MUNIRAH CHRONICLE
******* Today in Black History – April 21, 2019 *******
1878 - The ship Azor leaves Charleston, South Carolina, on its
first trip,
carrying 209 African Americans bound for
Liberia.
1892 - African American Longshoremen strike for higher wages in
St.
Louis, Missouri.
1900 - Dumarsais Estime'
is born in Verrettes, Artibonite, Haiti.
He will become
president of Haiti in 1946 and will be
regarded as a
progressive leader and statesman. He will
be the first black
head of state since the U.S. occupation
of Haiti ended in
1934. He will join the ancestors in New
York City on July
20, 1953.
1938 - The Harlem Suitcase Theatre opens with Langston Hughes's
play "Don't
You Want to be Free?" The play's star is a
young Robert Earl
Jones, father of James Earl Jones.
1940 - Souleymane Cisse' is born in
Bamako, Mali. He will become
a filmmaker, graduating
from the State Institute of Cinema
in Moscow in 1969.
In 1972, he will produce his first
medium-length film,
"Cinq jours d’une
vie" (Five Days in a
Life), which tells
the story of a young man who drops out
of a Qur'anic
school and becomes a petty thief living on
the street. Cinq Jours will premier at the
Carthage Film
Festival. In 1974,
he will produce his first full-length
film in the Bambara
language, "Den muso" (The Girl), the
story of a young
mute girl who has been raped. The girl
becomes pregnant,
and is rejected both by her family and by
the child's father.
"Den Muso" will be banned by the Malian
Minister of
Culture, and he will be arrested and jailed for
having accepted
French funding. In 1978, he will produce
"Baara" (Work), which will receive the Yenenga's Talon prize
at Fespaco in 1979. In 1982, he will produce "Finyé" (Wind),
which tells the
story of dissatisfied Malian youth rising up
against the
establishment. This will earn him his second
Yenenga's
Talon, at 1983's Fespaco. Between 1984 and 1987, he
will produce "Yeelen" (Light), a coming-of-age film which will
win the Jury Prize
at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. In 1995,
he will produce
"Waati" (Time) which will compete for the
Palme d'Or at the
1995 Cannes Film Festival. He will become
president of
UCECAO, the Union of Creators and Entrepreneurs
of Cinema and
Audiovisual Arts of Western Africa. He will
become one of the
most popular filmmakers in Africa.
1966 - Milton Lee Olive, III becomes the first African American
to win
the Congressional
Medal of Honor for bravery during the
Vietnam War. He
will be honored for saving the lives of his
fellow soldiers by
falling on a live grenade while
participating in a
search-and-destroy mission near Phu
Coung.
1965 - Pedro Albizu Campos joins the ancestors at the age of 71
in
San Juan, Puerto
Rico. Campos was a Puerto Rican of African
descent who advocated Puerto Rico's independence and
condemned
United States
imperialism and the 1898 invasion and occupation
of Puerto Rico.
Some Puerto Ricans refer to him as "Don Pedro,"
and one of the
fathers of Puerto Rican national identity.
1966 - His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie visits Kingston,
Jamaica.
1971 - Francois Duvalier, known as "Papa Doc," joins
the ancestors
in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti at the age of 64. He had been
president-for-life
of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He will be
succeeded in power
by his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier.
1974 - By winning the Monsanto Open in Pensacola, Florida, Lee
Elder becomes the
first African American professional golfer
to qualify for the
Masters Tournament. It will be one of
four PGA tour
victories for the Dallas, Texas, native,
including the
Houston Open in 1976 and the Greater Milwaukee
Open and
Westchester Classic in 1978. Elder's career
earnings of $2
million will place him among the top three
African American
golfers, along with Calvin Peete ($2.3
million and 12 PGA tournament
victories) and Charlie Sifford
($1 million).
2003 - Nina Simone, "High Priestess of Soul", joins
the ancestors in
Carry-le-Rouet (South of France) at the age of 70. As she
wished, her ashes
will be spread in different African
countries. She
gained fame in the 1960s for her civil rights
songs.
2016 - Pop music superstar Prince joins the ancestors at his
home in
suburban
Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was widely acclaimed as
one of the
inventive musicians of his era with hits including
"Little Red
Corvette," "Let's Go Crazy" and "When Doves Cry."
He was 57 years
old.
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The source for these facts are "Encyclopedia Britannica,
"Before the
Mayflower", "Black Firsts" and independent
research by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry, Sr.
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EVERY MONTH SHOULD BE BLACK HISTORY MONTH! CHECK OUT THESE OTHER BLACK HISTORY SITES ON THE WEB
Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture - located in Harlem, New York City
Black History - Black History Links from the Information Man
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in Memphis, Tennessee
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American
History - located in Detroit,
Michigan
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African American History & Culture - located in Baltimore, Maryland
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Last Updated Sunday, April 21, 2019