1st.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT: 344: BERNARD
SHAW/GEORGE SHIRLEY /BOBBY SHORT/NINA SIMONE
Bank
Holiday - May day (DATE IS ASSOCIATED WITH
DEVIL WORSHIP)
1762
James
Durham,
physician is born. He was the first regularly recognized Black
physician in the United States. Born a slave in Philadelphia, his
early masters taught him the fundamentals of reading and writing.
Durham was owned by a number of doctors, ending up in New Orleans
with a Scottish Physician, who hired him in 1783 to perform medical
services. He moved back to his hometown and was lauded by prominent
local doctors. Durham saved the lives of more yellow fever victims
than most doctors in colonial Philadelphia. Durham returned to New
Orleans and had a flourishing practice until 1801, when the city
restricted his practice because he was unlicensed and untrained.
(tr-iokts)
1820
William
'Black' Davidson Jamaican
born secretary of Shoemakers Union, hanged on this day for his part
in The Cato Street Conspiracy. William Davidson was found guilty of
high treason and sentenced to death, charged with plotting to murder
government officials. His beheading at Newgate Prison was England's
last public decapitation. Born in 1781, William Davidson was the
illegitimate son of the Jamaican Attorney General and a local black
woman. When he was 14 his father sent him to Glasgow to study law.
While in Scotland, Davidson added his voice to growing public demand
for Parliamentary reform. Later he joined the Royal Navy but he was
discharged and so returned to Scotland to resume his studies.
Davidson did not enjoy education and soon abandoned his tuition to
move to Birmingham, where he set up in business making cabinets.
After marrying a widow, Davidson became a Wesleyan Methodist and
taught at a local Sunday school, but appalled by the Peterloo
Massacre in 1819, lost his faith in God and again became involved in
radical politics. He joined the Marylebone Union Reading Society and
met Arthur Thistlewood who would recruit Davidson into the Executive
of Five, a group of conspirators who plotted the deaths of
predominate government officials. On February 23rd 1820, Davidson and
his co-conspirators assembled in a hayloft in Cato Street preparing
to strike, but unknown to them the gang had been infiltrated by
George Edwards, a government informer. All five conspirators were
arrested, found guilty of high treason and executed at Newgate Prison
on the 1st May that year. (read: Aspects of British Black
History - Peter Fryer (mn))
1890
Ada
Brown,
blues/vaudeville singer, born, Jackson, Miss, USA. (Died March 31,
1950, Kansas City, Kansas, USA). Ada Brown was born to a musical
family including her cousin, noted ragtime composer and performer
James Scott. She was already an established performer who had toured
nationally and internationally when she recorded "Evil Mama
Blues" with Bennie Moten for the Okeh label on September
1923. Ada's rough blues performance on "Evil Mama Blues"
belies her polished vocal style which was well suited for the stage.
After recording with Moten, Ada toured extensively on the TOBA and
vaudeville circuits. She was an original incorporator of The Negro
Actors Guild of America in 1936 and appeared with Fats Waller in the
film "Stormy Weather." During the mid 1940s, she moved back
to Kansas City, Kansas. (mn-rs)
1894
Black invention:
Electric Railway, W.B. Purvis receives patent.
1924
Big
Maybelle,
R&B singer is born Maybel Smith in Jackson, Tenn. Her
mountainous stature matching the sheer soulful power of her massive
vocal talent, Big Maybelle was one of the premier RB chanteuses of
the 1950s. Her deep, gravelly voice was as singular as her recorded
output for Okeh and Savoy, which ranged from down-in-the-alley blues
to pop-slanted ballads. In 1967, she even covered ? the Mysterians'
"96 Tears" (it was her final chart appearance). Alleged
drug addiction leveled the mighty belter at the premature age of 47,
but Maybelle packed a lot of living into her shortened lifespan.
(rs)
1926
Bessie
Coleman,
first licensed female African American pilot, dies. She grew up in a
cruel world of poverty and discrimination. The year after her birth
in Atlanta, Texas, an African American man was tortured and then
burned to death in nearby Paris for allegedly raping a five-year-old
girl. The incident was not unusual; lynchings were endemic throughout
the South. African Americans were essentially barred from voting by
literacy tests. They couldn't ride in railway cars with white people,
or use a wide range of public facilities set aside for whites. When
young Bessie first went to school at the age of six, it was to a
one-room wooden shack, a four-mile walk from her home. Often there
wasn't paper to write on or pencils to write with. (tr-iokts)
1930
Little
Walter,
harmonica player, born, Marion Walter Jacobs, Marksville, La, USA.
(Dies February, 15, 1968, Chicago, Ill., USA. Jacobs is
generally included among blues music greats: Ry Cooder 's opinion is
that Jacobs was the single greatest blues musician ever. His
revolutionary harmonica technique has earned comparisons to Charlie
Parker and Jimi Hendrix in its impact: There were great musicians
before and after, but Jacobs' startling virtuosity and innovations
reached heights of expression never previously imagined, and
fundamentally altered many listeners' expectations of what was
possible in blues music. (mn-rs)
1950
Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first African American to win the
Pulitzer Prize, for her book of poetry, Annie Allan. (tr-iokts)
1954
Ray
Parker Jnr.,
born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Ray sang the theme music to the
popular film 'Ghostbusters'. In the mid-1970s he was a sideman in
Barry White's "Love Unlimited Orchestra", before creating
Raydio, an R&B group, in 1977, with Vincent Bohnam, Jerry Knight,
and Arnell Carmichael. Parker also wrote songs and did session work
for Rufus and Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Leon Haywood, Temptations,
The Spinners, Rhythm Heritage, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. (mn)
1970
AMG,
rapper from Brooklyn, LA, USA, real name Jason Lewis who documents
the 1992 LA riots in his records born today. (mn-ms)
1970
First publication of Essence Magazine.
1998
Eldridge
Cleaver
dies. A social activist and writer, Cleaver was born in Webbeseka,
Arkanas. While serving a 12 year jail sentence he received his
high school diploma. He was also converted to the Black Muslim faith
in prison and wrote and lectured after his release. Soul on Ice
(1968) is one of his books. (mn-ss)
1999
A man was arrested after a third racist attack using nail bombs that
had exploded in London, two people were killed and dozens more had
been maimed and injured. (mn)
2000
Man
Torched In Race Attack,
read the front page headline in the The Standard, a Bromsgrove
newspaper. A 24-year-old black man from Birmingham was attacked by 3
thugs as he walked with a white girl outside the Royal Orthopaedic
Hospital in Northfield in the early hours of the morning. This came
just a week after the National Front held a march in Bromsgrove. On
may 19 the police arrested the same man as they now believe he
fabricated the whole incided along with a 28 year-old man and woman,
they are to apear in court that day. (mn)
2000
Voice newspaper reports:
The life of Lord Pitt of Hamstead - noted doctor, civil rights
campaigner and Britain's first black peer - was celebrated last month
by Campden Council with a special commemorative plaque. His surgery
attracted more than 3,000 patients, and he went on to serve as the
first black President of the British Medical Association in 1985. His
surgery doubled as a meeting place for the Anti-Apartheid
Movement, a target for racist petrol bomb in 1961. It also
became a haven for students and young anti-colonial activists from
Africa and the Caribbean. Originally from Trinidad, Lord Pitt helped
found the West Indian National Party in the 1940s. He died in 1994.
(surgery: 200 North Gower St, Camden, London) (mn)
2001
The UK reggae Greensleeves Label celebrates 25 years
of trading this month. It's owned by Chris Cracknell and the first
single released was 'Where Is Jah' by the Reggae Regulars. (mn)
2nd.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT: 345:
DRED SCOTT/BOBBY SEALE / BETTY SHABBAZ/AL SHARPTON
1844
Elijah
McCoy,
The Real McCoy, holder of 50 patents, born Ontario, Canada. So, you
want the "real McCoy?" That means you want the "real
thing," what you know to be of the highest quality, not an
inferior imitation. The noted African American inventor, Elijah McCoy
was issued more than 57 patents for his inventions during his
lifetime. His best known invention was a cup that fed lubricating oil
to machine bearings through a small bore tube. Machinists and
engineers who wanted genuine McCoy lubricators might have used the
expression "the real McCoy."
1899
Black
Invention:
Hoisting and Loading Mechanism, Mary Jane Reynolds receives patent. (sc)
1969
Brian Charles Lara
is born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In 1992 he breaks Sir Garfield
Sobers world record scoring 375 runs for the West Indies. County
debut: 1994;County cap: 1994; Test debut: 1990-91;Tests: 54; One-Day
Internationals: 130; 1000 runs in one season: 2. (cm-mn)
1980
Pink Floyd's smash hit, Another Brick In The Wall was banned in South
Africa as it was felt it might encourage boycotts a black schools.(mn-jt)
1998
Justin Fashanu,
gay football star found dead in a lock up garage. He had fled
to the UK after US police wanted to talk to him over sex assult
charges against an 18 year-old man. (mn)
1999
Jesse Jackson sucures the release of three American Air-Force
hostages from the conflict in Cosova (in Europe) after their plane
was shot down during a bombing mission for The United Nations. (mn)
3rd.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT : 346: RANDLE ROBINSON/SUGAR RAY ROBINSON
/SONNY ROLLINS/BILL RUSSELL
1855
Macon B. Allen is the first African American to be formaly admitted
to the bar in Massachusetts, USA. (tr-iokts)
1897
Black
Invention:
Spring Gun, Edward R. Lewis. (sc)
1897
Black
Invention:
Lawn Sprinkler, Joseph H. Smith. (sc)
1898
Septima
Poinsette Clark
born. She was an American educator and civil rights activist. Her
work for equal access to education and civil rights for
African-Americans several decades before the rise of national
awareness of racial inequality has led her to be known as the
"Queen mother" or "Grandmother of the Civil Rights
Movement" in the United States. (d.1987) (tr-bl)
1933
James
Brown,
Godfather of Soul is born in Barnwell, South Carolina, U.S.A.
James's grandmother on his father's side was a Cherokee Indian he
thinks (some books say 1928). Statistics so far: Over 100 American
hits, including 56 R&B Top 10 entries, 18 No.1's and more than 40
separate million-plus sellers. The sound, the structure, the spirit
of so much of his monumental output was way ahead of it's time: right
now a broad spectrum of what you hear in modern black music and
it's offshoots is based substantially on what he was laying
down 17-28 years ago! Dies Christmas day 2006. (mn-cw)
1963
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his I have a dream speech.
1972
Mark
Morrison born
Hanover, Germanyi s a British urban R&B singer who saw success
in the mid-1990s. His single, Return of the Mack became a top ten hit
across Europe in 1996, and opened the U.S. market for him the
following year. Subsequently, he is notably known for his criminal
convictions, a one year sentence for getting someone else to do his
community service for another offence and protesting his innocence
onstage. (nationmaster)
2006
Earl
Woods,
74, father of golf great Tiger Woods, died from cancer at his home
in Cypress, California. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in
1998 and had radiation treatments, but in 2004 the cancer returned
and metastasized. "My dad was my best friend and greatest
role model, and I will miss him deeply. I'm overwhelmed when I think
of all of the great things he accomplished in his life. He was an
amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend," said
Tiger. "I wouldn't be where I am today without him, and
I'm honored to continue his legacy of sharing and caring," he
added in a statement on his Web site. Last month, Earl Woods was too
frail to attend the Masters for the first time. (yahoo-mn)
4th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 347: PEARL
BAILY/ELLA BAKER/IMAMU BARAKA/ROMARE BEARDEN
1464
Columbus discovered Jamaica and landed at Dry Harbour, now called
Discovery Bay. (mn-cb)
1891
First interracial hospital, the Provident in Chicago, opens.(tr-bl)
1893
Cowboy Bill Pickett earns the title as inventor of "Bull Dogging".
1938
Tyrone
Davis
soul singer born in Greenville, Mississippi, USA.The king of romantic
Chicago soul, Tyrone Davis' warm, aching vulnerability and stylish
class made him especially popular with female soul fans during a
lengthy hitmaking run that lasted throughout the '70s. Best
known for the classics "Can I Change My Mind" and "Turn
Back the Hands of Time," Davis was a versatile baritone singer
who could handle everything from pop-soul to funk to bluesy
chitlin-circuit R&B, but smooth soul was his true bread and
butter. Once Davis broke through in the late '60s, he never really
stopped recording; although the R&B chart hits dried up by the
early '80s, he was still going strong into the new millennium,
decades after his first single was released. Dies 2005. (mn)
1942
Nicolas
'Nick' Ashford
singer/songwriter and part of duo Ashford & Simpson born today in
Fairfield, South Carolina, USA. (mn)
1943
William Tuban is
elected president of Liberia.
1956
Jacob
Miller,
member of Inner Circle is born. Had it not been that he died in a
tragic car crash in March 1980, this reggae band might have followed
fellow countryman Bob Marley into the realms of international
stardom. When he passed away, the Jamaican government declared 24
hours national mourning. (mn-jt-bmcd)
1957
John
Akomfrah UK
film director and writer born in Accra, Ghana , John Akomfrah is one
of five children of Ghanaian political activists. He was educated at
local schools in West London and at Portsmouth Polytechnic, where he
graduated in Sociology in 1982. Akomfrah is best known for his work
with the London-based media workshop Black Audio Film Collective,
which he co-founded in 1982 with the objectives of addressing issues
of Black British identity and developing media forms appropriate to
this subject matter. Akomfrah's work takes a deliberately questioning
approach to documentary film. His debut as a director, the
controversial and influential Handsworth Songs (1986), reworks
documentary conventions to explore the history of the contemporary
British black experience: the film won seven international prizes,
including the prestigious John Grierson Award. Testament (1988) is a
portrait of an African politician forced into exile after a coup
d'etat. The emergence of Black Power in Britain is the inspiration
for Who Needs A Heart? (1991) and Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993). A
departure from earlier themes, the BFI production Speak Like a Child
(1998) is a psychological drama set in Northumberland. Besides making
theatrical films, Akomfrah has directed many television programmes,
including one about Martin Luther King for the Reputations series
('Dr Martin Luther King: Days of Hope', BBC, tx. 30/7/1997) and
another on Louis Armstrong for the BBC arts programme Omnibus ('The
Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong', BBC, tx. 10/5/1999). A critic as
well as a film-maker, Akomfrah has written widely about African
cinema. He has been a member of the Arts Council Film Committee, and
is currently a BFI Governor. (bfi-brit film inst)
1962
Oleta
Adams,
soul singer born in Seattle, WA. Being the daughter of a minister,
it's no surprise that Oleta Adams' roots are in gospel, as she often
performed in her father's church. But her formal introduction to the
masses began rather unexpectedly. While performing in a Kansas City
hotel, Oleta Adams was discovered by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal of
Tears for Fears, and she was invited to participate in the recording
of the British band's follow-up to the immensely popular 1985 album
Songs From the Big Chair. When Tears for Fears unleashed the
long-awaited The Seeds of Love in 1989, listeners were taken aback by
the soulful female voice that was prominently featured on the
album. (mn-ed/fp)
1969
No Place to Be Somebody opens in New York. It will win the Pulitzer
Prize the following year. (tr-iokts)
1978
Mass grave made for 1,000 unarmed Namibian patriots, women, children
and old men who were murdered in cold-blood by racist South Africa's
bombers/paratroopers, Kassinga, some 250 km inside Angola. (swapo-tr)
5th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT; 348: SIDNEY
BECHET/DERRICK BELL/CHUCK BERRY/EUBIE BLAKE
1857
Dred Scott decision :"Slave is not a citizen, so he can't sue
in court."
1865
Adam Clayton Powell Sr.,
reformer, is born. Through his long career as a minister,
Congressman, and social activist, Powell did much to promote the
interests of African-Americans. Powell's father, was the pastor of
Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church and supported many of Marcus
Garvey's ideals. (tr-iokts-ss)
1901
Blind
Willie McTell,
the dean of the Atlanta blues school, born William Samuel McTell.
Blind Willie lost his sight in late childhood, yet earned the status
as one of the most accomplished guitarists and lyrical storytellers
in Blues history. Blind Willie became an accomplished musical
theorist, able to both read and write music in Braille, through an
encouraging family and strong faith. While few of his recordings ever
earned mainstream popularity, his influence on the modern music and
art scene is widely known. His songs (Statesboro Blues, Broke Down
Engine Blues, etc...) have been recorded by famous artists such as
the Allman Brothers, Taj Mahal and others. He left the music scene
for the pulpit in later life and the details of Blind Willie's death
remain nebulous; nonetheless, his legacy grows exponentially each
year. (rs-about)
1905
Robert S. Abbott started the Chicago Defender weekly newspaper, it's
still running today (1870-1940). (mn)
1945
Nyahbinghi Ilday.
