Notable Births
*Baseball player Henry "Hank" Aaron, who would break Babe Ruth's career home-run record, was born in Mobile, Alabama (February 5).
Hank Aaron, byname of Henry Louis Aaron (b. February 5, 1934, Mobile, Alabama), American professional baseball player who, during 23 seasons in the major leagues (1954–76), surpassed batting records set by some of the greatest hitters in the game, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Stan Musial.
Aaron, a right-hander, began his professional career in 1952, playing shortstop for a few months with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. His contract was bought by the Boston Braves of the National League, who assigned him to minor league teams. In 1954 he moved up to the majors, playing mostly as an outfielder for the Braves (who had moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1953). In 1956, he won the league batting championship with an average of .328, and in 1957, having led his team to victory in the World Series, he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. By the time the Braves moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at the end of 1965, Aaron had hit 398 home runs. In Atlanta on April 8, 1974, he hit his 715th, breaking Babe Ruth’s record, which had stood since 1935. After the 1974 season, Aaron was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, who were at that time in the American League. Aaron retired after the 1976 season and rejoined the Braves as an executive. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 13, 1982. In 2010 the Hank Aaron Childhood Home and Museum opened on the grounds of Hank Aaron Stadium, the home of Mobile, Alabama’s minor league baseball team.
Aaron’s batting records include totals of 1,477 extra-base hits and 2,297 runs batted in. His home run record of 755 was broken by Barry Bonds in 2007. Aaron’s other notable career statistics include 2,174 runs scored (second to Ty Cobb) and 12,364 times at bat (second to Pete Rose). His hit total (3,771) was exceeded only by those of Cobb and Rose. Aaron’s lifetime batting average was .305.
Hank Aaron, byname of Henry Louis Aaron (b. February 5, 1934, Mobile, Alabama), American professional baseball player who, during 23 seasons in the major leagues (1954–76), surpassed batting records set by some of the greatest hitters in the game, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Stan Musial.
Aaron, a right-hander, began his professional career in 1952, playing shortstop for a few months with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. His contract was bought by the Boston Braves of the National League, who assigned him to minor league teams. In 1954 he moved up to the majors, playing mostly as an outfielder for the Braves (who had moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1953). In 1956, he won the league batting championship with an average of .328, and in 1957, having led his team to victory in the World Series, he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. By the time the Braves moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at the end of 1965, Aaron had hit 398 home runs. In Atlanta on April 8, 1974, he hit his 715th, breaking Babe Ruth’s record, which had stood since 1935. After the 1974 season, Aaron was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, who were at that time in the American League. Aaron retired after the 1976 season and rejoined the Braves as an executive. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 13, 1982. In 2010 the Hank Aaron Childhood Home and Museum opened on the grounds of Hank Aaron Stadium, the home of Mobile, Alabama’s minor league baseball team.
Aaron’s batting records include totals of 1,477 extra-base hits and 2,297 runs batted in. His home run record of 755 was broken by Barry Bonds in 2007. Aaron’s other notable career statistics include 2,174 runs scored (second to Ty Cobb) and 12,364 times at bat (second to Pete Rose). His hit total (3,771) was exceeded only by those of Cobb and Rose. Aaron’s lifetime batting average was .305.
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*Amiri Baraka, a poet and playwright who wrote the play Dutchman, was born in Newark, New Jersey (October 7). He would become a leader of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s.
Amiri Baraka, also called Imamu Amiri Baraka, original name (until 1968) (Everett) LeRoi Jones (b. October 7, 1934, Newark, New Jersey — d. January 9, 2014, Newark, New Jersey), was an African American writer who presented the experiences and anger of black Americans with an affirmation of black life.
Jones graduated from Howard University (B.A., 1953) and served in the United States Air Force. After military duty, he joined the Beat movement, attended graduate school, and, in 1961, published his first major collection of poetry, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note, a collection of Jones' early poetry with little regard to race.
Jones was the editor of Yugen, a prominent Beat poetry magazine, from 1960 to 1965. He organized and ran the Black Arts Theater in Harlem from 1964 to 1965 as part of HARYOUAct. In 1966, he moved to Newark, New Jersey, to run Spirit House, an African American workshop in the arts. In 1967, he was arrested in connection with the Newark riots in July of that year; convicted in a very controversial trial the following March, he was sentenced to two and half years. He later organized the United Brotherhood Party and became very active in local politics.
In 1963, Jones published The Moderns, an anthology of contemporary short stories edited by Jones. Also in 1963, Jones published Blues People, a long prose socio-historical study tracing the development of African American blues music and how it reflects the African American experience in the United States.
In 1964, his play Dutchman appeared off-Broadway to critical acclaim. In its depiction of an encounter between a European American woman and an African American intellectual, it exposes the suppressed anger and hostility of African Americans toward the dominant European American culture. Jones followed this with several other one-act plays. The Slave, The Toilet, The Baptism, all of which became increasingly vitriolic in their anti-white feelings. The Dead Lecturer, Jones' second collection of poems, was also published in 1964. The poetry of this volume and subsequent ones reflect the development of Jones' increasingly anti-white, anti-Semitic philosophy.
After the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, Jones left his wife (who was Jewish) and their two children began to espouse black nationalism.
In 1965, Baraka founded the Black Arts Repertory Theatre in Harlem. He published much during this period, including Black Art (1966) and Black Magic (1969). In addition to poetry and drama, Baraka wrote several collections of essays, an autobiographical novel (The System of Dante’s Hell [1965]), and short stories.
In 1967, Baraka (still Leroi Jones) visited Maulana Karenga in Los Angeles and became an advocate of his philosophy of Kawaida, a multifaceted, categorized activist philosophy that produced the "Nguzo Saba," Kwanzaa, and an emphasis on African names. It was at this time that he adopted the name Imamu Amear Baraka. Imamu is a Swahili title for "spiritual leader", derived from the Arabic word Imam (إمام). Baraka later dropped the honorific Imamu and eventually changed Amear (which means "Prince") to Amiri. Baraka means "blessing, in the sense of divine favor."
In the mid-1970s Baraka became a Marxist, though his goals remained similar. “I [still] see art as a weapon and a weapon of revolution,” he said. “It’s just now that I define revolution in Marxist terms.” His work from this period was seen by some as becoming increasingly homophobic and anti-Semitic. His position as poet laureate of New Jersey was abolished after he published the searing 2001 poem “
Somebody Blew Up America,” which suggested that Israel had prior knowledge of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Among Baraka’s other works are Blues People: Negro Music in White America (1963), Black Magic: Collected Poetry 1961–1967 (1969), The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka (1984), and the piercing Tales of the Out & Gone (2006), a fictional social commentary. Baraka taught at Columbia, Yale University, and, from 1979, at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where at the time of his death he was emeritus professor of Africana studies. S O S: Poems 1961–2013 (2015) was a posthumous collection containing a wide selection from his work, including some previously unpublished verse.
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*Elgin Baylor, one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the National Basketball Association, was born in Washington, D. C. (September 16).
Elgin Gay Baylor (b. September 16, 1934, Washington, D. C.) played 13 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, appearing in eight NBA Championship Finals. Baylor was a gifted shooter, strong rebounder, and an accomplished passer. Renowned for his acrobatic maneuvers on the court, Baylor regularly dazzled Lakers fans with his trademark hanging jump shots. The No. 1 draft pick in 1958, NBA Rookie of the Year in 1959, and an 11-time NBA All-Star, he is regarded as one of the game's all-time greatest players. In 1977, Baylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Baylor, 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 metres) tall, was an All-American (1958) at Seattle University, where he played from 1955 to 1958, guiding the team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship tournament finals in 1958. He was selected with the first overall pick of the 1958 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft by the Minneapolis Lakers (who relocated to Los Angeles in 1960) and earned Rookie of the Year honors in his initial season with the Lakers. During his 14-year career, he averaged 27.4 points per game, with a 38.2 average in the 1961–62 season—a feat made even more impressive by the fact that, as a United States Army reservist, Baylor played only on weekends and did not practice with the Lakers that season. His 71 points in a 1960 game was an NBA record until it was broken by Wilt Chamberlain's 100 (1962). Baylor set the single-game scoring record for the NBA finals when he tallied 61 points against the Boston Celtics in game five of the 1962 finals. Though he played with some of the finest players in Laker franchise history, including Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich, he never won an NBA championship. He was named to the All-NBA first team 10 times, and he retired as the NBA’s third-leading all-time rebounder with a career total of 11,463. Baylor was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976 and was named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players of all time in 1996.
After his playing career ended, Baylor coached the New Orleans Jazz (1974–79). In 1986, he was named vice president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite being named Executive of the Year in 2006, his tenure managing the Clippers was marked by mostly losing seasons and clashes with team ownership, and he resigned from his position in 2008.
After his playing career ended, Baylor coached the New Orleans Jazz (1974–79). In 1986, he was named vice president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite being named Executive of the Year in 2006, his tenure managing the Clippers was marked by mostly losing seasons and clashes with team ownership, and he resigned from his position in 2008.
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*Willie Brown, the first African American to serve as Speaker of the California State Assembly and the 41st Mayor of San Francisco, California, was born in Mineola, Texas (March 20).
Willie Brown, in full Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. (b. March 20, 1934, Mineola, Texas) was the first African American Speaker of the California State Assembly, the longest-serving speaker of that body (1980–95), and Mayor of San Francisco (1996–2004).
Brown was born into poverty in rural Texas and moved to San Francisco after graduating from high school. In 1955 he received a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University), and three years later he earned a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law (1958). Brown established a private legal practice and became active in politics. In 1964 he won election to the California State Assembly. Appointed to chair the Legislative Representation Committee, he used the post to enhance his position in the legislature and to facilitate his rise to power. In 1969 he became the Democratic Party whip, and in 1974 he made an unsuccessful bid to become speaker of the State Assembly. In 1980, winning the support of 28 Republicans and 23 Democrats, he was elected speaker, a post he held until 1995.
A flamboyant figure, Brown was a prime target of the successful effort in 1990 in California to limit state legislators to three terms. Forced to retire from the State Assembly, he was elected mayor of San Francisco in 1995 and was re-elected in 1999. After leaving office in 2004, Brown briefly co-hosted (2006) a radio talk show and established an institute on public service and politics. In 2008, he published Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times, an autobiography. He also had small roles in several films, including The Godfather, Part III (1990), George of the Jungle (1997), Just One Night (2000), and The Princess Diaries (2001).
*James Milton Campbell, Jr. (b. September 7, 1934, Inverness, Mississippi – d. August 4, 2005, Memphis, Tennessee), better known as Little Milton, a blues singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries," "Walking the Back Streets and Crying," and "We're Gonna Make It", was born in Inverness, Mississippi (September 7).
Little Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness and raised in Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician. By age twelve, he was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries. He joined the Rhythm Aces in the early part of the 1950s, a three piece band who played throughout the Mississippi Delta area. One of the group was Eddie Cusic who taught Milton to play the guitar. In 1952, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner, who was at that time a talent scout for Sam Phillips' Sun Records. He signed a contract with the label and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, however, and Milton left the Sun label by 1955.
After trying several labels without notable success, including Trumpet Records, Milton set up the St. Louis based Bobbin Records label, which ultimately scored a distribution deal with Leonard Chess' Chess Records. As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing his own success for the first time. After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard R&B chart, eventually peaking at #14.
Following a short break to tour, managing other acts, and spending time recording new material, he returned to music in 1965 with a more polished sound, similar to that of B. B. King. After the ill-received "Blind Man" (R&B: #86), he released back-to-back hit singles. The first, "We're Gonna Make It," a blues-infused soul song, topped the R&B chart and broke through onto Top 40 radio, a format then dominated largely by white artists. He followed the song with #4 R&B hit "Who's Cheating Who?" All three songs were featured on his album, We're Gonna Make It, released that summer.
Throughout the late 1960s, Milton released a number of moderately successful singles, but did not issue a further album until 1969, with Grits Ain't Groceries featuring his hit of the same name, as well as "Just a Little Bit" and "Baby, I Love You". With the death of Leonard Chess the same year, Milton's distributor, Checker Records fell into disarray, and Milton joined the Stax label two years later. Adding complex orchestration to his works, Milton scored hits with "That's What Love Will Make You Do" and "What It Is" from his live album, What It Is: Live at Montreux. He appeared in the documentary film, Wattstax, which was released in 1973. Stax, however, had been losing money since late in the previous decade and was forced into bankruptcy in 1975.
After leaving Stax, Milton struggled to maintain a career, moving first to Evidence, then the MCA imprint Mobile Fidelity Records, before finding a home at the independent record label, Malaco Records, where he remained for much of the remainder of his career. His last hit single, "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number," was released in 1983 from the album of the same name. In 1988, Little Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and won a W. C. Handy Award. His final album, Think of Me, was released in May 2005 on the Telarc imprint, and included writing and guitar on three songs by Peter Shoulder of the UK-based blues-rock trio Winterville.
Little Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness and raised in Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician. By age twelve, he was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries. He joined the Rhythm Aces in the early part of the 1950s, a three piece band who played throughout the Mississippi Delta area. One of the group was Eddie Cusic who taught Milton to play the guitar. In 1952, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner, who was at that time a talent scout for Sam Phillips' Sun Records. He signed a contract with the label and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, however, and Milton left the Sun label by 1955.
After trying several labels without notable success, including Trumpet Records, Milton set up the St. Louis based Bobbin Records label, which ultimately scored a distribution deal with Leonard Chess' Chess Records. As a record producer, Milton helped bring artists such as Albert King and Fontella Bass to fame, while experiencing his own success for the first time. After a number of small format and regional hits, his 1962 single, "So Mean to Me," broke onto the Billboard R&B chart, eventually peaking at #14.
Following a short break to tour, managing other acts, and spending time recording new material, he returned to music in 1965 with a more polished sound, similar to that of B. B. King. After the ill-received "Blind Man" (R&B: #86), he released back-to-back hit singles. The first, "We're Gonna Make It," a blues-infused soul song, topped the R&B chart and broke through onto Top 40 radio, a format then dominated largely by white artists. He followed the song with #4 R&B hit "Who's Cheating Who?" All three songs were featured on his album, We're Gonna Make It, released that summer.
Throughout the late 1960s, Milton released a number of moderately successful singles, but did not issue a further album until 1969, with Grits Ain't Groceries featuring his hit of the same name, as well as "Just a Little Bit" and "Baby, I Love You". With the death of Leonard Chess the same year, Milton's distributor, Checker Records fell into disarray, and Milton joined the Stax label two years later. Adding complex orchestration to his works, Milton scored hits with "That's What Love Will Make You Do" and "What It Is" from his live album, What It Is: Live at Montreux. He appeared in the documentary film, Wattstax, which was released in 1973. Stax, however, had been losing money since late in the previous decade and was forced into bankruptcy in 1975.
After leaving Stax, Milton struggled to maintain a career, moving first to Evidence, then the MCA imprint Mobile Fidelity Records, before finding a home at the independent record label, Malaco Records, where he remained for much of the remainder of his career. His last hit single, "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number," was released in 1983 from the album of the same name. In 1988, Little Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and won a W. C. Handy Award. His final album, Think of Me, was released in May 2005 on the Telarc imprint, and included writing and guitar on three songs by Peter Shoulder of the UK-based blues-rock trio Winterville.
Milton died on August 4, 2005, from complications following a stroke.
