29 DAYS OF FEBRUARY

Celebration of America’s Diversity

 

 

FEBRUARY 29th 2020 (Trailblazer)

 HATTIE MCDANIEL

First Oscar Won by a Black Entertainer 

 

Hattie McDaniel was an American actress of stage and screen, professional singer-songwriter, and comedian. She is best known for her role as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind (1939), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first Oscar won by a black entertainer.  In 1975, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and in 2006 became the first black Oscar winner honored with a US postage stamp. McDaniel received a plaque-style Oscar, approximately 5.5 inches (14 cm) by 6 inches (15 cm), the type awarded to all Best Supporting Actors and Actresses at that time. She and her escort were required to sit at a segregated table for two at the far wall of the room; her white agent, William Meiklejohn, sat at the same table. The hotel had a strict no-blacks policy, but allowed McDaniel in as a favor.

The whereabouts of McDaniel’s Oscar are currently unknown. In 1992, Jet magazine reported that Howard University could not find it and alleged that it had disappeared during protests in the 1960s. In 1998, Howard University stated that it could find no written record of the Oscar having arrived at Howard. In 2007, an article in The Huffington Post repeated rumors that the Oscar had been cast into the Potomac River by angry civil rights protesters in the 1960s. The assertion reappeared in The Huffington Post under the same byline in 2009.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_McDaniel

 

 

Click the following links for previous years of history

https://paxstereo.tv/2019-28-days-of-february/
https://paxstereo.tv/2018-28-days-of-february/
https://paxstereo.tv/28-days-of-february/

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 29th 2020 (Pathfinder)

 ROBERT MCFERRIN SR.

First African-American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera 

 

Robert Keith McFerrin Sr. was an American operatic baritone and the first African-American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He was the father of Grammy Award-winning vocalist Robert McFerrin Jr., better known as “Don’t Worry Be HappyBobby McFerrin. McFerrin, whose Baptist minister father did not allow him to sing anything but gospel music, was encouraged by a teacher in St. Louis to develop his baritone voice and pursue his talent. He performed in 10 operas in three seasons at the Met and provided the vocals for Sidney Poitier in the film Porgy and Bess (1959).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McFerrin

McFerrin had distinguished himself in singing competitions earlier in life, but in 1953 he eclipsed these honors by winning the Metropolitan Opera‘s “Auditions of the Air”, the first African-American to do so. His voice was described by critic Albert Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times as “a baritone of beautiful quality, even in all registers, and with a top that partakes of something of a tenor’s ringing brilliance.”
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-McFerrin-Sr

 

 

Click the following links for previous years of history

https://paxstereo.tv/2019-28-days-of-february/
https://paxstereo.tv/2018-28-days-of-february/
https://paxstereo.tv/28-days-of-february/

 

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 28th 2020 (Leadership)

 BELINDA BENNETT

World’s First Black Female Cruise Ship Captain

 

Born in St. Helena, one of the most remote islands in the world, and starting as a deck cadet at age 17, Bennett moved up the ranks until she began working with Windstar Cruises 14 years ago. In January 2016, she was named Captain of Windstar’s MSY Wind Star, a four-masted sailing ship. Bennett, a British citizen, resides in Southampton, United Kingdom and also claims the distinction of being among just a few British woman cruise passenger ship captains as well as a pioneer for minorities working in the cruise industry.
https://blog.windstarcruises.com/windstar-cruises-captain-belinda-bennett-awarded-2018-merchant-navy-medal/

Bennett’s 25-year odyssey has taken her from deck cadet aboard a Royal Mail Ship to captain of Windstar Cruises’ 148-passenger Wind Star, and during a ceremony last fall, she received the 2018 Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service from Her Royal Highness Princess Anne. 
https://blog.windstarcruises.com/diversity-sails-forward-introducing-captain-belinda-bennett-windstars-first-black-female-ships-master/

 

 

FEBRUARY 28th 2020 (Revitalization)

 Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community 

Wealthiest Native American Tribe in the United States

 

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) (DakotaBdemayaṭo Oyate) is a federally recognized, sovereign Indian tribe of Mdewakanton Dakota people, located southwest of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, within parts of the cities of Prior Lake and Shakopee in Scott County, MinnesotaMdewakanton, pronounced Mid-ah-wah-kah-ton, means “dwellers at the spirit waters.” The tribe owns and operates Mystic Lake Casino HotelLittle Six Casino, and a number of other enterprises.  The Shakopee Mdewakanton people, who were reported to be making $1 million per tribe member in recent years. 
https://www.usaonlinecasino.com/blog/5-richest-native-american-tribes-owning-casinos/

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) recently opened a public exhibit that celebrates and chronicles the history of the tribe and allows visitors to experience Dakota culture. The exhibit is located in Hoċokata Ti (2300 Tiwahe Circle, Shakopee), the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s new cultural center and gathering space. In 1969 the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community gained federal recognition as a tribe. They created a government and developed an economic system.
https://gardenwarriorsgoodseeds.com/2015/01/07/mdewakanton-wozupi-shakopee-mdewakanton-sioux-community-mn/

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 27th 2020 (Royal Princess)

 SARA FORBES BONETTA 

West African Egbado Princess Sold Into slavery, liberated, Goddaughter To

Queen Victoria

 

Sara Forbes Bonetta, otherwise spelled Sarah (1843 – 15 August 1880), was a West African Egbado princess of the Yoruba people who was orphaned in intertribal warfare, sold into slavery and, in a remarkable twist of events, was liberated from enslavement and became a goddaughter to Queen Victoria. She was married to Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, a wealthy Victorian Lagos philanthropist.
https://helenrappaport.com/queen-victoria/sarah-forbes-bonetta/

“Queen Victoria always had a fascination for her black and colonial subjects at a time when such interest was rare among the white aristocracy. She readily took up the cause of a ‘Dahoman captive’, affectionately calling her Sally, and becoming a loyal friend and protector until she was old enough to marry..”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Forbes_Bonetta

 

 

FEBRUARY 27th 2020 (My Personal History)

 JULIUS MADDOX 

From Drug Addiction to Powerlifting to World Record Bench

 

“The Most Powerful Weight To Lift is The Mind” – V. Allen

 

Julius Maddox is an American powerlifter who is the current world record holder for raw bench press at 744.1 lbs. In February 2020 Maddox benched 765 pounds in the gym, sharing it in a post on Instagram. His previous best lift in the gym was 755 pounds, done in January 2020. From drug addiction and depression—lifting became his means of survival
“If I can change one person or inspire one person to live a different life, then I’m fulfilling my purpose,” he says.
https://www.owensboroliving.com/features/julius-maddox-lifted/

He was a star athlete at Owensboro High School, but his once promising life spiraled out of control once he began hanging out with the wrong people and abusing drugs. One day, following a recovery program session, Maddox, who has been powerlifting only for a little over seven years put his strength to the test in a dungeon-like basement gym with nothing but dirt for a floor. 
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/fitness/from-drug-addiction-to-powerlifting-julius-maddoxs-inspiring-story-is-sparking-change/ar-BBXZc7y

‘Be Irregular’

Above Julius Maddox bench press lifts new raw world record of 765 lbs. with no media, fanfare or writers on a regular workout at the gym.

