*               Today in Black History - May 16                 *

1792 - Denmark abolishes the importation of slaves.

1857 - Juan Morel Campos is born in Ponce, Puerto Rico.   He will
        become a musician and composer who will be one of the first
        to integrate Afro-Caribbean styles and folk rhythms into the
        classical European musical model. He will be considered the
        father of the "danza."

1917 - Harry T. Burleigh, composer, pianist, and singer, is awarded the
        NAACP's Spingarn Medal for excellence in the field of creative
        music.

1929 - John Conyers, Jr. is born in Detroit, Michigan.  He will be
        elected to the House of Representatives from Michigan's 1st
        District in 1964, where he will advocate home rule and
        Congressional representation for the District of Columbia.  He
        will be the principal sponsor of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and
        the 1983 Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday bill, as well as a
        founder of the Congressional Black Caucus.

1930 - Lillie Mae Jones is born in Flint, Michigan.  She will become an
        uncompromising jazz singer using the stage name, Betty Carter,
        who will earn the nickname "Betty Bebop" for her bop
        improvisational style. She will tour with Lionel Hampton and
        Miles Davis during her career. In 1997, she will receive the
        National Medal of Arts award from President Bill Clinton.  She
        will join the ancestors on September 26, 1998.

1966 - Stokely Carmichael (later named Kwame Ture) is elected chairman
        of SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a group
        formed during the Freedom Marches and dedicated to voter
        registration in the South.

1966 - Janet Damita Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana.  Sister of the
        famous Jacksons of the Jackson 5 singing group, she will have
        her own successful career, first in acting ("Good Times,"
        "Diff'rent Strokes," and "Fame"), then as a solo recording
        artist.  Her albums "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814" will earn
        her five American Music Awards and a Grammy award.

1966 - The National Welfare Rights Organization is organized.

1977 - Modibo Keita joins the ancestors in Bamako, Mail. He been the
        first president of Mali, from 1960 to 1968.

1979 - Asa Philip Randolph, labor leader and civil rights pioneer, joins
        the ancestors in New York at the age of 90.

1985 - Michael Jordan is named Rookie of the Year in the National
        Basketball Association.  Jordan, of the Chicago Bulls, was the
        number three draft choice.  At the time, Michael was third in the
        league scoring a 28.2 average and fourth in steals with 2.39 per
        game.

1990 - Sammy Davis Jr., actor, dancer, singer and world class entertainer,
        joins the ancestors in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 64
        from throat cancer.  Davis, born in Harlem, was a member of the
        Hollywood "Rat Pack." He also had starring roles in a host of
        Broadway musicals and motion pictures and had been an entertainer
        for over sixty years.

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