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*Sammie Chess, Jr. (b. 1934), the first African America judge in North Carolina, was born, Chess served on the bench from 1971 to 1975. A native of Allendale, South Carolina, Chess earned a law degree from North Carolina Central Univerity. His appointment also made him the first African American superior court judge in the South in modern times.
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*Sammie Chess, Jr. (b. 1934), the first African America judge in North Carolina, was born, Chess served on the bench from 1971 to 1975. A native of Allendale, South Carolina, Chess earned a law degree from North Carolina Central Univerity. His appointment also made him the first African American superior court judge in the South in modern times.
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*Franklin Clarke, a football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys, was born in Beloit, Wisconsin (February 7).
Franklin Clarke (b. February 7, 1934, Beloit, Wisconsin) was named after Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. He attended Beloit Memorial High School where he was an all-state football player.
After attending Trinidad State Junior College for two years, where he had a successful career, he became the first African American varsity football player at the University of Colorado at Boulder, joining the Buffaloes in September 1954. He had to sit out the season after transferring. He was joined by John Wooten the following year and because this was before the civil rights movement, the pair often had to endure open racism outside of Boulder.
Clarke amassed 532 yards receiving, ending his career fifth at the time in receiving yards at Colorado. He was so well liked among his peers on campus, that he was chosen as King of the annual Days festival, Colorado's equivalent of Homecoming King.
He was an honorable mention All-Big 7 conference performer as a junior, when he was second in the league in receiving. As a senior, he was selected to play in the Copper Bowl All-Star Game.
In 2008, he was inducted into the Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame.
Clarke was drafted in the fifth round of the 1956 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. He played with the team for three seasons, from 1957 to 1959, even though he stood on the sidelines during the first two. He had a total of 10 catches during those three years and was left unprotected in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft.
Clarke was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft. His coaches at Colorado and Cleveland criticized his blocking, but the Cowboys were still intrigued by the 6-1, 215-pound player. Instead of picking at his deficiencies, Tom Landry chose to accentuate his strengths. The coach appreciated his speed, soft hands and his ability to run precise routes, so he was converted into a split end.
Clarke did not make an immediate impression in Dallas either, catching only nine passes in a backup role, during the 1960 season. However, he moved into the starting role in 1961,
finishing with 919 yards, 41 receptions and 9 touchdowns. Additionally, he started a streak of seven consecutive games with at least a touchdown reception, which, as of 2016, still stood as a Cowboys record shared with Bob Hayes (1965-1966), Terrell Owens (2007) and Dez Bryant (2012).
Clarke turned out to be the Cowboys' first bona fide long-ball threat—before "Bullet" Bob Hayes joined him. Hayes even credited Clarke for teaching him the proper way to catch "the bomb"—the long pass. He is also credited as being the first African American star athlete, on a Cowboys team that played in a then racially divided Dallas, Texas.
His opening day performance against the Washington Redskins in 1962 was one for the ages. His ten receptions for 241 yards, remains the best opening day performance in terms of most yards receiving, of any wide receiver in the history of the NFL. That year would be his best, becoming the first player in team history to gain more than 1000 yards in a season (ground or air) and recording 47 passes for career high numbers in yards (1043) and touchdowns (14). In addition to leading the NFL with 14 touchdown and 22.2 yards per reception.
On September 23, 1962, Clarke was part of an infamous play where, for the first time in an NFL game, points were awarded for a penalty. The Cowboys were holding in the end zone on a 99-yard touchdown pass from Eddie LeBaron to Clarke, and the Pittsburgh Steelers were awarded a safety, helping them win the game 30-28.
He moved to tight end towards the end of his career, but he remained productive and became a clutch third down receiver. In 1964, he caught 65 passes for 973 yards and received All-Pro honors.
Clarke led the Cowboys in yards and touchdowns from 1961 to 1964, and catches in 1963 and 1964. He also held the franchise record for most touchdowns in a season by a receiver with 14 during his 1962 season, which stood for 45 years until 2007, when it was broken by Terrell Owens. He also had the team record for the most career receiving multi-touchdown games with 9, until it was broken by Dez Bryant in 2014.
Clarke retired after the 1967 NFL Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers, in what is now known as the "Ice Bowl", won by the Packers, 21-17. Clarke caught 281 passes for 5,214 yards and 51 touchdowns in 140 NFL games, which ranks sixth in receiving yards in Dallas Cowboys history.
Clarke became the first African American sports anchor for a Dallas television station and at CBS. On weekends, Clarke anchored sports reports for WFAA-TV (Channel 8) when not working NFL games for CBS.
Franklin Clarke (b. February 7, 1934, Beloit, Wisconsin) was named after Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. He attended Beloit Memorial High School where he was an all-state football player.
After attending Trinidad State Junior College for two years, where he had a successful career, he became the first African American varsity football player at the University of Colorado at Boulder, joining the Buffaloes in September 1954. He had to sit out the season after transferring. He was joined by John Wooten the following year and because this was before the civil rights movement, the pair often had to endure open racism outside of Boulder.
Clarke amassed 532 yards receiving, ending his career fifth at the time in receiving yards at Colorado. He was so well liked among his peers on campus, that he was chosen as King of the annual Days festival, Colorado's equivalent of Homecoming King.
He was an honorable mention All-Big 7 conference performer as a junior, when he was second in the league in receiving. As a senior, he was selected to play in the Copper Bowl All-Star Game.
In 2008, he was inducted into the Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame.
Clarke was drafted in the fifth round of the 1956 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. He played with the team for three seasons, from 1957 to 1959, even though he stood on the sidelines during the first two. He had a total of 10 catches during those three years and was left unprotected in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft.
Clarke was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft. His coaches at Colorado and Cleveland criticized his blocking, but the Cowboys were still intrigued by the 6-1, 215-pound player. Instead of picking at his deficiencies, Tom Landry chose to accentuate his strengths. The coach appreciated his speed, soft hands and his ability to run precise routes, so he was converted into a split end.
Clarke did not make an immediate impression in Dallas either, catching only nine passes in a backup role, during the 1960 season. However, he moved into the starting role in 1961,
finishing with 919 yards, 41 receptions and 9 touchdowns. Additionally, he started a streak of seven consecutive games with at least a touchdown reception, which, as of 2016, still stood as a Cowboys record shared with Bob Hayes (1965-1966), Terrell Owens (2007) and Dez Bryant (2012).
Clarke turned out to be the Cowboys' first bona fide long-ball threat—before "Bullet" Bob Hayes joined him. Hayes even credited Clarke for teaching him the proper way to catch "the bomb"—the long pass. He is also credited as being the first African American star athlete, on a Cowboys team that played in a then racially divided Dallas, Texas.
His opening day performance against the Washington Redskins in 1962 was one for the ages. His ten receptions for 241 yards, remains the best opening day performance in terms of most yards receiving, of any wide receiver in the history of the NFL. That year would be his best, becoming the first player in team history to gain more than 1000 yards in a season (ground or air) and recording 47 passes for career high numbers in yards (1043) and touchdowns (14). In addition to leading the NFL with 14 touchdown and 22.2 yards per reception.
On September 23, 1962, Clarke was part of an infamous play where, for the first time in an NFL game, points were awarded for a penalty. The Cowboys were holding in the end zone on a 99-yard touchdown pass from Eddie LeBaron to Clarke, and the Pittsburgh Steelers were awarded a safety, helping them win the game 30-28.
He moved to tight end towards the end of his career, but he remained productive and became a clutch third down receiver. In 1964, he caught 65 passes for 973 yards and received All-Pro honors.
Clarke led the Cowboys in yards and touchdowns from 1961 to 1964, and catches in 1963 and 1964. He also held the franchise record for most touchdowns in a season by a receiver with 14 during his 1962 season, which stood for 45 years until 2007, when it was broken by Terrell Owens. He also had the team record for the most career receiving multi-touchdown games with 9, until it was broken by Dez Bryant in 2014.
Clarke retired after the 1967 NFL Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers, in what is now known as the "Ice Bowl", won by the Packers, 21-17. Clarke caught 281 passes for 5,214 yards and 51 touchdowns in 140 NFL games, which ranks sixth in receiving yards in Dallas Cowboys history.
Clarke became the first African American sports anchor for a Dallas television station and at CBS. On weekends, Clarke anchored sports reports for WFAA-TV (Channel 8) when not working NFL games for CBS.
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*Hank Crawford, an R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist who became the musical director for Ray Charles, was born in Memphis, Tennessee (December 21).
Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (b. December 21, 1934, Memphis, Tennessee – d. January 29, 2009, Memphis, Tennessee) was an R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter. Crawford was musical director for Ray Charles before embarking on a solo career releasing many well-regarded albums on Atlantic, CTI and Milestone.
Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (b. December 21, 1934, Memphis, Tennessee – d. January 29, 2009, Memphis, Tennessee) was an R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter. Crawford was musical director for Ray Charles before embarking on a solo career releasing many well-regarded albums on Atlantic, CTI and Milestone.
Crawford began formal piano studies at the age of nine and was soon playing for his church choir. His father had brought an alto saxophone home from the service and when Hank entered Manassas High School, he took it up in order to join the band. He credited Charlie Parker, Louis Jordan, Earl Bostic and Johnny Hodges as early influences.
Crawford appears on an early 1952 Memphis recording for B. B. King with a band including Ben Branch and Ike Turner.
In 1958, Crawford went to college at Tennessee State Universtiy in Nashville, Tennessee. While at TSU, he majored in music studying theory and composition, as well as playing alto and baritone saxophone in the Tennessee State Jazz Collegians. He also led his own rock 'n' roll quartet, "Little Hank and the Rhythm Kings". His bandmates all thought he looked and sounded just like Hank O'Day, a legendary local saxophonist, which earned him the nickname "Hank". This is when Crawford met Ray Charles, who hired Crawford originally as a baritone saxophonist. Crawford switched to alto in 1959 and remained with Charles' band—becoming its musical director until 1963.
When Crawford left Ray Charles in 1963 to form his own septet, he had already established himself with several albums for Atlantic Records. From 1960 until 1970, he recorded twelve LPs for the label, many while balancing his earlier duties as Ray’s director. He released such pre-crossover hits as "Misty", “The Peeper”, “Skunky Green”, and "Whispering Grass".
He also did musical arrangements for Etta James, Lou Rawls, and others. Much of his career was in R&B, but in the 1970s he had several successful jazz albums, with I Hear a Symphony reaching 11 on Billboard's Jazz albums list and 159 for Pop albums.
In 1981, Crawford was featured, with fellow horn players Ronnie Cuber and David Newman, on B. B. King's There Must Be a Better World Somewhere.
In 1983, he moved to Milestone Records as a premier arranger, soloist, and composer, writing for small bands including guitarist Melvin Sparks, organist Jimmy McGriff, and Dr. John. In 1986, Crawford began working with blues-jazz organ master Jimmy McGriff. They recorded five co-leader dates for Milestone Records: Soul Survivors, Steppin’ Up, On the Blue Side, Road Tested, and Crunch Time, as well as two dates for Telarc Records: Right Turn on Blue and Blues Groove. The two toured together extensively.
The new century found Crawford shifting gears and going for a more mainstream jazz set in his 2000 release The World of Hank Crawford, followed by The Best of Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff (2001) and Back (2007).
Hank Crawford died from complications of a stroke on January 29, 2014, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Hank Crawford died from complications of a stroke on January 29, 2014, in Memphis, Tennessee.
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*Marpessa Dawn, an actress best known for her role as Eurydice in the Academy Award winning film, Black Orpheus, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (January 3).
Marpessa Dawn (b. January 3, 1934, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- d. August 25, 2008, Paris, France), also known as Gypsy Marpessa Dawn Menor, was an American-born African American and French actress, singer, and dancer, best remembered for her role in the film Black Orpheus (1959).
Born on a farm near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of African American and Filipino heritage, she worked as a laboratory technician in New York before migrating to Europe as a teenager. She began acting in England, with some minor television roles. Then, in 1953, she relocated to France and while occasionally working as a governess also sang and danced in nightclubs, where she met director Marcel Camus. At the age of 24, she won the role of "Eurydice" in his film Black Orpheus. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. She married Camus, but divorced him soon after and married Belgian actor Eric Vander. Considered a great beauty, she was featured in November 1959 by Ebony magazine.
Born on a farm near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of African American and Filipino heritage, she worked as a laboratory technician in New York before migrating to Europe as a teenager. She began acting in England, with some minor television roles. Then, in 1953, she relocated to France and while occasionally working as a governess also sang and danced in nightclubs, where she met director Marcel Camus. At the age of 24, she won the role of "Eurydice" in his film Black Orpheus. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. She married Camus, but divorced him soon after and married Belgian actor Eric Vander. Considered a great beauty, she was featured in November 1959 by Ebony magazine.
Dawn remained in Europe, working without great success in French films and television. She also had several theatrical parts, including starring in Chérie Noire, a stage comedy that toured France, Belgium, Switzerland, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. She appeared in a 2005 documentary about Vinicius de Moraes, who wrote the original play from which Black Orpheus was adapted. She and her fellow lead from that film, Brazilian actor Breno Mello, died just 42 days apart in 2008, both from heart attacks. She was 74 years old and at the time of her death in Paris left five children and four grandchildren.
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*Henry Dumas, author of Ark of Bones and Other Stories, was born in Sweet Home, Arkansas (July 20).
Henry Dumas (b. July 20, 1934, Sweet Home, Arkansas - d. May 23, 1968, Manhattan, New York City, New York) was born in Sweet Home, Arkansas, in 1934 and lived there until the age of ten, when he moved to New York City. However, he always kept with him the religious and folk traditions of his hometown. In Harlem, he attended public school and graduated from Commerce High School in 1953. After graduating, he enrolled in the Air Force and was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where he met his future wife, Loretta Ponton. The couple married in 1955 and had two sons, David in 1958 and Michael in 1962. Dumas was in the military until 1957, at which time he enrolled at Rutgers University but never attained a degree. In 1967, Dumas began work at Southern Illinois University as a teacher, counselor, and director of its "Experiment in Higher Education" program. It was here that he met fellow teacher and poet Eugene Redmond, forming a close collaborative relationship that would prove so integral to Dumas' posthumous career.
During his life, Dumas was active in civil rights and humanitarian efforts, including transporting food and clothing to protesters in Mississippi and Tennessee. While serving in the military, he spent eighteen months at Dhahran Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia, where he developed an interest in the language, culture, religion and mythology of the Arab world.
On May 23, 1968, at approximately 12:15 a.m., Dumas was shot to death at the age of 33 by a New York City Transit Police officer on the southbound platform of the 125th Street Station of the New York City Subway's IRT Lenox Avenue Line. The circumstances of the shooting are somewhat murky, particularly since the Transit Police Department's records of the shooting were destroyed when the agency merged into the New York City Police Department in 1995. According to an Associated Press report shortly after the shooting, the officer claimed that Dumas had been threatening another man with a knife. The officer said that he ordered Dumas to drop the knife, but that Dumas instead turned, attacked the officer, and slashed the officer's cheek. The officer stated that he fired three times.
Multiple accounts over the years have said that Dumas was killed by the officer in a case of "mistaken identity," but it is unclear what the source of that characterization is.
Dumas was buried in Long Island National Cemetery in Suffolk County, New York.
His death is mentioned in the poem "An Alphabet of My Dead," by Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, as well as the poem "Night, for Henry Dumas" by Aracelis Girmay.
