KRLemmons African American History

March 9 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – March 9 *

1841 – Sengbe Pieh, known as Joseph Cinque, and the surviving African
slaves who revolted on the ship Amistad are ordered freed by
the United States Supreme Court and return to Africa after
successfully appealing their mutiny conviction on grounds that
they were kidnapped by outlawed slave traders. Their defense
attorney is John Quincy Adams, former President of the United
States and a Massachusetts senator. Before reaching the
Supreme Court, U.S. President Martin Van Buren appeals twice
the decision of lower courts to free the slaves. View the
original documents of the U.S. Supreme Court at:
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/amistad/supreme-court-statement.html

1871 – Oscar Stanton De Priest is born in Florence, Alabama. He will
be the first African American to be elected to Congress from
outside the southern states and the first in the 20th century.
He will represent Illinois for ten years and be an active
advocate for pensions for African American ex-slaves, lynching
prevention, and civil rights improvements. He will join the
ancestors on May 12, 1951.

1891 – The North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University is
founded in Greensboro.

1892 – Three friends of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, prominent African
American businessmen, are lynched in Memphis, Tennessee after
an incident that stemmed from their opening a grocery store
across the street from a white-owned grocery store.

1911 – White firemen of the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific
Railroad struck to protest the hiring of African American
firemen. (For those who don’t remember steam engines, firemen
worked in the engine stoking the fire, which kept the steam
generator going)

1914 – The “New” Southern University campus opens in Scotlandville,
Louisiana near Baton Rouge with nine teachers and 47 students.

1930 – Ornette Coleman is born in Fort Worth, Texas. He will become a
self-taught musician, beginning on alto saxophone when he is
fourteen and moving on to the tenor saxophone when he is
sixteen. He will be influenced by Charlie Parker, Illinois
Jacquet and Big Jay McNeely. A born improvisionalist, he
found it difficult to fit into his school band as well as the
mainstream groups that he will later join. It wasn’t until
the late 1950’s that he will be recognized for his jazz
innovations. He will name his musical method “harmolodics.”
Many musicians and critics and jazz listeners will reject his
new jazz as formless and abstract. However, critics of his
method will recognize his importance as a composer. Critics
will praise his compositions, including “Peace,” “Lonely
Woman,” and “Beauty Is a Rare Thing.” In 1967 he will win
a Guggenheim fellowship, the first granted to a jazz musician.
He will compose and perform film scores, including “Chappaqua”
(1965), “Box Office” (1981), and “Naked Lunch” (1991). In
1997 the New York Philharmonic will perform his “Skies of
America,” a large-scale work that was first recorded by the
London Symphony Orchestra in 1972. His album “Sound Grammar”
will receive the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for music.

1931 – Walter F. White is named NAACP executive secretary.

1933 – Lloyd Price is born in Kenner, Louisiana. He will become a
successful Rhythm & Blues artist and will record “Lawdy Miss
Clawdy” (’52 #1 R&B), “Oooh, Oooh, Oooh” (’52 #4 R&B), “Ain’t
It A Shame” (’53 #4 R&B), “Just Because” (’57 #3 R&B, #29
Pop), “Stagger Lee” (’58 #1 R&B, #1 Pop), “Where Were You (On
Our Wedding Day)” (’59 #4 R&B, #23 Pop), Personality” (’59 #1
R&B, #2 Pop), and fifteen other hits.

1948 – Jeffrey Osborne is born in Providence, Rhode Island. He will
become an accomplished rhythm and blues singer performing as
lead singer for the group LTD. He will later become a
successful solo artist.

1964 – Miriam Zenzi Makeba speaks before the United Nations about the
apartheid system in South Africa.

1965 – Three white Unitarian ministers, including the Rev. James J.
Reeb, are attacked with clubs on the streets of Selma,
Alabama, while participating in a civil rights demonstration.
Reeb will later die in a Birmingham, Alabama hospital.

1966 – Andrew F. Brimmer becomes the first African American governor
on the Federal Reserve Board.

1971 – Emmanuel Lewis is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will become
a child actor and will be best known for his television role
as “Webster.”

1997 – The popular “gangsta rapper” Notorious B.I.G., whose real name
is Christopher Wallace, joins the ancestors after being killed
in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California at the age
of 24.

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

KRLemmons African American History

May 12 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 12 *

1896 – Juan Morel Campos joins the ancestors in Ponce, Puerto
Rico. He was a musician and composer who was one of the
first to integrate Afro-Caribbean styles and folk rhythms
into the classical European musical model. He was
considered the father of the “danza.”

