February in Black History

Here's what happened in February in Black History.

On February 29 in Black History...

In 1968 - Juanita Hall, singer and actress died.  She is remembered for her roles in the original stage and screen versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals South Pacific as Bloody Mary and Flower Drum Song as Auntie Liang.  Hall received classical training at the Juilliard School.  In the early 1930s she was a special soloist and assistant director for the Hall Johnson Choir. A leading Black Broadway performer in her day, she was personally chosen by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to perform the roles she played in the musicals South Pacific and Flower Drum Song, as a Tonkinese woman and a Chinese-American, respectively.  In 1950, Hall became the first African-American to win a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Bloody Mary in South Pacific.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanita_Hall 

In 1945 - Football player and actor Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was born in Orange, Texas.; Football player and actor Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was born in Orange, Texas. Smith began his professional football career with the Baltimore Colts. He later played for the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders before retiring and making a name for himself in movies.

On February 28 in Black History...
In 1990 - Computing's Nobel Prize; Philip Emeagwali awarded the Gordon Bell Prize (computing's Nobel Prize) for solving one of the twenty most difficult problems in the computing field.

In 1990 - Singer Cornelius Gunter dies; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Cornelius Gunter, lead singeof the Coasters, was shot to death in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gunter joined the group in 1957 and was around for such hits as "Poison Ivy" and "Charlie Brown."
In 1984 - Michael Jackson, entertainer wins 8 Grammy Awards. "Thriller" broke all sales and remains one of the top-grossing albums of all time.  Check out out EH post here:  http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/and-award-goes-tomichael-jackson.html
In 1977 - comedian Eddie ("Rochester") Anderson died.
In 1948 - First Martyr in Ghanian Independence; Sgt. Cornelius F. Adjetey becomes the first martyr for national independence of Ghana.
In 1943 - Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway with Anne Brown; Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway with Anne Brown and Todd Duncan in starring roles.
In 1942 - Race riot, Sojourner Truth Homes, Detroit; Race riot, Sojourner Truth Homes, Detroit.
In 1940 - United States population: 131,669,275; United States population: 131,669,275. Black population: 12,865,518 (9.8 per cent). Richard Wright's Native Son published.
In 1932 - Inventors; Richard Spikes invented the automatic gear shift ;
In 1932 - Automatic Gear Shift; Richard Spikes invented/patented automatic gear shift
In 1879 - Southern Blacks fled political and economic exploitation in "Exodus of 1879." Exodus continued for several years. One of the major leaders of the Exodus movement was a former slave, Benjamin ("Pap") Singleton.
In 1871 - Second Enforcement Act gave federal officers and courts control of registration and voting in congressional elections.;
In 1859 - Arkansas legislature required free Blacks to choose between exile and enslavement.
In 1778 - Rhode Island General Assembly; Rhode Island General Assembly in precedent-breaking act authorized the enlistment of slaves.
In 1708 - Slave Revolt in Long Island; Slave revolt, Newton, Long Island (N.Y.). Seven whites killed. Two Black male slaves and an Indian slave were hanged, and a Black woman was burned alive.
In 1704 - Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opened school for Blacks; Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opened school for Blacks in New York City.

On February 26 in Black History...
In 1928 - Singer "Fats" Domino was born. Check out EH post: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-birthday-fats-domino-and-best-of.html
In 1985, African-American musicians won awards in several key categories at the Grammy Awards ceremony. Lionel Richie's 'Can't Slow Down' won best album of 1984. Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got to Do With It' took the best record slot and earned her the title Best Female Pop Vocalist. The Pointer Sisters won best Pop Group for 'Jump. Check out EH post: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-birthday-fats-domino-and-best-of.html
In 1869 - Fifteenth Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote, was sent to the states for ratification. Check out EH post here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2009/02/congress-ratifies-15th-amendment.html
In 1926, Carter G. Woddson started Negro History Week. This week would later become Black History Month.; 1920 - Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson (1875-1950).; In 1920, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson (1875-1950) founded "Associated Publishers." In February 1926, he announced the institution of Negro History Week, which coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1976, the observance was expanded to "National Afro-American History Month." Check out EH post: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/black-history-month-2011.html
In 1966 - Andrew Brimmer becomes the first African American governor of the Federal Reserve Board when he is appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson;
In 1965 - Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist, died of injuries reportedly inflicted by officers in Marion, Alabama
.In 1964 - On this day, the Kentucky boxer known to all as Cassius Clay, changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
In 1946 - Race riot, Columbia, Tennessee left two people killed and ten wounded.
In 1933, Actor/Comedian Godfrey Cambridge was born in New York.
In 1930 - The Green Pastures opened at mansfield Theater.
In 1926, Theodore "Georgia Deacon" Flowers wins middleweight boxing title.
In 1884 - Congressman James E. O'Hara of North Carolina was born. O'Hara, first elected March 4, 1833, served two terms, the second ending March 3, 1887.
In 1877, At a conference in the Wormley Hotel in Washington, representatives of Rutherford B. Hayes and representatives of the South negotiated agreement which paved the way for the election of Hayes as president and the withdrawal of federal troops from the South.
In 1870 - Black leader of the Union League Lynched; Wyatt Outlaw, Black leader of the Union League in Alamance County, N.C., Lynched.

On February 25 in Black History...
In 1999 White supremacist John King sentenced to death; White supremacist John King, one of three white men accused of chaining James Byrd to a pickup and dragging him along a Texas road until he was decapitated, was sentenced to death by lethal injection.
In 1998 -R. Kelly's hit single "I Believe I Can Fly" win Best Male R&B Vocal, Best Song Written for TV or a Movie and Best R&B Song Grammy Awards.
In 1991 -Adrienne Mitchell, first African-American woman to die in combat in the Persian Gulf War is killed in her military barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia.
In 1989 - Boxer Mike Tyson becomes the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World by defeating challenger Frank Bruno of England.
In 1987 -Edward Daniel Nixon, former president of the Georgia NAACP, died at age 87.
In 1980 - Robert E. Hayden, poet and poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, died.
In 1978 - In 1978 - Daniel "Chappie" James, first African American four-star general, died in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In 1971 - President Nixon meets with Congressional Black Caucus and appointed a White House panel to study a list of recommendations made by the group In 1870 - Hirman R. Revels of Mississippi sworn in as first Black U.S. senator and first Black representative in Congress.
In 1964 Nat King Cole, the singer with the "Golden Voice", died.
In 1964 - Cassius Clay becomes world heavyweight boxing champion.
In 1948 - Martin Luther King was ordained as a Baptist minister.
In 1928 - One-Man Show of Art First of Kind Here, Opens Today," read the headline of a front-page article in 'The New York Times' on this day. The article announced the opening of Archibald J. Motley, Jr's show at the New Gallery on Madison Avenue.
In 1839 - Seminoles and their Black allies shipped from Tampa Bay, Florida, to the West.