Ethiopian Victory Day: The reentry of Emperor Haile Selassie I to
Ethiopia after defeating the Italians (Rome). (tr)
1938
Johnnie Taylor soul
singer born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, USA. Taylor sang gospel
with Five Echoes, Highway Q.C.'s and Soul Stirrers, later solo on
Stax records.Young gospel phenom, gritty Stax/Volt soulster,
lady-killing balladeer, chart-topping disco king, Southern soul-blues
stalwart -- Johnnie Taylor somehow always managed to adapt to the
times, and he parlayed that versatility into a recording career that
lasted nearly four decades. Nicknamed the "Philosopher of
Soul" during his Stax days, that version of Taylor is best
remembered for his 1968 R&B chart-topping smash "Who's
Making Love," but far and away his biggest success was 1976's
across-the-board number one "Disco Lady," the first single
ever certified platinum (which at the time meant sales of over
two-million copies). When the national hits dried up, Taylor wound up
as one of the most prolific artists on the Malaco label, a refuge for
many Southern soul and blues veterans whose styles had fallen out of
popular favor by the '80s. Taylor called Malaco home for over 15
years, and kept on recording and performing right up to his passing
in 2000. (mn)
1964
Kelvin
Saunderson,
soul band member, Inner City, born. (mn-jt)
1981
Craig
David,
soul singer born in Holyrood, Southampton, Hampshire to an
Afro-Grenadian father, George and an English mother, Tina who is of
half Jewish descent. His father played bass guitar for a reggae band;
the young Craig began his musical education by watching his father
rehearse. David rose to fame as the singer on the Artful Dodger's
"Rewind" which reached number two in the United Kingdom in
late 1999. David sent in a self written song called "I'm
Ready" for a competition Damage was running, which was then used
as a b-side on their top three hit "Wonderful Tonight". (mn-wickpedia)
6th
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 349: ED
BRADLEY/TOM BRADLEY CAROL BRAUN/EDWARD BROOKE
1787
Prince Hall forms the first African American Masonic Lodge in the
United States. Abolitionist, civic leader, caterer, leather-dresser,
and founder of what would become the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts, little is known of the life of Prince Hall. He is
claimed by Grimshaw to have been born in Barbados, B. W. I. on
September 12, 1748, although no record of this has ever been found.
He is also claimed to have arrived in Boston from Africa in 1765 and
sold to one William Hall who freed him in 1770. There were a number
of Prince Halls in Boston at this period and the Certificate of
Manumission deposited in the Boston Athenaeum Library, dated 9 April
I770, cannot be positively identified as referring to Prince
Hall. (tr-iokts)
1812
Martin
Delany,
author, physician and nationalist is born in Charlestown, Va, USA.
He will become the first African-American field officer to serve in
the Civil War.
1969
Don
Drummond
reggae trombonist/Skatalite member dies. Having made records like
Eastern Standard time, Man In The Street and Confucius. Born in 1933
in Kingston Jamaica was one of the many players from The Alpha Boy's
Catholic School. Rico describes him as 'the greatest trombone player
to come out of the Island'.(mn-tr-gleaner-ll) Another reference gives
date of death as 6/5/69 21/3/71.
1988 Eugene
A. Marino becomes the nation's first black Roman Catholic archbishop.
The Rev Eugene McManus, spokesman for the Josephites, said the
relationship with Ms Long began around this time. It ended around the
time it became public. Father McManus said Archbishop Marino was
"exceedingly caring and generous". Archbishop Marino is
survived by six sisters. Speaking about him this week, Fr Robert
Kearns, Superior General of the Josephites, recalled conversation
Archbishop Marino had with Pope John Paul II a few years ago:
He said: "Father, I am Archbishop Eugene Marino." To
which the Pope replied: "I know who you are. Archbishop, I have
one question: Are you at peace?" The Archbishop answered: "I
am, Holy Father." "Thanks be to God" said the Pope.
2002
Otis
Blackwell,
sonwriter dies of heart attack in Nashville, Tn. He wrote Don't Be
Cruel & Reurn To sender for Elvis Presley & Great Balls Of
Fire for Jerry Lee Lewis. (mn)
2009
Viola
Wills
dies. b. Viola Mae Wilkerson, a.k.a. Viola Wills, 30th December 1939,
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. d. 6th May 2009, Phoenix, Arizona,
U.S.A. Viola Wills has passed away. She died on the 6th of May 2009
following a long illness. This piece was written for her by her
grandson, Jermaine Ivey. Jermaine kindly allowed me to post this
piece here. 'Viola Wills passed away in Arizona, USA at the age of 69
on 6th May 2009 after a long batlle with various illnesses. While
never quite gaining the mainstream recognition of some of her peers,
Viola Mae Wilkerson managed to gain critical and international
acclaim during a career in music that spanned 45 years. The mother of
six emerged from the streets of Watts (Los Angeles) in the 1960s to
forge quite a name for herself in the industry - working with the
likes of Barry White, Joe Cocker and Smokey Robinson, as well as
other high profile artists of the time - culminating in her first
self-penned solo album Soft Centers. Despite being a fan (amongst
other genres) of gospel and soul, it was the growing disco/dance
scene that provided her greatest recognition. Her 1979 cover of Gonna
Get Along Without You Now (regarded by many artists as one of the
greatest disco songs of all-time) and Dare To Dream (which became a
template for 80s soul at that time) were part of a trio of songs that
saw her entered into the Guinness Book of Records. Viola Wills
had massive international success on the club scene and became a
legendary figure to the gay community in particular in the process.
Her later years would see her performing on a number of national UK
and european shows; enjoying a residency at Joogleberry’s in
Brighton; completing a degree in music therapy; and going back to her
roots by forming the band Jazzpel - inovatively mixing gospel and
jazz for a new generation. She leaves behind six children, 21
grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, and an ‘extended
family’ of many more. Her love for them all was unquestioned,
and she will be missed dearly by all who knew her.' (soulwalking)
7th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT : 350:
H RAP BROWN/JIM BROWN/LEE BROWN/RON BROWN
1878
Black Invention:
Improved Fire Escape Ladder, J.R. Winters patents.
1905
Bumble
Bee Slim,
blues singer, born, Brunswick, Ga., USA. One of Chicago's most
productive and popular blues artists in the late 30's. In 1935 alone
he cut 30 sides, more than some blues artistes did in their whole
careers, on labels such as Bluebird, Decca, and Vocalion. (Dies April
1968, Los Angeles, Calif., USA. (mn-rs)
1939
Jimmy
Ruffin soul
singer born in Whyknot, Collinsville, Mississippi, USA. Son of a
minister, Ruffin was born to a musical family, his brother David
Ruffin and cousin, Melvin Franklin both became mainstays with The
Temptations. He joined Motown in 1961 and issued one single before
being drafted for national service. When he left the service he
returned to Motown Records and turned down an offer to join the
Temptations, recommending his brother instead. His commercial
breakthrough came in 1966 with the major US and UK hit 'What Becomes
Of The broken-hearted' and after three smaller hits he concentrated
on the British market, were in 1970 he was voted the world's top
singer in one poll. (mn-cl)
1942
Justin
Hinds,
reggae artiste born, Steertown, St. Anns, Jamaica, West Indies.
Together along with the Dominoes, first recorded in late 1963 for
producer Duke Reid. That first session produced an instant hit 'Carry
Go Bring Come', recorded in one take, and set a pattern from which
Hinds rarely deviated. He stayed with Reid until 1972 after reputedly
recording some 70 singles. (mn-cl)
1946
William Hastie is inaugurated as the first
black governor in the Virgin Islands. In 1949 he became the first
African-American jurist to be appointed to the judge on the U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals. Born in Knoxville Tennessee, Hastie was the
country's best known African-American legal figure after Thurgood
Marshall. He studied at Howard university, and also a consultant for
race relations to the secretary of war, but he resigned after a
protest against discrimination in the military. (mn-ss)
1950
Bertha
"Chippie" Hill,
blues singer dies. Bertha "Chippie" Hill was a dancer and
vaudeville singer. At the age of thirteen she and her family moved to
New York City where Hill began to pursue a life in show business. In
1919 she was working as a dancer with Ethel Waters in New York and
toured with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. In the early 1920s she toured
the TOBA circuit with her own song and dance act. In the mid-1920s
she settled in Chicago and worked at various venues in the city
appearing on the same bill with King Oliver's Jazz Band. Hill is best
remembered today for the ten recordings she made for Okeh in 1925 and
1926 that featured Louis Armstrong on cornet. Hill left show business
for a few years when the Depression was in full swing, but by the
mid-1930s she was performing again with Jimmie Noone, and Lovie
Austin and her Blues Serenaders. After World War II she worked with
James P. Johnson, Kid Ory and Art Hodes. She died in 1950 after being
injured in a hit and run automobile accident. (b.15/3/1905) (mn-rs)
2000
Britain sends war ships and troops to Siera Leone to evacuate British
Nationals as a rebel force attempts to take over the elected
government there. (mn)
2000
Popular DJ Father Hovis walks-out of PCRL un-willing to take on
changes to his programme time-slot implemented by management. All
PCRL staff had similar changes as well. (mn)
8th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT :
351:
STERLING
BROWN/TONY BROWN /ED BULLINS/GRACE BUMBRAY
1911
Robert Johnson,
one of the most celebrated figures in blues history, born. In all,
Johnson recorded 29 compositions at five sessions held between 23
November 1936 and 20 June 1937; a further "bawdy' song recorded
at the engineers" request is as yet unlocated. It has never been
established which, if any, of his recordings were specifically
created for the studio and what proportion were regularly performed,
although associate Johnny Shines attested to the effect that
"Come On In My Kitchen" had upon audiences. Similarly, the
image of shy, retiring genius has been fabricated out of his habit of
turning away from the engineers and singing into the corners of the
room, which Ry Cooder identifies as "corner loading", a
means of enhancing vocal power. (d. 16 Aug,1938) (mn-rs)
1915
John
Hope Franklin,
was born, an African- American educator. A native of Oklahoma and a
graduate of Fisk University, he received the A.M. and Ph.D. degrees
in history from Harvard University. He has taught at a number of
institutions, including Fisk University, St. Augustine's College,
North Carolina Central University, and Howard University. Professor
Franklin's numerous publications. His best-known book is From Slavery
to Freedom: A History of African-Americans, now in its seventh
edition. In 1993, he published The Color Line: Legacy for the
Twenty-first Century. Professor Franklin wrote a biography of his
father that he edited with his son, John Whittington Franklin. In
1995, he received the first W.E.B. Du Bois Award from the Fisk
University Alumni Association and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Dr. Franklin has received honorary degrees from more than one hundred
colleges and universities. Currently, Professor Franklin serves as
chairman of the advisory board for One America: The President's
Initiative on Race. Franklin has also been the recived many honors. (a.a.reg)
1915 Henry
McNeal Turner,
first African American chaplain in the U.S. Army, dies in Canada. (tr-iokts)
1932
Sonny
Liston was
born on this day. He was an African-American boxer. From Arkansas,
he was the tenth of eleven children born into an impoverished family.
He moved to St. Louis with his mother in 1945. Unable to read or
write Liston became a juvenile delinquent, serving nineteen months in
prison in 1950 for robbing a gas station. A priest in prison directed
him to boxing and in 1953; he won the national Golden Gloves
championship. Liston turned professional, went 14 and 1 but assaulted
a police officer and returned to prison in 1956. After his release he
won sixteen bouts in a row, became the number one heavyweight
contender in 1960, and took the championship on September 25, 1962
from Floyd Patterson with a first round knockout. Because of his
underworld connections, the New York State Boxing Commission refused
to license him, though he won his rematch with Patterson again with a
first round knockout in 1963. Liston had a remarkable physical
presence as a boxer; a crushing left hook and a great ability to take
punches. He lost his title to Cassius Clay in 1964 on a TKO (unable
to answer the bell in the seventh round, losing again in a rematch by
a first round knockout to Clay (who had changed his name to Muhammad
Ali). His career record was 54-4 (with 39 knockouts). Sonny Liston
died of natural causes in 1970, six months after his last fight. (a.a.reg)
1958
Ernest Green becomes fist black to graduate from Little Rock's
Central High School.
1951
Philip
Bailey
soul singer born today in Denver, Colorado, USA. He joined soul
group Earth Wind and Fire in 1972 as a co-vocalist and percussionist.
By 1983 he had released his first solo effort, Continuation, produced
by George Duke, However, more influential was Phil Collins's
production of his second album. Collins provided percussion
throughout, and also co-wrote Easy Lover, which topped the UK charts
in March 1985 and reached No.2 US. (mn-cl)
9th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT:352: CAB
CALLOWAY/ROY CAMPANELLA/STOKELY CARMICHAEL/DIAHANN CARROLL
1800
John
Brown,
Abolitionist Martyr, is born. He was an American abolitionist, whose
attempt to end slavery by force greatly increased anxiety between
North and South in the period before the American Civil War. Called
Old Brown of Osawatomie John Brown was from Torrington, Connecticut.
His family moved to Ohio when he was five years old. Early in life he
acquired the hatred of slavery that marked his subsequent career, his
father having been actively hostile to the institution. While living
in Pennsylvania in 1834, Brown initiated a project among sympathetic
abolitionists to educate young blacks. The next 20 years of his life
were largely dedicated to this and similar abolitionist ventures,
entailing many sacrifices for himself and his large family. In 1855
he followed five of his sons to Kansas Territory, then a center of
struggle between the antislavery and proslavery forces. Under Brown's
leadership, his sons became active participants in the fight against
proslavery terrorists from Missouri, whose activities led to the
murder of a number of abolitionists at Lawrence, Kansas. Brown and
his sons avenged this crime, on May 24, 1856, at Pottawatomie Creek
by killing five proslavery adherents. This act, as well as his
success in withstanding a large party of attacking Missourians at
Osawatomie in August, made him nationally famous as an irreconcilable
foe of slavery. Aided by increased financial support from
abolitionists in the northeastern states, Brown began in 1857 to
formulate a plan, which he had long entertained, to free the slaves
by armed force. He secretly recruited a small band of supporters for
this project, which included the establishment of a refuge for
fugitive slaves in the mountains of Virginia. After several setbacks,
he finally launched the venture on October 16, 1859, with 18 men
(including several of his sons), seizing the United States arsenal
and armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia and winning control of the
town. After his initial success, he made no attempt at offensive
action, but instead occupied defensive positions within the area.
They were surrounded by the local militia, which was reinforced on
October 17 by a company of U.S. Marines under the command of Colonel
Robert E. Lee. Ten of Brown's men, including two of his sons, were
killed and he was wounded and forced to surrender. He was arrested
and charged with various crimes, including treason and murder. He
distinguished himself during his trial, which took place before a
Virginia court, by his eloquent defense of his efforts in behalf of
the slaves. Convicted, he was hanged in Charlestown, Virginia (now
West Virginia) on December 16th 1859. For many years after his
death, Brown was generally regarded as a martyr to the cause of human
freedom. He became the subject of a famous song, known generally by
the first line as "John Brown's body lies a-mould’ ring in
the grave." (a.a.reg)
1862
General David "Black Dave" Hunter enlists blacks for
combat in South Carolina.
1899
Black
Invention: Lawn
Mower, John Albert Burr receives patent. John Albert Burr
invented the first rotary-blade lawn mower. Burr designed a lawn
mower with traction wheels and a rotary blade that was designed to
not easily get plugged up from lawn clippings. John Albert Burr also
improved the design of lawn mowers by making it possible to mow
closer to building and wall edges. This Black inventors Patent number
is #624,749. (mn)
1937
Dave Prater,
soul singer of Sam & Dave born today in Ocilla, Georgia, USA.
Along with Sam Moore born in Florida they first performed
together in 1961, but it was not until Jerry Wexler signed them to
Atlantic Records that their talents blossomed. For political reasons
they appeared on Stax Records, where You Don't Know Like I Know, Hold
On I'm Coming (both 1966), Soul Man (1967) and I thank you (1968)
were some of their finest moments. (mn-cl)
1964
Berry
Bounces Back to Rock in London.
