KRLemmons African American History

October 6 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 6 *

1776 – Henri Christophe is born a slave in Grenada. He will
become a Haitian revolutionist and ruler and also become
provisional chief of northern Haiti. He will establish
himself as King Henri I in the north and build Citadelle
Laferriere.

1847 – National Black convention meets in Troy, New York, with
more than sixty delegates from nine states. Nathan
Johnson of Massachusetts is elected president.

1868 – An African American state convention at Macon, Georgia,
protests expulsion of African American politicians from
the Georgia legislature.

1871 – The Fisk Jubilee Singers begin their tour to raise money
for the school. Soon they will become one of the most
popular African American folk-singing groups of the late
19th century, performing throughout the U.S. and Europe
and raising large sums for Fisk’s building program.

1917 – Fannie Lou Hamer is born near Ruleville, Mississippi. She
will become a leader of the civil rights movement during
the 1960’s and founder of the Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party in Montgomery County, Mississippi.

1921 – Joseph Echols Lowery is born in Huntsville, Alabama. An
early civil rights activist, he will become a founder,
chairman of the board, and president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. He will lead SCLC to
great levels of civil rights activism including a 2,700
mile pilgrimage to extend and strengthen the Voting
Rights Act, protesting toxic waste sites in African
American communities, and actions against United States’
corporations doing business in apartheid South Africa.

1965 – Patricia Harris takes the post as U.S. Ambassador to
Belgium, becoming the first African American U.S.
ambassador.

1981 – Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, is assassinated by
extremists while reviewing a military parade.

1986 – Abram Hill joins the ancestors in New York City. He was
the founder of the city’s American Negro Theatre in 1940,
where the careers of Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, and
Sidney Poitier were launched. Hill’s adaptation of the
play “Anna Lucasta” premiered on Broadway in 1944 and
ran successfully for 900 performances.

1991 – Williams College’s exhibit of African American photography
– “Black Photographers Bear Witness: 100 Years of Social
Protest” opens. The exhibit includes photography by C.M.
Battey, James Van Der Zee, Marvin and Morgan Smith,
Moneta Sleet, Carrie Mae Weems, and others.

1991 – Anita Hill, a former personal assistant to Supreme Court
justice nominee Clarence Thomas, accuses Thomas of sexual
harassment (from 1981-83) during his confirmation
hearings.

1994 – South African President, Nelson Mandela, addresses a joint
session of Congress. He will warn against the lure of
isolationism, saying the U.S. post-Cold War focus should
be on eliminating “tyranny, instability and poverty”
across the globe.

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 19 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – July 19 *

1848 – The first Women’s Rights Convention is held in Seneca Falls,
New York. The convention is supported by Frederick Douglass
of nearby Rochester, New York, who attends the meeting and
speaks in defense of its organizer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

1866 – Tennessee becomes the first state to ratify the 14th
Amendment, supposedly guaranteeing civil rights to all
United States citizens.

1867 – Congress passes the third Reconstruction Act over President
Andrew Johnson’s veto.

1913 – The Tri-State Dental Association is formed in Buckroe Beach
(now part of Hampton), Virginia. It will be the forerunner
to the National Dental Association, an organization
dedicated to developing a national forum for African
American dentists in the United States.

1925 – Josephine Baker, entertainer and singer, makes her Paris
debut.

1940 – Surgeon Louis T. Wright is presented the Spingarn Medal for
his “contribution to the healing of mankind and for his
courageous, uncompromising position, often in the face of
bitter attack.” Among Wright’s many accomplishments was
being the first African American surgeon to be admitted to
the staff of Harlem Hospital and chairmanship of the board
of directors of the NAACP, a position he will hold for 17
years.

1941 – The first Army flying school for African Americans is
dedicated in Tuskegee, Alabama.

1941 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints a Fair Employment
Practices Committee which includes two African Americans,
Earl B. Dickerson, a Chicago attorney, and Milton P.
Webster, vice-president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters.

1966 – The Hough district of Cleveland, Ohio, experiences racially
motivated disturbances that result in the mobilization of
the National Guard by Governor James A. Rhodes, who
declares a state of emergency in the city.

1967 – A racially motivated disturbance occurs in Durham, North
Carolina. The governor calls out the National Guard to
quell the disturbance.

1973 – Willie Mays is named to the National League all star team
for the 24th time, tying Stan Musial for the record number
of appearances.

1979 – Patricia R. Harris is named Secretary of Health and Human
Services. It is her second Cabinet-level appointment.
She had been Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

1991 – The South African government acknowledges that it had been
giving money to the Inkatha Freedom Party, the main rival
of the African National Congress.

______________________________________________________________
Munirah Chronicle is edited by Rene’ A. Perry

KRLemmons African American History

May 19 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 19 *

1881 – Blanche Kelso Bruce is appointed Register of the Treasury
by President Garfield.