On February 24 in Black History...

In 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first Black Woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College.  When she graduated in 1864, Crumpler was the first African American woman in the United States to earn an M.D. degree, and the only African American woman to graduate from the New England Female Medical College, which merged with Boston University in 1873.Crumpler was born in 1831 and raised by an aunt who spent much of her time caring for infirm neighbors. The aunt likely influenced her choice to go into the medical profession, especially since medical care for the needs of poor blacks was almost non-existant during the antebellum years.
In her A Book of Medical Discourses(1883), Crumpler gives a summary of her career path: "It may be well to state here that, having been reared by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, whose usefulness with the sick was continually sought, I early conceived a liking for, and sought every opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others. Later in life I devoted my time, when best I could, to nursing as a business, serving under different doctors for a period of eight years (from 1852 to 1860); most of the time at my adopted home in Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. From these doctors I received letters commending me to the faculty of the New England Female Medical College, whence, four years afterward, I received the degree of doctress of medicine."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Lee_Crumpler
In 1940 - Heavy weight boxer Jimmy Ellis born
In 1868 - House of Representatives voted, 126 to 47, to impeach President Andrew Johnson.
In 1811 - Bishop Daniel Payne of AME Church Daniel Payne born.

On February 23 in Black History...
In 1966 - Kwame Nkrumah, elected leader and first president of Ghana, was ousted in military coup while he is away on a peace mission to Vietnam.

In 1868 - Dr.William Edward Burghardt DuBois, educator and civil rights advocate, is born in Great Barrington, Mass. Check out EH post here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/intellectual-leader-is-born.html
In 1995 - Bass Singer Melvin Franklin of The Temptations died of complications following a brain seizure in Los Angeles.
In 1979 - Frank E. Peterson Jr. named the first Black general in the Marine Corps.
In 1965 - Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough President, the highest elective office held by a Black woman in a major American city.
In 1929 - Baseball catcher Elston Gene Howard was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1965, Howard signed a $70,000 contract with the NY Yankees and became the highest paid player in the history of baseball at the time.
In 1925 - Louis Stokes, former mayor of Detroit, Michigan, and member of the US House of Representatives, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Stokes was the first African American elected to the House from Ohio.
In 1915 - Robert Smalls, Reconstruction congressman, died.
In 1895 - William H. Heard, AME minister and educator, named minister to Liberia. In 1869 - Louisiana governor signed public accommodations law.

On February 22 in Black History...

In 1989 - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince win the first rap Grammy for the hit single "; DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince win the first rap Grammy for the hit single "Parents Just Don't Understand."

In 1950 - Julius Winfield( "Dr.J") Erving, former basketball player, born Roosevelt, NY, Feb 22, 1950.
In 1938 - Ishmael Reed, poet was born.
In 1911 - On this day, the "Bronze Muse" died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Frances El; On this day, the "Bronze Muse" died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper wrote more than a dozen books, including 'Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects'(1854).
In 1911 - Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Passes, activist and social reformer Francis dies in her home in Philadelphia. Harper founderd the Naiontl Convention of Colored Women in 1864 and was involved in other projects for women's rights.
In 1898 - Black postmaster lynched and his wife and three daughters shot and maimed for life in Lake City, S.C.
In 1888 - Painter Horace Pippin born; In West Chester, Pennsylvania, African American painter Horace Pippin was born. Pippin is considered one of the major American painters of his period. One of his more significant works, "John Brown Going to His Hanging," is owned by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1841 - Grafton Tyler Brown, lithographer and painter, was born.

On February 21 in Black History...

In 1933 , Nina Simone, singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist was born in Tryon, NC. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Over her career, Simone recorded over 40 albums, mostly between 1958 — when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue — and 1974. Her original style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular her first inspiration, classical composer Bach, and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in characteristic low tenor. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, and as she felt that pop music was inferior. After twenty years of performing, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once more. Simone's music was highly influential in the fight black people faced for equal rights at this time in America, regardless of race. Her powerful music was a source of inspiration and enjoyment for her generation, and continues to be for those that follow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_simone



On February 20 in Black History...
In 1961 - Otis Boykin patents the Electrical Resistor; Otis Boykin, Inventor, patented the Electrical Resistor. U.S. 2,972,726 He is responsible for inventing the electrical device used in all guided missiles and IBM computers, plus 26 other electronic devices including a control unit for an artificial heart stimulator (pacemaker).
In 1992 - Eva Jessye, choral director for the first Broadway production of Porgy and Bess died in Ann Arbor, Michigan Feb. 21, 1992.
In 1987 - Black Rebellion in Tampa, Florida; African Americans in Tampa, Florida rebelled after an African American man was killed by a white police officer while in custody.
In 1965 - Malcolm X was assassinated, Audubon Ballroom at a rally of his organization. Three Blacks were later convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment, 11 months after his split from Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam.
In 1936 - Barbara Jordan was born; She became the first African American woman elected to the House of Representatives.

On February 20 in Black History...
In 1991 - African Americans win eight Grammys;
In 1968 - State troopers used tear gas to stop demonstrations; State troopers used tear gas to stop demonstrations at Alcorn A&M College.
In 1963 - Birthday; Charles Wade Barkley, 36, basketball player, born Leeds, AL, February 20, 1963.
In 1936 John Hope, president, Atlanta University died.
In 1936 - Nancy Wilson, jazz singer and actress was born in Chillicothe, Ohio.
In 1931 - Army Lt. Gen. Emmett Paige, Jr. was born in Jacksonville, Florida;
In 1929 - Writer Wallace Thurman's play Harlem opens in NYC. Writer Wallace Thurman's play Harlem opens in NYC. It is the first successful play by an African American playwright.

