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Archive through May 19, 2004

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2004 Nov. - 2005 Jan.: Black History (ARCHIVES): Archive through May 19, 2004 users admin

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Rupertbear
Member

09-19-2003

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 12:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hmmmm, not quite sure I understand the first fact.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 1:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Then you can go do some more research if you'd like

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 1:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Martin Delaney, who was mentioned on Friday's post, wrote a very good--and somewhat famous--book called Blake; or, the Huts of America, which was an abolitionist book that was published in 1859.

It was out of print for a long time--and there is some question about an authoritative text, but I will leave that to people who determine such things--but you can buy it now on Amazon. I had to read it a couple years ago and it's a cool black separatist/nationalist counterpoint to the emotional excesses in Uncle TOm's Cabin. I haven't found an e-text link yet, but I will post it if I do.

Hippyt
Member

06-15-2001

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 3:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4944787/?GT1=3391

Rupertbear
Member

09-19-2003

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 4:33 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
No luck with my search.

I'm wondering if they were looking for settlers, so he sponsored eleven people in exchange for a payment of land?

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 4:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Marcus Dixon, the Georgia teen whose conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court, Will be on Oprah tomorrow [5/11]. At least for part of the show. Part of it is going to be spent, believe it or not, with Oprah giving us a tour of her house.

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 5:13 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Rupertbear, here is some information link:

The equality of whites and many blacks in 17th century Virginia can be documented in several areas of colonial life which were important in the developement of later mixed-race communities such as those of the Melungeons.
1. African-Americans could own property.
2. African-Americans could own servants of any skin color.
3. There were no laws for most of the 17h century against interracial marriages.
4. Baptised African-Americans were allowed to give testimony in court.

The most famous African-American in the colonies was Anthony Johnson. His Portuguese name, "Antonio" was shared by a number of other early Virginia African-Americans and because of this there is a confusion over which "Antonio" was actually Anthony Johnson. J. Douglas Deal makes a pretty good argument in "Race and Class in Colonial Virginia" that Anthony Johnson was the Antonio or Anthony of Warrosquoke who married a black woman named Mary. This Antonio was a passenger on the "James" from Enland or Bermuda to Virginia in 1622. Another Antonio who lived in Kecoughtan, married a black woman named "Isabelle" and had the first recorded African-American infant, William.

But lost in the controversy over which Antonio was which, is the evidence that BOTH of the two likely were among the Angolans taken from the Sao Joao Bautista in 1619. If Anthony Johnson was simply a black Englishman, then why did his grandson later name his plantation "Angola"? Maj. Jope says one of two named Antonio was sent to England to give testimony at hearings on the Bautista case about 1620-21. That Antonio of Kecoughtan who returned to Virginia in 1622 on the "James" was likely Anthony Johnson.

The lives of many African-Americans in the colonies were reflected in the lives of Anthony Johnson and his family. They owned a thousand acres on the Pungoteague Creek. Anthony was the master of black and white, male and female servants and at least one black slave. When his slave, John Casor, ran away to a white planter, Johnson sued in court and the slave was returned. When a fire destroyed the Johnson plantation in 1652, he appealed to the court and received relief from paying taxes. In 1655 Anthony sold his Virginia farm and moved his family to Somerset County, Maryland. He brought with him a mare, 18 sheep and 14 head of cattle. In 1666 Johnson leased 300 acres in Wimico Hundred and the farm was called "Tonies Vinyard: (from "Anthony") for 200 years after.

John Johnson, a son of Anthony, also owned land in Northampton County. Married to Susanna, John was jailed once in 1664 for begetting a child by Hannah Leach, a white woman. On several occasions he testified in court cases and he witnessed for a number of land transactions. A white man, Edward Surman appointed John as guardian of his children in his will, proved in a Maryland court in 1676. According to genealogist Paul Heinegg in the book "Free African-Americans in Virginia and North Carolina", John Johnson was called a "Free Nigroe", aged 80 years "poor and past his labour" when the Sussex County court agreed to maintain him for life on public funds.

John Johnson had a son, John Jr. born about 1650 who bought about 50 acres in Maryland which he called "Angola". John Jr. "free negro", married a 17 year-old English girl, Elizabeth Lowe in Sussex County, Delaware on March 13, 1680. Anthony had another son, Richard Johnson called "a negro" who married a white woman named Susan. Their son Richard was called a "mulatto".

A great-grandson of the old Ndongo African was Cuff Johnson, head of a Beaufort County, North Carolina household which number two "free" blacks and one white woman in 1800.

In colonial America these examples were repeated many times in numerous black families designated as "free people of color". They were land owners of Virginia, the Carolinas, Maryland and Delaware.. Heinegg cites John Harris, "negro" who was free in 1668 when he bought 50 acres in York County. Emanuell Cambow, another negro, received 50 acres in James City County on
April 18th, 1667.

Rupertbear
Member

09-19-2003

Monday, May 10, 2004 - 6:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hey, thanks Tishala.

I really appreciate you finding this for me. I never knew any of these facts. Very interesting.

Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 7:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
May 11:

1854 Dancer Martha Graham was born in Pittsburg, PA. She is considered a pioneer in Afro-Haitian dance. Read more about her here.

1885 Joseph Oliver was born in Donaldsville, Louisiana. He became a professional musician after learning his craft playing with local street musicians in New Orleans. After playing in the band of Edward "Kid" Ory, he was dubbed "King" Oliver. After being recruited to Chicago, Illinois to play in the band of Bill Johnson, King Oliver assumed leadership of the Creole Jazz Band. He recruited some of best available jazz talent of the time including Louis Armstrong. The Creole Jazz Band disbanded after the exit of Louis Armstrong. King Oliver led various other bands until 1937 when he retired from music. Due to severe gum problems, he stopped playing the cornet in 1931. He died in 1938. King Oliver was one of the pioneering musicians in New Orleans and Chicago style jazz.