1925 – Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X and El Hajj
Malik El-Shabazz, is born in Omaha, Nebraska. In prison,
he is introduced to the Nation of Islam and begins
studies that will lead him to become one of the most
militant and electrifying black leaders of the 1950s and
1960s. On many occasions, he would indicate that he was
not for civil rights, but human rights. When asked about
the Nation of Islam undermining the efforts of
integrationists by preaching racial separation, Malcolm’s
response was “It is not integration in America that
Negroes want, it is human dignity.” Malcolm X regularly
criticized civil rights leaders for advocating the
integration of African Americans into white society. He
believed that African Americans should be building Black
institutions and businesses and defending themselves
against racist violence based opposition from both
conservative and liberals. Until he joined the ancestors,
Malcolm X was a staunch believer in Black Nationalism,
Black Self-determination and Black Self-organization. He
will begin to lobby with the newly independent African
nations to protest in the United Nations about the
American abuse of their Black citizens human rights,
when he was assassinated on February 21, 1965. His story
will be immortalized in the book “Autobiography of
Malcolm X,” ghostwritten by Alex Haley.

1930 – Lorraine Hansberry is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will
become a noted playwright and will be best known for her
play, “A Raisin in the Sun.” On March 11, 1959, when it
opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, it will become the
first Broadway play written by an African American woman.
Her other works will include “The Sign in Sidney
Brustein’s Window,” “To Be Young, Gifted and Black:
Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words,” “Les Blancs,” and
“The Movement: Documentary of a Struggle for Equality.”
She will join the ancestors on January 12, 1965.

1952 – Grace Mendoza is born in Spanishtown, Jamaica. She will
move with her family to Syracuse, New York at the age of
12. She will become a performance artist known as Grace
Jones and a transatlantic model for the Ford and
Wilhemina agencies. She will later write music and
perform as a singer. Her releases will extend from 1977
through 1998. She also will succeed as a movie star
appearing in the movies “A View to a Kill,” “Conan the
Destroyer,” and “Deadly Vengeance.”

1965 – Patricia Harris is named U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg.
She is the first African American woman to become an
ambassador for the U.S.

1968 – Piano stylist and vocalist, Bobby Short, gains national
attention as he presents a concert with Mabel Mercer at
New York’s Town Hall. He will be a featured artist at
the intimate Hotel Carlisle from 1968 until the end of
2004.

1969 – Coleman Randolph Hawkins joins the ancestors in New York
City at the age of 65. He was responsible for the coming
of age of the tenor saxophone in jazz ensembles and
called the “father of the tenor saxophone.”

1973 – Stevie Wonder moves to the number one position on the
“Billboard” pop music chart with “You Are the Sunshine
of My Life”. It is the third number one song for Wonder,
following earlier successes with “Fingertips, Part 2” in
1963 and “Superstition” in 1973. He will have seven more
number one hits between 1973 and 1987: “You Haven’t Done
Nothin'”, “I Wish”, “Sir Duke”, “Ebony & Ivory” (with Paul
McCartney), “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, “Part-Time
Lover” and “That’s What Friends are for”.

1991 – Willy T. Ribbs becomes the first African American driver to
qualify for the Indianapolis 500. During the race, which
occurs the following week, Ribbs will be forced to drop
out due to engine failure.

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 6 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 6 *

1776 – Henri Christophe is born a slave in Grenada. He will
become a Haitian revolutionist and ruler and also become
provisional chief of northern Haiti. He will establish
himself as King Henri I in the north and build Citadelle
Laferriere.

1847 – National Black convention meets in Troy, New York, with
more than sixty delegates from nine states. Nathan
Johnson of Massachusetts is elected president.

1868 – An African American state convention at Macon, Georgia,
protests expulsion of African American politicians from
the Georgia legislature.

1871 – The Fisk Jubilee Singers begin their tour to raise money
for the school. Soon they will become one of the most
popular African American folk-singing groups of the late
19th century, performing throughout the U.S. and Europe
and raising large sums for Fisk’s building program.

1917 – Fannie Lou Hamer is born near Ruleville, Mississippi. She
will become a leader of the civil rights movement during
the 1960’s and founder of the Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party in Montgomery County, Mississippi.

1921 – Joseph Echols Lowery is born in Huntsville, Alabama. An
early civil rights activist, he will become a founder,
chairman of the board, and president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. He will lead SCLC to
great levels of civil rights activism including a 2,700
mile pilgrimage to extend and strengthen the Voting
Rights Act, protesting toxic waste sites in African
American communities, and actions against United States’
corporations doing business in apartheid South Africa.

1965 – Patricia Harris takes the post as U.S. Ambassador to
Belgium, becoming the first African American U.S.
ambassador.

