* 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 Du Bois, 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 - Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner, Jr. 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 copied 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 continue to
perform through the 1980's. He will join the ancestors
on November 24, 1985 succumbing to a heart attack having
suffered earlier effects of a stroke and diabetes. He will
be posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1987.
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.
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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