* Today in Black History - June 8 *
1886 - The first Civil Rights Act is passed.
1892 - Homer Adolph Plessy, an African American shoemaker
from New Orleans, Louisiana, is arrested for sitting
in a "whites only" railroad car. Judge John
Ferguson will find him guilty of the crime of
refusing to leave the white railroad car. Plessy
will appeal to the Supreme Courts of both Louisiana
and the United States, and both will uphold
Ferguson's decision and the "separate but equal"
doctrine (Plessy vs. Ferguson).
1924 - George Kirby is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will
become a comedian and, impressionist and delight
audiences for more than 40 years. Kirby will begin
his career in Chicago and will go to Las Vegas in
1952 as part of the Count Basie show, one of the
first African American acts to play Vegas. He will
be best known for impressions of stars such as Jerry
Lewis, John Wayne and Walter Brennan, and for his
dead-on takes of women, notably Pearl Bailey, Ella
Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. He will join the
ancestors on September 20, 1995.
1928 - Edward Joseph Perkins is born in Sterlington,
Louisiana. He will become the first African American
ambassador to South Africa (1986-1989). A veteran
foreign service professional, he will serve as U.S.
Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia (1985 - 1986),
Director of the Office of West African Affairs in the
Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. Department of
State (1983 - 1985), Deputy Chief of Mission at the
U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia (1981-1983),
Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in
Accra, Ghana (1978 - 1981), and ambassador to the
United Nations.
1939 - Bernie Casey is born in Wyco, West Virginia. He will
be the first-round draft pick for the San Francisco
49ers and play wide receiver. Before retiring from the
NFL, he will also play for the Los Angeles Rams and be
named an NFL All-Pro wide receiver. After the NFL, he
will have his acting debut in "Guns of the Magnificent
Seven," and have more than 40 roles to his credit,
including Mr. Walter in "Once Upon A Time...When We
Were Colored," Commander Hudson in the TV series "Star
Trek," "Deep Space Nine" and Commander Harris in "Under
Siege." He will have his directorial debut with the
film, "The Dinner (1997). He also will become an
accomplished artist with paintings part of permanent
collections at the California Museum of African American
Art and the Ankrum Gallery in Los Angeles. His works
will also appear in The Hirshorn Museum in Washington,
DC, the Lowe Gallery in Atlanta and the John Bolles
Gallery in San Francisco. He will earn a doctoral
degree in humanities from the Savannah College of Art
and Design and serve as chairman of its board of trustees.
1943 - Willie Davenport is born in Troy, Alabama. He will
become a star in track and field events, whose career will
span five Olympic Games from 1964 to 1980, during which he
won a gold and bronze medal. He will be one of only eight
U.S. Olympic athletes to have competed in both the summer
and winter games. Davenport will win the gold medal in the
110-meter hurdles in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and the
bronze in the same event in Montreal, Quebec in 1976. After
four Olympic appearances in the hurdles, Davenport will
compete as the first African American member of the U.S.
four-man bobsled team in 1980. Davenport will coach the
1993 and 1994 U.S. Army Track Team to victory in the Armed
Forces Track & Field Championships. He will be the head
coach of the United States Army Track & Field Team for the
1996 Olympics.
1953 - The Supreme Court rules that District of Columbia
restaurants cannot refuse to serve African Africans.
1958 - Keenen Ivory Wayans is born in New York City. He will
become a comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer.
He will become best known for his television show, "In
Living Color."
1963 - Three bullets are fired into the Clarksdale, Mississippi
home of Dr. Aaron Henry, Mississippi Freedom Democratic
Party candidate for governor.
1968 - James Earl Ray, the alleged assassin of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., is captured at London's Heathrow airport.
1969 - Bill Cosby wins an Emmy for a variety special. It is his
fourth Emmy award.
1978 - Through the voice of its president, Spencer W. Kimball,
the Mormon Church reverses a 148-year-long policy of
spiritual discrimination against African American
leadership within the denomination (Official Declaration
# 2).
1982 - Leroy "Satchel" Paige, a pitcher in the Negro Leagues and
the first African American pitcher in the American League,
joins the ancestors in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of
75. Paige is heralded as one of the greatest early
African American baseball players in a career that spanned
more than 40 years and was enshrined in baseball's Hall of
Fame in 1971.
1998 - Military dictator of Nigeria, Sani Abacha joins the
ancestors at the age of 54.
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