* Today in Black History - May 26 *
1799 - Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin is born in Moscow, Russia. His
maternal great grandfather, Abram Gannibal, will be brought over
as a slave from Africa and will rise to become an aristocrat. He
will publish his first poem in the journal, "The Messenger of
Europe" in 1814, at the age of fifteen, and will be widely
recognized by the literary establishment by the time of his
graduation from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. While under the strict
surveillance of the Tsar's political police and unable to publish,
He will write his most famous play, the drama "Boris Godunov." His
novel in verse, "Eugene Onegin," will be serialized between 1825
and 1832. Easily offended about his honor, he will fight as many
as twenty-nine duels, and will be fatally wounded in such an
encounter with Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès. He had
accused D'Anthès, a French officer serving with the Chevalier
Guard Regiment, of attempting to seduce the poet's wife, Natalya
Pushkina. He will join the ancestors on January 29, 1837. Today,
he is regarded as the Father of Russian Literature.
1899 - Aaron Douglas is born in Topeka, Kansas. He will become a world-
renowned painter and muralist whose work will embrace the African
ancestral arts and express pride in the African American image at
a time when doing so was highly unpopular. His most famous works
will be "Aspects of Negro Life," "Let My People Go," "Judgment Day"
and "Building More Stately Mansions." He will join the ancestors
on February 3, 1979.
1907 - Elizabeth Keckley, seamstress and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln,
joins the ancestors after succumbing to a paralytic stroke in
Washington, D.C. Keckley was the author of "Behind the Scenes or
Thirty Years a Slave," and "Four Years in the White House" (1868),
one of the first insider accounts of a White House Presidency.
1926 - Miles Dewey Davis III is born in Alton, Illinois. For over four decades,
he will be one of the most innovative and influential jazz trumpeters,
known for his hard bop and jazz and fusion accomplishments. Most
noted for the albums "Sketches of Spain," "Miles Smiles," and "Kind of
Blue," he will also win three Grammy awards for his albums "We Want
Miles," "Decoy," and "Tutu" and be awarded the French Legion d'Honneur
in 1991. He will join the ancestors on September 28, 1991, but his
music, style, and collaborators all continue to influence not only
jazz music, but popular culture as well.
1943 - President Edwin Barclay of Liberia, becomes the first African president
to pay an official visit to an American president, arriving at the
White House.
1949 - Philip Michael Thomas is born in Columbus, Ohio. He will become an
actor and will be best known for his role in the TV series, "Miami
Vice." He also will have roles in the movies "Homeboy," "Stigma,"
"Streetfight," "Black Fist," "Miami Vice-The Movie," "Miami Vice 2 -
The Prodigal Son," "A Fight For Jenny," "Death Drug," "A Little Piece
Of Sunshine," "Sparkle," and "The Wizard of Speed and Time."
1949 - Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
She will be raised on military bases in England and Germany. During
her teen years the family will settle in Denver, Colorado, where at
the age of 18, Grier entered the Miss Colorado Universe pageant.
Named first runner-up, she attracted the attention of Hollywood
agent David Baumgarten, who signed her to a contract. She will move
to Hollywood and after struggling for a few years will become the
reigning queen of the 1970s blaxploitation genre. She will be best
known for her 1974 role as "Foxy Brown." She will make a comeback in
1988 in the Steven Segal movie "Above the Law," and will star in a
variety of major films through year 2010.
1961 - The Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee is established in Atlanta,
Georgia.
1968 - Ruth A. Lucas is promoted to Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, the first
African American woman to achieve this rank.
1968 - Arthur Ashe wins the National Men's Singles in the U.S. Lawn Tennis
Association Open Tournament, becoming the first African American male
to win a major tennis title.
1969 - The National Black Economic Development Conference adopts a manifesto
in a Detroit meeting, calling for $500 Million in reparations from
white churches.
1978 - Jaheim Hoagland is born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He will become a
Rhythm & Blues singer better known by his stage name of Jaheim. He will
be signed by Naughty by Nature's Kaygee to Divine Mill Records in 2000,
and will release his debut album Ghetto Love in 2001. His second effort,
Still Ghetto (2002), will contain the hit singles "Put That Woman First"
(2003) and "Fabulous" (2003), both of which achieves platinum success.
Jaheim's third album, Ghetto Classics, will be released on February 14,
2006, debuting at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, and selling over
153,000 copies in its first week. He will sign with Atlantic Records and
release his fourth album The Makings of a Man in December 2007. In late
2009 the single "Ain't Leavin Without You" will precede his 2010 album
Another Round. In 2013, he will return to the music industry with a new
single titled "Age Ain't a Factor" and a new album. His sixth album,
Appreciation Day, will be released in September 3, 2013. In 2014, he will
restart his own label called "Julie's Dream Music Group", which had first
been started in 1997, then restarted in 2002. Following the relaunch of
his label, in February 2015, he will sign a new record deal with BMG
Records after parting ways with Atlantic Records in conjunction with his
Julie's Dream label. In June 2015, he will release a new single called
"Back In My Arms" and reveal that his seventh album, titled Struggle Love,
will be released. Struggle Love will be released on March 18, 2016. To
date, he has sold 5 million records worldwide and received three Grammy
nominations.
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