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 26th 2020 (Gone Not Forgotten)

 THE PILL TRIALS / TUSKEGEE EXPERIMENT

 Puerto Rican women were used as human guinea pigs for the birth control pill

Tuskegee Institute studied negro males effects of untreated syphilis

 

The Puerto Rico clinical trials took place not in the mainland United States, but in Puerto Rico, where poor women were given a strong formulation of the drug without being told they were taking part in a trial or about any of the risks they’d face. Three women died during the secretive test phase—but their deaths were never investigated. 
https://www.history.com/news/birth-control-pill-history-puerto-rico-enovid

U.S. Doctors Involved In The Study

https://www.history.com/news/birth-control-pill-history-puerto-rico-enovid

Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male was a clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United States Public Health Service. The purpose of this study was to observe the natural history of untreated syphilis; the African American men in the study were only told they were receiving free health care from the Federal government of the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment
https://tuskegeesyphilisexperimentt.weebly.com/doctors-involved.html

 

 

 

FEBRUARY 26th 2020 (Pioneer)

 ROBERTO CLEMENTE

First Latin American and Caribbean player enshrined in MLB Hall of Fame

 

Clemente was an All-Star for 12 seasons, playing in 15 All-Star Games. He was the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player in 1966, the NL batting leader in 1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967, and a Gold Glove Award winner for 12 consecutive seasons from 1961 through 1972. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, becoming both the first Latin American and Caribbean player to be enshrined. 
http://www.robertoclemente.si.edu/english/virtual_legacy.htm

Clemente was involved in charity work in Latin American and Caribbean countries during the off-seasons, often delivering baseball equipment and food to those in need. On December 31, 1972, he died in a plane crash at the age of 38 while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. The following season, the Pirates retired his uniform number 21, and MLB renamed its annual Commissioner’s Award in his honor; now known as the Roberto Clemente Award
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente

 

 

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 25th 2020 (R.I.P. Trailblazer)

 EMILY JASMIN TATUM PEREZ

First female African-American officer in US military history to die in combat

 

Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez was a Cadet Command Sergeant Major in the United States Military Academy at West Point. Perez was killed in action on September 12, 2006, while leading a convoy through Al Kifl, Iraq. Aged 23, she was the first female graduate of West Point to die in the Iraq War, the first West Point graduate of the “Class of 9/11” to die in combat, and the first female African-American officer to die in combat.
https://www.fallenheroesproject.org/united-states/emily-jazmin-tatum-perez/

Lieutenant Perez’s military awards include the Bronze StarPurple HeartArmy Commendation MedalNational Defense Service MedalIraq Campaign MedalGlobal War on Terrorism Service MedalArmy Service RibbonOverseas Service Ribbon, and the Combat Action Badge. She posthumously received the NCAA Award of Valor in 2008.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Perez

 

 

FEBRUARY 25th 2020 (Pathfinder)

 ED DWIGHT

The Kennedy administration selected Dwight as the first African American astronaut trainee in 1961

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Dwight

 

Edward Joseph (Ed) Dwight Jr. is an African-American sculptor, author, and former test pilot who was the first African American to enter the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts. Dwight proceeded to Phase II of ARPS but was not selected by NASA to be an astronaut. He resigned from the Air Force in 1966, claiming that racial politics had forced him out of NASA and back into the regular officer corps. At the urging of the Kennedy administration, which saw the political benefits of a diversified astronaut corps, Dwight was assigned to the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where, in 1962, the press labeled him the country’s “first black astronaut.”
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-022420a-black-in-space-smithsonian-documentary.html

“You can almost draw a graph of it,” said Dwight, who today is a celebrated sculptor. “Everything was working and the graph was on an upward trajectory until Nov. 22, 1963, when the president [Kennedy] was killed. It changed the whole play. The whole thing was turned on his head and all of a sudden, I found myself without a sponsor and was lost in the hinterlands.” 
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/us/ed-dwight-was-set-to-be-the-first-black-astronaut-heres-why-that-never-happened.html

 

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 24th 2020 (R.I.P. Trailblazer)

 KATHERINE G. JOHNSON

One of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist

 

Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 35-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. Her social influence as a pioneer in space science and computing is demonstrated by the honors she received and her status as a role model for a life in science.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson

Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, and she worked on plans for a mission to Mars. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson as a lead character in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. In 2016, Johnson was included in the list of “100 Women“, BBC’s list of 100 influential women worldwide.[47] NASA stated, “Her calculations proved as critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landing program and the start of the Space Shuttle program, as they did to those first steps on the country’s journey into space.”
https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography

 

FEBRUARY 25th 2020 (Trailblazer)

 EMILY JASMIN TATUM PEREZ

First  female African-American officer in US military history to die in combat

 

 

 

FEBRUARY 24th 2020 (Transformation)

 THOMAS MUNDY PETERSON

First African-American to vote in an election

 

Thomas Mundy Peterson (October 6, 1824 – February 4, 1904) of Perth Amboy, New Jersey was the first African-American to vote in an election under the just-enacted provisions of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. His vote was cast on March 31, 1870. He was a school janitor between 1870 and 1878 and a general handyman in Perth Amboy. Active in the Republican Party, and the Prohibition Party. He was also the city’s first “colored” person to serve on a jury.
https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2018/07/plaque_unveiled_to_honor_first_african-american_to.html

Historians have found quotes from Peterson in news reports of the time.
“I was working for Mr. T. L. Kearny on the morning of the day of election, and did not think of voting until he came out to the stable where I was attending the horses and advised me to go to the polls and exercise a citizen’s privilege,” Peterson said in an 1800s interview.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mundy_Peterson

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 23rd 2020 (Pioneer)

 JERRY LAWSON

Pioneering the commercial video game cartridge

 

Gerald Anderson “Jerry” Lawson was an American electronic engineer, and one of few African-American engineers in the video game industry at that time. He is known for his work in designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console as well as pioneering the commercial video game cartridge. While he was with Fairchild, Lawson and Ron Jones were the sole black members of the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of early computer hobbyists which would produce a number of industry legends, including Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Lawson had noted he had interviewed Wozniak for a position at Fairchild, but did not hire him.

In March 2011, Lawson was honored as an industry pioneer for his work on the game cartridge concept by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). Lawson was honored with the ID@Xbox Gaming Heroes award at the 21st Independent Games Festival on March 20, 2019 for his development of the cartridge-based game console.

 

 

FEBRUARY 23rd 2020 (Trailblazer)

 AZIE TAYLOR MORTON

Only African American  to serve as Treasurer of the United States

 

Azie Taylor Morton served as Treasurer of the United States during the Carter administration from September 12, 1977 to January 20, 1981. She remains the only African American to hold that office. Her signature was printed on US currency during her tenure, an honor that she shared with four African-American men. Before becoming treasurer, she served on President John F. Kennedy‘s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. From 1972 to 1976, she was a special assistant to Robert Schwarz Strauss, the chair of the Democratic National Committee. 
https://medium.com/@AllisonRizz/azie-taylor-morton-da30ca3eef2a

She was also an election observer for the presidential elections in HaitiSenegal, and the Dominican Republic; a member of the American Delegation to RomeItaly for the Enthronement of Pope John Paul II; chair of a People to People Mission to the Soviet Union and China; and a representative to the first African/African American Conference held in Africa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azie_Taylor_Morton

 

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 22nd 2020 (Pioneer)

 DR. SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON

First African-American woman to earn a doctorate at M.I.T.