Dumas's first collection of short stories was Ark of Bones and Other Stories, published in 1974, posthumously edited by his friend, poet Eugene Redmond, who also edited other volumes of his work, including his poetry collection, Play Ebony, Play Ivory (1974). Subsequent books include an unfinished novel, Jonah and the Green Stone (1976), Rope of Wind and Other Stories (1979), Goodbye, Sweetwater: New and Selected Stories (1988) and Knees of a Natural Man: The Selected Poetry of Henry Dumas.
His short story "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" was included in the 2004 Dark Matter: Reading The Bones anthology edited by Sheree Thomas.
Dumas was influenced by jazz, studying with Sun Ra during the mid-1960s, and in turn influenced jazz musicians. For example, his poem "Black Paladins" became the title track for a recording by Joseph Jarman and Famoudou Don Moye.
Dumas claimed some of his earliest influences to be Moms Mabley and gospel music. His experiences as a black child growing up in the south during the 1930s and '40s were frequent themes in his writings. His time spent on the Arabian Peninsula influenced him as well, and he eventually drew not only on black Christianity and Islam, but on Sufi mysticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Native American and African myths and religions. In the 1960s, Dumas became increasingly involved with both the Black Power Movement and the Black Arts Movement, immersing himself in music: gospel, spirituals, jazz, and blues. Writer Margaret Walker and musicians James Brown and John Coltrane proved to be major influences on his writing at this time.
Both his fiction and his poetry developed themes of the Black Aesthetic movement, in addition to themes of nature and the natural world.
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A native of Philadelphia, Gunn wrote more than 29 plays during his lifetime. He also authored two novels and wrote several produced screenplays. He died from encephalitis at a Nyack, New York hospital the day before his play, The Forbidden City opened at the Public Theater in New York City.
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*Bill Gunn, a film director known for directing the cult classic horror film Ganja and Hess, was born in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania (July 15).
Bill Gunn (b. William Harrison Gunn, July 15, 1934, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - d. April 5, 1989, Nyack, New York) was a playwright, novelist, actor and film director. His 1973 cult classic horror film Ganja and Hess was chosen as one of ten best American films of the decade at the Cannes Film Festival, 1973. His drama Johnnas won an Emmy award in 1972.
*Virginia Hamilton, author of juvenile fiction such as M. C. Higgins the Great and Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, was born in Yellow Springs, Ohio (March 12).
Virginia Esther Hamilton (b. March 12, 1934, Yellow Springs, Ohio – d. February 19, 2002) was a multi-award winning African-American children's books author. She wrote 41 books, including M. C. Higgins, the Great (1974), for which she won the United States National Book Award in category Children's Books and the Newbery Medal in 1975.
For lifetime achievement, Hamilton won the international Hans Christian Andersen Award for writing children's literature in 1992 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her contributions to American children's literature in 1995.
The youngest of five children of Kenneth James and Etta Belle (née Perry) Hamilton, Virginia grew up amid a large extended family in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The area had been home to her mother's family since the late 1850s, when her maternal grandfather, Levi Perry, was brought into the state as an infant via the Underground Railroad. Her family encouraged her to read and write widely. She received a full scholarship to Antioch College but later transferred to Ohio State University.
She met poet Arnold Adoff while living in New York City, and married him in 1960. The two later returned with their children to live on the farm where Hamilton was raised. Adoff supported the family by working as a teacher, so Hamilton spent her time writing and had two children.
In 1967, Zeely was published, the first of more than 40 books. Zeely was named an American Library Association Notable Book and won the Nancy Bloch Award. Hamilton published The Planet of Junior Brown, which was named a Newbery Honor Book and also won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1971. M. C. Higgins, the Great (1974) won the Newbery Medal, making Hamilton the first black author to receive the medal. The book also won the National Book Award, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and The New York Times Outstanding Children’s Book of the Year.
Hamilton was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award Award for Writing (the highest international recognition bestowed on an author or illustrator of children's literature), a MacArthur Fellowship, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award and the University of Southern Mississippi de Grummond Medal. In 1990, she received the Catholic Library Association’s Regina Medal, given annually “for continued, distinguished contribution to children’s literature”.
Hamilton died of breast cancer on February 19, 2002, in Dayton, Ohio. Three books have been published posthumously: Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl (2003), Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny (2004), and Virginia Hamilton: Speeches, Essays, and Conversations, edited by Arnold Adoff and Kacy Cook (2010).
In 2010, the American Library Association established the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award:
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*Roy Innis, the National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1968 to 2017, was born in Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands (June 6).
Roy Emile Alfredo Innis (b. June 6, 1934, Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands – d. January 8, 2017, New York City, New York) was an activist and politician. Innis was born in Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands in 1934. In 1947, Innis moved with his mother from the United States Virgin Islands to New York City, where he graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1952. At age 16, Innis joined the United States Army, and at age 18 he received an honorable discharge. He entered a four-year program in chemistry at the City College of New York. He subsequently held positions as a research chemist at Vick Chemical Company and Montefiore Hospital.
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*Eddie Harris, a jazz musician best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone, was born in Chicago, Illinois (October 20). He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-known compositions are "Exodus", "Freedom Jazz Dance", recorded and popularized by Miles Davis in 1966, and "Listen Here."
Eddie Harris (b. October 20, 1934, Chicago, Illinois – d. November 5, 1996, Los Angeles, California) was born and grew up in Chicago. His father was originally from Cuba, and his mother from New Orleans. Like other successful Chicago musicians, including Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Clifford Jordan, Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons, Julian Priester, and Bo Diddley (among others), young Eddie Harris studied music under Walter Dyett at DuSable High School. He later studied music at Roosevelt University, by which time he was proficient on piano, vibraphone, and tenor saxophone. While in college, he performed professionally with Gene Ammons.
After college, Harris was drafted into the United States Army and while serving in Europe, he was accepted into the 7th Army Band, which also included Don Ellis, Leo Wright, and Cedar Walton.
Leaving military service, he worked in New York City before returning to Chicago where he signed a contract with Vee Jay Records. His first album for Vee Jay, Exodus to Jazz, included his own jazz arrangement of Ernest Gold's theme from the movie Exodus. A shortened version of this track, which featured his masterful playing in the upper register of the tenor saxophone, was heavily played on radio and became the first jazz record ever to be certified gold.
The single climbed into the United States Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 16 in the United States R&B chart. Some jazz critics, however, regarded commercial success as a sign that a jazz artist had sold out and Harris soon stopped playing "Exodus" in concert. He moved to Columbia Records in 1964 and then to Atlantic Records the following year where he re-established himself. In 1965, Atlantic released The in Sound, a bop album that won back many of his detractors.
Over the next few years, he began to perform on electric piano and the electric Varitone saxophone, and to perform a mixture of jazz and funk that sold well in both the jazz and rhythm and blues markets. In 1967, his album, The Electrifying Eddie Harris, reached second place on the R&B charts. The album's lead track, "Listen Here", was issued as a single, climbing to No. 11 R&B and No. 45 on the Hot 100. Harris released several different versions of his composition over the years, including both studio and live concert recordings. The first appeared on an early Atlantic album, "Mean Greens", featuring him on electric piano. He was to re-work the track two years later, stretching it out to over seven minutes in length, for his iconic sax solo version. The whole track appeared on both sides of the Atlantic hit single, edited into two parts.
In 1969, he performed with pianist and vocalist Les McCann at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Although the musicians had been unable to rehearse, their session was so impressive that a recording of it was released by Atlantic as Swiss Movement. This became one of the best-selling jazz albums ever, also reaching second place on the R&B charts.
Harris also came up with the idea of the reed trumpet, playing one for the first time at the Newport Jazz Festival of 1970 to mostly negative critical feedback. From 1970 to 1975, he experimented with new instruments of his own invention (the reed trumpet was a trumpet with a saxophone mouthpiece, the saxobone was a saxophone with a trombone mouthpiece, and the guitorgan was a combination of guitar and organ), with singing the blues, with jazz-rock (he recorded an album with Steve Winwood, Jeff Beck, Albert Lee Ric Grech, Zoot Money, Ian Paice and other rockers). He also started singing and to perform comic R&B numbers, such as "That is Why You're Overweight" and "Eddie Who?".
In 1975, however, he alienated much of his audience with his album The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t, which consisted mainly of comedy. Interest in subsequent albums declined. He was a member of Horace Silver's Quintet in the early 1980s, and continued to record regularly well into the 1990s, sometimes in Europe where he enjoyed a loyal following, but his experimentation ended and he mainly recorded hard bop. He had moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, and was responsible for much of the music on the hit TV series The Bill Cosby Show.
On November 5, 1996, Harris died in a hospital in Los Angeles from bone cancer and kidney disease, at the age of 62.
*Marilyn Horne, a mezzo-soprano opera singer, was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania (January 16).
Marilyn Horne (b. January 16, 1934, Bradford, Pennsylvania), a mezzo-soprano opera singer who specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages, was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania. She was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts (1992) and the Kennedy Center Honors (1995). She has won four Grammy Awards.
Horne studied voice at the University of Southern California with William Vennard and at the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, California, with Lotte Lehmann. In 1954, she dubbed the voice of Dorothy Dandridge in the film Carmen Jones; the same year, she made her opera debut with the Los Angeles Guild Opera as Hata in Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. She left school and in 1956 performed the role of Giulietta in Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann at the Gelsenkirchen Opera in West Germany. In three seasons at the Gelsenkirchen she performed such roles as Fulvia in Handel’s Ezio and Marie in Alban Berg's Wozzeck.
Horne repeated her role in Wozzeck at the San Francisco Opera in 1960. The following year, as Agnese in Vincenzo Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda, she joined Joan Sutherland in the first of several joint concert performances. It was also Horne’s first bel canto role. Her debut at La Scala, Milan, came in 1969 in Igor Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. Her long-awaited debut at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera came in 1970 as Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma; she subsequently became one of the Met’s principal singers. Horne had her greatest successes in such roles as Rossini’s Tancredi and Handel’s Rinaldo. Because of her ability to sing roles that had been originally written for the castrati (who had both an upper range and great vocal power), Horne was known for resurrecting seldom-performed operas. Horne’s efforts were rewarded in 1982, when she was awarded the first Golden Plaque of the Rossini Foundation, honoring her as “the greatest Rossini singer in the world.”
In 1993, Horne sang at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. The following year she established the Marilyn Horne Foundation, which gives aspiring opera singers opportunities to perform throughout the United States. In 1995, Horne became director of the vocal program at The Music Academy of the West. Marilyn Horne: My Life (written with Jane Scovell) was published in 1983.
*****Horne studied voice at the University of Southern California with William Vennard and at the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, California, with Lotte Lehmann. In 1954, she dubbed the voice of Dorothy Dandridge in the film Carmen Jones; the same year, she made her opera debut with the Los Angeles Guild Opera as Hata in Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. She left school and in 1956 performed the role of Giulietta in Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann at the Gelsenkirchen Opera in West Germany. In three seasons at the Gelsenkirchen she performed such roles as Fulvia in Handel’s Ezio and Marie in Alban Berg's Wozzeck.
Horne repeated her role in Wozzeck at the San Francisco Opera in 1960. The following year, as Agnese in Vincenzo Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda, she joined Joan Sutherland in the first of several joint concert performances. It was also Horne’s first bel canto role. Her debut at La Scala, Milan, came in 1969 in Igor Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. Her long-awaited debut at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera came in 1970 as Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma; she subsequently became one of the Met’s principal singers. Horne had her greatest successes in such roles as Rossini’s Tancredi and Handel’s Rinaldo. Because of her ability to sing roles that had been originally written for the castrati (who had both an upper range and great vocal power), Horne was known for resurrecting seldom-performed operas. Horne’s efforts were rewarded in 1982, when she was awarded the first Golden Plaque of the Rossini Foundation, honoring her as “the greatest Rossini singer in the world.”
In 1993, Horne sang at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. The following year she established the Marilyn Horne Foundation, which gives aspiring opera singers opportunities to perform throughout the United States. In 1995, Horne became director of the vocal program at The Music Academy of the West. Marilyn Horne: My Life (written with Jane Scovell) was published in 1983.
*Roy Innis, the National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1968 to 2017, was born in Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands (June 6).
Roy Emile Alfredo Innis (b. June 6, 1934, Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands – d. January 8, 2017, New York City, New York) was an activist and politician. Innis was born in Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands in 1934. In 1947, Innis moved with his mother from the United States Virgin Islands to New York City, where he graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1952. At age 16, Innis joined the United States Army, and at age 18 he received an honorable discharge. He entered a four-year program in chemistry at the City College of New York. He subsequently held positions as a research chemist at Vick Chemical Company and Montefiore Hospital.
Innis joined CORE's Harlem chapter in 1963. In 1964, he was elected Chairman of the chapter’s education committee and advocated community-controlled education and black empowerment. In 1965, he was elected Chairman of Harlem CORE, after which he campaigned for the establishment of an independent Board of Education for Harlem.
In the spring of 1967, Innis was appointed the first resident fellow at the Metropolitan Applied Research Center (MARC), headed by Dr. Kenneth Clark. In the summer of 1967, he was elected Second National Vice-Chairman of CORE.
Innis was elected National Chairman of CORE in 1968, and held the position until his death in 2017. Innis initially headed the organization in a strong campaign of Black Nationalism. White CORE activists, according to James Peck, were removed from CORE in 1965, as part of a purge of whites from the movement then under the control of Innis. Under Innis' leadership, CORE supported the presidential candidacy of Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972. This was the beginning of a sharp rightward turn in the organization.
Innis drafted the Community Self-Determination Act of 1968 and garnered bi-partisan sponsorship of this bill by one-third of the United States Senate and over 50 congressmen. This was the first time in United States history that a bill drafted by a black organization was introduced into the United States Congress.
In the debate over school integration, Innis offered an alternative plan consisting of community control of educational institutions. As part of this effort, in October 1970, CORE filed an amicus curiae brief with the United States Supreme Court in connection with Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.
Innis and a CORE delegation toured seven African countries in 1971. He met with several heads of state, including Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, Liberia's William Tolbert, and Uganda's Idi Amin, who was awarded a life membership in CORE. In 1973, Innis became the first American to attend the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in an official capacity. In 1973, Innis participated in a televised debate with Nobel-winning physicist William Shockley on the topic of black intelligence.
Innis was long active in criminal justice matters, including the debate over gun control and the Second Amendment. After losing two sons to criminals with guns, Innis became an advocate for the rights of law-abiding citizens to self-defense. A Life Member of the National Rifle Association, he also served on its governing board. Innis also chaired the NRA's Urban Affairs Committee and was a member of the NRA Ethics Committee, and continued to speak publicly in the United States and around the world in favor of individual civilian ownership of firearms, gun issues, and individual rights.
Innis lost two of his sons to criminal gun violence. His eldest son, Roy Innis, Jr., was killed at the age of 13 in 1968. His next oldest son Alexander, 26, was shot and slain in 1982.
Innis was noted for two on-air fights in the middle of television talk shows in 1988. The first in the midst of an argument about the Tawana Brawley case during a taping of the The Morton Downey, Jr. Show, Innis shoved Al Sharpton to the floor. Also that year, Innis was in a scuffle on Geraldo with white supremacist John Metzger. The skirmish started after Metzger, son of White Aryan Resistance founder Tom Metzger, called Innis an "Uncle Tom", and Innis grabbed the seated Metzger's throat, appearing to choke him.
