KRLemmons African American History

January 24 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – January 24 *

1885 – Martin R. Delany joins the ancestors at the age of 72 in
Wilberforce, Ohio. Delany served as a physician and was
the first commissioned African American officer in the
Union Army during the Civil War. He also was a leader in
the fight to end racial job discrimination. Delany will
encourage African Americans to seek their own identity and
is considered by some historians to be the father of
American Black nationalism. He is the author of “Search
for a Place: Black Separatism and Africa,” and “The
Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the
Colored People in the United States.”

1941 – Aaron Neville is born in New Orleans Louisiana. He will
become a rhythm and blues singer and will enjoy his first
hit in 1967, “Tell It Like It Is.” He will win a Grammy for
his 1990 single, a duet with Linda Ronstadt, “Don’t Know
Much.” He will become equally well known for performing
vocals and keyboards with the group The Neville Brothers,
together with his three musically accomplished siblings.
Their albums, reflecting rock, R&B, soul, and jazz
influences, will be compiled in “Treacherous: A History of
the Neville Brothers, 1955-85” (1986).

1977 – Howard T. Ward becomes Georgia’s first African American
Superior Court Judge.

1985 – Four-term Los Angeles mayor Thomas Bradley is awarded the
NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for his long career as a public
servant and for “demonstrating…that the American dream
not only can be pursued but realized.”

1988 – Forty-eight African American writers and literary critics
sign a controversial statement that appears in “The New York
Times Book Review” supporting author Toni Morrison and
protesting her failure to win the “keystone honors of the
National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize.”

1989 – Reverend Barbara Harris’ election as suffragan bishop is
ratified by the Diocese of Massachusetts. Her election and
consecration occur amid widespread controversy regarding the
role of women bishops in the Episcopal Church. She will be
the first female bishop in the church’s 450-year history.

1993 – Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court
Justice, joins the ancestors in Washington, DC. He will be
buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was one of the
most well-known figures in the history of civil rights in
America and served on the Supreme Court for 24 years.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 29 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 29 *

***********************************************************************
* The Nguzo Saba – The seven principles of Kwanzaa – Principle for *
* Day #4 – Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah) Cooperative Economics: To build and *
* maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit *
* from them. *
***********************************************************************

1907 – Robert Weaver is born in Washington, DC. He will become the
first African American appointed to a presidential cabinet
position when President Lyndon B. Johnson names him to head
the newly created Department of Housing and Urban Development.
He will join the ancestors on July 17, 1997.

1917 – Thomas Bradley is born in Calvert, Texas. He will become a
successful politician in California and will be elected as the
first African American mayor of Los Angeles by winning 56% of
the vote. He will serve as mayor for twenty years (five terms).
He will join the ancestors on September 29, 1998.

1925 – At 67, Anna Julia Cooper receives her doctorate from the
University of Paris. Officials of the French Embassy present
the degree to her at ceremonies at Howard University. Cooper
had been a noted college and secondary school educator and will
continue to teach and work for educational improvement for
African Americans until her death at the age of 105.

1939 – Kelly Miller joins the ancestors in Washington, DC. The first
African American to be admitted to Johns Hopkins University (In
1887), and later a longtime professor and dean at Howard
University, Miller was a noted writer, essayist, and newspaper
columnist who opposed the accommodations policies of Booker T.
Washington. He was best known, however, as a champion for
educational development for African Americans, dramatically
increasing enrollment at Howard and founding a “Negro-Americana
Museum and Library,” which will become Howard’s Moorland-
Spingarn Research Center.

1952 – Noted jazz bandleader Fletcher Henderson joins the ancestors in
New York City. Henderson worked early in his career with Harry
Pace of Black Swan Records as a recording manager and, in 1924,
started playing at the Roseland Ballroom, the same year he
added New Orleans trumpeteer Louis Armstrong to the band.
Armstrong’s short tenure helped it evolve from a dance to a
jazz band and established Henderson as the founding father of
the big band movement in jazz.

1954 – The Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Netherlands & Netherlands
Antilles as autonomous parts, comes into being.

1982 – Jamaica issues a postage stamp to honor Bob Marley.

