KRLemmons African American History

January 6 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – January 6 *

1773 – “Felix,” a Boston slave, and others petition Massachusetts
Governor Hutchinson for their freedom. It is the first of
a record eight similar petitions filed during the
Revolutionary War.

1831 – The World Anti-Slavery Convention opens in London, England.

1832 – William Lloyd Garrison founds the New England Anti-Slavery
Society at the African Meeting House in Boston,
Massachusetts, where he issues the society’s “Declaration
of Sentiments” from the Meeting House pulpit.

1882 – Thomas Boyne receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for
bravery in two New Mexico battles while a sergeant in Troop
C, 9th U.S. Calvary.

1906 – Benedict Wallet Vilakazi is born in South Africa. He will
become a pre-apartheid Zulu poet, novelist, and educator.
In 1946, he will become the first Black South African to
receive a Ph.D. He will become the first Black South African
to teach white South Africans at the university level. He
will join the ancestors on October 26, 1947 after succumbing
to meningitis.

1937 – Doris Payne is born in Bronx, New York. She will become a
rhythm and blues singer better known as Doris Troy and best
known for her song “Just One Look.” She will also be known
as “Mama Soul.” “Mama, I Want To Sing” will be a stage
musical based on her life, and co-written with her sister,
Vy. It will run for 1,500 performances at the Heckscher
Theatre in Harlem. She will play the part of her own mother,
Geraldine. She will join the ancestors on February 16, 2004,
succumbing to emphysema.

1966 – Harold R. Perry becomes the second African American Roman
Catholic bishop since the U.S. was founded and the first in
the 20th century.

1968 – John Daniel Singleton is born in Los Angeles, California.
He will become an Academy Award-nominated film director,
screenwriter, and producer. His movies will depict his
native South Los Angeles with both its sweet and violent
sides given equal consideration. He will attend Pasadena
City College and the University of Southern California.
He will receive many distinctions, beginning during his
time as an undergraduate screenwriter at the University
of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts,
including nominations for Best Screenplay and Director for
“Boyz N the Hood.” He will be the youngest person ever
nominated for Best Director at the 1991 Academy Awards for
“Boyz N the Hood” and the first (and, to date, the only)
African American to be nominated for the award.

1971 – Cecil A. Partee is elected president pro tem of the Illinois
State Senate. He is the first African American to hold this
position.

1984 – Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Robert N.C. Nix, Jr., is
inaugurated as Chief Justice. The Philadelphia native,
former deputy attorney general of the state, and thirteen-
year veteran of the Court, is the first African American to
head a state Supreme Court.

1989 – Elizabeth Koontz joins the ancestors at the age of 69. She
was a noted educator and the first African American
president of the National Education Association. She also
had been director of the Women’s Bureau in the U.S.
Department of Labor.

1993 – Jazz great, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, joins the ancestors
in Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 76. He had played
actively until early 1992.

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 13 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – July 13 *

1787 – The Continental Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance,
which, in addition to providing for a government and
civil liberties for the new territory, excludes slavery
northwest of the Ohio River except as punishment for a
crime.

1863 – Over 1,200 people, mostly African Americans, are killed in
anti-draft rioting in New York City. Rioting begins, in
part, when poor whites revolt against military service
exemptions that allow for a payment of $ 300 in lieu of
being drafted, a price that they cannot afford. The
“Draft Riots” also reflect a growing hostility toward
African Americans, who are seen as the cause of the war.

1868 – Oscar J. Dunn, a former slave, is installed as Lieutenant
Governor of Louisiana.

1919 – Race riots break out in Longview & Gregg counties in Texas.

1928 – Robert N.C. Nix, Jr. is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 1971, he will be the first African American to serve on
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and, in 1984, the first
African American chief justice of a state supreme court.
Chief Justice Nix will be further honored when he is named
president of the Conference of Chief Justices, a national
organization of judges and justices in the U.S. He will
join the ancestors on August 23, 2003.

