into the armed services. He is fined $10,000
and sentenced to five years in prison. Ali, an opponent
of the Vietnam War, had refused to report for service on
grounds that he was a Muslim minister. The U.S. Supreme
Court will later overturn his conviction.

1969 – 150,000 people attend the Newport Jazz Festival. Jimi
Hendrix gets $125,000 to appear on the program. This is
the largest paycheck for a single concert appearance at
the time.

1988 – The Supreme Court upholds a law that made it illegal for
private clubs to discriminate against women and minorities.

1987 – Whitney Houston’s album, “Whitney”, debuts on “Billboard”
magazine’s album charts at number one. Houston becomes the
first female to have a LP debut at the top.

1990 – South African Black nationalist Nelson Mandela and his
wife, Winnie, arrive in New York City for a ticker-tape
parade in their honor as they begin an eight-city United
States tour.

1997 – Lawrence Payton, occasional songwriter and member of the
“Four Tops,” joins the ancestors after succumbing to liver
cancer at his Southfield, Michigan home at the age of 59.
In 1953, he joined the Four Aims, which consisted of him,
Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Abdul “Duke” Fakir.
They changed their name to the Four Tops in order to avoid
confusion with the Ames Brothers. In 1956, they signed with
Chess Records and subsequently moved on to the Red Top,
Riverside and Columbia labels. They were part of Billy
Eckstine’s Las Vegas Revue in 1960 and in 1963 were signed
to Motown Records where they were teamed with the
production team of Holland, Dozier & Holland. Their last
label signing was to Arista in 1988. In 1990, they were
inducted into the Rock ‘n” Roll of Fame.

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

KRLemmons African American History

June 10 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – June 10 *

1854 – James Augustine Healy is ordained as a Catholic priest in
ceremonies at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France at the
age of 24. He will later become the first African American
Roman Catholic bishop.

1898 – Hattie McDaniel is born in Wichita, Kansas. A vaudevillian,
she will begin her acting career at age 37 in the film ‘The
Golden West.’ She will go on to roles in over 70 films,
including ‘The Little Colonel’, ‘Show Boat’, and most
notably ‘Gone With The Wind’, which will earn her an Oscar
as best supporting actress in 1940. She will also star in
the radio program ‘Beulah’ from 1947 to 1951. She will join
the ancestors on October 26, 1952.
1899 – The Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
(I.B.P.O.E.) is founded in Cincinnati, Ohio.

1910 – Chester Arthur Burnett is born in White Station, Mississippi.
He will be better known as ‘Howlin Wolf’, a delta bluesman
whose recordings will inspire English rock bands to adopt
his style and material. He will join the ancestors on
January 10, 1976.

1940 – The famed Cotton Club in Harlem closes. Home to some of the
most important jazz talents of their day, including Duke
Ellington, Lena Horne, and many others, the club falls
victim to changing musical tastes and poor attendance.

1940 – Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey joins the ancestors in London,
England at the age of 52.

1946 – Jack Arthur Johnson, the first African American heavyweight
boxing champion, joins the ancestors after succumbing to
injuries from an automobile accident near Raleigh, North
Carolina at the age of 68. He will be buried in Graceland
Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

1964 – The U.S. Senate imposes cloture for the first time on a civil
rights measure, ending a southern filibuster by a vote of
71-29.

1972 – Sammy Davis, Jr. earns his place at the top of the popular
music charts for the first time, after years in the
entertainment business with his first number one song, “The
Candy Man”. The song stayed at the top for three consecutive
weeks and stayed on the pop charts for 16 weeks.

1980 – Nelson Mandela, jailed for life by the apartheid government
of South Africa, has his writings smuggled from prison and
made public, continuing to spark the general population.

1985 – Herschel Walker, of the New Jersey Generals, breaks the 2,000
yard mark in rushing during the season as the Generals win
over Jacksonville 31-24. The effort sets a United States
Football League (USFL) record. This feat had only been
reached twice in the National Football League (NFL) — once
by O.J. Simpson in 1973 for 2,003 yards and Eric Dickerson
in 1984 for 2,105 yards.

1997 – Geronimo Pratt, political prisoner and ex-Black Panther, is
released from prison on bail. A judge agrees that had
Pratt’s original jury known that the prosecution key witness
was a FBI and police informant, the outcome may have been
different. In 1999, after winning his appeal of the decision
that ordered his release, charges against Pratt were dropped
by the Los Angeles District Attorney and no new trial was
sought.

2004 – Ray Charles, Keyboardist, Composer, and Singer who won 12
Grammy awards, joins the ancestors after succumbing to liver
disease at the age of 73.