2008 – Jazz trumpeter, Freddie Hubbard, joins the ancestors after
succumbing to a heart attack in Sherman Oaks, California.
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

KRLemmons African American History

November 6 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – November 6 *

1746 – Absalom Jones, a major leader of the African American Pioneer
period, is born into slavery in Sussex, Delaware. Jones will
become a friend of Richard Allen and together they will found
the Free African Society, which would serve as a protective
society and social organization for free African Americans.
.
1844 – Spain grants the Dominican Republic its independence.

1868 – Jonathan Gibbs, minister and educator, is appointed Secretary
of State by the governor of Florida.

1884 – Author and abolitionist William Wells Brown joins the ancestors
in Chelsea, Massachusetts. An escaped slave, Brown’s
autobiography sold 10,000 copies, a record in his day. Brown
also wrote the first known travelogue by an African American
and authored the 1853 work “Clotel”; “Or The President’s
Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States”, the
first fictional work published by an African American.

1900 – James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson compose “Lift
Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” It will become known as the “Negro
National Anthem.”

1920 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to W.E.B. Du Bois for
“the founding and calling of the Pan African Congress.”

1920 – James Weldon Johnson becomes the first African American
executive secretary of the NAACP.

1928 – Oscar DePriest is elected to the Seventy-First Congress from
Illinois’ First Congressional District (Chicago). Before
becoming a U.S. Representative, DePriest was the first African
American to serve on the Chicago City Council, having been
elected alderman of the Second Ward in 1915. He is the first
African American to win a seat in the United States House of
Representatives in the twentieth century.

1928 – The Atlanta “Daily World” is founded by W.A. Scott Jr. The
newspaper will become a daily in 1933.

1928 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Charles W. Chestnutt,
the first African American to receive widespread critical
recognition as a novelist. He was cited for his “pioneer work
as a literary artist depicting the life and struggle of
Americans of Negro descent.”

1937 – Eugene Pitt is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will become a
rhythm and blues singer with The Genies – “Who’s that Knockin'”
and lead singer for The Jive Five – “Never Never,” “What Time is
It?,” “I’m a Happy Man” and “My True Story”.

1962 – Edward W. Brooke is elected Attorney General of Massachusetts,
Gerald Lamb is elected Treasurer of Connecticut, and 5 African
Americans are elected to the House of Representatives. Augustus
“Gus” F. Hawkins, becomes the first African American congressman
from the West (Los Angeles, California).

1962 – The U.N. General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South
Africa for its apartheid policies and recommends member states
apply economic sanctions.

1973 – Coleman Young is elected as the first African American mayor
of Detroit, Michigan.

1973 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Wilson C. Riles,
the superintendent of public instruction in California, “in
recognition of the stature he has attained as a national leader
in the field of education.”

1973 – The Symbionese Liberation Army ambushes Marcus A. Foster,
superintendent of public schools in Oakland, California, after
a Board of Education meeting. Two members of the group, were
convicted of the slaying, but one of the men has his conviction
overturned, based on a legal technicality.

1973 – Thomas Bradley is elected as the first African American mayor
of Los Angeles, California. His political success was due to
his masterful use of multi-racial coalition. African Americans
at this time were not a large segment of the Los Angeles
population.

1976 – FCC Commissioner Benjamin Hooks is elected NAACP executive
director by the organization’s board of directors, succeeding
Roy Wilkins. He will serve the organization for 16 years,
retiring in 1992. Of his tenure he says, “We have maintained
the integrity of this organization and kept our name out front
and on the minds of those who would turn back the clock.”

1983 – Sgt. Farley Simon, a native of Grenada, becomes the first Marine
to win the Marine Corps Marathon.

1990 – Harvey Gantt, former mayor of Charlotte, NC, loses his Senate
race to incumbent Jesse Helms and the opportunity to become the
first African American senator from the South since
Reconstruction. Barbara-Rose Collins and Maxine Waters are
elected to Congress from their home districts in Michigan and
California, respectively, while Eleanor Holmes Norton is elected
as a non-voting delegate from the District of Columbia.

1990 – Arsenio Hall gets a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

1992 – Vernon Jordan, along with Warren Christopher, is asked to lead
the White House transition team, by President-elect William
Jefferson Clinton.