In 1986, Innis challenged incumbent Major Owens in the Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District, representing Brooklyn. He was defeated by a three-to-one margin.
In the 1993, New York City Democratic Party mayoral primary, Innis challenged incumbent David Dinkins, the first African-American to hold the office. During his own campaign, Innis also appeared at fundraising events for the Republican candidate Rudolph Giuliani. Innis received 25% of the vote in the four-way race with a majority of his votes coming from multi-ethnic areas, while he failed in less culturally diverse Assembly Districts. Innis lost to Dinkins, who then lost to Giuliani in the general election.
In February 1994, his son, Niger, who ran his primary campaign, suggested that Innis would also challenge incumbent governor Mario Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
In 1998, Innis joined the Libertarian Party and gave serious consideration to running for Governor of New York as the party's candidate that year. He ultimately decided against running, citing time restrictions related to his duties with CORE.
Innis served as New York State Chair in Alan Keyes' 2000 presidential campaign.
Innis died on January 8, 2017 at the age of 82, from Parkinson's disease.
*Charles Jenkins, the 1956 Olympic 400 meter champion, was born in New York City, New York (January 7).
Charles Lamont "Charlie" Jenkins (b. January 7, 1934, New York City, New York), a winner of two gold medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics, was born in New York City, New York.
Charles Jenkins was a member of Villanova's track teams between 1955 and 1957. Coached by Jumbo Elliott, Jenkins won the 1955 National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) title in 440 yard but at the 1956 Olympics all eyes were on Jenkins' United States teammate, Lou Jones, who held the world record. Jones had won the United States Trials while Jenkins had placed a distant third. At Melbourne, Jenkins barely made it to the 400 meter Olympic final, finishing third in both his first and second-round heats. In the final, however, a strong finish earned him the gold medal.
A few days later he won a second gold medal when the United States took the 4 x 400 meter relay.
{In 1955, American [Lou Jones] had set the world record of 45.4 in winning the Pan American Games. But that mark was specious, as it was set at the altitude of Ciudad de México. Still, Jones had won the US Olympic Trials and was favored. He was expected to be pushed by his teammate, [Charlie Jenkins], the 1955 AAU Champion, and 1954 European Champion, [Ardalion Ignatyev] (URS). In the final, Jones was drawn in the outside lane and led by two metres at the 200 mark. But Ignatyev caught him by 300 metres as Jones tied up and was never again a factor. Jenkins had started slowly but had plenty left. He caught Ignatyev with 50 metres left and won by two metres over Germany's [Karl-Friedrich Haas]. Ignatyev tied for third with Finland's [Voitto Hellstén]. The final time (46.7 for Jenkins) was slow, but the day was windy and the final and semi-finals were held on the same day, for the last time at the Olympics.}
Jenkins also competed indoors, winning the AAU 600 yard (549 m) title in 1955, 1957 and 1958. In 1956, he set a world indoor best for 500 yards (457 m). When Elliott died in 1981, Jenkins succeeded him as Villanova coach. One of his charges was his son, Chip, who placed third at the 1986 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) indoor championships. Like his father, Chip also became an Olympic gold medalist, running as a reserve on the United States 4 x 400 meter relay team at the 1992 Summer Olympics making it the first time in history that a father and a son won gold medals in the same event.
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*Bill Jones, one of the first black photographers to work the celebrity beat in Hollywood and a photographer who brought attention to Halle Berry, Denzel Washington and other black stars early in their careers, was born in Mansfield, Ohio (October 4).
William Benjamin Jones was born on October 4, 1934, in Mansfield, Ohio. He was given up for adoption by his birth parents and reared by Willy and Bertha Jones. After graduating from Mansfield Senior High School in 1954, he enrolled in Howard University in Washington, but he left during his freshman year to enlist in the Air Force.
Jones stayed in the Air Force for the next two decades, attaining the rank of sergeant. He was trained as an accountant but became fascinated by photography.
While stationed on Okinawa, he staged fashion shows on the base and took runway photographs. Later, when he was stationed in England, he took courses at the London School of Photography.
He took his first celebrity photo when Muhammad Ali came to London in 1966 for a return match with the English heavyweight Henry Cooper.
After leaving the Air Force, Jones moved to Los Angeles, where he earned a master’s degree in business from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1976. While making his early red-carpet forays — he started with a photograph of the comedian Redd Foxx leaving a restaurant on Venice Boulevard — he worked at the accounting firm Swinerton & Walberg.
The disc jockey and entrepreneur Hal Jackson hired Jones as the photographer for his Talented Teens International Competition.
Jones photographed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he visited Los Angeles in 1964, and in 1990 he traveled to South Africa, paying his own way, to photograph Nelson Mandela as he was released from prison. At the 2002 Academy Awards, he photographed Ms. Berry and Mr. Washington, winners of the best actress and best actor Oscars, holding their gold statuettes aloft. It was one of his favorite images.
In 1997, washing his car in front of his house in South Los Angeles, Mr. Jones was attacked by a neighbor with a baseball bat. No motive was ever determined. He lay in a coma for a month, with multiple skull fractures. Many of the celebrities he had photographed over the years raised money to help with his medical treatment.
After a long period of rehabilitation, he resumed his photographic work, using his left hand to take pictures. His most memorable images were collected in "Hollywood in Black: 40 Years of Photography by Bill Jones," published in 2006. That year the annual Hollywood Black Film Festival honored him with a retrospective.
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William Benjamin Jones was born on October 4, 1934, in Mansfield, Ohio. He was given up for adoption by his birth parents and reared by Willy and Bertha Jones. After graduating from Mansfield Senior High School in 1954, he enrolled in Howard University in Washington, but he left during his freshman year to enlist in the Air Force.
Jones stayed in the Air Force for the next two decades, attaining the rank of sergeant. He was trained as an accountant but became fascinated by photography.
While stationed on Okinawa, he staged fashion shows on the base and took runway photographs. Later, when he was stationed in England, he took courses at the London School of Photography.
He took his first celebrity photo when Muhammad Ali came to London in 1966 for a return match with the English heavyweight Henry Cooper.
After leaving the Air Force, Jones moved to Los Angeles, where he earned a master’s degree in business from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1976. While making his early red-carpet forays — he started with a photograph of the comedian Redd Foxx leaving a restaurant on Venice Boulevard — he worked at the accounting firm Swinerton & Walberg.
The disc jockey and entrepreneur Hal Jackson hired Jones as the photographer for his Talented Teens International Competition.
Jones photographed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he visited Los Angeles in 1964, and in 1990 he traveled to South Africa, paying his own way, to photograph Nelson Mandela as he was released from prison. At the 2002 Academy Awards, he photographed Ms. Berry and Mr. Washington, winners of the best actress and best actor Oscars, holding their gold statuettes aloft. It was one of his favorite images.
In 1997, washing his car in front of his house in South Los Angeles, Mr. Jones was attacked by a neighbor with a baseball bat. No motive was ever determined. He lay in a coma for a month, with multiple skull fractures. Many of the celebrities he had photographed over the years raised money to help with his medical treatment.
After a long period of rehabilitation, he resumed his photographic work, using his left hand to take pictures. His most memorable images were collected in "Hollywood in Black: 40 Years of Photography by Bill Jones," published in 2006. That year the annual Hollywood Black Film Festival honored him with a retrospective.
*****
*Earl King, a singer, guitarist and songwriter known for composiing the blues standard "I Hear You Knocking", was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Earl King (b. February 7, 1934, New Orleans, Louisiana – d. April 17, 2003, New Orleans, Louisiana) was a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, most active in blues music. A composer of blues standards such as "I Hear You Knocking" (recorded by Smiley Lewis, Gale Storm, Dave Edmunds and others), "One Night" (recorded by Smiley Lewis and Elvis Presley), "Come On" (covered by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Professor Longhair's "Big Chief", King is an important figure in New Orleans R&B music.
King was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was a piano player. He died when Earl was still a baby, and Earl was brought up by his mother. With his mother, he started going to church at an early age. In his youth he sang gospel music, but he took the advice of a friend to switch to blues to make a better living.
King started to play the guitar at the age of 15. Soon he started entering talent contests at local clubs, including the Dew Drop Inn. At one such club he met his idol, Guitar Slim. King started imitating Slim, and his presence had a big impact on his musical direction. In 1954, Slim was injured in an automobile accident (right around the time he had the number 1 R&B hit "The Things That I Used To Do"), and King was deputized to continue a tour with Slim's band, representing himself as Slim. After succeeding in this role, King became a regular at the Dew Drop Inn.
His first recording was made in 1953. As Earl Johnson, he released a 78-rpm record, "Have You Gone Crazy"/"Begging at Your Mercy", for Savoy Records. The following year, the talent scout Johnny Vincent introduced King to Specialty Records, for which he recorded some sides, including "Mother's Love", which was locally popular. In 1955, King signed with Vincent's label, Ace. His first single for that label, "Those Lonely, Lonely Nights", was a hit, reaching number 7 on the Billboard R&B chart. He continued to record for Ace for the next five years. During that time, he also started writing songs for other artists, such as Roland Stone and Jimmy Clanton.
In 1960, Dave Bartholomew invited King to record for Imperial Records. In sessions for that label, he was backed by a host of musicians, including Bob French, George French, James Booker, and Wardell Quezergue. It was at this label he recorded his signature songs "Come On" and "Trick Bag". The former has been a much-covered standard for decades, notably recorded by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Anson Funderburgh. The latter has also been widely covered, with versions by the Meters and Robert Palmer.
King recorded for Imperial until 1963. He went without a recording contract for the rest of the 1960s. During this time, he mostly concentrated on producing and songwriting for the local labels NOLA and Watch. His compositions from this era include "Big Chief", recorded by Professor Longhair; "Teasin' You", recorded by Willie Tee; and "Do-Re-Mi", recorded by Lee Dorsey. He went to Detroit for an audition with Motown Records and recorded a few tracks in the mid-1960s. Three tracks from that session are included on the album Motown's Blue Evolution, released in 1996.
In 1972, King was joined by Allen Toussaint and the Meters to record the album Street Parade. Atlantic Records initially showed interest in releasing it but eventually declined. The title track was released as a single on the Kansu label at the time, but the rest was unreleased until 1982, when the album was issued by Charly Records in the United Kingdom.
In the 1970s, King recorded another album, That Good Old New Orleans Rock 'n Roll, which was released by Sonet in 1977. He also appeared on the album New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1976.
In the early 1980s, King met Hammond Scott, the co-owner of Black Top Records, and started to record for the label. The first album Glazed, on which he was backed by Roomful of Blues, was released in 1986. A second album, Sexual Telepathy, released in 1990, featured Snooks Eaglin on two tracks and backing by Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters on some tracks. He recorded his third album for Black Top, Hard River to Cross (1993), with backing by George Porter, Jr., David Torkanowsky, and Herman V. Ernest III.
In 2001, King was hospitalized for an illness during a tour of New Zealand in 1981, but that did not stop him from performing. In December of the same year, he toured Japan, and he continued to perform off and on locally in New Orleans until his death.
King died on April 17, 2003, from diabetes-related complications, just a week before the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. His funeral was held on April 30, during the festival, and many musicians attended it, including Dr. John, Leo Nocentelli and Aaron Neville.
*****
*Poet and essayist Audre Lorde was born in New York City, New York (February 18).
Audre Lorde (b. Audrey Geraldine Lorde, February 18, 1934, New York City, New York
– d. November 17, 1992, Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands) was an African American writer, feminist, womanist, lesbian, and civil rights activist. As a poet, she is best known for technical mastery and emotional expression, particularly in her poems expressing anger and outrage at the civil and social injustices she observed throughout her life. Her poems and prose largely dealt with issues related to civil rights, feminism, and the exploration of black female identity.
The daughter of Grenadan parents, Lorde attended Hunter College and received a B.A. in 1959 and a master’s degree in library science in 1961. She married in 1962 and wrote poetry while working as a librarian at Town School in New York. She also taught English at Hunter College. In 1968 her first volume of poetry, The First Cities, was published, and Lorde briefly left New York to become poet-in-residence at Toogaloo College in Mississippi.
Cables to Rage (1970) explored her anger at social and personal injustice and contained the first poetic expression of her lesbianism. Her next volumes, From a Land Where Other People Live (1973) and New York Head Shop and Museum (1974), were more rhetorical and political.
– d. November 17, 1992, Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands) was an African American writer, feminist, womanist, lesbian, and civil rights activist. As a poet, she is best known for technical mastery and emotional expression, particularly in her poems expressing anger and outrage at the civil and social injustices she observed throughout her life. Her poems and prose largely dealt with issues related to civil rights, feminism, and the exploration of black female identity.
The daughter of Grenadan parents, Lorde attended Hunter College and received a B.A. in 1959 and a master’s degree in library science in 1961. She married in 1962 and wrote poetry while working as a librarian at Town School in New York. She also taught English at Hunter College. In 1968 her first volume of poetry, The First Cities, was published, and Lorde briefly left New York to become poet-in-residence at Toogaloo College in Mississippi.
Cables to Rage (1970) explored her anger at social and personal injustice and contained the first poetic expression of her lesbianism. Her next volumes, From a Land Where Other People Live (1973) and New York Head Shop and Museum (1974), were more rhetorical and political.
Coal (1976), a compilation of earlier works, was Lorde’s first release by a major publisher, and it earned critical notice. Most critics consider The Black Unicorn (1978) to be her finest poetic work. In it she turned from the urban themes of her early work, looking instead to Africa, and wrote on her role as mother and daughter, using rich imagery and mythology.
The poet’s 14-year battle with cancer is examined in The Cancer Journals (1980), in which she recorded her early battle with the disease and gave a feminist critique of the medical profession. In 1980, Lorde and African American writer and activist Barbara Smith created a new publishing house, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. Lorde’s volume A Burst of Light (1988), which further detailed her struggle with cancer, won a National Book Award in 1989. She also wrote the novel Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982), noted for its clear, evocative imagery and its treatment of a mother-daughter relationship. Her poetry collection, Undersong: Chosen Poems Old and New, was published in 1992. Her last volume of poetry, The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance, was published posthumously, in 1993.
From 1991 until her death, Lorde was the New York State Poet Laureate. In 1992, she received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from Publishing Triangle. In 2001, Publishing Triangle instituted the Audre Lorde Award to honor works of lesbian poetry.
Lorde died of liver cancer on November 17, 1992, in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands, where she had been living. She was 58. In an African naming ceremony before her death, she took the name Gamba Adisa, which means "Warrior: She Who Makes Her Meaning Known".
*****
*Barbara Jean McNair, a model and actress, was born in Chicago, Illinois (March 4).
Born in Chicago, Illinois, the family of Barbara McNair (b. March 4, 1934, Chicago, Illinois - d. February 4, 2007, Los Angeles, California ) moved to Racine, Wisconsin, shortly after her birth. With her parents' persuasion, McNair began singing in school productions and during church services. McNair studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
McNair's big break came with a win on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, which led to bookings at The Purple Onion and the Cocoanut Grove. She soon became a popular headliner and a guest on such television variety shows as The Steve Allen Show, Hullabaloo, The Bell Telephone Hour, and The Hollywood Palace, while recording for the Coral, Signature, Motown, and TEC Recording Studios labels. Among her hits were "You're Gonna Love My Baby" and "Bobby".
