Black History June 17

KENDRICK LAMAR DUCKWORTH

June 17, 1987 – Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is born in Compton, California. He will become a rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He will be regarded as one of the most skillful and successful hip hop artists of his generation. He will embark on his musical career as a teenager under the stage name K-Dot, releasing a mixtape that will garner local attention and lead to his signing with indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). He will begin to gain recognition in 2010, after his first retail release, “Overly  Dedicated.” The following year, he will independently  release his first studio album, Section.80, which will include his debut single, “HiiiPoWeR.” By that time, he will have amassed a large online following and will collaborate with several prominent hip hop artists, including The Game, Busta Rhymes, and Snoop Dogg. His major label debut album, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City,” will be released in 2012 by TDE,  Aftermath, and Interscope Records to critical acclaim. It will debut at #2 on the US Billboard 200 and will be later certified platinum by the RIAA. The record will contain the top 40 singles “Swimming Pools (Drank)”, “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”, and “Poetic Justice”. His critically acclaimed third album, “To Pimp a Butterfly” (2015) will incorporate elements of funk, soul, jazz, and spoken word. It will debut atop the charts in the US and the UK, and will win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 58th ceremony. In 2016, he   will release “Untitled Unmastered,” a collection of unreleased demos that will originate during the recording sessions for Butterfly. He will release his fourth album “Damn” in 2017 to further acclaim; its lead single “Humble” topping the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Aside from his solo career, he will be also known as a member of the West Coast hip hop super group Black Hippy, alongside his TDE label- mates and fellow South Los Angeles-based rappers Ab-Soul,  Jay Rock, and Schoolboy Q. He will receive many accolades over the course of his career, including thirteen Grammy Awards. In early 2013, MTV will name him the “Hottest MC in the Game”, on their annual list. Time will name him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016. In 2018, “Damn” will become the first non-classical and non-jazz album to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

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

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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”

Sweet Honey In The Rock “When I Die” @ LEAF 10-23-11

One of my favorite groups!

DUKE

D  U  K  E     E L L I N G T O N

April 29,1899 – May 24, 1974

Edward “Duke” Kennedy Ellington is born in Washington, DC.
He will form his first band in 1919, and move to New York
City in 1922. His five-year tenure at the famed Cotton
Club will garner him wide acclaim.  Scoring both his first
musical and making his recording debut in 1924, Ellington
will be known as the first conventional jazz composer,
although he will also become renowned for his Sacred
Concerts in the mid-1960’s.  His most notable works
include “Take the A Train,” “Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated
Ladies,” and “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good.” He will
join the ancestors on May 24, 1974.

Excerpt from – Munirah Chronicle
Munirah Chronicle is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry

Prince

Breathe Love – Even on a Rainy Day

Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016)

RWG Prince

November 27th – Black History

Today in Black History – November 27           *

1942 – Johnny Allen Hendrix is born in Seattle, Washington.
Hendrix’s father, James “Al” Hendrix, later changes
his son’s name to James Marshall.  James Marshall
Hendrix will be best known as Jimi Hendrix, leader of
the influential rock group, The Jimi Hendrix
Experience.  His music will influence such groups as
“Earth, Wind, and Fire,” “Living Colour,” and “Sting.”
He will join the ancestors on September 18, 1970 after
succumbing to asphyxiation from his own vomit. He will
be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992
and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. His star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame will be dedicated in 1994. In
2006, his debut album, “Are You Experienced,” will be
inducted into the United States National Recording
Preservation Board’s National Recording Registry. Rolling
Stone magazine will name him number 1 on their list of
the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003.

1951 – Sixteen-year-old Hosea Richardson becomes the first
licensed African American jockey to ride on the Florida
circuit.

1957 – Dorothy Height, YMCA official, is elected president of
the National Council of Negro Women.

1964 – Robin Givens is born in New York City.  She will become
an actress and will star in “Head of the Class,” and “A
Rage in Harlem,” “Michael Jordan: An American Hero,”
“Blankman,” “Foreign Student,” “Boomerang,” “The Women
of Brewster Place,” and “Beverly Hills Madam.”

1968 – Eldridge Cleaver, Minister of Information for the Black
Panther Party, becomes a fugitive from justice as a
parole violator.

1989 – Jennifer Lawson assumes her duties as Executive Vice
President for National Programming and Promotion
Services at the Public Broadcasting Service. The Alabama
native is the chief programming executive for PBS,
determining which programs are seen on the network. She
is the first woman to hold such a position at a major
television network.