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

KRLemmons African American History

May 10 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – May 10 *

1652 – John Johnson, a free African American, is granted 550 acres
in Northampton County, Virginia, for importing eleven
persons to work as indentured servants.

1775 – Lemuel Haynes, Epheram Blackman, and Primas Black, in the
first aggressive action of American forces against the
British, help capture Fort Ticonderoga as members of
Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys.

1815 – Henry Walton Bibb is born a slave in Shelby County,
Kentucky. He will escape to Canada, return to get his
first wife, be recaptured in Cincinnati, escape again, be
recaptured again and sold into slavery in New Orleans. He
will be removed to Arkansas, where he will escape yet
again, this time for good in 1842. He will make his way
to Detroit, Michigan and will become an active
abolitionist. He will publish his autobiography, “Narrative
of The Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American
Slave” in 1849. This narrative of his life will be so
suspenseful that an investigation is conducted that will
substantiate Bibb’s account. In 1850, the U.S. Congress
will pass the Fugitive Slave Act which will force his
immigration to Canada with his second wife. In 1851, he
will found the “Voice of the Fugitive”, the first Black
newspaper in Canada. He will join the ancestors in 1854 at
the age of 39.

1837 – Pinckney Benton Steward (P.B.S.) Pinchback is born near
Macon, Georgia. During the Civil War, he will recruit and
command a company of the “Corps d’Afrique,” a calvary unit
from Louisiana. He will resign his commission in 1863 after
unsuccessful demands that African American officers and
enlisted men be treated the same as white military
personnel. In 1868, he will be elected to the Louisiana
legislature as a Senator. In 1871, he will be elected
President Pro Temp of the Louisiana Senate, and will become
Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana in 1872 after the death of
Oscar Dunn. He will serve briefly (two months) as the
appointed Governor. He will be elected to the U.S. Senate
in 1873, but never be seated by that body, due to supposed
election irregularities. After the end of Reconstruction
and his political career, Pinchback will use his resources
to work as an advocate for African Americans as Southern
Democrats endeavor to take away the civil rights gained by
Blacks after the Civil War. He will publish the newspaper
“The Louisianan,” using it as a venue to help influence
public opinion. He will also become the leader of the
precursor to the Associated Negro Press, the Convention of
Colored Newspaper Men. At the age of sixty, he will
relocate to Washington, DC where he will live until he
joins the ancestors in 1921.

1876 – The American Centennial Exposition opens in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Included are works by four African American
artists, among them Edmonia Lewis’ “The Dying Cleopatra”
and Edward Bannister’s “Under the Oaks.” Bannister’s
painting will win the bronze medal, a distinct and
controversial achievement for the renowned painter.

1919 – A race riot occurs in Charleston, South Carolina. Two
African Americans are killed.

1935 – Larry Williams is born. He will become a rhythm and blues
singer and will be known for his record hits “Short Fat
Fannie,” “Bony Maronie,” and “Dizzy Miss Lizzie.”

1936 – Jayne Cortez is born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. She will
grow up in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California
and will marry jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman in 1954.
After divorcing him in 1960, she will study drama and
poetry. She will become active in the civil rights
movement, registering African Americans to vote in
Mississippi as a worker for the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee. She will then become a poet and
performance artist that will integrate the rhythms and
foundations of jazz into her written works. She will
found the Watts Repertory Theater and be its artistic
director from 1964 through 1970. She will establish Bola
Press in New York City in 1972 and will be a
writer-in-residence at Rutgers University from 1977 to
1983. She will be known for her collections of poetry
“Pisstained Stairs and Monkey Man’s Wares,” “Festivals
and Funerals,” “Coagulations: New and Selected Poems,”
and “Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere.” She will also be
known for her poetry reading recordings with jazz
musicians “There It Is,” “Maintain Control,” and “Taking
the Blues Back Home: Poetry and Music.”

1944 – Judith Jamison is born in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. She
will begin her dancing career at the age of six. She
will complete her dance training at the Philadelphia
Dance Company (later the University of Arts). She will
make her debut with the Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theatre in Chicago, dancing in Talley Beaty’s Congo
Tango Palace. She will become the troupe’s premier dancer
in 1967 and will tour the world exhibiting her signature
dance “Cry.” She will win a Dance Magazine award for her
performances in 1972. She will leave the Ailey
troupe in 1980 to perform on Broadway and will choreograph
many of her own works such as “Divining,” Ancestral Rites”
and “Hymn.” She will form the twelve member group, The
Jamison Project, in 1987. After Alvin Ailey’s health
declines in 1988, she will rejoin the Ailey troupe as
artistic associate and will become artistic director upon
his death in 1989. She will continue the company’s
tradition of performing early works choreographed by
African Americans for many years.

