* Today in Black History - July 2 *
1777 - Vermont, not one of the original 13 states, becomes the
first U.S. territory to abolish slavery.
1822 - Denmark Vesey, slave freedom fighter, and 5 aides are
hanged in Blake's Landing, Charleston, South Carolina.
1908 - Thurgood Marshall is born in Baltimore, Maryland. He
will have the most distinguished legal career of any
African American as the NAACP's national counsel,
director-counsel of the organization's Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, and leader of some of the most
important legal challenges for African Americans'
constitutional rights, including "Brown v. Board of
Education" in 1954. In addition to sitting as a circuit
judge for the Second Circuit, Marshall will be named
U.S. Solicitor General in 1965 and associate justice of
the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967, where he will serve for
24 years.
1925 - Patrice Lumumba, revolutionary and first prime minister
of the Republic of the Congo, is born in Stanleyville,
Belgian Congo.
1927 - George Fisher is born in New York City of African and West
Indian parentage. He will become an actor and will be
known as Brock Peters. He will set his sights on a show
business career as early as age ten. A product of New
York City's famed Music and Arts High School, he initially
fielded more odd jobs than acting jobs as he worked his
way up from Harlem poverty. Landing a stage role in Porgy
and Bess in 1949, he will quit physical education studies
at City College of New York and go on tour with the
acclaimed musical. His film debut will come in Carmen
Jones in 1954, but he really began to make a name for
himself in such films as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The
L-Shaped Room." He will receive a Tony nomination for his
starring stint in Broadway's "Lost in the Stars." He will
work with Charlton Heston on several theater productions
in the 1940s and 1950s. The two will befriend each other
and subsequently work together on several films, including
"Major Dundee," "Soylent Green," and "Two Minute Warning."
He will join the ancestors on August 23, 2005 after
succumbing to pancreatic cancer at the age of 78.
1930 - Frederick Russell Jones is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A child prodigy who will begin to play the piano at the age
of 3, he will begin formal studies at age 7. While in high
school, he will complete the equivalent of college master
classes under the noted African American concert singer and
teacher Mary Caldwell Dawson and pianist James Miller. He
will join the musicians union at the age of 14, and begin
touring upon graduation from Westinghouse High School at the
age of 17, drawing critical acclaim for his solos. In 1950,
he will form his first trio, The Three Strings. Performing
at New York's The Embers club, Record Producer John Hammond
"discovers" The Three Strings and signed them to Okeh Records
(a division of Columbia, now Sony, Records). He will change
his name to Ahmad Jamal in 1952 when he converts to Islam.
He will be one of Miles Davis's favorite pianists and a key
influence on the trumpeter's 1st classic quintet (featuring
John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul
Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums). Davis had
long admired Jamal's use of space and dynamics. He will score
a major popular "hit" in his version of Poinciana, recorded
while live on tour from The Pershing nightclub in Chicago.
His style will change steadily over time - from the lighter,
breezy style heard on his 50s sides to the funk + Caribbean
stylings of the 70s and onto the large open voicings and
bravura-laden playing of the nineties. He will always be
distinctive however for his use of space, his dramatic
crescendos, and for a very staccato orientation with chords.
In addition to being an excellent pianist, Jamal is also
very adept with both the Rhodes electric piano and the
Wurlitzer 200 electric piano.
1932 - Samuel Black is born in Paterson, New Jersey. He will become
a singer known as Sammy Turner. He will briefly achieve fame
in the late 50s as a rock 'n' roll balladeer, whose specialty
was recycled pop songs of the past, particularly those by Guy
Lombardo. His most notable record was a remake of a Sammy Kaye
hit from 1949, "Lavender Blue" (number 14 R&B/number 3 pop),
in 1959. Three follow-ups were similarly remakes of old pop
hits: "Always" (number 2 R&B/number 20 pop), a frequently
recorded pop song; "Symphony" (number 82 pop) and "Paradise"
(number 13 R&B/number 46 pop). Turner's only success in the
United Kingdom was with "Always", which went to number 26.
Although essentially a pop performer, because of his African
American heritage he will also garner considerable success on
the R&B charts. However, he will be unable to make the
transition into the soul era, and will rapidly fade as a
recording artist after 1960.
1943 - Lt. Charles B. Hall of Indiana, flies the first combat mission
of the 99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen) which was
attached to the 33rd Fighter Group flying out of Fardjouna
(Cap Bon, Tunisia). He is flying as wingman on this first
mission to Pantelleria.
1946 - Anthony Overton, lawyer, judge, publisher, cosmetics
manufacturer and banker, joins the ancestors in Chicago,
Illinois at the age of 81.
1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Bill, which
includes public accommodation and fair employment sections.
The Civil Rights Act prohibits segregation in employment,
education, and public accommodation on the basis of race, sex,
age, national origin or religion.
1986 - The U.S. Supreme Court upholds affirmative action in two
rulings.
1990 - "Devil in a Blue Dress", a mystery novel by Walter Moseley set
in South-Central Los Angeles, is published. Its realism and
strong African American characters will earn its author
enthusiastic praise and a nomination for best novel by the
Mystery Writers of America.
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