1948 – Daphne Maxwell (later Reid) is born in Manhattan, New York.
While pursuing a major in Interior Design and Architecture
at Northwestern University, an English teacher from her
high school will submit her photograph to a magazine editor
and friend who was preparing an article on college women.
The result will be a trip to New York and her first full-
page photograph in Seventeen magazine. Quickly signed by
the Eileen Ford Agency, she will appear in many magazines,
and will also become the first Afican American woman to
grace the cover of Glamour magazine. She will transition
into the acting field. She will have the opportunity to
audition for a part in the series “The Duke” starring
Robert Conrad, who will promise her a continuing role, and
keep his word. In 1979, she will go to Los Angeles where
she will continue to work with Robert Conrad, who enlists
her as the villainess in his series, “A Man Called Sloane,”
and subsequently her first movie of the week, “The Coach of
the Year.” She will meet her husband, Tim Reid, who she had
previously known in Chicago. She is most widely recognized
for her role as Aunt Viv on NBC’s hit comedy “The Fresh
Prince of Bel Air.” She is also known for her role on the
CBS comedy series “Frank’s Place,” in which she co-starred
with her husband, Tim. The couple will team up again when
she stars as Mickie Dennis on CBS’ “Snoops,” and also on
the King World syndicated talk show, “The Tim and Daphne
Show” for 76 1-hour episodes. She will also star as Eartha
on the Showtime series, “Linc’s.” She and Tim will
establish New Millennium Studios in Petersburg, Virginia
in 1997. It will be Virginia’s only full-service film
production studio.

1954 – David Thompson is born in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
He will become a college and professional all-star
basketball player. At North Carolina State in the mid-1970s,
he will be a three-time All-American and two-time College
Player of the Year. It was he who popularized the
“alley-oop.” He will bring his explosive game to the
professional level in 1975 when he is drafted by both the
NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and the ABA’s Virginia Squires. He will
opt for the ABA with the Denver Nuggets, who acquire his
rights in a trade with the Virginia Squires. In the first of
nine professional seasons (Denver Nuggets 1975-82, Seattle
Supersonics 1982-84), he will average 26.0 points per game,
be chosen MVP in the ABA All-Star Game and the ABA’s Rookie
of the Year. He will enjoy similar success in the NBA. He
will be a four-time NBA All-Star and win the MVP Award in
the 1979 All-Star Game. A two-time First Team All-NBA
selection in 1977 and 1978, he will average 22.1 ppg in the
regular season and 22.9 ppg in the playoffs during his NBA
career. His prolific scoring career will be remembered most
for the 73-point outburst he had in the final game of the
1978 season. In what will be the closest race for the NBA
scoring title, his outburst (third highest in NBA history)
will leave him just .06 points behind George Gervin. The
Denver Nuggets will honor him for his career achievements
when they retire his number 33 jersey on Nov. 12, 1992.

1963 – Anthony Jerome “Spud” Webb is born in Dallas, Texas. He will
become one of the shortest players in NBA history but with
a vertical jump of 44″ (112 cm). Webb is most famous for
his performance in the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He will
surprise teammate and defending dunk champion Dominique
Wilkins by entering the contest. He made history that day
not only because of his size, but also because he will win
by defeating Wilkins with 2 perfect 50 scores in the final
round. He is the shortest player ever to have competed in
the NBA Slam Dunk competition. He will play most of his NBA
career with the Atlanta Hawks, but will also have stints
with the Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves and
Orlando Magic. He will retire from basketball in 1998 with a
9.9 points per game average over his 12 year NBA career. He,
along with Greg Grant and Keith Jennings, is the third-
shortest player in NBA history. Only Earl Boykins (5’5″) and
Muggsy Bogues (5’3″) are shorter.

1965 – Thurgood Marshall, an Appeals Court judge for three years,
is appointed Solicitor General of the United States, the
first African American to hold the office.