1895 William Grant Still was born in Woodville, Mississippi. Considered one of the nation's greatest composers, he began his career by writing arrangements for W.C. Handy and as musical director for Harry Pace's Phonograph Corporation. One of his most famous compositions, "Afro-American Symphony," was the first symphonic work by an African American to be performed by a major symphony orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Symphony, in 1931. He also was the first African American to conduct a major U.S. symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in 1936. He created over 150 musical works including a series of five symphonies, four ballets, and nine operas. Two of his best known compositions were "Afro-American Symphony" (1930) and "A Bayou Legend" (1941). He died in 1978.

1899 Clifton Reginald Wharton was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He became an attorney, the first African American to enter the Foreign Service and the first African American to become the U.S. ambassador to an European country. He began his career in the Foreign Service in 1925 and served in a variety of diplomatic positions in Liberia, Spain, Madagascar, Portugal, and France before becoming the Ambassador to Norway in 1961. He retired from the State Department in 1964 and died in 1990.

1930 Lawson Edward Brathwaite was born in Bridgetown, Barbados. He became a poet, critic, historian and editor better known as Edward Kamau Brathwaite. He was considered by most literary critics in the English speaking Caribbean to be the most important West Indian Poet. He was best known for his works "Rights of Passage," "Masks," and "Islands" which was later combined in a trilogy "The Arrivants." His other works were "Other Exiles," "Mother Poem, Sun Poem," "X/Self," "Middles Passages," and "Roots." He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship, the Casa de las Americas prize, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. After teaching at the University of the West Indies for twenty years, he joined the faculty of New York University.

1933 Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Eugene Walcott) was born in Roxbury, MA. Read more about him here.

1963 One day after Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth announces agreement on a limited integration plan in Birmingham, Alabama, his home was bombed and a riot ensued. Read more about him here.

1965 Blacks held mass meeting in Norfolk (Va.) and demanded equal rights and ballots. Other equal rights meetings and conventions were held in Petersburg, Va., June 6; Vicksburg, Miss., June 19; Alexandria, Va., August 3; Nashville, Tenn., August 7-11; Raleigh, N.C., September 29-October 3; Richmond, September 18; Jackson, Miss., October 7.

1967 Nine Caravans of poor people arrived in Washington for first phase of Poor People's Campaign. Caravans started from different sections of country on May 2 and picked up demonstrators along the way. In Washington, demonstrators erected camp called Resurrection City on sixteen-acre site near Lincoln Monument. Read more about the campaign here.

1970 Johnny Hodges died in New York City at the age of 63. He had been a well known saxophone player and played with the band of Duke Ellington for almost forty years. He was Duke Ellington's favorite soloist. Over his career, he was chosen as the best reed player by DownBeat Magazine ten times.

1981 Death of Hoyt J. Fuller (57), literary critic and editor of First World magazine and former editor of Black World, in Atlanta.

1981 Robert Nesta 'Bob' Marley, Jamaican-born singer who popularized reggae with his group The Wailers, died after succumbing to cancer in a Miami hospital at the age of 36. He was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

1981 Ken Norton, former heavyweight boxing champion, was left on the ropes and unconscious after 54 seconds of the first round at Madison Square Garden in New York City, by Gerry Cooney.

1986 Frederick Douglass 'Fritz' Pollard died in Silver Spring, Maryland at the age of 92. Pollard had been the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl and the second African American to be named All-American in college football. After college he played professional football and later became the coach of his team. When the league in which he coached became the NFL in 1922, he became the first African American coach in NFL history. No other African American will coach in the NFL until the 1990s.

May in Black History
Blackfacts Online

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 8:04 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Oooh, new reference site!! Cool, thanks!

Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 8:53 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Yep, I'm really getting into this research. I was really intrigued today... Rev. Shuttlesworth has been my pastor since I was a little girl. I've heard all kinds of civil rights stories from him.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 11:51 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Cool! Living history! I hope he has recorded all his stories.

Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - 5:27 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
1862 Robert Smalls Steals Confederate Ship. It has just gotten dark on the evening of May 12, 1862. General Roswell Ripley and the other white confederate officers of the Steamer Planter have just gone ashore to attend a party in Charleston, leaving the black crew alone. This was not unusual except that the crew had planned on these events. Quickly, the black crew's families left their hiding places on other vessels and came aboard the Planter.

Robert Smalls was the quartermaster, or wheelman of the ship. In this capacity he had become knowledgable of all navigation channels in Charleston harbor as well as all the gun and troop positions of the confederate armies guarding the harbor. Smalls and the other slaves quietly got the ship underway and headed for the mouth of the harbor and the blockading Union fleet.

Soon they had to pass under the guns of Fort Sumter. To increase their chances of success, Smalls donned the clothing of Planter's confederate captain. The trick apparently worked because they are not fired upon until after they are out of range.

Planter eventually approached the U.S.S. Onward, of the blockading fleet to surrender. She brought with her a 24-pound howitzer, a 32-pound pivot gun, a 7-inch rifle and 4 smooth-bore cannons. Planter had served as headquarters ship for General Ripley and was a valuable ship because she could carry as many as one thousand troops and her shallow draft gave her freedom throughout much of the coastal waters. Robert Smalls had been born on the Sea Islands and knew the waters from Beaufort, South Carolina to Florida. Together they were important prizes for the Union.

