*              Today in Black History - November 18              *

1797 - Abolitionist and orator, Sojourner Truth, is born a New York
        slave on the plantation of Johannes Hardenbergh.  Her given
        name is Isabelle VanWagener (some references use the name
        Isabelle Baumfree). She will walk away from her last owner one
        year prior to being freed by a New York law in 1827, which
        proclaimed that all slaves twenty-eight years of age and over
        were to be freed.   Several years later, in response to what
        she describes as a command from God, she becomes an itinerant
        preacher and takes the name Sojourner Truth.  Among her most
        memorable appearances will be at an 1851 women's rights
        conference in Akron, Ohio.  In her famous "Ain't I a woman?"
        speech she forcefully attacks the hypocrisies of organized
        religion, white privilege and everything in between.

1900 - Howard Thurman is born in Daytona Beach, Florida. A theologian
        who studied at Morehouse with Martin L. King, Sr., he will
        found the interracial Church of Fellowship of All Peoples. The
        first African American to hold a full-time faculty position at
        Boston University (in 1953), Dr. Thurman will write 22 books
        and become widely regarded as one of the greatest spiritual
        leaders of the 20th century.

1936 - Hank Ballard is born in Detroit, Michigan.  He will become a
        prolific songwriter as well as a major rhythm and blues singer.
        He will perform with his group, The Midnighters, and make the
        following songs popular: "There's A Thrill Upon The Hill"(Let's
        Go, Let's Go, Let's Go), "The Twist"(made famous later by
        Chubby Checker), "Finger Poppin' Time", "Work with Me Annie",
        "Sexy Ways", and "Annie Had a Baby".

1949 - Jackie Robinson, of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is named the National
        League's Most Valuable Player.

1956 - Warren Moon, professional football player (Minnesota Vikings,
        Houston Oilers, and Seattle Seahawks quarterback), is born.

1964 - The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover,
        describes Martin Luther King as a "most notorious liar".  This
        statement is indicative of the agency head's dislike of the
        civil rights leader.

1969 - The National Association of Health Services Executives is
        incorporated.  NAHSE's goal is to elevate the quality of
        health-care services rendered to poor and disadvantaged
        communities.

1975 - Calvin Murphy of the Houston Rockets, ends the NBA free throw
        streak at 58 games.

1977 - Robert Edward Chambliss, a former KKK member, is convicted of
        first-degree murder in connection with the 1963 bombing of the
        16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed
        four African American teenage girls.

1978 - The NAACP's Spingarn Medal is presented to Ambassador Andrew J.
        Young "in recognition of the deftness with which he has handled
        relations between this nation and other countries" and "for his
        major role in raising the consciousness of American citizens to
        the significance in world affairs of the massive African
        continent."

1980 - Wally "Famous" Amos' signature Panama hat and embroidered shirt
        are donated to the National Museum of American History's
        Business Americana collection.  It is the first memorabilia
        added to the collection by an African American entrepreneur and
        recognizes the achievement of Amos, who built his company from
        a mom-and-pop enterprise to a $250 million cookie manufacturing
        business.

1983 - "Sweet Honey in the Rock," a capella singers, perform
        their 10th anniversary reunion concert in Washington, DC.

1994 - Bandleader Cab Calloway joins the ancestors in Hockessin,
        Delaware, at age 86.

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