1985 – Arthur Ashe, the first African American male to win
Wimbledon, is inducted into the International Tennis Hall
of Fame.

1985 – The first “Live Aid”, an international rock concert in
London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, takes place to
raise money for Africa’s starving people. Over $70
million is collected for African famine relief.

1998 – A jury in Poughkeepsie, New York, rules that the Rev. Al
Sharpton and two others had defamed a former prosecutor
by accusing him of raping Tawana Brawley.

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

KRLemmons African American History

January 6 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – January 6 *

1773 – “Felix,” a Boston slave, and others petition Massachusetts
Governor Hutchinson for their freedom. It is the first of
a record eight similar petitions filed during the
Revolutionary War.

1831 – The World Anti-Slavery Convention opens in London, England.

1832 – William Lloyd Garrison founds the New England Anti-Slavery
Society at the African Meeting House in Boston,
Massachusetts, where he issues the society’s “Declaration
of Sentiments” from the Meeting House pulpit.

1882 – Thomas Boyne receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for
bravery in two New Mexico battles while a sergeant in Troop
C, 9th U.S. Calvary.

1906 – Benedict Wallet Vilakazi is born in South Africa. He will
become a pre-apartheid Zulu poet, novelist, and educator.
In 1946, he will become the first Black South African to
receive a Ph.D. He will become the first Black South African
to teach white South Africans at the university level. He
will join the ancestors on October 26, 1947 after succumbing
to meningitis.

1937 – Doris Payne is born in Bronx, New York. She will become a
rhythm and blues singer better known as Doris Troy and best
known for her song “Just One Look.” She will also be known
as “Mama Soul.” “Mama, I Want To Sing” will be a stage
musical based on her life, and co-written with her sister,
Vy. It will run for 1,500 performances at the Heckscher
Theatre in Harlem. She will play the part of her own mother,
Geraldine. She will join the ancestors on February 16, 2004,
succumbing to emphysema.

1966 – Harold R. Perry becomes the second African American Roman
Catholic bishop since the U.S. was founded and the first in
the 20th century.

1968 – John Daniel Singleton is born in Los Angeles, California.
He will become an Academy Award-nominated film director,
screenwriter, and producer. His movies will depict his
native South Los Angeles with both its sweet and violent
sides given equal consideration. He will attend Pasadena
City College and the University of Southern California.
He will receive many distinctions, beginning during his
time as an undergraduate screenwriter at the University
of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts,
including nominations for Best Screenplay and Director for
“Boyz N the Hood.” He will be the youngest person ever
nominated for Best Director at the 1991 Academy Awards for
“Boyz N the Hood” and the first (and, to date, the only)
African American to be nominated for the award.

1971 – Cecil A. Partee is elected president pro tem of the Illinois
State Senate. He is the first African American to hold this
position.

1984 – Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Robert N.C. Nix, Jr., is
inaugurated as Chief Justice. The Philadelphia native,
former deputy attorney general of the state, and thirteen-
year veteran of the Court, is the first African American to
head a state Supreme Court.

1989 – Elizabeth Koontz joins the ancestors at the age of 69. She
was a noted educator and the first African American
president of the National Education Association. She also
had been director of the Women’s Bureau in the U.S.
Department of Labor.

1993 – Jazz great, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, joins the ancestors
in Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 76. He had played
actively until early 1992.

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

KRLemmons African American History

July 13 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – July 13 *

1787 – The Continental Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance,
which, in addition to providing for a government and
civil liberties for the new territory, excludes slavery
northwest of the Ohio River except as punishment for a
crime.

1863 – Over 1,200 people, mostly African Americans, are killed in
anti-draft rioting in New York City. Rioting begins, in
part, when poor whites revolt against military service
exemptions that allow for a payment of $ 300 in lieu of
being drafted, a price that they cannot afford. The
“Draft Riots” also reflect a growing hostility toward
African Americans, who are seen as the cause of the war.

