*                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.endarkenment.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 joins the ancestors 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"). He will become

            the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award

            (Sounder - 1972). He will join the ancestors in 1996.

 

1937 - La Julia Rhea becomes the first African American to sing with the

            Chicago Civic Opera Company during the regular season.  She 

            opens in the title role of Verdi's "Aida."

 

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).

 

1999 - Prolific singer, songwriter & producer Curtis Mayfield joins

            the ancestors at the age of 57 in North Fulton Regional Hospital


            near Atlanta, Georgia.  Mayfield introduced social 

            conscienceness into African American music and continued to 

            record for a decade after an accident left him paralyzed.  His 

            many hits included "People Get Ready," "I'm So Proud," and "Keep

            On Pushing." His soundtrack for the 1972 movie "Superfly" sold 

            over 4 million copies and produced two classic hit singles, the 

            title track and "Freddie's Dead." In addition to his wife, he 

            leaves behind his mother, 10 children, a brother, two sisters 

            and seven grandchildren to celebrate his life.


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