For the Benefit of Robert Smalls and Others.....

Generally, any enemy ships taken in this manner are treated as prizes for the men who performed the courageous act. Commander Du Pont submitted the claim's for these men to Washington despite his misgivings that they would be honored. Since these men had been slaves and the Dred Scott Decision said they were merely contraband, it took a special act of congress to award the ship as a prize, and even so it was valued at $9168, or 1/3 it's true value.

Captain Robert Smalls was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant, Company B, 33rd Regiment, United States Colored Troops. He was then detailed as Pilot to the Planter. Later Smalls was assigned to the ironclad Keokuk for an attack into Charleston Harbor. Things soon went awry and the order of battle was abandoned, each ship fighting for itself. Keokuk eventually suffered over 90 shell hits and was soon sent to the bottom. Smalls survived and was transferred back to Planter. In late November of 1863, Planter
saw action that prompted it's white captain to surrender. Smalls knew he could expect extremely poor treatment from the confederates and instead urged the gunners to carry on. The captain took cover in the coal bin for the duration of the battle while the crew fought on under Smalls' leadership. This action prompted the dismissal of the captain of record and the promotion of Robert Smalls to the position of Captain.

Robert Smalls eventually became a congressman after the Civil War. He lived in Beaufort, SC. There is a memorial bust of him in front of the African Baptist Church in Beaufort, SC.

1898 Louisiana adopted a new constitution with a "grandfather clause" designed to eliminate African American voters.

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

1910 The Second NAACP conference opened in New York City. The three day conference created a permanent national structure for the organization.

1916 Albert L. Murray was born in Nokomis, Alabama. He became 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 included "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 Mervyn Dymally was born in Cedros, Trinidad. He became the first African American elected as lieutenant governor of California and waw elected to Congress in 1980, where he served for 12 years.

1940 Jazz singer Al Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For more info on him click here.

1951 Former U.S. Congressman Oscar Stanton DePriest died 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, became 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.

1969 Kim Fields (later Freeman) was born in Los Angeles, California. She became an actress as a child, starring in the sit-com, "The Facts of Life" (1979-1988). She continued her television career on the sitcom "Living Single" (1993-1998).

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

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

blackfacts.com/
may in black history

Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - 10:40 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
R&B singer John Whitehead shot to death
Artist teamed with McFadden on hit 'Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now'
The Associated Press
Updated: 10:00 a.m. ET May 12, 2004

whiteheadPHILADELPHIA - John Whitehead, a prominent R&B artist best known for the 1979 hit song “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now,” was shot dead Tuesday, police said.

Whitehead, 55, and another man were working on a vehicle when they were shot by two gunmen, police said. The assailants fled.

Whitehead was shot in the neck and collapsed. Ohmed Johnson, who was shot in the buttocks, was in good condition early Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Police said the gunmen fired a series of bullets; a young neighborhood girl said she heard about a dozen shots.

“Why did they do this to my dad?” Dawn Whitehead, 33, asked at the scene. “I just talked to him yesterday ... He was a fun person. Who would want to kill him?”

Police had no immediate suspects or motive.

Gene McFadden, who was Whitehead’s partner in the singing group McFadden & Whitehead, went to the scene in the city’s West Oak Lane neighborhood and stood there trembling, WPVI-TV reported.

The two men formed a group called the Epsilons in their youth and were discovered by Otis Redding, touring with the legendary performer in the 1960s, according to their Web site.

The duo wrote several hit songs performed by others in the 1970s, including “Back Stabbers,” “For the Love of Money,” “I’ll Always Love My Mamma,” “Bad Luck,” “Wake Up Everybody,” “Where Are All My Friends,” “The More I Want,” and “Cold, Cold World.”

“Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” went to No. 1 on the R&B chart and reached No. 13 on the pop chart. The song became an unofficial anthem for the Phillies as they charged to a World Series championship in 1980 and the Eagles as they reached the Super Bowl in 1981.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4961104/

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - 11:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
This is awful! I loved McFadden and Whitehead!

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Thursday, May 13, 2004 - 7:23 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Today is Thursday, May 13th 2004, and here are some things that happened in Black History on this date:

1862 Robert Smalls and 12 fellow Afro-American seamen captured the Planter, a cotton steamer converted into a Confederate battleship. Smalls piloted the gunboat into Union lines and presented the ship to the U.S. Navy at Charleston Harbor. Smalls was promoted to Captain during the Civil War.

1865 Two white regiments and a Black regiment, the Sixty-second U.S.C.T., fought the last action of the civil war at White's Ranch, Texas.

1871 Alcorn A&M College (now Alcorn A&M University) opens in Lorman, Mississippi.

1888 Princess Isabel of Brazil signs the "Lei Aurea" (Golden Law) which abolishes slavery. Slavery is ended in part to appease the efforts of abolitionists, but mostly because it is less expensive for employers to hire wageworkers than to keep slaves. Plantation owners oppose the law because they are not compensated for releasing their slaves. The passage of the law hastens the fall of the Brazilian monarchy.

1891 Isaac Murphy becomes the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derbys as he wins the fabled race astride Kingman. Kingman was trained by Dud Allen, an African American trainer.

1914 Joseph Louis Barrow ("Joe Louis") was born on this day. "The Brown Bomber" held the heavyweight crown from his 1937 title match with James J. Braddock until his first retirement in 1949. In his 71 professional fights, he amassed a record of 68 victories, 54 by knockouts.

