Today in Black History January 27

1869 – William Mercer Cook (later Will Marion Cook), who will
become a noted composer and conductor, is born in
Washington, DC. Beginning study of the violin at age 13,
at 15 he will win a scholarship to study at the Oberlin
Conservatory. Among other accomplishments, he will
introduce syncopated ragtime to New York City
theatergoers in his operetta “Clorinda.” In 1890, he
will become director of a chamber orchestra touring the
East Coast. He will prepare Scenes from the Opera of
Uncle Tom’s Cabin for performance. The performance, which
is to take place at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, is
cancelled. “Clorindy; or, The Origin of the Cakewalk” —
a musical sketch comedy in collaboration with Paul
Laurence Dunbar — is the next piece he will compose, in
1898. It will be the first all-Black show to play in a
prestigious Broadway house, Casino Theatre’s Roof Garden.
After this period, he will be composer-in-chief and
musical director for the George Walker-Bert Williams
Company. As he continues to write, he will produce many
successful musicals. Best known for his songs, he will
use folk elements in an original and distinct manner.
Many of these songs will first appear in his musicals.
The songs will be written for choral groups or for solo
singers. Some are published in “A Collection of Negro
Songs” (1912). Later in his career, he will be an active
choral and orchestral conductor. He will produce several
concerts and organize many choral societies in both New
York and in Washington, DC. The New York Syncopated
Orchestra, that he creates, will tour the United States
in 1918 and then go to England in 1919 for a command
performance for King George V. Among his company will be
assistant director Will Tyers, jazz clarinetist Sidney
Bechet, and Cook’s wife, Abbie Mitchell. One of his last
shows will be “Swing Along” (1929), written with Will
Vodery. He will join the ancestors on July 19, 1944.

1894 – Frederick Douglass ‘Fritz’ Pollard is born in Chicago,
Illinois. He will become a football star at Brown
University in 1915 and lead them to the first Rose Bowl
game, played on January 1, 1916. This will make him the
first African American to play in the Rose Bowl. He will
also become the first African American named an All-American.
After leaving Brown University, he will become one of the
first African Americans to play professional football and
will become the first African American quarterback and the
first African American head coach, both with the NFL Akron
Indians. When the NFL bans African American players from
its ranks in 1933, Pollard will organize the first African
American professional football team, the Brown Bombers of
Harlem. After fifteen years in professional football,
Pollard will establish the first all African American
investment company in the country, and run New York City’s
first African American tabloid newspaper. He will also be
involved in the production of some of America’s first
all-African American movies. He will join the ancestors on
May 11, 1986.

1914 – The United States Marines disembark from the USS Montana in
Haiti. This occupation becomes official on July 28, 1915 on
the authority of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and will
continue until 1934. Americans will serve as officials of
the Haitian government and control its finances, police
force, and public works.

1930 – Robert Calvin Brooks (Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland) is born in Rosemark,
Tennessee. He will become a singer and start his career as
a member of The Beale Streeters with Johnny Ace. He will
become a solo artist with the Malaco label and record “That’s
the Way Love Is,” “Call on Me,” “Turn on Your Love Light,”
and “Ain’t Nothin’ You Can Do.” Along with such artists as
Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Junior Parker, he will develope
a sound that mixes gospel with the Blues and Rhythm & Blues.
He will be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and receive the Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He will join the
ancestors on June 23, 2013.

1942 – John Weatherspoon (later John Witherspoon) is born in Detroit,
Michigan. He will become an actor and comedian who will
perform in dozens of television shows and films. Best known
for his role as Willie Jones for the Friday series, he will
also star in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987),
Boomerang (1992) and Vampire In Brooklyn (1995). He will
also make appearances on television shows such as The Wayans
Bros. (1995–99), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones
(1973), The Boondocks (2005–present), The Five Heartbeats
(1991) and Black Jesus (2014). He will write a film, From
the Old School, in which he will play an elderly working
man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store
from being developed into a strip club. He will join the
ancestors on October 29, 2019 at the age of 77.

1952 – Ralph Ellison’s powerful novel “Invisible Man” wins the
National Book Award.

1961 – Leontyne Price makes her debut at the Metropolitan Opera
House in New York City. She sings in the role of Leonora
in “Il Trovatore”. Price is the seventh African American
singer to make a debut at the Met. Marian Anderson will be
the first in 1955.

1972 – Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer, joins the ancestors in
Evergreen Park, Illinois at the age of 60. Born in New
Orleans, Louisiana, she began her singing career with the
Salem Baptist Choir in Chicago, Illinois. She achieved
national fame with her recording of “Move on Up A Little
Higher,” which sold over a million copies. Many considered
her rich contralto voice the best in gospel music.

1972 – In Columbia, South Carolina, the white and African American
United Methodist conferences of South Carolina — separated
since the Civil War — vote in their respective meetings to
adopt a plan of union.

1984 – Carl Lewis betters his own two-year-old record by 9-1/4
inches when he sets a new, world, indoor-record with a long
jump mark of 28 feet, 10-1/4 inches in New York City.

1984 – Singer Michael Jackson’s hair catches on fire during the
filming of a Pepsi commercial in Los Angeles at the Shrine
Auditorium. Pyrotechnics did not operate on cue, injuring
the singer. Jackson is hospitalized for a few days and fans
from around the world send messages of concern.