1950 – Jackie Robinson appears on the cover of Life magazine. It
is the first time an African American has been featured on
the magazine’s cover in its 13-year history.

1951 – Z. Alexander Looby is the first African American elected to
the Nashville City Council.

1952 – Canada Lee joins the ancestors in England at the age of 45.
He had become an actor in 1933 after a professional boxing
match left him blind in one eye. He was able to be cast in
non-traditional roles for African Americans at a time when
most were cast in stereotypical parts. He was best known
for his portrayal of “Bigger Thomas” in the play “Native
Son” in 1940 and 1941. He was blacklisted by the House
Committee on Un-American Activities and the FBI for his
outspoken views on the stereotyping of African Americans
in Hollywood and Broadway.

1962 – Southern School News reports that 246,988 or 7.6 per cent of
the African American pupils in public schools in seventeen
Southern and Border States and the District of Columbia
attended integrated classes in 1962.

1963 – Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth announces agreement on a limited
integration plan which will end the Birmingham
demonstrations.

1974 – “Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely” earns a gold record for the
group, The Main Ingredient. The trio began as the Poets
in 1964. Cuba Gooding is the lead singer. (Gooding’s
son, Cuba Jr., will star in the 1991 film “Boyz N The Hood”
and will win an Academy award for his role in the movie
“Jerry Maguire in 1997.) The Main Ingredient’s biggest
hit, “Everybody Plays The Fool,” will make it to number
three on the pop charts in 1972.

1986 – Navy Lt. Commander Donnie Cochran becomes the first African
American pilot to fly with the celebrated Blue Angels
precision aerial demonstration team.

1994 – Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as president of South Africa.
In an historic exchange of power, former political
prisoner Nelson Mandela becomes the first Black president
of South Africa. In his acceptance speech, he says, “We
enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in
which all South Africans, both black and white, will be
able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts–a
rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.”

1998 – Jose’ Francisco Pena Gomez joins the ancestors at the age
of 61 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic after succumbing
to pancreatic cancer. He had led a successful civil-
military revolt in 1965 which was curtailed by the
interference of United States Marines sent to the Dominican
Republic to put down the rebellion. He was later forced
into exile. He later returned to the Dominican Republic and
be heavily involved in politics as leader of the Partido
Revolucionario Dominicano. He ran for president
unsuccessfully three times.

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

KRLemmons African American History

May 2 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 2 *

1844 – Elijah McCoy is born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada. He
will become a master inventor and holder of over 50
patents. He will be the inventor of a device that allows
machines to be lubricated while they are still in
operation. Machinery buyers insisted on McCoy lubrication
systems when buying new machines and will take nothing
less than what becomes known as the “real McCoy.” The
inventor’s automatic oiling devices will become so
universal that no heavy-duty machinery will be considered
adequate without it, and the expression becomes part of
America culture. He will join the ancestors on October 10,
1929.

1920 – The first game of the National Negro Baseball League (NNL)
is played in Indianapolis, Indiana. The NNL was formed
earlier in the year by Andrew “Rube” Foster and a group of
African American baseball club owners to combat prejudice
and further enjoyment of the game.

1968 – The Poor People’s March, led by Ralph D. Abernathy, begins
as caravans from all over the country leave for Washington,
DC., to protest poverty and racial discrimination.

1990 – The government of South Africa and the African National
Congress open their first formal talks aimed at paving the
way for more substantive negotiations on dismantling
apartheid.

1992 – Los Angeles begins a massive cleanup and rebuilding effort
after three days of widespread civil unrest. The April 29
acquittal of four police officers in the 1991 beating of
motorist Rodney G. King fueled perceptions of unequal
justice for African Americans and sparked multiracial
violence that resulted in unprecedented figures of 58
deaths, over 2,000 injuries, over 600 fires, $1 billion in
property damage and spread to San Francisco, Las Vegas,
Seattle, Atlanta, Madison (Wisconsin), and Toronto.

1994 – Nelson Mandela claims victory in the wake of South Africa’s
first democratic elections. President F.W. de Klerk
acknowledges defeat.

1999 – Reverend Jesse Jackson, who leads a group of religious
leaders to the country of Serbia, obtains the release of
three American Army prisoners of war, Staff Sgt. Andrew A.
Ramirez, 24, of Los Angeles;Spc. Steven M. Gonzales, 21, of
Huntsville, Texas; and Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Stone, 25,
of Smiths Creek, Mich. at 4:45 EST.

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