1933 John Junior "Johnny" Roseboro was born in Ashland, Ohio. He became a professional baseball player in 1957 and played as a catcher for the Dodgers from 1957-1967, Minnesota Twins from 1968 to 1969, and the Washington Senators in 1970.

1938 Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra recorded the New Orleans' jazz standard, "When The Saints Go Marching In", on Decca Records making it extremely popular.

1943 Mary Wells is born in Detroit, Michigan. She will become a singer for the Motown label and record the hits, "My Guy," "Two Lovers," "You Beat Me to the Punch," and "The One Who Really Loves You."

1949 Franklin Ajaye is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will become a comedy writer, comedian and actor. He will appear in the movies "The Jazz Singer," "Car Wash," "Hysterical," "The Wrong Guys," and "Jock Jokes."

1950 Singer Stevie Wonder born Steveland Judkins in Saginaw,Michigan. As 12-year-old Little Stevie Wonder, he became a singing and musical sensation notable for "Fingertips, Part 2." Wonder continued to record through-out adulthood, with the albums "Talking Book," "Songs in the Key of Life," "The Woman in Red," and the soundtrack to the movie "Jungle Fever." Among other awards he won more than 16 Grammys and a 1984 best song Oscar for "I Just Called to Say I Love You." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

1961 Dennis Rodman was born in Texas. He became a professional basketball player and helped two different teams win multiple NBA championships.

1966 Federal education funding was denied to 12 school districts in the South because of violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

1969 In Fayette, Mississippi on May 13,1969; James Charles Evers (1922-) was elected the first black mayor of a racially mixed Mississippi town. In June 1971, he became the first black in this century to seek the governor's office.

1971 Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, received a gold record for her version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water", originally a Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel tune.

1978 Henry Rono of Kenya set the record for the 3,000 meter steeplechase (8:05.4). The record stood for eleven years.

1979 Max Robinson became the first African American network news anchor when he anchored ABC's World News Tonight.

1985 Philadelphia Police bombed a house held by the group "Move", killing eleven persons. Ramona Africa and a 13-year-old boy are the only people to escape the inferno that the blast caused inside 6221 Osage Street. The heat from the blast also ignited a fire that destroyed 60 other homes and left 250 people homeless, angry and heartbroken in a working-class section of West Philadelphia.

1990 George Stallings was ordained as the first bishop of the newly established African American Catholic Church. Stallings broke from the Roman Catholic Church in 1989, citing the church's failure to meet the needs of African American Catholics.

http://www.kellyken.com/may01.htm
http://www.blackfacts.com/

Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Friday, May 14, 2004 - 5:40 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Facts for May 14th:

1804 A slave known only as York, accompanied Lewis & Clarke in their famous expedition of the northwestern regions.

1867 A riot occured in Mobile, Alabama, after an African American mass meeting. One African American and one white were killed.

1885 Erskine Henderson African American jockey won the Kentucky Derby on a horse trained by African American trainer Alex Perry.

1885 Birthday of jazz artist, coronet player, band leader and composer, Joseph "King" Oliver of New Orleans, Louisiana.

1890 Rosa Jinsey Young was born on this date. The daughter of a Methodist circuit rider, she became a teacher and opened a private school in 1912 in Rosebud, Alabama, for the Methodist church. When the school ran into financial problems, the Lutheran church offered help. Young joined the Lutheran church and founded the Alabama Lutheran Academy, which evolved into Concordia College, Selma. She wrote an autobiography, "Light in the Dark Belt," and died in 1971.

1897 Sidney Joseph Bechet was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. A member of both Duke Ellington's and Noble Sissle's orchestras, Bechet moved to France and there achieved the greatest success of his career. He had been the greatest jazz soloist of the 1920s along with Louis Armstrong.

1898 Arthur James 'Zutty' Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana. He became a percussion musician and bandleader. He started as a drummer at the age of 15 and will worked in a variety of bands until he formed his own in 1920. He eventually made his way to Chicago and became part of the "Chicago School of Jazz." He is primarily remembered for introducing sock cymbals and wire brushes as percussion accessories. These innovations placed him in demand as an accompanist for jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Dizzy Gillespie, Jelly Roll Morton, and Charlie Parker. He performed primarily in New York City from 1953 until 1970. He died in 1975.

1913 Clara Stanton Jones was born. She was the first African American director of the Detroit Public Library and first African American president of the American Library Association.

1943 Tania J. Leon was born in Havana, Cuba. She became a pianist, composer, and orchestral conductor. Her music style encompassed Afro-Cuban rhythm and elements of jazz and gospel. She emigrated to the United States in 1967 and in 1969 joined the Dance Theater of Harlem as a pianist. She later became the artistic director of the troupe. Some her compositions for the Dance Theater of Harlem include "Tones," "Beloved," and "Dougla." She debuted as a conductor in 1971 when she left the Dance Theater of Harlem in 1980, served as guest conductor and composer with orchestras in the United States and Europe. In 1993, she became an advisor to the New York Philharmonic conductor, Kurt Masur on contemporary music.

1961 A bus with the first group of Freedom Riders was bombed and burned by segregationists outside Anniston, Alabama. The group was attacked in Anniston and Birmingham.

1963 22 year old Arthur Ashe became the first African American to make the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team.

1969 John B. McLendon became the first African American coach in the ABA when he signed a two year contract with the Denver Nuggets.

1970 Two students killed by officers in major racial disturbance at Jackson State University (Miss.).

1985 Philadelphia police, with the apparent blessing of Black Mayor Wilson Goode, dropped an incendiary or explosive device on the home and headquarters of Black MOVE organization. Eleven people, including five children, were killed and 61 homes were engulfed in the fire.