1868 – Oscar J. Dunn, a former slave, is installed as Lieutenant
Governor of Louisiana.

1919 – Race riots break out in Longview & Gregg counties in Texas.

1928 – Robert N.C. Nix, Jr. is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 1971, he will be the first African American to serve on
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and, in 1984, the first
African American chief justice of a state supreme court.
Chief Justice Nix will be further honored when he is named
president of the Conference of Chief Justices, a national
organization of judges and justices in the U.S. He will
join the ancestors on August 23, 2003.

1948 – Daphne Maxwell (later Reid) is born in Manhattan, New York.
While pursuing a major in Interior Design and Architecture
at Northwestern University, an English teacher from her
high school will submit her photograph to a magazine editor
and friend who was preparing an article on college women.
The result will be a trip to New York and her first full-
page photograph in Seventeen magazine. Quickly signed by
the Eileen Ford Agency, she will appear in many magazines,
and will also become the first Afican American woman to
grace the cover of Glamour magazine. She will transition
into the acting field. She will have the opportunity to
audition for a part in the series “The Duke” starring
Robert Conrad, who will promise her a continuing role, and
keep his word. In 1979, she will go to Los Angeles where
she will continue to work with Robert Conrad, who enlists
her as the villainess in his series, “A Man Called Sloane,”
and subsequently her first movie of the week, “The Coach of
the Year.” She will meet her husband, Tim Reid, who she had
previously known in Chicago. She is most widely recognized
for her role as Aunt Viv on NBC’s hit comedy “The Fresh
Prince of Bel Air.” She is also known for her role on the
CBS comedy series “Frank’s Place,” in which she co-starred
with her husband, Tim. The couple will team up again when
she stars as Mickie Dennis on CBS’ “Snoops,” and also on
the King World syndicated talk show, “The Tim and Daphne
Show” for 76 1-hour episodes. She will also star as Eartha
on the Showtime series, “Linc’s.” She and Tim will
establish New Millennium Studios in Petersburg, Virginia
in 1997. It will be Virginia’s only full-service film
production studio.

1954 – David Thompson is born in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
He will become a college and professional all-star
basketball player. At North Carolina State in the mid-1970s,
he will be a three-time All-American and two-time College
Player of the Year. It was he who popularized the
“alley-oop.” He will bring his explosive game to the
professional level in 1975 when he is drafted by both the
NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and the ABA’s Virginia Squires. He will
opt for the ABA with the Denver Nuggets, who acquire his
rights in a trade with the Virginia Squires. In the first of
nine professional seasons (Denver Nuggets 1975-82, Seattle
Supersonics 1982-84), he will average 26.0 points per game,
be chosen MVP in the ABA All-Star Game and the ABA’s Rookie
of the Year. He will enjoy similar success in the NBA. He
will be a four-time NBA All-Star and win the MVP Award in
the 1979 All-Star Game. A two-time First Team All-NBA
selection in 1977 and 1978, he will average 22.1 ppg in the
regular season and 22.9 ppg in the playoffs during his NBA
career. His prolific scoring career will be remembered most
for the 73-point outburst he had in the final game of the
1978 season. In what will be the closest race for the NBA
scoring title, his outburst (third highest in NBA history)
will leave him just .06 points behind George Gervin. The
Denver Nuggets will honor him for his career achievements
when they retire his number 33 jersey on Nov. 12, 1992.

1963 – Anthony Jerome “Spud” Webb is born in Dallas, Texas. He will
become one of the shortest players in NBA history but with
a vertical jump of 44″ (112 cm). Webb is most famous for
his performance in the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He will
surprise teammate and defending dunk champion Dominique
Wilkins by entering the contest. He made history that day
not only because of his size, but also because he will win
by defeating Wilkins with 2 perfect 50 scores in the final
round. He is the shortest player ever to have competed in
the NBA Slam Dunk competition. He will play most of his NBA
career with the Atlanta Hawks, but will also have stints
with the Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves and
Orlando Magic. He will retire from basketball in 1998 with a
9.9 points per game average over his 12 year NBA career. He,
along with Greg Grant and Keith Jennings, is the third-
shortest player in NBA history. Only Earl Boykins (5’5″) and
Muggsy Bogues (5’3″) are shorter.