 

Shirley Ann Jackson, is an American physicist, and the eighteenth president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is also the second African-American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics. In 2014, she was awarded the National Medal of Science. She was inducted into National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1998 for “her significant contributions as a distinguished scientist and advocate for education, science, and public policy”.

https://www.black-inventor.com/dr-shirley-jackson

Jackson has received many fellowships, including the Martin Marietta Aircraft Company Scholarship and Fellowship, the Prince Hall Masons Scholarship, the National Science Foundation Traineeship, and a Ford Foundation Advanced Study Fellowship. She has been elected to numerous special societies, including the American physical society and American Philosophical Society. She was appointed an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in 2012. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Ann_Jackson

 

 

FEBRUARY 22nd 2020 (Trailblazer)

 ALEXANDER MILES

Invented Automatic Elevators Doors

 
Alexander Miles (May 18, 1838 – May 7, 1918) was an American inventor best known for being awarded a patent for automatically opening and closing elevator doors. He was awarded U.S. Patent 371,207 on October 11, 1887. Miles improved the method of the opening and closing of elevator doors and the shaft door when an elevator was not on that floor. He created an automatic mechanism that closed access to the shaft by the action of the cage moving. His design attached a flexible belt to the elevator cage. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Miles

The problem with elevators at that time was that the doors of the elevator and the shaft had to be opened and closed manually. This could be done either by those riding in the elevator, or a dedicated elevator operator. People would forget to close the shaft door. As a result, there were accidents with people falling down the elevator shaft. Alexander Miles was listed in the city directories as a laborer. However, by 1900 he listed himself as an insurance agent. Around 1903, they moved again, to Seattle, Washington, where he worked in a hotel as a barber.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Miles

 

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 21st 2020 (Visionary)

 AVA DUVERNAY

First black female director nominated for

Oscar and Golden Globe Awards

 

Ava Marie DuVernay is an American filmmaker and film distributor.  For her work on Selma (2014), DuVernay became the first black woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and also the first black female director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2017, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her film 13th 
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/ava-duvernay-visionary-filmmaking-reshaping-hollywood-180967217/

 She won the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere . DuVernay’s 2018 fantasy film A Wrinkle in Time, had a production and marketing budget between $150 million and $250 million, making her the first black woman to direct a live-action film with a budget of that size. Although commercially unsuccessful, the film made her the first black American woman to direct a film that earned at least $100 million domestically.

“I try to be a shapeshifter and do a lot of things. A: because I can. B: because the traditional walls collapsed so there’s more flexibility, and C: because you can’t hit a moving target.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ava_DuVernay

 

 

FEBRUARY 21st 2020 (Trailblazer)

 VIOLA DAVIS

First black actress or actor to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting

 

Viola Davis is an American actress and producer. Having won an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the first black actress or actor to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. For starring as a 1960s housemaid in the comedy-drama The Help (2011), Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won a SAG Award. In 2014, Davis began playing lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC television drama series How to Get Away with Murder, and in 2015, she became the first black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/20/viola-davis-stifled-who-was-lost-years-the-help

In 2016, Davis played Amanda Waller in the superhero film Suicide Squad and reprised the role of Maxson in the film adaptation of Fences, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to receive a BAFTA nomination for starring in the heist film Widows. Davis is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support of human rights and equal rights for women and women of color.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Davis

 

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 20th 2020 (Transcendent)

 MARIE VAN BRITTON BROWN

Inventor of the home security system 

 

Marie Van Brittan Brown was an American inventor. She was the inventor of the home security system (U.S. Patent 3,482,037) in 1966, along with her husband Albert Brown. Inspired by how long it would take the police to arrive in her neighborhood, Brown invented the first form of a home security system. The system included a device that enabled a homeowner to use a television set to view the person at the door and hear the caller’s voice. The home security system that she and her husband invented allowed the monitor to be in a different room, and all of this was possible via a radio controlled wireless system. 
https://techtalk.currys.co.uk/computing/laptops-desktops-tablets/women-in-STEM/

https://www.mathdunk.org/home-security-marie-van-brittan
If the person viewing the images on the monitor did not feel safe they could press a button that would send an alarm to police or security. Although the system was originally intended for domestic uses, many businesses began to adopt her system due to its effectiveness. The system also used a voice component to enable Brown to speak to the person at the door. If the person had criminal intent and tried to enter the house forcefully, the police would be notified with the push of a button. For any expected visitor or welcomed person, the door would be unlocked via remote control. For this invention of a system, she received an award from the National Science Committee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Van_Brittan_Brown

 

 

FEBRUARY 20th 2020 (Historic)

 MARVIN GAYE’S “WHAT’S GOIN ON”

Background vocals recorded with Two NFL Detroit Lions

 

“I’ll do it if you sing with me,” Gaye reportedly told the two football stars.

“He says, ‘Lem, you take this part,’ ‘Mel, you take this part,’ ”

After friend and musical partner Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumor, and the things that are happening in the world a grieving Marvin Gaye recorded his future hit single “What’s Goin’ On,” having Detroit Lions’ athletes Lem Barney and Mel Farr lay down vocals for the song’s intro. Gaye later met with Lions’ coach Joe Schmidt to propose the idea of playing for the team, which Schmidt turned down.
https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2018/11/30/marvin-gaye-whats-going-on-with-lem-barney-and-mel-farr/

The record starts with good-natured conversation, the voices of 3-4 young men seemingly at a house party. Two of those voices belong to future Pro Football Hall of Famer Barney and Farr. The background vocals are Farr and Barney with Gaye on a second track backing his own lead vocals. Farr and Barney were in the studio less than a day working on their parts. Ironically, considering the trio of Detroit stars on the record, Gaye was forced to issue it on a private label. Barry Gordy an Motown Records felt it was too controversial and not “hit material.” Gaye had 100,000 copies made and sent to radio stations and record stores across the country. It was a gamble, but one that paid off.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_Going_On_(Marvin_Gaye_album)

 

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 19th 2020 (Pioneer)

 CHRISTOPHER PRIEST

First Black Writer-Editor In Mainstream Comics

 

Christopher James Priest born James Christopher Owsley is an American writer of comic books who is at times credited simply as Priest.  He joined Marvel’s editorial staff in 1979, working for Paul Laiken as a managing editor on Crazy Magazine and becoming the first African American editor in mainstream comics. He next became assistant editor for Larry Hama on the Conan titles. Owsley made his professional debut as a writer in 1983 with issue #1 of The Falcon miniseries and was made full editor of the Spider-Man comic books from 1985 to 1986. Priest is also a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist music producer who has written and produced dozens of tracks for himself and others.
https://www.marvel.com/comics/creators/110/christopher_priest

As a writer, Owsley/Priest worked on the series Conan the BarbarianThe RaySteelDeadpool, and Black Panther vol. 3. He co-created the series Quantum and WoodyXero, and The Crew, among others. After a decade-long absence from comics, he returned in 2014–2015 to write a Quantum and Woody miniseries for Valiant Comics. He was chosen to write the DC Rebirth version of Deathstroke in 2016. Priest contributed a story to the Black Panther Annual #1, released in February 2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Priest_(comics)

 

 

FEBRUARY 19th 2020 (Trailblazer)

 DEATH (PROTO-PUNK BAND)

Band was Punk before Punk was Punk

 

Death is an American rock band formed in DetroitMichigan in 1971 by brothers Bobby (bass, vocals), David (guitar), and Dannis (drums) Hackney. The trio started out as a funk band but switched to rock after seeing a concert by The Who. Music critic Peter Margasak retrospectively wrote that David “pushed the group in a hard-rock direction that presaged punk,  today it makes them look like visionaries.” They are seen in many groups as one of the first punk bands in the world.

Death began playing at cabarets and garage parties on Detroit’s predominantly African-American east side, but were met with reactions ranging from confusion to derision. “We were ridiculed because at the time everybody in our community was listening to the Philadelphia sound, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Isley Brothers,” Bobby said. “People thought we were doing some weird stuff. 

“I knew those kids were great, but trying to break a black group into rock ’n’ roll was just tough during that time.”

