* Today in Black History - October 29 *
1837 - Harriet Powers is born a slave in Clarke County, Georgia.
She will become a folk artist and quilt maker. She will
use traditional appliqué techniques to record local
legends, Bible stories, and astronomical events on her
quilts. Only two of her quilts will be known to have
survived: Bible Quilt 1886 and Pictorial Quilt 1898.
Her quilts are considered among the finest examples of
nineteenth-century Southern quilting. Her work will be
on display at the National Museum of American History
in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston, Massachusetts. She will join the ancestors on
January 1, 1910.
1853 - Josephine Beall Willson (later Bruce) is born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She will become an educator
and women's rights activist in the late 1800s and early
1900s. She will spend a majority of her time working for
the National Organization of Afro-American Women. She
will be a prominent socialite in Washington, D.C.
throughout most of her life where she will live with
her husband, United States Senator Blanche Bruce. In
addition to these accomplishments, she will be the
first black teacher in the public school system in
Cleveland, Ohio and she eventually will become a
highly regarded educator at Tuskegee University in
Alabama. She will dedicate her life to the National
Organization of Afro-American Women (NACW),
successfully running for the vice presidency of the
organization in 1896. In 1898, her husband, Blanche K.
Bruce will join the ancestors. After her husband's
transition, she will competently manage the money and
land of her late husband. She will be given the
opportunity by Booker T. Washington to become the
principal at his Tuskegee University from 1899- 1902,
where she will continue to promote education. This
opportunity will give her the ability to offer training
to other school teachers as the institute itself was
vocational. The pupils of the Tuskegee Institute will
not be from aristocratic families, as opposed to students
she had worked with in the past. Her move to the rural
South will also be a hard transition for someone used
to a cosmopolitan lifestyle. She will be occasionally
criticized for accepting the role as Lady Principal.
Oftentimes she will be seen as a wealthy woman taking
a job from a less fortunate young woman who would be
more able to connect with the students of the school.
Her scholarship will inspire her son, Roscoe Bruce,
to graduate from Harvard University in 1902, eventually
allowing him to become the head of the academic
department at Tuskegee University. She will then move to
Mississippi for a short time to live with her family,
only to return to Washington, D.C. to run for the
presidency of the NACW in 1906. She will join the
ancestors on February 15, 1923.
1902 - The Dinwiddie Quartet from Virginia is the first
African American singing group on record when they
record six single sided discs, including "Down at the
Old Camp Ground," on the Victory Talking Machine
Company's Monarch label.
1923 - "Runnin' Wild" opens at the Colonial Theater, Broadway.
Miller and Lyles Productions introduced the Charleston
to New York and the world.
1924 - "Dixie to Broadway," 'the first real revue by Negroes,'
opens at the Broadhurst Theater, New York City, with
Florence Mills in the starring role.
1929 - The collapse of the stock market and the beginning of
the Great Depression. By 1937, 26 per cent of African
American males will be unemployed.
1930 - Omara Portuondo Peláez is born in Havana, Cuba. She will
become a singer and dancer. A founding member of the
popular vocal group Cuarteto d'Aida, she will collaborate
with many important Cuban musicians during her long career,
including Julio Gutiérrez, Juanito Márquez and Chucho
Valdés. Although primarily known for her rendition of
boleros, she will record in a wide range of styles from
jazz to son cubano. Since 1996, she will be part of the
Buena Vista Social Club project, touring extensively and
recording several albums with the ensemble. In 1967, she
will begin to focus on her solo career recording two
albums for Areito, Omara Portuondo and Esta es Omara
Portuondo. In the same year, she will represent Cuba at
the Sopot Festival in Poland, singing Juanito Márquez'
"Como un milagro". Alongside her solo work, in the 1970s
she will sing with the charanga Orquesta Aragón, and
tour with them abroad. In 1974, she will record, with
guitarist Martín Rojas, an album in which she will laud
Salvador Allende and the people of Chile a year after
the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.