1981 – Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, is assassinated by
extremists while reviewing a military parade.

1986 – Abram Hill joins the ancestors in New York City. He was
the founder of the city’s American Negro Theatre in 1940,
where the careers of Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, and
Sidney Poitier were launched. Hill’s adaptation of the
play “Anna Lucasta” premiered on Broadway in 1944 and
ran successfully for 900 performances.

1991 – Williams College’s exhibit of African American photography
– “Black Photographers Bear Witness: 100 Years of Social
Protest” opens. The exhibit includes photography by C.M.
Battey, James Van Der Zee, Marvin and Morgan Smith,
Moneta Sleet, Carrie Mae Weems, and others.

1991 – Anita Hill, a former personal assistant to Supreme Court
justice nominee Clarence Thomas, accuses Thomas of sexual
harassment (from 1981-83) during his confirmation
hearings.

1994 – South African President, Nelson Mandela, addresses a joint
session of Congress. He will warn against the lure of
isolationism, saying the U.S. post-Cold War focus should
be on eliminating “tyranny, instability and poverty”
across the globe.

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

KRLemmons African American History

May 19 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – May 19 *

1881 – Blanche Kelso Bruce is appointed Register of the Treasury
by President Garfield.

1925 – Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X and El Hajj
Malik El-Shabazz, is born in Omaha, Nebraska. In prison,
he is introduced to the Nation of Islam and begins
studies that will lead him to become one of the most
militant and electrifying black leaders of the 1950s and
1960s. On many occasions, he would indicate that he was
not for civil rights, but human rights. When asked about
the Nation of Islam undermining the efforts of
integrationists by preaching racial separation, Malcolm’s
response was “It is not integration in America that
Negroes want, it is human dignity.” Malcolm X regularly
criticized civil rights leaders for advocating the
integration of African Americans into white society. He
believed that African Americans should be building Black
institutions and businesses and defending themselves
against racist violence based opposition from both
conservative and liberals. Until he joined the ancestors,
Malcolm X was a staunch believer in Black Nationalism,
Black Self-determination and Black Self-organization. He
will begin to lobby with the newly independent African
nations to protest in the United Nations about the
American abuse of their Black citizens human rights,
when he was assassinated in 1965. His story will be
immortalized in the book “Autobiography of Malcolm X,”
ghostwritten by Alex Haley.

1930 – Lorraine Hansberry is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will
become a noted playwright and will be best known for her
play, “A Raisin in the Sun.” On March 11, 1959, when it
opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, it will become the
first Broadway play written by an African American woman.
Her other works will include “The Sign in Sidney
Brustein’s Window,” “To Be Young, Gifted and Black:
Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words,” “Les Blancs,” and
“The Movement: Documentary of a Struggle for Equality.”
She will join the ancestors on January 12, 1965.

1952 – Grace Mendoza is born in Spanishtown, Jamaica. She will
move with her family to Syracuse, New York at the age of
12. She will become a performance artist known as Grace
Jones and a transatlantic model for the Ford and
Wilhemina agencies. She will later write music and
perform as a singer. Her releases will extend from 1977
through 1998. She also will succeed as a movie star
appearing in the movies “A View to a Kill,” “Conan the
Destroyer,” and “Deadly Vengeance.”

1965 – Patricia Harris is named U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg.
She is the first African American woman to become an
ambassador for the U.S.

1968 – Piano stylist and vocalist, Bobby Short, gains national
attention as he presents a concert with Mabel Mercer at
New York’s Town Hall. He has been the featured artist at
the intimate Hotel Carlisle for years.

1969 – Coleman Randolph Hawkins joins the ancestors in New York
City at the age of 65. He was responsible for the coming
of age of the tenor saxophone in jazz ensembles and
called the “father of the tenor saxophone.”

1973 – Stevie Wonder moves to the number one position on the
“Billboard” pop music chart with “You Are the Sunshine
of My Life”. It is the third number one song for Wonder,
following earlier successes with “Fingertips, Part 2” in
1963 and “Superstition” in 1973. He will have seven more
number one hits between 1973 and 1987: “You Haven’t Done
Nothin'”, “I Wish”, “Sir Duke”, “Ebony & Ivory” (with Paul
McCartney), “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, “Part-Time
Lover” and “That’s What Friends are for”.

1991 – Willy T. Ribbs becomes the first African American driver to
qualify for the Indianapolis 500. During the race, which
occurs the following week, Ribbs will be forced to drop
out due to engine failure.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 21 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 21           *

1872 – Robert Scott Duncanson joins the ancestors in Detroit,
Michigan. He suffers a severe mental breakdown and ends
his life in the Michigan State Retreat.  Duncanson
avoided painting in an ethnic style, favoring still
lifes and landscapes including “Mount Healthy,” “Ohio,”
“Blue Hole,” “Little Miami River,” and “Falls of
Minnehaha.  The Detroit Tribune, on December 26, 1872,
refers to Duncanson as “an artist of rare
accomplishments”.