Having served a three-year prison sentence for an offence involving
an under-age Indian prostitute, Norine Janice Escalanti, who worked
in a nightclub he owned, Chuck Berry opened his first UK tour with a
show at Finsbury Park Astoria (later The Rainbow Theatre). (mn-jt)
1964
Kelvin Saunderon,
member of soul band Inner City, born.The group was formed in 1987
when Saunderson, still in college and recording out of his basement
studio, produced a track he felt needed lyrics. After Chicago
vocalist Paris Grey (b. Shanna Jackson) was recommended by Chicago
producer Terry Baldwin, the two collaborated on the single "Big
Fun." It was finally released late in 1988 on the Virgin
compilation Techno: The New Dance Sound of Detroit, and hit the
British charts in a surprising crossover success. Signed to Virgin
soon after, Saunderson and Grey hit again later that same year with
the Top Ten single "Good Life." Their debut album Paradise
(Big Fun on its American issue) reached the UK Top 20, though it
largely failed to cross over on the American pop charts. (mn-jt)
1971
Jason
Benedict Lee,
6'3", 13.8 footballer born in Forest Gate, England. Club
Honours: Div 2 '98. (bh-mn)
1972
James Brown record's Get On The Good Foot.
It reaches N0.1 in R&B chart that year. (mn)
1974
Don
Yute,
reggae artist born, Jason Andrew Williams, Kingston, Jamaica, West
Indies. Best remembered for his 1995 combination hit with Wayne
Wonder, 'Sensi Ride'. He performed in a style reminiscent of Beenie
Man and Bounty Killer. (mn-cl)
2010
Lena Horne dies.
b. Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, 30th June 1917, Brooklyn, New York,
U.S.A.d. 9th May 2010, New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical
Center, New York City, New York, U.S.A.Lena Horne has died in New
York. She was 92.Lena was the first African American performer to be
signed by a Hollywood Studio (MGM).Durning the 1960's, she was active
within the Civil Rights Movement, participating on several marches
for freedom. (mn)
10th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT: 353: VINNETTE
CAROLL/BENJAMIN CARSON/BENNY CARTER/BENJAMIN CHAVIS
1655
English expedition under General R. Venibles and Admiral W. Penn
lands in Jamaica; the Spaniards capitulated on the 11th. May. (mn-cb)
1775
Lemuel Haynes/Epheram Blackman/Primas Black help capture Fort
Ticon-deroga as members of Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys. (tr-iokts)
1837
Pickney
B.S. Pinchback,
Lt. Governor of Louisiana, born.
1935
Larry
Williams,
soul singer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Williams recorded a
handful of raucous rock 'n' roll songs for Specialty Records that
later influenced, among others, John Lennon. Williams learned to play
the piano while in New Orleans, and moved to Oakland, California,
with his family while in his teens. There he joined a group called
the Lemon Drops. In 1954, while visiting his old home-town of New
Orleans, he met and was hired as a pianist by Lloyd Price, who
recorded for Specialty. Price introduced Williams to producer Robert
"Bumps" Blackwell. At that time Specialty head Art Rupe
signed Williams. His first record was a cover version of Price's
"Just Because", which reached number 11 on the R&B
chart for Williams and number 3 for Price. Backed by fellow Specialty
artist Little Richard's band, Williams recorded his own "Short
Fat Fannie", which reached number 1 in the R&B chart and
number 5 in the pop chart during 1957. To follow up his song about a
fat girl, Williams next recorded one about a skinny girl, "Bony
Moronie", which was almost as big a hit. Williams had one final
chart single for Specialty the following year, "Dizzy, Miss
Lizzy", which reached number 69 (it was later covered by the
Beatles, with Lennon singing - they also covered "Slow Down"
and "Bad Boy", while Lennon later recorded "Bony
Moronie" and "Just Because", providing Williams with a
steady royalties income until his death). A number of singles and an
album were issued by Specialty up to 1959, none of which were hits.
In that year, he was arrested for selling drugs and sent to jail,
causing Specialty to drop him and his career to fade. He recorded
later for Chess Records, Mercury Records and for Island Records and
Decca Records in the mid-60s, by which time he was working with
Johnny "Guitar" Watson. In 1966 Williams became a producer
for OKeh Records and recorded an album with Watson for that label. He
was virtually inactive between 1967 and 1979, at which point he
recorded a funk album for Fantasy Records. In January 1980, Williams
was found in his Los Angeles home with a gunshot wound in the head,
judged to be self-inflicted, although it was rumoured that Williams
was murdered owing to his involvement with drugs and, reportedly,
prostitution. (Dies January 2, 1980). (mn-rs)
1938
Henry
Fambrough,
singer with soul band The Detroit Spinners. (mn-jt)
1951
Ron
Banks singer
with the Dramatics born in Detroit, USA. Ron made a one hour program
for PCRL in 1993. (ref: md912) This R&B vocal group was formed in
Detroit in 1964 as the Sensations. They changed their name to the
Dramatics in 1965 and originally consisted of lead Larry Reed, Rob
Davis, Elbert Wilkins, Robert Ellington, Larry Demps (Born 23
February 1949) and Ron Banks (Born 10 May 1951, Detroit, Michigan,
USA). Ellington quickly dropped out. The Dramatics were a typical 60s
stand-up vocal group, specializing in romantic ballads, but ably made
the transition to the disco era in the late 70s with aggressive dance
numbers. They made their debut on the charts with a minor R&B hit
in 1967, "All Because Of You," which, like all their
releases in the 60s, was issued on a small Detroit label. Around
1968, Reed and Davis were replaced by William "Wee Gee"
Howard and Willie Ford (Born 10 July 1950), respectively. The
reshaped quintet's fortunes flourished when Detroit producers Don
Davis and Tony Hestor took command of their career and the group
signed to the Memphis-based Stax Records in 1971. Still
recording and touring today. (mn-br-music.us)
1952
Sly
Dunbar,
soul/reggae producer/singer and member of Sly & Robbie, born Noel
Charles Dunbar. Sly & Robbie are known as the Riddim Twins, and
their playing has been the backbone for, quite literally, hundreds of
reggae artists during the last twenty-five years. But to look at them
as mere session musicians, or even as musician/producers (they've
mixed some of the biggest reggae hits), would be doing them down. Sly
and Robbie are innovators. (mn-jt-ll)
1994
The inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the democratically elected
President of South Africa takes place.
1940
Arthur
Alexander singer
born in Florence, Alabama, USA. Despite
his own interpretations, Alexander's recordings are often better
recalled for their inspirational quality. "Anna (Go To
Him)", a US R&B Top 10 hit, and "You Better Move
On" were covered, respectively, by the Beatles and the Rolling
Stones, while "A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues" became an
essential UK beat staple (notably by Johnny Kidd). Although "You
Better Move On" was recorded at the rudimentary Fame studios,
Alexander's subsequent work was produced in Nashville, where his
poppier perceptions undermined the edge of his earlier work. Later
singles included "Go Home Girl" and the haunting
"Soldier Of Love", but his fragile personality was
particularly susceptible to pressure. This problem bedevilled his
move to another label, Sound Stage 7, and although a 1972 album for
Warner Brothers Records was promising, the singer's potential once
again seemed to wither. A pop hit was secured on Buddah Records with
"Every Day I Have To Cry Some" (1975), but the success
remained short-lived. For many years Alexander was forced to work
outside of the music business; he was a bus driver for much of this
time. Alexander began to perform again in 1993 as renewed interest
arose in his small but important catalogue. Lonely Just Like Me was
his first album in 21 years and showed a revitalized performer. He
signed a new recording and publishing contract in May 1993, suffering
the cruellest fate when he collapsed and died the following month,
three days after performing in Nashville with his new band. Richard
Younger's excellent biography pays overdue respect to this unsung
legend. (Died 9/6/93). (mn/music.us)
1950
Prince
Allah,
reggae artist born, Keith Blake in Denham Town, Kingston, Jamaica,
West Indies. Blake began his recording career with producer Joe Gibbs
as part of the Leaders vocal group during 1967/8. Gibbs
licensed three releases from the group through B&C Music in the
UK before the Leaders disbanded. In 1969 he became strongly involved
in the Rastafarian movement living in the islands camp community
until the mid-70's, he then re-emerged through Bertram Brown's
Freedom Sounds with a series of records that proved landmarks in
roots history. (mn-cl)
11th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT :354:
MARY CHISHOLM/CHARLIE CHRISTIAN/KENNETH CLARK/ELDRIDGE CLEAVER
1895
William
Grant Still,
black composer, born. He was a ground-breaking African-American
classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. He was the
first African-American to conduct a major American Orchestra, the
first to have a symphony (his first) performed by a leading orchestra
(Southern 1980), the first to have an opera performed by a major
opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national
television. He is often referred to as the dean of African-American
composers. (d.December 3, 1978) (wickpedia)
1933
Louis
Eugene Walcott is
born in The Bronx, New York, USA. Better known as Minister Louis
Farrakhan. He grew up in Rodbury, Massachusetts, where the
discrimination that he experienced made him think that
African-Americans could not ern equality in white America. After
converion to Islam, he was initially close to Malcolm X, but in 1963,
when Malcolm left the movement, Elijah Muhammad appointed Farrakhan
to be his national representative. In 1975 Muhammad's son
announced that whites could join the Nation of Islam, something that
Farrakhan is totally apposed. Consequently, Farrakhan left the Nation
of Islam and formed the Final Call to the Nation of Islam. (mn-ss)
1933
Titus
Turner US
singer/songwriter born in Atlanta, Georgia. Made his first records
for Okeh in 1951, his first big success came in 1955 when Little
Willie John had a Top 10 R&B hit with the Turner composition All
Around The World; the song was revived as Grits Ain't Groceries by
Little Milton in 1969. Dies 13 September, 1984. (mn-cl)
1961
Clifton R. Wharton Sr.,
first African American to head a U.S. embassy in Europe, is born. (tr-iokts)
1967
Apache Indian,
ragga rapper, born Steve Kapur, Birmingham. The 'Don Raja' of
British Asian raggamuffin, has come to represent a cross-cultural
fusion of music that has both baffled and excited pundits and punters
alike in the mid-90's. He grew up in Handsworth in the 70's. Cut his
first single 'Movie Over India', as a white label, later picked up by
Jet Star. He made a memorable appearance on PCRL's 10th Birthday
Party where he was accompanied by Jamaican mini-skirted dancers
alongside Asian girl dancers wearing sari's. (mn-cl)
1981
Bob
Marley dies,
The Honourable Robert Nesta Marley dies tragically of cancer at the
age of 36. He was given an official Jamaican funeral attended by the
prime minister and the leader of the opposition. Singer, songwriter,
guitarist and percussionist, born in St. Anns, Rhoden Hall, Jamaica.
The son of a British service-man and a local woman. His father left
the scene before he was born. Marley released his first single Judge
Not at the age of 16 in 1961. He was a devout follower of the
Rastafarian religion. He was the leading light in Caribbean music, he
included many cultural lyrics in his later recordings. (mn-rd-bmcd)
2006
Floyd
Patterson,
former boxer dies, aged 71 (NeoBlack.com)
12th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 355: JOHNETTA
COLE/BESSIE COLEMAN/ORNETTE COLEMAN/WILLIAM COLEMAN
JODIE
WITH MICKEY NOLD'S CONSORTIUM BORN
1926
Mervyn
Dymally,
California's first African American lieutenant governor, is born in
Cedros, Trinidad. Mervyn Malcolm Dymally, Ph.D. is a Californian
politician of mixed Indo- and Afro-Trinidadian heritage. Currently a
member of the California State Assembly, Dymally was previously a
member of the United States House of Representatives, the first
African American to serve as Lieutenant Governor of California and
the first African American to serve in the California State Senate.
As a member of the House of Representative, he was the first
foreign-born black Member of Congress and one of the first persons of
Indian origin to serve in the U.S. Congress. Dymally received his
secondary education at Naparima College, San Fernando, Trinidad, his
undergraduate education at Lincoln University, Jefferson City,
Missouri and Los Angeles State College, his Master's degree from
California State University, Sacramento, and his doctorate from
United States International University (now Alliant International
University), San Diego. (tr-iokts-wickpedia)
1944
James
Purify,
soul singer with James & Bobby Purify, born in Pensacola,
Florida, USA. (mn-cl)
1967
H. Rap Brown replaces Stokely Carmichael as chairman of the Student
Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He took part in voter
registration drives in Mississippi in 1964. He was an advocate of
black power and violent confrontation with white racists. In 1968 he
was charged with inciting a riot in Maryland and was then convicted
of carrying a gun between states. In 1971 he was convicted and
sentenced for armed robbery and assault. He was released from prison
in 1976. (mn-ss)
1968
Coretta Scott King leads march of welfare mothers to Washington,
D.C., as part of the Poor People's Campaign. (tr-bl)
1941
Jay
Otis Washington,
singer with The Persuasions is born. The Persuasions are an a
cappella group who began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in
the early 1960s and went on to produce numerous albums covering a
wide range of musical genres. The five original members were Jerry
Lawson, Joe 'Jesse' Russell, Jayotis Washington, Herbert 'Toubo'
Rhoad, and Jimmy 'Bro' Hayes. Other members included Willie C.
Daniels, Ray Sanders, and B.J. Jones. They also performed for periods
as a four-man group. The Persuasions have enjoyed recognition from
musicians outside the doo-wop or gospel community. Frank Zappa (who
helped get them their first record contract), Joni Mitchell and the
Grateful Dead are/were among their fans. The group opened concerts
for both Mitchell and the Dead and later recorded tribute albums to
Zappa (Frankly A Capella) and the Grateful Dead (Might as Well). They
appeared on the album New Train by Paul Pena. Their eclectic choice
of material and clever, unique arrangements have been hallmarks of
their recordings. Jerry Lawson seems to find his strongest
inspiration from the songs of Sam Cooke; the best examples of which
can be found on We Came to Play and Chirpin', the two albums
considered by many to be their best. Toubo Rhoad, of the original
members, passed away in the mid '90's. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
13th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 356: HONI
COLES/JOHN COLTRAINE/JAMES CONE
PCRL
DJ: GILLY
IRIE BORN
1914
Joe
Louis,
Pugilist who held heavyweight title longer than any other is born.
In fact it was 11 years, 7 months. Also holds the record for
consecutive title defences (25). Joseph Louis Barrow (either May 13
or May 14 (sources differ), 1914 - April 12, 1981), better known in
the boxing world as Joe Louis and nicknamed The Brown Bomber, was a
native of LaFayette, Alabama who became World Heavyweight Champion.
At a turbulent time in history, just before the war, he became a
popular and national hero, along with Jesse Owens, for both black and
white America. (mn-ring)
1943
Mary
Wells soul
singer born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Singing gospel in church at
the age of four. After her fathers death she discovered he had
connections with the Mafia which devastated her later in her life.
She joined Motown Records in 1961 for a string of hit records that
included 'My Guy' (1965), during this time her husband persuaded her
to change labels, this enraged label owner, Berry Gordy and it's
thought he orchestrated the demise of her career afterwards. Dies at
the age of 49 (26/7/92) from throat cancer - not uncommon in
singers!. (mn-rt)
1944
Carolyn
Franklin singer/younger
sister of Aretha Franklin born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Wrote
songs for and sang with her sisters Erma and Aretha. Later a
recording contract with RCA Records. Dies 25 April, 1988. (mn-cl)
1950
Stevie
Wonder,
born Steveland Morris, blind, in Saginaw, Michigan, before he was
ten he had mastered the keyboards, harmonica and drums. In 1961 he
was discovered by Ronnie White of the Miracles who took him to Berry
Gordy, and in '62 he made his debut at Motown. In 1973 he was
involved in a bad car crash, that left him in a coma for four days,
and a semi-coma for a week. His subsequent work was tinged with the
awareness of morality, fired by his spiritual beliefs. In 1981 and
1982 he sponsored two marches in Washington to demand a holiday for
Martin Luther King Day. He returned in 1982 to celebrate the passing
of the bill. (mn)
1968
Parrish J. Smith,
Hard core, boasts and money talk rapper from Brentwood, Long Island
and member of EPMD born today. (mn-ms)
1969
James Brown record's Mother Popcorn
at the King Studios, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It reaches N0. 1 in
R&B chart. (mn)
1997 Councillor
Sybil Spence becomes Birmingham's first Black Mayor elect.
1997
WBC super welterweight champion Terry Norris sues Don King for
$61.5-million and asks Manhattan's State Supreme Court to nulify a
contract that the fighter claims his manager, Joe Sayatovich, misled
him into signing with the promoter in October 1996. Norris, 29, also
sues Sayatovich for $3-million. (mn-ring)
2000
Corey Wayne Allen, shot dead outside the Oaklands Sports and Social
Centre in Handsworth, the shooting is the 12th in Birmingham thus far
this year. (mn)
2006
Johnnie Wilder Jr.,
with Heatwave dies. (soulwalking.com)
14th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 357: JOHN
CONYERS/WILL COOK/MARY DANDRIDGE/ANGELA DAVIS
Official
birthday of the president of Malawi, Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda.