Among other hits from the album, she will sing Carlos
Puebla's hit "Hasta Siempre, Comandante", which refers
to Ché Guevara. She will also record "Y que se sepa",
with one of the most successful Cuban bands of the
late 20th century, Los Van Van. Later on, she will
perform with Juan Formell, singing Formell's song "Tal
vez", a song she will record later on with Maria
Bethania. During the 1970s and 1980s, she will enjoy
success at home and abroad, with tours, albums
(including one of her most lauded recordings in 1984
with Adalberto Álvarez), film roles, and her own
television series. In 2004, the International Red
Cross will appoint her International Ambassador, the
first Cuban musician to hold this title, in Montreal,
Canada. In 2007, she will perform the title role to
sold out audiences in Lizt Alfonso's dance musical
"Vida", the story of modern Cuba through the eyes
and with the memories of an old woman. In this same
year, her performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival
will be released on DVD. She will record in 2008 a
duet album with Brazilian singer Maria Bethânia
named Maria Bethânia e Omara Portuondo. In 2008, she
will record the album Gracias as a tribute to the
60th anniversary of her singing career. She will
remain a popular fixture on the local music scene,
singing regularly at the Tropicana Club, the Delirio
Habanero and the Café Cantante. She will sing
(duetting with Ibrahim Ferrer) on the album Buena
Vista Social Club in 1996. This will lead not only
to more touring (including playing at Carnegie Hall
with the Buena Vista troupe) and her appearance in
Wim Wenders' film Buena Vista Social Club, but to
two further albums for the World Circuit label:
Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo
(2000) and Flor de Amor (2004). She will remain a
member of Buena Vista Social Club, being the only
original vocalist to do so.
1938 - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is born in Monrovia, Liberia.
She will become a Liberian politician who will serve
as the 24th President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018.
She will be the first elected female head of state
in Africa. She will be educated at the College of
West Africa. She will complete her education in the
United States, where she will study at Madison
Business College and Harvard University. She will
return to Liberia to work in William Tolbert's
government as Deputy Minister of Finance from 1971
to 1974. Later, she will work again in the West,
for the World Bank in the Caribbean and Latin
America. In 1979, she will receive a cabinet
appointment as Minister of Finance, serving to 1980.
After Samuel Doe seizes power that year in a coup
d'état and executes Tolbert, she will flee to the
United States. She will work for Citibank and then
the Equator Bank. She will return to Liberia to
contest a senatorial seat for Montserrado County
in 1985, an election that was disputed. She will
continue to be involved in politics. She will
finish in second place at the 1997 presidential
election, which will be won by Charles Taylor.
She will win the 2005 presidential election and
take office on January 16, 2006. She will be
re-elected in 2011. She will win the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2011, in recognition of her efforts to
bring women into the peacekeeping process. She
will receive numerous other awards for her
leadership. In June 2016, She will be elected as
the Chair of the Economic Community of West
African States, making her the first woman to
hold the position since it was created.
1945 - Beatrice Moore is born in New York, New York. She will
become an actress and singer better known as Melba
Moore. Her big break will come when she joins the cast
of the Broadway musical "Hair." She will eventually win
the lead role. It will be the first time that an African
American actress replaces a white actress (Diane Keaton)
for a lead role on Broadway. That engagement will be
followed with another Broadway hit, "Purlie," which
earns her a Tony Award and rave reviews. This success
will be followed by appearances in film and television.
In addition to her success in acting, she will have a
fruitful recording career.
1947 - The President's Committee on Civil Rights condemns racial
injustices in America in a formal report, "To Secure
These Rights."
1947 - Texas Southern University is established.
1947 - The NAACP Spingarn Medal is awarded to Dr. Percy L. Julian
for his achievements as a scientist.
1949 - Alonzo G. Moron, from the Virgin Islands, becomes the
first person of African descent to become president of
Hampton Institute (now University) in Hampton, Virginia.
1960 - Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) boxes in his first professional
fight, beating Tunney Hunsaker in 6 rounds.
1961 - Steven Randall (Randy) Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana. He
will become a singer-songwriter, musician, and dancer. He will
be best known as a former member of his family band, the
Jacksons. He will be the youngest Jackson brother, and the
second-youngest Jackson sibling after his sister Janet Jackson.
