* 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 bondservants. 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 - "Big" Joe Turner 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.
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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