* Today in Black History - May 18 *
1652 - Rhode Island enacts the first colonial law limiting slavery. This
law, passed by the General Court of Election, regulates Black
servitude and places Blacks on the same level as white bond-
servants. This means they were free after completing their term
of service of ten years.
1848 - William Leidesdorff joins the ancestors in San Francisco,
California. The first man to open a commercial steamship service
on San Francisco Bay, Leidesdorff developed a successful business
empire, including a hotel, warehouse, and other real-estate
developments. Active politically, he served on San Francisco's
first town council and became city treasurer. A street in the
city will be named in his honor.
1877 - Dantes Bellegarde is born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He will become
Haiti's most well known diplomat in the twentieth century. He will
enter government service in 1904 and will serve under many
administrations until he retires in 1957 at the age of 81. W.E.B
Du Bois, in 1926, will refer to Bellegarde as the "international
spokesman of the Negroes of the world." He will join the ancestors
in 1966.
1880 - George Lewis wins the sixth running of the Kentucky Derby astride
Fonso. He is one of ten African Americans to win the Kentucky
Derby in the years between 1877 and 1902.
1896 - In Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Louisiana's
"separate but equal" segregation laws. The ruling is a major
setback for integration and marks the beginning of Jim Crow laws,
changing a largely "de facto" system of segregation into a legally
defined system in the South. It will be overturned 58 years later
in the case of "Brown v. Board of Education."
1911 - Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner, Jr. is born in Kansas City, Missouri.
He will become one of the best blues shouters and a critical link
between Rhythm and Blues and Rock & Roll. In 1951 Turner will sign
a recording contract with Atlantic Records and cut a string of
Rhythm & Blues classics that will lead the way straight into Rock &
Roll. His most famous hit, "Shake, Rattle and Roll" will be
released in 1954, and make it to number 1 and will be covered
shortly thereafter by Bill Haley and the Comets. But before "Shake",
will come the million-selling "Chains of Love," which will reach
number 2 on the Rhythm & Blues charts and number 30 on the pop
side, plus "Chill Is On," "Sweet Sixteen," "Don't You Cry," "TV Mama,"
and the number 1 smash, "Honey Hush." Turner's chart success will
continue after "Shake" with "Well All Right," "Flip Flop and Fly,"
"Hide and Seek," "The Chicken and the Hawk," "Morning, Noon, and
Night," "Corrina Corrina," and "Lipstick Powder and Paint."
Turner will nearly dominate the Rhythm & Blues charts from 1951 to
1956. He will continue to perform through the 1980's. He will join
the ancestors on November 24, 1985, succumbing to a heart attack
having suffered earlier effects of a stroke and diabetes. He will
be posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1987.
1912 - Walter Sisulu is born in the Engcobo district, Transkei, South
Africa. He will become a major player in the fight against
apartheid in South Africa and will become deputy president of the
African National Congress. He will be a mentor to Nelson Mandela
and Oliver Tambo and will be imprisoned with Mandela on Robben
Island for many years. While in prison, Sisulu will write the
history of the African National Congress. Even though he was given
a life sentence when imprisoned, he will be released in 1989 as
South Africa began to dismantle the system of apartheid. He will be
elected ANC deputy president in 1991 and will resign from the post
in 1994 at the age of 82.
1919 - Coleman Alexander Young is born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He will fight
as a bombardier-navigator with the Tuskegee Airmen during World
War II and will settle in Detroit and work as an auto worker after the
war. In 1948, he will become the first African American elected to
the Wayne County Council of the AFL-CIO. He will found the National
Negro Labor Council in 1951. Walter Reuther and other white leaders
of the labor movement will refer to the NNLC as a tool of the Soviet
Union and cause Young to be called to testify before the House
Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952. He will reach the
pinnacle of his political career when, as a state senator, he is
elected the first African American mayor of the city of Detroit,
Michigan in 1973. He will revitalize Detroit, integrate the police
and fire departments, and will significantly increase the number
of city contracts with minority businesses. He will be elected
mayor for an unprecedented five terms. He will step down as mayor
in 1993 at the age of 75. He will join the ancestors in 1997.
1946 - Reginald Martinez Jackson is born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. He will
be better known as Reggie Jackson, star baseball player for the
Oakland A's and the New York Yankees. He will set or tie seven
World Series records and will be known as "Mr. October." He will
retire from baseball in 1987 and will be elected to Baseball's Hall
of Fame in 1993.
1955 - Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and founder of the National Council of
Negro Women and Bethune-Cookman College, joins the ancestors in
Daytona Beach, Florida at the age of 79.
1960 - Yannick Noah is born in Sedan, France. He will become a professional
tennis player. Arthur Ashe will spot his talents while on a three-
week, goodwill tour of Africa in 1971, and arrange for Noah to be
sent back to France to further develop his game. Noah will go on to
win the French Open in 1983, a Grand Slam event. During his career,
he will win 23 singles titles and be runner up at 13 others.
1971 - President Nixon rejects the sixty demands of the Congressional Black
Caucus, saying his administration would continue to support "jobs,
income and tangible benefits, the pledges that this society has made
to the disadvantaged in the past decade." The caucus expressed
deep disappointment with the reply and said the Nixon administration
"lacked a sense of understanding, urgency and commitment in
dealing with the critical problems facing Black Americans."
1986 - John William "Bubbles" Sublett joins the ancestors in New York City
at the age of 84. He had been half of the piano and tap dance team,
"Buck and Bubbles" from 1912 to 1955. He was known as "father of
rhythm tap," and developed a tap style called "jazz tap." He will
continue to perform (after the death of Ford "Buck" Washington in
1955) until 1980, when he appeared in the revue "Black Broadway."
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