2023: July 1930 Chronology

1930

Pan-African Chronology

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July

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July 2

*Ahmad Jamal, (b. Frederick Russell Jones), an American jazz pianist known for his rendition of But Not For Me, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Ahmad Jamal (b. Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - d. April 16, 2023, Ashley Falls, Massachusetts) began playing piano at the age of three, when his uncle Lawrence challenged him to duplicate what he was doing on the piano. Jamal began formal piano training at the age of seven with Mary Cardwell Dawson, whom he describes as greatly influencing him. His Pittsburgh roots remained an important part of his identity and it was there that he was immersed in the influence of jazz artists such as Earl Hines, Billy Strayhorn, Mary Lou Williams, and Erroll Garner. Jamal also studied with pianist James Miller and began playing piano professionally at the age of fourteen, at which point he was recognized as a "coming great" by the pianist Art Tatum. 

Born to Baptist parents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jamal did not discover Islam until his early 20s. While touring in Detroit (where there was a sizable Muslim community in the 1940s and 1950s), Jamal became interested in Islam and Islamic culture. He converted to Islam and changed his name to Ahmad Jamal in 1950. In an interview with The New York Times a few years later, Jamal said his decision to change his name stemmed from a desire to "re-establish my original name." In 1986, Jamal sued critic Leonard Feather for using his former name in a publication.

After the recording of the best-selling album But Not For Me, Jamal's music grew in popularity throughout the 1950s. In 1959, he took a tour of North Africa to explore investment options in Africa. Jamal, who was twenty-nine at the time, said he had a curiosity about the homeland of his ancestors, highly influenced by his conversion to the Muslim faith. He also said his religion had brought him peace of mind about his race, which accounted for his "growth in the field of music that has proved very lucrative for me."

Upon his return to the United States after a tour of North Africa, the financial success of Live at the Pershing: But Not For Me allowed Jamal to open a restaurant and club called The Alhambra in Chicago. In 1962, The Three Strings disbanded and Jamal moved to New York City, where, at the age of 32, he took a three-year hiatus from his musical career.

In 1964, Jamal resumed touring and recording, this time with the bassist Jamil Nasser and recorded a new album, Extensions, in 1965. Jamal and Nasser continued to play and record together from 1964 to 1972. He also joined forces with Vernel Fournier (again, but only for about a year) and drummer Frank Gant (1966–76), among others. He continued to play throughout the 1970s and 1980s, mostly in trios with piano, bass and drums, but he occasionally expanded the group to include guitar. One of his most long-standing gigs was as the band for the New Year's Eve celebrations at Blues Alley in Washington, D. C., from 1979 through the 1990s. Until 1970, he played acoustic piano exclusively. The final album on which he played acoustic piano in the regular sequence was The Awakening. In the 1970s, Jamal played electric piano as well. 

In 1985, Jamal agreed to do an interview and recording session with his fellow jazz pianist, Marian McPartland on her NPR show Piano Jazz. Jamal, who said he rarely plays "But Not For Me" due to its popularity since his 1958 recording, played an improvised version of the tune – though only after noting that he has moved on to making ninety percent of his repertoire his own compositions. He said that when he grew in popularity from the Live at the Pershing album, he was severely criticized afterwards for not playing any of his own compositions.

In 1994, Mr. Jamal received the American Jazz Masters fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts.  The same year he was named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University, where he performed commissioned works with the Assai String Quartet. 

In 2007 the French Government inducted Mr. Jamal into the prestigious Order of the Arts and Letters by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, naming him Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.   

Mr. Jamal’s previous recording A Quiet Time (Dreyfus Records), released in January 2010, was the number No. 1 CD on jazz radio for the year 2010.  Also in 2010 the French Jazz Academy has voted "The Complete Ahmad Jamal Trio Argo Sessions 1956-1962" released by Mosaïc "Best reissue of the year with outstanding research work".  

In December of 2011, Mr. Jamal was enshrined into DownBeat’s 76th Reader’s Poll Hall of Fame, and in 2017, Jamal received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy. 

On April 16, 2023, Jamal died from complications of prostate cancer at his home in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts.  

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July 3

*Ronnell Bright, a jazz pianist and actor, was born in Chicago, Illinois.

Ronnell Bright (b. July 3, 1930, Chicago, Illinois), a jazz pianist, also dabbled in the area of acting, Bright made a guest appearance as a piano player in the Season 1 episode of The Jeffersons titled "Lionel, The Playboy". as well as similar cameo appearances on two other hit 1970's TV series, CBS-TV's The Carol Burnett Show, and NBC-TV's Sanford and Son.