1913
Clara Stanton Jones,
first African American president of the American Library
Association, is born in St. Louis, Mo, USA. (tr-iokts)
1959
Sidney
Bechet
soprano saxophonist dies in France. A member of Duke Ellington's
Nobel Sissle's orchestra. Born in 1897, one of the great originals of
American music, Bechet pioneered soloing, as opposed to the ensemble
playing of traditional New Orleans-style jazz, and with Coleman
Hawkins established the saxophone as a jazz instrument. Born into a
musical New Oreans family, he mastered the clarinet early and became
one of the first jazz players to recieve critical attention. (mn-ss)
1966
Raphael
Wiggins,
soul singer with Tony Toni tone', born in Oakland, California, USA.
It was composed of D'wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his
brother Raphael Wiggins (also known as Raphael Saadiq) on lead vocals
and bass, and their cousin Timothy Christian on drums. Other members
were Elijah Baker, Carl Wheeler, Randall Wiggins, and Antron Haile.
Their best-known songs were "Little Walter," "Feels
Good", and "If I Had No Loot," as well as
"Anniversary", "It Never Rains (in Southern
California)" and "Lay Your Head On My Pillow". (mn-cl)
1973
Shanice
Wilson,
soul singer born in Mc Kees Rocks, Pittsburg, USA. Raised in Los
Angeles, California, she began singing on stage with her mother
Crystal and her aunt Penni, who now jointly oversee her career.
Shanice performed in T.V. commercials one with Ella Fitzgerald and
musicals while still in her teens. One performance in 'Get Happy' got
her a recording contract with A&M at the age of 11. By 1990 she
signed with Motown where her hit record 'I Like Your Smile' came from
her 1992 gold-certified album 'Inner Child'. Two other top ten hits
came with 'Silent Prayer' and 'I'm Crying'. Shanice featured in
numerous film Soundtracks and gained a number one hit from the film
Meteor Man, 'It's for You'. She also duetted with Jon Secada on 'If
If I Never Knew You' from the highly successful Disney movie
Pocahontas. (m
1975
Chris
(Christopher) Wrey,
5'7", 11.13 footballer born Liberia. Club Honours: PL '98; FAC
'98. International Honours: Liberia: 7. (bh-mn)
1998
US president Bill Clinton arrives in Birmingham for the G8 summit
talks (G8 = 8 richest countries). The P10 (10 poorest countries
group) organise a protest linking hands around the building over
unpaid third world debts. (mn)
2009
Buddy
Montgomery
dies. b. Charles 'Buddy' Montgomery, 30thy January 1930,
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. A. d. 14th May 2009, Palmdale, Los
Angeles, California, U.S.A. Pianist and vibraphonist, Buddy
Montgomery has died. He was 79. He passed away from heart failure at
his home in Palmdale, north of Los Angeles. Buddy was the brother of
the Jazz Guitarist, Wes Montgomery, and was the youngest of three
brothers (Wes, Monk and Buddy). He became professional in 1948, and
toured with Big Joe Turner shortly afterwards. Buddy played
keyboards with Slide Hampton, whilst in Indianapolis. He served in
the military, and worked with the Mastersounds with his brother Monk.
Buddy led the Montgomery - Johnson Quintet with Ray Johnson from 1955
until 1957. He played with Miles Davis in 1961, before relocating to
Milwaukee in 1969. Buddy moved again, in the eighties, to Oakland,
where he worked with the Riverside Reunion Band, Charlie Rouse and
the late David Fathead Newman. Buddy recorded for several labels
including World Pacific, Fantasy, Riverside, Milestone, and Impulse,
and never could read music, incidentally. (soulwalking)
15th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 358:JULIE
DASH/ANTHONY DAVIS/MILES DAVIS
1918
Pfc. Henry Johnson and Pfc. Needham Roberts receives the Croix de
Guerre for their service in World War I, becoming the first
American's to win France's highest military award. (tr-iokts)
1938
Lenny Welch,
soul singer born in Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA. Treading the same
path as Johnny Mathis, Welch built his career singing pop tunes with
a hint of R&B flavour. His biggest hit was a remake of a 40s
big-band standard 'Since I Fell For You' (US Pop No.4.) (mn-cl)
1946
Camilla
Williams
becomes the first African-American female concert singer to sign a
contract with a major American opera company.
1957
Andre Maria Mbida becomes premier of Cameroon.
1972
Richard
Blackwood (singer/comedian)
born. (nationmaster)
1988
J.C.
Burris,
blues harmonica player, dies, Kings Mountain, N.C., USA. He
maintained much of the country-blues style that he learned from his
uncle Sonny Terry. As well as playing the harp Burris played the
bones, the dancing doll (he called his doll Mister Jack), and other
traditional percussive folk instruments. (mn-rs)
2009
Wayman
Tisdale
dies. b. Wayman Lawrence Tisdale, 9th June 1964, Tulsa, Oklahoma,
U.S.A. d. 15th May 2009, St. John's Hospital, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A.
Jazz bassist, Wayman Tisdale, has died. He was 44. Wayman had been
suffering from cancer. Son of a respected pastor, Wayman was a
professional basketball player as well as a Smooth Jazz bassist.
Although a professional sportsman, he stated his main interest was
within music. Wayman was a self-taught musician and played bass at
his fathers church. He released the album 'Power Forward' in 1995,
and in 2002, he was awarded the Legacy Tribute Award by the Oklahoma
Jazz Hall of Fame. In March 2007, he underwent treatment for cancer
in his knee, which came to light after a fall at home, which broke
his leg. The cancer worsened and Wayman had to have part of his leg
amputated in an attempt to arrest the growth of the illness. Wayman
had a new limb fitted and he became used to the new limb very
quickly, reports stated.An album was released in 2008, entitled
'Rebound'. In April 2009, he accepted an award from the Greenwood
Cultural Center in Tulsa, and then embarked on a 21 date national
concert tour. Wayman Tisdale died from cancer on the morning of the
15th of May 2009. He was married to Regina Tisdale and the couple
have four children. (soulwalking)
16th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT: 359: OSSIE
DAVIS/SAMMY DAVIS, JR. & ROY DE CARAVA
1840
James
Milton Turner,
educator, born. (tr-iokts)
1903
In Dahomey an all-black musical opened at the Shaftsbury Theatre,
featuring the outstanding comedy team of Bert Williams a George
Walker. The show ran for for 250 shows, after a performance at
Buckingham Palace. (mn-pf)
1929
John
Conyers Jr.,
founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, is born.
Congressman from Michigan, representing that state's 14th District
(map), which includes all of Highland Park and Hamtramck, as well as
parts of Detroit and Dearborn. He has served since 1965 (the district
was numbered as the 1st District until 1993). (tr-iokts)
1930
Betty
Carter,
jazz singer born in Flint, Michigan, USA. Carter expanded the role
of the vocalist in Jazz, to a full, improvising member of the band.
Although her voice was not as admired by the public as such vocalists
as Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald, many consider her to have
exercised mastery of the human voice previously unheard in Jazz.
Carter was born Lillie Mae Jones in Flint, Michigan and grew up in
Detroit, where her father led a church choir. She studied piano at
the Detroit Conservatory. She won a talent contest and became a
regular on the local club circuit, singing and playing piano. When
she was sixteen, she sang with Charlie Parker. She later performed
with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis and toured with Lionel Hampton,
(from whom she received the nickname "Betty Bepop") where
she perfected her scat singing of bebop. Her career eclipsed somewhat
during the 1960s and 1970s, but a series of duets with Ray Charles
brought her a measure of popular recognition. She was well-received
at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1977 and 1978. Carter won a Grammy in
1988 for her album Look What I Got!. (dies September 26, 1998) (mn-cl-echoes)
1932
Isaac Holt,
member with The Ramsey Lewis Trio is born. (mn-jt)
1947
Barbara Lee,
singer with The Chiffons is born. The Chiffons was an all girl group
originating from the Bronx area of New York in 1960. The group
comprised Judy Craig (lead singer), Patricia Bennett, and Barbara
Lee. Sylvia Peterson was added to the group in 1963. The group had
already recorded a handful of singles when they hit the number one
spot in the United States with the song "He's So Fine."
George Harrison's 1971 "My Sweet Lord" was musically almost
identical, prompting a copyright infringement claim. The Chiffons
went on to record "My Sweet Lord" in 1975. A judge later
found that Harrison had unintentionally plagiarized the earlier song.
Their first hit was followed by other notable tunes such as Gerry
Goffin and Carole King's "One Fine Day", "Sweet
Talkin' Guy" and "I Have a Boyfriend", although many
of their recordings were derivative of the period. Their Top 40
single "I Have A Boyfriend" was playing on Dallas station
KLIF on November 22, 1963 and was interrupted by the first radio
bulletins of the JFK assassination. The group also released material
under the title The Four Pennies. They released two singles on the
Rust Label. Craig left the Chiffons in 1968 and they continued as a
trio. In 1992, Lee died of a heart attack, and Craig returned to the
group. Peterson retired shortly thereafter and was replaced by Connie
Harvey. Harvey has since left to pursue a solo career and Bennett has
retired from the group. Craig continues with replacement backup
singers. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1966
Janet Jackson
soul singer born today in Gary, Indiana, USA. Janet Damita Jo
Jackson is an American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer,
actress, and the youngest child of the famed Jackson music family.
She is the sister of pop icon Michael Jackson. Breaking away from the
shadows of her siblings, Jackson now ranks as the ninth most
successful artist in the history of rock and roll, according to
Billboard magazine in 2004. (mn-tx)
1968
Ralf
Tresvant,
singer with New Edition, later solo, born in Boston, Massachusetts,
USA. Ralph Tresvant (born Ralph Edward Tresvant Jr., on 16 May 1968
in Roxbury, Massachusetts) is an American tenor singer, best known as
one of the lead singers in R&B act New Edition. Tresvant also
pursued a solo career during New Edition's early-1990s hiatus, and
scored a hit with 1990's "Sensitivity", written and
produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. He also scored big with the
hits "Do What I Gotta Do", "Rated R", and
"Stone Cold Gentleman". Ralph's third solo album
Rizz-Wa-Faire, was released March 7, 2006. (mn-cl)
1979
A.
Philip Randolph,
civil rights and labour leader, dies. He was a socialist in the
labor movement and the US civil rights movement. He was born in
Crescent City, Florida. His father was a minister of the A.M.E.
Church who moved the family to Jacksonville, Florida in 1891. In
1911, Randolph moved to New York City's Harlem in hope of becoming an
actor. Randolph's parents objected to his dramatic aspirations, so
while at the City College of New York, he switched his studies to
politics and economics. While at City College, he met his future
wife, Lucille Green. Green was a teacher who had quit that career and
opened a lucrative beauty salon when her first husband died. After
their marriage, Randolph's political activities would often cause
Lucille the loss of some customers. Also at City College, Randolph
met Chandler Owen, a sociology and political science student at
Columbia University. Together, they formed the radical Harlem
magazine, The Messenger, in 1917. (wickpedia)
1985
Six
Million Dollar Hit. Columbia
Records Senior Vice President Al Teller presented a cheque for $6.5
million to Ken Kragen, President of the United Support Of Artists for
Africa foundation (USA for Africa) as the first royalty payment on a
single that had reached the record stores of the USA only two months
before, on March 7. (mn-jt)
1990
Sammy
Davis Jr.,
singer/entertainer/comedian, dies. In 1960, Davis caused controversy
when he married white Swedish-born actress May Britt. Davis received
hate mail when he was cast in the Broadway musical adaptation of
Golden Boy in 1964, but that did not bother his fans. The play was
(at first) a success, but closed quickly. At the time Davis starred
in the play, interracial marriages were forbidden by law in 31 US
states out of 50, and only in 1967 were those laws abolished by the
US Supreme Court. The couple had one daughter and adopted two sons.
Davis performed almost continuously and spent little time with his
wife. They divorced in 1968, after Davis admitted to having had an
affair with singer Lola Falana. That year Sammy Davis, Jr. started
dating Altovise Gore, a dancer in "Golden Boy". They were
wed in 1970 by Jesse Jackson. They remained married until Sammy
Davis, Jr.'s death on this day. (mn-jt)
1993
Marv
Johnson,
singer collapses and dies at a concert in Columbia, South Carolina,
USA. Just a few weeks earlier he had recorded a one-hour radio
programme for PCRL, when later completed contained tributes from
stable-mates JJ Barnes, Edwin Starr and Martha Reeves. He now lies in
an un-marked grave in Detroit. Marv Johnson and Berry Gordy set up
Motown records together in the late 50s - when Motown celebrate
their anniversaries they seem to forget Marv's work!. (mn-br-cl)
2007
A BBC TV programme was shown about the demolition of the 24 storey
block in March, Hamilton House, Grove Lane, Smethick. Not much was
told about it's real history. This was the home to PCRL for many
years during the 1990's andd it was sad to see it fall. (mn)
17th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT :360: RUBY
DEE/RONALD DELLU JAMES DEPRIEST/DAVID DINKINS
1875
Kentucky Derby won by Oscar Lewis, who rides Aristides to victory.
1915
The National Baptist Convention is chartered.
1938
Pervis
Jackson,
soul singer with The Spinners is born. Originally known as the
Domingo’s until they signed with Harvey Fuqua's Tri-Phi in 1961.
(Known as The Detroit Spinners in the UK.) (mn-jt)
1953
George Johnson,
soul singer with The Brothers Johnson, born. The Brothers Johnson is
a band consisting of the musicians George Johnson ('Lightnin' Licks')
and Louis Johnson ('Thunder Thumbs'). After touring with various
artists like Bobby Womack and Billy Preston, Quincy Jones hired them
for a tour in Japan and produced their debut LP Look out for Number
1, released in March 1976 (#9 US). Their Right On Time album was
released in May 1977 and reached number 13 on the Billboard 200.
Blam!! came out in August 1978 and reached number 7 on the Billboard
200. Their popular album Light Up the Night was released in March
1980 and got as high as number 5 on the Billboard 200. It was number
46 on the "Top 100 LP's of 1980" list in Rolling Stone
Magazine. The subsequent album, Winners, was self-produced by the
brothers and released in July 1981, but was less successful, going
only as high as number 48 on the Billboard 200. Among their most
popular songs are "I'll Be Good to You" (Hot 100 #3 in
1976), "Strawberry Letter 23" (Hot 100 # 5 in 1977),
"Ain't We Funkin' Now" (1978), and "Stomp!" (Hot
100 #7 and Hot Dance Music/Club Play #1 in 1980). Their styles
include funk, disco, and R&B ballads. The duo split up in 1982. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1954
The Supreme Court out-laws school segregation in Brown vs Board of
Education decision (USA).
1956
Sugar
Ray Leonard,
world famous boxer born today. He was one of the leading boxers in
the world in the 1970s and 1980s, winning world titles at multiple
weights and triumphing in contests with such celebrated opponents as
Wilfred Benitez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler. Born
Ray Charles Leonard, named for the singing legend Ray Charles,
Leonard later adopted the nickname used by Sugar Ray Robinson. (mn-tx-wickpedia).
1972
Barry
(Barrington) Hayles,
5'9", 13.0 footballer born in Lambeth, London, England. He
is an English born Jamaican professional football player, he
currently plays as a striker for Millwall. Hayles was first noticed
as a Stevenage player in their FA Cup run before earning a move to
Bristol Rovers in 1997. After just one season with the pirates,
Hayles moved to Fulham in 1998 and helped the club through two
promotions to get to the FA Premier League. In 2004, he was released
on a free transfer to Sheffield United, but was only there a couple
of months before he moved to Millwall for a nominal fee. (bh-mn-wickpedia)
1973
Vernie
Bennett,
soul singer with Eternal born today. Eternal was a London-based
1990s R&B girl group that found fame in 1993 and went on to
become one of the UK's most successful girl groups of all time,
achieving both domestic and global success. The group was made up of church-going
sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett and school friends
Kéllé (or Kelle) Bryan and Louise Nurding (also known
as Louise and Louise Redknapp), who both went to the famous Italia
Conti Academy stage school. (mn-tx-wickpedia).
