* Today in Black History - September 8 *
1866 - Charles Harrison Mason is born on the Prior Farm near
Memphis, Tennessee. He will be inspired by the
autobiography of evangelist Amanda Berry Smith in 1893.
He and Charles Price Jones will form a fellowship of
churches, named "Church of God." He will rename the
group the "Church of God in Christ," to distinguish the
group from the other "Church of God" forming around that
time. After attending the "Azusa Street Revival" in Los
Angeles, California, he will adopt the new Pentecostal
teachings of Elder William Seymour, such as 'speaking in
tongues.' After the opposition of Charles Jones in these
new beliefs, they will split and he will win the legal
rights to the "Church of God in Christ" name. He will be
elected General Overseer of the Church in Memphis,
Tennessee in 1907, later becoming the Senior Bishop (now
referred to as Presiding Bishop). He will lead the COGIC
group of churches until he joins the ancestors on November
17, 1961. At that time, the Church membership totals
around 400,000. Afterwards, the Church will grow
exponentially. As of 2016, Church of God In Christ will
have over 12,000 churches in the United States with over
5 million members. Internationally, COGIC can be found in
60 nations on five continents including Jamaica, Cuba,
Mexico, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, United Kingdom,
South Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, Germany, Pakistan, India,
Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Its worldwide membership
is estimated to be between six and eight million, comprising
more than 15,000 congregations throughout the world.
1875 - The governor of Mississippi requests federal troops to
protect African American voters. Attorney General Edward
Pierrepont refuses the request and says "the whole
public are tired of these annual autumnal outbreaks in
the South..."
1925 - Ossian Sweet, a prominent Detroit doctor, is arrested on
murder charges after shots are fired into a mob in front
of the Sweet home in a previously all-white area. Sweet
is defended by Clarence Darrow, who won an acquittal in
the second trial.
1940 - Willie Tyler is born in Red Level, Alabama. He will
become a ventriloquist, comedian and actor. Most of the
time, he is credited as Willie Tyler and Lester or Willie
Tyler & Lester. He will appear in many television
commercials, sitcoms, and movies. He will get his first
big break in 1972 on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. He will
serve as host of the popular Saturday morning children's
anthology series The ABC Weekend Special throughout the
early 1980s. He will appear in the 1978 film "Coming Home."
In addition, he will appear in television commercials in
the 1980s for McDonald's and Toyota. He will appear as
himself in the 2004 BET Comedy Awards, Frank McKlusky,
C.I., For Da Love of Money, In the House, the 4th Annual
Black Gold Awards, The 1st Annual Soul Train Music Awards,
Motown Returns to the Apollo, Lou Rawls Parade of Stars,
Powerhouse, The White Shadow, American Bandstand,
Vegetable Soup, The Flip Wilson Show, The Statler Brothers
Show, The Hollywood Palace, Match Game and Family Feud. On
September 18, 2006, he will be the first ventriloquist to
appear on the Late Show with David Letterman's
Ventriloquist Week.
1956 - Maurice Cheeks is born in Chicago, Illinois and will attend
DuSable High School. He will attend West Texas State
University from 1974 to 1978. He will be an all-Missouri
Valley Conference player for three straight seasons, as he
averages 16.8 points per game and shoots nearly 57% for
his collegiate career. He is currently the third leading
scorer in WTSU/WTAM history. After college, he will be
selected as the 36th pick in the second round of the 1978
NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He will play 15 years
as a point guard in the NBA, including 11 with the
Philadelphia 76ers, earning four trips to the NBA All-Star
Game, and helping the 76ers earn three trips to the NBA
Finals in a four-year span in the early 1980s (1980, 1982,
and 1983), including one NBA championship in 1983. While
starting at point guard for a Sixers team that at times
included stars such as Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Andrew
Toney, and Charles Barkley, he will be well regarded for
his unselfish team play and excellent defensive skills. As
a result, he will be named to four straight NBA All-
Defensive squads from 1983 to 1986, and earn a spot on the
second team in 1987. In NBA history, he will rank fifth
all-time in steals and eleventh all-time in assists. At
the time of his retirement from the NBA in 1993, he will
be the NBA all-time leader in steals and ranked fifth
all-time in assists. He will average 11.7 points per game
for his career and notch over 2 steals per contest.
1957 - Tennis champion, Althea Gibson, becomes the first
African American athlete to win a U.S. national tennis
championship.
1965 - Dorothy Dandridge, nominated for an Oscar for her
performance in "Carmen Jones," joins the ancestors at
the age of 41 in Hollywood, California.
1968 - Black Panther Huey Newton is convicted of voluntary
manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an Oakland
policeman. He will later begin a 2 to l5-year jail
sentence.
1968 - Saundra Williams is crowned the first Miss Black America
in a contest held exclusively for African American
women in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
1973 - Hank Aaron sets the record for most Home Runs in 1
league (709).
1975 - The city of Boston begins court ordered citywide busing
of public schools amid scattered incidents of violence.
1981 - Roy Wilkins, longtime and second executive director of
the NAACP, joins the ancestors.
1990 - Marjorie Judith Vincent of Illinois is selected as Miss
America in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Haitian
native, a third-year law student at Duke University,
is the fourth woman of African descent to become Miss
America.
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