In 1927 - Sidney Poitier was born in Miami, Fl.  In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field. The significance of this achievement was later bolstered in 1967 when he starred in three well-received films—To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night; and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner—making him the top box office star of that year. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Poitier among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking 22nd on the list of 25.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Poitier 

In 1900 - J.F. Bickering patents airship invention.
In 1895 - Death of Frederick Douglass (78), Anacostia; Death of Frederick Douglass (78), Anacostia Heights, District of Columbia. Douglass was the leading Black spokesman for almost fifty years. He was a major abolitionist and a lecturer and editor.
In 1869 - Tennessee Governor W.C. Brownlow declares martial law; Tennessee Governor W.C. Brownlow declared martial law in nine countries in Ku Klux Klan crisis.

On February 19 in Black History...
In 2002 - Vonetta Flowers; Vonetta Flowers became the first black gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. She and partner Jull Brakken won the inagural women's two-person bobsled event.
In 1996 - Concert singer Dorothy Maynor died.
In 1992 - John Singleton, Director; John Singleton,the first African American director to be nominated for the Academy Award is nominated for best director and best screenplay for his first film Boyz N the Hood.  Check out EH post:  http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/on-january-6-in-black-history.html

In 1942 - Tuskegee Airmen initiated; The Army Air Corps' all African American 100th Pursuit Squadron, later designated a fighter squadron, was activated at Tuskegee Institute. The squadron served honorably in England and in other regions of the European continent during World War II.
In 1940 -William "Smokey" Robinson born in Detroit, Michigan. Robinson's first singing group was the Miracles which he formed in 1955 while still in high school. The group's first success came in 1960 with the hit, "Shop Around."
In 1919 - Pan-African Congress Meeting; Pan-African Congress, organized by W.E.B. Du Bois, met a Grand Hotel, Paris. There were fifty-seven delegates sixteen from the United States and fourteen from Africa form sixteen countries and colonies. Blaise Diagne of Senegal was elected president and Du Bois was named secretary.
In 1919 - The 1st Pan African Congress is held. (Paris,France).
In 1864 - Knights of Pythias established; Knights of Pythias established. Confederate troops defeated three Black and six white regiments at Battle of Olustee, about fifty miles from Jacksonville, Florida.

On February 18 in Black History...

In 1965 Gambia declares its independence. Independence Day is celebrated by the country of Gambia every February 18 to commemorate its sovereignty from the British colonial rule on 1965 from approximately 300 years. It was also on this day on 1965 that the Gambians finally established their own flag and replaced the Union Jack. History of Gambia’s Independence - England and France, during around the 1800′s constantly battled into dominating the regions Senegal and Gambia Rivers. The Europeans have always been attracted to these great two rivers because of their promising facet when it comes to political and commercial use. At the peak of the 19th century, Gambia was put under the ruling power of Britain. Slave trade became so rampant then and the Gambian people suffered from torture and abuse. Almost 3 million people were victims of this colonial period in which majority were sold to the Arabs and Europeans to become servants and some were kept as prisoners. It was only on 1807 that the slave trade was finally eradicated all over the territory of Britain except from Gambia which remained under the jurisdiction of the British Governor General until 1888. After the 2nd World War right after the broad elections, full self-government was granted to Gambia. It was officially proclaimed a legal monarchy within a Commonwealth on February 18, 1965. Five years after its independence, the government passed a new referendum declaring the country as a republic. Prime Minister Dawda Jawara who took the seat on the day of independence became the first president of the republic on 1970. Gambia’s Independence Day Traditions, Customs and Activities - The Gambians never fail to look back to their history and recall their fulfilling past. So each year, the people of Gambia hold several activities and flag hoisting ceremonies to give honor to the day of their independence. They also hold a flag down celebration where the Union Jack is lowered in replacement of the Gambian National flag as a reenactment of the history and educate the young generation.
In 1973 - Palmer Hayden, Harlem Renaissance artist, died.
In 1931 - Toni Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio. Toni Morrison, who will win the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved.
In 1896 - H. Grenon patents razor stropping device; Grenon, H. Razor Stropping Device Feb. 18, 1896 Patent No. 554,867.
In 1894 - Paul Revere Williams, renowned architect, was born.
In 1867 - Morehouse Predecessor Founded. An institution was founded at Augusta, Georgia which was later to become Morehouse College, following its relocation to Atlanta. Morehouse College is one of the most prestigious black colleges in the nation.
In 1865 - Rebels abandoned Charleston; Rebels abandoned Charleston. First Union troops to enter the city included Twenty-first U.S.C.T., followed by two companies of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers.
In 1688 - First Formal Protest Against Slavery; First formal protest against slavery by organized white body in English America made by Germantown (Pa.) Quakers at monthly meeting. The historic "Germantown Protest" denounced slavery and the slave trade. http://aglobalworld.com/holidays-around-the-world/gambia-independence-day/
On February 17 in Black History...
In 1982 - Thelonious Monk, pianist, died.
In 1967 - Ronald De Voe's Birthday, singer of Bell Biv DeVoe Born Boston, MA, was born.
In 1963 - Michael Jeffrey Jordon's, basketball player, former minor league baseball player, was born in New York, New York.
In 1942 - Black Panther Party Founder was born. An illiterate high-school graduate, Newton taught himself how to read before attending Merritt College in Oakland and the San Francisco School of Law, where he met Seale. In Oakland in 1966 they formed the Black Panther Party.
In 1938 - Mary Frances Berry born; On this day Mary Frances Berry, who will become the first woman to serve as a chancellor of a major research university, is born in Nashville, Tenn.
In 1936 - James Nathaniel Brown's was born; Pro Football Hall of Fame Fullback in St. Simons Island, GA.

Marian Anderson

In 1918 - Rep. Charles A. Hayes born; Birthday of Rep. Charles A. Hayes, D-Illinois, who was born in Cairo, Illinois.
In 1989, Hayes was re-elected to a fourth term in the House of Representatives. He was first elected Sept. 12, 1983.
In 1902 - Opera singer Marian Anderson born; Opera singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Most of her singing career was spent performing in concert and recital in major music venues and with major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe between 1925 and 1965. Although she was offered contracts to perform roles with many important European opera companies, Anderson declined all of these, preferring to perform in concert and recital only. She did, however, perform opera arias within her concerts and recitals. She made many recordings that reflected her broad performance repertoire of everything from concert literature to lieder to opera to traditional American songs and spirituals.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson
Check out EH Post:   http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2010/11/opera-and-sisterhood.html
In 1891 - Churn Invented by A. C. Richardson, a black inventor, patent #466,470.
In 1870 - Congress readmits Mississippi; Congress passed resolution readmitting Mississippi on condition that it would never change its constitution to disenfranchise Blacks.