1996
Johnny
‘Guitar’ Watson
soul singer dies. Watson was born in Houston, Texas. He had a long
and varied musical career, from 50s blues to 70s funk. He worked with
many musicians throughout his life, among them Frank Zappa, and
appeared on Zappa's 1975 One Size Fits All and 1984 Them or Us
albums. He died while on tour in Yokohama, Japan. His remains were
brought home for interment in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
in Glendale, California. (mn-cl-wickpedia)
1997
American president Bill Clinton apologizes to African Americans over
medical experiments made on them with the syphilis virus. (mn)
1997
Rebel leader Laurent Kabila takes control of Zaire and renames it The
Democratic Republic of the Congo. (mn)
2002
Little Johnny Taylor,
soul/blues singer died at Conway Regional Medical Centre, Conway,
Arcansas, he was 59. (mn)
18th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT :361: BO
DIDDLEY/FATS DOMIN RITA DOVE/ST.CLAIR DRAKE
Heroes
Day for Namibian people. For about 2 decades this day has been
celebrated by the Namibian people as Hero’s Day in remembrance
of all the patriots who have laid down their lives in the
course of Namibia's century long struggle against colonial oppression
and imperialist plunder. (swapo-tr)
1911
Big
Joe Turner,
soul/R & B singer is born. He recorded the original and best
version of Shake Rattle & Roll. (Dies 24/11/85). Although he came
to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll
recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", Turner's
career as a performer stretched from the 1930s, into the 1980s. Known
as The Boss of the Blues, Turner first worked as a singing bartender
in Kansas City, then a wide-open town run by "Boss" Tom
Pendergast. His partnership with boogie-woogie pianist Pete Johnson
led to his inclusion in John Hammond's "Spirituals to Swing"
concerts that were instrumental in introducing jazz and blues to a
wider American audience. Turner and Johnson had a major hit with
"Roll 'Em, Pete", which Turner recorded many times under
various names over the years. They appeared with boogie players
Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis at Cafe Society, a club in New York
City for several years during the war. Besides "Roll 'Em,
Pete", his best known recordings from this period are probably
"Cherry Red", "I Want A Little Girl", and
"Wee Baby Blues". Turner continued to record blues with
small combos on several record labels, particularly National Records
and also appeared with the Count Basie Orchestra. In his career,
Turner led the transition from big bands to jump blues, to rock and
roll. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1948
Feliciano
'Butch' Tavares,
soul singer with Tavares is born. Originally
named Chubby and the Turnpikes, they started performing in 1963,
when the youngest brother was only nine years old. By 1973 they
signed with Capitol Records, and soon began charting regularly on the
R&B and pop charts. Hit songs include "It Only Takes a
Minute" (1986); "Don't Take Away My Music" (1976);
"The Ghost of Love" (1977); "Whodunit" (1977) and
"Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" (1976). Their popularity
ebbed with the fading disco scene by the early 1980s. In 1983, Ralph
Tavares stepped down from the group, and Tiny left in the mid 1990s,
but the other three brothers continue to tour. Their hit song "It
Only Takes a Minute" is featured in the soundtrack of Konami's
dancing game Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1955
Mary
McLeod Bethune,
educator, dies in Daytona Beach, Fl. She ranks high among the great
women of America. Her life story is one of ennobling rise from a
field hand picking cotton to position of confident and friend of
Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt. Almost single-handedly she built
the Bethune-Cookman College. (Hear BHPAP 100) (mm-ra)
1956 Winifred
Atwell,
British pianist was presented with two gold singles for sales of her
hit medleys, Let's Have A Party and Let's Have Another Party. (mn-jt)
1848
William
Leidesdorff,
manoeuvring millionaire dies. One of the earliest settlers in
California; born (at Szathmar, Hungary ?) about 1802; died at San
Francisco May 18, 1848. He was the son of Mordecai Leidesdorff; his
cousin Yitl (Henrietta) married Akiba Eger, and their daughter
married Moses Sofer (Schreiber). William Leidesdorff left his home
when about fifteen years of age, and his family never heard from him
again. A tradition became current in the Eger and Schreiber families
that he had "gone to America" and "become a great
man." He went to San Francisco (Yerba Buena) in 1840; but his
history before his appearance there is obscure. He passed as a native
of Jamaica, of Danish extraction; on leaving that island he went to
New York, and subsequently to New Orleans, in which latter city he
held the office of "captain of the port." On arriving at
Yerba Buena he began the establishment of extensive commercial
relations with "the States." When the American flag was
raised over San Francisco (July, 1846) he became vice-consul. He bore
a high reputation for integrity and enterprise. He is said to have
been "liberal, hospitable, cordial, confiding even to a
fault." Leidesdorff became the wealthiest man in San Francisco.
During the eight years of his residence there he organized the first
American public school, served as alcalde, as a member of the
Ayuntamiento, as one of the six aldermen, or town-councilors, and as
city treasurer. On the day of his burial the town was in mourning,
the flags were at half-mast, business was suspended, and the schools
were closed. His remains were interred in the Roman Catholic
graveyard behind the church of the Mission Dolores. Leidesdorff
street was named for him. (hear BHPAP 062) (wickpedia)
19th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT: THE MARTIAL ARTS 362: MOSES
POWELL/RONALD DUNCAN
MICKEY
NOLD -
PCRL PRESENTER BORN
1925
Malcolm
X,
(Al Haji Malik El Shabbazz) born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska,
USA. Best remembered for his self-righteousness teachings. Also known
as Detroit Red, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, and Omowale was a National
Spokesman for the Nation of Islam and an African American Muslim
Leader. He was also founder of the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the
Organization of Afro-American Unity. During his life, Malcolm went
from being a promising young student to a street-wise Boston hoodlum
to one of the most prominent black nationalist leaders in the United
States to a martyr of Islam. As a militant leader, Malcolm X
advocated black pride, economic self-reliance, and identity politics.
He ultimately rose to become a world renowned African
American/Pan-Africanist and human rights activist. Malcolm X was
assassinated in New York City on February 21, 1965 on the first day
of National Brotherhood Week. (mn-wickpedia)
1930
Lorraine
Hansberry was
born on this date. She was an African-American writer and activist
for equal rights for Blacks. Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was from
Chicago Illinois and attended the University of Wisconsin but left in
1950 and moved to New York City. She was a reporter and editor for
Freedom, a progressive black newspaper in New York, from 1950 to
1953. She is best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun, which was
made into a motion picture in 1961. It is the story of a Black
Chicago family's attempt to find sense in their constrained
existence. The play was the first drama by a Black woman to be
produced on Broadway, and it won the New York Drama Critics' Circle
Award in 1959. Hansberry's second play, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's
Window, concerns a White intellectual in Greenwich Village, New York
City. After Hansberry's death, her husband, songwriter and music
publisher Robert Nemiroff, adapted her letters, plays, and papers
into the production To Be Young, Gifted, and Black. This compilation
was published in book form in 1970. During her career Hansberry also
wrote many articles and essays on racism, homophobia, world peace,
and other social issues. (aareg)
1952
Barbara
Joyce Loomis,
R&B vocals, b. New York, NY, USA. Member group: 'B.T. Express'
In 1972, this funk-disco group was formed by Jeff Lane in Brooklyn.
They started as the King Davis House Rockers, and later were called
the Brooklyn Trucking Express. Originally, the group consisted of
Bill Risbrook (saxophonist/vocalist), Dennis Rowe (percussionist),
Rick Thompson (guitarist), Carlos Ward (saxophonist/flutist), Michael
Jones Kashif (keyboardist), Wesley Hall (lead guitarist/vocalist),
Leslie Ming (drummer), Louis Risbrook (bassist, organist and
vocalist), and Barbara Joyce Lomas (vocalist). (nfo.net)
1952
Grace
Jones singer/model/actor
born in Spanishtown, Jamaica. Grace Jones (born Grace Mendoza on May
19, 1948, in Spanish Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a model, singer and
actress. Raised in Syracuse, New York, she found success in the 70s
as a model, working in New York and Paris, before rising to public
prominence as a singer and personality. (mn)
1963 Yazz
soul singer born Yasmin Evans in Shepherds Bush, London, England.
British pop singer who remains best known for her successful 1988
dance track, "The Only Way Is Up". After a spell as a
catwalk model, she scored a number of club hits after recording with
group, Biz, in 1983. Her first commercial success came in early 1988,
when she supplied the vocals on Coldcut's "Doctorin' the
House". She soon launched a solo career on Big Life records, a
label set up by her future husband Jazz Summers, releasing her debut
single "The Only Way Is Up" in the summer of 1988. It went
on to spend five weeks at the top of the chart, eventually becoming
the biggest selling UK single of the year. Suddenly one of Britain's
biggest pop acts, her follow up was another big hit, whilst her debut
album went top ten. She continued to have hits into 1989 but has
since recorded only sporadically, releasing one single during 1990
and not releasing another until 1992. She returned to the charts in
1993, performing with Aswad on the top 40 hit "How Long".
She continued to release singles well into the 1990s, including a
cover version of The Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye".
In 1997 she recorded the album Natural Life, which was only released
in some parts of Europe and Asia. (mn-wickpedia)
1967
Julio
Cesar Green
WBA Middleweight World Champion Boxer is born. Record: 22-2 (15).
Best wins: Eric Holland; Lonny Beasley and William Joppy. He lives in
Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico. (mn-ring)
1969
Coleman
Hawkins,
jazz-man saxophonist dies. Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21,
1904–May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes
"Bean", was a prominent jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was
born in Saint Joseph, Missouri in 1904. Some out-of-date sources say
1901, but there is no evidence to prove such an early date. He was
named Coleman after his mother Cordelia's maiden name. He attended
high school in Chicago, then in Topeka, Kansas at Topeka High School
(THS). He later stated that he studied harmony and composition for
two years at Washburn College in Topeka while still attending THS. In
his youth he played piano and cello, and started playing saxophone at
the age of nine; by the age of fourteen he was playing around eastern
Kansas. Coleman Hawkins (incorrectly spelled "Haskins" in
the caption) pictured in the Topeka High School orchestra, from the
1921 yearbook.Hawkins joined Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds in 1921 with
whom he toured through 1923, at which time he settled in New York
City. Hawkins joined Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, with whom he
played through 1934, sometimes doubling on clarinet and bass
saxophone. Hawkins' playing changed significantly during Louis
Armstrong's tenure with the Henderson Orchestra. During the mid to
late 1930s, Hawkins toured Europe as a soloist, playing with Jack
Hylton, Django Reinhardt and many other groups until returning to the
USA in 1939. He then recorded a seminal jazz solo on the pop standard
"Body and Soul", a landmark equivalent to Armstrong's
"West End Blues". After an unsuccessful attempt to
establish a big band he led a combo at Kelly's Stables on Manhattan's
famed 52nd Street, using Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Miles
Davis, and Max Roach as sidemen. He was leader on the first ever
bebop recording session with Dizzy Gillespie and Don Byas. Later he
toured with Howard McGhee and recorded with J.J. Johnson and Fats
Navarro. He also toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic. After 1948
Hawkins divided his time between New York and Europe, making numerous
freelance recordings, including with Duke Ellington in 1962. In the
1960s he appeared regularly at the Village Vanguard in Manhattan.
During his long career Hawkins was always inventive and seeking new
challenges. He directly influenced many bebop performers, and later
in his career, recorded or performed with such adventurous musicians
as Sonny Rollins, who considered him his main influence, and John
Coltrane. He also performed with more traditional musicians, such as
Henry "Red" Allen and Roy Eldridge, with whom he appeared
at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. In the 1960s, he recorded with
Duke Ellington. What was up to date in jazz changed radically over
the decades. When record collectors would play his early 1920s
recordings during Hawkins' later years he would sometimes deny his
presence on them, since the playing on the old records sounded so
dated. In his later years, Hawkins began to drink heavily and stopped
recording (his last recording was in late 1966). He died of pneumonia
in 1969 and is interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1971
Robert 'Bobby' Bowry,
footballer born, this 5'9", 10.8, player was an integral part
of Milwall's side '97-'98. Honours: Div 1 '97. (bh-mn)
1984
Bob Marley topped the UK album chart for the first time with Legend,
an album released to coincide with the third anniversary of his death
from cancer. (mn-jt)
1999
Augustus
Pablo
- real name Horace Swaby, reggae musician dies in Kingston Hospital,
he suffered a colapsed lung seven days earlier and had been on a life
support machine - he was 45 years old. Horace Swaby (June 21, 1954
– May 18, 1999), better known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican
roots reggae and dub record producer and keyboardist, active from the
1970s onwards. He was perhaps the first person to use the melodica as
a viable musical instrument. He was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica and
learned to play the organ in Kingston College School. It was at that
point an unnamed girl lent him the melodica. Fascinated by the
instrument, Pablo rarely put it down. He also met Herman Chin Loy;
the Chin family owned an influential record store in Kingston. Swaby
recorded "Iggy Iggy" in Clive's father's studio, Aquarius
Records. He took the name Augustus Pablo for this recording. After
releasing a few more singles, Pablo came out with "East of the
River Nile", a unique blend of East Asian and Jamaican sounds,
and the song became a moderate hit. Augustus Pablo popularized the
use of the melodica, essentially a childs toy, in reggae music. He
soon joined Now Generation (Mikey Chung's band) and played the
keyboard with them while his friend, Clive, began his own career as a
record producer. Pablo and Chin recorded "Java" (1972)
together, as soon as Pablo quit Now Generation and Clive was able to
get the studio time, the instrumental was a massive hit, and launched
Pablo's solo career. He recorded with Chin and various others,
including Leonard Chin, his uncle, and Lee Perry. He scored another
smash hit with "My Desire" (John Holt). Pablo formed labels
Hot Stuff, Message and Rockers (named after his brother's
soundsystem, Rockers), and released a steady stream of well-received
instrumentals, mostly versions of older hits from Studio One. In
spite of his success with Rockers, Pablo's seminal 1974 album, This
Is Augustus Pablo was recorded with Clive and Pat Chin. This was
followed by a collaboration with the legendary reggae engineer King
Tubby to great acclaim, releasing 1975's Ital Dub. In the later
1970s, Pablo produced a steady stream of hits, including the hit
"Black Star Liner" (Fred Locks). He also worked with
Dillinger, Norris Reid, I-Roy, Jacob Miller, Te -Track, The
Immortals, Paul Blackman, Earl Sixteen, Roman Stewart, Lacksley
Castell, The Heptones, Ricky Grant, Delroy Williams, Horace Andy and
Freddy McKay. This period was eventually commemorated with critically
acclaimed LP's including King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (1976) and
Hugh Mundell's classic Africa Must be Free by 1983. This was followed
by East of the River Nile (1978, Original Rockers 1979 and Rockers
Meets King Tubbys In A Firehouse, another acclaimed hit album. In the
1980s, Pablo's career slowed significantly. He had begun to establish
an American audience, and released Rising Sun in 1986 to good reviews
and sales. Pablo also produced memorable hits, including
"Ragamuffin Year" (Junior Delgado), "Humble
Yourself" (Asher & Tremble) and "Far Far Away"
(Ricky Grant). In addition, Pablo toured extensively throughout the
world, making a memorable live album in Tokyo in 1987. That same
year, Rockers Come East re-established his career, and he began to
release a series of critically acclaimed though somewhat inaccessible
albums in the 1990s, including Blowing With the Wind and also
producing several, such as Night and Day (Dawn Penn) and Jah Made
Them All (Yami Bolo). Pablo died of the nerve disorder Myasthenia
gravis on May 18, 1999. He was known for his spiritual beliefs in
Rasta. (mn-echoes-wickpedia)
20th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 363:
GEORGE COEFIELD/OWEN WATSON
National
Holiday-United Republic of Cameroon.
1868
P.B.S. Pinchback and James J. Harris are the first African American
deligates to the Republican National Convention. (tr-iokts)
1899
Lydia
Cabrera was
born on this date. She was an Afro-Cuban writer and literary
activist. From Havana, Cuba, she was the youngest of eight children
in a family of social and financial privilege in pre-revolutionary
Cuba. Her father, Raimundo Cabrera Bosch, was also a writer, jurist,
lawyer, and a former fighter for Cuba's independence, and her mother,
Elisa Marcaida Casanova was a housewife. The family had many African
servants and child caretakers who introduced young Lydia to the world
brought to Cuba by the African slaves. Through them she learned about
African folklore, stories, traditions, religions and their mystical
world. Her father’s contributions are evident in many of her
writings. Her adult interest in Afro-Cuban culture began when she
went to Paris in 1927 to study Asian religion and art. She studied
drawing and painting in Paris with theatrical Russian exile Alexandra
Exter. Cabrera lived in Paris for eleven years, returned home in
1938, and left Cuba again as an exile in 1960. She went first to
Madrid and settled later in Miami, Florida. Author of twenty three
books on Afro-Cuban themes, she was one of the first writers to
recognize and make public the richness of Afro-Cuban culture, and
made valuable contributions in the area of literature, anthropology,
and ethnology. Her most famous book El Monte (The Forest), published
in 1954, became a "bible" for Santeros who practice
Santeria, a blend of catholic teachings and native African religions
that evolved among former African slaves in the Caribbean. Cabrera
was a woman of deep cultural background and humility. She created the
Negro's identity and their incorporation into the Cuban national
culture as an important and integral part of it. She received several
honorary doctorate degrees, including one from the University of
Miami in 1987. Cabrera described her stories as
"transpositions," but they went much further than a simple
retelling. She recreated and altered elements, characters, and themes
of African and universal folklores, but she also modified the
traditional stories by adding details of Cuban customs of the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She represented well-known
themes within universal folklore from a different perspective as
well. For example, Cabrera used the popular motif of a magical object
(a saucepan, a salt shaker, a tablecloth) that provides endlessly for
its owner, but she re-created it using as characters people from
Colonial Cuba, such as clever slaves, their white owners, and
European and local slave merchants. Themes of universal folklore such
as cruel stepmothers, lost children, and the magic fish that has the
power to grant wishes are also present in some of the stories she
tells. But a divergent to the traditional folktale, Cabrera
constantly gave her characters, (gods, humans, or animals) their own
name. One example is Jicotea, a little water turtle with whom many
Afro-Cubans identify, because it belongs to the lowest rung in the
social scale and therefore has a hard life. But it adapts and
confronts its aggressive environment in order to survive. Cabrera
devoted her life to the study of Africans in Cuba and their influence
on the development of Cuban folklore, a development that was also
influenced by the Spanish culture that had been brought to the island
during the Conquest. Lydia Cabrera died in Miami on September 19th,
1991. (aareg.com)
1902
Cuba gains independence from Spain.