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

KRLemmons African American History

January 24 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – January 24 *

1885 – Martin R. Delany joins the ancestors at the age of 72 in
Wilberforce, Ohio. Delany served as a physician and was
the first commissioned African American officer in the
Union Army during the Civil War. He also was a leader in
the fight to end racial job discrimination. Delany will
encourage African Americans to seek their own identity and
is considered by some historians to be the father of
American Black nationalism. He is the author of “Search
for a Place: Black Separatism and Africa,” and “The
Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the
Colored People in the United States.”

1941 – Aaron Neville is born in New Orleans Louisiana. He will
become a rhythm and blues singer and will enjoy his first
hit in 1967, “Tell It Like It Is.” He will win a Grammy for
his 1990 single, a duet with Linda Ronstadt, “Don’t Know
Much.” He will become equally well known for performing
vocals and keyboards with the group The Neville Brothers,
together with his three musically accomplished siblings.
Their albums, reflecting rock, R&B, soul, and jazz
influences, will be compiled in “Treacherous: A History of
the Neville Brothers, 1955-85” (1986).

1977 – Howard T. Ward becomes Georgia’s first African American
Superior Court Judge.

1985 – Four-term Los Angeles mayor Thomas Bradley is awarded the
NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for his long career as a public
servant and for “demonstrating…that the American dream
not only can be pursued but realized.”

1988 – Forty-eight African American writers and literary critics
sign a controversial statement that appears in “The New York
Times Book Review” supporting author Toni Morrison and
protesting her failure to win the “keystone honors of the
National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize.”

1989 – Reverend Barbara Harris’ election as suffragan bishop is
ratified by the Diocese of Massachusetts. Her election and
consecration occur amid widespread controversy regarding the
role of women bishops in the Episcopal Church. She will be
the first female bishop in the church’s 450-year history.

1993 – Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court
Justice, joins the ancestors in Washington, DC. He will be
buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was one of the
most well-known figures in the history of civil rights in
America and served on the Supreme Court for 24 years.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 29 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – December 29 *

***********************************************************************
* The Nguzo Saba – The seven principles of Kwanzaa – Principle for *
* Day #4 – Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah) Cooperative Economics: To build and *
* maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit *
* from them. http://www.endarkenment.com/kwanzaa/ *
***********************************************************************

1907 – Robert Weaver is born in Washington, DC. He will become the
first African American appointed to a presidential cabinet
position when President Lyndon B. Johnson names him to head
the newly created Department of Housing and Urban Development.
He will join the ancestors on July 17, 1997.

1917 – Thomas Bradley is born in Calvert, Texas. He will become a
successful politician in California and will be elected as the
first African American mayor of Los Angeles by winning 56% of
the vote. He will serve as mayor for twenty years (five terms).
He will join the ancestors on September 29, 1998.

1925 – At 67, Anna Julia Cooper receives her doctorate from the
University of Paris. Officials of the French Embassy present
the degree to her at ceremonies at Howard University. Cooper
had been a noted college and secondary school educator and will
continue to teach and work for educational improvement for
African Americans until her death at the age of 105.

1939 – Kelly Miller joins the ancestors in Washington, DC. The first
African American to be admitted to Johns Hopkins University (In
1887), and later a longtime professor and dean at Howard
University, Miller was a noted writer, essayist, and newspaper
columnist who opposed the accommodations policies of Booker T.
Washington. He was best known, however, as a champion for
educational development for African Americans, dramatically
increasing enrollment at Howard and founding a “Negro-Americana
Museum and Library,” which will become Howard’s Moorland-
Spingarn Research Center.

1952 – Noted jazz bandleader Fletcher Henderson joins the ancestors in
New York City. Henderson worked early in his career with Harry
Pace of Black Swan Records as a recording manager and, in 1924,
started playing at the Roseland Ballroom, the same year he
added New Orleans trumpeteer Louis Armstrong to the band.
Armstrong’s short tenure helped it evolve from a dance to a
jazz band and established Henderson as the founding father of
the big band movement in jazz.

1954 – The Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Netherlands & Netherlands
Antilles as autonomous parts, comes into being.

1982 – Jamaica issues a postage stamp to honor Bob Marley.

2008 – Jazz trumpeter, Freddie Hubbard, joins the ancestors after
succumbing to a heart attack in Sherman Oaks, California.