On February 16 in Black History...
In 1970 - Joe Frazier becomes world heavyweight boxing champion. Joe Frazier knocked out Jimmy Ellis in the second round of their New York fight and became the world heavyweight boxing champion.
In 1957 - Actor Levar Burton born; Actor Levar Burton was born in Landsthul, Germany. Burton won fame for his acting in the television movie "roots, which was based on the novel by Alex Haley. He became known once more in the 1980s and 1990s for his recurring role in the "Star Trek: Next Generation" series and movies.
In 1951 - New York City Council passes bill prohibiting racial discrimination; New York City Council passed bill prohibiting racial discrimination in city-assisted housing developments.
In 1923 - Bessie Smith's First Recording, "Down Hearted Blues," which sells 800,000 copies for Columbia Records.
In 1857 - Frederick Douglass was elected President of Freedman Bank and Trust.
On February 15 in Black History...
In 1851, A group of black abolitionists invaded a Boston courtroom to rescue escaped slave Shadrach Minkins. Check out EH post here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/from-fugitive-slave-to-citizen.html
In 1970 - Nationalists disrupted UN session on Congo with demonstration for slain Congo Premier Patrice Lumumba.
In 1968 - Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States.
In 1965 - Nat King Cole, singer and pianist, died in Santa Monica, California.
In 1964 - Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" recording becomes his first and only number one record.
In 1961 - U.S. and African nationalist protesting the slaying of Congo Premire Patrice Lumumba distrupts U.N. sessions.
In 1848 - Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston; Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston. Her father, Benjamin Roberts, filed the first school integration suit on her behalf.
In 1804 - New Jersey begins to abolish slavery; The New Jersey Legislature approved a law calling for "gradual" emancipation of African Americans. In so doing, New Jersey became the last Northern state to outlaw slavery.

On February 14 in Black History...

In 1946 - Gregory Hines, dancer and entertainer, was born.
In 1936 - National Negro Congress organized at Chicago in a meeting attended by 817 delegates representing more than 500 organizations. Asa Phillip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was elected president of the new organization. In 1867 - Morehouse College organized in Augusta, Georgia. The institution was later moved to Atlanta. New registration law in Tennessee abolished racial distinctions in voting.
In 1817 - Possible birthday of Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and orator. Born into slavery as Frederick Baile, Douglass purchased his freedom in 1845 and went on to become the greatest abolitionist of his time. Check out EH Posts here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/african-americans-in-civil-war.html http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/black-history-month-2011.html
In 1760 - Richard Allen born in slavery in Philadelphia.

On February 13 in Black History...
In 1973 - Wm. Desjardin patents corner cleaner attachment; Gertrude E. Downing and William Desjardin Corner Cleaner Attachment, Patent No. 3,715,772.
In 1970 - Joseph Searles becomes the first Black member to be admitted into the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1957 - Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized at New Orleans meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. as president.
In 1957 - On this day the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is founded in New Orleans, LA.
In 1923 - 1st Black professional basketball team, "The Renaissance" was organized.
In 1907 - Wendell P. Dabney establishes The Union Newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio. The paper's motto is "For no people can become great without being united, for in union there is strength."
In 1892 - The first African American performers, the World's Fair Colored Opera Company, appear at Carnegie Hall.
In 1882 - Henry Highland Garnet, diplomat and protest leader, dies in Monrovia, Liberia.
In 1818 - Absalom Jones, the first African American Episcopal priest ordained in the U.S., dies.
In 1635 - America's first public school, the Boston Latin School, opened in Boston with Black students excluded from attending.

On February 12 in Black History...
In 1962 - Bus boycott started in Macon, Georgia.
In 1956, Arsenio hall was born.. Halls was the first black late-night talk show host in history.
In 1948, First Lt. Nancy C. Leftenant became the first Black accepted in the regular army nursing corps.
In 1939 - Augustus Nathaniel Lushington became the first African American to earn a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), earning the doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1897.
In 1934 - Billiam "Bill" Felton Russell was born. He was better known as "Bill" Russel, he was player-coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team in 1968 and 1969. Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana.
In 1930 - In Tuskegee, Alabama, the Rosenwald Fund made grants to the Alabama State Board of Health to help meet the cost of a sutdy of syphilis in African American men living in rural Georgia and Alabama. Thus would begin a four decade long study of syphilis without treatment.
In 1909 - The NAACP is founded by a group of black and white citizens committed to social justice, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation's largest and strongest civil rights organization. Check out EH post here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2009/07/does-silence-mean-approval.html.
In 1900 - For a Lincoln birthday celebration, James Weldon Johnson writes the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing". With music by his brother, J. Rosamond, the song is first sung by 500 children in Jacksonville, Fla. It will become known as the "Negro National Anthem". Check out EH post here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/lifting-every-voice.html
In 1865 - Henry Highland Garnet, first Black to speak in the the Capitol, delivered memorial sermon on the abolition of slavery at services in the House of Representatives.

On February 11 in Black History...
In 1990 Nelson Mandela is released.
In 1989 - Penn's 1996 Baccalaureate Speaker is The Right Reverend Barbara Clementine Harris, a Philadelphian who was the first woman ever to become a bishop in the Anglican Communion.
In 1976 - Clifford Alexander Jr is confirmed as the first African American Secretary of the Army. He will hold the position until the end of President Jimmy Carter's term.
In 1961 - February 11, Robert Weaver sworn in as administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, highest federal post to date by a Black American.
In 1898 - Owen L. W. Smith of North Carolina, AME Zion minister and educator, named minister to Liberia.
In 1783 - Jarena Lee was born. Lee was the daughter of former slaves, born in Cape May, New Jersey. Jarena Lee is the considered the first female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1836, she published her autobiography, The Life and Religious Experiences, of Jarena Lee, a Coloured Lady. In 1644 - First Black legal protest in America pressed by eleven Blacks who petitioned for freedom in New Netherlands (New York).

