* Today in Black History - August 24 *
1854 - John VanSurley deGrasse, M.D., who received his medical degree
from Bowdoin College in 1849, becomes a member of the
Massachusetts Medical Society, a first for an African American.
1854 - National Emigration Convention meets in Cleveland with one
hundred delegates. William C. Munroe of Michigan is elected
president.
1937 - Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola is born in Abeokuta, Nigeria.
He will a member of a very poor household of Yoruba-speaking
Muslims. He will attend the Islamic Nawar Ud-Deen School and
the Christian-run African Central School. After graduating
from the Baptist Boys' High School, he will work as a bank
clerk and a civil servant. He will go on to win a scholarship
to Glasgow University to study accounting. He will graduate
with several awards in 1965. He will return to Nigeria and
will work for major firms before launching his own company,
Radio Communications of Nigeria, in 1974. He will accumulate
great wealth in a short period of time. His business interests
will span 60 countries and include firms engaged in banking,
shipping, oil prospecting, agriculture, publishing, air
transportation, and entertainment. His Nigerian companies
alone will employ close to 20,000 workers. He will oppose
the Nigerian military dictatorship and on June 12, 1993, will
be elected president in a long awaited presidential election,
only to have the election results nullified by the country's
military leader. When Abiola announces a year later that he
is the country's legitimate leader, he will be imprisoned by
the current dictator, General Sani Abacha. After Abacha joins
the ancestors suddenly in 1998, attempts were made to free
Abiola, but he will also join the ancestors on July 7, 1998,
before his freedom becomes a reality. His death will cause
violence to occur and spur anti-government anger throughout
the country.
1965 - Reggie Miller is born. He will become a professional basketball
player and guard for the Indiana Pacers. He will play on the
'Dream Team' in the 1996 Olympics.
1967 - Amanda Randolph joins the ancestors at the age of 65. She had
been an actress and was best known for her roles on the Danny
Thomas Show and television's Amos 'n' Andy (Mama).
1987 - Bayard Rustin, longtime civil rights activist, early Freedom
Rider, and a key organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, joins
the ancestors in New York City. A Quaker, Rustin was best known
as a civil rights advocate, first as one of the founders of the
Congress for Racial Equality (CORE), then as a key advisor to a
young Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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