1986 Reggie Jackson hit his 537th home run passing Mickey Mantle into 6th place of all time home run hitters.

1989 Kirby Puckett became the first professional baseball player since 1948 to hit 6 consecutive doubles.

1995 Myrlie Evers-Williams (widow of Medgar Evers) was sworn in to head the NAACP, pledging to lead the civil rights group away from its recent troubles and restore it as a political and social force.


black history in May
blackfacts


Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 7:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Facts for May 15:

1791 Civil Rights granted to free mulattoes in French colonies.

1795 John Morront, the first African American missionary to work with Indians, was ordained as a Methodist minister in London, England.

1802 Jean Ignace died in the revolt against the Napoleonic troops sent to the Caribbean island to reimpose slavery.

1918 In a World War I incident that will later be known as "The Battle of Henry Johnson," the African American attacks advancing Germans, frees sentry Needham Roberts, and forces the retreat of the enemy troops. Johnson and Roberts will be awarded the Croix de Guerre, France's highest military award. They are the first Americans ever to win the award.

1923 "The Chip Woman's Fortune" by Willis Richardson opens at the Frazee Theatre on Broadway. The play, staged by the Ethiopian Art Theatre of Chicago, is the first dramatic work by an African American playwright to be presented on Broadway.

1934 Alvin Francis Poussaint is born in the village of East Harlem in New York City. After being educated at Columbia College, Cornell University Medical School, and the University of California's Neuropsychiatric Institute, he will become a psychiatrist and educator specializing in African American psychological and social issues. He will begin his career teaching at Tufts Medical School and Harvard Medical School. He will then join Operation Push. He will be a consultant for the television series, "The Cosby Show" and "A Different World, hired to ensure that the story lines present positive images of African Americans. He will later become Associate Dean and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (1993).

1938 Diane Nash is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will become an civil rights activist and one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960. She will be part of the first group of civil rights activists who will refuse to pay bail for protesting under the "Jail, No Bail" strategy employed in the South. She will later marry fellow civil rights activist James Bevel and take his last name as her middle name. She and her husband will receive the Rosa Parks award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1965.

1942 The 93rd Infantry is activated at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. It is the first African American division formed during World War II and is assigned to combat duty in the South Pacific.

1946 Camilla Williams appears in the title role of Madama Butterfly with the New York City Opera. She is the first African American female concert singer to sign a contract with a major American opera company.

1953 Former Heavyweight Champion, Jersey Joe Walcott, is knocked out by Rocky Marciano at Chicago Stadium at two minutes, 25 seconds of the first round.

1970 Two African American students (Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green) at Jackson State University in Mississippi are killed when police open fire during student protests.

1983 James VanDerZee dies in Washington, DC at the age of 96. He had been a prominent photographer who recorded and contributed to the Harlem Renaissance. Over his long career, which extended into his 90s, he captured the images of many famous African Americans.

1992 Mary M. Monteith (later Simpkins) dies in Columbia, South Carolina. She was a civil right activist who had been a state secretary of the NAACP and instrumental in the fight to desegregate South Carolina public schools.

Facts for May 16:

1792 Denmark abolishes the importation of slaves.

1826 John Russwurm becomes the 1st black college graduate by receiving his degree from Bowdoin College in Maine. *This claim is disputed by some sources which claim that Edward A. Jones graduated from Amherst a few days earlier. However Russwurm is recorded first.

1857 Juan Morel Campos is born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He will become a musician and composer who will be one of the first to integrate Afro- aribbean styles and folk rhythms into the classical European musical model. He will be considered the father of the "danza."

1917 Harry T. Burleigh, composer, pianist, and singer, is awarded the NAACP's Spingarn Medal for excellence in the field of creative music.

1929 John Conyers, Jr. is born in Detroit, Michigan. He will be elected to the House of Representatives from Michigan's 1st District in 1964, where he will advocate home rule and Congressional representation for the District of Columbia. He will be the principal sponsor of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1983 Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday bill, as well as a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus.

1930 Lillie Mae Jones is born in Flint, Michigan. She will become an uncompromising jazz singer using the stage name, Betty Carter, who will earn the nickname "Betty Bebop" for her bop improvisational style. She will tour with Lionel Hampton and Miles Davis during her career. In 1997, she will receive the National Medal of Arts award from President Bill Clinton. She died on September 26, 1998.

1966 Stokely Carmichael (later named Kwame Ture) is elected chairman of SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a group formed during the Freedom Marches and dedicated to voter registration in the South.

1966 Janet Damita Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana. Sister of the famous Jacksons of the Jackson 5 singing group, she will have her own successful career, first in acting ("Good Times," "Diff'rent Strokes," and "Fame"), then as a solo recording artist. Her albums "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814" will earn her five American Music Awards and a Grammy award.

1966 The National Welfare Rights Organization is organized.

1979 Asa Philip Randolph, labor leader and civil rights pioneer, dies in New York at the age of 90.

1985 Michael Jordan is named Rookie of the Year in the National Basketball Association. Jordan, of the Chicago Bulls, was the number three draft choice. At the time, Michael was third in the league scoring a 28.2 average and fourth in steals with 2.39 per game.