On February 10 in Black History...

In 1992 - Alex Haley, renowned author, dies. Africa and covers seven American generations as they are taken slaves to the United States. The book was adapted to television series, and woke up an interest in genealogy, particularly among Black Americans.
In 1967 - 1967 The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. That amendment provided that in the case of a vice president's become president, the new president would name a new vice president, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.
In 1966 - Andrew Brimmer becomes the first African-American governor of the Federal Reserve Board when he is appointed by President Johnson.
In 1964, after 12 days of debate and voting on 125 amendments, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by a vote of 290-130. The bill prohibited any state or local government or public facility from denying access to anyone because of race or ethnic origin.
In 1946 - 1946 Georgia-born Jackie Robinson -- major league baseball's first black player.

Roberta Flack

In 1940 - Singer Roberta Flack was born.   Classically trained on the piano from an early age, Ms. Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. Discovered while singing at the Washington, DC nightclub Mr. Henry's by jazz musician Les McCann, she was promptly signed to Atlantic With a string of hits, including, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Where Is the Love (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), Killing Me Softly With His Song, Feel Like Makin' Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love, and Set the Night to Music, Ms. Flack has built a musical legacy. In 1999, she aptly received a Star on Hollywood's legendary Walk of Fame.  For more about Roberta, http://www.robertaflack.com/biography.php



Leontyne Price

 In 1927 - Leontyne Price, American Soprana, was born.   Born and raised in the segregated Deep South, she rose to international fame during a period of racial change in the 1950s and 1960s, and was the first African-American to become a leading "prima donna assoluta" at the Metropolitan Opera.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leontyne_Price

In 1927 - Ron Brown elected Chairman of the Democratic Party. Attorney Ronald Brown was elected national chairman of the Democratic Party and became the first African American to hold the post. Brown was later appointed Secretary of Commerce under the Clinton administration in 1994. He served in this capacity until he was killed in 1996 when he and 32 others died in a plane crash.
In 1907, Civil rights activist and politician Grace Towns Hamilton was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1868 - Conservatives, aided by military forces, seized convention hall and established effective control over Reconstruction process in Florida.
On February 9 in Black History...
In 1995 - Bernard Harris, African-American astronaut, takes space walk.
In 1971 - Satchel Paige inducted to Baseball Hall of Fame. Check out EH Posts here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2009/02/congress-ratifies-15th-amendment.html
http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-in-black-history.html
In 1952 - Author Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man wins the National Book Award.
In 1944 - Novelist Alice Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia.
In 1906 - Death of Paul Laurence Dunbar in Dayton, Ohio. Check out EH Post on Dunbar here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2010/11/negro-love-song.html

On February 8 in Black History...

In 1986 Figure Skater Debi Thomas became the first African American to win the Women's Singles of the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship competition, was a pre-med student at Stanford University. As one of America's best known female sports stars of the 1980s, there were numerous pinnacles. Debi was crowned skating's World champion in 1986 and twice won the U.S. National Championship title in 1986 and 1988. She later captured three World Professional skating titles and entertained audiences as a frequent headliner in shows and tours, skating for four years with the popular Discover Card "Stars On Ice" cast. 
Despite the demands of training and competing, Debi stayed the course in academics. She took a brief respite from her studies to win her Olympic medal in 1988, and graduated from Stanford in 1991. Her proudest achievement in skating occurred in 1986; during her freshman year at Stanford, Debi won both the U.S. and World Championship titles, a feat many said "couldn't be done". Until the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Debi was the first and only black athlete to win an Olympic medal at the Winter Games. Debi and husband Chris Bequette (a financial analyst with Linsco/Private Ledger in Champaign, Illinois), welcomed their first child, Christopher Jules Bequette II, on July 1, 1997, just weeks after Debi received her medical degree from Northwestern University. http://www.docdebithomas.com/
In 1894 - Congress repeals the Enforcement Act; Congress repeals the Enforcement Act which makes it easier for some states to disenfranchise African American voters.
In 1925 Marcus Garvey entered federal prison in Atlanta. Students staged strike at Fisk University to protest policies of white administration.
In 1944 - First African American Harry S. McAlphin; First African American to accredited to attend White House press conference.
In 1968 - Officers killed three students during demonstration on the campus of South Carolina State in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Students were protesting segregation at an Orangeburg bowling alley.
In 1968 Garey Coleman born. Diminutive actor Gary Coleman was born in Zion, Illinois. Despite a childhood of medical troubles, Coleman went on to become a television star in numerous situation comedies.
In 1990 Andey Rooney suspended for racist comments. Andy Rooney, a CBS "60 Minutes" commentator, received a 90-day suspension from work because of racist remarks about African Americans attributed to him by Chris Bull, a New York-based reporter for "The Advocate."
In 1986 Ophrah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show.
In 1985 Reporter at Large, Brenda Renee Pearson an official court reporter for the House of Representatives was the first black female to record the State of the Union message delivered by the president in the House chambers.
In 1978 Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali for heavyweight Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali for heavyweight boxing championship. Ali regained the title on September 15 and became the person to win the title three times.

On February 7 in Black History...
In 1872 - Alcorn A&M College opened.
In 1883 - Eubie Blake, pianist, was born.
In 1926 - Negro History week originated by Carter G.Woodson is observed for the first time. In 1926 - Black History Week; Carter G. Woodson creates Negro History Week. In 1976 it became Black History Month. Check out EH post here: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/black-history-month-2011.html

In 1967 Chris Rock was born. Comedian, author, recording artist, actor, and talk show host Chris Rock was born in South Carolina. Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central. He was also voted in the UK as the 9th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2007, and again in the updated 2010 list as the 8th greatest stand-up comic.
In 1945 - Irwin Molison appointed judge of the US Customs Court.
In 1946 - Filibuster in U.S. Senate killed FEPC bill. In 1974 - Grenada achieves independence from Great Britain.
In 1820 - United States population: 9,638,453. United States population: 9,638,453. Black population: 1,771,656 (18.4 per cent).

