* Today in Black History - July 1 *
1863 - The Dutch West Indies abolishes slavery.
1870 - James W. Smith is the first African American to enter
the U.S. Military Academy (West Point).
1873 - Henry O. Flipper of Georgia is the second African
American to enter West Point .
1889 - Frederick Douglass is named minister to Haiti.
1898 - The African American 10th Calvary charges Spanish
Forces at El Caney, Cuba, and relieves Teddy
Roosevelt's "Rough Riders."
1899 - Rev. Thomas Andrew Dorsey, "Father of Gospel Music" is
born in Villa Rica, Georgia. Although he will begin
touring with Ma Rainey, he will leave the blues in
1932 to work as a choir director for Pilgrim Baptist
Church. A gospel legend, among his most popular songs
will be "A Little Talk with Jesus."
1915 - Willie Dixon, bassist ("Walkin' the Blues") is born in
Vickburg, Mississippi.
1917 - A three day race riot starts in East St. Louis, Illinois.
Estimates of the number killed ranges from forty to two
hundred. There had been an earlier race riot that
occurred on May 27, 1917. Martial law is declared. A
congressional investigating committee will say, "It is
not possible to give accurately the number of dead. At
least thirty-nine Negroes and eight white people were
killed outright, and hundreds of Negroes were wounded
and maimed. 'The bodies of the dead Negroes,' testified
an eye witness, 'were thrown into a morgue like so many
dead hogs.' There were three hundred and twelve
buildings and forty-four railroad freight cars and their
contents destroyed by fire."
1942 - Andrae Crouch, African American sacred music artist, is
born in Los Angeles, California. He will become a gospel
musician, recording artist, songwriter, arranger, and
producer. He will be a key figure in the Jesus Music
movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He will work as a
producer or arranger with Michael Jackson, Madonna (Like
A Prayer), Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, Elton John and Rick
Astley (Cry For Help). His film credits will include "Once
Upon A Forest," "The Color Purple," "The Lion King," and
"Free Willy." He will also appear as the television voice
of Dr. Seuss's Yertle the Turtle. He will eventually serve
as Senior Pastor at the New Christ Memorial Church of God
in Christ in San Fernando, California, the church founded
by his parents. In 2004, he will be honored with a star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He will be the third gospel
musician to appear on the walk. His most enduring gospel
songs will be "Soon and Very Soon," "My Tribute", "The
Blood" and "Through It All."
1960 - Ghana becomes a republic. Italian Somalia gains
independence, and unites with the Somali Republic.
1960 - Evelyn "Champagne" King is born in the Bronx, New York City,
New York. In her teens, she will relocate to Philadelphia
with her mother, and begin singing in several groups. To
make ends meet, she and her mother will become cleaning
women. For a teenager, King's voice will be quite mature.
Many, at first thought will think she is a grown woman.
While working at Gamble & Huff's recording studio as a
cleaner, she will be "discovered" by producer T. Life, and
will go on to become one of the most popular Rhythm & Blues
and disco singers of the late seventies and early eighties.
She will be best known for the disco classic "Shame", her
Top 10 1978 Gold record. She will score an additional Top 40
hit and Gold record, with "I Don't Know If It's Right" in
1979. "Shame" and "I Don't Know If It's Right" will both be
tracks released from her 1977 debut album Smooth Talk. On
September 20, 2004, her signature song "Shame" will become
among the first records to be inducted into the newly formed
Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York's
Spirit club.
1961 - Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis is born in Birmingham, Alabama.
He will be raised in Willingboro, New Jersey. He will become
an athlete who will win 10 Olympic medals (9 golds) during
his career (1984 to 1996), and 8 World Championship gold
medals, and 1 bronze (1983 to 1993). He will become only the
third Olympian to win four consecutive titles in an individual
event.
1962 - Burundi & Rwanda gain independence from Belgium (National Days).
1976 - Newark mayor Kenneth Gibson is elected as the first African
American president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
1991 - Former chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
and judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Clarence Thomas is
nominated by President George H. Bush as associate justice of
the Supreme Court to replace retiring justice Thurgood Marshall.
Thomas' Senate confirmation hearings will be the most
controversial in history and will include charges of sexual
harassment by a former employee, Professor Anita Hill.
1997 - Audrey F. Manley begins her appointment as president of Spelman
College. She is the first alumna of Spelman to be named
president in the college's 116-year history. Formerly acting
surgeon general of the United States, Manley had served in key
leadership positions in the U.S. Public Health Service for the
previous 20 years.
2005 - Grammy award winner Luther Vandross joins the ancestors at John
F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey at the age of 54.
He never really recovered from a stroke suffered in his
Manhattan home on April 16, 2003. He amazingly managed to
continue his recording career, and in 2004, captured four Grammys
as a sentimental favorite, including best song for the
bittersweet "Dance With My Father." He had battled weight
problems for years while suffering from diabetes and hypertension.
He was arguably the most celebrated Rhythm & Blues balladeer of
his generation. He made women swoon with his silky yet forceful
tenor, which he often revved up like a motor engine before
reaching his beautiful crescendos. He was a four-time Grammy
winner in the best male R&B performance category, taking home
the trophy in 1990 for the single "Here and Now," in 1991 for
his album "Power of Love," in 1996 for the track "Your Secret
Love" and a last time for "Dance With My Father."
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