* Today in Black History - March 19 * 1867 - Congressman Thaddeus Stevens calls up resolution providing for the enforcement of the Second Confiscation Act of July, 1962. The measure, which provides for the distribution of public and confiscated land to the freedmen, is defeated. 1870 - "O Guarani," the most celebrated opera by Afro-Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Gomes, premiers at the Scala Theater in Milan. His enormous musical talent opened the doors of the Milan Conservatory where he studied under the guidance of the greatest opera directors of the time. Among other operas, Gomes produces "Fosca," "Condor," and "O Escravo" (The Slave). 1872 - T.J. Boyd, inventor, awarded patent for apparatus for detaching horses from carriages. 1937 - The Count Basie Orchestra, with vocalists Billie Holiday and Jimmy Rushing, opens at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. 1939 - The New Negro Theater is founded in Los Angeles, California, by Langston Hughes. The company stages as its first performance Hughes's play, "Don't You Want to be Free?" 1952 - Sergeant Cornelius H. Charlton is posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during the Korean War. He joined the ancestors after being killed in action on June 2, 1951. 1967 - French Somaliland (Djibouti) votes to continue association with France. 1968 - Students take over the Administration Building at Howard University demanding resignation of university officials and a stronger orientation to black culture in the curriculum. It is the first of many college protests over black studies programs on African American and white college campuses across the nation. 1995 - Twenty one months after retiring from basketball, Michael Jordan returns to professional basketball with his former team, the Chicago Bulls. ______________________________________________________________ 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 2003, All Rights Reserved by the Information Man in association with CODE One Communications.