1990 – Charles Johnson wins the National Book Award for his
novel “Middle Passage.”  He is the fourth African
American to win the award, formerly called the American
Book Award.

November 19th in Black History

Today in Black History – November 19

1867 – South Carolina citizens endorse a constitutional
convention and select delegates.  66,418 African
Americans and 2350 whites vote for the convention and
2278 whites vote against holding a convention. The
total vote cast is 71,046. Not a single African
American votes against the convention.

1921 – Roy Campanella is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He will become one of the first African-American
baseball players signed to major league ball after
Jackie Robinson breaks the color line.  He will become
the first African American catcher in Major League
history. Campanella will play for the Brooklyn Dodgers
and be the National League’s Most Valuable Player in
1951, 1953, and 1955. He was given the second MVP award
in 1953 on his birthday. His baseball career will end
when he is paralyzed in an automobile accident in
January, 1958.  He will then work for many years in the
Dodger organization. He will be elected to the Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1969 and will join the ancestors on
June 26, 1993.

1949 – Ahmad Rashad, is born Bobby Moore in Portland, Oregon.
Rashad will be a first-round draft choice of the St.
Louis Football Cardinals in 1972. He will go on to play
for Buffalo and Seattle before settling in Minnesota in
1976 and playing the next seven seasons for the Vikings.
Rashad will hold the Viking career reception lead (400)
and be second in reception yardage. Overall, Rashad will
have 495 receptions in 10 seasons. Rashad — who played
his college football at the University of Oregon — will
be inducted into the state of Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
in 1987 and the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of
Fame in 1992. He will also be the author of a book,
“Rashad: Vikes, Mikes, and Something on the Backside,”
published by Viking Press. During the summer of 1991, he
will expand his broadcasting resume by handling
television play-by-play for the Seattle Seahawks pre-
season football games.

1955 – Carmen de Lavellade begins a contract for three seasons as
a dancer with the Metropolitan Opera.

1957 – Otis J. Anderson, NFL running back (NY Giants, 1990
Superbowl MVP), is born.

1984 – Dwight Gooden, of the New York Mets, at 20 years old,
becomes the youngest major-league pitcher to be named
Rookie of the Year in the National League. The Mets
pitcher led the majors with 276 strikeouts.

1985 – Comedic character actor Stepin Fetchit, born Lincoln
Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry joins the ancestors at the
age of 83.

November 18th in Black History

Today in Black History – November 18          *

1797 – Abolitionist and orator, Sojourner Truth, is born a
New York slave on the plantation of Johannes
Hardenbergh.  Her given name is Isabelle VanWagener
(some references use the name Isabelle Baumfree).
She will walk away from her last owner one year
prior to being freed by a New York law in 1827, which
proclaimed that all slaves twenty-eight years of age
and over were to be freed.   Several years later, in
response to what she describes as a command from God,
she becomes an itinerant preacher and takes the name
Sojourner Truth.  Among her most memorable appearances
will be at an 1851 women’s rights conference in Akron,
Ohio.  In her famous “Ain’t I a woman?” speech she
forcefully attacks the hypocrisies of organized
religion, white privilege and everything in between.

1900 – Howard Thurman is born in Daytona Beach, Florida. A
theologian who studied at Morehouse with Martin L.
King, Sr., he will found the interracial Church of
Fellowship of All Peoples. The first African American
to hold a full-time faculty position at Boston
University (in 1953), Dr. Thurman will write 22 books
and become widely regarded as one of the greatest
spiritual leaders of the 20th century. He will join the
ancestors on April 10, 1981.

1936 – John Henry Kendricks is born in Detroit, Michigan.  He will
become a prolific songwriter as well as a major rhythm
and blues singer better known as Hank Ballard. He will
perform with his group, The Midnighters, and make the
following songs popular: “There’s A Thrill Upon The Hill”
(Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go), “The Twist”(made famous
later by Chubby Checker), “Finger Poppin’ Time”, “Work with
Me Annie”, “Sexy Ways”, and “Annie Had a Baby”. He will be
enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. He
will join the ancestors on March 2, 2003.

1949 – Jackie Robinson, of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is named the
National League’s Most Valuable Player.