Bright played piano from a very young age, and won a piano competition when he was nine years old. In 1944, he played with the Chicago Youth Piano Symphony Orchestra. He studied at Juilliard, graduating early in the 1950s. Moving back to Chicago, he played with Johnny Tate and accompanied Carmen McRae before relocating to New York City in 1955. There he played with Rolf Kuhn and put together his own trio in 1957. In 1957-58, he was with Dizzy Gillespie, and acted as an accompanist for Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne, and Gloria Lynne over the next few years. His compositions were recorded by Vaughan as well as by Cal Tjader, Horace Silver, and Blue Mitchell. In 1964, Bright became Nancy Wilson's arranger and pianist after moving to Los Angeles. Later in the decade he found work as a studio musician, playing in Supersax from 1972 to 1974.

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July 4

*Ancella Bickley, a historian known for her role in preserving African Amercan history in West Virginia, was born in Huntington, West Virginia.

Ancella Radford Bickley (b. July 4, 1930, Huntington, West Virginia) earned a bachelor's degree in English from West Virginia State College, now West Virginia State University, in 1950,  a master's degree in English from Marshall University  (where she was the first full-time African American student) in 1954, and an Ed. D. in English from West Virginia University in 1974.

With Lynda Ann Ewen, she co-edited Memphis Tennessee Garrison: The Remarkable Story of a Black Appalachian Woman, published by Ohio University Press. Bickley authored stories and articles in West Virginia's cultural magazine, Goldenseal.  She also conducted and published interviews at Marshall University for the Oral History of Appalachia Program.

In 1993, Bill Drennen, commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, recorded a thirty-minute interview with Bickley for the Cultural Conversations series.

Bickley was a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar funded through the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia (CSEGA) at Marshall University, in 1999.

The West Virginia State Archives house a coll

ection of documents gifted to them by Bickley, half of the materials relating to the annual West Virginia Conferences on Black History begun in 1988. Another portion of materials donated pertain to the Alliance for the Collection, Preservation, and Dissemination of West Virginia's Black History.

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*Johnny Saxton, an African American professional boxer who twice became the World Welterweight Champion, was born in Newark, New Jersey.

Johnny Saxton (b. July 4, 1930, Newark, New Jersey – d. October 4, 2008, Florida) was an American professional boxer in the welterweight (147lb) division. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, learned to box in a Brooklyn orphanage and had an amateur career winning 31 of 33 fights, and a professionial boxing career record of 55 wins, 9 losses, and 2 draws, twice becoming World Welterweight Champion.

Saxton turned professional in 1949 and ran up forty wins without a defeat before losing to Gil Turner in 1953. His wins over Joey Girardello and Johnny Bratton helped propel him to a fight with Kid Gavilan in 1954 for the world welterweight championship. He beat Gavilan via a fifteen-round decision to take the title. He lost the title the following year via technical knockout against Tony DeMarco. In 1956, he won the title again with an upset win over Carmen Basilio, but lost the title in a rematch with Basilio later in the year. He retired in 1958.

Saxton, brother of Richard Eugene Kyle, who boxed for the United States Army, was managed by Frank "Blinky" Palermo, a member of the Philadelphia crime family.  Palermo was imprisoned in 1961 for conspiracy and extortion for the covert ownership of prizefighters.  Saxton's career was often marred by rumors of shady dealings. His two biggest wins, against Gavilan and Basilio, were both controversial and unpopular with many in the boxing world.

Saxton worked as a security guard and a boxing coach after he retired. A hit-and-run accident left him with damage to one leg, and by the early 1990s he was living in a New York City apartment that had no electricity. A friend helped Saxton move to a retirement home in Florida. He was diagnosed with pugilistic dementia.  He died on October 4, 2008, in Florida.

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July 7

*Victor Pascall, a Trinidadian cricketer who represented the West Indies in the days before they achieved Test status, died in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Victor S. Pascall (b. 1886, Diego Martin, Trinidad – d. July 7, 1930, Port of Spain, Trinidad) was primarily used as a left-arm spinner, but he was also regarded as a reasonable batsman. Pascall was related to the Constantine family.  He was the maternal uncle of Elias and Learie Constantine and may have been a coaching influence on the latter. At the time he played, critics considered him the best left-arm spinner in the West Indies.

