1746
Absalom Jones, a major leader of the African-American Pioneer period, was born into slavery in Sussex, Delaware. He will become a friend of Richard Allen and together they will found the Free African Society, which would serve as a protective society and social organization for free African Americans. After founding a black congregation in 1794, he was the first African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States, in 1804. He will join the ancestors on February 13, 1818. He will be listed on the Episcopal calendar of saints and remembered liturgically on the date of his death, February 13, in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer as “Absalom Jones, Priest, 1818”.
1844
Spain granted the Dominican Republic its independence.
1868
Jonathan Gibbs, minister and educator, is appointed Secretary of State by the governor of Florida.
1884 – Author and abolitionist William Wells Brown joins his ancestors in Chelsea, Massachusetts. An escaped slave, Brown’s autobiography sold 10,000 copies, a record in his day. He also wrote the first known travelogue by an African-American and authored the 1853 work “Clotel”; “Or The President’s
Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States”, the first fictional work published by an African American.
1900 – James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson compose “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” It will become known as the “Negro National Anthem.”
1920 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal was awarded to W.E.B. Du Bois for “the founding and calling of the Pan African Congress.”
1920 – James Weldon Johnson became the first African-American executive secretary of the NAACP.
1928 – Oscar DePriest is elected to the Seventy-First Congress from Illinois’ First Congressional District (Chicago). Before becoming a U.S. Representative, DePriest was the first African American to serve on the Chicago City Council, having been elected alderman of the Second Ward in 1915. He will be the first African American to win a seat in the United States House of Representatives in the twentieth century.
1928 – The Atlanta “Daily World” was founded by W.A. Scott Jr. The newspaper became a daily in 1933.
1928 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Charles W. Chestnutt, the first African American to receive widespread critical recognition as a novelist. He was cited for his “pioneer work as a literary artist depicting the life and struggle of Americans of Negro descent.”
1937 – Eugene Sampson Pitt was born in Brooklyn, New York. He will become a rhythm and blues singer with The Genies – “Who’s that Knockin'” and founding member and lead singer for The Jive Five – “Never
Never,” “What Time is It?,” “I’m a Happy Man” and “My True Story”. In 1985, he and The Jive Five were introduced to New York cable TV branding consultants Fred Seibert and Alan Goodman by his latest
producer, Ambient Sound’s Marty Pekar. Together they will embark on an almost ten-year relationship, creating and singing the a cappella signature sound of the American kids’ television network “Nickelodeon.” Terry Stewart, President & CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, will refer to Pitt as “the most underrated soul singer in America.” He will join the ancestors on June 29, 2018.
1962 – Edward W. Brooke is elected Attorney General of Massachusetts, Gerald Lamb is elected Treasurer of Connecticut, and 5 African Americans are elected to the House of Representatives. Augustus “Gus” F. Hawkins, became the first African-American congressman from the West (Los Angeles, California).
1962 – The U.N. General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South Africa for its apartheid policies and recommends member states apply economic sanctions.
