KRLemmons African American History

August 6 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – August 6 *

1795 – Absalom Jones is ordained a deacon in the Protestant
Episcopal Church.

1816 – Peter Salem, Battle of Bunker Hill hero, joins the
ancestors in Framingham, Massachusetts.

1861 – Congress passes The First Confiscation Act, authorizing
the appropriation of the property, including slaves, of
rebel slaveholders.

1925 – African American lawyers organize the National Bar
Association and name George H. Woodson of Des Moines,
Iowa, as President, and Wendell Gree of Chicago,
Illinois, as Secretary.

1930 – Anna Marie Wooldridge is born in Chicago, Illinois. She
will become a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress
known as Abbey Lincoln. She will be widely respected for
her writing skills. She will be one of many singers
influenced by Billie Holiday. She will have a very long
and productive career. With Ivan Dixon, she will co-star
in “Nothing But a Man” (1964), an independent film written
and directed by Michael Roemer. She also will co-star with
Sidney Poitier and Beau Bridges in 1968’s “For Love of
Ivy.” She will also appear in the 1956 film “The Girl
Can’t Help It.” She will continue to perform and
will often be found at the Blue Note in New York City. She
will perform until 2007. She will join the ancestors on
August 14, 2010.

1934 – United States troops leave Haiti, which it had occupied
since 1915.

1941 – An African American private and a white military policeman
are shot to death on a bus in North Carolina during a
fight between African American and white soldiers. This
is the first of a series of serious racial incidents
(between African American and white soldiers and African
American soldiers and white civilians) which will
continue throughout the war.

1952 – Satchel Paige, at age 46, becomes the oldest pitcher to
complete a major-league baseball game. Paige, pitching
for the Cleveland Indians, shuts out the Detroit Tigers
1-0 in a 12-inning game.

1962 – Jamaica becomes independent after 300 years of British
rule.

1965 – The Voting Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon B.
Johnson in the same room that Abraham Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther
King, Jr., and a host of others witness the signing of
the act, which suspends the use of literary tests and
calls for federal examiners to ensure fair elections in
the South.

1965 – David Maurice Robinson is born in Key West, Florida.. He
will become a NBA center (San Antonio Spurs), NBA Rookie
of Year (1990), and will lead the NBA in scoring in 1994.
He will help lead the Spurs to the NBA Championship in
1999.

1969 – The Learning Tree, directed by Gordon Parks, Jr., premieres.
The film is the first directed by an African American in
modern times.

1973 – Stevie Wonder is nearly killed in an automobile accident
near Durham, North Carolina, where he was to perform in a
benefit concert. Wonder suffers severe brain contusions
and a broken skull and will be in a coma for ten days as a
result of his injuries.

1984 – Carl Lewis wins 2nd (long jump) of 4 gold medals in the
Summer Olympics.

1988 – Once accused by African American artists of racism, MTV,
the 24-hour cable music channel, premieres “Yo! MTV Raps.”
It will become one of the station’s most popular programs.

1994 – In Wedowee, Alabama, an apparent arson fire destroys
Randolph County High School, which had been the focus of
tensions over the principal’s stand against interracial
dating.

1996 – U.S. Officials announce that the Air Force had punished 16
officers in connection with the crash that killed Commerce
Secretary Ron Brown and 34 others the previous April.

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

KRLemmons African American History

June 18 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – June 18 *

1889 – William H. Richardson receives a patent for a baby
carriage whose body can be raised from its frame.

1939 – Louis Clark “Lou” Brock is born in El Dorado, Arkansas.
He will become a professional baseball player with the
Chicago Cubs in 1961. Three years later, in 1964, he
will be traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Brock will
have an immediate impact with the Cardinals entering the
starting lineup. He will record 12 homeruns, 44 RBI, an
amazing .348 batting average, and blister the baselines
stealing 44 bases in his first season with St. Louis.
During his 19-year career, the outfielder will steal an
unprecedented 938 bases and break several World Series
records, including hitting .391 in over 20 World Series
games. Exemplifying the spirit of baseball on and off
the field, Brock will earn the Roberto Clemente and the
Jackie Robinson Awards, among many others. A Cardinal
for the remainder of his career, Lou Brock will enter the
Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1985.

1941 – President Roosevelt confers with A. Philip Randolph and
other leaders of a “March on Washington” movement and
urges them to call off a scheduled demonstration. Randolph
refuses.

1942 – Bernard W. Robinson, of Harvard Medical School, becomes a
Naval Reserve ensign. He is the first African American to
earn a U.S. Navy commission.

1953 – Egypt becomes a republic after the forced abdication of
King Farouk I. General Neguib becomes president.

1963 – Bruce Bernard Smith is born in Norfolk, Viriginia. He will
become a defensive end for the NFL Buffalo Bills. He will
spend his last few years with the Washington Redskins where
he will break Reggie White’s record for sacks. The holder
of the NFL career record for quarterback sacks, he will be
enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009, his
first year of eligibility

1963 – 3,000 African Americans boycott Boston public schools as
a protest against defacto segregation.

1968 – The U.S. Supreme Court bans racial discrimination in the
sale and rental of housing.

1966 – Samuel Nabrit becomes the first African American scientist
to serve on the Atomic Energy Commission.

1982 – The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is extended for an additional
twenty-five years by Senate vote of 85-8. The Voting Rights
Act protects citizens’ ability to vote, not the right to
vote. All U.S. citizens have the right to vote, but state
and local jurisdictions are prevented from interfering with
the voters’ ability to vote. It outlaws such practices as
poll taxes, reciting the preamble to the U.S. Constitution,
etc. as a condition to vote.

1985 – Patrick Ewing becomes one of 11 basketball centers to be
chosen in the first round of the National Basketball
Association draft of college players. Ewing is picked by
— and will become a major star for — the New York Knicks.

1991 – City Auditor, Wellington Webb is elected mayor of Denver,
Colorado. He becomes the first African American to hold the
post.

2003 – Larry Doby joins the ancestors at age 79 after a long
illness. He was a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland
Indians and Chicago White Sox and second African American
player in the modern major leagues. Jackie Robinson was the
first.

2011 – Clarence Clemons joins the ancestors at the age of 69. Also
known as “the Big Man,” he was the saxophonist in the “E
Street Band,” Bruce Springsteen’s back up band. He succumbed
to complications from a stroke. Bruce Springsteen’s statement:
“Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love
of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and
extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and
gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His
loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have
known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for
nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and
with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a
story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His
life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and
in our band.”

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