Pascall was born in Diego Martin, Trinidad, at some time in 1886. His parents were Yoruba from West Africa who were brought to South America as slaves. According to family legend, Pascall's father, Ali, escaped as a child and sailed to Trinidad. Ali lived to be around 100 years old and maintained some African traditions in the family.

Pascall first played for Trinidad in 1906, making his first-class debut and taking a wicket in the final of the Inter-Colonial Tournament.  From 1909, he played regularly on the team and appeared in the Inter-Colonial tournament until 1927. In total, he played 24 times for Trinidad to score 513 runs at a batting average of 15.08 and took 102 wickets at a bowling average of 17.39. He twice played innings of over 50 runs and took more than five wickets in six innings. He first represented a combined West Indies team in 1913 when he took four wickets for 83 runs for West Indies against a Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team which was touring the region. Then in 1923, he was chosen as part of the West Indies team which toured England. Pascall played 19 matches on the tour and took 52 wickets at an average of 24.30. His best figures were five for 67 against Cambridge University and six for 77 against MCC at Lord's Cricket Ground. His final appearances for West Indies came in 1926. In 22 games for teams styled "West Indies" or "West Indians", Pascall hit 268 runs at an average of 10.31 and took 59 wickets at 25.20. In all first-class cricket, he hit 859 runs at an average of 13.63, with a top score of 92 against Barbados in 1922, and took 171 wickets at 20.09, with best figures of six for 26 against British Guiana, also in 1922.

In Trinidad, Pascall represented the Shannon team and was used as the third bowler. The Shannon club was made up of members of the black lower-middle classes, and contained several international players. The team played in a highly competitive manner and were passionately supported by their spectators. Shannon players took part in games in a serious manner and were not given to smiling on the field, but Pascall, while a formidable opponent, was more friendly. The people of Trinidad regarded Pascall with great affection, as he was a most charming person and a great popular favorite with all classes on the island.

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*Thereza Santo, a Brazilian writer, actor and activist for women's rights and for the Black Movement of Brazil, was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Jaci dos Santos, better known as Thereza Santos, (b. July 7, 1930, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – d. December 19, 2012, Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian writer, actor, playwright, professor, and activist for women's rights and for the Black Movement of Brazil for over five decades.

Santos was born in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Santa Teresa to Antonio Luiz dos Santos, a civil servant, and Marta Martins dos Santos, a nurse.  Her career as an actress began early: She appeared in her first film, O Cortiço, at age 15, and later appeared in the Oscar-winning Black Orpheus. Santos studied at the Faculdade Nacional de Filosofia (now the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and became a member of the National Union of Students, Brazil's largest student organization.

In this intellectual environment, Santos began to create works of street theater, with the goal of engaging audiences politically. She joined the Teatro Experimental do Negro, a theater company founded in rejection of  blackface performances, in Rio and later in Sao Paulo.  In the late 1960s, Santos co-founded the Centro de Cultura e Arte Negra (Center of Black Culture and Art). In the 1970s, during the military dictatorship, Santos co-wrote and staged with the sociologist Eduardo de Oliveira the piece E agora falamos nós ("And Now We Speak"), which is considered to be one of the first pieces of Brazilian theater written for an exclusively black cast. She was also involved in directing Carnival performances based in Afro-Brazilian culture. 

In the 1960s, Santos also began to participate in the liberation movement for Portuguese-speaking African countries.  She was imprisoned in the early 1970s for her work with the Brazilian Communist Party. After her release, Santos chose to leave Brazil. Santos rejected invitations to move to the then-Soviet Union and instead chose to self-exile in Africa, where she stayed for around five years.  Santos actively participated in the liberation movements of Guinea-Bissau and Angola as a guerrilla. She also worked on cultural development and literacy projects, contributing to cultural reconstruction in Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and Cape Verde. 

In the 1980s, Santos became the first black woman to be named to the State Council on the Female Condition in Sao Paulo. She was also an advisor on Afro-Brazilian culture to the secretary of culture for Sao Paulo state from 1986 until 2002.

In 1986, Santos was selected by the Black Women's Collective of Sao Paulo to run for the office of state deputy for the Brazilian Democratic Movement,  but she was not elected. In September 1993, the city legislator Vital Nolasco of the Communist Party of Brazil awarded Santos the honorary title of Cidada Paulistana.

Santos returned in her final years to Rio, where she died in 2012. She had one son, Jorge Omir. Today, her collection of books, magazines, statues, paintings, handicrafts, photographs, and personal correspondence is on display at the Federal University of Sao Carlos in Sao Paulo.

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Frederic Thursz, a Moroccan abstract painter, was born in Casablanca, Morocco.