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

KRLemmons African American History

November 6 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – November 6 *

1746 – Absalom Jones, a major leader of the African American Pioneer
period, is born into slavery in Sussex, Delaware. Jones will
become a friend of Richard Allen and together they will found
the Free African Society, which would serve as a protective
society and social organization for free African Americans.
.
1844 – Spain grants the Dominican Republic its independence.

1868 – Jonathan Gibbs, minister and educator, is appointed Secretary
of State by the governor of Florida.

1884 – Author and abolitionist William Wells Brown joins the ancestors
in Chelsea, Massachusetts. An escaped slave, Brown’s
autobiography sold 10,000 copies, a record in his day. Brown
also wrote the first known travelogue by an African American
and authored the 1853 work “Clotel”; “Or The President’s
Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States”, the
first fictional work published by an African American.

1900 – James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson compose “Lift
Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” It will become known as the “Negro
National Anthem.”

1920 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to W.E.B. Du Bois for
“the founding and calling of the Pan African Congress.”

1920 – James Weldon Johnson becomes the first African American
executive secretary of the NAACP.

1928 – Oscar DePriest is elected to the Seventy-First Congress from
Illinois’ First Congressional District (Chicago). Before
becoming a U.S. Representative, DePriest was the first African
American to serve on the Chicago City Council, having been
elected alderman of the Second Ward in 1915. He is the first
African American to win a seat in the United States House of
Representatives in the twentieth century.

1928 – The Atlanta “Daily World” is founded by W.A. Scott Jr. The
newspaper will become a daily in 1933.

1928 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Charles W. Chestnutt,
the first African American to receive widespread critical
recognition as a novelist. He was cited for his “pioneer work
as a literary artist depicting the life and struggle of
Americans of Negro descent.”

1937 – Eugene Pitt is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will become a
rhythm and blues singer with The Genies – “Who’s that Knockin'”
and lead singer for The Jive Five – “Never Never,” “What Time is
It?,” “I’m a Happy Man” and “My True Story”.

1962 – Edward W. Brooke is elected Attorney General of Massachusetts,
Gerald Lamb is elected Treasurer of Connecticut, and 5 African
Americans are elected to the House of Representatives. Augustus
“Gus” F. Hawkins, becomes the first African American congressman
from the West (Los Angeles, California).

1962 – The U.N. General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South
Africa for its apartheid policies and recommends member states
apply economic sanctions.

1973 – Coleman Young is elected as the first African American mayor
of Detroit, Michigan.

1973 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Wilson C. Riles,
the superintendent of public instruction in California, “in
recognition of the stature he has attained as a national leader
in the field of education.”

1973 – The Symbionese Liberation Army ambushes Marcus A. Foster,
superintendent of public schools in Oakland, California, after
a Board of Education meeting. Two members of the group, were
convicted of the slaying, but one of the men has his conviction
overturned, based on a legal technicality.

1973 – Thomas Bradley is elected as the first African American mayor
of Los Angeles, California. His political success was due to
his masterful use of multi-racial coalition. African Americans
at this time were not a large segment of the Los Angeles
population.

1976 – FCC Commissioner Benjamin Hooks is elected NAACP executive
director by the organization’s board of directors, succeeding
Roy Wilkins. He will serve the organization for 16 years,
retiring in 1992. Of his tenure he says, “We have maintained
the integrity of this organization and kept our name out front
and on the minds of those who would turn back the clock.”

1983 – Sgt. Farley Simon, a native of Grenada, becomes the first Marine
to win the Marine Corps Marathon.

1990 – Harvey Gantt, former mayor of Charlotte, NC, loses his Senate
race to incumbent Jesse Helms and the opportunity to become the
first African American senator from the South since
Reconstruction. Barbara-Rose Collins and Maxine Waters are
elected to Congress from their home districts in Michigan and
California, respectively, while Eleanor Holmes Norton is elected
as a non-voting delegate from the District of Columbia.

1990 – Arsenio Hall gets a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

1992 – Vernon Jordan, along with Warren Christopher, is asked to lead
the White House transition team, by President-elect William
Jefferson Clinton.

