*                Today in Black History - December 26                 *

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* The Nguzo Saba - The seven principles of Kwanzaa - Principle for    *
* Day #1 - Umoja (oo-MOE-jah) Unity: To strive for and maintain unity *
* in the family, community, nation and race.                          *
* http://www.ulbobo.com/kwanzaa                                       *
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1848 - William & Ellen Craft escape from slavery in Georgia.  Mrs. Craft
        impersonates a slave holder and her husband, William, assumes
        the role of her servant, in one of the most dramatic of the slave
        escapes.

1849 - David Ruggles dies in Northampton, Massachusetts.  Often called
        the first African American bookseller (for his bookstore
        established in 1834), Ruggles was an early abolitionist, speaker,
        and writer as well as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad.
        He published the first African American magazine, the "Mirror
        of Liberty in August of 1838.  He was a noted hydropathist,
        erecting the first building constructed for hydropathic treatments
        in the United States and was known as the "water cure doctor."

1894 - Jean Toomer is born in Washington, DC.  The grandson of P.B.S.
        Pinchback, Toomer will become the author of the influential
        "Cane."

1908 - Jack Johnson wins the heavyweight title in Australia, defeating
        Tommy Burns.  After avoiding fighting Johnson for over a year,
        Burns will say of his loss, "Race prejudice was rampant in my
        mind.  The idea of a black man challenging me was beyond
        enduring.  Hatred made me tense."

1924 - DeFord Bailey, Sr., a harmonica player, becomes the first
        African American to perform on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville,
        Tennessee.

1931 - Lonnie Elder is born in Americus, Georgia.  He will be known as
        an author, playwright ("Ceremonies in Dark Old Men"), and
        screenwriter ("Sounder," "A Woman Called Moses").

1956 - African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama begin mass defiance of
        Jim Crow bus laws.

1966 - Kwanzaa, originated by Dr. Maulana Karenga, is first celebrated
        by a small number of African American families in Los Angeles,
        California, to "restore and reaffirm our African heritage and
        culture."  Kwanzaa, a Kiswahili word meaning first or first
        fruit, will celebrate over the next seven days the Nguzo Saba,
        or seven principles, of Umoja(Unity), Kujichagulia(self-
        determination), Ujima(Collective Work and Responsibility),
        Ujamaa(Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba(Creativity),
        and Imani(Faith).

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