Today In Black History • June 25, 1792 Thomas Peters, a “Founding Father” of Sierra Leone, died. Peters was born in 1738 in Nigeria. At the age of 22, Peters was captured by slave traders and after being sold several times ended up in Wilmington, North Carolina. In 1776, at the start of the American Revolution, he escaped and joined the Black Pioneers, a black unit made up of formerly enslaved African Americans fighting for the British. The British had promised freedom in exchange for fighting for them. Peters rose to the rank of sergeant and was wounded in battle twice. After the war, Peters and the other loyalists were taken by the British to Nova Scotia, Canada where they stayed from 1783 to 1791. In 1791, Peters traveled to London, England to protest the broken promises of land by the British government. While there, he convinced the government to allow them to settle a new colony in Sierra Leone that was to become Freetown. In 1792, Peters and about 1,100 other black people arrived at St. George Bay Harbor in Sierra Leone. Peters died that same year and is considered by some to be the “George Washington of Freetown.” In 2007, street in Freetown was named in his honor and in 2011 a statue of him was unveiled. “From Slavery to Freetown: Black Loyalists after the American Revolutionary” was published in 2006. • June 25, 1859 or 1863 Benjamin William Quarteyquaye Quartey-Papafio, the first African educated to practice medicine in the Gold Coast, was born in Accra, Gold Coast (now Kenya). Quartey-Papafio was educated at Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone before earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from Durham University in Britain in 1882. In 1886, he earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees from Edinburgh University and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. After returning to the Gold Coast, he served as a medical officer with the Gold Coast Government Service from 1888 to 1905 while also in private practice. From 1909 to 1912, Quartey-Papafio was a member of the Accra Town Council and from 1919 to his death September 14, 1924 was an unofficial member of the legislative council. • June 25, 1876 Isaiah Dorman, a formerly enslaved interpreter, was killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Not much is known of Dorman’s early life although records suggest that he was born enslaved in the 1840s. In 1865, he was hired to carry the mail on a 360 mile roundtrip between Forts Rice and Wadsworth. It was reported that he did this on foot for about two years. In 1871, he served as a guide and interpreter for a party of engineers making the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey. In 1876, Dorman was hired by General George Armstrong Custer as an interpreter for his expedition to the Little Bighorn country. On this date, he accompanied a detachment into battle and was killed, the only black man killed in the fight. His body was recovered after the fight and eventually interred in the Little Bighorn National Cemetery. The spot where Dorman was killed is commemorated with a marble marker. • June 25, 1925 Clifton Chenier, hall of fame Zydeco performer and recording artist, was born in Opelousas, Louisiana. Chenier learned the basics of accordion playing from his father and later shifted to the larger and more flexible piano accordion. He began his recording career with the 1954 release of “Clifton’s Blues.” His first hit was “Ay ‘Tite Fille (Hey, Little Girl)” (1955). From the 1960s to about 1980, Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band toured throughout the world. He was known as “King of Zydeco.” In 1983, he won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording for his album “I’m Here.” In 1984, he was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, by the National Endowment for the Arts. Chenier died December 12, 1987. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1989. Chenier was the subject of the 1973 documentary “Hot Pepper.” • June 25, 1933 James H. Meredith, the first African American student at the University of Mississippi, was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Meredith enlisted in the United States Air Force immediately after graduating from high school and served from 1951 to 1960. He then attended Jackson State College for two years before applying for admission to the University of Mississippi. After Meredith was denied admission twice, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed suit. The United States Supreme Court eventually ruled that Meredith had to be admitted and October 1, 1962 he became the first black student at the university. This sparked riots on the campus which left two people dead. Meredith’s actions are considered a pivotal moment in the history of civil rights in the United States. Despite harassment from other students, Meredith earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science August 18, 1963. Meredith also earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia University in 1968. In 1966, Meredith led “The March against Fear” from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi. During the march, he was shot in an attempted assassination. Also that year, his memoir, “Three Years in Mississippi,” was published. Meredith is president of Meredith Institute, Inc., a non-profit focused on teaching African Americans the importance of language and how to read, write, and speak the English language. “The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss” (2009) traces the history of the University of Mississippi prior to Meredith’s arrival, the legal and political standoff