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

KRLemmons African American History

January 24 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – January 24 *

1885 – Martin R. Delany joins the ancestors at the age of 72 in
Wilberforce, Ohio. Delany served as a physician and was
the first commissioned African American officer in the
Union Army during the Civil War. He also was a leader in
the fight to end racial job discrimination. Delany will
encourage African Americans to seek their own identity and
is considered by some historians to be the father of
American Black nationalism. He is the author of “Search
for a Place: Black Separatism and Africa,” and “The
Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the
Colored People in the United States.”

1941 – Aaron Neville is born in New Orleans Louisiana. He will
become a rhythm and blues singer and will enjoy his first
hit in 1967, “Tell It Like It Is.” He will win a Grammy for
his 1990 single, a duet with Linda Ronstadt, “Don’t Know
Much.” He will become equally well known for performing
vocals and keyboards with the group The Neville Brothers,
together with his three musically accomplished siblings.
Their albums, reflecting rock, R&B, soul, and jazz
influences, will be compiled in “Treacherous: A History of
the Neville Brothers, 1955-85” (1986).

1977 – Howard T. Ward becomes Georgia’s first African American
Superior Court Judge.

1985 – Four-term Los Angeles mayor Thomas Bradley is awarded the
NAACP’s Spingarn Medal for his long career as a public
servant and for “demonstrating…that the American dream
not only can be pursued but realized.”

1988 – Forty-eight African American writers and literary critics
sign a controversial statement that appears in “The New York
Times Book Review” supporting author Toni Morrison and
protesting her failure to win the “keystone honors of the
National Book Award or the Pulitzer Prize.”

1989 – Reverend Barbara Harris’ election as suffragan bishop is
ratified by the Diocese of Massachusetts. Her election and
consecration occur amid widespread controversy regarding the
role of women bishops in the Episcopal Church. She will be
the first female bishop in the church’s 450-year history.

1993 – Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court
Justice, joins the ancestors in Washington, DC. He will be
buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was one of the
most well-known figures in the history of civil rights in
America and served on the Supreme Court for 24 years.

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

KRLemmons African American History

December 29 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – December 29 *

***********************************************************************
* The Nguzo Saba – The seven principles of Kwanzaa – Principle for *
* Day #4 – Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah) Cooperative Economics: To build and *
* maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit *
* from them. http://www.endarkenment.com/kwanzaa/ *
***********************************************************************

1907 – Robert Weaver is born in Washington, DC. He will become the
first African American appointed to a presidential cabinet
position when President Lyndon B. Johnson names him to head
the newly created Department of Housing and Urban Development.
He will join the ancestors on July 17, 1997.

1917 – Thomas Bradley is born in Calvert, Texas. He will become a
successful politician in California and will be elected as the
first African American mayor of Los Angeles by winning 56% of
the vote. He will serve as mayor for twenty years (five terms).
He will join the ancestors on September 29, 1998.

1925 – At 67, Anna Julia Cooper receives her doctorate from the
University of Paris. Officials of the French Embassy present
the degree to her at ceremonies at Howard University. Cooper
had been a noted college and secondary school educator and will
continue to teach and work for educational improvement for
African Americans until her death at the age of 105.

1939 – Kelly Miller joins the ancestors in Washington, DC. The first
African American to be admitted to Johns Hopkins University (In
1887), and later a longtime professor and dean at Howard
University, Miller was a noted writer, essayist, and newspaper
columnist who opposed the accommodations policies of Booker T.
Washington. He was best known, however, as a champion for
educational development for African Americans, dramatically
increasing enrollment at Howard and founding a “Negro-Americana
Museum and Library,” which will become Howard’s Moorland-
Spingarn Research Center.

1952 – Noted jazz bandleader Fletcher Henderson joins the ancestors in
New York City. Henderson worked early in his career with Harry
Pace of Black Swan Records as a recording manager and, in 1924,
started playing at the Roseland Ballroom, the same year he
added New Orleans trumpeteer Louis Armstrong to the band.
Armstrong’s short tenure helped it evolve from a dance to a
jazz band and established Henderson as the founding father of
the big band movement in jazz.

1954 – The Kingdom of the Netherlands, with Netherlands & Netherlands
Antilles as autonomous parts, comes into being.

1982 – Jamaica issues a postage stamp to honor Bob Marley.