Frederic Matys Thursz (b. July 7, 1930, Casablanca, Morocco – d. July 4, 1992, Cologne, Germany) was a Moroccan abstract painter and teacher. He was active in the United States and France. His paintings have been shown at the Galerie Lelong, Jefferson Place Gallery, and in the Documenta 9 exhibition.

Frederic Matys Thursz was born in Casablanca on July 7, 1930, and he moved to the United States with his parents in 1941. Thursz received his BFA degree from Queens College in 1953, and his MFA degree from Columbia University in 1955. He did doctoral studies in art history at Institut d'Art et d'Archeologie in Paris, France.

In 1978, Thursz founded the group "Radical Painting" with Jerry Zeniuk, Joseph Marioni, Günther Umberg, Erik Saxon, and Marcia Hafif, among others.

Thursz taught at the University of Kentucky from 1958 to 1968, and at the Aspen School of Contemporary Art from 1967 to 1969. He also taught at Kingsborough Community College (CUNY) from 1968 to 1991; where he was chairman of the Art Department. From 1978 to 1988, Thursz taught at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.

Thursz was married three times. He was married to Miryam Neulander, Teresea Bennett, and Nina Lunenborg Thursz. He had four children. Thursz lived in Paris, France until just before his death in 1992.

Thursz died of complications after heart surgery on July 4, 1992, in Cologne, Germany. He had maintained an art studio in Ossining, New York, until his death.

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July 8

*Earl Van Dyke, a keyboardist for Motown Records Funk Brothers band, was born in Detroit, Michigan.

Earl Van Dyke (b. July 8, 1930, Detroit, Michigan – September 18, 1992, Detroit, Michigan) was an American soul musician, most notable as the main keyboardist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Van Dyke, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, was preceded as keyboardist and bandleader of the Funk Brothers by Joe Hunter.  In the early 1960s, he also recorded as a jazz organist with saxophonists Fred Jackson and Ike Quebec for the Blue Note label.

Besides his work as the session keyboardist on Motown hits such as "Bernadette" by The Four Tops, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, and "Runaway Child, Running Wild" by The Temptations, Van Dyke performed with a small band as an opening act for several Motown artists, and released instrumental singles and albums himself. Several of Van Dyke's recordings feature him playing keys over the original instrumental tracks for Motown hits; others are complete covers of Motown songs.

Van Dyke played the Steinway grand piano, the Hammond B-3 organ, the Wurlitzer electric piano, the Fender Rhodes, and the celeste and harpsichord.  He played a toy piano for the introduction of the Temptations' hit, "It's Growing".  His musical influences included Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, and Barry Harris. 

Earl Van Dyke died of prostate cancer in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of 62.

July 9

*The Executive of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) met in Durban and appointed S. R. Naidoo as the SAIC's nominee to the Young Committee.  Albert Christopher, Manilal Gandhi and P. R. Pather argued for non-cooperation with the Committee strongly condemning the appointment.  

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July 10

*Ganiyu Bello, a prominent Yoruba community leader and business tycoon, was born in Oyo State, Nigeria.

Ganiyu Akanbi Bello (b. July 10, 1930, Oyo State, Nigeria – d. June 5, 2014, Kano, Nigeria), a Yoruba community ambassador in Kano, was the chairman and chief executive of Criss Cross Ltd.  He was popularly known as G A Bello.

Bello was born in Oyo State, Nigeria, on July 10, 1930, to Abdullahi Yusuf and Sinota Bello, the second of three children. Both parents died while he was a child and he was sent to live with his uncle who refused to send him to school. He left his uncle and started cutting wood in order to fund his school fees.

Bello married Sakirat Ayoka Ogabi Bello in approximately 1959. Their first child named Tawakalitu Bello Sanusi, was followed by Moriliatu Bisola Bello Sanusi, Basira Biodun Bello Oyefeso, and a son Nurudeen Bello. Between 1966 and 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, known as the Biafran War, Bello sent his wife and children to Lagos while he remained in Kano. His family returned shortly after to join him, and they had their fifth child, Shamsideen Bello. His sixth child, Fausat Bello, was born around 1970 but died of measles as an infant.

In 1950, Bello joined the Nigerian Police under British colonial rule. During the time, he was a police officer, his closest friend was Ado Bayero,  the Chief of the Nigerian Police Force who was later appointed Emir of Kano in 1963. He resigned around 1958 and founded a company which dealt in Building and Civil Engineering.