1911 – Joshua “Josh” Gibson is born in Buena Vista, Georgia.  He
will become a professional baseball player in the Negro
Leagues. Gibson will begin playing in the Negro leagues
in 1930, at age 18. A catcher, he will play mostly for
teams in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, including
the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords. He will
also play winter baseball in Puerto Rico and the Dominican
Republic. He will join the ancestors suddenly in early
1947, the year that Jackie Robinson will become the first
African American player in the major leagues. In
recognition of his accomplishments, Gibson will be
inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. He will
be referred to as the “Negro Babe Ruth” hitting 800+ Home
Runs.  Some say that Babe Ruth should have been referred
to as the “white Josh Gibson.”

1921 – P.B.S. Pinchback, a major Reconstruction politician, joins
at the ancestors at the age of 84.

1959 – Delorez Florence Griffith is born in Los Angeles,
California. As Florence Griffith Joyner, she will bring
glamour to women’s track and field.  A world-classrunner,
“FloJo” will win three gold medals (in the 100-meter, 200-
meter and 400-meter races) at the 1988 Summer Olympic
Games in Seoul and a silver medal in the 1600-meter relay.
She will join the ancestors on September 21, 1998.

1959 – Citizens of Deerfield, Illinois block the building of
interracial housing.

1969 – Diana Ross makes her final television appearance as a
member of the Supremes on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

1976 – Patricia R. Harris is named Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development.

1986 – While seeking a tow for his disabled car in Howard Beach
(Queens), New York, Michael Griffith is struck by an
automobile and killed as he attempts to escape from a mob
of whites who were beating him.  The incident will spark
a controversy that will further divide factions in New
York City, already troubled by racially motivated violence.

1988 – Jesse Jackson, in a speech in Chicago, urges the use of the
term “African American”: “Every ethnic group in this
country has reference to some land base, some historical
cultural base. African Americans have hit that level of
maturity.”

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

KRLemmons African American History

October 6 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – October 6           *

1776 – Henri Christophe is born a slave in Grenada.  He will
become a Haitian revolutionist and ruler and also become
provisional chief of northern Haiti. He will establish
himself as King Henri I in the north and build Citadelle
Laferriere.

1847 – National Black convention meets in Troy, New York, with
more than sixty delegates from nine states. Nathan
Johnson of Massachusetts is elected president.

1868 – An African American state convention at Macon, Georgia,
protests expulsion of African American politicians from
the Georgia legislature.

1871 – The Fisk Jubilee Singers begin their tour to raise money
for the school. Soon they will become one of the most
popular African American folk-singing groups of the late
19th century, performing throughout the U.S. and Europe
and raising large sums for Fisk’s building program.

1917 – Fannie Lou Hamer is born near Ruleville, Mississippi. She
will become a leader of the civil rights movement during
the 1960’s and founder of the Mississippi Freedom
Democratic Party in Montgomery County, Mississippi.

1921 – Joseph Echols Lowery is born in Huntsville, Alabama.  An
early civil rights activist, he will become a founder,
chairman of the board, and president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. He will lead SCLC to
great levels of civil rights activism including a 2,700
mile pilgrimage to extend and strengthen the Voting
Rights Act, protesting toxic waste sites in African
American communities, and actions against United States’
corporations doing business in apartheid South Africa.

1965 – Patricia Harris takes the post as U.S. Ambassador to
Belgium, becoming the first African American U.S.
ambassador.

1981 – Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, is assassinated by
extremists while reviewing a military parade.

1986 – Abram Hill joins the ancestors in New York City. He was
the founder of the city’s American Negro Theatre in 1940,
where the careers of Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, and
Sidney Poitier were launched. Hill’s adaptation of the
play “Anna Lucasta” premiered on Broadway in 1944 and
ran successfully for 900 performances.

1991 – Williams College’s exhibit of African American photography
– “Black Photographers Bear Witness: 100 Years of Social
Protest” opens. The exhibit includes photography by C.M.
Battey, James Van Der Zee, Marvin and Morgan Smith,
Moneta Sleet, Carrie Mae Weems, and others.

1991 – Anita Hill, a former personal assistant to Supreme Court
justice nominee Clarence Thomas, accuses Thomas of sexual
harassment (from 1981-83) during his confirmation
hearings.

1994 – South African President, Nelson Mandela, addresses a joint
session of Congress.  He will warn against the lure of
isolationism, saying the U.S. post-Cold War focus should
be on eliminating “tyranny, instability and poverty”
across the globe.

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