In the early 1960s, McNair made several musical shorts for Scopitone, a franchise of coin-operated machines that showed what were the forerunners of today's music videos. In 1967, McNair traveled with Bob Hope to Southeast Asia to perform for United States troops during the Vietnam War. McNair's acting career began on television, as a guest on series such as Dr. Kildare, The Eleventh Hour, I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes and McMillan and Wife. McNair posed nude for Playboy in the October 1968 issue. She caught the attention of the movie-going public with her much-publicized nude sequences in the gritty crime drama If He Hollers Let Him Go (1968) opposite Raymond St. Jacques, then donned a nun's habit alongside Mary Tyler Moore for Change of Habit (1969), Elvis Presley's last feature film. She portrayed Sidney Poitier's wife in They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and its sequel, The Organization (1971), and George Jefferson's deranged ex-girlfriend Yvonne in The Jeffersons (1984).
McNair's Broadway credits include The Body Beautiful (1958), No Strings (1962), and a revival of The Pajama Game (1973). McNair starred in her own 1969 television variety series The Barbara McNair Show, becoming one of the first black women to host her own musical variety show. The show, which was produced in Canada by CTV (at CFTO/Toronto) lasted three seasons in first-run syndication in the United States until 1972, when she married Frederick (Rick) Andrew Manzie. Manzie managed McNair and produced the show with Burt Rosen. The show starred A-list guests including Tony Bennett, Sonny and Cher, The Righteous Brothers, Johnny Mathis, Freda Payne, Mahalia Jackson, Della Reese, Lou Rawls, Rich Littl, B. B. King, Ethel Waters, Debbie Reynolds, and Lionel Hampton. McNair also appeared on TV game shows in the 1960s, including You Don't Say, Hollywood Squares, and The Match Game. She was also the VIP guest on the talk shows of Johnny Carson, Joey Bishop, Mike Douglas, and Merv Griffin. McNair recordings include Livin' End, The Real Barbara McNair, More Today Than Yesterday, Broadway Show Stoppers, A Movie Soundtrack If He Hollers, Let Him Go, I Enjoy Being a Girl, and The Ultimate Motown Collection, a two-CD set with 48 tracks that include her two albums for the label plus a non-album single and B-side and an entire LP that never was released.
McNair was married four times, to Jack Rafferty (1963–71), Rick Manzie (1972–76), Ben Strahan (1980–86) and Charles Becka (1992–2007). On December 15, 1976, her second husband, Rick Manzie, was murdered, in their Las Vegas mansion.
Into her 70s, McNair resided in the Los Angeles area, playing tennis and skiing to keep in shape and touring on occasion. She died on February 4, 2007, of throat cancer, in Los Angeles, survived by her husband Charles Blecka, sister Jaquline Gaither, niece Angela Rosenow, and the nephew of her late husband Frederick Manzie, John Thomas and his family.
*****
*Barbara Jean McNair, a model and actress, was born in Chicago, Illinois (March 4).
Born in Chicago, Illinois, the family of Barbara McNair (b. March 4, 1934, Chicago, Illinois - d. February 4, 2007, Los Angeles, California ) moved to Racine, Wisconsin, shortly after her birth. With her parents' persuasion, McNair began singing in school productions and during church services. McNair studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
McNair's big break came with a win on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, which led to bookings at The Purple Onion and the Cocoanut Grove. She soon became a popular headliner and a guest on such television variety shows as The Steve Allen Show, Hullabaloo, The Bell Telephone Hour, and The Hollywood Palace, while recording for the Coral, Signature, Motown, and TEC Recording Studios labels. Among her hits were "You're Gonna Love My Baby" and "Bobby".
In the early 1960s, McNair made several musical shorts for Scopitone, a franchise of coin-operated machines that showed what were the forerunners of today's music videos. In 1967, McNair traveled with Bob Hope to Southeast Asia to perform for United States troops during the Vietnam War. McNair's acting career began on television, as a guest on series such as Dr. Kildare, The Eleventh Hour, I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes and McMillan and Wife. McNair posed nude for Playboy in the October 1968 issue. She caught the attention of the movie-going public with her much-publicized nude sequences in the gritty crime drama If He Hollers Let Him Go (1968) opposite Raymond St. Jacques, then donned a nun's habit alongside Mary Tyler Moore for Change of Habit (1969), Elvis Presley's last feature film. She portrayed Sidney Poitier's wife in They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and its sequel, The Organization (1971), and George Jefferson's deranged ex-girlfriend Yvonne in The Jeffersons (1984).
McNair's Broadway credits include The Body Beautiful (1958), No Strings (1962), and a revival of The Pajama Game (1973). McNair starred in her own 1969 television variety series The Barbara McNair Show, becoming one of the first black women to host her own musical variety show. The show, which was produced in Canada by CTV (at CFTO/Toronto) lasted three seasons in first-run syndication in the United States until 1972, when she married Frederick (Rick) Andrew Manzie. Manzie managed McNair and produced the show with Burt Rosen. The show starred A-list guests including Tony Bennett, Sonny and Cher, The Righteous Brothers, Johnny Mathis, Freda Payne, Mahalia Jackson, Della Reese, Lou Rawls, Rich Littl, B. B. King, Ethel Waters, Debbie Reynolds, and Lionel Hampton. McNair also appeared on TV game shows in the 1960s, including You Don't Say, Hollywood Squares, and The Match Game. She was also the VIP guest on the talk shows of Johnny Carson, Joey Bishop, Mike Douglas, and Merv Griffin. McNair recordings include Livin' End, The Real Barbara McNair, More Today Than Yesterday, Broadway Show Stoppers, A Movie Soundtrack If He Hollers, Let Him Go, I Enjoy Being a Girl, and The Ultimate Motown Collection, a two-CD set with 48 tracks that include her two albums for the label plus a non-album single and B-side and an entire LP that never was released.
McNair was married four times, to Jack Rafferty (1963–71), Rick Manzie (1972–76), Ben Strahan (1980–86) and Charles Becka (1992–2007). On December 15, 1976, her second husband, Rick Manzie, was murdered, in their Las Vegas mansion.
Into her 70s, McNair resided in the Los Angeles area, playing tennis and skiing to keep in shape and touring on occasion. She died on February 4, 2007, of throat cancer, in Los Angeles, survived by her husband Charles Blecka, sister Jaquline Gaither, niece Angela Rosenow, and the nephew of her late husband Frederick Manzie, John Thomas and his family.
*****
*Yvonne Miller, the first African American woman to be elected to the Virginia state legislature, was born in Edenton, North Carolina (July 4).
Yvonne Bond Miller (b. July 4, 1934, Edenton, North Carolina - d. July 3, 2012, Norfolk, Virginia) was born in 1934 as Yvonne Bond in Edenton, North Carolina, the eldest child of thirteen, to John T. and Pency C. Bond. She was raised in Norfolk, Virginia, after her family moved there. She attended local public schools, which were then segregated by state law.
*Yvonne Miller, the first African American woman to be elected to the Virginia state legislature, was born in Edenton, North Carolina (July 4).
Yvonne Bond Miller (b. July 4, 1934, Edenton, North Carolina - d. July 3, 2012, Norfolk, Virginia) was born in 1934 as Yvonne Bond in Edenton, North Carolina, the eldest child of thirteen, to John T. and Pency C. Bond. She was raised in Norfolk, Virginia, after her family moved there. She attended local public schools, which were then segregated by state law.
Bond attended all-black Norfolk Division of Virginia State College, a historically black college (now Norforlk State University), for two years. She completed a bachelor of science degree in 1956 from the segregated, all-black Virginia State College (also a historically black college now known as Virginia State University) in Petersburg, Virginia. While in college, Bond became a lifetime member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority.
Bond began her professional career as a teacher in the Norfolk Public Schools, which was then also segregated by state law imposed in the late 19th century.
Bond was a young teacher during the era when the United States Supreme Court ordered desegregation of public schools as a constitutional issue, and the white-dominated Virginia state legislature and school districts promoted "massive resistance" to the ruling. This was a formative experience in Bond's life and she supported civil rights thereafter.
Bond Miller later earned a master of arts degree in the summer Teacher's College program at Columbia University in 1962 and a Ph.D in education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1973. She joined the education faculty at Norfolk State, becoming a professor and head of the Department of Early Childhood/Elementary Education. In 1999, she retired and was named Professor Emeritus.
Miller began to get involved in politics, joining the Democratic Party. She brought her concerns for education and minority rights to her political career, where she was known as an outspoken advocate for Virginia’s poor and minorities in the General Assembly. In 2012, she spoke out against efforts by the state legislature to require voters to bring new identification documents to polling places, likening it to Jim Crow-era requirements intended to suppress black voting.
Miller made news in 1983 as the first black woman to be elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, serving two terms from 1984–88. In 1987, she ran and was elected to her first four-year term in the Senate of Virginia. The first African American woman in Virginia to serve in each house, she was consistently re-elected to the Senate and died in office.
Miller represented the 5th state senate district, which since 1971 and a redistricting, has been made up of parts of the independent cities of Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
At the time of her death, Miller was the longest-serving woman in the Virginia Senate, ranking 4th in overall seniority. She gained a seat on the budget-writing Finance Committee. Due to repeated re-election, she gained seniority and, in 1996, she became the first woman to chair a Senate committee, gaining the chair of the Transportation Committee.
Miller was a lifetime member and an Evangelist Missionary in the Church Of God In Christ, Inc., and a lifetime member of the NAACP. On July 3, 2012, Miller died in her Norfolk home from stomach cancer, one day shy of her 78th birthday.
*****
*Arthur Mitchell, a dancer and choreographer who created a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, was born in Harlem, New York (March 27).
Arthur Mitchell (b. March 27, 1934, New York, New York) grew up on the streets of Harlem, New York. He had to grow up fast. When Mitchell was age 12, his father was incarcerated, leaving the financial responsibility on Mitchell. He had to work numerous jobs to help support his family; he shined shoes, mopped floors, delivered newspapers and worked at a meat shop to help his family make ends meet. Despite his strong work ethic and good head on his shoulders, Mitchell was involved in street gangs, but it did not stop him from finding a way out of his neighborhood.
As a young teen in Harlem, Mitchell was encouraged by a guidance counselor who saw his talent to apply to the selective High School of Performing Arts. He was accepted and decided to work toward making a life in classical ballet. When he graduated from the High School of Performing Arts in New York City in the early 1950s, he won a dance award and a scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet, the school affiliated with the New York City Ballet. In addition, in 1954, Mitchell performed in the musical House of Flowers, alongside Geoffrey Holder, Alvin Ailey, and Pearl Bailey.
In 1955, Mitchell made his debut as the second African American with the New York City Ballet (NYCB), performing in Western Symphony. Rising to the position of principal dancer with the company in 1956, he performed in all the major ballets in its repertoire, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Nutcracker, Bugaku, Agon, and Arcade.
Mitchell was the second African-American dancer with the New York City Ballet. Choreographer and director of the NYCB George Balanchine created the pas de deux in Agon especially for Mitchell and the European American ballerina Diana Adams. Although Mitchell danced this role with white partners throughout the world, he could not perform it on commercial television in the United States before 1965, because states in the South refused to carry it.
Mitchell left the New York City Ballet in 1966 to appear in several Broadway shows, and helped found ballet companies in Spoleto, Washington, D. C., and Brazil, where he directed a dance company. The Company he founded in Brazil was the National Ballet Company of Brazil.
After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, Mitchell returned to Harlem, where he was determined to provide opportunities in dance for the children in that community. A year later, he and his teacher Karel Shook formed a classical ballet school. Mitchell had $25,000 of his own money to start the school. About a year later he received $315,000 in a matching funds grant from the Ford Foundation. Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) was born in 1969 with 30 kids in a church basement in a community where resources of talent and creative energy were virtually untapped. Two months later, Mitchell had attracted 400 youngsters attending classes. Two years later they presented their first productions as a professional company. Mitchell used his personal savings to convert a garage into the company's first real home.
In Harlem, DTH created an explosion of professional opportunity in dance, music, and other related theater activities. The school produced an outstanding number of former students who have been successfully engaged in careers as dancers and musicians, as technicians in production, stagecraft, and wardrobe, and in instruction and arts administration. With this success, DTH challenged the classical dance world to review its stereotypes and revise its boundaries.
*Greg Morris, an actor best known for portraying Barney Collier in the popular television series Mission: Impossible, was born in Cleveland, Ohio (September 27).
Francis Gregory Alan "Greg" Morris (b. September 27, 1933, Cleveland, Ohio – d. August 27, 1996, Las Vegas, Nevada)
served in the United States Army during the Korean War. Morris began his acting career in the 1960s making guest appearances on many TV shows such as
The Twilight Zone, Branded and Ben Casey. In 1966, Morris was cast in his most recognizable role as the electronics expert Barney Collier in the television series Mission: Impossible. Morris, Peter Lupus, and Bob Johnson were the only actors to remain with the series throughout its entire run.
While in college, Morris was active in theater and hosted the late afternoon Jazz radio show, "Tea-Time", on the University of Iowa station, WSUI. He co-produced concerts at the university with a student friend.
After Iowa, Greg's first professional stage role was in The Death of Bessie Smith. One of his earliest television roles was a cameo appearance on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the episode "That's My Boy?", where Rob becomes convinced that they have taken home the wrong baby from the hospital. The revelation of Morris' character as the other child's father prompted a record setting bout of laughter from the studio audience. In the 1963–1964 season, he appeared on ABC's drama about college life, Channing, starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones.
After Mission: Impossible was cancelled in 1973, Morris appeared in movies and made guest television appearances before he was cast as Lt. David Nelson during the second season of the television series Vega$. After the cancellation of that series in 1981, Morris continued to make guest television appearances in the next decade, including a few episodes in the short-lived 1980s remake of the Mission: Impossible television series, which starred his son Phil Morris, who was cast as Grant Collier, the son of Barney. He also appeared in two episodes of the television series What's Happening!! as Lawrence Nelson (father of Dwayne) and in three episodes of The Jeffersons, in which he reprised his role of an electronics expert (although not as Barney Collier) in a comparison sequel of the Mission: Impossible series. Morris was also a frequent guest star on Password and Password Plus in the 1960s and 1970s.
Morris died on August 27, 1996 of brain cancer in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was 62 years old. Shortly before his death, he went to see the film version of Mission: Impossible that starred Tom Cruise. Morris disliked the movie so much (an opinion that was shared by most of his former co-stars) that he left the theater early. According to the Associated Press, he said of the movie
"It's an abomination."
*****
*Billy Paul, a singer known for the soul ballad "Me and Mrs. Jones", was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (December 1).
*****
*Billy Paul, a singer known for the soul ballad "Me and Mrs. Jones", was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (December 1).
Billy Paul (b. Paul Williams, December 1, 1934, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – d. April 24, 2016, Blackwood, New Jersey) was a Grammy Award-winning soul singer, known for his 1972 number-one single, "Me and Mrs. Jones", as well as the 1973 album and single "War of the Gods" which blends his more conventional pop, soul and funk styles with electronic and psychedelic influences.
Paul was one of the many artists associated with the Philadelphia soul sound created by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell. Paul was identified by his diverse vocal style which ranged from mellow and soulful to low and raspy.
Born Paul Williams in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 1, 1934, Paul's childhood was steeped in music and his naturally high voice and adaptable vocal range meant that he had a particular affinity for female soul and jazz singers.
