* Today in Black History - May 10 * 1652 - John Johnson, a free African American, is granted 550 acres in Northampton County, Virginia, for importing eleven persons to work as indentured servants. 1775 - Lemuel Haynes, Epheram Blackman, and Primas Black, in the first aggressive action of American forces against the British, help capture Fort Ticonderoga as members of Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys. 1815 - Henry Walton Bibb is born a slave in Shelby County, Kentucky. He will escape to Canada, return to get his first wife, be recaptured in Cincinnati, escape again, be recaptured again and sold into slavery in New Orleans. He will be removed to Arkansas, where he will escape yet again, this time for good in 1842. He will make his way to Detroit, Michigan and will become an active abolitionist. He will publish his autobiography, "Narrative of The Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave" in 1849. This narrative of his life will be so suspenseful that an investigation is conducted that will substantiate Bibb's account. In 1850, the U.S. Congress will pass the Fugitive Slave Act which will force his immigration to Canada with his second wife. In 1851, he will found the "Voice of the Fugitive", the first Black newspaper in Canada. He will join the ancestors in 1854 at the age of 39. 1837 - Pinckney Benton Steward (P.B.S.) Pinchback is born near Macon, Georgia. During the Civil War, he will recruit and command a company of the "Corps d'Afrique," a calvary unit from Louisiana. He will resign his commission in 1863 after unsuccessful demands that African American officers and enlisted men be treated the same as white military personnel. In 1868, he will be elected to the Louisiana legislature as a Senator. In 1871, he will be elected President Pro Temp of the Louisiana Senate, and will become Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana in 1872 after the death of Oscar Dunn. He will serve briefly (two months) as the appointed Governor. He will be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1873, but never be seated by that body, due to supposed election irregularities. After the end of Reconstruction and his political career, Pinchback will use his resources to work as an advocate for African Americans as Southern Democrats endeavor to take away the civil rights gained by Blacks after the Civil War. He will publish the newspaper "The Louisianan," using it as a venue to help influence public opinion. He will also become the leader of the precursor to the Associated Negro Press, the Convention of Colored Newspaper Men. At the age of sixty, he will relocate to Washington, DC where he will live until he joins the ancestors on December 21, 1921. 1876 - The American Centennial Exposition opens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Included are works by four African American artists, among them Edmonia Lewis' "The Dying Cleopatra" and Edward Bannister's "Under the Oaks." Bannister's painting will win the bronze medal, a distinct and controversial achievement for the renowned painter. 1910 - The Pittsburgh Courier begins publishing. It will become one of the most influential African American newspapers in the country. In 1967, it will relaunched under new ownership as the "New Pittsburgh Courier," and continue to operate as a semi-weekly publication. In 1987, the Courier will be the winner of the John B. Russwurm award for excellence in responsible journalism given by the National Newspaper Publishers Association to the top African American Newspapers in America. 1919 - A race riot occurs in Charleston, South Carolina. Two African Americans are killed. 1934 - Sallie Jayne Richardson is born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. She will be better known as Jayne Cortez and will be a poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice will be celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and visceral sound. Her writing will be part of the canon of the Black Arts Movement. She will marry jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman in 1954. After divorcing him in 1960, she will study drama and poetry. She will become active in the civil rights movement, registering African Americans to vote in Mississippi as a worker for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. She will marry sculptor Melvin Edwards in 1975. She will be the author of 12 books of poems and will perform her poetry with music on nine recordings. She will present her work and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the Caribbean and the United States. Her poems will be translated into 28 languages and widely published in anthologies, journals and magazines, including "Postmodern American Poetry," "Daughters of Africa," "Poems for the Millennium," "Mother Jones," and "The Jazz Poetry Anthology." In 1991, along with Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo, she will found the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA), of which she will be president. She will be the organizer of "Slave Routes: The Long Memory" (2000) and "Yari Yari Pamberi: Black Women Writers Dissecting Globalization" (2004), both international conferences held at New York University. She will appear on screen in the films "Women in Jazz" and "Poetry in Motion." She will also direct Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future (1999), which will document panels, readings and performances held during the first major international literary conference on women of African descent. She will join the ancestors on December 28, 2012. 