*               Today in Black History - May 30         *

1822 - Denmark Vesey's conspiracy to free the slaves of Charleston,
        South Carolina, and surrounding areas is thwarted when a
        house slave betrays the plot to whites.  Vesey's bold plan had
        attracted over 9,000 slaves and freemen of the area including
        Peter Poyas, a ship's carpenter, Gullah Jack, Blind Phillip,
        Ned Bennett and Mingo Harth.  Later it will be considered one
        of the most complex and elaborate slave liberation plans ever
        undertaken.

1854 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act repeals the Missouri Compromise and
        opens the Northern territory to slavery.

1902 - Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry is born in Key West,
        Florida.  He will become the first real African American film
        star known as "Stepin Fetchit."  Many sources will cite 1892,
        1896, or 1898 as his birth date, but he will maintain his
        birth date as 1902.  He will star in many films, among which
        are "Amazing Grace," "The Sun Shines Bright," "Miracle in
        Harlem," and "Judge Priest."  His humbling, ingratiating style
        of acting will appeal to the movie-going public of his day,
        but unfortunately becomes a stereotype for African American
        actors in the early years of cinema.

1903 - Countee Cullen is born in Louisville, Kentucky.  Many sources
        will state that his birthplace is New York City, but Cullen
        will be reared in New York City by his paternal grandmother
        until 1918, when he is adopted by the Reverend Frederick
        Asbury Cullen, minister of Salem M.E. Church, one of the
        largest congregations in Harlem.  This will be a turning point
        in his life, for he will be introduced into the very center
        of black activism and achievement.  He will win a citywide
        poetry contest as a schoolboy and see his winning stanzas
        widely reprinted.  He will attend New York University (B.A.,
        1925), win the Witter Bynner Poetry Prize, and be elected
        to Phi Beta Kappa.  Major American literary magazines will
        accept his poems regularly, and his first collection of poems,
        "Color" (1925), will be published to critical acclaim before
        he finishes college.  His several volumes of poetry will
        include "Copper Sun" (1927); "The Black Christ" (1929); and
        "On These I Stand" (published posthumously, 1947), his
        selection of poems by which he wished to be remembered.
        Cullen will also write a novel dealing with life in Harlem,
        "One Way to Heaven" (1931), and a children's book, "The Lost
        Zoo" (1940).

1943 - Gale Sayers is born in Wichita, Kansas.  He will become an
        outstanding running back and a first-round draft pick of the
        Chicago Bears in 1965.  He will set the individual game record
        for touchdowns scored (six).  He will be elected to the
        Football Hall of Fame in 1977, the youngest player ever to
        receive the honor.

1949 - Lydell Mitchell is born.  He will become a football player and
        All-American running back at Pennsylvania State University in
        1971.  He will also win the Heisman Trophy in 1971.  He will
        go on to play for the Baltimore Colts from 1972 to 1977.
        While at Baltimore, he will set the Colts' record for rushing
        attempts (1391) and rushing yards (5487).

1956 - Bus boycott begins in Tallahassee, Florida.

1965 - Vivian Malone becomes the first African American to graduate
        from the University of Alabama, a college that had been one
        of the last bastions of racial segregation in the South.

1971 - Willie Mays scores his 1,950th run.

        *********************************************************
        The source for these facts are "Encyclopedia Britannica,
        "InfoBeat," "I, Too, Sing America - The African American
        Book of Days," "Before the Mayflower", "Black Firsts" and
        independent research by the Information Man.
        *********************************************************

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