1961
A White mob attacked Freedom Riders with chains and ax handles in
Montgomery, Alabama. Because of the local officer’s
ineffectiveness, federal marshals had to be eventually dispatched by
Attorney General Robert Kennedy. The Ku Klux Klan hoped that this
violent treatment would stop other young people from taking part in
freedom rides. However, over the next six months over a thousand
people took part in the SNCC freedom rides of 1961 (aareg.com)
1964
Run
D. M. C.,
old-school rock rapper, real name Darryl McDaniels from Hollis,
Queens, USA, born. Run-D.M.C. (or Run DMC) was a hip hop group
founded by the late Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell that
included Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C."
McDaniels. The group had an enormous impact on the development of hip
hop through the 1980s and is credited with breaking hip hop into
mainstream music. The three members of Run-D.M.C. grew up in Hollis,
Queens, New York, USA. (mn-ms)
1940
Shorty
Long,
soul singer born in Alabama. Signed to Motown in 1964, his debut
release was Devil With The Blue Dress. This was followed by Function
at the Junction and in 1968 Here Come The Judge, the title of his
subsequent first album. The follow-up, The Prime of Shorty Long
contains a tribute song to Martin Luther King. He died in a boating
accident on the Detroit River, 29 June, 1969. (mn-jt-rt)
1955
Ruth Brown's US hit, Mamma He Treats Your
Daughter Mean was banned in Britain by the
BBC as it was felt to suggest wife-beating. Now copies of the 7'
issues are valued at £175 (London HLE 8153), and only £20
for 10' (78 r.p.m. version). (mn-jt)
1999
PCRL receives a studio raid while off-air - loosing everything!
21st.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 364: JONATHAN STEWART/RON AUSTIN
SISTER
ELAINE
- PCRL TALK-BACK TEAM MEMBER BORN
1879
John
Jones
dies. Businessman crusader Jones was so admired among Chicagoans
that, when he celebrated his thirtieth year as a resident in 1875,
most of the leading business and social personalities of both races
were present. It was reported at the time he had amassed an estate
worth $100,000 before the destructive Chicago Fire of 1871. (hear
BHPAP 63) (mn)
1883
African American students enrol in classes at Oberlin College,
Oberlin, Ohio, USA. (tr-iokts)
1904
Fats
Waller,
singer/pianist born Thomas Waller. He was an African-American
composer, singer, and entertainer. Thomas Wright "Fats"
Waller came from a Harlem household where his father was a Baptist
preacher and his mother played piano and organ. He took up the piano
at age six, playing in a school orchestra led by Edgar Sampson. After
his mother died when he was 14, Waller moved into the home of pianist
Russell Brooks, where he met and studied with James P. Johnson, Carl
Bohm and the famous pianist Leopold Godowsky. Waller made his first
record at age 18, "Birmingham Blues"/'Muscle Shoals
Blues" in 1922. He backed various blues singers and worked
as house pianist and organist at rent parties and in movie theatres
and clubs. He began to attract attention as a composer at this time
forming a most fruitful alliance with lyricist Andy Razaf that
resulted in three Broadway shows in the late '20s, Keep Shufflin',
Load of Coal, and Hot Chocolates. Waller’s most significant
early records for Victor were a series of brilliant 1929 solo piano
sides of his own compositions like "Handful of Keys" and
"Smashing Thirds." After finally signing an exclusive
Victor contract in 1934, he began the long-running, prolific series
of records with his Rhythm, which won him great fame and produced
several hits, including "Your Feet's Too Big," "The
Joint Is Jumpin'" and "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write
Myself a Letter." He began to appear in films like Hooray
for Love and King of Burlesque in 1935 while continuing regular
appearances on radio dating back to 1923. He toured Europe in 1938,
made organ recordings in London for HMV and appeared on one of the
first television broadcasts. Well aware of the popularity of big
bands in the '30s, Waller tried to form his own, but they were
short-lived. Into the 1940s, Waller's touring schedule of the U.S.
escalated; he contributed music to the films (including a memorable
stretch of Stormy Weather where he led an all-star band that included
Benny Carter, Slam Stewart and Zutty Singleton). As a composer
and improviser, his melodic invention rarely flagged, and he
contributed fistfuls of joyous yet paradoxically winsome songs like
"Honeysuckle Rose," "Ain’t Misbehavin,'"
"Keepin' Out of Mischief Now," "Blue Turning Grey Over
You" and the extraordinary "Jitterbug Waltz" to the
jazz repertoire. While every clown longs to play Hamlet as per the
cliché and Waller did have so-called serious musical
pretensions, longing to follow in George Gershwin's footsteps and
compose concert music. It was not to be due to the racial barriers of
the first half of the 20th century. Waller influenced a long line of
pianists of and after him, including Count Basie, Teddy Wilson, Art
Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck and countless others, his impact
has been truly profound. Years of draining alimony squabbles, plus
overindulgence and, no doubt, frustration over not being taken more
seriously as an artist began to wear him down. Finally, after
becoming ill during a gig at the Zanzibar Room in Hollywood in Dec.
1943, Waller boarded the Santa Fe Chief train for the long trip back
to New York. He never made it, dying of pneumonia aboard the train
during a stop at Union Station in Kansas City. (mn-jt-aareg.com)
1920
Little
Willie Anderson,
harmonica player, norn West Memphis, USA. Some
folks called Chicago harpist Little Willie Anderson "Little
Walter Jr.," so faithfully did Anderson's style follow that of
the legendary harp wizard. But Anderson was already quite familiar
with the rudiments of the harmonica before he ever hit the Windy
City, having heard Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, and Robert
Jr. Lockwood around West Memphis. Anderson came to Chicago in 1939,
eventually turning pro as a sideman with Johnny Young. Anderson
served as Walter's valet, chauffeur, and pal during the latter's
heyday, but his slavish imitations probably doomed any recording
possibilities for Anderson -- until 1979, that is, when Blues On
Blues label boss Bob Corritore escorted him into a Chicago studio and
emerged with what amounts to Anderson's entire recorded legacy. ~
Bill Dahl, All Music Guide Died
June 20, 1991. (mn-rs)
1921
Christopher
Perry,
founder of the Philadelphia Tribune in 1885, dies. It is the oldest
continually published non-church newspaper, first published in 1885. (tr-iokts)
1932
Billy
Wright,
gospel singer born in Atlanta, Geogia, USA. (mn-cl)
1938
Lee
Shot Williams,
soul singer born in Mississippi, USA. (mn-cl)
1941
Ronald
Isley
singer born today in Cincinnati, USA. Ronald Isley is an American
pop, rock, soul, and R&B singer and is known as the lead singer
of the legendary family music group the Isley Brothers. He currently
is enjoying a career resurgence that started in the mid-90s as an
alter ego, Mr. Biggs, created by him and R. Kelly. In 2006 he is on
trial about to take long prison sentence for tax evasion. (mn)
1963
‘Little’ Stevie Wonder who had celebrated his 13th
birthday only eight days before, recorded his first million selling
single Fingertips Pt.2. (mn-jt)
1965
Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. leads his first Selma-to-Montgomery march.
1972
Notorious B.I.G.,
rapper born Christopher Wallace, Brooklyn, NY, USA. A six Foot-300-(or-so)-pound
former drug dealer with a big booming, marble-mouthed voice who
first appeared on Mary J. Blige album 'What's the 411? - The
remixes'. First three singles went gold, becoming one of the most
calibrated rap artists of the 1990s while earning a spot in the
genre's history books as one of the key players in New York rap.
(Dies March 9, 1997, Los Angeles, USA. (mn-jf)
22nd.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 365: CHAKA
ZULU
PCRL
BLACK POETS DAY
1928
Roscoe
Robinson,
soul singer born in Dumont, Alabama, USA. He was actually the second
sighted member of the Five Blind Boys (Percell Perkins had been the
first, but it was low-keyed) of Mississippi. Born in Arkansas,
Robinson's family moved to Gary when he was 10. He began recording in
1951 for Trumpet and sang in many gospel groups, including The Five
Trumpets, Highway QC's, and Fairfield Four, before moving into
secular music in the '60s. He had a sensational hit in 1966,
"That's Enough," for Wand. He continued recording for
several other small labels, but never again had any national impact,
although he has made many fine regional songs in vintage Southern
soul style. Robinson also returned to his gospel roots in the '80s,
recording for Savoy. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide (mn-cl)
1948
Claude
McKay
In memory of this Jamaican poet (1890-1948). His Novel Home to Harlem
became the first best seller written by an African-American writer.
His first publication was Songs of Jamaica (1911), followed by Spring
in New Hampshire (1920), Harlem Shadows (1922), Home to Harlem
(1828), Banjo (1929), Banana Bottom (1933). (mn) (hear BHPAP 129)
1967
Langston
Hughes,
noted gay poet, dies in New York, USA. Born in 1902 the theme of his
work was the common man, more specificly the Negro and his pleasures,
joys and sorrows. His works include: Weary Blues, Fine Clothes to the
Jew, The Dreem Keeper, Dear Lovely Death, Shakespeare in Harlem,
Fields of Wonder, One Way Ticket and Ask Your Mama. His novels were
Not Without Laughter and Tambourines to Glory. For the theatre he
wrote Scottsbro Limited and Mulatto; the later work he also staged as
an opra, the Berries. He also wrote the biographies: Famous American
Negroes and Famous Negroe Music Makers. (hear BHPAP 133) (mn-ra)
1970
Naomi Campbell super-model
born today. Campbell was born in Streatham, South London. She is of
mostly Afro-Jamaican heritage, though her father is also partially of
Jamaican-Chinese descent. Campbell attended the London Academy For
Performing Arts. A graduate of the Italia Conti Academy stage school,
Campbell's first appearance to a wider public was in February 1978
when she was cast as a pupil to appear in a music video with Jamaican
reggae superstar Bob Marley for his song Is This Love?. She has been
a prominent fashion model on the catwalk and in print advertising
since the late 1980s. She also posed nude for Playboy magazine and
for a series of lesbian-erotic photos with Madonna in the latter's
book Sex. Campbell is also a successful singer. Her album Baby Woman
sold over 1 million copies worldwide (mostly in Japan), and she was
featured on Vanilla Ice's single "Cool as Ice." She had
previously appeared in George Michael's music video, "Freedom
'90", though she merely lip-synched to his song along with other
models rather than performing herself. In 1995, her collaboration
with Toshinobu Kubota, "La La La La Love Song", became a
hit in Japan, with the single selling approx. 1,856,000 copies. She
has also appeared in music videos for artists such as Michael
Jackson, Jay-Z, and also appeared in Madonna's music video,
"Erotica", with Ingrid Casares on October 12, 1992.
Campbell also co-authored the best-selling novel "Swan" and
followed it up with a photography book titled "Naomi." She
has also been seen in music videos with Prince. (mn-tx-wickpedia)
23rd.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 001: PIANKHY
720 B.C.
THE
PEOPLES COMMUNITY RADIO LINK EST. 1985
1832
Samuel
Sharpe
Jamaican national hero hanged. "Daddy" Sharpe was a slave
and Baptist preacher, that led a sort of strike that soon developed
into the biggest slave rebellion that island would experience. Today
the square in Montego Bay where he was hanged is named after him. A
stone carving of his profile is show in the PCRL background
wallpaper. Read History of Jamaica - Clinton V. Black. (mn-cb)
1871
Black Invention:
Improved Smoke Stacks for Trains, Andrew Bell. (sc)
1900
Sgt. W.H.Carney, Civil War hero becomes the first negro receiving
Medal of Honour, 37 years after the Battle of Fort Wagner. (tr-iokts)
1944
General Norman Johnson,
singer/songwriter with Showmen/Chairmen of Board born in Norfolk,
Virginia, USA. Naming a child "General" sure gives him
something to live up to! No, not a future military man, a baby named
after his dad (General) and his uncle (Norman), thus General Norman
Johnson. Norman (as he was known during his younger years) began
singing gospel in local Norfolk, Virginia at age 6 and formed a group
called the "Humdingers" while in school in 1955. The
Humdingers recorded four sides for Atlantic in 1956 that were never
released, but that didn't discourage General Johnson, for he had the
fever to write and produce. With the help of manager No h Biggs, the
Humdingers then General Johnson, Leslie Felton, Milton Wells, Dorsey
Knight and his brother Gene, left the Tidewater area of Virginia for
a trip to New Orleans. The Humdingers became the Showmen and got a
fresh start. Between May of 1961 and April of 1962, the Showmen
recorded fifteen songs for Minit Records. The most notable was the
song penned by General Johnson with the original tittle "Rock
& Roll will Stand" shortened by executives at Minit to
"It will Stand." It charted twice, November of 1961 and
again in July of 1964. Another song title change/mix up was
"39-21-40 Shape" which became "39-21-46." In
1965, General Johnson took his new songs to Philadelphia and New York
to find a new label. Three singles were released, and "In
Paradise" became a local Philly hit for the Swan label. General
Johnson got a call telling him of the fans of the Showmen in the
South. The Showmen packed up and moved South to the land of Beach
Music! They became highly sought after up and down the eastern
seaboard and became Beach Music's hottest band! In 1967, the Showmen
recorded their most obscure record, "A Little Bit Of Your
Love" for Jokers 3, a label named for a club and booking agency
in Greensboro, Ne. In the Idte 60's, the Showmen were invited to
Detroit to audition at Lamont Dozier's house for Invictus Records.
Management wanted General but not the others. After dealing for
awhile with the phenomenal standard "I'll never leave my
group," General saw a better opportunity and left the Showmen to
begin an association with the former Motown song writing team of
Holland-Dozier-Holland. General Johnson's new group, "The
Chairman of the Board" was a hit right out of the chute, scoring
a #3 "Give Me Just A Little More Time," in < 1970 and as
they say "the rest is history," but a continuing history as
the Chairmen perform for packed houses and record new product each
year! The Showmen continued without General Johnson and disbanded in
the early 70's. (mn-surfside)
1957 Teanager
Lymon Record’s in London.
Frankie Lymon, lead vocalist with The Teenagers, the vocal quintet
that were teenagers. Recorded in London with British producer Norrie
Paramor, who would become the producer of dozens of hits for Cliff
Richard the following year. Lymon was 13 when 'Why Do Fools Fall In
Love' became a British No. 1. Tragically died of a drug overdose in
'68, being only 25. (mn-jt)
1967
Junior
Waite,
with B,ham's reggae band Musical Youth is born. Musical
Youth formed in 1979 at Duddeston Manor School, Birmingham, England.