-Brian Spears, Groovesville 

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 18th 2020 (Pioneer)

 JANE C. WRIGHT

Pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon noted contributions to chemotherapy

 

Jane Cooke Wright (also known as “Jane Jones” or “Mrs Jane Jones”) was a pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon noted for her contributions to chemotherapy. In 1971, Dr. Jane Wright became the first woman president of the New York Cancer Society. Dr. Jane Wright analyzed a wide range of anti-cancer agents, explored the relationship between patient and tissue culture response, and developed new techniques for administering cancer chemotherapy. By 1967, she was the highest ranking African American woman in a United States medical institution.

https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_336.html

 During her forty-year career, Dr. Wright published many research papers on cancer chemotherapy and led delegations of cancer researchers to Africa, China, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union. She worked in Ghana in 1957 and in Kenya in 1961, treating cancer patients. From 1973 to 1984 she served as vice president of the African Research and Medical Foundation
 “There’s lots of fun in exploring the unknown. There’s no greater thrill than in having an experiment turn out in such a way that you make a positive contribution.” – Jane C. Wright
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_C._Wright

 

 

FEBRUARY 18th 2020 (Trailblazer)

 GEORGE EDWIN TAYLOR

First African American to run for president

 

George Edwin Taylor (August 4, 1857 – December 23, 1925) was an American journalist, activist, and politician, who was the candidate of the National Negro Liberty Party for the office of President of the United States in 1904. He was the first African American to run for president. Between 1900 and 1904, Taylor was president of the National Negro Democratic League. Southern Democrats were enacting laws that disfranchised most black voters and were imposing segregation through “Jim Crow” laws.  It was a time when lynching was creeping northward and when scientific racism was gaining acceptance within the nation’s intellectual and scientific community.
https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/12/01/455267676/a-forgotten-presidential-candidate-from-1904

A journalist by trade, Taylor — who lived in Iowa — gained distinction, according to the Tacoma, Wash., Times on Aug. 17, 1904, as a leader in the Republican national convention of 1892, “to which he was an alternate delegate-at-large from his state. The next campaign he was delegate-at-large to the Democratic convention.” “From 1891 to 1910, Taylor lived in Oskaloosa and Ottumwa, Iowa, where he published a national magazine called the Negro Solicitor. During this period he rose to prominence in national black politics, acting as president of the National Colored Men’s Protective Association and the National Negro Democratic League
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edwin_Taylor

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 17th 2020 (Trailblazer)

 BARRINGTON IRVING

Former Youngest Around The World Solo Pilot

First Black & Jamaican To Accomplish The Feat.

 

Barrington Irving is a Jamacian-born American pilot who previously held the record for the youngest person to pilot a plane around the world solo, a feat he accomplished in 2007. He is also the first black person and first Jamaican to accomplish this feat. Among his many honors, he holds the NASA Trailblazer Award, the Guinness World Record and the NBAA 2019 American Spirit Award.
https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/00000144-0a38-d3cb-a96c-7b3d71a10000

He is a graduate of Miami Northwestern Senior High School. He turned down multiple football scholarship offers with his sights set on aviation. He later founded Experience Aviation, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering minority youth to pursue careers in aviation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrington_Irving

 

 

FEBRUARY 17th 2020 (Trailblazer)

 BESSIE COLEMAN

 First woman of African-American descent, and also the first of Native-American descent, to hold a pilot license

 

Bessie Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She earned her pilot license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921, and was the first black person to earn an international pilot’s license. She was the first woman of African-American descent, and also the first of Native-American descent, to hold a pilot license.
http://www.bessiecoleman.org/bio-bessie-coleman.php

Determined to polish her skills, Coleman spent the next two months taking lessons from a French ace pilot near Paris and in September 1921 she sailed for America. She became a media sensation when she returned to United States.
It’s tempting to draw parallels between me and Ms. Coleman . . .[but] I point to Bessie Coleman and say here is a woman, a being, who exemplifies and serves as a model for all humanity, the very definition of strength, dignity, courage, integrity, and beauty.

– Mae Jemison (first African-American
woman astronaut)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman

 

 

 

*****

 

 

*Special Remembrance*

FEBRUARY 16th 2020 (God’s Human)

 THE SAD DISPLAY OF OTA BENGA

 

Ota Benga was born in the Congo around 1883 and a member of the Mbuti people, a pygmy tribe. Benga, previously known as Mbye Otabenga, was brought from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United States in 1904 by former Presbyterian missionary Samuel Verner to be displayed at the St. Louis World’s Fair. At that time, Belgium ruled over the Congo. The Belgian king, Leopold II, sent a militia into the area where the Mbuti lived. A number of people were killed in the conflict including Ota Benga’s wife and children.
https://africanexplorermagazine.com/2018/12/21/the-sad-tale-of-ota-benga-the-african-pygmy-who-was-displayed-at-the-bronx-zoo/

 

An American missionary, Samuel Phillips Verner, spotted Benga and purchased him for several bags of salt and some brass wire. Verner had been sent to Africa specifically to locate individuals to feature in the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Verner took Benga to the Bronx Zoo in 1906. William Hornaday, director of the zoo, initially enlisted Benga to help maintain the animal habitats. However, Hornaday saw that people took more notice of Benga than the animals at the zoo, and he eventually created an exhibition to feature Benga.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Phillips_Verner

 

Benga spent some of his time in the Monkey House exhibit, and the zoo encouraged him to hang his hammock there, and to shoot his bow and arrow at a target. On the first day of the exhibit, September 8, 1906, visitors found Benga in the Monkey House. African-American clergymen immediately protested to zoo officials about the exhibit, Said James H. Gordon. A number of clergymen backed Gordon in defense of the depiction of Benga as a lesser human.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ota_Benga

Gordon placed Benga in the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum, a church-sponsored orphanage in Brooklyn that Gordon supervised. As the unwelcome press attention continued, in January 1910, Gordon arranged for Benga’s relocation to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he lived with the McCray family. In March 1916, Ota Benga ventured out into a nearby wooded area. This was nothing unusual, as he spent much of his free time in the forest hunting and collecting herbs. In the woods, Benga prepared a ceremonial fire. He knocked the caps off of his teeth to restore the pointed ends. He then shot himself using a stolen pistol.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 15th 2020 (Icon)

CHAKA KHAN

 “I Feel for You” 1st R&B With Rap Crossover Hit

 

Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer and songwriter. Known as the “Queen of Funk”, Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with “I Feel for You” in 1984. She was ranked at number 17 in VH1‘s original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. She has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. In December 2004, Chaka Khan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music during the inauguration of its president, Roger H. Brown.
https://chakakhan.com/

Khan has won ten Grammy Awards and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.  She has collaborated with Ry CooderRobert PalmerRay CharlesQuincy JonesGuruChicagoDe la SoulMary J. Blige, among others. In 2020, Khan competed in season 3 of The Masked Singer as Miss Monster. She was eliminated and unmasked in the third episode.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaka_Khan

 

 

FEBRUARY 15th 2020 (Trailblazer)

NORM LEWIS

 First African-American

to perform title role in Phantom of the Opera

 

Norm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. Lewis has been credited as having “an impressive Broadway resumé” by Playbill. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the popular musical productions of Porgy and Bess and The Phantom of the Opera, making musical theatre history as the first African-American actor to perform in the title role in Broadway’s long-running production of Phantom of the Opera.
http://www.normlewis.com/

On May 12, 2014, Lewis assumed the role of the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera in New York, making him the first African American to play the title role in the New York production and the third worldwide. Lewis portrayed Caiaphas in the live televised concert production of Jesus Christ Superstar on April 1, 2018, Easter Sunday. Lewis has played Javert in the musical Les Misérables several times. He first starred in the role in the 2006 Broadway revival, making him the first African American actor to play the role in a professional English production. Lewis is a recipient of the 2014 AUDELCO Special Achievement Award. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_Lewis

 

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 14th 2020 (Grandmaster)

MAURICE ASHLEY

First Jamaican-American to attain the title of Grandmaster

 

Maurice Ashley is a Jamaican-American chess grandmaster, author, and commentator. In 1999 he earned the grandmaster title (GM), making him the first black person to attain the title of grandmaster. On April 13, 2016, Ashley was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame. Maurice’s sister is world boxing champion Alicia Ashley and his brother is former world kickboxing champion Devon Ashley.
https://mauriceashley.com/

Starting in the Fall of 2012, Ashley was a Director’s Fellow at the MIT Media Lab and, between 2013 and 2015, Maurice was also a Fellow at Harvard University‘s Berkman Center for Internet & Society in a joint fellowship at both Harvard’s Berkman Center and the Media Lab at MIT. Currently, Maurice is a Research affiliate at the Media Lab at MIT.