1990 Sammy Davis Jr., actor, dancer, singer and world class entertainer, dies in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 64 from throat cancer. Davis, born in Harlem, was a member of the Hollywood "Rat Pack." He also had starring roles in a host of Broadway musicals and motion pictures and had been an entertainer for over sixty years.

blackfacts
http://www.kellyken.com/may01.htm

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Monday, May 17, 2004 - 8:41 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Black Facts that happened on May the 17th:

1864 Birth of John William "Blind" Boone. Rachel Boone was a slave of the decendents of the Daniel Boone family who escaped to an army camp near Miami, MO. She gave birth to a son & moved to Warrensburg, MO. Her son became "Blind" Boone, famous classical pianist known all over the U.S., Canada & Mexico who also reportedly played in Europe. He became known as the "pioneer of ragtime" because he brought in ragtime music to the concert stage as an encore or when the audience became restless, saying "Let's put the cookies on the bottom shelf where everybody can reach them.". His motto was "Merit, not sympathy, wins."

1875 The first Kentucky Derby is won by African American jockey Oliver Lewis riding the horse Aristides. 14 of the 15 jockeys in the race are African Americans.

1881 Frederick Douglass appointed recorder of deeds for District of Columbia.

1909 White firemen on Georgia Railroad struck to protest employment of Blacks.

1915 National Baptist Convention chartered.

1937 Hazel Rollins O'Leary was born in Newport News, Virginia. She graduated from Fisk University and received a law degree from Rutgers University in 1966. She gained experience in the energy regulatory field working for the Federal Energy Administration. After working for a few years heading her own energy consulting firm and becoming president of the Northern States Power Company, she was appointed Secretary of Energy in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.

1942 Henry St. Claire Fredericks was born in New York City. He became an entertainer and songwriter for film. He also was a singer of urban folk-blues, better known as Taj Mahal. He was one of the first American artists to blend blues and world music. For over three decades, Taj Mahal taught generations the wonders of Robert Johnson, Sleepy John Estes, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed. With a catalogue of almost thirty albums (including some for children!), one can find film soundtracks ("Sounder," "Brothers"), music for television dramas ("The Tuskegee Project," "The Man Who Broke A Thousand Chains") as well as his best-loved classics like "Natch'l Blues."

1954 U.S. Supreme Court in landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The ruling is a major victory for the NAACP, led by Thurgood Marshall of the Legal Defense Fund, and other civil rights groups. The unanimous decision was read by Chief Justice Earl B. Warren.

1956 Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard born in Wilmington, SC. Equipped with speed, ability and charisma, Sugar Ray Leonard, filled the boxing void left when Muhammad Ali retired in 1981. With the American public in search of a new boxing superstar, Leonard came along at precisely the right time.

Leonard was named Fighter of the Decade for the 1980s. And why not. He entered the decade a champion and left a champion. In between, he won an unprecedented five world titles in five weight classes and competed in some of the era's most memorable contests.

There were few things Leonard could not do once the bell rang. But what he did best was analyze his opponents and devise a strategy to overcome them. He found a way to beat stylists, sluggers and brawlers. And beneath that flashy surface was a competitor with the remorseless ability to put an opponent away when they were hurt. There were few better finishers in boxing.

Leonard surfaced in the public's imagination after winning a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. He won the WBC welterweight title in 1979 after stopping fellow Hall-of-Famer Wilfred Benitez in a violent chess match that pitted two of the game's master technicians.

After one successful defense, Leonard faced legendary lightweight champion Roberto Duran in what may be the most anticipated non-heavyweight fight in history. In a fast-paced battle, Duran dethroned Leonard with a unanimous 15-round decision. Leonard regained the title when Duran quit in the eighth-round of their rematch.

In 1981, Leonard climbed the scale and knocked out junior middleweight champion Ayube Kalule. He then returned to the welterweight division for a unification showdown with WBA champ Thomas Hearns. Leonard and Hearns waged a memorable war but Leonard, behind on all three scorecards, managed to knock Hearns out in the 14th round.
After one more fight, Leonard, suffering from a detatched retina in his left eye, retired. He returned to the ring in 1984 and knocked out Kevin Howard only to retire again.

After nearly three years of inactivity, Leonard returned again and pulled off the Upset of the Decade when he outpointed Marvin Hagler to win the middleweight title in 1987.

Leonard added titles four and five in November 1988 when he recovered from an early knockdown to stop power-punching Canadian Donny Lalonde. At stake that night was Lalonde's WBC light heavyweight title and the vacant WBC super middleweight title. Leonard made two successful title defenses of the super middleweight title, fighting to a controversial draw with Hearns and decisioning Duran in their third and final encounter. Leonard retired again, but could not stay away. At age 34, he challenged WBC super welterweight champion Terry Norris in 1991. He was dropped twice and lost by unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden.

The former five-division champion announced his retirment in the ring immediately after the Norris fight. But in March 1997, he launched another unsuccessful comeback, which ended via a fifth-round TKO to Hector Camacho. It was the first time Leonard had ever been stopped. http://www.ibhof.com/srleon.htm

1957 The Prayer Pilgrimage, attracting a crowd of over 30,000, was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Timed to coincide with the third anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the pilgrimage was organized by Martin Luther King, Jr., the NAACP, and others to advocate greater voting and civil rights for African Americans.

1962 Marshall Logan Scott was elected the first African American moderator of the Presbyterian Church.

1969 Rev. Thomas Kilgore, a Los Angeles pastor, was elected president of the predominantly white American Baptist Convention.

1969 A commemorative stamp of W.C. Handy, "Father of the Blues," was issued by the U.S. Postal Service, making Handy the first African American blues musician honored on a postage stamp.