On February 6 in Black History...
In 1820 the Mayflower of Liberia sailed from New York City with eighty-six Blacks. Ship arrived in Sierra Leone, March 9. The first organized emigration back to Africa begins when 86 free African Americans leave New York Harbor aboard the Mayflower of Liberia. They are bound for the British colony of Sierra Leone, which welcomes free African Americans as well as fugitive slaves.
In 1867 Peabody Fund for Black education in the South established.
In 1870 Jonathan Jasper Wright was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court.
In 1898 - Melvin B. Tolson, author, educator, poet, was born.
In 1933 Walter E. Fauntroy was born in Washington, D.C. He went on to become a District of Columbia delegate to the House of Representatives.
In 1972 Robert Lewis Douglas founder and coach of the Rens, is inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 1945 Bob Marley, Jamacian reggae star is born.
In 1993 - Arthur Ashe died. Ashe was the first African American to win at Wimbledon.
In 1961 Jail-in movement started in Rock Hill, S.C., when students refused to pay fines and requested jail sentences. Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee urged south-wide "Jail, No Bail" campaign.

On February 5 in Black History...  
In 1866 Congressman Thaddeus Stevens offered an amendment to Freedmen's Bureau bill authorizing the distribution of public land and confiscated land to freedmen and loyal refugees in forty acre lots.
In 1900 - U.S. Rep. Jefferson Long dies. U.S. Rep. Jefferson Long, elected from the state of Georgia, died in Washington D.C. Long was the only candidate interested in running for the 60-day term and he was duly elected. In 1934 - Hank Henry "Home Run King" Aaron, baseball superstar was born.
In 1950 Singer Natalie Cole, daughter of legedary singer Nat Cole, born in Los Angeles, California. Singing professionally at age 11, by 1976 Cole had won Grammys for New Artist of the Year and Best R&B Female Vocalist.
In 1962 - Suit seeking to bar Englewood, N.J., from maintaining "racial segregated" elementary schools filed in U.S. District Court. In 1958 Clifton R. Wharton Sr. confirmed as minister to Rumania. Career diplomat was the first Black to head a U.S. embassy in Europe.

On February 4 in Black History…
In 1913 Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Pictured right, Deputy Sheriff D.H. Lackey fingerprints Parks during her February 22, 1956 indictment for organizing a boycott. Check out EH post: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2009/02/rosa-parks-was-born.html
In 1794 France abolishes slavery. The nation will have a lukewarm commitment to abolition and will, under Napoleon, reestablish slavery in 1802 along with the reinstitution of the "Code noir", prohibiting blacks, mulattoes and other people of color from entering French colonial territory or intermarrying with whites. Check out EH post: http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2009/02/rosa-parks-was-born.html
In 1969 MPLA begins armed struggle against Portugal in Angola. .
In 1971 National Guard mobilized to quell rioting in Wilmington, North Carolina. Two persons killed.
In 1986 A stamp of Sojourner Truth is issued by the U.S. Postal Service
In 1996 J.C. Watts becomes the first Black selected to respond to a state of the union address. In 1986 A stamp of Sojourner Truth is issued by the U.S. Postal Service

February 3 in Black History...
In 1956, Autherine J. Lucy becomes the first black student to attend the University of Alabama. She was expelled three days later "for her own safety" in response to threats from a mob. "Attorneys for Lucy and the NAACP, including Shores and Thurgood Marshall, filed a complaint accusing the university of conspiring with the mob to prevent Lucy from attending classes. Outraged, on February 28, the university trustees voted to permanently expel Lucy for her part in the conspiracy charges; the complaint was subsequently withdrawn, but the expulsion stood. Judge Grooms issued an order for Lucy's readmission on February 29, but he refused to overturn the trustees' decision to expel Lucy. Lucy's attempt to attend classes at the university had failed; it would be another seven years before African Americans were granted admission after George Wallace's notorious "stand in the schoolhouse door." " source: http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2489 ; http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874873,00.html
In 1964, over 450,000 Black and Puerto Rican students boycotted New York City public schools in an effort to render the racial imbalance of African American and Puerto Rican schools by persuading the New York City Board of Education to implement integration timetables. http://crdl.usg.edu/events/ny_school_boycott/?Welcome
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870677-1,00.html
In 1920 The Negro Baseball League was founded.
In 1948 - Rosa Ingram and her fourteen-and sixteen -year-old sons condemned to death for the alleged murder of a white Georgian
In 1965 - Geraldine McCullough, Sculptor wins Widener Gold Medal Award.
In 1989 - Tennis player Lori McNeil defeats Chris Evert in the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
In 1989 - Bill White, six time All-Star was named president of National League.
In 1999 Cyber-Youth Network Launches.Cyber-Youth Network provides a model for online education. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-575086.html
In 1874 Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce was elected to a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate by the Mississippi legislature. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_32_00039.htm

February 2 in Black History...
In 1989 - Rebellion After Suspicious Death During Arrest; In Tampa,Florida, a rebellion followed the suspicious death of Edgar Allen Price, a police suspect who died during an arrest. Police contended that Price "hit his head on the ground several times." ;
In 1962 - Eleven People Arrested After Sit-In; Seven whites and four Blacks arrested after all-night sit-in at Englewood, N.J., city hall. Four Black mothers arrested after sit-in at Chicago elementary school. Mothers later received suspended $50 fines. Protests, picketing and demonstrations continued for several weeks against de facto segregation, double shifts a...
In 1948 - Truman sends Congress Anti-Lynching Message; President Truman sent Congress a special message urging adoption of a civil rights program, including a fair employment practices commission and anti-lynching and anti-poll tax measures.
In 1915 - Biologist Ernest E. Just Receives Spingarn Medal for his pioneering in cell division and fertilization. http://www.time.com/time/2007/blackhistmth/bios/08.html
In 1914 - William Ellisworth Artist is born in Washington,N.C. Educated at Syracuse University and a student of Augusta Savage.
In 1912 - Herbert Mills, of the original Mills Brothers Quartet, was born in Piqua, Ohio. The highly successful quartet was known for its smooth harmony.
In 1897 - A.L. Cralle patents Ice Cream Mold, Patent No.576,395
In 1897 - Ice Cream Scooper Invented, Alfred L. Cralle invented the ice cram scooper, patent #576,395
In 1862 - District of Columbia abolishes slavery.
In 1839 - Spark Plug Patent, Inventor Edmond Berger patented the spark plug.