“African continent GMs do exist; but, according to the system of racial classification, I am the first Black GM in history… it matters, and doesn’t matter, all at the same time.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Ashley

 

 

 

FEBRUARY 14th 2020 (Garbo-ish)

NINA MAE MCKINNEY

 “The Black Garbo” 

 

Nina Mae McKinney was an American actress who worked internationally during the 1930s and in the postwar period in theatre, film and television, after getting her start on Broadway and in Hollywood. Dubbed “The Black Garbo” in Europe because of her striking beauty. Because of the prevalence of racism in the American entertainment industry, many African-American actors and actresses went to work in England, France, and other European countries, where they found more professional opportunities.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/obituaries/nina-mae-mckinney-overlooked.html

McKinney was one of the first African-American film stars in the United States, as well as one of the first African Americans to appear on British television. In Hallelujah (1929), McKinney was the first African-American actress to hold a principal role in a mainstream film; it had an African-American cast. Vidor was nominated for an Oscar for his directing of Hallelujah and McKinney was praised for her role.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Mae_McKinney

 

 

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 13th 2020 (Legend)

BASS REEVES

First black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River

 

Bass Reeves was an American law enforcement officer. Bass Reeves was born into slavery in the summer of 1838 in Crawford County, Arkansas. During his long career, he was credited with arresting more than 3,000 felons. He shot and killed 14 people in self-defense. Once, he had to arrest his own son for murder. One of his sons, Bennie Reeves, was charged with the murder of his wife. Deputy Marshal Reeves was disturbed and shaken by the incident, but allegedly demanded the responsibility of bringing Bennie to justice. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Reeves

During the Civil War, Reeves fled north to what is now Oklahoma, and lived with the Cherokee, Seminole, and Creek Indians, learning their languages, until he was freed in 1865 by the Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery. He not only arrested the criminals (he once brought in seventeen prisoners at once!) but at night, he’d talk to them about the Bible and about repentance. Was Reeves the real Lone Ranger? https://truewestmagazine.com/was-bass-reeves-the-real-lone-ranger/

 

 

FEBRUARY 1th 2020 (Trailblazer)

OLIVIA HOOKER

First African-American woman to enter the U.S. Coast Guard

 
Olivia Juliette Hooker (February 12, 1915 – November 21, 2018) was an American psychologist and professor. Olivia Hooker, who after surviving a race-related attack on a black section of Tulsa, Okla., in 1921 went on to become the first black woman to enlist in the Coast Guard. She received a master’s degree in psychological services at Columbia University in 1947 and a doctorate in psychology at the University of Rochester in 1961. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Hooker

“Other people call it the Tulsa riot,” she explained. “It really wasn’t a riot — we were the victims.”

She remembered that when the attacks started, she saw men with torches storming into the family’s backyard and her mother acting to protect her and her three siblings. “I guess the most shocking thing was seeing people, to whom you had never done anything to irritate, who just took it upon themselves to destroy your property because they didn’t want you to have those things,” she said. “And they were teaching you a lesson. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/obituaries/olivia-hooker-dead.html

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 12th 2020 (Icon)

WYNTON MARSALIS

First jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music

 

Wynton Learson Marsalis is an American virtuoso trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center.  Marsalis has been awarded nine Grammy Awards and his Blood on the Fields was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He has received honorary degrees from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami (1994), Kenyon College (2019), New York University, Columbia, Connecticut College, HarvardHowardNorthwesternPrinceton, Vermont, and the State University of New York.
https://www.jazz.org/JLCO/wynton-marsalis/

Wynton Marsalis has won the National Medal of Arts, the National Humanities Medal, and been named an NEA Jazz Master. At seventeen, he was the youngest musician admitted to Tanglewood Music. In 1995, he hosted the educational program Marsalis on Music on public television, while during the same year National Public Radio broadcast his series Making the Music. Both programs won the George Foster Peabody Award, the highest award given in journalism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynton_Marsalis

 

 

FEBRUARY 12th 2020 (Trailblazer)

ESPERANZA SPALDING

First jazz artist to win Grammy for best new artist

 

Esperanza Emily Spalding is an American jazz bassist and singer. Spalding was raised in Portland, Oregon, and was a musical prodigy, playing violin in the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at five years old. She has won four Grammy Awards, including “Best Jazz Vocal Album” in 2020, and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 53rd Grammy Awards, making her the first jazz artist to win the award.
http://www.esperanzaspalding.com/#new-page-1

Spalding has credited watching classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform on an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood as an integral part of her childhood, and what inspired her to pursue music. Spalding also played oboe and clarinet before discovering the double bass in high school. She sings in English, Spanish and Portuguese. She has described the saxophone player Wayne Shorter, and singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento, as heroes. She has also noted her preference for the music of Brazil.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanza_Spalding

 

 

 

*****

 

 

FEBRUARY 11th 2020 (Creator)

 ZELDA WYNN VALDES

 Creator of the original Playboy Bunny costume

 

Zelda Barbour Wynn Valdes was an African-American fashion designer and costumer. She is the creator of the original Playboy Bunny costume.’ Zelda’s sexy-but-sophisticated dresses were worn and adored by Josephine Baker, Diahann Carroll, Dorothy Dandridge, Ruby Dee, Eartha Kitt, Marlene Dietrich, and Mae West, to name a few. Valdes also created a new sexier image for singer Joyce Bryant who LIFE Magazine dubbed “the Black Marilyn Monroe.” 
https://www.shondaland.com/live/style/a19992024/zelda-wynn-valdes/

Beginning in the 1960s, Valdes directed the Fashion and Design Workshop of the Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited and Associated Community Teams (HARYOU-ACT). Valdes taught costume designing skills and facilitated fabric donations to the student workshops. She was one of the founders of the National Association of Fashion Accessory Designers, an industry group intended to promote black design professionals. This group was established with the sponsorship of the National Council of Negro Women. In 1970, Arthur Mitchell asked Valdes to design costumes for his new company, the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelda_Wynn_Valdes

 

Playboy Bunny for a day

Barbara Walters “Ouch” – Circa 1962

 

 

FEBRUARY 11th 2020 (The G.O.A.T.?)