1956 – Harold Warren Moon, professional football player
(Minnesota Vikings, Houston Oilers, and Seattle Seahawks
quarterback), is born in Los Angeles, California. He will
be the first undrafted quarterback and first African
American quarterback to be elected to the Football Hall
of Fame in 2006.

1964 – The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar
Hoover, describes Martin Luther King as a “most
notorious liar”.  This statement is indicative of the
agency head’s dislike of the civil rights leader.

1969 – The National Association of Health Services Executives is
incorporated.  NAHSE’s goal is to elevate the quality of
health-care services rendered to poor and disadvantaged
communities.

1975 – Calvin Murphy of the Houston Rockets, ends the NBA free
throw streak at 58 games.

1977 – Robert Edward Chambliss, a former KKK member, is
convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the
1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four African American
teenage girls.

1978 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Ambassador
Andrew J. Young “in recognition of the deftness with
which he has handled relations between this nation and
other countries” and “for his major role in raising the
consciousness of American citizens to the significance
in world affairs of the massive African continent.”

1980 – Wally “Famous” Amos’ signature Panama hat and embroidered
shirt are donated to the National Museum of American
History’s Business Americana collection.  It is the
first memorabilia added to the collection by an African
American entrepreneur and recognizes the achievement of
Amos, who built his company from a mom-and-pop
enterprise to a $250 million cookie manufacturing
business.

1983 – “Sweet Honey in the Rock,” a capella singers, perform
their 10th anniversary reunion concert in Washington, DC.

1994 – Bandleader Cab Calloway joins the ancestors in Hockessin,
Delaware, at age 86.

Billy Ocean

1950 – Leslie Sebastien Charles is born in Fyzabad, Trinidad. He
will emigrate to England at the age of eight and will later
become a popular singer known as “Billy Ocean.” He will
release hits such as “Suddenly,” “Caribbean Queen,” “Get
Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car,” “When The Going Gets
Tough, The Tough Get Going” (which was featured in the
movie, The Jewel Of The Nile), and “To Make You Cry.”

Say it Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud

I was listening to my local public radio known for their Saturday evening blues and James Brown was singing.  The song was “Say it Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” and this song meant pride in oneself.  I listened more carefully to the words than I did back in the day when the song was popular.  And, it was very popular.  So popular it is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the songs that shaped Rock and Roll. But, among the youth of 1968 it was a song of solidarity.

“Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud”

Uh, with your bad self
Say it louder (I got a mouth)
Say it louder (I got a mouth)

Look a’here, some people say we got a lot of malice
Some say it’s a lotta nerve
I say we won’t quit moving
Til we get what we deserve
We’ve been buked and we’ve been scourned
We’ve been treated bad, talked about
As just as sure as you’re born
But just as sure as it take
Two eyes to make a pair, huh
Brother, we can’t quit until we get our share

Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, one more time
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, huh

I’ve worked on jobs with my feet and my hands
But all the work I did was for the other man
And now we demands a chance
To do things for ourselves
we tired of beating our heads against the wall
And working for someone else

Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, oowee

Ooowee, ou’re killing me
Alright uh, you’re out of sight
Alright, so tough, you’re tough enough
Ooowee uh, you’re killing me, oow

Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud

Now we demand a chance to do things for ourselves
We tired of beating our heads against the wall
And working for someone else
A look a’here,
One thing more I got to say right here
Now, we’re people like the birds and the bees
We rather die on our feet,
Than keep living on our knees

Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, hu
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, hu
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, Lord’a Lord’a Lord’a
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, ooooh

Uh, alright now, good Lord
You know we can do the boog-a-loo
Now we can say we do the Funky Broadway!
Now we can do, hu
Sometimes we dance, we sing and we talk
You know I do like to do the camel walk
Alright now, hu alright,
Alright now, ha

Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud, let me hear ya
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud

Now we’s demands a chance to do things for ourselves
We’re tired of beating our heads against the wall
And working for someone else, hu
Now we’re our people, too
We’re like the birds and the bees,
But we’d rather die on our feet,
Than keep a’living on our knees

Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud, let me hear ha’, huh
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, hu
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud

Oooow, oowee, you’re killing me, alright
Uh, outa sight, alright you’re outa sight
Ooowee, oh Lord,
Ooowee, you’re killing me
Ooowee, ooowee, ooowee, ooowee, ow

Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud, hu
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud , Lord I feel it
Say it loud,
I’m black and I’m proud
Say it louder,
I’m black and I’m proud