* Today in Black History - October 17 * 1711 - Jupiter Hammon, the first African American to publish poetry (Complete Works), is born. 1787 - Boston African Americans, led by Prince Hall, submit to the State Legislature in Boston, Massachusetts, a petition asking for equal educational rights and facilities. The petition is not granted. 1806 - Jean Jacques Dessalines, revolutionist and Emperor of Haiti, joins the ancestors as a result of an assassination. 1817 - Samuel Ringgold Ward is born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He will be considered one of the finest abolitionist orators. 1871 - President Grant suspends the writ of habeas corpus and declares martial law in nine South Carolina counties affected by Ku Klux Klan disturbances. 1888 - The first African American bank, Capital Savings Bank of Washington, DC, opens for business. 1894 - Ohio National Guard kills 3 members of a lynch mob while rescuing an African American man. 1909 - William R. Cole is born in East Orange, New Jersey. He will become a jazz drummer best known as "Cozy Cole." He will begin to play professionally as a teenager and will make his first recording at age 20 with Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers. Cozy Cole will join Cab Calloway's band in 1939 and will join CBS radio in 1943 to play in Raymond Scott's Orchestra, becoming one of the first African American musicians on a network musical staff. In 1958, Cole will make a solo hit record, "Topsy," that sells more than a million copies. He will join the ancestors in 1981. 1928 - James "Junior" Gilliam is born. He will become a professional baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers and will be the National League Rookie of the Year in 1953. 1956 - Dr. Mae C. Jemison is born in Decatur, Alabama. She will grow up in Chicago, become a physician, serve in the Peace Corps in Africa, and practice medicine in Los Angeles, before being selected for the astronaut training program in 1987. 1969 - Dr. Clifton R. Wharton Jr., is elected president of Michigan State University and becomes the first African American to head a major, predominantly white university in the twentieth century. 1985 - Legendary jazz and blues singer Alberta Hunter joins the ancestors in New York City. She achieved fame in Chicago jazz clubs in the 1920's, toured Europe in the 1930's and, after over 20 years of anonymity as a nurse, returned to performing in 1977. 1990 - Dr. Ralph Abernathy, civil rights leader, joins the ancestors. 1991 - The 100th episode of "A Different World" airs on NBC. The acclaimed show, a spin-off of "The Cosby Show" that stars Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, and an ensemble of young African American actors, is directed by Debbie Allen. ______________________________________________________________ Munirah Chronicle is edited by Brother Mosi Hoj "The TRUTH shall make you free" E-mail: <[log in to unmask]> Archives: <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/Munirah.html> ______________________________________________________________ To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]> In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name ______________________________________________________________ Munirah(TM) is a trademark of Information Man. Copyright 2001, All Rights Reserved by the Information Man in association with CODE One Communications.