* Today in Black History - February 29 *
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* "Once a year we go through the charade of February being 'Black *
* History Month.' Black History Month needs to be a 12-MONTH THING. *
* When we all learn about our history, about how much we've *
* accomplished while being handicapped with RACISM, it can only *
* inspire us to greater heights, knowing we're on the giant shoulders *
* of our ANCESTORS." Subscribe to the Munirah Chronicle and receive *
* Black Facts every day of the year. *
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1892 - Augusta Christine Fells (later Savage) is born in Green Cove
Springs, Florida. She will become a sculptor, teacher, and one
of the most influential forces among Harlem Renaissance
artists. She will join the ancestors on March 26, 1962.
1940 - Robert Sengstacke Abbott, newspaper editor and publisher of the
Chicago Defender, joins the ancestors in Chicago, Illinois.
His newspaper became a bold voice for African Americans in the
North, advocating during the wave of lynchings after World War
I the slogan, "if you must die, take at least one with you,"
later simplified to "an eye for an eye." Abbott passes away as
his nephew, John Sengstacke, is establishing the National
Newspaper Publishers Association in Washington, DC.
1940 - In Hollywood, Hattie McDaniel receives an Academy Award for best
supporting actress for her role in "Gone With the Wind." She is
the first African American to win an Oscar. Often criticized
for her portrayal of maids, she will say, "It's much better to
play a maid than to be one. The only choice permitted me is
either to be a servant for $7 a week or portray one for $700 a
week."
1948 - Willi Donnell Smith is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A
noted designer, he will take his first job with Arnold Scaasi
in New York City and form his own fashion label, Willi Wear
Ltd., in 1976. He will be a Coty Award winner in 1983 and
will lead his company for 11 years. He will be regarded at
the time of his transition, as one of the most successful
young African American designers in the industry. His company,
Williwear Ltd. will sell $25 million worth of clothing a year.
He will join the ancestors on April 17, 1987 after succumbing
to pneumonia, complicated by shigella, a parasitic disease. He
apparently picked up the parasite on a recent month-long
visit to India, where the lightweight cotton fabric he used
for many of his clothes was manufactured.
1968 - The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, convened by
President Lyndon B. Johnson after riots occur in major cities
throughout the United States, issues its report. The
commission will be called the "Kerner Commission" after its
chairman, Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois. The report
concludes that white racism is one of the fundamental causes of
riots in the United States. It also cited what was need to
avert future violence -- jobs, open housing laws and the
elimination of defacto school segregation. It also concluded
the United States was "headed toward two societies, one Black
and one White -- separate and unequal." A 30-year update of the
Kerner Commission reports "the divide between rich and poor has
become greater in the United States and the challenges from
within more formidable."
1988 - South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other religious
leaders are arrested while kneeling near Parliament with a
petition against government bans on anti-apartheid groups.
1996 - Daniel Green is convicted in Lumberton, North Carolina, of
murdering James R. Jordan, the father of basketball star
Michael Jordan, during a 1993 roadside holdup. (Green will be
sentenced to life in prison; an accomplice who had testified
against him, Larry Demery, also will receive a life sentence.)
2004 - President Jean-Bertrand Aristide leaves Haiti, bowing to
pressure from a rebellion at home and governments abroad. The
administration of U.S president George W. Bush says it welcomes
Aristide's departure and that it was in the best interests of
Haiti. Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president
in 200 years of independence, flies to the Dominican Republic
and seeks asylum in Morocco, Taiwan or Panama.
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