over his admission, and the fatal riots that ensued. A statue of Meredith was unveiled October 1, 2006 on the campus of the university. • June 25, 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) by signing Executive Order 8802 which stated “there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color or national origin.” In 1943, Roosevelt strengthened the FEPC with Executive Order 9346 which required that all government contracts have a non-discrimination clause. • June 25, 1942 Willis Reed, Jr., hall of fame basketball player, was born in Hico, Louisiana. Reed played college basketball at Grambling State College where he led them to a NAIA Championship and three Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships. He was selected by the New York Knicks in the 1964 NBA Draft and played with them his entire professional career. Over his ten season career, Reed was the 1965 Rookie of the Year, a seven-time All-Star, and two-time NBA champion. In 1970, he became the only player in NBA history to be named Most Valuable Player of the All-Star game, regular season, and playoffs in the same year. Reed retired in 1974 and has held several coaching and management positions at the college and professional level, including vice president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Hornets from 2004 to 2007. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and in 1997 was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Reed was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. • June 25, 1966 Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamuntombo, retired professional basketball player, was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Mutombo attended Georgetown University on a United States Agency for International Development scholarship and in 1991 earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in linguistics and diplomacy. Mutombo was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the 1991 NBA Draft and over his 18 season professional career established himself as one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time. Mutombo retired from professional basketball in 2009 as an eight-time All-Star and four-time Defensive Player of the Year. Multilingual, Mutombo speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and five African languages. In 1997, he started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions in the Congo. He has donated $15 million toward the construction of the $29 million, 300-bed Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital which opened in February, 2007 on the outskirts of Kinshasa. For his humanitarian efforts, Mutombo received the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009. Also, in 1999 he received the President’s Service Award, the United States’ highest honor for volunteer service. Mutombo is a spokesman for the international relief agency CARE and is the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program. In 2012, the Mutombo Foundation and Georgetown University began an initiative to provide care for visually impaired children from low-income families in Washington, D.C. Mutombo has received honorary degrees from the State University of New York College at Cortland, Georgetown University, and Haverford College. • June 25, 1975 The Republic of Mozambique gained independence from Portugal. Mozambique is located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the North, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest. It is 309,496 square miles in area with a population of approximately 23 million. Portuguese is the official and most widely spoken language. Approximately half the population are Christians and 28% are Muslims. • June 25, 2005 The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture opened in Baltimore, Maryland. The 82,000 square foot museum is dedicated to preserving history and retelling the stories of Maryland’s African American community. • June 25, 2009 Michael Joseph Jackson, hall of fame singer and the “King of Pop,” died. Jackson was born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana. He made his professional debut in 1964 as a member of the Jackson 5. In 1968, they signed with Motown Records and their first four singles, “I Want You Back” (1969), “ABC” (1970), “The Love You Save” (1970), and “I’ll Be There” (1970) all peaked at number one on the Billboard 100. In 1971, Jackson started his solo career while continuing to perform with his brothers. In 1978, he starred as the scarecrow in the Broadway musical “The Wiz.” His 1982 album “Thriller” is the best selling album of all time with “Off The Wall” (1979), “Bad” (1987), and “Dangerous” (1991) among the best selling of all time. Over his career, Jackson won 19 Grammy Awards, including a record eight in 1984. Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. He transformed the art of the music video and influenced scores of other artists, including Mariah Carey, Usher, and Justin Timberlake. Jackson received numerous awards, including the World Music Award’s “Best Selling Pop Music Artist of the Millennium” and the American Music Award’s “Artist of the Century.” He was a double inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1997 and as a solo artist in 2001. In 2010, Jackson was posthumously given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and inducted into the National Museum of Dance’s Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame. Several biographies have been written about Jackson, including “Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask” (2005).
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 14:09:27 +0000