1965 – Thurgood Marshall, an Appeals Court judge for three years,
is appointed Solicitor General of the United States, the
first African American to hold the office.

1985 – Arthur Ashe, the first African American male to win
Wimbledon, is inducted into the International Tennis Hall
of Fame.

1985 – The first “Live Aid”, an international rock concert in
London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, takes place to
raise money for Africa’s starving people. Over $70
million is collected for African famine relief.

1998 – A jury in Poughkeepsie, New York, rules that the Rev. Al
Sharpton and two others had defamed a former prosecutor
by accusing him of raping Tawana Brawley.

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

KRLemmons African American History

January 6 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – January 6 *

1773 – “Felix,” a Boston slave, and others petition Massachusetts
Governor Hutchinson for their freedom. It is the first of
a record eight similar petitions filed during the
Revolutionary War.

1831 – The World Anti-Slavery Convention opens in London, England.

1832 – William Lloyd Garrison founds the New England Anti-Slavery
Society at the African Meeting House in Boston,
Massachusetts, where he issues the society’s “Declaration
of Sentiments” from the Meeting House pulpit.

1882 – Thomas Boyne receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for
bravery in two New Mexico battles while a sergeant in Troop
C, 9th U.S. Calvary.

1906 – Benedict Wallet Vilakazi is born in South Africa. He will
become a pre-apartheid Zulu poet, novelist, and educator.
In 1946, he will become the first Black South African to
receive a Ph.D. He will become the first Black South African
to teach white South Africans at the university level. He
will join the ancestors on October 26, 1947 after succumbing
to meningitis.

1937 – Doris Payne is born in Bronx, New York. She will become a
rhythm and blues singer better known as Doris Troy and best
known for her song “Just One Look.” She will also be known
as “Mama Soul.” “Mama, I Want To Sing” will be a stage
musical based on her life, and co-written with her sister,
Vy. It will run for 1,500 performances at the Heckscher
Theatre in Harlem. She will play the part of her own mother,
Geraldine. She will join the ancestors on February 16, 2004,
succumbing to emphysema.

1966 – Harold R. Perry becomes the second African American Roman
Catholic bishop since the U.S. was founded and the first in
the 20th century.

1968 – John Daniel Singleton is born in Los Angeles, California.
He will become an Academy Award-nominated film director,
screenwriter, and producer. His movies will depict his
native South Los Angeles with both its sweet and violent
sides given equal consideration. He will attend Pasadena
City College and the University of Southern California.
He will receive many distinctions, beginning during his
time as an undergraduate screenwriter at the University
of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts,
including nominations for Best Screenplay and Director for
“Boyz N the Hood.” He will be the youngest person ever
nominated for Best Director at the 1991 Academy Awards for
“Boyz N the Hood” and the first (and, to date, the only)
African American to be nominated for the award.

1971 – Cecil A. Partee is elected president pro tem of the Illinois
State Senate. He is the first African American to hold this
position.

1984 – Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Robert N.C. Nix, Jr., is
inaugurated as Chief Justice. The Philadelphia native,
former deputy attorney general of the state, and thirteen-
year veteran of the Court, is the first African American to
head a state Supreme Court.

1989 – Elizabeth Koontz joins the ancestors at the age of 69. She
was a noted educator and the first African American
president of the National Education Association. She also
had been director of the Women’s Bureau in the U.S.
Department of Labor.

1993 – Jazz great, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, joins the ancestors
in Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 76. He had played
actively until early 1992.

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