MUNIRAH CHRONICLE
******* Today in Black History – August 24, 2019 *******
1854 - John VanSurley deGrasse, M.D., who received his medical
degree from Bowdoin
College in 1849, becomes a member of
the Massachusetts
Medical Society, a first for an African
American.
1854 - National Emigration Convention meets in Cleveland with
one
hundred delegates.
William C. Munroe of Michigan is
elected president.
1937 - Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola is born in Abeokuta,
Nigeria. He will a
member of a very poor household of
Yoruba-speaking
Muslims. He will attend the Islamic Nawar
Ud-Deen School and
the Christian-run African Central
School. After
graduating from the Baptist Boys' High
School, he will
work as a bank clerk and a civil servant.
He will go on to
win a scholarship to Glasgow University
to study
accounting. He will graduate with several awards
in 1965. He will
return to Nigeria and will work for
major firms before
launching his own company, Radio
Communications of
Nigeria, in 1974. He will accumulate
great wealth in a
short period of time. His business
interests will span
60 countries and include firms engaged
in banking,
shipping, oil prospecting, agriculture,
publishing, air
transportation, and entertainment. His
Nigerian companies
alone will employ close to 20,000
workers. He will
oppose the Nigerian military
dictatorship and on
June 12, 1993, will be elected
president in a long
awaited presidential election, only to
have the election
results nullified by the country's
military leader.
When Abiola announces a year later that
he is the country's
legitimate leader, he will be
imprisoned by the
current dictator, General Sani Abacha.
After Abacha joins
the ancestors suddenly in 1998,
attempts were made
to free Abiola, but he will also join
the ancestors on
July 7, 1998, before his freedom becomes
a reality. His
death will cause violence to occur and spur
anti-government
anger throughout the country.
1965 - Reginald Wayne 'Reggie' Miller is born in Riverside,
California. He will
become a professional basketball
player and play his
entire 18-year National Basketball
Association (NBA)
career with the Indiana Pacers. He will
be known for his
precision three-point shooting, especially
in pressure
situations and most notably against the New
York Knicks, for
which he will earn the nickname "Knick
Killer". When
he retires, he will hold the record for most
career 3-point
field goals made. He is currently second on
the list behind Ray
Allen. A five-time All-Star selection,
he will lead the
league in free throw accuracy five times
and win a gold
medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The
Pacers will retire
his jersey, No. 31, in 2006, and name
him to their 40th
anniversary team in 2007. Currently, he
works as an NBA
commentator for TNT. On September 7, 2012,
he will be inducted
into the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame.
1967 - Amanda Randolph joins the ancestors at the age of 65.
sShe
had been an actress
and was best known for her roles on
the Danny Thomas
Show and television's Amos 'n' Andy
(Mama).
1987 - Bayard Rustin, longtime civil rights activist, early
Freedom Rider, and
a key organizer of the 1963 March on
Washington, joins
the ancestors in New York City. A
Quaker, Rustin was
best known as a civil rights advocate,
first as one of the
founders of the Congress for Racial
Equality (CORE),
then as a key advisor to a young Dr.
Martin Luther King,
Jr.
*********************************************************
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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Last Updated Saturday, August 24, 2019