 SAMUEL L. JACKSON

Highest-grossing actor of all time (Excluding Cameos)

 

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American actor and film producer. Jackson has won critical acclaim and numerous accolades and awards. Jackson is ranked as the highest all-time box office star with over $7.1 billion total US box office gross, an average of $89.9 million per film. The worldwide box office total of his films (excluding cameo appearances) is over $16.7 billion. He became the top-grossing actor in October 2011, surpassing veteran voice actor Frank Welker.
https://www.biography.com/actor/samuel-l-jackson

After the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackson attended the funeral in Atlanta as one of the ushers. In 1969, Jackson and several other students held members of the Morehouse College board of trustees (including a nearby Martin Luther King, Sr.) hostage on the campus, demanding reform in the school’s curriculum and governance.[21] The college eventually agreed to change its policy, but Jackson was charged with and eventually convicted of unlawful confinement, a second-degree felony.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_L._Jackson

 

 

 

***** 

 

FEBRUARY 10th 2020 (Prodigy)

 JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

Most financially successful African-American painter in history

 

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent. Notable private collectors of Basquiat’s work include David Bowie, Mera and Donald Rubell, Lars Ulrich, Steven A. Cohen, Laurence Graff, John McEnroe, Madonna, Debbie HarryLeonardo DiCaprio, Swizz Beatz, Jay-Z, and Johnny Depp. Eight short years. That’s how long it took Jean-Michel Basquiat to secure his legacy as an art world prodigy. He died at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat

He produced vibrant and emotional canvases with a kind of refined cool reminiscent of improvisational jazz greats such as Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. Since Basquiat’s death in 1988, the market for his work has developed steadily—in line with overall art market trends—with a dramatic peak in 2007 when, at the height of the art market boom, the global auction volume for his work was over $115 million. In May 2016, Basquiat’s 1982 Untitled painting shattered his auction world record when it was sold for $57.3 million at Christie’s, making him the most financially successful African-American painter in history.
https://theundefeated.com/features/the-undefeated-44-most-influential-black-americans-in-history/#jean-michel-basquiat

 

 

 

FEBRUARY 10th 2020 (Pathfinder)

 CLAUDIA GORDON

First Deaf Black female attorney in the United States

 

She currently works in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. She is also the first deaf person to work at the White House in an detailee capacity. In an interview, she makes a point that there was a deaf intern working in the White House before her, and that there are currently other deaf people working in less prestigious positions in the White House. Gordon graduated from Howard University in 1995 with a bachelor of arts in political science. At Howard, she was a Patricia Robert Harris Public Affairs Fellow, member of the Golden Keys National Honor Society, and member of the Political Science Honor Society.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_L._Gordon

Claudia L. Gordon was born in Jamaica. After having sharp pains in her ears, her aunt, who took care of her at the time, took her to a small clinic, as there were no hospitals. She was deaf at the age of eight. She didn’t believe she was deaf because she had been reading peoples lip and thought she was hearing their voice. She faced discrimination in Jamaica because she was deaf. Claudia Gordon has been active in both the black deaf community and the disability community. She was the vice president of the National Black Deaf Advocates. She is also associated with the National Coalition for Disability Rights.

https://www.respectability.org/2018/02/first-deaf-african-american-lawyer-claudia-gordon-anti-discrimination-advocate/

 

 

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 9th 2020 (Trailblazer)

 BESSIE STRINGFIELD

First African-American woman to ride across the U.S. Solo

 

Bessie Stringfield began her cross-country tour at just 19 years old. She flipped a penny onto a map of the country to determine her destination and off she went. By 1930, she became the first African-American woman known to have traveled via motorcycle to all 48 states in the continental United States. She was one of the few civilian motorcycle dispatch riders for the US Army during World War II. Credited with breaking down barriers for both women and Jamaican-American motorcyclists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Stringfield

Starting in the 1950s, she became a nurse but sought to continue her two-wheeling legacy. Police, however, made it clear that they weren’t going to allow a black woman to ride around on her bike and so refused her a license. During the four years she worked for the Army, she crossed the United States eight times. She regularly encountered racism during this time, reportedly being deliberately knocked down by a white male in a pickup truck while traveling in the South.
https://allthatsinteresting.com/bessie-stringfield

In the 1950s Stringfield moved to Miami, Florida, where at first she was told “nigger women are not allowed to ride motorcycles” by the local police.[10] After repeatedly being pulled over and harassed by officers, she visited the police captain. They went to a nearby park to prove her riding abilities. She gained the captain’s approval to ride and did not have any more trouble with the police. 

 

 

FEBRUARY 9th 2020 (Legend)

BETTY REID SOSKIN 

Oldest National Park Ranger serving the United States.

 

Betty Reid Soskin is a Ranger with the National Park Service, assigned to the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. During World War II she worked as a file clerk for Boilermakers Union A-36, a Jim Crow all-black union auxiliary. Her main job was filing change of address cards for the workers, who moved frequently. Soskin suffered a stroke while working at the park in September 2019 and returned to work in January 2020.
https://www.glamour.com/story/women-of-the-year-2018-betty-reid-soskin

Back in the 1960s, Betty was a si​nger songwriter with a voice like Billie Holiday and the relevance of Nina Simone, but she turned her back on a potential career in music, and her songs haven’t been heard for 40 years. 

Sign My Name to Freedom is a critically acclaimed memoir and a feature‍‍‍ documentary about Betty, her lost music and her experiences confronting housing segregation in the Bay Area of California. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Reid_Soskin

 

https://paxstereo.tv/2019-28-days-of-february/

https://paxstereo.tv/2018-28-days-of-february/

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 8th 2020 (Academics)

HCBU’S & JEWISH ACADEMIA 

Jewish Refugees Found Home at HBCU’s

 

April 8th 1933 affirms the beginning of white-European Jewish academic relationships with African Americans on HBCU campuses. While the most famous refugees, like Albert Einstein, were welcomed into the hallowed halls of Eastern academia, most of these other scholars faced an academic world that was aloof, if not downright hostile. They were the cream of German society, some of the most brilliant scholars of Europe.

“They went to poorly funded black colleges but what they discovered were incredible students.” 

There were few opportunities for Jews in countries like Britain and the USSR because these countries feared what Nazi Germany would do to them for supporting Jews. HBCUs were open to Jews because of their ideas of equal learning spaces. They sought to create an environment where all people felt welcome to study, including women.

https://aaregistry.org/story/jewish-profs-and-hbcus/

One was the noted Greek philosophy expert Ernst Moritz Manasse, who found a teaching position at the North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University) in Durham. Manasse was not prepared for the rigid segregation in the South that his students faced, he later said “I came from a situation of forced segregation where we were victims, and now I belonged not to the oppressed, but to the oppressor. And that was very, very uncomfortable for me”.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_refugees_teaching_in_black_colleges

 

 

FEBRUARY 8th 2020 (Champion)

BILL RUSSELL 

11 Time NBA Champion

Russell is one of the most successful and decorated athletes in North American sports history. His awards and achievements include 11 NBA championships as a player with the Boston Celtics in 13 seasons (including two NBA championships as player/head coach), and he is credited with having raised defensive play in the NBA to a new level. In his first NBA full season (1957–58), Russell became the first player in NBA history to average more than 20 rebounds per game for an entire season, a feat he accomplished 10 times in his 13 seasons.

Even as he won on the court, Russell, an outspoken backer of the Civil Rights Movement, experienced his struggles off it. He was never embraced by Boston fans in the way his white teammates were. On the road it was not uncommon for him to have to sleep in a different hotel from the one the rest of the club used.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Russell

Basketball great Bill Russell, left, shares a laugh with Kobe Bryant, of the Los Angeles Lakers, at All-Star Saturday Night, a part of NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007.

Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. In 2010 Russell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civil honor, from President Barack Obama

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 7th 2020 (Ground-Breaking)

DR. BARBARA ROSS-LEE 

1st AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN MEDICINE SCHOOL DEAN

Eldest Sister of Diana Ross

 

Barbara Ross-Lee born in Detroit, Michigan is a physician and the first African-American woman to become a medical school dean. After graduating from medical school, Ross-Lee remained in Detroit working at her private practice for ten years. She then took a position with the United States Department of Health and Human Services where she worked on medical education and people of color in medicine. She was the first osteopathic physician to receive the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship.

https://myhero.com/B_Ross_Lee_enloe_HS_06

Growing up in inner city Detroit, Barbara Ross-Lee and her sister Diana shared a fondness for show business, performing with their brothers and sisters in the church choir. But while Diana pursued a career in music and soon to being the lead singer of the “Supremes,” Barbara made her mark in the sciences.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Ross-Lee

https://blackdoctor.org/471335/diana-ross-isnt-the-only-boss-meet-her-sister-the-groundbreaking-doctor/
Ross-Lee was born and raised in the housing projects of Detroit, and is the oldest of six children, including sister Diana Ross. Ross-Lee attended Wayne State University for her undergraduate education. Discouraged from majoring in human anatomy and pursuing medicine, Ross-Lee earned degrees in biology and chemistry in 1965. She then joined the National Teacher Corps, where she stayed until 1969.

