* Today in Black History - May 22 *
1848 - Slavery is abolished on the French island of Martinique. Abolition will
create a shortage of labor in Martinique given many former slaves
preferred not to work in the sugar cane plantations. To solve the
problem, indentured servants will be brought from China and India.
1863 - The War Department establishes the Bureau of Colored Troops and launches
an aggressive campaign for the recruitment of African American soldiers.
1940 - Bernard Shaw is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will become a journalist
and the principal Washington anchor for Cable News Network, where he
will be widely respected for his coverage of world summit meetings, the
historic student demonstrations in Beijing, Presidential primaries and
elections, and the Gulf War. He will be the lead news anchor for CNN from
1980 until his retirement in March 2001.
1941 - Paul Winfield is born in Los Angeles, California. He will become an actor
and will star in the movies "Tyson," "Breathing Lessons," "Carbon Copy,"
"Cliffhanger," "Dennis the Menace," "Presumed Innocent," "Sounder," "The
Terminator," and "Star Trek 2." He will join the ancestors on March 7,
2004 after succumbing to a heart attack.
1948 - Harlem Renaissance poet and author Claude McKay joins the ancestors in
Chicago, Illinois at the age of 58. His novel "Home to Harlem" (1928) had
become the first best-seller written by an American of African descent.
1959 - Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. becomes the first African American major general in
the U.S. Air Force. In doing so, he improves upon the accomplishment of
his father, Davis Sr., who was the first African American general in the
U.S. Army.
1961 - The Attorney General orders two hundred additional U.S. Marshals to
Montgomery, Alabama. This is in addition to the four hundred U.S. marshals
already dispatched to Montgomery to keep order in the Freedom Rider
controversy.
1961 - Ernie K-Doe, Ernest Kador Jr., joins the growing list of "One Hit Wonders"
-- recording artists who had only one hit. The song, "Mother-In-Law", is
Ernie's one hit -- and a number one tune on the nation's pop music charts.
1966 - Bill Cosby, star of "I Spy," receives an Emmy for best actor in a dramatic
series, the first African American in the category. He will earn five Emmys.
1966 - Johnny Gill Jr. is born in Washington, D.C. He will start singing at the age
of five singing along in church in a family gospel group called Little Johnny
and "Wings of Faith" which includes his brothers Bobby, Jeff, and Randy Gill.
He will attend the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. His career will dictate
that he complete his high-school education through the services of a tutor.
His recording career will begin in 1982, at the age of 16, when his childhood
friend Stacy Lattisaw convinces him to record a demo. This demo will fall
into the hands of the president of Atlantic Records, and his first self-titled
debut album was released shortly thereafter on Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion
Records. He will then team up with Stacy for the duet album "Perfect
Combination." A second solo album on Cotillion Records, "Chemistry," will be
released in 1985. He will begin a new chapter in his career in 1987, when he
is recruited by Michael Bivins to join New Edition. Bobby Brown had been voted
out of the group and Johnny will be brought in to replace lead singer Ralph
Tresvant, rumored at the time to be leaving to pursue a solo career. Johnny
will become the only member of New Edition who was not from Boston. With him,
the oldest member, as one of the lead singers (along with Tresvant, who will
end up staying with New Edition and delaying the launch of his solo career) on
the album "Heart Break," the group will develop a more mature, adult sound,
hitting the charts with songs such as "Can You Stand The Rain", "N.E.
Heartbreak", "If It Isn't Love", and the Gill-led "Boys To Men". Continuing
his role as a romantic balladeer while emerging as a new jack swing star, he
will release a second self-titled album in 1990, which includes the hits "My,
My, My", "Rub You the Right Way", "Fairweather Friend", and "Wrap My Body
Tight". In 1993, he will release another solo project, "Provocative," which will
include the songs "Quiet Time to Play", "A Cute, Sweet, Love Addiction", and
the gospel song, "I Know Where I Stand". In 1996, He will release "Let's Get
the Mood Right," which included the title song, "Love In an Elevator", and the
single "Maybe" which is considered by many to be one of his greatest vocal
performances. In 1996, he will reunite with New Edition and record the album
"Home Again." In 1997, he will collaborate with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat
to form the supergroup LSG (Levert/Sweat/Gill), which will yield the multi-
platinum debut album, "Levert.Sweat.Gill." and their final album LSG2 in 2003.
In 2004, he will reunite with New Edition and sign with Bad Boy Records and
release the album "One Love" which includes the single "Hot 2Nite" in 2004.
16 years after recording his last solo album, he will return with "Still Winning,"
which includes "In The Mood", "Just The Way You Are", "It Would Be You", and "2nd
Place". In 2014, he will leave Fontana Records and start his own label, J Skillz
Records, on which he releases a new album called "Game Changer." The album will
produce several adult Rhythm & Blues radio hits, including the singles "Behind
Closed Doors" and the title track, "Game Changer." His New Edition bandmates
will appear on "This One's For Me And You". He will join Fantasia as an opener for
Charlie Wilson's "In It To Win It" tour, kicking off in February 2017.
1967 - Langston Hughes, noted poet, joins the ancestors in New York City. He was the author
of the poetry collections "The Weary Blues," "Not Without Laughter," "The Way of
White Folks," the autobiographies "The Big Sea" and "I Wonder as I Wander, and
plays and newspaper series. Hughes's ashes will be buried at the Schomburg Center
for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.
1970 - Naomi Campbell is born in London, England. She will be discovered in a shopping mall
when she is 15 years old. She will become a super model and will open a chain of
"Fashion Cafe'" establishments along with models Claudia Schiffer, Elle MacPherson,
and Christy Turlington.
1994 - A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti, led by the United States, goes into effect
to punish Haiti's military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected
leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
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