1964 – Corey Glover is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will become a singer, guitarist, and actor. He will be the lead vocalist of the rock band Living Colour and will tour as the vocalist for the funk band Galactic. As an actor, he will play Francis in the 1986 war movie “Platoon.” Living Colour found immediate success with the release of their debut album, “Vivid” in 1988. It eventually went platinum in April 1989 and again five years later. The album’s single “Cult of Personality” won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance and the band will be named Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards. Living Colour released two more albums (“Time’s Up” and “Stain”) before splitting up in 1995. After the split, he started a solo career as Reverend Daddy Love and formed the band Vice with guitarist Mike Ciro. In 1995, he participated with an ensemble of notable vocalists, guitarists, bassists, and drummers, including the London Metropolitan Orchestra, to record a Jimi Hendrix tribute album named “In From The Storm.” he will provide the vocals for tracks 7 and 8, which were “In From The Storm” (title track) and “Drifting.” Living Colour will reunite on December 21, 2000, at CBGB’s during a set by Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbish’s live drum ‘n’ bass duo, Headfake. He will guest on three songs, and Vernon Reid will join those three songs in the set. The reunion will be followed by the release of the band’s fourth studio album
“Collideøscope” in October 2003. In August 2006, he will begin co-headlining a national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, playing the role of Judas Iscariot opposite Ted Neeley. He will take the place of singer Carl Anderson, who had played Judas since 1971 alongside Neeley and was set to reprise the role but had died of leukemia in 2004. The tour will run through 2010. He will tell Neeley that when he was a child, seeing the movie version of the show will be what made him decide to be an entertainer. In June
2008, he will leave the show to rejoin with Living Colour and to work on the next CD. On September 15, 2009, Living Colour will release its fifth studio album, “The Chair in the Doorway.” In 2010, he began touring as the vocalist for the band Galactic. He will tour North America in 2012 with the Galactic and Soul Rebels Brass Band. On March 29, 2012, the two bands will appear on the late-night talk show Conan on TBS. In 2018 he will team up with guitarist George Lynch, drummer Chris Moore, and bassist Pancho
Tomaselli to form the rock group Ultraphonix.
1973 – Coleman Young is elected as the first African-American mayor of Detroit, Michigan.
1973 – The NAACP’s Spingarn Medal is presented to Wilson C. Riles, the superintendent of public instruction in California, “in recognition of the stature he has attained as a national leader in the field of education.”
1973 – The Symbionese Liberation Army ambushes Marcus A. Foster, superintendent of public schools in Oakland, California, after a Board of Education meeting. Two members of the group were convicted of the slaying, but one of the men will have his conviction overturned, based on a legal technicality.
1973 – Thomas Bradley is elected as the first African-American mayor of Los Angeles, California. His political success will be due to his masterful use of a multi-racial coalition. African Americans at this time were not a large segment of the Los Angeles population.
1976 – FCC Commissioner Benjamin Hooks is elected NAACP executive director by the organization’s board of directors, succeeding Roy Wilkins. He will serve the organization for 16 years, retiring in 1992. Of his tenure, he will say, “We have maintained the integrity of this organization and kept our name out front
and on the minds of those who would turn back the clock.”
1979 – Lamar Joseph Odom is born in Queens, New York. He will become a professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2011. In high school, he received national player of the year honors from Parade in 1997. He will play college basketball for the University of Rhode Island, earning all-conference honors during his only season in the Atlantic 10
Conference before turning professional. The Los Angeles Clippers will select him with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the 1999 NBA draft. He will be named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in the following year; it will be during his four seasons with the Clippers, however, that he will be twice suspended for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. As a restricted free agent, he will then sign with the Miami Heat, where he will play the 2003–04 season before being traded to the Lakers. He will spend seven seasons with the Lakers, who will trade him to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. After the move, his career will decline. He will be traded back to the Clippers in 2012 and will play briefly in Spain in 2014. He played on the United States national team, winning a bronze medal in the Olympics in 2004 and a gold medal in the FIBA World Championship (later known as the World Cup) in 2010. He will be married to Khloé Kardashian from 2009 to 2016. During their marriage, he will make several appearances on the reality television show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” He and Kardashian will also have their own reality series, “Khloé & Lamar.” In October 2015, he fell into a coma and was hospitalized with life-threatening medical problems. He will recover from his health scare and obtain drug treatment.
1983 – Sgt. Farley Simon, a native of Grenada, becomes the first Marine to win the Marine Corps Marathon.
1990 – Harvey Gantt, former mayor of Charlotte, NC, loses his Senate race to incumbent Jesse Helms and the opportunity to become the first African American senator from the South since Reconstruction. Barbara-Rose Collins and Maxine Waters were elected to Congress from their home districts in Michigan and California, respectively, while Eleanor Holmes Norton is elected as a non-voting delegate from the District of Columbia.
1990 – Arsenio Hall gets a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
1992 – Vernon Jordan, along with Warren Christopher, is asked to lead the White House transition team, by President-elect William Jefferson Clinton.