Educated at the West Philadelphia Music School and the Granoff School of Music, by the time Paul was 16 he was performing at the ritzy West Philadelphia jazz hotspot Club Harlem, where he appeared on the same bill as Charlie Parker, a year before Parker’s death.
After changing his name to Billy Paul, he was soon being booked for regular club appearances and concert performances on the Philadelphia music scene. In 1952, he recorded his first single, "Why Am I", in New York, described by Billboard magazine as the “expressive warbling of a moody ballad, by the label’s new 16-year-old chanter”.
Paul recorded several more discs before being drafted, in 1957, into the United States Army, where he served alongside Elvis Presley in Germany and performed with the 7th Army Band. In 1959, after being discharged, he returned to the music scene and had a spell in the ever-changing line-up of Harold Melvin’s popular Philadelphia soul group, the Blue Notes. During this time, Paul met and befriended Marvin Gaye, who was also working as a jobbing singer with the emerging soul groups.
In the late 1960s, Paul and his wife (also his manager), Blanche Williams, were approached by Kenny Gamble, who, with his songwriting and producing partner, Leon Huff, would go on to create the Philadelphia soul sound for their label, Philadelphia International Records (PIR). Gamble signed Paul to his label and in 1968 he released his first album, Feelin’ Good at the Cadillac Club, although it was not a commercial success. With Gamble and Huff’s formation of PIR, however, Paul found himself joining a family of new acts who combined soul and jazz with funky dance grooves.
In 1972, he released the album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul, on which he had included "Me and Mrs. Jones". The yearning lyrics of the song – which was written by Gamble and Huff with Cary Gilbert, and was later covered by artists ranging from Michael Bublé to the actress Sandra Bernhard – were brought to life by Paul’s effortless and occasionally soaring vocals.
The song reached No. 1 in the US charts in 1972 and was a British Top 20 hit the following year. It sold two million copies and went on to win Paul a Grammy Award. It was also the first No. 1 for PIR, and it was expected that Paul would soon release another smoochy soul classic. It was, therefore, somewhat surprising to Paul (and the mainstream fans of "Me and Mrs. Jones") when he followed it up with "Am I Black Enough for You?"
The song, described by one critic as “a social message moved along by a perky bongo and clavinet-dominated beat, and well-spaced, brassy horn hits” failed to achieve the crossover success of "Me and Mrs. Jones" and was later adopted by the Black Power movement. Paul himself revealed that he had not wanted to release the single.
Commercially it proved difficult for Paul to recover from such an overtly political track, and although he continued to release a number of critically acclaimed and popular discs, he never achieved the recognition or mainstream fame of some of his contemporaries. His single, "Let’s Make a Baby" (1976), also attracted controversy, although this time because of lyrics which were regarded as too explicitly sexual. Some American radio stations tried to ban the song, while one chose to play it, but not announce its title.
In 1977, Paul recorded a version of Paul McCartney’s Wings song "Let ’Em In", changing the lyrics to include a list of civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. That same year he joined Lou Rawls, Archie Bell, Teddy Pendergrass, Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, Eddie Levert and Walter Williams as part of the Philadelphia International All-Stars singing the outrageously groovy "Let’s Clean Up the Ghetto".
Billy Paul continued to record in the late 1970s and 1980s and, despite announcing his retirement in 1989, was playing at small venues and festivals into his seventies. In 2009, he was the subject of a documentary, Am I Black Enough for You?, in which it was revealed that he had had a spell as a cocaine addict, before recovering with the help of his wife. The couple were described as coming across as “a jazzy Derby and Joan.”
Paul died on the afternoon of April 24, 2016, at his home in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, New Jersey, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81.
Born Paul Williams in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 1, 1934, Paul's childhood was steeped in music and his naturally high voice and adaptable vocal range meant that he had a particular affinity for female soul and jazz singers.
Educated at the West Philadelphia Music School and the Granoff School of Music, by the time Paul was 16 he was performing at the ritzy West Philadelphia jazz hotspot Club Harlem, where he appeared on the same bill as Charlie Parker, a year before Parker’s death.
After changing his name to Billy Paul, he was soon being booked for regular club appearances and concert performances on the Philadelphia music scene. In 1952, he recorded his first single, "Why Am I", in New York, described by Billboard magazine as the “expressive warbling of a moody ballad, by the label’s new 16-year-old chanter”.
Paul recorded several more discs before being drafted, in 1957, into the United States Army, where he served alongside Elvis Presley in Germany and performed with the 7th Army Band. In 1959, after being discharged, he returned to the music scene and had a spell in the ever-changing line-up of Harold Melvin’s popular Philadelphia soul group, the Blue Notes. During this time, Paul met and befriended Marvin Gaye, who was also working as a jobbing singer with the emerging soul groups.
In the late 1960s, Paul and his wife (also his manager), Blanche Williams, were approached by Kenny Gamble, who, with his songwriting and producing partner, Leon Huff, would go on to create the Philadelphia soul sound for their label, Philadelphia International Records (PIR). Gamble signed Paul to his label and in 1968 he released his first album, Feelin’ Good at the Cadillac Club, although it was not a commercial success. With Gamble and Huff’s formation of PIR, however, Paul found himself joining a family of new acts who combined soul and jazz with funky dance grooves.
In 1972, he released the album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul, on which he had included "Me and Mrs. Jones". The yearning lyrics of the song – which was written by Gamble and Huff with Cary Gilbert, and was later covered by artists ranging from Michael Bublé to the actress Sandra Bernhard – were brought to life by Paul’s effortless and occasionally soaring vocals.
The song reached No. 1 in the US charts in 1972 and was a British Top 20 hit the following year. It sold two million copies and went on to win Paul a Grammy Award. It was also the first No. 1 for PIR, and it was expected that Paul would soon release another smoochy soul classic. It was, therefore, somewhat surprising to Paul (and the mainstream fans of "Me and Mrs. Jones") when he followed it up with "Am I Black Enough for You?"
The song, described by one critic as “a social message moved along by a perky bongo and clavinet-dominated beat, and well-spaced, brassy horn hits” failed to achieve the crossover success of "Me and Mrs. Jones" and was later adopted by the Black Power movement. Paul himself revealed that he had not wanted to release the single.
Commercially it proved difficult for Paul to recover from such an overtly political track, and although he continued to release a number of critically acclaimed and popular discs, he never achieved the recognition or mainstream fame of some of his contemporaries. His single, "Let’s Make a Baby" (1976), also attracted controversy, although this time because of lyrics which were regarded as too explicitly sexual. Some American radio stations tried to ban the song, while one chose to play it, but not announce its title.
In 1977, Paul recorded a version of Paul McCartney’s Wings song "Let ’Em In", changing the lyrics to include a list of civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. That same year he joined Lou Rawls, Archie Bell, Teddy Pendergrass, Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, Eddie Levert and Walter Williams as part of the Philadelphia International All-Stars singing the outrageously groovy "Let’s Clean Up the Ghetto".
Billy Paul continued to record in the late 1970s and 1980s and, despite announcing his retirement in 1989, was playing at small venues and festivals into his seventies. In 2009, he was the subject of a documentary, Am I Black Enough for You?, in which it was revealed that he had had a spell as a cocaine addict, before recovering with the help of his wife. The couple were described as coming across as “a jazzy Derby and Joan.”
Paul died on the afternoon of April 24, 2016, at his home in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, New Jersey, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81.
*Donald Payne, the first African American elected to the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, was born in Newark, New Jersey (July 16).
Donald Milford Payne (b. July 16, 1934, Newark, New Jersey – d. March 6, 2012, Livingston, New Jersey) was the United States Representative for New Jersey's 10th congressional district from 1989 to 2012. He was a member of the Democratic Party. The district encompassed most of the city of Newark, parts of Jersey City and Elizabeth, and some suburban communities in Essex and Union counties. He was the first African American to represent New Jersey in Congress
Payne was born in Newark and was a 1952 graduate of Barringer High School. He did his undergraduate studies at Seton Hall University, graduating in 1957. After graduating he pursued post-graduate studies in Springfield College in Massachusetts. Before being elected to Congress in 1988, Payne was an executive at Prudential Financial, Vice President of Urban Data Systems Inc., and a teacher in the Neward Public Schools. In 1970, Payne became the first African American president of the National Council of YMCAs. From 1973 to 1981, he was Chairman of the World YMCA Refugee and Rehabilitation Committee.
Payne's political career began in 1972, when he was elected to the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, serving three terms. In 1982, he was elected to the Newark Municipal Council and served three terms, resigning in 1988 shortly after his election to Congress.
Payne ran against United States Congressman Peter Rodino in the 1980 and 1986 Democratic primaries but lost both times. Rodino retired in 1988 after 40 years in Congress. Payne defeated fellow Municipal Councilman Ralph T. Grant, Jr. in the Democratic primary, the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district. He was re-elected nine times with no substantive opposition, never dropping below 75% of the vote.
In the 2002 general election, Payne was reelected with 84.5% of the vote, receiving a higher margin of the vote than in any other New Jersey Congressional race run that year. In 2004, the Republicans didn't even put up a candidate, and Payne was reelected with 97% of the vote, against Green Party candidate Toy-Ling Washington and Socialist Workers Party candidate Sara J. Lobman. In 2006, Payne was completely unopposed in the primary and general elections. In 2008, he won 99% of the vote against Green candidate Michael Taber. In 2010, Payne defeated little-known candidate Micheal Alonso.
Payne's voting record was considered to have been the most consistently progressive of all New Jersey Congressmen at the time of his death. He was pro-choice and against the death penalty. He was a member, and former chair, of the Congressional Black Caucus and was chosen in 2002 by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to serve on the Democratic Steering Committee. The Democratic Steering Committee chooses which House Committees each individual Democratic Congressmen will serve on and also plays a crucial part in shaping the Democratic legislative agenda. In international issues, Payne was active on issues relating to Africa, particularly regarding the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan and the Western Sahara conflict.
As a leading advocate of education, Payne was instrumental in the passage of key legislation, including the Goals 2000 initiative to improve elementary and secondary schools; the School-to-Work Opportunities Act; the National Service Act, establishment of the National Literacy Institute; and funding for Head Start, Pell Grants, Summer Jobs and Student Loans.
On April 13, 2009, Payne's plane was departing from Mogadishu, Somalia, when Somali fighters fired mortars at the airport. Payne was unhurt, as his plane was already bound for Kenya. The attack came just one day after Captain Richard Phillips was rescued from Somali pirates after their failed hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama. Payne stated that his party on the plane did not know the airport was attacked until after they arrived in Kenya.
Payne announced in a statement on February 10, 2012 that he was undergoing treatment for colon cancer. On March 2, 2012, it was reported that Payne had been flown from a hospital in Washington D.C. back to New Jersey via a medical transport plane, because he was "gravely ill". Payne died four days later, at the age of 77.
Payne was succeeded in Congress by his son, Donald Payne, Jr.
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*Basketball player and coach William Felton "Bill" Russell, who would be named Most Valuable Player of the Year five times, was born in Monroe, Louisiana (February 12).
Bill Russell, byname of William Felton Russell (b. February 12, 1934, Monroe, Louisiana) was the first outstanding defensive center in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and one of the sport’s greatest icons. He won 11 NBA titles in the 13 seasons that he played with the Boston Celtics, and he became the first African American coach of a modern major professional sports team in the United States when he was named the player-coach of the Celtics in 1966.
Russell played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player and a twelve-time All-Star, Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty, winning eleven NBA championships during his thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, Russell holds the record for the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships (1955, 1956). He also won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the United States national basketball team.
Russell is widely considered one of the best players in NBA history. He was listed as between 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), and his shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' success. He also inspired his teammates to elevate their own defensive play. Russell was equally notable for his rebounding abilities. He led the NBA in rebounds four times, had a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds, and remains second all-time in both total rebounds (21,620) and rebounds per game (22.5 rebounds per game). He is one of just two NBA players (the other being prominent rival Wilt Chamberlain) to have grabbed more than 50 rebounds in a game. Though never the focal point of the Celtics' offense, Russell also scored 14,522 career points and provided effective passing.
Playing in the wake of pioneers like Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper, and Sweetwater Clifton, Russell was the first African American player to achieve superstar status in the NBA. He also served a three-season (1966–69) stint as player-coach for the Celtics, becoming the first African American NBA coach.
As of 2016, Russell is one of only seven players in history to win an NCAA Championship, an NBA Championship, and an Olympic Gold Medal. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was selected for the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971 and the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980, and named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, one of only four players to receive all three honors. In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2009, the NBA announced that the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy would be named the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Awar in honor of Russell.
Russell could very easily have never taken up basketball, much less gone on to become one of the sport’s immortals. He was born in rural Louisiana. When Russell was eight years old, his father moved the family to Oakland, California, where the job prospects were better. Russell, while no behemoth, was tall enough to make his high school team on height alone. He was a marginal player until, while on a summer basketball tour he had been selected for as an afterthought, he realized that running and jumping could be used to mirror and counteract the flashy, creative scorers that routinely gave teams fits. It was a breakthrough that would change not only his life but, in the long term, basketball itself.
Russell was lightly recruited by colleges, but Hal DeJulio, a former player at the nearby University of San Francisco (USF), had seen him play and had an inkling as to his potential, so he recommended Russell to his old school. In college, the 6-foot 9-inch (2.06-meters) Russell blossomed, providing a defensive presence that helped lead USF to National CollegiateAthletic Association (NCAA) championships in 1955 and 1956. In addition, he was a high-level sprinter and high jumper on USF’s track and field team (Wilt Chamberlain, his future archrival, also excelled at track and field up until his pro basketball career). In 1956, Red Auerbach -- the Celtics’ head coach and general manager -- targeted Russell in the NBA draft, seeing the solution to his team’s shortcomings. Once again, there was an element of chance involved: Auerbach had never seen Russell play and instead had to rely on the word of a trusted peer. Moreover, the Celtics needed to move up in the draft order to pick him; with Russell coming off two straight NCAA titles, some team was bound to take the plunge. So the Celtics traded center Ed Macauley and the rights to guard-forward Cliff Hagan, who had yet to play in the NBA owing to his military service, to the St. Louis Hawks shortly after the Hawks used the second overall pick of the draft to select Russell. Both Macauley and Hagan would eventually land in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, an indication of how highly Auerbach valued Russell.
Russell’s impact was immediate. The Celtics won a title in his rookie year, and he became the league’s first African American superstar, though not its first black player (who was Earl Lloyd in 1950). He missed out on the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, ostensibly because teammate Tom Heinsohn had played the entire season whereas Russell had missed time as a result of his participation in the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games (where he helped the United States men’s basketball team win a gold medal). But there was more to it than that: the white Heinsohn was simply a more attractive candidate for many voters. Russell, outspoken and relentlessly intelligent when it came to matters of race, was not just the NBA’s first black superstar; as the Celtics quickly came to dominate the NBA, he also became an activist on par with Muhammad Ali. Russell would not stand for racism in sports, which was ironic, given Boston's historical notoriety in that regard.
During his career, Russell supported the American civil rights movement, spoke out against the Vietnam War, and did much that, had it come from any lesser athlete, would have been cause for immediate controversy. But the Celtics kept winning, and he remained the engine that made them go. Frustratingly, his sheer basketball excellence made his actions not only excusable for fans but tolerated in a way that bordered on dismissive. His on-court achievements did not give him a platform; instead, they granted him a strange kind of amnesty—the very greatness that should have forced others to listen somehow overshadowed any trouble he might have wanted to stir up.
