Today In Black History

1847*

Dred Scott, a slave, filed suit in the St. Louis Circuit Court claiming that his temporary residence in a free territory should have made him a free man. Scott would lose the case.

1881*

Henry Highland Garnet, former abolitionist leader and Presbyterian minister, named minister to Liberia. He died in Monrovia shortly after his arrival.

1906*

John Hope became the first Black president of Morehouse College.

1917*

Jazz singer Lena Horne born in Brooklyn, NY.

1926*

James Weldon Johnson was honored for his careers as an executive of the NAACP, a member of the United States Consul, editor, and poet by the NAACP in New York City.

1951*

NAACP began frontal attack on segregation and discrimination at elementary and high school levels, arguing that segregation was discrimination in cases before three-judged federal courts in South Carolina and Kansas. The South Carolina court, with a strong dissent from Judge E. Waites Warning, held that segregation was not discrimination, June 23. Kansas Court ruled that the separate facilities at issue were equal but said that segregation had an adverse effect on Black children.

1967 *

Maj. Robert H. Lawrence Jr. named first Black astronaut. He was killed during a training flight on December 8, 1967.

1974*

A Black man shot and killed Mrs. Martin Luther King Sr. and deacon Edward Boykin during church services at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta. The assailant, Marcus Chennault of Dayton, Ohio, was later convicted and sentenced to death.

1995*

Phyllis Hyman dies on this day.

Known for albums Phyllis Hyman (1977) Somewhere in my lifetime (1978) You Know How To Love Me (1979) Can't We Fall In Love Again Goddess Of Love Living All Alone Prime Of My Life (1991) I Refuse To Be Lonely (1995)

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Losing my grandmother to Breast Cancer and complications from a severe Stroke was one of the hardest things I've faced in my life. She battled the disease for over 6 years, had a single mastectomy (right breast), and see her cancer go into remission twice before returning for the last time. Watching my mother take care of her day end and day out was truly life changing. My mother who is a RN (BSN) made sure that her every need was met. My mother is the epitome of what a daughter should be to her mother!! I remember the day she died vividly. I can still feel her hand in mine and see her smile. I remember my grandmothers doctor calling my mother after 3 am to tell her (us) to get to the hospital. Earlier that day my mother was able to recall having the BEST day ever with my grandmother. They had breakfast and lunch together. They later sat around filled with laughter/love as they talked about me, my cousins, and my aunt. One thing that was never a question was that she truly ...

Flyy Girl

I'm sure you saw the title of the post and thought I was going to start talking about myself. .LoL!! Sorry!! Anywhoo. .over the weekend I heard some of the BEST news a book-lover could ever hear. .That one of your FAVorite characters will be coming to the big screen. Picked up by "Codeblack Films" a subsidiary of Lionsgate they will bring to life one of the most known urban book characters "Tracy Ellison" of Omar Tyree's book trilogy that all started with "Flyy Girl". I have been reading Omar Tyree's books since I was 17 and he is honestly one of my FAVorite authors. A little on Mr. Tyree. . (Woo. .Isn't he Handsome!!) A child of the 70's Tyree was born and raised in Philadelphia (he let it be known that he is a "100% Philadelphian) with a strong stepfather who was a role model and a disciplinary that gave him the freedom to explore and put him in line anytime he strayed. Tyree became a fan of classic fil...

Today In Black

1864* Rachel Boone was a slave of the decendents of the Daniel Boone family who escaped to an army camp near Miami, MO. She gave birth to a son & moved to Warrensburg, MO. Her son became "Blind" Boone, famous classical pianist known all over the U.S., Canada & Mexico who also reportedly played in Europe. He became known as the "pioneer of ragtime" because he brought in ragtime music to the concert stage as an encore or when the audience became restless, saying "Let's put the cookies on the bottom shelf where everybody can reach them.". His motto was "Merit, not sympathy, wins." 1875* The first Kentucky Derby is won by African American jockey Oliver Lewis riding the horse Aristides. 14 of the 15 jockeys in the race are African Americans. 1909* White firemen on Georgia Railroad struck to protest employment of Blacks. 1915* National Baptist Convention chartered. 1954* U.S. Supreme Court in landmark Brown v. Board of Educa...

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