* Today in Black History - July 2 *
1777 - Vermont, not one of the original 13 states, becomes the
first U.S. territory to abolish slavery.
1822 - Denmark Vesey, slave freedom fighter, and 5 aides are
hanged in Blake's Landing, Charleston, South Carolina.
1908 - Thurgood Marshall is born in Baltimore, Maryland. He
will have the most distinguished legal career of any
African American as the NAACP's national counsel,
director-counsel of the organization's Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, and leader of some of the most
important legal challenges for African Americans'
constitutional rights, including "Brown v. Board of
Education" in 1954. In addition to sitting as a circuit
judge for the Second Circuit, Marshall will be named
U.S. Solicitor General in 1965 and associate justice of
the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967, where he will serve for
24 years. He will join the ancestors on January 24, 1993.
1925 - Patrice Lumumba is born in Onalua in the Katakokombe region
of the Kasai province of the Belgian Congo. He is a member
of the Tetela ethnic group and is born with the name Élias
Okit'Asombo. His original surname means "heir of the cursed"
and is derived from the Tetela words okitá/okitɔ́ ('heir,
successor') and asombó ('cursed or bewitched people who will
die quickly'. He will help found the Mouvement National
Congolais (MNC) party on 5 October 1958, and will quickly
become the organization's leader. The MNC, unlike other
Congolese parties, did not draw on a particular ethnic base.
It will promote a platform that includes independence,
gradual Africanization of the government, state-led economic
development, and neutrality in foreign affairs. Lumumba
himself will have a large popular following, due to his
personal charisma, excellent oratorical skills, and
ideological sophistication. This will allow him more political
autonomy than his Belgian-dependent contemporaries. Lumumba
will be one of the delegates that represents the MNC at the
All-African Peoples' Conference in Accra, Ghana, in December,
1958. At this international conference, hosted by Ghanaian
President Kwame Nkrumah, Lumumba will further solidify his
Pan-Africanist beliefs. Nkrumah will be personally impressed
by Lumumba's intelligence and ability. In late October 1959,
Lumumba, as leader of the organization, will be arrested for
inciting an anti-colonial riot in Stanleyville; 30 people will
be killed. He will be sentenced to 69 months in prison. The
trial's start date of 18 January 1960 will be the first day of
the Congolese Round Table Conference in Brussels to finalize
the future of the Congo. Despite Lumumba's imprisonment at the
time, the MNC will win a convincing majority in the December
local elections in the Congo. As a result of strong pressure
from delegates upset with Lumumba's trial, he will be released
and allowed to attend the Brussels conference. The conference will
culminate on 27 January with a declaration of Congolese
independence, and set 30 June 1960 as the independence date with
national elections to be held from 11–25 May 1960. Lumumba and
the MNC will win this election and form a government, to be
announced on 23 June 1960, with the 34-year-old Lumumba as prime
minister and Joseph Kasa-Vubu as president. In accordance with
the constitution, on 24 June the new government, a unitary system,
will secure a vote of confidence from the Congolese Chamber and
Senate. Shortly after Congolese independence in 1960, a mutiny will
break out in the army, marking the beginning of the Congo Crisis.
Lumumba will appeal to the United States and the United Nations for
help to suppress the Belgian-supported Katangan secessionists. Both
refused, so Lumumba will turn to the Soviet Union for support. This
will lead to growing differences with President Joseph Kasa-Vubu
and chief-of-staff Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, as well as with the United
States and Belgium. Lumumba will be subsequently imprisoned by state
authorities under Mobutu and executed by a firing squad under the
command of Katangan authorities. Following him joining the ancestors
on 17 January 1961, he will be widely seen as a martyr for the wider
Pan-African movement.