His company was the first to build a multi-story building in Kano on Odutola Street which was a residential estate. He later bought his first private residence along Abedee Street Sabon Gari, Kano. He opened the first filling station in Kano in 1968 and behind it he opened a club known as the Criss Cross Club which sold drinks, chicken, and pepper soup. His company built its first hotel, the Criss Cross Hotel, in 1971. His second hotel, known as Gab Hotel, and built in 1980.

His two eldest daughters, Tawakalitu and Moriliatu, married on the same day in 1988. Tawa married Dr. Lukman Sanusi while Morili married Retired Colonel Olawale Sanusi. In 1989, his youngest daughter, Basira, married Sakiru Olanipekun Oyefeso, the founder and managing director of Standard Trust Assurance Company. His eldest son, Nuru, married Salawat Titilope.

From 1990 to 2000, G. A. Bello was the Vice-Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association (IPMAN) in the Kano Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC).

Even though Bello only had a secondary school education, he was a great believer in it and each of his children attended university.

Bello was an advocate of unity in Kano. He encouraged the government to foster unity between the different tribes in Kano State. He advised the government to encourage Nigerians to stop tribalism and live in harmony. This encouraged the Yorubas to continue to live in Kano. In January 2006, Bello served as the acting Oba of the Yoruba Community in Kano State for sixty days.

Bello contributed to many Islamic causes in Kano including the construction of two Juma't Mosques built in Sabon Gari, a non-native's settlement area. The first mosque was built around 1982 at Nomans Land, Kano and it was commissioned by the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero. In early 2000, he built a second mosque, the Ahammadiya Mosque along Emir Road, for the Ahmadiya Muslims.

Bello donated millions of naira (the currency of Nigeria) to charity related issues, including the Rotary International.  He donated equally generously to communities, Mosques and Churches. This earned him a long list of honorary awards.

Bello held many Chieftaincy titles such as: Aarre Egbe Omo Balogun Maiyegun of Ibadanland, Babasaiye of Owu, Abeokuta of Ogun State, and Aarre Basorun Timi Agbale of Ede in Osun State.  He was also given an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by Kenton University. 

Bello was murdered a month before his 84th birthday on June 5, 2014 by unknown assailants in Kano. He was buried in his residence at Race Course Road. 

Abubakar Abdurrahman Sadiq was caught by Nigerian police in August 2014 and confessed to the murder. Sadiq had broken into Bello's house to steal money and stabbed him when Bello tried to stop him. Sadiq had previously worked in one of Bello's hotels, but was let go for stealing.

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July 14

*Albert Beckles, a professional bodybuilder and a three time New York City Night of Champions winner, was born in Barbados.

Albert "Al" Beckles (b. July 14, 1930, Barbados) was born in Barbados but emigrated to London.  In the mid-1960s, he won several British regional titles before winning the 1969 and 1970 National Amateur Body-Builders' Association (NABBA) Mr. Britain titles. In 1971, Beckles joined the International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness (IFBB), earning the overall at the IFBB "Mr. Universe."

Beckles was one of the most active participants in bodybuilding history, having been in over 100 contests. In 1982, he won the Night of Champions competition in New York.

Beckles’ 13 forays into the IFBB Mr. Olympia competition yielded six placings among the top five, including coming in second to Lee Haney in 1985.

In 1991, at the age of 61 years, Beckles won the Niagara Falls Pro Invitational.

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*Paul-Emile de Souza, a Beninese army officer and political figure who became President of Dahomey, was born in Bohicon, Dahomey.

Paul-Émile de Souza (b. July 14, 1930, Bohicon, Dahomey – d. June 17, 1999, Cotonou, Benin) was a Beninese army officer and political figure.  He was chairman of the Directory of Dahomey (the President of Dahomey) from December 13, 1969 to May 7, 1970. 

Paul-Emile de Souza was born into the aristocratic De Souza family on July 14, 1930. His birthplace was Athieme, Dahomey. His wife was Françoise De Souza.

In 1966, de Souza was selected as vice president of the Comité de Rénovation Nationale, as well as being one of the three officers on the Comité. It had very few functions other than to advise Christophe Soglo and was abolished on April 6, 1967.  When Soglo was overthrown later that year, de Souza was chosen as Emile Derlin Zinsou's successor as Director of Military Affairs. For the most part, de Souza tried to stay out of politics if he could and led the parachutist unit at Ouidah. 

