Ralph Waldo Ellison, the author of the classic book Invisible Man was born on March 1. Information on this author can be found by clicking on the following links:
http://loc.gov (Library of Congress. Type Ralph Ellison in the search box and view hundreds of primary resources on this author.)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/ralph-ellison/an-american-journey/587/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9977702
Read about the author of The Cambion Chronicles at The Brown Bookshelf.
Today in Black History – March 1 *
1739 – The British sign a peace treaty with the Black “Chimarrones”
in Jamaica.
1780 – Pennsylvania becomes the first state to abolish slavery.
1841 – Blanche Kelso Bruce, the first African American to serve a
full term in the United States Senate, is born a slave in
Prince Edward County, Virginia. He will join the ancestors on
March 17, 1898.
1864 – Rebecca Lee becomes the first African American woman to
receive an American medical degree, when she graduates from
the New England Female Medical College in Boston. She,
along with Rebecca Cole and Susan McKinney, is one of the
first African American female physicians.
1871 – James Milton Turner is named minister to Liberia and becomes
the first African American diplomat accredited to an African
country. James W. Mason was named minister in March, 1870,
but never took his post.
1875 – The (first) Civil Rights Bill is passed by Congress. The bill,
which gives African Americans equal rights in inns, theaters,
public transportation, and other public amusements, will be
overturned by the Supreme Court in 1883.
1914 – Ralph Waldo Ellison is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He
will become a well known author, best known for his book
“Invisible Man,” for which he will win the 1953 National Book
Award. He will join the ancestors on April 16, 1994.
1927 – Harry Belafonte is born in New York City. He will become a
successful folk singer, actor, and winner of the first Emmy
awarded to an African American. His commitment to civil and
human rights will lead him to march with Martin Luther King,
Jr. in Montgomery, Selma, and Washington, DC. Among his
achievements will be Kennedy Center Honors in 1989.
1940 – Richard Wright’s “Native Son” is published by Harper and
Brothers.
1949 – Joe Louis retires as heavyweight boxing champion after holding
the title for a record eleven years and eight months.
1960 – Four national chain stores announce on October 17 that
food counters in about 150 stores in 112 cities in North
Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee,
Missouri, Maryland, Florida and Oklahoma have been integrated.
1960 – The Alabama State Board of Education expels nine Alabama State
University students for participating in sit-in
demonstrations.
1960 – Montgomery, Alabama, police break up a protest demonstration
on the Alabama State University campus and arrest thirty-five
students, a teacher and her husband.
1960 – San Antonio, Texas, becomes the first major Southern city to
integrate lunch counters.
1960 – Pope John elevates Bishop Laurian Rugambwa of Tanganyika to
the College of Cardinals, the first cardinal of African
descent in the modern era.
1963 – Carl T. Rowan is named United States ambassador to Finland.
1967 – The House of Representatives votes to expel Adam Clayton
Powell, Jr. from the 90th Congress. (The Supreme Court will
rule in 1969 that Powell will have to be seated.)
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.
Today in Black History – February 28 *
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* History Month.’ Black History Month needs to be a 12-MONTH THING. *
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* accomplished while being handicapped with RACISM, it can only *
* inspire us to greater heights, knowing we’re on the giant shoulders *
* of our ANCESTORS.” Subscribe to the Munirah Chronicle and receive *
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1704 – A school for African Americans is opened in New York City by
Elias Neau, a Frenchman.
1708 – A slave revolt occurs in Newton, Long Island in New York State.
Seven whites are killed. Two African American male slaves and
an Indian slave are hanged, and an African American woman is
burned alive.
1776 – George Washington, in his letter of acknowledgment to Phyllis
Wheatley for a poem she wrote for his birthday, says, “I thank
you most sincerely for…the elegant line you enclosed…the
style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your poetic
talents.”
1778 – Rhode Island General Assembly in precedent-breaking act
authorizes the enlistment of slaves.
1784 – Phyllis Wheatley, poet, joins the ancestors.
1854 – Some 50 slavery opponents meet in Ripon, Wisconsin, to call for
the creation of a new political group, which will become the
Republican Party.
1859 – Arkansas legislature requires free African Americans to choose
between exile and enslavement.
1871 – Second Enforcement Act gave federal officers and courts control
of registration and voting in congressional elections.
1942 – Riots against African Americans occur in Detroit, Michigan at
the Sojourner Truth Homes.
1943 – “Porgy and Bess” opens on Broadway with Anne Brown and Todd
Duncan in starring roles.
1945 – Charles “Bubba” Smith is born in Beaumont, Texas. He will
become a professional football player with the Baltimore
Colts, Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oilers. After a
successful football career, he will become an actor in the
“Police Academy” series. He also will become the president and
CEO of Vital Aircraft Company, which solicits the Department
of Defense for government contracts. To illustrate his
enduring interest in education and work with children, he will
endow an engineering scholarship at his alma mater, Michigan
State University.
1956 – Adrian Dantley is born. He will become a professional
basketball player and star with the Utah Jazz. He will be
their top scorer in 1981 and 1984.
1962 – Rae Dawn Chong is born in Edmonton, Alberta. She will become
an actress in movies like “Quest for Fire.”
1967 – Wilt Chamberlain sets a NBA record with his 35th consecutive
field goal.
1968 – Frankie Lymon, a Rock and Roll singer who became a star with
his teenage group, “The Teenagers,” joins the ancestors at
the age of 25 after a drug overdose.
1977 – Eddie “Rochester” Anderson joins the ancestors at the age of
71. Born in Oakland, California, to a theatrical family,
Anderson’s guest appearance in a 1937 Jack Benny Easter show
grew to be a 30-year career on the popular radio, and later
television, program.
1984 – Singer Michael Jackson wins eight Grammy Awards in Los Angeles,
breaking the previous record of six awards won by a single
artist in 1965. Jackson’s awards stem from his album
“Thriller,” which became the biggest selling record of all
time with 35 million copies sold since its release in 1982.
1991 – “The Content of our Character,” the controversial book on
affirmative action and race relations by Shelby Steele, wins
the National Book Critics Circle Award.
1998 – Todd Duncan joins the ancestors at his home in Washington, DC,
at the age 95. His ascension is on the fifty-fifth
anniversary of his starring role in the Broadway opening of
“Porgy and Bess.”
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.
The Eclectic Kitabu Project 