1970 Hank Aaron became the ninth baseball player to get 3,000 hits.

1980 A major racially motivated civil disturbance occured in Miami, Florida after a Tampa, Florida jury acquitted four former Miami police officers of fatally beating African American insurance executive Arthur McDuffie. The disturbance in that city's Liberty City neighborhood results in eighteen persons being killed and more than three hundred persons injured.

1987 The work of four contemporary African American artists - Sam Gilliam, Keith Morrison, William T. Williams, and Martha Jackson-Jarvis was shown in the inaugural exhibition of the new Anacostia Museum in Washington, DC.

1987 Eric "Sleepy" Floyd of the Golden State Warriors set a playoff record for points in a single quarter. He poured in 29 points in the fourth period in a game this night against Pat Riley's Los Angeles Lakers.

1988 Dr. Patricia E. Bath of Los Angeles, a renowned ophthalmologist and Black woman, patented (1988) an apparatus that efficiently removes cataracts by using laser technology.

http://www.kellyken.com/today.htm
http://www.blackfacts.com




Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Monday, May 17, 2004 - 9:16 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Re: The 50th Anniversary of Brown

I've seen so many good things recently about the Brown v. Board decision over the weekend. One of the better was on CSPAN this weekend, hosted by Tavis Smiley. It was called "Unfinished Agenda: 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education." And it featured Rep. Chaka Fattah [my old congressman from when I lived in Philly]; Lani Guinier; Wade Henderson; Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.; Elaine R. Jones; Tom Joyner; Mrs. Thurgood Marshall; Karen K. Narasaki; Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Charles Ogletree. You can watch it--but it's long--by searching for "Tavis Smiley forum on Brown" at CSPAN [the video link won't post correctly for some reason; sorry].

CNN also had a good documentary last night, Brown: Fifty Years Later, which will probably rerun Saturday, if they follow their usual patterns, about the aftermath of Brown. I have to say that one of the most compelling things I have been hearing from many of the African American scholars is that school integration may not have been the best thing for African American students because integration has reduplicated many of the problems of pre-Brown education. Oh well. I'll shut up now.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Monday, May 17, 2004 - 9:52 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
No, you don't have to shut up. It's an interesting topic. I have also read a few good articles about BvsBoE. I wanted to catch that Tavis Smiley special, but I missed it.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 8:21 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Tish, this is more on the subject:

Civil rights pioneer uses pain of past to send message today
One of Little Rock Nine speaks out against silent witnesses


http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/17/eckford.profile/index.html

Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 8:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
*** Today in Black History – May 18 ***

1652 Rhode Island enacts the first colonial law limiting slavery. This law, passed by the General Court of Election, regulates Black servitude and places Blacks on the same level as white bondservants. This means they were free after completing their term of service of ten years.

1848 William Leidesdorff died in San Francisco, California. The first man to open a commercial steamship service on San Francisco Bay, Leidesdorff developed a successful business empire, including a hotel, warehouse, and other real-estate developments. Active politically, he served on San Francisco's first town council and became city treasurer. A street in the city will be named in his honor.

1877 Dantes Bellegarde is born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He will become Haiti's most well known diplomat in the twentieth century. He will enter government service in 1904 and will serve under many administrations until he retires in 1957 at the age of 81. W.E.B Du Bois, in 1926, will refer to Bellegarde as the "international spokesman of the Negroes of the world." He died in 1966.

1880 George Lewis wins the sixth running of the Kentucky Derby astride Fonso. He is one of ten African Americans to win the Kentucky Derby in the years between 1877 and 1902.

1896 In Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Louisiana's "separate but equal" segregation laws. The ruling is a major setback for integration and marks the beginning of Jim Crow laws, changing a largely "de facto" system of segregation into a legally defined system in the South. It will be overturned 58 years later in the case of "Brown v. Board of Education."

1911 "Big" Joe Turner is born in Kansas City, Missouri. He will become one of the best blues shouters and a critical link between Rhythm and Blues and Rock & Roll. In 1951 Turner will sign a recording contract with Atlantic Records and cut a string of Rhythm & Blues classics that will lead the way straight into Rock & Roll. His most famous hit, "Shake, Rattle and Roll" will be released in 1954, and make it to number 1 and will be covered shortly thereafter by Bill Haley and the Comets. But before "Shake" , will come the million-selling "Chains of Love," which will reach number 2 on the Rhythm & Blues charts and number 30 on the pop side, plus "Chill Is On," "Sweet Sixteen," "Don't You Cry," "TV Mama," and the number 1 smash, "Honey Hush."

Turner's chart success will continue fter "Shake" with "Well All Right," "Flip Flop and Fly," "Hide and Seek," "The Chicken and the Hawk," "Morning, Noon, and Night," "Corrina Corrina," and "Lipstick Powder and Paint." Turner will nearly dominate the Rhythm & Blues charts from 1951 to 1956.

1912 - Walter Sisulu is born in the Engcobo district, Transkei, South Africa. He will become a major player in the fight against apartheid in South Africa and will become deputy president of the African National Congress. He will be a mentor to Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo and will be imprisoned with Mandela on Robben Island for many years. While in prison, Sisulu will write the history of the African National Congress.

Even though he was given a life sentence when imprisoned, he will be released in 1989 as South Africa began to dismantle the system of apartheid. He will be elected ANC deputy president in 1991 and will resign from the post in 1994 at the age of 82.