By the end of his career, however, Russell himself had come to see the turmoil of the 1960s as far more important than the game he played for a living. As the decade progressed, the Celtics continued to make history. In 1964, they became the first team in the NBA to start an all-black lineup. Auerbach’s lineup came out of necessity; he was notoriously indifferent to social causes and the opposing backlash. It was, however, a milestone made possible by Russell’s performance and larger significance. When Auerbach retired after the Celtics won the 1965–66 NBA title, Russell succeeded him as coach. Granted, it was in part because no one could deal with the moody Russell except Russell himself, but it still made him the first African American coach in NBA history, as well as the first to win a title when Boston took the 1967–68 championship. Russell took home one more championship before hanging up his sneakers for good in 1969. He had made great strides within the game of basketball, but the restless, conscientious Russell felt that there were bigger battles to fight. After his retirement, he served as head coach of the Seattle Supersonics (1973–77) and the Sacramento Kings (1987–88), served as a commentator on television broadcasts of NBA games, and continued to remain active in social causes. His autobiography, Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man (co-written with Taylor Branch), was published in 1979. Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 2011 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 13 seasons, Russell won 11 NBA championships (1957, 1959–66, and 1968–69). For good measure, he might have had 12, had an ankle injury not sidelined him early in the 1958 NBA finals. It is a truly staggering rate of success, one that no other NBA player has come close to approaching. Russell’s Celtics ruled the roost at a time when the minuscule number of teams (the NBA consisted of eight or nine franchises for the majority of his career) made for a greatly condensed talent pool, and a combination of integration and improved scouting brought on an unprecedented rush of new stars.
Yet in a sport that traditionally celebrates scoring and offensive heroics, Russell was an anomaly: a dominant player for whom making shots was truly secondary. His calling card was defense, rebounding, and—above all else—shot blocking, which he transformed into a fluid athletic art in the same way that some of his contemporaries had altered the perception of what was possible on offense. Before his arrival, the Celtics had been a shot-happy, nearly out-of-control team, led by passing wizard Bob Cousy. What Russell did was close the circuit, creating turnovers that allowed Boston to get back on offense even faster, as well as patrol the paint with an intensity that single-handedly compensated for the Celtics’ imbalance. Over the years, Russell’s approach became the team’s overall philosophy as athletic players who saw defense as a means to key the fast break were introduced into the roster. The Celtics dynasty retooled over the years between 1956 and 1969, but the one constant was Russell. He defined the team’s philosophy and its strategy. But above all else, Russell was basketball’s ultimate winner.
Russell’s impact was immediate. The Celtics won a title in his rookie year, and he became the league’s first African American superstar, though not its first black player (who was Earl Lloyd in 1950). He missed out on the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, ostensibly because teammate Tom Heinsohn had played the entire season whereas Russell had missed time as a result of his participation in the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games (where he helped the United States men’s basketball team win a gold medal). But there was more to it than that: the white Heinsohn was simply a more attractive candidate for many voters. Russell, outspoken and relentlessly intelligent when it came to matters of race, was not just the NBA’s first black superstar; as the Celtics quickly came to dominate the NBA, he also became an activist on par with Muhammad Ali. Russell would not stand for racism in sports, which was ironic, given Boston's historical notoriety in that regard.
During his career, Russell supported the American civil rights movement, spoke out against the Vietnam War, and did much that, had it come from any lesser athlete, would have been cause for immediate controversy. But the Celtics kept winning, and he remained the engine that made them go. Frustratingly, his sheer basketball excellence made his actions not only excusable for fans but tolerated in a way that bordered on dismissive. His on-court achievements did not give him a platform; instead, they granted him a strange kind of amnesty—the very greatness that should have forced others to listen somehow overshadowed any trouble he might have wanted to stir up.
By the end of his career, however, Russell himself had come to see the turmoil of the 1960s as far more important than the game he played for a living. As the decade progressed, the Celtics continued to make history. In 1964, they became the first team in the NBA to start an all-black lineup. Auerbach’s lineup came out of necessity; he was notoriously indifferent to social causes and the opposing backlash. It was, however, a milestone made possible by Russell’s performance and larger significance. When Auerbach retired after the Celtics won the 1965–66 NBA title, Russell succeeded him as coach. Granted, it was in part because no one could deal with the moody Russell except Russell himself, but it still made him the first African American coach in NBA history, as well as the first to win a title when Boston took the 1967–68 championship. Russell took home one more championship before hanging up his sneakers for good in 1969. He had made great strides within the game of basketball, but the restless, conscientious Russell felt that there were bigger battles to fight. After his retirement, he served as head coach of the Seattle Supersonics (1973–77) and the Sacramento Kings (1987–88), served as a commentator on television broadcasts of NBA games, and continued to remain active in social causes. His autobiography, Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man (co-written with Taylor Branch), was published in 1979. Russell was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 2011 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 13 seasons, Russell won 11 NBA championships (1957, 1959–66, and 1968–69). For good measure, he might have had 12, had an ankle injury not sidelined him early in the 1958 NBA finals. It is a truly staggering rate of success, one that no other NBA player has come close to approaching. Russell’s Celtics ruled the roost at a time when the minuscule number of teams (the NBA consisted of eight or nine franchises for the majority of his career) made for a greatly condensed talent pool, and a combination of integration and improved scouting brought on an unprecedented rush of new stars.
Yet in a sport that traditionally celebrates scoring and offensive heroics, Russell was an anomaly: a dominant player for whom making shots was truly secondary. His calling card was defense, rebounding, and—above all else—shot blocking, which he transformed into a fluid athletic art in the same way that some of his contemporaries had altered the perception of what was possible on offense. Before his arrival, the Celtics had been a shot-happy, nearly out-of-control team, led by passing wizard Bob Cousy. What Russell did was close the circuit, creating turnovers that allowed Boston to get back on offense even faster, as well as patrol the paint with an intensity that single-handedly compensated for the Celtics’ imbalance. Over the years, Russell’s approach became the team’s overall philosophy as athletic players who saw defense as a means to key the fast break were introduced into the roster. The Celtics dynasty retooled over the years between 1956 and 1969, but the one constant was Russell. He defined the team’s philosophy and its strategy. But above all else, Russell was basketball’s ultimate winner.
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*Sonia Sanchez, poet, playwright, and short-story writer, was born in Birmingham, Alabama (September 9).
Sonia Sanchez, née Wilsonia Benita Driver (b. September 9, 1934, Birmingham, Alabama) lost her mother as an infant, and her father moved the family to Harlem, New York City, when she was nine. She received a B.A. (1955) in political science from Hunter College in Manhattan and briefly studied writing at New York University. About this time she married Alfred Sanchez, but the couple later divorced. From 1966 she taught in various universities, finally assuming a permanent post as resident poet and member of the English faculty at Temple University, Philadelphia, in 1975. She retired as professor emeritus in 1999.
In the 1960s, Sanchez was introduced to the political activism of the times and published poetry in such journals as The Liberator, Journal of Black Poetry, Black Dialogue, and Negro Digest. Her first poetry collection, Homecoming (1969), contains considerable invective against “white America” and “white violence”; thereafter she continued to write on what she called the “neoslavery” of blacks, as socially and psychologically unfree beings. She also wrote about sexism, child abuse, and generational and class conflicts. A good deal of Sanchez’ verse is written in African American speech patterns, eschewing formal English grammar and pronunciations.
Over the years, Sanchez joined other activists in promoting black studies in schools, in agitating for the rights of African countries, and in sponsoring various other causes, such as that of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. Later poetry collections include homegirls & handgrenades(1984), which won an American Book Award; Under a Soprano Sky (1986); Does Your House Have Lions? (1997); Shake Loose My Skin (1999); and Morning Haiku (2010).
Sanchez also wrote several plays, including The Bronx Is Next (1968) and Uh Huh: But How Do It Free Us? (1975), both of which explored sexism in African American communities, among other issues. It’s a New Day (1971), a poetry collection, and The Adventures of Fathead, Smallhead, and Squarehead (1973) are both works for children.
Sanchez counted the negritude poets among her artistic influences, but also found inspiration from her work as an activist with CORE in New York. While with CORE, Sanchez came into contact with Malcolm X, whose direct truthfulness moved her to write blunt, passionate, and painfully honest poetry about the African American experience.
During the course of her career, Sanchez wrote several books and collections of poetry that captured, often with wrenching emotion, the plight of her community. Sanchez found herself profoundly affected by the 1985 bombing of a house full of black political radicals affiliated with MOVE, and eulogized them in Elegy: For Move and Philadelphia.
Sanchez received several awards for her work both as a poet and an activist. Sanchez traveled around the world to read her poetry, and also wrote children's fiction and plays.
Sanchez counted the negritude poets among her artistic influences, but also found inspiration from her work as an activist with CORE in New York. While with CORE, Sanchez came into contact with Malcolm X, whose direct truthfulness moved her to write blunt, passionate, and painfully honest poetry about the African American experience.
During the course of her career, Sanchez wrote several books and collections of poetry that captured, often with wrenching emotion, the plight of her community. Sanchez found herself profoundly affected by the 1985 bombing of a house full of black political radicals affiliated with MOVE, and eulogized them in Elegy: For Move and Philadelphia.
Sanchez received several awards for her work both as a poet and an activist. Sanchez traveled around the world to read her poetry, and also wrote children's fiction and plays.
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*Activist Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, was born in Pinehurst, Georgia (May 28).
Betty Shabazz, née Betty Sanders (b. May 28, 1934, Pinehurst, Georgia — d. June 23, 1997, Bronx, New York), was an educator and civil rights activist, who is perhaps best known as the wife of slain black nationalist leader Malcolm X. Sanders was raised in Detroit by adoptive parents in a comfortable middle-class home and was active in a Methodist church. Upon high school graduation, she left Detroit to study elementary education at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama. There she experienced racism for the first time in her life, and after two years she left for New York City, where she became a registered nurse. In 1956 Sanders met Malcolm X at a Nation of Islam lecture in Harlem, and in 1958 she converted to Islam and married him. The assassination of her husband (who by this time had changed their last name to Shabazz) in 1965 was witnessed by Shabazz, who was pregnant with twins at the time, and their four daughters. After his death, Shabazz dedicated herself to raising her children and continuing her education, eventually receiving a Ph.D. (1975) in education administration from the University of Massachusetts. In 1976, Shabazz began working at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, first as a professor, then as the director of its department of communications and public relations. She also lectured occasionally, addressing such topics as civil rights and racial tolerance.
In 1997, Shabazz died from severe burns suffered in a fire set by her 12-year-old grandson.
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Shabazz, Betty
Betty Shabazz (b. Betty Dean Sanders, May 28, 1934, Pinehurst, Georgia – d. June 23, 1997, New York City, New York), also known as Betty X, was an American educator and civil rights advocate. She was married to Malcolm X.
Shabazz was born in Pinehurst, Georgia, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her foster parents largely sheltered her from racism. She attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where she had her first encounters with racism. Unhappy with the situation in Alabama, she moved to New York City, where she became a nurse. It was there that she met Malcolm X and, in 1956, joined the Nation of Islam. The couple married in 1958.
Along with her husband, Shabazz left the Nation of Islam in 1964. She witnessed his assassination the following year. Left with the responsibility of raising six daughters as a widow, Shabazz pursued higher education, and went to work at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York.
Following the 1995 arrest of her daughter Qubilah for allegedly conspiring to murder Louis Farrakhan, Shabazz took in her ten-year-old grandson Malcolm. In 1997, her grandson, Malcolm, set fire to her apartment. Shabazz suffered severe burns and died three weeks later as a result of her injuries.
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*Nolan Strong, a doo wop singer, was born in Scottsboro, Alabama (January 22).
Nolan Strong (b. January 22, 1934, Scottsboro, Alabama - d. February 21, 1977, Detroit, Michigan), moved to Detroit at a young age. He started singing soon after arriving in Detroit and formed his first Diablos group in 1950. Nolan Strong & the Diablos became a
Detroit-based R&B and doo-wop vocal group best known for its hit songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter." The group was one of the most popular pre-Motown R&B acts in Detroit during the mid-1950s, through the early 1960s. Its original members were Nolan Strong, Juan Gutierrez, Willie Hunter, Quentin Eubanks, and Bob Edwards. Strong was drafted into the United States Army in 1956 and was honorably discharged in 1958. Nolan Strong, as the lead vocalist, had an ethereally high tenor. Strong's smooth voice, influenced mainly by Clyde McPhatter was, in turn, a primary influence on a young Smokey Robinson.
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*Politician Edolphus Towns was born in Chadbourn, North Carolina (July 21). He would become Brooklyn borough president, United States representative from New York, and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Edolphus "Ed" Towns, Jr. (b. July 21, 1934, Chadbourn, North Carolina) served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2013. A Democrat from New York, Towns was Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee from 2009 to 2011.
During his 30 years in Congress, Towns represented districts based in Brooklyn: first New York's 11th Congressional District, from 1983 to 1993, and then the 10th District from 1993 to 2013. On April 16, 2012, Towns announced he would be retiring at the end of his 15th term.
Towns was born in Chadbourn, North Carolina, the son of Versie (née Brown) and Edolphus Towns. He earned his bachelor's degree from North Carolina A&T State University and a master's degree in social work from Adelphi University.
Towns worked as an administrator at Beth Israel Medical Center, a professor at New York's Medgar Evers College and Fordham University and a public school teacher, teaching orientation and mobility to blind students. He was also a veteran of the United States Army and an ordained Baptist minister. In 1970, he ran for New York Assembly District 38, and was defeated in the Democratic primary by John Mullally, 75%-25%. In 1972, he ran in District 40 and was defeated in the Democratic primary by Edward Griffith, who won the primary with a plurality of 37%.
After redistricting, Towns ran for the open seat in the Brooklyn-based New York's 11th Congressional District. Towns won the primary with a plurality of 48%. He won the general election with 84% of the vote. He never won a general election campaign with less than 85% of the vote. He would win the Democratic primary with at least 60% of the vote all but three times (1998, 2000, and 2006).
From 1996 to 1998, Towns got into a rivalry with Brooklyn Democratic Party Chairman Clarence Norman. In addition, he received criticism for endorsing Republican Rudy Giuliani for Mayor of New York City in 1997. He got a primary challenge from Barry D. Ford, a 35-year-old lawyer with the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and a Harvard University alumnus. He also faced a challenge from political activist Ken Diamondstone. Towns won the primary with 55% of the vote. In 2000, Ford ran in a rematch against Towns and lost 57%-43%.
In 2006, Towns faced Democratic primary challenges from Charles Barron, a member of the New York City Council, and Roger Green, a former member of the New York State Assembly. Barron was a staunch ally of Al Sharpton. Towns defeated Barron and Green 47%-37%-15%. This was Towns' worst primary performance of his career.
Kevin Powell, a hip hop artist, writer, and former cast member on the MTV Reality TV show The Real World, opted out of challenging Towns for the 2006 Democratic nomination challenging him in 2008 instead. Powell criticized Towns for supporting Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries. Towns defeated Powell 69%-31%.
Towns served on the Energy and Commerce Committee and was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. On January 7, 2009, Towns' proposed legislation to require information on Presidential donors kicked off the new session of the 111th Congress. Towns' accomplishments included, co-sponsoring or enacting several pieces of federal legislation, including the Student Right To Know Act, which mandated the reporting of the rate of graduation among student athletes, creating the Telecommunications Development Fund, which provides capital for minority business initiatives, and the development of a federal program for poison control centers.