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

KRLemmons African American History

November 6 African American Historical Events

Today in Black History – November 6               *

1746 – Absalom Jones, a major leader of the African American Pioneer
period, is born into slavery in Sussex, Delaware.  Jones will
become a friend of Richard Allen and together they will found
the Free African Society, which would serve as a protective
society and social organization for free African Americans.
.
1844 – Spain grants the Dominican Republic its independence.

1868 – Jonathan Gibbs, minister and educator, is appointed Secretary
of State by the governor of Florida.

1884 – Author and abolitionist William Wells Brown joins the ancestors
in Chelsea, Massachusetts.  An escaped slave, Brown’s
autobiography sold 10,000 copies, a record in his day.  Brown
also wrote the first known travelogue by an African American
and authored the 1853 work “Clotel”; “Or The President’s
Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States”, the
first fictional work published by an African American.

1900 – James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson compose “Lift
Ev’ry Voice and Sing.”  It will become known as the “Negro
National Anthem.”

1920 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is awarded to W.E.B. Du Bois for
“the founding and calling of the Pan African Congress.”

1920 – James Weldon Johnson becomes the first African American
executive secretary of the NAACP.

1928 – Oscar DePriest is elected to the Seventy-First Congress from
Illinois’ First Congressional District (Chicago).  Before
becoming a U.S. Representative, DePriest was the first African
American to serve on the Chicago City Council, having been
elected alderman of the Second Ward in 1915.  He is the first
African American to win a seat in the United States House of
Representatives in the twentieth century.

1928 – The Atlanta “Daily World” is founded by W.A. Scott Jr.  The
newspaper will become a daily in 1933.

1928 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Charles W. Chestnutt,
the first African American to receive widespread critical
recognition as a novelist.  He was cited for his “pioneer work
as a literary artist depicting the life and struggle of
Americans of Negro descent.”

1937 – Eugene Pitt is born in Brooklyn, New York.  He will become a
rhythm and blues singer with The Genies – “Who’s that Knockin'”
and lead singer for The Jive Five – “Never Never,” “What Time is
It?,” “I’m a Happy Man” and “My True Story”.

1962 – Edward W. Brooke is elected Attorney General of Massachusetts,
Gerald Lamb is elected Treasurer of Connecticut, and 5 African
Americans are elected to the House of Representatives.  Augustus
“Gus” F. Hawkins, becomes the first African American congressman
from the West (Los Angeles, California).

1962 – The U.N. General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South
Africa for its apartheid policies and recommends member states
apply economic sanctions.

1973 – Coleman Young is elected as the first African American mayor
of Detroit, Michigan.

1973 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Wilson C. Riles,
the superintendent of public instruction in California, “in
recognition of the stature he has attained as a national leader
in the field of education.”

1973 – The Symbionese Liberation Army ambushes Marcus A. Foster,
superintendent of public schools in Oakland, California, after
a Board of Education meeting.  Two members of the group, were
convicted of the slaying, but one of the men has his conviction
overturned, based on a legal technicality.

1973 – Thomas Bradley is elected as the first African American mayor
of Los Angeles, California.  His political success was due to
his masterful use of multi-racial coalition.  African Americans
at this time were not a large segment of the Los Angeles
population.

1976 – FCC Commissioner Benjamin Hooks is elected NAACP executive
director by the organization’s board of directors, succeeding
Roy Wilkins.  He will serve the organization for 16 years,
retiring in 1992.  Of his tenure he says, “We have maintained
the integrity of this organization and kept our name out front
and on the minds of those who would turn back the clock.”

1983 – Sgt. Farley Simon, a native of Grenada, becomes the first Marine
to win the Marine Corps Marathon.

1990 – Harvey Gantt, former mayor of Charlotte, NC, loses his Senate
race to incumbent Jesse Helms and the opportunity to become the
first African American senator from the South since
Reconstruction.  Barbara-Rose Collins and Maxine Waters are
elected to Congress from their home districts in Michigan and
California, respectively, while Eleanor Holmes Norton is elected
as a non-voting delegate from the District of Columbia.

1990 – Arsenio Hall gets a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

1992 – Vernon Jordan, along with Warren Christopher, is asked to lead
the White House transition team, by President-elect William
Jefferson Clinton.

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