1919 Coleman Alexander Young is born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He will fight as a bombardier-navigator with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and will settle in Detroit and work as an auto worker after the war. In 1948, he will become the first African American elected to the Wayne County Council of the AFL-CIO. He will found the National Negro Labor Council in 1951. Walter Reuther and other white leaders of the labor movement will refer to the NNLC as a tool of the Soviet Union and cause Young to be called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952. He will reach the pinnacle of his political career when, as a state senator, he is elected the first African American mayor of the city of Detroit, Michigan in 1973. He will revitalize Detroit, integrate the police and fire departments, and will significantly increase the number of city contracts with minority businesses. He will be elected mayor for an unprecedented five terms. He will step down as mayor in 1993 at the age of 75. He died in 1997.

1946 Reginald Martinez Jackson is born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. He will be better known as Reggie Jackson, star baseball player for the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees. He will set or tie seven World Series records and will be known as "Mr. October." He will retire from baseball in 1987 and will be elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1993.

1955 Mary McLeod Bethune was the fifteenth of seventeen children of Samuel and Patsy McLeod, slaves on the McLeod Plantation in Mayesville, South Carolina. Born after the emancipation, Mary McLeod was a free woman.

Seeing the overriding importance of real freedom and equality, she became a powerful force in the emerging struggle for civil rights. Beginning as an educator and founder of a school which bears her name, she became the valued counselor to four presidents, the director of a major government agency, the founder of a major organization for human rights (the National Council of Negro Women), and a consultant to world figures seeking to build universal peace through the United Nations.

Mrs. Bethune obtained prominence as an educator. She Founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls (now Bethune-Cookman College) in 1904, and served as president from 1904-1942 and from 1946-47. Her work, building the Daytona Normal School for Negro Girls into Bethune-Cookman College, brought her into contact with important political and financial figures. Under President Cavin Coolidge, and later Herbert Hoover, the national government began utilizing Mrs. Bethune's considerable experience for the National Child Welfare Commission.. However, it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who recognized the important role Mary McLeod Bethune could play in the implementation of his "New Deal" policies. Roosevelt created the office of Special Advisor on Minority Affairs in 1935. This position later became a part of the National Youth Administration (NYA).

Was a leader in the black women's club movement and served as president of the National Association of Colored Women. Was a delegate and advisor to national conferences on education, child welfare, and home ownership.Was Director of Negro Affairs in the the National Youth Adminstration from 1936 to 1944. Served as consultant to the U.S. Secretary of War for selection of the first female officer candidates. Appointed consultant on interracial affairs and understanding at the charter conference of the U.N. Founder of the National Council of Negro Women. Vice-president of the NAACP. Was awarded the Haitian Medal of Honor and Merit, that country's highest award. In Liberia she received the honor of Commander of the Order of the Star of Africa.

1960 Yannick Noah is born in Sedan, France. He will become a professional tennis player. Arthur Ashe will spot his talents while on a three-week, goodwill tour of Africa in 1971, and arrange for Noah to be sent back to France to further develop his game. Noah will go on to win the French Open in 1983, a Grand Slam event. During his career, he will win 23 singles titles and be runner up at 13 others.

1962 Ernie Davis, star running back at Syracuse University; first black player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961. Died on May 18, 1962 of leukemia before playing a pro game.

1971 President Nixon rejects the sixty demands of the Congressional Black Caucus, saying his administration would continue to support "jobs, income and tangible benefits, the pledges that this society has made to the disadvantaged in the past decade." The caucus expressed deep disappointment with the reply and said the Nixon administration "lacked a sense of understanding, urgency and commitment in dealing with the critical problems facing Black Americans."

1986 John William "Bubbles" Sublett died in New York City at the age of 84. He had been half of the piano and tap dance team, "Buck and Bubbles" from 1912 to 1955. He was known as "father of rhythm tap," and developed a tap style called "jazz tap." He will continue to perform (after the death of Ford "Buck" Washington in 1955) until 1980, when he appeared in the revue "Black Broadway."

Rupertbear
Member

09-19-2003

Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 7:12 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Coleman Young...he always worked hard for Detroit.

Essence
Member

01-12-2002

Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 8:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
**** Today in Black History – May 19 ****

1881 Blanche Kelso Bruce was appointed Registrar of the Treasury by President Garfield.

1925 Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X and El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was born in Omaha, Nebraska. In prison, he was introduced to the Nation of Islam and began studies that led him to become one of the most militant and electrifying black leaders of the 1950s and 1960s. On many occasions, he indicated 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 position from both conservative and liberals. Until he died, Malcolm X was a staunch believer in Black Nationalism, Black Self-determination and Black Self-organization. He began 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 was immortalized in the book "Autobiography of Malcolm X," ghostwritten by Alex Haley.

1930 Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago, Illinois. She became a noted playwright and was best known for her play, "A Raisin in the Sun." On March 11, 1959, when it opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater,it became the first Broadway play written by an African American woman. Her other works 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 died on January 12, 1965.

1952 Grace Mendoza was born in Spanishtown, Jamaica. She moved with her family to Syracuse, New York at the age of 12. She became a performance artist known as Grace Jones and a transatlantic model for the Ford and Wilhemina agencies. She later wrote music and performed as a singer. Her releases extend from 1977 through 1998. She also succeeded as a movie star appearing in the movies "A View to a Kill," "Conan the Destroyer," and "Deadly Vengeance."

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

1968 Piano stylist and vocalist, Bobby Short, gained national attention as he presented a concert with Mabel Mercer at New York's Town Hall. He had been the featured artist at the intimate Hotel Carlisle for years.

1969 Coleman Randolph Hawkins died 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 moved to the number one position on the "Billboard" pop music chart with "You Are the Sunshine of My Life". It was 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 became the first African American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. During the race, which occured the following week, Ribbs was forced to drop out due to engine failure.