Towns was targeted by various Democratic Party constituencies, including factions led by his political rival Al Sharpton, and national and local labor unions, who resented his support for passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which passed the House of Representatives by a razor-thin margin. In addition, he was heavily criticized for taking money from telecom PACs and opposing net neutrality.
Towns put particular emphasis on arguing on behalf of underserved Brooklyn communities, and won recognition from several organizations for his efforts. The National Audubon Society honored him for his efforts in fighting to secure federal funds for the restoration of Prospect Park. Towns fought to have Environmental Protection Agency testing in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, including neighborhoods outside of the borough of Manhattan.
Towns delayed the investigation into Countrywide Financial's VIP loan program when he was the House oversight panel's chairman by refusing to issue a subpoena for Bank of America records. After The Wall Street Journal reported that public loan documents indicated Towns had received two mortgages from the VIP program, he issued the subpoena and his office denied wrongdoing.
In December 2010, Towns announced that he would not seek the position of Ranking Minority Member of the Oversight Committee in the next Congress, even though his seniority and service as Chair would typically result in him filling this post. Towns reportedly withdrew due to lack of support from Nancy Pelosi, who reportedly feared Towns would not be a sufficiently aggressive leader in an anticipated struggle with incoming committee chair Darrell Issa (R-CA). Towns' successor was Elijah Cummings, who defeated Carolyn Maloney in a vote of the House Democratic Caucus.
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*Leon Wagner, a baseball left fielder who played for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (May 13).
Leon Lamar Wagner (b. May 13, 1934, Chattanooga, Tennessee – d. January 3, 2004, Los Angeles, California) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) left fielder who played with the San Francisco Giants (1958–59, 1969), St. Louis Cardinals (1960), Los Angeles Angels (1961–63), Cleveland Indians (1964–68) and Chicago White Sox (1968). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Wagner graduated from Tuskegee University. He was affectionately known as "Daddy Wags" during his playing days. This was due to his distinctive left-handed batting style and his notable and unique body gesticulations, primarily below the waist, before going into his devastating stride. His outfield play did not match his stellar hitting. He was at least briefly in the clothing business, advertising his venture as "Get your glad rags from "Daddy Wags". He was also known as "Cheeky" for his high cheekbones (being of half Native American and half African-American descent).
Wagner, in a 12-season major league career, hit .272 with 211 home runs and 669 RBI in 1352 games.
He broke into the big leagues at age 24 for the San Francisco Giants in their first year in San Francisco on June 22, 1958. A solid line-drive hitter and colorful player, he compiled a .307 batting average with 13 home runs in 74 games as a rookie. Competing for playing time against a congested Giant outfield that included Willie Mays, Felipe Alou, Orlando Cepeda and Bill White, all of whom were superior fielders, he was traded to the Cardinals after the 1959 season.
He was relegated to a reserve role for St. Louis in 39 games and hit four home runs, one of them notable as the first home run ever hit in Candlestick Park on April 12, 1960, for the only Cardinal run in a 3–1 loss to his former team.
Traded to the expansion Angels in 1961 (their first season), Wagner was a regular for the first time. He took advantage of the opportunity, hitting .280 with 28 home runs and 79 RBI in 133 games. His most productive season came in 1962, when he blasted 37 homers (third highest in the American League) and collected 107 RBI, 96 runs, 164 hits and 21 doubles, all career highs, while batting .268. Wagner played in both All-Star Games that season (two All-Star Games were held from 1959 through 1962), and in the second contest, he went 3-for-4 including a two-run home run. Wagner was voted the second All-Star game's most valuable player and became the first AL player to receive the All-Star Game MVP Award that was first introduced that year and for both games. The first true slugger in Angel history, he hit 91 home runs with 276 RBI in 442 games for them. However, in 1963, after his second All-Star selection, he was sent to the Cleveland Indians in the same trade that brought slugging first baseman Joe Adcock to the Angels. Wagner had come to enjoy playing and living in Los Angeles a lot, and resented the Angels for trading him, some of those close to him say for the rest of his life.
As a Cleveland left fielder, Wagner hit 97 home runs from 1964 to 1967. His best year with the Indians was 1964, when he hit 31 homers with 100 RBI and 94 runs. In 1965 he hit .294 with 28 homers. He also stole 26 bases in 30 attempts in 1964-65.
He ended his career as a respected pinch-hitter, leading the AL in 1968 with 46 appearances in that role with the Indians and the Chicago White Sox. Purchased by the Cincinnati Reds in 1968, he returned to the White Sox on April 5, 1969, only to be released by them the same day. He then signed as a free agent with his first major league team, the Giants, making his final appearance in San Francisco on October 2, 1969.
After his playing career ended, Wagner appeared in small acting roles, prominently in John Cassavetes' 1974 film A Woman Under the Influence and as a member of a Depression-era barnstorming team in The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976). He died of natural causes on January 3, 2004.
*Cedar Walton, a hard bop jazz pianist, was born in Dallas, Texas (January 17).
Cedar Anthony Walton, Jr. (b. January 17, 1934, Dallas, Texas – d. August 19, 2013, Brooklyn, New York) was a hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band before establishing a long career as a bandleader and composer. Several of his compositions have become jazz standards, including "Mosaic", "Bolivia", "Holy Land," "Mode for Joe" and "Ugetsu", also known as "Fantasy in D".
Walton was born and grew up in Dallas, Texas. His mother Ruth was an aspiring concert pianist, and was Walton's initial teacher. She also took him to jazz performances around Dallas. Walton cited Nat King Cole, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum as his major influences on piano. He began emulating recordings of these artists from an early age.
After briefly attending Dillard University in New Orleans, Walton went to the University of Denver as a composition major originally, but was encouraged to switch to a music education program targeted to set up a career in the local public school system. This switch later proved extremely useful since Walton learned to play and arrange for various instruments, a talent he would hone with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
Walton was tempted by the promise of New York City through his associations with John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Richie Powell, whom he met at various after-hours sessions around the city of Denver, Colorado. In 1955, he decided to leave school and drove with a friend to New York City. He quickly got recognition from Johnny Garry, who ran Birdland at that time.
Walton was drafted into the United States Army, and stationed in Germany, cutting short his rising status in the after-hours scene. While in the Army, he played with musicians Leo Wright, Don Ellis, and Eddie Harris. Upon his discharge after two years, Walton picked up where he left off, playing as a sideman with Kenny Dorham (on whose 1958 album This Is the Moment! Walton made his recording debut), J. J. Johnson, and with Gigi Gryce. Joining the Jazztet, led by Benny Golson and Art Farmer, Walton played with this group from 1958 to 1961. In April 1959, he recorded an alternate take of "Giant Steps" with John Coltrane, although he did not solo.
In the early 1960s, Walton joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as a pianist-arranger for three years, on the same day as Freddie Hubbard. In this group, which also featured Wayne Shorter, he demonstrated a keen sense of arranging in originals such as "Ugetsu" and "Mosaic". He left the Messengers in 1964 and by the late 1960s was part of the house rhythm section at Prestige Records, where in addition to releasing his own recordings, he recorded with Sonny Criss, Pat Martino, Eric Kloss, and Charles McPherson. For a year, he served as Abbey Lincoln's accompanist, and recorded with Lee Morgan from 1966 to 1968. During the mid-1970s, he led the funk group Mobius. Walton arranged and recorded for Etta James from the mid 1990s helping her to win a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday (RCA Victor) in 1994.
Many of Walton's compositions have been adopted as jazz standards, including "Firm Roots", "Bolivia", "Holy Land", "Mode for Joe" and "Cedar's Blues". "Bolivia" is perhaps his best-known composition, while one of his oldest is "Fantasy in D", recorded under the title "Ugetsu" by Art Blakey in 1963.
In January 2010, Walton was inducted as a member of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters.
After a brief illness, Walton died on August 19, 2013, at his home in Brooklyn, New York.
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Junior Wells (b. Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934, Memphis, Tennessee, or West Memphis, Arkansas - d. January 15, 1998, Chicago, Illinois) was raised in West Memphis, Arkansas (some sources report that he was born in West Memphis). Initially taught by his cousin, Junior Parker, and by Sonny Boy Williamson II. Wells learned to play the harmonica skillfully by the age of seven.
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*Junior Wells, a Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist, was born in either Memphis, Tennessee or West Memphis, Arkansas. Wells, who was best known for his performances and recordings with Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and Buddy Guy, also performed with Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones, and Van Morrison, was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
Junior Wells (b. Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934, Memphis, Tennessee, or West Memphis, Arkansas - d. January 15, 1998, Chicago, Illinois) was raised in West Memphis, Arkansas (some sources report that he was born in West Memphis). Initially taught by his cousin, Junior Parker, and by Sonny Boy Williamson II. Wells learned to play the harmonica skillfully by the age of seven.
He moved to Chicago in 1948 with his mother, after her divorce, and began sitting in with local musicians at house parties and taverns. Wild and rebellious but needing an outlet for his talents, he began performing with the Aces (guitarist brothers Dave and Louis Myers and drummer Fred Below) and developed a modern amplified harmonica style influenced by Little Walter. In 1952, he made his first recordings, when he replaced Little Walter in Muddy Waters' band and played on one of Muddy's sessions for Chess Records in 1952. His first recordings as a bandleader were made in the following year for States Records. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he recorded singles for Chief Records and its subsidiary, Profile Records, including "Messin' with the Kid", "Come on in This House", and "It Hurts Me Too", which would remain in his repertoire throughout his career. His 1960 Profile single "Little by Little" (written by Chief owner and producer Mel London) reached number 23 on the Billboard R&B chart, the first of his two singles to enter the chart.
Wells' album Hoodoo Man Blues, released in 1965 by Delmark Records, featured Buddy Guy on guitar. The two worked with the Rolling Stones on several occasions in the 1970s. Wells' album South Side Blues Jam was released in 1971 and On Tap in 1975. His 1996 release Come on in This House includes performances by the slide guitarists Alvin Youngblood Hart and Derek Trucks, among others. Wells appeared in the film Blues Brothers 2000.
Around 1997, Wells began to have severe health problems, including cancer and a heart attack. He died in Chicago on January 15, 1998.
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*Bill White, a baseball player who served as President of the National League from 1989 to 1994, was born in Lakewood, Florida (January 28).
William De Kova "Bill" White (b. January 28, 1934, Lakewood, Florida), a baseball player who played for the New York and San Francisco Giants (1956, 1958), the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–65, 1969) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1966–68), was born in Lakewood, Florida.
White became a full-time sportscaster after his playing career ended, serving for 18 years as a play-by-play man and color analyst for the New York Yankees television and radio broadcasts. In 1989, White was hired to be President of the National League to replace Bart Giamatti, who had been elected to succeed Peter Ueberroth as Commissioner. White served in that role until he retired in 1994.
White became a full-time sportscaster after his playing career ended in 1969, and was the play-by-play man and color analyst for New York Yankees television and radio broadcasts for 18 years.
As a minor-leaguer, White was the second black player to play for a Carolina League team – the Danville Leafs (1953). Percy Miller, Jr. broke the color barrier for that league in 1951.
In his 13-season major league career, White batted .286 with 202 home runs and 870 RBIs in 1673 games. He was also one of the top defensive first basemen of his time, winning seven straight Gold Glove Awards (1960–66). White batted and threw left-handed.
White is also one of the few MLB players who have hit at least .300 and driven in at least 100 runs in three consecutive seasons.
White earned a sports program on KMOX radio in St. Louis while he was still playing for the Cardinals. After he was traded to the Phillies, he did a program there. After ending his playing career White became a sportscaster for WFIL-TV (now WPVI-TV) in Philadelphia. While in Philadelphia, White became the first African-American to broadcast National Hockey League games when he called several games of the Philadelphia Flyers.
In 1971 White joined the New York Yankees' broadcast team. He called Yankee games from 1971 to 1988, most often teamed with Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messer. He did the team's broadcasts on both radio and television during most of that stretch. White was the first African American to do play-by-play regularly for a major-league sports team.
On New York City radio, White was featured on WMCA from 1971 to 1977, after which the Yankees switched over to WINS. In 1981, the Yankee broadcast team moved over to WABC. On television, White worked with Rizzuto and Messer on WPIX.
Nationally, White helped call several World Series and American League Championship Series for CBS Radio (including the Yankees' World Series appearances in 1976, 1977, and 1978) and did sports reports for the network. White worked as a Monday Night Baseball announcer for ABC television in the late 1970s. He also did pre-game reports for ABC's coverage of the Yankee Stadium games in the 1977 World Series, and handled the post-game trophy presentation for the network after the Yankees clinched the world title in the sixth game.
WPIX and its usual Rizzuto-Messer-White broadcast trifecta carried the ALCS in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1981, providing New York viewers a local alternative to the nationally-broadcast telecasts.
White was elected to replace Giamatti as National League president in 1989 in a unanimous vote becoming the first African-American to hold such a high executive position in sports. He served as National League president through 1994.
In 2011, White released his autobiography entitled Uppity: My Untold Story About the Games People Play.
*Robert Wilson, the first African American to pitch an American League no-hitter, was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana (October 2).
Robert Earl Wilson (b. Earl Lawrence Wilson, October 2, 1934, Ponchatoula, Louisiana – d. April 23, 2005, Southfield, Michigan) was a professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox (1959–60, 1962–66), Detroit Tigers (1966–70) and San Diego Padres (1970), primarily as a starting pitcher. Wilson batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.
In an eleven-season career, Wilson posted a 121-109 record with 1,452 strikeouts and a 3.69 ERA in 2,051.2 innings pitched.
A 6-foot-3, 215-pound pitcher who relied on sliders and fastballs, Wilson made his major league debut with the Red Sox on July 28, 1959, as their first black pitcher. Infielder Pumpsie Green had become the first black player on the Red Sox, joining them earlier that season, when Boston was the last of the 16 major league clubs to break the color barrier.
On June 26, 1962, at Fenway Park, Wilson no-hit the Los Angeles Angels 2-0 and helped his own cause with a home run off Bo Belinsky -- himself a no-hit pitcher earlier that year, on May 5. Wilson also became the first black major leaguer to pitch an American League no-hitter.
In five-plus seasons, Wilson won 45 games for Boston with a high of 13 victories in 1963. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers in the 1966 mid-season, and finished with a combined 18-11 record, a career-high in strikeouts with 200, and a 3.07 ERA. His most productive season came in 1967, when he won a career-high 22 games, tying Jim Lonborg for the American League lead.
In the 1968 World Series, when the Tigers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, Wilson was part of a starting rotation that included 31-game winner Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich, who won three games in the Series.
Originally a catcher, Wilson switched to pitching in 1953. Wilson hit 35 home runs in his career: 33 while as a pitcher, two as a pinch hitter, two in one game (1965), and seven in a season twice, in 740 at-bats. Only Wes Ferrell (37 HRs), Bob Lemon and Warren Spahn (35 each) and Red Ruffing (34) hit more home runs as pitchers.
Wilson was sent to the San Diego Padres in 1970, and he finished his career at the end of the season. After retiring, he founded an automotive parts company. Wilson also held a position, in the 1980s, as a high school physical education teacher at Coral Springs High School in Coral Springs, Florida. Ironically, Wilson was not the baseball coach at the school but instead served as the school's basketball coach.
Wilson died from a heart attack at his home in Southfield, Michigan, on April 23, 2005.
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