February 1 in Black History...
In 1997 - First 24-Hour Black Movie Channel - BET Holdings and Encore Media Corp. launch BET Movie/Starz the first 24 hour Black Movie channel.
2. 1997 - Black Facts Online Goes Live! - Black Facts Online, the premiere spot for Black history goes online.
3. 1990 - Original Sit-In Revisited - In Greensboro, North Carolina, Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair), Franklin McCain and David Richond repeated the original sit-in of 30 years prior, by having breakfast at the Greensboro Woolworth store.
4. 1990 - Ida Wells Postage Stamp Issued - Ida Wells, a black reformer who compiled records on lynching, is the subject of a United States Postal Service stamp.
5. 1978 - The first stamp of the U.S. Postal Service's - The first stamp of the U.S. Postal Service's Black Heritage USA series honors Harriet Tubman, famed abolitionist and "conductor" on the Underground Railroad
6. 1974 - Good Times premieres on CBS.
7. 1967 - Poet Langston Hughes died.
8. 1965 - Selma Demonstration Ends in 700 Arrests - More than seven hundred demonstrators, including Martin Luther King Jr., arrested in Selma.
9. 1965 - Actress Ruby Dee in Shakespeare Festival - Ruby Dee was the first African American actress to play a major role at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford Conn.
10. 1960 - Sit-in Movement in Greensboro, North Carolina - Four students form North Carolina A&T College started Sit-in movement at Greensboro, N.C., five-and-dime store. By February 10 movement had spread to fifteen Southern cities in five states.
In 1952 - Singer Rick James born, Rock/Funk singer
In 1937 - Actor/Comedian Garrett Morris (Saturday Night Live, Martin)is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
14. 1926 - Negro History Week Begins - What is now known as Black History Month, was first celebrated on this date as Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson. It became a month long celebration in 1976.
15. 1902 - Langston Hughes - O1ne of the most famous poets, Langston Hughes was born in the year 1902. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes
16. 1887 - J. Robinson patents food carrier - Robinson, J. Dinner Pail Feb. 01, 1887 Patent No. 356,852
17. 1871 - 1st Black to Speak in US House of Representatives - Jefferson Long of Georgia became the first Black to make an official speech in the House of Representatives. He opposed leniency to former Confederates.
18. 1870 - Jonathan Jasper Wright - Jonathan Jasper Wright is elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court. He is the first African American to hold a major judicial position.
19. 1865 - First African American Before US Supreme Court - John Sweat Rock (1825-1866), a noted Boston lawyer, became in 1865 the first African-American to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the first Black person to speak before the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1865 - Ratification of the 13th Amendment - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, was adopted by the 38th Congress. Ratification was completed December 6, 1865.
In 1834, Henry McNeal Turner was born on what is now Hannah Circuit, near Newberry, which was then in Abbeville County, South Carolina. http://www.turnerchapelame.org/history/histhmt.htm

Check out these sites are where I get many of the daily black history info:
http://www.blackfacts.com/
http://www.dayinblackhistory.com/
http://www.wikipedia.org/

And the award goes to...Michael Jackson!!!

On February 28 in Black History...

In 1984, Michael Jackson, entertainer won 8 Grammys.  His album, "Thriller", broke all sales records to-date, and remains one of the top-grossing albums of all time.   That same year, Jackson won eight American Music Awards, the Special Award of Merit and three MTV Video Music Awards.  Thriller was recognized as the world's best-selling album on February 7, 1984, when it was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records. ..



Thriller ranked number 20 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003.  The Thriller video was preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry, as it was deemed "culturally significant".


Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including pop, R&B, rock and post-disco music.
Recording sessions took place between April and November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a production budget of $750,000, assisted by producer Quincy Jones. Jackson wrote four of Thriller's nine tracks. In just over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time, with sales estimated by various sources as somewhere between 65 and 110 million copies worldwide, and is the best-selling album in the United States. Seven of the album's nine songs were released as singles, and all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards at the1984 Grammys.

Happy Birthday Fats Domino and The Best of the 1985 Grammy's

On February 26 in Black History...Fats Domino and the 1985 Grammy Awards

In 1928, Singer "Fats" Domino was born in New Orleans as Antoine Dominique Domino Jr.  Domino first attracted national attention with "The Fat Man" in 1949 on Imperial Records.  This song is an early rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano and Domino doing "wah-wah" vocalizing over a strong back beat. It sold over a million copies and is widely regarded as the first rock and roll record to do so.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Domino      In the Fifties with a rockin' piano Fats Domino came out of New Orleans to become one of rock-and-roll's earliest and best stars. With 65 million record sales to his credit, Fats out sold every Fifties rock and and roll pioneer except Elvis Presley.  In 1957 he appeared in a movie that many consider to be the best rock-and-roll film ever made, The Girl Can't Help It, singing his hit "Blue Monday." 

In 1956 he put five songs in the top forty, including "I'm In Love Again" and Fats' rendition of a song that had reached number one for Glenn Miller in 1940, "Blueberry Hill". The latter went to number two and was Domino's highest charting record ever. Fats Domino took his place in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1986.  http://www.history-of-rock.com/domino.htm 

http://www.fatsdominomusic.com/bio.html

In 1985, African-American musicians won awards in three BEST and several other key categories at the Grammy Awards ceremony.
Lionel Richie's 'Can't Slow Down' won BEST ALBUM of 1984.

 
Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got to Do With It' took the BEST RECORD slot and earned her the title Best Female Pop Vocalist.    
 
The Pointer Sisters won BEST POP GROUP for 'Jump. 
 
Other winners for the night included: 
Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female - Shirley Caesar for Sailin'
Best Soul Gospel Performance, Male - Andrae Crouch for "Always Remember"
Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group - Shirley Caesar & Al Green for "Sailin' on the Sea of Your Love"
Best Inspirational Performance - Donna Summer for "Forgive Me" 
JazzBest Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist - Wynton Marsalis for Hot House Flowers
Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group - Art Blakey for "New York Scene" performed by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers
Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band - Count Basie for 88 Basie Street
Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Joe Williams for Nothin' But the Blues
Best Video Album - Michael Jackson for Making Michael Jackson's Thriller
Best Pop Instrumental Performance - Ray Parker Jr. for "Ghostbusters (Instrumental)"
Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) - James Anthony Carmichael & Lionel Richie
Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female - Chaka Khan for "I Feel for You"
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - James Ingram & Michael McDonald for "Yah Mo B There"
Best R&B Instrumental Performance - Herbie Hancock for Sound System
Best Rhythm & Blues Song - Prince (songwriter) for "I Feel For You" performed by Chaka Khan
Best Reggae Recording - Black Uhuru for Anthem
RockBest Rock Vocal Performance, Female - Tina Turner for "Better Be Good to Me"
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - Prince & the Revolution for Purple Rain - Music From the Motion Picture 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27th_Grammy_Awards
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454765/

An Intellectual Leader is Born

"In the course of his long career, Du Bois attempted virtually every possible solution to the problem of twentieth-century racism—scholarship, propaganda, integration, national self-determination, human rights, cultural and economic separatism, politics, international communism, expatriation, third world solidarity."