 

 

FEBRUARY 7th 2020 (Trailblazer)

SYLVIA ROBINSON

THE MOTHER OF HIP HOP

 

Sylvia Robinson was an American singer, musician, record producer, and record label executive. She later became known for her work as founder and CEO of the hip hop label Sugar Hill Records. Robinson is credited as the driving force behind two landmark singles in the hip hop genre; “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) by the Sugarhill Gang, and “The Message” (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five; which caused her to be dubbed
“The Mother of Hip–Hop”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Robinson

Robinson received a Pioneer Award for her career in singing and being the founder of Sugarhill Records at the 11th Annual Rhythm and Blues Awards Gala in 2000. In 1972, Robinson sent a demo of a song she had written called “Pillow Talk” to Al Green. When Green passed on it due to his religious beliefs, Robinson decided to record it herself, returning to her own musical career. Billed simply as Sylvia, the record became a major hit, reaching number-one on the R&B chart and crossing over to reach the US Billboard Hot 100 (#3)
https://www.discogs.com/Sylvia-Pillow-Talk/release/395745

 

 

*****

 

FEBRUARY 6th 2020 (Hero)

DORIS MILLER – NAVY 3RD CLASS

Next U.S. Aircraft Carrier Named After

Doris Miller

 

Doris “Dorie” Miller (October 12, 1919 – November 24, 1943) was an American sailor in the United States Navy. He manned anti-aircraft guns during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 for which he had no training and tended to the wounded. He was recognized by the Navy for his actions and awarded the Navy Cross. On January 19, 2020, the Navy announced that CVN-81 would be named after him, a Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier scheduled to be laid down in 2023 and launched in 2028.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a30612403/uss-doris-miller/

The reasons for the naming are twofold: to honor the U.S. Navy’s enlisted sailors and their heroes and to honor the contributions of African American sailors. The USS Miller will be the first aircraft carrier in the history of the U.S. Navy to be named for either.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Miller

Miller survived Pearl Harbor unscathed and received the Navy Cross for his actions on that day, the service’s second highest medal for valor, and went on to serve on the escort carrier USS Liscombe Bay. In 1943, Liscombe Bay was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine during the invasion of Makin island. Miller was declared missing in action after the attack and reclassified killed in action one year later. His body was never found.

 

 

FEBRUARY 6th 2020 (Historic)

SUGARHILL GANG – “RAPPERS DELIGHT”

First Mainstream Successful Hip Hop Song

 

The Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 song “Rapper’s Delight” is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain widespread popularity in the mainstream. While it was not the first single to include rapping, “Rapper’s Delight” is credited for introducing hip hop music to a wide audience, reaching the top 40 in the United States, as well as the top 3 in the UK and number-one in Canada.
https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_rap-timeline1.html

 

Their 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight” was the first rap single to become a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The first ever rap music song recorded by Hip Hop artists was “Rappers Delight” by a Hip Hop music group called The Sugar Hill Gang, also in 1979, but it came out shortly after the Fatback Band’s own rap record.

https://dailyrapfacts.com/4254/the-sugarhill-gang-rappers-delight-was-recorded-in-one-take/

 

Find Your Heritage Month of Celebration

https://www.diversitycentral.com/calendar/heritagemonthguide.php

 

 

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FEBRUARY 5th 2020 (Trailblazer)

PATRICE BANKS

Shecanic

In 2017 Founded The Girls Auto Clinic

 

Patrice Banks founded and owns the Girls Auto Clinic in Upper Darby, Pa staffed by female mechanics. In 2017, she published Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide, which covers the basics of auto repairs, maintenance, and emergencies. Banks was previously a material science engineer at DuPont. Banks attended Lehigh University with a $32,000 scholarship. She initially majored in chemical engineering before switching to material science. Graduating in 2002, she accepted a job at DuPont headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, heading a lab that performed failure analysis on manufacturing equipment. Part of her job entailed climbing towers to check on tanks of Hydrochloric acid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Banks

To make the shop more appealing and convenient for women, she also opened an adjoining manicure-pedicure and blowout salon.
In a 2015 Washington Post op/ed, Banks explained why she became an auto mechanic, trading a six-figure salary, “high heels and an air-conditioned office for boots, Dickies and grime-covered hands”. She had grown “tired of feeling like an auto airhead and getting scammed by the male-dominated car-care industry.”
“I was afraid I was going to be taken advantage of,” she says. “I was tired of feeling helpless and having to go talk to a guy.” – Patrice Banks
http://girlsautoclinic.com/

Patrice Banks/ Girls Auto Clinic for Ratchet+Wrench Magazine

 

 

FEBRUARY 5th 2020 (Citizenship)

BLACK CHEROKEE FREEDMEN

Cherokee Nation Owned African Slaves

 

The Cherokee freedmen, descendants of African American slaves owned by citizens of the Cherokee Nation during the Antebellum Period, were first guaranteed Cherokee citizenship under a treaty with the United States in 1866. The Cherokee Freedmen are persons of African ancestry whose ancestors were either enslaved by Cherokees prior to the Civil War or they were free blacks, generally mixed black Indian Cherokees, legally living in the tribe. 

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.4272606/it-s-part-of-who-i-am-slave-descendants-win-equal-rights-from-cherokee-nation-1.4281866

There were five so-called civilized tribes, which grew wealthy and powerful, largely because they enslaved people and this was the basis of the wealth and the economy of those tribes. There were big plantations. So there had been slavery in most Indian tribes but it wasn’t based on a color and a lot of the times, a person who had been enslaved, say a war captive, they were adopted into the tribe. 

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/jazz/jb_jazz_citizens_1.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_freedmen_controversy

 

 

FEBRUARY 4th 2020 (Special Honor)

CATHAY WILLIAMS

Only Black Woman Enlisted as a Buffalo Soldier

 

Cathay Williams (September 1844 – 1893) was an African-American soldier who enlisted in the United States Army under the pseudonym William Cathay. She was the first Black woman to enlist, and the only documented to serve in the United States Army posing as a man. Despite the prohibition against women serving in the military, Cathay Williams enlisted in the United States Regular Army under the false name of “William Cathay” passing herself off as a man. Only two others are known to have been privy to the deception, her cousin and a friend, both of whom were fellow soldiers in her regiment.

https://www.nps.gov/people/cwilliams.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathay_Williams

More than 400 women posed as male soldiers during the Civil War—most enlisted with their husbands, brothers or other family members. However, it is unknown if any other women served in the military during the Indian Wars like Cathay Williams.

 

https://www.army.mil/africanamericans/profiles/williams.html

Shortly after her enlistment, Williams contracted smallpox, was hospitalized and rejoined her unit, which by then was posted in New Mexico. Possibly due to the effects of smallpox, the New Mexico heat, or the cumulative effects of years of marching, her body began to show signs of strain. She was frequently hospitalized. The post surgeon finally discovered she was a woman, and informed the post commander. She was discharged from the Army by her commanding officer, Captain Charles E. Clarke, on October 14, 1868.