2016 – Alyce Dixon, the oldest female veteran of World War II, joins
the ancestors at the Washington DC Veteran Affairs Medical
Center at the age of 108. She served in the postal service
as part of the 6888th Battalion in Scotland, England and
France. After leaving the Army in 1946, she will work for
the Census Bureau and the Pentagon, where she served as a
purchasing agent. She will retire from government service in
1973.

Munirah Chronicle is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry
“The TRUTH shall make you free”

Sytematic Racism

As the year 2020 is coming to an end we should stay on course to change and break down systems that exist that holds Black Americans from success. This is the time to come together as a race that has endured slave history, fought for “civil” rights that are granted others but not us and the right to be successful. Activist Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow” explains a system in place to disenfranchise the Black man.

Roger Wilkins – African American Experience

BENSON

We lost another great Black entertainer, Robert Guillaume 89, has succumb to prostate cancer.  I fondly remember Robert Guillaume as Benson DuBois on a television series.

Guillaume was one of the few Black shows merging in prime time and some of us Black viewers were excited.   RWG Robert Guillaume.  We love you.

Dick Gregory Rest In Peace

Dick Gregory
Oct 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017

My First Hero

In my youth, I was consciously aware of the Black and white divide by living in a predominately white middle to low-income neighborhood.  Have I been called a “nigger” in this environment?  Yes.  I have two distinct memories as a child under the age of 8 years old being called “nigger” by little chubby white girl with red hair, Susie.  And by the way, she was the same age as me.  Just saying!

Moving forward to the civil rights movement, I was a young teenager who didn’t really believe in turning the other cheek but I wasn’t for violence meeting with more violence.  My eyes were opened to the country I lived in by Dick Gregory.  His cowboy analogy, I cleaned house by.  “When mother America forgets ….”, “ … the cowboy always needs an Indian” and “… history repeats itself and 4 lay dead…”  Awesome man, comedian, and activist.

RWG

DICK GREGORY 84th HAPPY BIRTHDAY

October 12th

 
1932 – Richard Claxton Gregory is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
He will be better known as “Dick” Gregory and in the
1960’s will become a comedic pioneer, bringing a new
perspective to comedy and opening many doors for Black
entertainers. Once he achieves success in the
entertainment world, he will shift gears and use his
talents to help causes in which he believes.  He will
serve the community for over forty years as a comedian,
civil and human rights activist and health/nutrition
advocate. On October 9, 2000, his friends and
supporters will honor him at a Kennedy Center gala,
showing him their “appreciation for his uncommon
character, unconditional love, and generous service.

Munirah Chronicle is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry
“The TRUTH shall make you free” _______________________________________  Munirah(TM) is a trademark of Information Man. Copyright 1997 – 2016,
All Rights Reserved by the Information Man in association with
The Black Agenda.

Happy Birthday H. Rap Brown

 

 

 

 

 
October 4, 1943 – Hubert Gerold Brown is born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
He will be better known as H. Rap Brown, become a Black nationalist and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, and later the Justice Minister of the Black Panther Party. He will be most famous for his proclamation during that period that
“violence is as American as cherry pie”, as well as once
stating that “If America don’t come around, we’re gonna
burn it down”. He is also known for his autobiography “Die
Nigger Die!”. He will spend five years (1971-1976) in
New York’s Attica Prison after a robbery conviction. While
in prison, he will convert to Islam and change his name to
Jamil Abdullah al-Amin. After his release, he will open a
grocery store in Atlanta, Georgia and become a Muslim
spiritual leader and community activist, preaching against
drugs and gambling in Atlanta’s West End neighborhood. He
will be sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of
parole, for the 2000 shooting of two Fulton County Sheriff’s
deputies, one of whom dies.  Both deputies were Black.

 

1968 Olympics – Tommie Smith and John Carlos

L&HH Atlanta – too real?

I’m an old head watching a reality show that the oldest member is decades younger than me.  Yes, that’s Love and Hip Hop Atlanta (L&HH Atlanta)  Mona introduced Scrapp DeLeon, 28-year-old rapper, this season  as someone we would be interested in with a little music and lots of lady drama.  Unfortunately, we viewers had to watch Scrapp DeLeon  receive a mandatory sentence for trafficking marijuana.  As a Black mother, its devastating to see how mandatory sentencing works.

I started liking Scrapp especially his interaction with his son. I can even forgive is womanizing ways because really everyone has to be in agreement for that shit to go on and on.  I mean I have seen blood sister share the same man in the same house, one being the wife and one just there.  So Tommie, Karlie and Tiarra drama is minor. The national stage shows focus on a piece of the pipeline to prison.  Mandatory sentencing.

So the judge says he wants to be lenient and gives him a 20 year sentence with the possibility for parole in 5 years and 15 years on parole.  Damn!!  I couldn’t believe it.  The sad fact that some states have legalized marijuana makes Scrapp’s case so crazy. And here, this guy has 5 years taken from his life plus pay $100,000 and the judge states he will be lenient by giving him 20 years and not 30 years.  That’s white man justice.

 

South Carolina

This says it all….

 

VSB – On Being Black And Southern (And From South Carolina) At Times Like This