1898 – Louisiana adopts a new constitution with a “grandfather
clause” designed to eliminate African American voters.

1902 – Joe Gans (born Joseph Gaines) becomes the first native-
born African American to win a world boxing championship,
when he defeats Frank Erne in one round for the World
Lightweight Crown. He will be elected to the Boxing Hall
of Fame in 1954.

1910 – The Second NAACP conference opens in New York City. The
three day conference will create a permanent national
structure for the organization.

1916 – Albert L. Murray is born in Nokomis, Alabama. He will
become an author of several works of nonfiction, among
them the influential collection of essays, “The Omni
Americans: New Perspectives on Black Experience and
American Culture.” His other works will include “South
to a Very Old Place,” “The Hero and The Blues,” “Train
Whistle Guitar,” “The Spyglass Tree,” “Stomping The
Blues,” “Good Morning Blues,” and “The Blue Devils of
Nada.”

1926 – Paulette Poujol-Oriol is born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
She will become a well-known literary personality in
Haiti. She will be best known for her innovative creative
expression. Her works will include “Prayers for Two
Vanished Angels” and “The Crucible.” She will join the
ancestors on March 12, 2011, after succumbing to a
heart attack.

1926 – Mervyn Malcom Dymally is born in Cedros, Trinidad. He will
become the first African American elected as lieutenant
governor of California and will be elected to Congress in
1980, where he will serve for 12 years. He will join the
ancestors on October 7, 2012.

1929 – Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma is born in Etunda, South
West Africa (now Namibia). He will become a nationalist
politician and the first president of Namibia. He will
remain in exile for thirty years from 1959 to 1989 when he
will return to Namibia and win a seat in the National
Assembly. He will vacate this seat in 1990 when he is elected the first
president of Namibia. He will serve in this office until
2005.

1933 – Henry Hugh Proctor joins the ancestors in Brooklyn, New
York at the age of 64. He had been the pastor of Nazarene
Congregational Church for thirteen years. Prior to coming
to New York, he had been pastor of the First Congregational
Church in Atlanta, Georgia for twenty four years, where he
had been instrumental in working with local whites in order
to reduce racial conflicts in the city.

1934 – Elechi Amadi is born in Aluu, Nigeria. He will become a
novelist whose works will illustrate the tradition and
inner feelings of traditional tribal life of his people.
He will be known for his works “The Concubine,” “Sunset
in Biafra: A Civil War Diary,” “The Great Ponds,” “The
Slave,” “Estrangement,” “Isiburu,” “Peppersoup,” “The
Road to Ibadan,” “Dancer of Johannesburg,” and “Ethics
in Nigerian Culture.” His writings reflect his
upbringing as a member of the Igbo ethnic group in
Nigeria.

1951 – Former U.S. Congressman Oscar Stanton DePriest joins the
ancestors at the age of 80 in Chicago, Illinois. He had
been the first African American elected to the U.S.
Congress since Reconstruction and the first-ever African
American congressman from the North.

1955 – Samuel (“Toothpick Sam”) Jones, of the Chicago Cubs,
becomes the first African American to pitch a major
league no-hitter, against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1958 – At a summit meeting of national African American leaders,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is sharply criticized for
a speech which, in effect, urges them to “be patient” in
their demands for full civil and voting rights.

1967 – H. Rap Brown replaces Stokely Carmichael as chairman of
the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

1969 – Kim Victoria Fields (later Freeman) is born in Los Angeles,
California. She will become an actress as a child,
starring in the sit-com, “The Facts of Life” (1979-1988).
She will continue her television career on the “Living
Single” show, which will premier in 1993.

1970 – Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs hits his 500th home run.

1970 – A racially motivated civil disturbance occurs in Augusta,
Georgia. Six African Americans are killed. Authorities
say five of the victims were shot by police.

1976 – Wynona Carr joins the ancestors. She had been a gospel
singer who was best known for her rendition of “The Ball
Game.” Her other recordings were “Each Day,” “Lord
Jesus,” “Dragnet for Jesus,” “Fifteen Rounds for Jesus,”
“Operator, Operator,” “Should I Ever Love Again,” and
“Our Father.”

1991 – Hampton University students stage a silent protest against
President George Bush’s commencement address to highlight
their opposition to his civil rights policies.