Biographer David Levering Lewis

On February 23 in Black History...

In 1868, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  Du Bois was an intellectual leader in the United States as sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor.  Du Bois graduated from Harvard, where he earned his Ph.D in History, the first African-American to earn a doctorate at Harvard. Later he became a professor of history and economics at Atlanta University. As head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910, he was founder and editor of the NAACP's journal The Crisis.  Du Bois was the most prominent intellectual leader and political activist on behalf of African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century.A contemporary of Booker T. Washington, he carried on a dialogue with the educator about segregation, political disfranchisement, and ways to improve African American life. He was labeled "The Father of Pan-Africanism." 

Along with Washington, Du Bois helped organize the "Negro Exhibition" at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris.  http://www.webdubois.org/dbANParis.html It included Frances Benjamin Johnston's photos of Hampton Institute's black students.  The Negro exhibition focused on African Americans' positive contributions to American society.  Du Bois is viewed by many as a modern day prophet. This is highlighted by his "Credo", a prose-poem first published in The Independent in 1904.  See text of Credo below. W.E.B. Du Bois wrote his Credo at Atlanta University as a rejection of the politics of Booker T. Washington, whose work toward racial equality demanded a slow, steady approach that was viewed by some, Du Bois included, as too accomodating of the status quo.

       

"The Negro Race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education then, among Negroes, must first of all deal with the "Talented Tenth." It is the problem of developing the best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the worst."  WEB DuBois

In 1905, Du Bois, along with Minnesota attorney Fredrick L. McGhee and others, helped found the Niagara Movement with William Monroe Trotter. The Movement championed freedom of speech and criticism, the recognition of the highest and best human training as the monopoly of no caste or race, full male suffrage, a belief in the dignity of labor, and a united effort to realize such ideals under sound leadership.

The alliance between Du Bois and Trotter was, however, short-lived, as they had a dispute over whether or not white people should be included in the organization and in the struggle for civil rights. Believing that they should, in 1909 Du Bois with a group of like-minded supporters founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Du Bois wrote and published more than 4,000 articles, essays, and books over the course of his 95-year life. Most of these are out of print and hard to find even in their original publications. No edition of his complete works has yet been published. In 1977, Paul G. Partington published a bibliography of Du Bois's published works, titled W. E. B. Du Bois: A Bibliography of His Published Writings. (Whittier, CA: c.1977, 1979 (rev. ed.)) (privately published). ISBN 0-9602538-1-5. A supplement was published in 1984, titled W. E. B. Du Bois: A Bibliography of His Published Writings—Supplement. (Whittier, CA: c. 1984), 20 pages. The supplement represented Partington's research in the Du Bois papers owned by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Du Bois was invited to Ghana in 1961 by President Kwame Nkrumah to direct the Encyclopedia Africana, a government production, and a long-held dream of his. When, in 1963, he was refused a new U.S. passport, he and his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois, became citizens of Ghana. Contrary to some opinions (including David Levering Lewis's Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Du Bois), he never renounced his US citizenship, even when denied a passport to travel to Ghana. Du Bois' health had declined in 1962, and on August 27, 1963, he died in Accra, Ghana at the age of ninety-five, one day before Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.  Du Bois is buried at the Du Bois Memorial Centre in Accra.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois#cite_note-16

*************************

DuBois' Credo

I believe in God who made of one blood all races that dwell on earth. I believe that all men, black and white, are brothers, varying through Time and Opportunity, in form and gift and feature, but differing in no essential particular, and alike in soul and in the possibility of infinite development. 
Especially do I believe in the Negro Race; in the beauty of its genius, the sweetness of its soul, and its strength in that meekness which shall yet inherit this turbulent earth.

I believe in pride of race and lineage and self; in pride of self so deep as to scorn injustice to other selves; in pride of lineage so great as to despise no man's father; in pride of race so chivalrous as neither to offer bastardy to the weak nor beg wedlock of the strong, knowing that men may be brothers in Christ, even though they be not brother-in-law.

I believe in Service–humble reverent service, from the blackening of boots to the whitening of souls; for Work is Heaven, Idleness is Hell, and Wage is the “Well done!” of the Master who summoned all them that labor and are heavy laden, making no distinction between the black sweating cotton-hands of Georgia and the First Families of Virginia, since all distinction not based on deed is devilish and not divine.

I believe in the Devil and his angels, who wantonly work to narrow the opportunity of struggling human beings, especially if they be black; who spit in the faces of the fallen, strike them that cannot strike again, believe the worst and work to prove it, hating the image which their Maker stamped on a brother's soul.

I believe in the Prince of Peace. I believe that War is Murder. I believe that armies and navies are at bottom the tinsel and braggadocia of oppression and wrong; and I believe that the wicked conquest of weaker and darker nations by nations whiter and stronger but foreshadows the death of that strength.

I believe in Liberty for all men; the space to stretch their arms and their souls; the right to breathe and the right to vote, the freedom to choose their friends, enjoy the sunshine and ride on the railroads, uncursed by color; thinking, dreaming, working as they will in the kingdom of God and love.

I believe in the training of children, black even as white; the leading out of little souls into the green pastures and beside the still waters, not for pelf or peace, but for Life lit by some large vision of beauty and goodness and truth; lest we forget, and the sons of the fathers, like Esau, for mere meat barter their birthright in a mighty nation.

Finally, I believe in Patience–patience with the weakness of the Weak and the strength of the Strong, the prejudice of the Ignorant and the ignorance of the Blind; patience with the tardy triumph of Joy and the mad chastening of Sorrow–patience with God.

http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/duboisopedia/doku.php?id=about:credo