1935 - Larry Williams is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He will become a rhythm and blues singer and will be known for his record hits "Short Fat Fannie," "Bony Maronie," and "Dizzy Miss Lizzie." He will join the ancestors on January 7, 1980 after succumbing to a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. 1944 - Judith Jamison is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She will begin her dancing career at the age of six. She will complete her dance training at the Philadelphia Dance Company (later the University of Arts). She will make her debut with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in Chicago, dancing in Talley Beaty's Congo Tango Palace. She will become the troupe's premier dancer in 1967 and will tour the world exhibiting her signature dance "Cry." She will win a Dance Magazine award for her performances in 1972. She will leave the Ailey troupe in 1980 to perform on Broadway and will choreograph many of her own works such as "Divining," Ancestral Rites" and "Hymn." She will form the twelve member group, The Jamison Project, in 1987. After Alvin Ailey's health declines in 1988, she will rejoin the Ailey troupe as artistic associate and will become artistic director upon his death in 1989. She will continue the company's tradition of performing early works choreographed by African Americans for many years. 1950 - Jackie Robinson appears on the cover of Life magazine. It is the first time an African American has been featured on the magazine's cover in its 13-year history. 1951 - Z. Alexander Looby is the first African American elected to the Nashville City Council. 1952 - Canada Lee joins the ancestors in England at the age of 45. He had become an actor in 1933 after a professional boxing match left him blind in one eye. He was able to be cast in non-traditional roles for African Americans at a time when most were cast in stereotypical parts. He was best known for his portrayal of "Bigger Thomas" in the play "Native Son" in 1940 and 1941. He was blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and the FBI for his outspoken views on the stereotyping of African Americans in Hollywood and Broadway. 1962 - Southern School News reports that 246,988 or 7.6 per cent of the African American pupils in public schools in seventeen Southern and Border States and the District of Columbia attended integrated classes in 1962. 1963 - Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth announces agreement on a limited integration plan which will end the Birmingham demonstrations. 1974 - "Just Don't Want To Be Lonely" earns a gold record for the group, The Main Ingredient. The trio began as the Poets in 1964. Cuba Gooding is the lead singer. (Gooding's son, Cuba Jr., will star in the 1991 film "Boyz N The Hood" and will win an Academy award for his role in the movie "Jerry Maguire in 1997.) The Main Ingredient's biggest hit, "Everybody Plays The Fool," will make it to number three on the pop charts in 1972. 1986 - Navy Lt. Commander Donnie Cochran becomes the first African American pilot to fly with the celebrated Blue Angels precision aerial demonstration team. 1994 - Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as president of South Africa. In an historic exchange of power, former political prisoner Nelson Mandela becomes the first Black president of South Africa. In his acceptance speech, he says, "We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts--a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world." 1998 - Jose' Francisco Pena Gomez joins the ancestors at the age of 61 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic after succumbing to pancreatic cancer. He had risen from a childhood of extreme poverty to become one of the most prominent black political figures in Latin America. He had led a successful civil-military revolt in 1965 which was curtailed by the interference of United States Marines sent to the Dominican Republic to put down the rebellion. He was later forced into exile. He later returned to the Dominican Republic and became heavily involved in politics as leader of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano. He ran for president unsuccessfully three times. 2020 - Betty Wright, the award-winning Rhythm & Blues soul singer whose signature song went on to become a sampling standard in hip-hop music, joins the ancestors at the age of 66 after succumbing to cancer. She had a career that spanned decades and evolved from its gospel roots to rhythm and blues to pop, the latter of which won her a pair of Grammy Awards. ______________________________________________________________ Munirah Chronicle is edited by Mr. Rene' A. Perry "The TRUTH shall make you free" E-mail: <[log in to unmask]> Archives: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/Munirah.html http://blackagenda.com/cybercolonies/index.htm _____________________________________________________________ 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. 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