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

KRLemmons African American History

May 12 African American Historical Events

 

* Today in Black History – May 12 *

1896 – Juan Morel Campos joins the ancestors in Ponce, Puerto
Rico. He was a musician and composer who was one of the
first to integrate Afro-Caribbean styles and folk rhythms
into the classical European musical model. He was
considered the father of the “danza.”

1898 – Louisiana adopts a new constitution with a “grandfather
clause” designed to eliminate African American voters.

1902 – Joe Gans (born Joseph Gaines) becomes the first native-
born African American to win a world boxing championship,
when he defeats Frank Erne in one round for the World
Lightweight Crown. He will be elected to the Boxing Hall
of Fame in 1954.

1910 – The Second NAACP conference opens in New York City. The
three day conference will create a permanent national
structure for the organization.

1916 – Albert L. Murray is born in Nokomis, Alabama. He will
become an author of several works of nonfiction, among
them the influential collection of essays, “The Omni
Americans: New Perspectives on Black Experience and
American Culture.” His other works will include “South
to a Very Old Place,” “The Hero and The Blues,” “Train
Whistle Guitar,” “The Spyglass Tree,” “Stomping The
Blues,” “Good Morning Blues,” and “The Blue Devils of
Nada.”

1926 – Paulette Poujol-Oriol is born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
She will become a well-known literary personality in
Haiti. She will be best known for her innovative creative
expression. Her works will include “Prayers for Two
Vanished Angels” and “The Crucible.” She will join the
ancestors on March 12, 2011, after succumbing to a
heart attack.

1926 – Mervyn Malcom Dymally is born in Cedros, Trinidad. He will
become the first African American elected as lieutenant
governor of California and will be elected to Congress in
1980, where he will serve for 12 years. He will join the
ancestors on October 7, 2012.

1929 – Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma is born in Etunda, South
West Africa (now Namibia). He will become a nationalist
politician and the first president of Namibia. He will
remain in exile for thirty years from 1959 to 1989 when he
will return to Namibia and win a seat in the National
Assembly. He will vacate this seat in 1990 when he is elected
the first president of Namibia. He will serve in this office until
2005.

1933 – Henry Hugh Proctor joins the ancestors in Brooklyn, New
York at the age of 64. He had been the pastor of Nazarene
Congregational Church for thirteen years. Prior to coming
to New York, he had been pastor of the First Congregational
Church in Atlanta, Georgia for twenty four years, where he
had been instrumental in working with local whites in order
to reduce racial conflicts in the city.

1934 – Elechi Amadi is born in Aluu, Nigeria. He will become a
novelist whose works will illustrate the tradition and
inner feelings of traditional tribal life of his people.
He will be known for his works “The Concubine,” “Sunset
in Biafra: A Civil War Diary,” “The Great Ponds,” “The
Slave,” “Estrangement,” “Isiburu,” “Peppersoup,” “The
Road to Ibadan,” “Dancer of Johannesburg,” and “Ethics
in Nigerian Culture.” His writings reflect his
upbringing as a member of the Igbo ethnic group in
Nigeria.

1951 – Former U.S. Congressman Oscar Stanton DePriest joins the
ancestors at the age of 80 in Chicago, Illinois. He had
been the first African American elected to the U.S.
Congress since Reconstruction and the first-ever African
American congressman from the North.

1955 – Samuel (“Toothpick Sam”) Jones, of the Chicago Cubs,
becomes the first African American to pitch a major
league no-hitter, against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1958 – At a summit meeting of national African American leaders,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is sharply criticized for
a speech which, in effect, urges them to “be patient” in
their demands for full civil and voting rights.

1967 – H. Rap Brown replaces Stokely Carmichael as chairman of
the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

1969 – Kim Victoria Fields (later Freeman) is born in Los Angeles,
California. She will become an actress as a child,
starring in the sit-com, “The Facts of Life” (1979-1988).
She will continue her television career on the “Living
Single” show, which will premier in 1993.

1970 – Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs hits his 500th home run.

1970 – A racially motivated civil disturbance occurs in Augusta,
Georgia. Six African Americans are killed. Authorities
say five of the victims were shot by police.

1976 – Wynona Carr joins the ancestors. She had been a gospel
singer who was best known for her rendition of “The Ball
Game.” Her other recordings were “Each Day,” “Lord
Jesus,” “Dragnet for Jesus,” “Fifteen Rounds for Jesus,”
“Operator, Operator,” “Should I Ever Love Again,” and
“Our Father.”

1991 – Hampton University students stage a silent protest against
President George Bush’s commencement address to highlight
their opposition to his civil rights policies.

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