*		Today in Black History - May 19			*

1881 - Blanche Kelso Bruce is appointed Register of the Treasury by 
	President Garfield.

1925 - Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X and El Hajj Malik 
	El-Shabazz, is born in Omaha, Nebraska.  In prison, he is 
	introduced to the Nation of Islam and begins studies that will 
	lead him to become one of the most militant and electrifying 
	Black leaders of the 1950s and 1960s.  On many occasions, he 
	would indicate that he was not for civil rights, but human 
	rights. When asked about the Nation of Islam undermining the 
	efforts of integrationists by preaching racial separation, 
	Malcolm's response was "It is not integration in America that 
	Negroes want, it is human dignity." Malcolm X regularly 
	criticized civil rights leaders for advocating the integration 
	of African Americans into white society. He believed that African 
	Americans should be building Black institutions and businesses 
	and defending themselves against racist violence based opposition 
	from both conservative and liberals. Until he joined the 
	ancestors, Malcolm X was a staunch believer in Black Nationalism, 
	Black Self-determination and Black Self-organization. He will 
	begin to lobby with the newly independent African nations to 
	protest in the United Nations about the American abuse of their 
	Black citizens human rights, when he was assassinated in 1965. His
	story will be immortalized in the book "Autobiography of Malcolm 
	X," ghostwritten by Alex Haley.

1930 - Lorraine Hansberry is born in Chicago, Illinois. She will become a 
	noted playwright and will be best known for her play, "A Raisin in 
	the Sun." On March 11, 1959, when it opened at the Ethel Barrymore 
	Theater, it will become the first Broadway play written by an 
	African American woman.  Her other works will include "The Sign in 
	Sidney Brustein's Window," "To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine
	Hansberry in Her Own Words," "Les Blancs," and "The Movement: 
	Documentary of a Struggle for Equality." She will join the ancestors
	on January 12, 1965.

1952 - Grace Mendoza is born in Spanishtown, Jamaica. She will move with her 
	family to Syracuse, New York at the age of 12. She will become a
	performance artist known as Grace Jones and a transatlantic model 
	for the Ford and Wilhemina agencies. She will later write music and 
	perform as a singer. Her releases will extend from 1977 through 
	1998. She also will succeed as a movie star appearing in the movies 
	"A View to a Kill," "Conan the Destroyer," and "Deadly Vengeance." 
	
1965 - Patricia Harris is named U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg.  She is the 
	first African American woman to become an ambassador for the U.S.

1968 - Piano stylist and vocalist, Bobby Short, gains national attention as 
	he presents a concert with Mabel Mercer at New York's Town Hall. 
             He has been the featured artist at the intimate Hotel Carlisle for 
	years. 

1969 - Coleman Randolph Hawkins joins the ancestors in New York City at the
	age of 65. He was responsible for the coming of age of the tenor
	saxophone in jazz ensembles and called the "father of the tenor 
	saxophone." 

1973 - Stevie Wonder moves to the number one position on the "Billboard" 
	pop music chart with "You Are the Sunshine of My Life".  It is the 
	third number one song for Wonder, following earlier successes with 
	"Fingertips, Part 2" in 1963 and "Superstition" in 1973.  He will 
	have seven more number one hits between 1973 and 1987: "You 
             Haven't Done Nothin'", "I Wish", "Sir Duke", "Ebony & Ivory" (with 
             Paul McCartney), "I Just Called to Say I Love You", "Part-Time 
             Lover" and "That's What Friends are for". 

1991 - Willy T. Ribbs becomes the first African American driver to qualify 
	for the Indianapolis 500.  During the race, which occurs the 
	following week, Ribbs will be forced to drop out due to engine 
	failure.

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