1927 - George Fisher is born in New York City of African and West
Indian parentage. He will become an actor and will be
known as Brock Peters. He will set his sights on a show
business career as early as age ten. A product of New
York City's famed Music and Arts High School, he
initially fielded more odd jobs than acting jobs as he
worked his way up from Harlem poverty. Landing a stage
role in Porgy and Bess in 1949, he will quit physical
education studies at City College of New York and go on
tour with the acclaimed musical. His film debut will come
in "Carmen Jones" in 1954, but he really began to make a
name for himself in such films as "To Kill a Mockingbird"
and "The L-Shaped Room." He will receive a Tony nomination
for his starring stint in Broadway's "Lost in the Stars."
He will work with Charlton Heston on several theater
productions in the 1940s and 1950s. The two will befriend
each other and subsequently work together on several
films, including "Major Dundee," "Soylent Green," and "Two
Minute Warning." He will join the ancestors on August 23,
2005, after succumbing to pancreatic cancer at the age of
78.
1930 - Frederick Russell Jones is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A child prodigy who will begin to play the piano at the age
of 3, he will begin formal studies at age 7. While in high
school, he will complete the equivalent of college master
classes under the noted African American concert singer and
teacher Mary Caldwell Dawson and pianist James Miller. He
will join the musicians union at the age of 14, and begin
touring upon graduation from Westinghouse High School at
the age of 17, drawing critical acclaim for his solos. In
1950, he will form his first trio, The Three Strings.
Performing at New York's The Embers club, Record Producer
John Hammond "discovers" The Three Strings and signed them
to Okeh Records (a division of Columbia, now Sony, Records).
He will change his name to Ahmad Jamal in 1952 when he
converts to Islam. He will be one of Miles Davis's favorite
pianists and a key influence on the trumpeter's 1st classic
quintet (featuring John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red
Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe
Jones on drums). Davis had long admired his use of space
and dynamics. He will score a major popular "hit" in his
version of Poinciana, recorded while live on tour from
The Pershing nightclub in Chicago. His style will change
steadily over time - from the lighter, breezy style heard
on his 50s sides to the funk + Caribbean stylings of the
70s and onto the large open voicings and bravura-laden
playing of the nineties. He will always be distinctive
however for his use of space, his dramatic crescendos, and
for a very staccato orientation with chords. In addition
to being an excellent pianist, he is also very adept
with both the Rhodes electric piano and the Wurlitzer 200
electric piano.
1932 - Samuel Black is born in Paterson, New Jersey. He will become
a singer known as Sammy Turner. He will briefly achieve
fame in the late 50s as a rock 'n' roll balladeer, whose
specialty was recycled pop songs of the past, particularly
those by Guy Lombardo. His most notable record was a remake
of a Sammy Kaye hit from 1949, "Lavender Blue" (number 14
R&B/number 3 pop), in 1959. Three follow-ups were similarly
remakes of old pop hits: "Always" (number 2 R&B/number 20
pop), a frequently recorded pop song; "Symphony" (number 82
pop) and "Paradise" (number 13 R&B/number 46 pop). Turner's
only success in the United Kingdom was with "Always", which
went to number 26. Although essentially a pop performer,
because of his African American heritage he will also
garner considerable success on the R&B charts. However, he
will be unable to make the transition into the soul era,
and will rapidly fade as a recording artist after 1960.
1943 - Lt. Charles B. Hall of Indiana, flies the first combat
mission of the 99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen)
which was attached to the 33rd Fighter Group flying out of
Fardjouna (Cap Bon, Tunisia). He is flying as wingman on
this first mission to Pantelleria.
1946 - Anthony Overton, lawyer, judge, publisher, cosmetics
manufacturer and banker, joins the ancestors in Chicago,
Illinois at the age of 81.
1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Bill,
which includes public accommodation and fair employment
sections. The Civil Rights Act prohibits segregation in
employment, education, and public accommodation on the
basis of race, sex, age, national origin or religion.
1986 - The U.S. Supreme Court upholds affirmative action in two
rulings.
1990 - "Devil in a Blue Dress", a mystery novel by Walter Moseley
set in South-Central Los Angeles, is published. Its
realism and strong African American characters will earn
its author enthusiastic praise and a nomination for best
novel by the Mystery Writers of America.
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