This pop / reggae influenced group, featured two sets of brothers,
Kelvin and Michael Grant, plus Junior and Patrick Waite. The latter
pair's father, Frederick Waite, was a former member of Jamaican group
The Techniques, and sang lead with Junior at the start of the group's
career in the late 1970s. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1968
Mark
Wayne Alleyne,
5'11", 13.7 Gloucester cricketer born in Tottenham, London,
England. Country Debut: 1968; County cap: 1990; 1000 runs in a
season: 6; 50 wickets in a season: 1. (cm-mn)
1975
‘Moms’
Mabley,
U.S.A. comedian dies. Jackie ' Moms ' Mabley (born 19 March 1894,
Brevard, North Carolina died at White Plains, New York) was an
American comedian. Born Loretta Mary Aiken, Mabley was one of the
most successful entertainers of the black vaudeville stage, earning
$10,000 a week at Harlem's Apollo Theater at the height of her
career. In the 1960s, she become known to a wider white audience,
playing Carnegie Hall in 1962, and making a number of mainstream TV
appearances in the 1960s. She was billed as "The Funniest Woman
in the World," and she tackled topics too edgy for many other
comics of the time, including racism. She got away with it courtesy
of her persona: onstage she appeared to be a small, bedraggled woman
in a housedress and a funny hat, a 1950's version of a 'bag-lady'
persona. She added the occasional satirical song to her jokes, and
had a minor song hit in the 1960's with a serious plea for peace,
"Everything's Gonna Be Alright." One of her regular themes
was her romantic preference for handsome young men rather than old,
'washed-up geezers' (as witness one of her album titles: Young Men,
Sí - Old Men, No). Her aged and bedraggled appearance,
including performing with no teeth, made her stated aspirations all
the funnier. (In fact, her lack of many apparent feminine
characteristics--plus her cackling, scratchy voice--led to assorted
rumors that she was actually a man.) She took her stage name, Jackie
Mabley, from an early boyfriend, commenting to Ebony magazine in an
interview in the 1970's that he'd taken so much from her, it was the
least she could do to take his name. Later she became known as
"Moms" because she was indeed "Mom" to many other
comedians on the circuit in the 1950's and 60's. She was one of the
top women doing standup in her heyday, and recorded more than 20
albums of comedy routines. She appeared in movies, on television, and
in clubs. She is buried in Westchester County, NY. (mn-jt-wickpedia)
1984
Passage To Britain (The West Indians/Black Britons)
- Shown on UK CH4 television, part six in a twelve part series
looking at the history of immigration to Britain. Includes interviews
with Garth Moody (remembering his father Dr Harold Moody and The
League of Coloured Peoples), C.L.R. James (remembering Learie
Constantine) and actress-turned-social worker Pauline Henriques. (mn-sb)
1985
THE PEOPLES COMMUNITY RADIO LINK formally Radio Star starts
broadcasting as Radio Station on 94.2 F.M., and was set up by Cecil
Morris. (mn)
1989
John Fashanu's debut for England against Chile at Wembley Stadium.
1997
PCRL starts a daily programme about black achievers, BLACK HEROES
PAST AND PRESENT. (A total of 366 episodes were made). The programme
continued until 2003.
24th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 002:
ANTAR 615 A.D.
1844
Solomon G. Brown, scientific technician, aids Samuel Morse in
transmitting the first formal message between two cities by wire. Morse
sent the telegraph message "What hath God wrought" (a
Bible quotation, Numbers 23:23) from the Supreme Court room in
Washington, D.C. to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore,
Maryland. (tr-iokts)
1917
Black
Invention:
Mail Bag Transferring Device, J.C. Jones. (sc)
1938
Prince
Buster,
reggae singer born. He was one of the early exponents of the Blue
Beat sound, who gave us classics like:- The Ten Commandments; Al
Capone; One Step Beyond; Judge Dread. Cecil Bustamente Campbell,
better known as Prince Buster, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica
and regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of
ska and rocksteady music. The records he made on the Blue Beat label
in the 1960s inspired several reggae and ska artists. (some books say
28 may) (mn-jt-tr)
1944
Patti
La Belle soul
singer born. Patti LaBelle (born
Patricia Louise Holt on May 24, 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
is a hugely revered African-American R&B/soul singer who fronted
two moderately successful groups before rising to stardom as a solo
artist in the late 1970s, influencing a new generation of female
singers. She is best known for her strong vocals and her signature high-octave
vocal belting. She has been largely compared to Aretha Franklin
during the 1970s, but her distinguishing vocal range remains unique
and recognizable, and she is widely regarded as one of the greatest
vocalists of all-time [citation needed]. Her biography "Don't
Block the Blessings," remained at the top of the New York Times
best seller list for several weeks. In addition, she is also a
bestselling cookbook author. (some books say 4 oct.) (mn-jt)
1945
Terry
Callier,
soul/folk singer born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is also a
guitarist singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. Callier, a
childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield, began recording in 1963 but
never reached stardom despite a series of regional hits in the 1960's
and 1970's. In 1983, he gained custody of his 12-year-old daughter
Sundiata and decided to retire from music to look for a steadier
income. He took classes in computer programming and landed a job at
the University of Chicago in 1984. He reemerged from obscurity when
British DJ's discovered his old recordings and began to play his
songs in clubs in the early 1990's. Acid Jazz Records head Eddie
Pillar broght Callier to play clubs in Britain beginning in 1991 and
he began to make regular trips to play gigs during his vacation time
from work. In 1998, Callier began his comeback to recorded music with
Timepeace, which won the United Nations' Time For Peace award for
outstanding artistic achievement contributing to world peace.
Curiously, his colleagues at the University of Chicago never learned
of Callier's life as a musician, but after the award the news his
secret life as a musician became widely known and subsequently lead
to his firing. Callier today is continuing his recording career,
having currently released five albums since Timepeace. (mn-cl-wickpedia)
1950
Nat Clifton becomes first black professional basketball player.
1963
Elmore
James,
hugely influential blues singer and slide guitarist, died in
Chicago, Ill, USA. In 1990 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll
Hall of Fame. James was born Elmore Brooks in Richland, Mississippi,
50 miles north of Jackson (not to be confused with another Richland
just south of Jackson). He began playing as a teen, under the names
"Cleanhead" and "Joe Willie James", alongside
musicians such as the first Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, and
Robert Johnson. During World War II James joined the United States
Navy and was stationed in Guam. Upon his discharge Elmore returned to
central Mississippi and eventually settled in Canton. He began
recording with Trumpet Records in nearby Jackson in January 1951,
first as sideman to the second Sonny Boy Williamson and others, then
debuting as a session leader in August with what became his signature
song, "Dust My Broom". It was a surprise R&B hit in
1952 and turned James into a star. His "I Believe" was
another hit a year later. During the 1950s he recorded for the Bihari
Brothers' Flair and Modern labels, as well as for Chess Records. His
backing musicians were known as the Broomdusters. In 1959 he began
recording what are perhaps his best sides for Bobby Robinson's Fire
Records label. These include "The Sky Is Crying" (credited
to Elmo James and His Broomdusters), "Stranger Blues",
"Look On Yonder Wall", "Done Somebody Wrong", and
"Shake Your Moneymaker", all of which are among the most
famous of blues recordings. The slide guitar riff from "Dust My
Broom" is one of the best-known openings in all of blues. It is
essentially the same riff that appears in the recording of the same
song by Robert Johnson, but James plays that riff with electric slide
guitar. It was even transformed into a doo-wop chorus on Jesse
Stone's "Down in the Alley", recorded by The Clovers and
Elvis Presley. Stone transcribed the riff as: "Changety changety
changety changety chang chang!" (mn-rs)
1967
Heavy
D.,
hefty R&B rapper, from Jamaica; Mount Vernon, New York, USA,
real name is Dwight Myers, born today. (mn-ms)
1974
Edward
'Duke' Ellington,
dies. He was the greatest composer in the hisory of jazz, and one of
the genre's most accomplished bandleaders and pianists. Other bands
may have sold more but the Dukes pervasive musical influence and
amazing consistency made him easily one of the all-time greats. (hear
BHPAP 158) (mn-bmcd-tx)
2008
Jimmy
McGriff dies.
(b. James Harrell McGriff Jnr., 3rd April 1936, Germantown,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. ) d. 24th May 2008, Voorhees, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Jimmy McGriff has died. He was 72 and was suffering from multiple
sclerosis. Jimmy was a master of the Hammond B3 Organ and also played
bass, saxophone, drums, vibes and the piano. He played alongside
various artists in his career, including Charles Earland, Don
Gardner, Arthur Prysock, Junior Parker, Buddy Rich, David 'Fathead'
Newman and Carmen McRae. Jimmy learned the piano by the age of five
and as a teenager, he had learned to play vibes, alto sax, drums and
the bass. After joining the Army, he served as an MP during the
Korean War and he later became a police officer in Philadelphia for
two years. Later educated by Richard 'Groove' Holmes, they recorded
together on two occasions in 1973 for two Groove Merchant records.
Jimmy bought his first Hammond B-3 organ in 1956 and studied at New
York's Juilliard School of Music. He recorded a series of popular
albums for the Sue label between 1962 and 1965 and when producer
Sonny Lester started his Solid State record label in 1966, he
recruited Jimmy. Jimmy briefly retired from the music industry in
1972, and worked on his horse farm in Connecticut. (soulwalking.co.uk)
25th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 003: SONNI
ALI - 1492
1919
Madame
C.J. Walker,
first female African American millionaire, dies. Born in 1869 Sarah
Breadlove Walker invented a new way of straightening hair, up till
this point black women who wanted to de-kink their hair had to put it
on a table and press it with an iron. She laid the foundation of the
cosmetics industry among Negroes and spurned personal beautification
among black women. (mn-ra-tr-iokts)
1926
Miles
Davis,
jazz trumpeter, born into a
comparatively wealthy middle-class family and both his mother and
sister were capable musicians. He was given a trumpet for his
thirteenth birthday by his dentist father, who could not have
conceived that his gift would set his son on the road to becoming a
giant figure in the development of jazz. Notwithstanding his
outstanding talent as master of the trumpet, Davis' versatility
encompassed flgelhorn and keyboards together with a
considerable gift as a composer. This extraordinary list of talents
earned Davis an unassailable reputation as the greatest
leader/catalyst in the history of jazz. d. 28 September 1991, Santa
Monica, California, USA. (mn-jt)
1936
Jesse Owens broke five records at the Olympic Games held in Berlin,
Germany. Hitler was not amused! (mn-tx)
1936
Donnie
Elbert,
soul singer born in New Orleans, grew up in Buffalo, New York. His
prolific career began in the 50's with the Vibraharps. His first solo
hit was What Can I Do, released in 1959. but the singer's
career was interrupted by a spell in the US Army. Discharged in 1961,
recordings for Parkway Records and Checker then followed, before
Elbert the labels, Gateway/Upstate, co-founded by Robert Schachner in
1964. His reputation was secured by "Run Little Girl" and
"A Little Piece Of Leather", compulsive performances
highlighting Elbert's irrepressible falsetto. The latter single
became a standard in UK soul clubs when it was released on the Sue
label and on the strength of this popularity Elbert went to the UK
where he married and settled. The singer pursued his career with
several releases, including an album of Otis Redding cover versions,
Tribute To A King. Elbert returned to the USA in 1970 although his
pounding version of the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go?"
(1972) was recorded in London. A hit on both sides of the Atlantic,
it was followed in 1972 by "I Can't Help Myself", another
reworking of a Tamla/Motown Records classic. Elbert's last UK chart
entry came with a new, but inferior, version of "A Little Bit Of
Leather" (1972), although he continued to appear in the US
R&B listings up until 1977. Elbert later moved to Canada where he
became an A&R director with PolyGram Records. d. 31/1/87 (1973
interview in the M. Nold archives) (mn-jt)
1956
Sugar Mynott,
reggae singer born, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Minott was
probably reggae music's brightest hope throughout the early 80s, but
his refusal to compromise and turn his back on either his roots or
his ghetto companions has marginalized his influence, and he is now a
peripheral figure, as opposed to the major force that he arguably
deserves to be. (cl)
1963 African
Liberation Day.
On April 15, 1958, in the city of Accra, Ghana, African leaders and
political activists gathered at the first Conference of Independent
African States. It was attended by representatives of the governments
of Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, The
United Arab Republic (which was the federation of Egypt and Syria)
and representatives of the National Liberation Front of Algeria and
the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon. This conference was significant
in that it represented the first Pan-African Conference held on
African soil. The Conference called for the founding of African
Freedom Day, a day to “mark each year the onward progress of the
liberation movement, and to symbolize the determination of the People
of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and
exploitation.” Five years later after the First Conference of
Independent African States in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
another historical meeting occurred. On May 25, 1963, leaders of
thirty-two independent African States met to form the Organization of
African Unity (OAU). By then more than two thirds of the continent
had achieved independence from colonial rule. At this historic
meeting the date of Africa Freedom Day was changed from April 15 to
May 25 and Africa Freedom Day was declared African Liberation Day (ALD).
1965
Sonny
Boy Williamson
#2 aka Rice Miller and Willie Williamson, blues man dies, Helena,
Arkansas, USA. Born on the Sara Jones Plantation near Glendora,
Mississippi in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. The date and year of
his birth are a matter of some uncertainty. Miller claimed to have
been born on December 5, 1899, but at least one researcher, David
Evans, claims to have found census record evidence that he was born
around 1912. Miller lived and worked with his sharecropper
stepfather, Jim Miller, and mother, Millie Ford, until the early
1930s. Beginning in the 1930s, he traveled around Mississippi and
Arkansas and encountered Blind Lemon Jefferson, Big Joe Williams,
Elmore James and Robert Lockwood Jr., also known as Junior Lockwood,
who would play guitar on his later Chess Records sides. He was also
associated with Robert Johnson during this period. Williamson
developed his style and raffish stage persona during these years.
Willie Dixon recalled seeing Lockwood and Sonny Boy, with an
amplified harmonica, in Greenville, Mississippi in the 1930s. He
captivated audiences with tricks such as holding his harmonica
between his top lip and nose and playing with no hands. (mn-rs-wickpedia)
1981
Roy
Brown,
R&B singer/pianio player, dies, Los Angeles, Calif, USA. Roy
Brown (10 September 1925–25 May 1981) was a blues musician who
brought a soul singing style (from gospel music) to the emerging
genre of rock and roll. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Brown started
as a gospel singer, but after a move to Los Angeles, California some
time in the 1940s, and a brief period spent as a professional boxer
in the welterweight category, he won a singing contest in 1945
covering a song by Bing Crosby. In 1946 Brown moved to Galveston,
Texas, where he sang in a club. His numbers included "Good
Rocking Tonight". He returned to New Orleans in 1947. Brown
failed to interest Wynonie Harris in "Good Rocking Tonight",
but got an introduction to the president of Deluxe Records, who
signed him. The song reached no. 13 on Billboard's R&B charts
(but was eclipsed by Harris' cover of it). Brown and his band were
spectacular performers, with the kind of crowd-pleasing stage
histrionics for which Little Richard would soon be famous.
Unfortunately, tastes changed and Brown could not keep up. The
decline of his fortunes coincided with his successfully winning a
lawsuit against King Records for unpaid royalties in 1952, one of the
few African-American musicians to do so in the 1950s. This has led
some, such as author Nick Tosches (in his book Unsung Heroes of Rock
'n' Roll, which contains a chapter on Brown) to believe that Brown
may have been blacklisted. His popularity waned during the second
half of the 1950s, but he sporadically managed to find work through
the 1960s until the 1970s, when compilation LPs of his old work
brought about a minor revival of interest. From 1980 until his death
he enjoyed considerable popularity. Shortly before his death he was
on a major upswing, performing at the Whisky A Go-Go in West
Hollywood, California and headlining the New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival during the spring of 1981. (wickpedia)
1995
South Africa beat Australia 27-18 in the opening match of the rugby
cup. (held in South Africa) (mn-tx)
2006
Desmond
Dekker
dies at home in Surrey U.K. from a sudden heart attack. He was the
first reggae artist to chart a hit in the UK in 1969 with
'Isrealites'. He was born Desmond Adolphus Dacres in Kingston and was
orphaned as a teenager. Dekker began working as a welder, singing
around his workplace while his co-workers encouraged him. In 1961 he
auditioned for Coxsone Dodd (Studio One) and Duke Reid (Treasure
Isle). Neither were impressed by his talents and the young man moved
on to Leslie Kong's Beverley record label where he auditioned before
Derrick Morgan, then the label's biggest star. (mn-wickpedia)
26th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 004: ASKIA
THE GREAT 1444?-1538
1799
Alexander
S. Pushkin,
Russia's greatest poet, born. He was the grandson of Abram Hannibal
(BHPAP 004), the transplanted African who achieved greatness in the
armies of the Czars. Pushkins's poetry is still widely read in Russia
and, despite the passing years, holds front rank in the land of
Tolstoy and Dostoevski. (hear BHPAP 125) (mn-ra)
1939
Oscar
Toney, Jnr.,
soul singer born, in Selma, Alabama, USA. He recorded some soulful
sides for Bell Records in the late '60s that will forever etch him
into soul music lovers' memories. The emotive singer born May 26,
1939, in Selma, AL, was raised in Columbus, GA. He sung gospel in
church and high school with a group he called the Sensational
Melodies of Joy. After high school he ventured into secular music
with the Searchers waxing "Wow Wow Baby" b/w
"Ooo-Wee" on Class Records in 1958. They kept searching
doing local and regional gigs and in 1961 cut a final recording,
"Yvonne" b/w "Little Wanda," on Max Records. Like
the first, the public and radio stations ignored it and the Searchers
disbanded. Three years later Toney soloed with "Can It All Be
Love," produced by Bobby Smith in Macon, GA, but released on
Cincinnati's King Records; it too went unnoticed. (mn-cl)
1948
Lloyd
Parks,
reggae artist born, Walton Gardends, Jamaica, West Indies. A
renowned singer and bass player. (mn-cl)
1958
'Baby
Face' Leroy,
drummer/guitarist/singer, dies, Chicago. (mn-rc)
1977
Billy
Powell,
founder/singer with The O'Jays dies. They sang together as a gospel
group before forming the Triumphs in 1958. This doo-wop influenced
quintet began to be popular in their hometown of Canton, Ohio. They
then recorded as the Mascots before taking the name O'Jays after a
Cleveland DJ, Eddie O'Jay, had given them considerable help and
advise. Having signed with Imperial in 1960 their first hit was
Lonely Drifter. (mn-cl-jt) (other TXT says 24/4/76)
27th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 005:
ABRAM HANNIBAL 1697-1782
1885
Lulu
Fleming,
born into slavery, graduates as valedictorian from Shaw University,
USA. (tr-iokts)
1935
Ramsey
Lewis,
piano player born in Chicago began studying the keyboards at the age
of six. After an impressive childhood and adolescence, during
which his prodigious talent won his scholarships and plaudits galore,
he formed the Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1956. Working as a piano/bass/drums
unit, the threesome spent a decade building their reputation in the
field of jazz. First hit record was The In Crowd in 1965. (some books
say 27/3/35) (mn-jt)
1936
Louis
Gossett Jr,
actor and winner of both Oscar and Emmy Awards is born in Brooklyn,
USA. He was born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn and attended
Abraham Lincoln High School, where he was class president and an
academic and athletic achiever. A sports injury left him with no
choice but to take an acting class, and at 16 he made his stage debut
in the school's production of You Can't Take It With You. After high
school, he attended New York University, where he was a star
basketball player. (wickpedia)
1942
Dorie Miller, a messman, awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic deeds
at Pearl Harbour. Born in Waco, Texas, he enlisted in the Navy in
1939, and was made a mess attendant at a time when African Americans
were not able to serve in combat capacities aboard ships. He
gradually rose through the ranks to the level of Cook, Third Class.