 

 

 

 

FEBRUARY 4TH 2020 (Richest)

ALIKO DANGOTE

Richest Black & African Man 

 

Aliko Dangote GCON  is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, and the owner of the Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities in Nigeria and other African countries. Wealth for the three richest billionaires in Africa is 28.8 billion dollars (Aliko Dangote 14.1 billion, Nicky Oppenheimer 7.7 billion and Johann Rupert 7 billion dollars, according to Forbes 2019 billionaires list).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliko_Dangote

Dangote is ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as the 88th-richest person in the world and the richest man in Africa, and peaked on the Forbes list as the 23rd-richest person in the world in 2014.

“I can remember when I was in primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets [candy] and I would start selling them just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time.” – Aliko Dangote

Aliko Dangote pictured with current ex-wife Mariya A D Muhammad Rufaiat at the Time 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on April, 29, 2014. 

Today, the Dangote Group is a multi-trillion-naira conglomerate with many of its operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Togo. Dangote has expanded to cover food processing, cement manufacturing, and freight. The Dangote Group also dominates the sugar market in Nigeria and is a major supplier to the country’s soft drink companies, breweries, and confectioners. Dangote has diversified into telecommunications and has started building 14,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables to supply the whole of Nigeria.

 

Do You Know About….

https://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/about/

 

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FEBRUARY 3rd 2020 (National Hero)

ANTONIO RUIZ EL NEGRO FALUCHO

Black Hero of Argentina Dies

 

Antonio Ruiz (El Negro Falucho), national hero of Buenos Aires, Argentina, dies for his country. Second Corporal Antonio Ruiz (died February 3, 1810), was an Argentine soldier. Ruiz, nicknamed Falucho, was an Afro-Argentine soldier of the Independence War. Ruiz fought in José de San Martín’s army. According to the most common story, Corporal Ruiz, born a slave (perhaps in Africa), served in the Regiment of the River Plate and died while defending the colors (white and light blue) of the revolutionary flag (later the Argentine flag) against traitors during a revolt at the fort of El CallaoPeru) on February 6, 1824.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumento_a_Falucho

Rather than hoist the Spanish flag, Falucho chose to be shot by the traitors, crying out with his last breath, Viva Buenos Aires! (Long live Buenos Aires!). The Falucho Monument is located in the neighborhood neighborhood of Palermo , Buenos Aires . It is a tribute to that soldier, from the black community, recognized as a hero of the Argentine Independence .

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Ruiz_(Falucho)

https://www.thoughtco.com/important-events-in-latin-american-history-2136471

https://www.thoughtco.com/native-american-trailblazers-2834934

 

 

FEBRUARY 3rd 2020 (Historical Event)

Willie Brown Burial Project

The Omaha Race Riot

 

Willie Brown was the victim of a gruesome lynching in front of the Douglas County courthouse in 1919. The Omaha race riot occurred in OmahaNebraska, September 28–29, 1919. The race riot resulted in the brutal lynching of Will Brown, a black civilian; the death of two white rioters; the injuries of many Omaha Police Department officers as well as white and black civilians, including the attempted hanging of Mayor Edward Parsons Smith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_race_riot_of_1919

A public rampage by thousands of white rioters set fire to the Douglas County Courthouse in downtown Omaha. It followed more than 20 race riots that occurred in major industrial cities of the United States during the Red Summer of 1919.

https://www.noiseomaha.com/news-now/2019/8/31/service-project-honors-will-brown-with-beautification-of-burial-site

Sensationalized local media reports of the alleged rape of 19-year-old Agnes Loebeck on September 25, 1919 triggered the violence associated with Will Brown’s lynching. The following day, police arrested 41-year-old Will Brown as a suspect. Loebeck identified Brown as her rapist; however, during questioning, Brown stated that Loebeck did not make positive identification, which Loebeck later refuted. There was an unsuccessful attempt to lynch Brown on the day of his arrest.

https://northomahahistory.com/2019/02/19/the-lynching-of-will-brown/

 

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FEBRUARY 2nd 2020 (SPECIAL RECOGNITION)

RUTH E. CARTER & HANNAH BEACHLER

First African Americans to win Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design for Black Panther

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_(film)

Both Ruth E. Carter and Hannah Beachler were recognized for their work in “Black Panther,” and each is the the first African-American to win Oscars at the 91st Academy Awards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/91st_Academy_Awards in their category. Ruth E. Carter is an American costume designer for film and television, with over 40 films to her credit, who has mastered the look of multiple periods and genres in envisioning the clothing and overall appearance of a character or performer. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_E._Carter

 Hannah Beachler is an American production designer. She worked on the 2015 Rocky film Creed, the Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, and most recently has become known for the film Moonlight, Beyoncé‘s 2016 TV special and visual album Lemonade.

Hannah Beachler Afrofuturist design direction on the film Black Panther, won her an Academy Award for Best Production Design and making her the first African-American to be nominated in the same category, as well as the first to win.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Beachler

 

 

FEBRUARY 2nd 2020 (SPECIAL HONOR)

FREDDIE FIGGERS

First African American Entrepreneur to Develop His Own 4G LTE

 

Freddie Figgers is an inventor, computer programmer, software engineer, and entrepreneur. He is the youngest person in history to hold a FCC license, which allows him to operate his own cell phone company. Freddie as a newborn was left at the dumpster by his mother. Nathan and Betty Figgers then adopted him. To help his father with the Alziemers disease, Freddie built a shoe with a GPS tracker with two-way communication. When he was 15 years old, Freddie started a cloud computing services company. At the age of 16 years, Freddie started Figgers Communication. By the time Freddie was 24, he had 80 custom software programs built, designed and executed.

https://figgers.com/

Freddie as a newborn was left at the dumpster by his mother. Nathan and Betty Figgers then adopted him. To help his father with the Alziemers disease, Freddie built a shoe with a GPS tracker with two-way communication.When he was 15 years old, Freddie started a cloud computing services company. At the age of 16 years, Freddie started Figgers Communication. By the time Freddie was 24, he had 80 custom software programs built, designed and executed.

https://figgers.com/news/meet-the-first-african-american-entrepreneur-to-develop-his-own-4g-lte/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddiefiggers

 

 

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FEBRUARY 1st 2020 (SPECIAL RECOGNITION)

KOBE BRYANT

First African American to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film

The film is based on a letter Kobe Bryant wrote to The Players’ Tribune on November 29, 2015 announcing his retirement from basketball.

5 time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant was the first former professional athlete to be nominated and to win an Academy Award in any category for his film Dear Basketball. Current Academy rules call for the award to be presented to “the individual person most directly responsible for the concept and the creative execution of the film. The Academy defines short as being “not more than 40 minutes, including all credits”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Basketball

On January 26, 2020, a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, around 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, en route from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport. It was carrying retired basketball player Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna; her 13-year-old teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester; their parents Keri and John Altobelli, and Sarah Chester; basketball assistant coach Christina Mauser; and pilot Ara Zobayan. All nine were instantly killed in the crash.

 

 

 

FEBRUARY 1st 2020

GREENSBORO FOUR SIT-IN

Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond

 

The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, which led to the Woolworth department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States.  While not the first sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement, the Greensboro sit-ins were an instrumental action, and also the most well-known sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement. They are considered a catalyst to the subsequent sit-in movement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins

These sit-ins led to increased national sentiment at a crucial period in US history. The primary event took place at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth store, now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. The Greensboro Four (as they would soon be known) were Joseph McNeilFranklin McCainEzell Blair Jr., and David Richmond, all young black students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in their freshman year who often met in their dorm rooms to discuss what they could do to stand against segregation. They were inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and his practice of nonviolent protest, and specifically wanted to change the segregational policies of F. W. Woolworth Company in Greensboro, North Carolina.

https://www.blackfacts.com/fact/greensboro-sit-in-5-fast-facts-you-need-to-know

 

 

 

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