He is the eighth child in the Jackson family. he will not be
an original member of the Jackson 5, first officially appearing
live with his brothers at the end of 1971. The event will be a
Christmas show the Jackson 5 holds for blind children. Although
he will be on every Jackson 5 tour from 1972 forward, mainly
playing the congas among other instruments, he does not
officially join the family band until 1975 when they will
leave Motown for CBS Records and older brother Jermaine will
choose to stay with Motown, prompting Randy to replace him.
The Jackson 5 will officially change their name to the
Jacksons when they sign with Epic due in part to the fact that
Motown owned the name the Jackson 5. At the age of 16, he will
co-write the Jacksons' most successful single on Epic, "Shake
Your Body (Down to the Ground)" with Michael.
1969 - Johnson Products Company of Chicago, Illinois, the largest
African American hair-care products manufacturer, is
incorporated. Founded by George Johnson in 1954, in 1971,
it will become the first African American owned company
listed on the American Stock Exchange.
1969 - The U.S. Supreme Court states that school systems must end
segregation "at once" and "operate now and hereafter only
unitary schools." In the Mississippi case, Alexander v.
Holmes, the Court abandons the principle of "all
deliberate speed."
1972 - Tracee Joy Silberstein is born in Los Angeles, California. She
will become an actress and television host better known as
Tracee Ellis Ross. She will be known for her lead roles in the
comedy television series Girlfriends (2000–2008) and Black-ish
(2014–present). She will begin acting in independent films and
variety series. She will host the pop-culture magazine The Dish
on Lifetime. From 2000 to 2008, she will play the starring role
of Joan Clayton in the UPN/CW comedy series Girlfriends, for
which she will receive two NAACP Image Award for Outstanding
Actress in a Comedy Series. She will also appear in the films
Hanging Up (2000), I-See-You.Com (2006), and Daddy's Little
Girls (2007), before returning to television playing Dr. Carla
Reed on the BET sitcom Reed Between the Lines (2011), for which
she will receive her third NAACP Image Award. Since 2014, she
will play the starring role of Dr. Rainbow Johnson in the ABC
comedy series Black-ish. Her work on the series will earn her
three NAACP Image Awards and a Golden Globe Award for Best
Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. She will also
receive nominations for two Critics' Choice Television Awards
and three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress
in a Comedy Series. In 2019, she will co-create prequel spin-
off of Black-ish, Mixed-ish.
1972 - Gabrielle Monique Union (later Union-Wade) is born in Omaha,
Nebraska. She will become an actress, activist, and author.
She will begin her career in the 1990s, appearing on television
sitcoms, before landing supporting roles in teenage comedic
films She's All That and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). Her
breakthrough role was in the 2000 film Bring It On. In 2019,
she will join the hit TV show America's Got Talent as a judge.
She will also be known for her performances in the romantic
comedy films The Brothers (2001), Deliver Us from Eva (2003),
Daddy's Little Girls (2007), Think Like a Man (2012) and Think
Like a Man Too (2014). She will also have starring roles in
the CBS medical drama series City of Angels (2000) and films
Bad Boys II (2003), Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), the critically
acclaimed Neo Ned (2005), Cadillac Records (2008), Top Five
(2014) and Breaking In (2018). In 2013, she will begin
starring as lead character in the BET drama series Being Mary
Jane, for which she will receive critical acclaim and an
NAACP Image Award. She will co-star in the 2016 film The
Birth of a Nation, and will next appear in Almost Christmas
(2016) and Sleepless (2017). She will also be the author of
a memoir, We're Going to Need More Wine (2017), and an
activist who works on issues around women's health and
violence against women.
1974 - Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman in Zaire to regain his
heavyweight crown in a fight billed as "The Rumble in the
Jungle." In addition to the fight being the first
heavyweight title fight held in Africa, it is the 14th
Anniversary of Ali's professional boxing debut.
1981 - William Otis Walker, publisher of the "Cleveland Call &
Post," joins the ancestors at the age of 85. He was the
first African American to hold a post in the Ohio Cabinet
in 1963, and was national chairman for "Black Republicans
for Reagan and Bush" in 1980.
1987 - Thomas Hearns wins an unprecedented 4th boxing title in
different weight classes.
2019 - John Witherspoon, who made his mark in comedy and in films
like "Friday" joins the ancestors at the age of 77, after
transitioning suddenly at his home in Sherman Oaks,
California.
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