MUNIRAH CHRONICLE
******* Today in Black History – May
16, 2008 *******
1792 - Denmark abolishes the importation of slaves.
1857 - Juan Morel Campos is born in Ponce, Puerto
Rico. He will
become a
musician and composer who will be one of the first
to
integrate Afro-Caribbean styles and folk rhythms into the
classical
European musical model. He will be considered the
father of
the "danza."
1917 - Harry T. Burleigh, composer, pianist, and
singer, is awarded the
NAACP's
Spingarn Medal for excellence in the field of creative
music.
1929 - John Conyers, Jr. is born in Detroit,
Michigan. He will be
elected
to the House of Representatives from Michigan's 1st
District
in 1964, where he will advocate home rule and
Congressional
representation for the District of Columbia.
He
will be
the principal sponsor of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and
the 1983
Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday bill, as well as a
founder
of the Congressional Black Caucus.
1930 - Lillie Mae Jones is born in Flint,
Michigan. She will become an
uncompromising
jazz singer using the stage name, Betty Carter,
who will
earn the nickname "Betty Bebop" for her bop
improvisational
style. She will tour with Lionel Hampton and
Miles
Davis during her career. In 1997, she will receive the
National
Medal of Arts award from President Bill Clinton. She
will join
the ancestors on September 26, 1998.
1966 - Stokely Carmichael (later named Kwame Ture)
is elected chairman
of SNCC,
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a group
formed
during the Freedom Marches and dedicated to voter
registration
in the South.
1966 - Janet Damita Jackson is born in Gary,
Indiana. Sister of the
famous
Jacksons of the Jackson 5 singing group, she will have
her own
successful career, first in acting ("Good Times,"
"Diff'rent
Strokes," and "Fame"), then as a solo recording
artist. Her albums "Control" and
"Rhythm Nation 1814" will earn
her five
American Music Awards and a Grammy award.
1966 - The National Welfare Rights Organization is
organized.
1977 - Modibo Keita joins the ancestors in Bamako,
Mali. He been the
first
president of Mali, from 1960 to 1968.
1979 - Asa Philip Randolph, labor leader and civil
rights pioneer, joins
the
ancestors in New York at the age of 90.
1985 - Michael Jordan is named Rookie of the Year in
the National
Basketball
Association. Jordan, of the Chicago
Bulls, was the
number
three draft choice. At the time,
Michael was third in the
league scoring
a 28.2 average and fourth in steals with 2.39 per
game.
1990 - Sammy Davis Jr., actor, dancer, singer and
world class entertainer,
joins the
ancestors in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 64
from
throat cancer. Davis, born in Harlem, was
a member of the
Hollywood
"Rat Pack." He also had starring roles in a host of
Broadway
musicals and motion pictures and had been an entertainer
for over
sixty years.
1997 - In Zaire, President Mobutu Sese Seko ends 32
years of autocratic
rule, ceding
control of the country to rebel forces.
*********************************************************
The source for
these facts are "Encyclopedia Britannica,
"InfoBeat,"
"I, Too, Sing
Book of
Days," "Before the Mayflower", "Black Firsts" and
independent
research by the Information
*********************************************************
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2008