Originally assigned to USS Pyro, in January 1940 he transferred to
USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became the ship's heavyweight
boxing champ. He served briefly on Nevada (BB-36) (July 1940), then
was back on the West Virginia, and there in December 1941, at the
time of the Japanese attack. (wickpedia)
1949
James
Mitchell,
singer with The Detroit Emeralds born. (mn-jt) The group
was formed in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, by the Tilmon brothers;
Abrim, Ivory, Cleophus and Raymond. The Emerald’s first hit came
in 1968 when Show Time reached the US R&B Top 30. By the time Do
Me Right (1971) reached the Soul Top 10, the line up had been reduced
to a trio of Abrim, Ivory and mutual friend James Mitchell who was
born in Perry, Florida. (mn-cl)
1998
Ragga FM becomes London's first legal regga radio station,
broadcasting to the world via the Internet (a computer/phone network)
for a trial period of one month on www.tnab.com. (mn-echos)
2001
Doctah X. from London's pirate radio station, Genesis
FM is Pilot's guest on an extended talk-back
show. He tries to convince listeners of the non-existence of a god
and that religion is the root of all 'black' problems today. (mn)
2011
Gil
Scott Heron,
poet singer dies in New York. He rejected the media portrayal of him
as the ‘godfather of rap’, it’s perhaps easy to see
why. Scott-Heron is best known for his groundbreaking spoken word
piece The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a three-minute call to
action for the disenfranchised black youth of 1970s America.
Saturated with contemporary political and pop cultural references and
shot through with an acerbic wit, it sets out to wrench its audience
from the cultural opiates of mass media news, sitcoms and, above all,
advertising: ‘You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl The
revolution will not go better with Coke, The revolution will not
fight the germs that may cause bad breath, The revolution will put
you in the driver’s seat.’ (mn)
28th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 006: CHAKA
1787-1828
Miss
P.,
X-PCRL presenter's birthday. (mn-dp)
1851
Sojourner Truth, freedom fighter, attends Women's Rights Convention.
1910
T-Bone
Walker,
blues-man, born Aaron Thibeaux Walker. A teenage friend was
Charlie Christian. Walker had a great influence in the blues as
Christian had in Jazz. He was responsible for a generation taking up
the guitar. After his win in a Cab Callaway amateur contest in 1930
he toured heavily and worked hard the rest of his life. He wrote the
popular song Stormy Monday. (d. 16/3/75 rs) (mn-dc-jt)
1938
Prince
Buster,
reggae singer born Buster Campbell. He was named after Alexandra
Bustamante. Began his career as a boxer, ended up being Coxone's
minder on the Downbeat system. He later had his own record shop,
sound system and record labels. Responsible for 'Oh Carolina', with
vocals by the Folk's Brothers. He's released 100's of records but his
talking style ones were the most popular. (some books say 24 May) (mn-jt)
1939
Freddie
North,
soul singer born in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Nashville vocalist
Freddie North was a prolific disc jockey on WLAC during the years
that it was a premier R&B radio station. North also worked in
sales and promotion for Nashboro Records, a prominent gospel label.
He moved into the performing end in 1971, cutting some singles for
Mankind. "She's All I Got" was a Top 10 hit in 1971, while
the follow-up, "You And Me Together Forever," made it to
#26. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide (mn-cl)
1940
Dr. Betty Shabazz,
Malcolm X's wife, born. First known as the widow of Malcolm X, who
was assassinated in 1965, Shabazz is herself an activist in social
and heath issues affecting African-Americans. After earning her
nursing degree, she went on to recieve an M.A. in public health
administration. On 1/6/97 Malcolm, 12-year-old grandson of the late
Malcolm X is charged with juvenile equivalent to attempted murder
and arson. Betty Shabazz, 63, she had died from burns sustained
in the fire. (mn-ss)
1944
Gladys Knight,
soul singer born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Her group Pips were
formed in 1952, first recorded on Brunswick in 1958, later Vee Jay,
Maxx, Huntom, Fury, Motown, Buddah and CBS. Biggest U.K. hit was The
Way We Were/Try To Remember reached N0.4 and in chart for 15 weeks in
1975. (mn)
1961
Drama
'61 (The Big Pride)
- Transmitted by ITV television. One of the first plays written for
television by black dramatist Syvia Wynter. In 1997 a copy of this
play was restored by the National Television and Film Archive and
shown as part of the National Film Theatre's 'Popular Television in
the 1960s' season tx 17/6/97. (mn-sb)
1968
Chubb
Rock,
rapper born Richard Simpson, Jamaica, WI. The cousin of Hitman Howie
Tee, with whom he collaborated at the beginning of his career,
Simpson moved to New York at an early age. A rap colossus, his ample
frame and smooth style has seen him compared with Barry White. He
started his own band in New York, but after dropping out of medical
college elected to set out on a solo career. The first results of
this were a debut album that sank without trace. A remixed version of
"Caught Up" secured the public's interest, however, and
introduced them to And The Winner Is ..., on which humour and
reflections on urban violence sat side by side. By the dawn of the
90s interest in Rock had escalated to the point at which he was
achieving regular Billboard hits with singles such as "Treat 'Em
Right", "Ya Bad Chubbs" and "Just The Two Of
Us", but he fell from commercial grace following the release of
The One. Rock remained quiet for several years, although in the
interim his production team the Trackmasterz rose to prominence in
hip-hop circles. The Mind was his 1997 comeback, but despite the
rapper gaining critical respect for his endearing lyrical style the
album's sound was too old school to make much of an impact. (mn-jf-music.us)
1981
Mary
Lou Williams,
Jazz pianist dies in Durham, N.C., USA. Born Mary Elfreda Scruggs,
May 8, 1910. A child prodigy, Mary played in public from the age of
six, by her teens she was playing the piano professionally. At 16 she
married sax player John Williams and played in his band. Her
arrangements were used by Earl Fatha Hines, Tommy Dorsey, Louis
Armstrong and Benny Goodman. Her importance to jazz was recognised
towards the end of her life when she was honoured in several
universities. ( tr-iokts)
1983
Schoolkids Top UK Chart.
New Edition, a teenage vocal quintet from Boston, Massachusetts,
reached No.1 in Britain with 'Candy Girl'. The group had been groomed
by Maurice Starr to fill the gap left by The Jackson Five. Later
group members Bobby Brown (who married Whitney Houston in 1991) and
Ralf Tresvant went on to solo success. (mn-jt)
2000
African professor Dr. Charles Ssali talks on PCRL about his AIDS
cure. In Uganda alone he has treated 18,000 AIDS sufferers with an
80% success rate. His Mariandina capsules are non-toxic natural,
herbal nutritional booster, popular now in various countries. (North
London Enterprises London N17 8WJ Tel: 020 8808 1464) (mn)
29th.
MAY
Islamic
New Year
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 007: GUSTAVUS
VASSA 1745-1801
1854
Lydia Flood Jackson, civil rights activist, initiates the first
school for black children in Sacramento, Ca.
1899
Black
Invention:
Lawn Mower, John Albert Burr. (sc)
1943
Sylvia
Robinson singer/songwriter/producer/arranger
born in New Jersey, USA. As half of Micky & Sylvia she had a
Million Seller in the 50's with 'Love Is Strange'. She's co-founder
of All-Platinum Records and founder of the Sugarhill Label, that put
out 'Rappers Delight' by Sugarhill Gang in '78, the first rap hit!. (mn-rt)
1956
Latoya
Jackson,
Jacko's sister born in Gary, Indiana, USA. As a member of the
singing Jackson family, LaToya served her apprenticeship as a backing
vocalist to the Jacksons group along with her sisters, Rebbie and
Janet Jackson. LaToya embarked on a solo career in 1980, signing to
the Polydor Records label. Despite the family connection, LaToya's
solo career found difficulty in emulating the success of her younger
sister Janet; her highest single chart position was with the US
number 56, "Heart Don't Lie" (1984) on her new label,
Private I/Epic. A later label change to RCA Records did not alter her
fortunes. She later exacerbated family relations with a nude spread
in Playboy magazine, a somewhat scurrilous autobiography in 1991, and
by refusing to sanction the 1992 ABC mini-series The Jacksons: An
American Dream. Driven on by her manager/husband Jack Gordon, her
sporadic recording career nevertheless failed to cash in on the
attention. A multi-million dollar contract to appear at the Moulin
Rouge in Paris ended acrimoniously after only four months in summer
1992. Much more successful was the release of her Playboy video two
years later. Further misguided career choices included a
Nashville-recorded country album and a selection of Motown covers
recorded in Scandinavia. Jackson divorced Jack Gordon in 1997 and
began patching up relations with her estranged family. She settled
down in Las Vegas to begin a new career. (mn-cl-music.us)
1956
Larry
Blackmon,
singer with Cameo is born in New York. In addition to fronting Cameo
as lead singer, song-writer and producer, he also formed Atlanta
Artist Records in the early 80's and worked with artists including
Cashflow & Barbara Mitchell. (mn-jt)
1973
Tom Bradley becomes the first African American mayor of Los Angeles,
California, USA. (tr-iokts)
1975
Melanie Brown
(aka Scary Spice) born in Leeds, England. (nationmaster)
1997 Cops
Stop Driver 34 Times.
Read the headline in the national Daily Star newspaper. Yes it's
about our Cee Jay - he's now suing West Midlands Police for pointless
'stop and searches'
1998
Orando Anderson, the man initially named by Californian police as
the killer of rapper Tupac Shakur, was himself killed in a gang
related shoot-out.
2005
Oscar Brown, Jr.
dies. The multi-talented Oscar Brown, Jr. wrote several classic
pieces, including the lyrics to "Dat Dere," "Work
Song," "Watermelon Man," and "The
Entertainer" (the latter a bittersweet biography of Scott
Joplin); and the compositions "Signifyin' Monkey" and
"But I Was Cool." An important social commentator and
playwright. (billboard)
2009
US music producer Phil Spector has been jailed for at least 19
years for murdering an actress in 2003. The producer, 69, famed for
his Wall of Sound recording technique, was last month found guilty of
shooting Lana Clarkson at his California home. Spector had pleaded
not guilty to the second-degree murder during the five-month retrial
in Los Angeles. His lawyers said he would appeal. Ms Clarkson was
best known for her role in 1985 cult film Barbarian Queen. On
Friday, Spector was given a sentence of 15 years to life for
second-degree murder and an additional four years for personal use of
a gun. The presiding judge at the court in Los Angeles said
Spector must serve at least 19 years before being eligible for parole
- by which time he will be 88 years old. Spector was given a retrial
after the jury in his original trial failed to reach a unanimous
decision in 2007. (bbc)
30th.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 008: JACQUES
ELIZA JEAN CAPTEIN
1899
Black
Invention:
Automatic Fishing Device, George Cook. (sc)
1903
Poet Countee Cullen
is born in New York City, USA. (1903-1946)
What
is Africa to me:
Copper
sun or scarlet sea,
Jungle
star or jungle track,
Strong
bronzed men or regal black
Women
from whose loins I sprang
When
the birds of Eden sang?
(Pub: New York, Harper & Bros, 1929)
His
poem on lynching, The Black Christ, is an example of the
classic style applied to a racial theme, might be noted in
concluding lines of Black Majesty, a poem about the Haitian
revolutionists, Henri Christophe, Desalinises, and Toussaint L'
Overture. (hear BHPAP 130)
1955
Dooley
Wilson,
pianist in the film Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart. Play it
again Sam dies. (mn-jt)
1965
Vivian Malone is the first African American to graduate from the
University of Alabama, USA. (tr-iokts)
31st.
MAY
BLACK
HEROES PAST & PRESENT 009: JOSEPH
CINQUE 1811-1879
1931
Shirley
Verett,
soprano best known for her role in Carmen, is born.(tr-iokts)
1939
Charles
Miller,
sax player with War is born on Olathe, Kansas. The groups first
album was All Day Music in 1972. (mn-j
1955
U.S. Supreme Court orders school integration "with all
deliberate speed".
1965
Lisa
I'anson
(presenter/dj) born. A British DJ and presenter. She presented her
own radio show on BBC Radio 1 from 1994 until 1998, when she was
sacked for clubbing in Ibiza, and subsequently not turning up for her
radio show which was being broadcast from the island. She has also
done television presenting and narrating on programmes such as the
BBC's Top of the Pops and ITV's Club Reps. Until 2003 she
presented a radio show on BBC London 94.9. In 2005, she took part in
the third series of Celebrity Big Brother, she was the third person
to be evicted when she left in a surprise eviction on Wednesday 19
January. She has since become the voiceover on the revived Family
Fortunes, hosted by Vernon Kay. (nationmaster)
19__
[Kid
Frost,
hard core Latin rapper from L.A.; Panama; Guam; Costa Rica; Equidor;
Bolivia, born today.
1977
June
Sapong (uk
presenter) born. (nationmaster)
1983
Reggie
Yates
(uk actor/presenter) born at Archway, London. (nationmaster)
2000
Johnny Taylor,
soul singer dies of a heart attack. Born May 5, 1938, was one of the
great soul stylists of them all. His unique sense of phrasing and
sence of vocal rhythm, built into a gospal tenor that could surge
from Sam Cook-like smoothness to a scratchy bluesy growl in a flash,
set him apart from his pears. (mn-cw-echoes)
2006
Lula
Mae Hardaway
dies. b.11th January 1930, Eufaula, Alabama, U.S.A. d. Los Angeles,
California, U.S.A. Lula Mae Hardaway, mother of singer Stevie Wonder,
has died. She was 76. Stevie Wonder's publicist Shelley Selover
related to the media. She did not know the cause of death. Lula is
credited as a co-writer on several of Stevie Wonder's songs,
including the hits 'I Was Made to Love Her' and 'Signed, Sealed,
Delivered I'm Yours'. His mother negotiated his first contract. The
family moved to Los Angeles in 1975. Lula was born on the 11th of
January 1930, to a sharecropper in Eufaula, Alabama. Her life was
marked by poverty and abuse, according to interviews she gave for a
2002 biography, 'Blind Faith'. On 13th May 1951, Lula Mae Hardaway
gave birth to Steveland Morris in Saginaw, Michigan. Placed on an
incubator immediately after his birth, he was reported to have been
given too much oxygen, causing Stevie to suffer permanent blindness.
This wan't the case, however. Stevie was suffering from a condition
called Retinopathy of Prematurity (R.O.P.). Consequently, Stevie's
mother was too afraid to let him out of the house. Pretty much
housebound, he spent much of his time learning instruments, thus, by
the age of seven, Stevie had mastered the piano, and by nine the
drums and harmonica. (soulwalking)