* Today in Black History - May 18 *
1652 - Rhode Island enacts the first colonial law limiting slavery. This
law, passed by the General Court of Election, regulates Black
servitude and places Blacks on the same level as white
bondservants. This means they were free after completing their
term of service of ten years.
1848 - William Leidesdorff joins the ancestors in San Francisco,
California. The first man to open a commercial steamship service
on San Francisco Bay, Leidesdorff developed a successful business
empire, including a hotel, warehouse, and other real-estate
developments. Active politically, he served on San Francisco's
first town council and became city treasurer. A street in the
city will be named in his honor.
1877 - Dantes Bellegarde is born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He will
become Haiti's most well known diplomat in the twentieth century.
He will enter government service in 1904 and will serve under
many administrations until he retires in 1957 at the age of 81.
W.E.B DuBois, in 1926, will refer to Bellegarde as the
"international spokesman of the Negroes of the world." He will
join the ancestors in 1966.
1880 - George Lewis wins the sixth running of the Kentucky Derby astride
Fonso. He is one of ten African Americans to win the Kentucky
Derby in the years between 1877 and 1902.
1896 - In Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Louisiana's
"separate but equal" segregation laws. The ruling is a major
setback for integration and marks the beginning of Jim Crow laws,
changing a largely "de facto" system of segregation into a
legally defined system in the South. It will be overturned 58
years later in the case of "Brown v. Board of Education."
1911 - "Big" Joe Turner is born in Kansas City, Missouri. He will become
one of the best blues shouters and a critical link between Rhythm
and Blues and Rock & Roll. In 1951 Turner will sign a recording
contract with Atlantic Records and cut a string of Rhythm & Blues
classics that will lead the way straight into Rock & Roll. His
most famous hit, "Shake, Rattle and Roll" will be released in
1954, and make it to number 1 and will be covered shortly
thereafter by Bill Haley and the Comets. But before "Shake" ,
will come the million-selling "Chains of Love," which will reach
number 2 on the Rhythm & Blues charts and number 30 on the pop
side, plus "Chill Is On," "Sweet Sixteen," "Don't You Cry," "TV
Mama," and the number 1 smash, "Honey Hush." Turner's chart
success will continue after "Shake" with "Well All Right," "Flip
Flop and Fly," "Hide and Seek," "The Chicken and the Hawk,"
"Morning, Noon, and Night," "Corrina Corrina," and "Lipstick
Powder and Paint." Turner will nearly dominate the Rhythm &
Blues charts from 1951 to 1956. He will join the ancestors in
1985.
1912 - Walter Sisulu is born in the Engcobo district, Transkei, South
Africa. He will become a major player in the fight against
apartheid in South Africa and will become deputy president of the
African National Congress. He will be a mentor to Nelson Mandela
and Oliver Tambo and will be imprisoned with Mandela on Robben
Island for many years. While in prison, Sisulu will write the
history of the African National Congress. Even though he was
given a life sentence when imprisoned, he will be released in
1989 as South Africa began to dismantle the system of apartheid.
He will be elected ANC deputy president in 1991 and will resign
from the post in 1994 at the age of 82. He will join the
ancestors on May 5, 2003 at the age of 90.
1919 - Coleman Alexander Young is born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He will
fight as a bombardier-navigator with the Tuskegee Airmen during
World War II and will settle in Detroit and work as an auto
worker after the war. In 1948, he will become the first African
American elected to the Wayne County Council of the AFL-CIO. He
will found the National Negro Labor Council in 1951. Walter
Reuther and other white leaders of the labor movement will refer
to the NNLC as a tool of the Soviet Union and cause Young to be
called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American
Activities in 1952. He will reach the pinnacle of his political
career when, as a state senator, he is elected the first African
American mayor of the city of Detroit, Michigan in 1973. He will
revitalize Detroit, integrate the police and fire departments,
and will significantly increase the number of city contracts with
minority businesses. He will be elected mayor for an
unprecedented five terms. He will step down as mayor in 1993 at
the age of 75. He will join the ancestors in 1997.
1946 - Reginald Martinez Jackson is born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. He
will be better known as Reggie Jackson, star baseball player for
the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees. He will set or tie
seven World Series records and will be known as "Mr. October." He
will retire from baseball in 1987 and will be elected to
Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1993.
1955 - Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and founder of the National Council
of Negro Women and Bethune-Cookman College, joins the ancestors
in Daytona Beach, Florida at the age of 79.
1960 - Yannick Noah is born in Sedan, France. He will become a
professional tennis player. Arthur Ashe will spot his talents
while on a three-week, goodwill tour of Africa in 1971, and
arrange for Noah to be sent back to France to further develop his
game. Noah will go on to win the French Open in 1983, a Grand
Slam event. During his career, he will win 23 singles titles and
be runner up at 13 others.
1971 - President Nixon rejects the sixty demands of the Congressional
Black Caucus, saying his administration would continue to support
"jobs, income and tangible benefits, the pledges that this
society has made to the disadvantaged in the past decade." The
caucus expressed deep disappointment with the reply and said the
Nixon administration "lacked a sense of understanding, urgency
and commitment in dealing with the critical problems facing Black
Americans."
1986 - John William "Bubbles" Sublett joins the ancestors in New York
City at the age of 84. He had been half of the piano and tap
dance team, "Buck and Bubbles" from 1912 to 1955. He was known as
"father of rhythm tap," and developed a tap style called "jazz
tap." He will continue to perform (after the death of Ford "Buck"
Washington in 1955) until 1980, when he appeared in the revue
"Black Broadway."
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