* 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. He will remain there until 1972. A gospel legend,
among his most popular songs will be "A Little Talk with
Jesus," "Take my hand, Precious Lord" and "Peace in the
Valley." He will join the ancestors on January 23, 1993.
1915 - William James 'Willie' Dixon is born in Vickburg,
Mississippi. He will become an accomplished Blues bassist
and is considered one of the key figures in the creation
of the Chicago Blues. He will work with Chuck Berry,
Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Led Zeppelin, Otis Rush, Bo
Diddley, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor,
Little Milton, Eddie Boyd, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell
Fulson, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Washboard Sam, Jimmy
Rogers, and others. He will also be a producer for Chess
Records. He will also be a songwriter. Dixon's genius as a
songwriter lay in refurbishing archaic Southern motifs, in
contemporary arrangements. This will produce songs with
the backbone of the Blues, and the agility of Pop music.
British Rhythm & Blues bands of the 1960s will constantly
draw on his songbook for inspiration. He will be
posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1994. He will join the ancestors on January 29, 1992.
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 Pacoima, 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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