On December 10, 1969, Emile Derlin Zinsou was overthrown by Maurice Kouandete, though the military did not recognize the latter.  De Souza was briefly put under house arrest in the aftermath.  Since the two men could not end their quarrels, a Military Directorate was established with de Souza as its chairman, Kouandete a member, and Colonel Benoit Sinzogan of the Gendarmie occupying the third seat. An election was held on March 28, 1970, to determine the true president. It was marked by a series of violent outbursts; unvalidated reports state that six people were killed at incidents in Parakou on the eve of the elections. Former presidents Hubert Maga, Sourou-Migan Apithy, and Justin Ahomadegbe-Tometin received a majority of the vote in the north, southeast, and southwest/central, respectively.

De Souza decided to nullify the results from Atakora, the region where Maga received the most votes. Outraged, Maga threatened to secede unless he was declared President. Apithy stated that he would convince his region to join Nigeria if Maga took the presidency. The three former Presidents agreed to a hasty compromise to prevent a civil war. A presidential council, comprising Maga, Ahomadegbe-Tometin, and Apithy, with a presidency that changed every two years, was set up on May 7. Maga inaugurated this system for the first two years, before passing the power, on May 7, 1972, to Ahomadegbe-Tometin.

Colonel Paul-Emile De Souza returned to his role as Chief of Staff of the Dahomeyan Army.

Kouandete attempted to usurp to power again on February 23, 1972. Leading the Ouidah garrison, he also attempted to take over government buildings and murder de Souza. Over the course of the operation, assailant Major Moumouni was mortally wounded by de Souza's bullets.  De Souza, meanwhile, escaped with only a slight injury. The plot was foiled, although Maga cancelled a visit to France to attend the matter at hand.  Kouandete received the death penalty for his role in the attack.

When Mathieu Kerekou seized power in October 1972, de Souza was dismissed from the army. He was appointed commissioner of the national Agricultural Credit Bank.

Paul-Émile de Souza died on June 17, 1999. His widow, former First Lady of Dahomey Francoise de Souza, died on July 30, 2015.

*****

*Wally Taylor (b. July 14, 1930, Maywood, Illinois – d. October 7, 2012, San Antonio, Texas) an American actor known for his role as Clubber Lang's manager in Rocky III (1982) was born in Maywood, Illinois.  Taylor also appeared Escape from New York (1981) and The Golden Child (1986) and starred in the Arena Stage production of Before It Hits Home.

Growing up in Maywood with four brothers raised by a working single mother, Wally Taylor hustled to help his family.

Taylor collected pop bottles and ran errands to make extra money to eat. When he scraped together a little cash, he went to the theater. If they could get enough money with pop bottles, then they would go to the movies. Wally Taylor was just fascinated by the movies.

Eventually, Taylor would study acting at the Goodman School of Drama. His rugged intensity and mastery of his craft made him a busy film and TV actor. Relatives said he was sensitive and gentle in real life, but on screen, he often played the heavy.

In 1972, he was the evil Johnny Kelly in Shaft's Big Score! which included this classic bit of Blaxploitation dialogue from Richard Roundtree: "Stay away from black honkies with big flat feet!"

Taylor was also in an iconic gem of Black Cinema, Cotton Comes to Harlem. He played a militant who gets thrown up in the air by Detectives Gravedigger Jones (Godfrey Cambridge) and Coffin Ed Johnson (Raymond St. Jacques). "When I learned director Ossie Davis was looking for a stunt man to do that bit, I volunteered and said I'd do it if I could keep the few lines I had," he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Taylor appeared in the Eddie Murphy vehicle The Golden Child; in John Carpenter's Escape from New York; in Rocky III; and the 1979 version of When a Stranger Calls.

For the play The Great White Hope, Taylor understudied James Earl Jones. He also appeared as Walter Lee Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at Chicago's Forum Theater. In 1990, he starred with Yaphet Kotto in Fences at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage theater.

Taylor's television resume reads like a road map of pop culture, including guest shots on "Knight Rider," "Starsky and Hutch," "Sanford and Son," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "St. Elsewhere," "Cagney and Lacy," "Hill Street Blues," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "The Rockford Files," "Ironside," "Moonlighting," "Falcon Crest," "Webster," and "227."

Taylor also played Reverend in Alex Haley's epic 1977 TV miniseries "Roots," which sparked a national conversation on the legacy of slavery.

One of Taylor's favorite roles was as a bartender in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play "No Place to Be Somebody." 

Wally Taylor died of heart disease on October 7, 2012, in San Antonio, Texas. He was 82.

*****

July 19

*James Rubadiri, a Malawian diplomat, academic and poet, was born in Liuli, British Tanganyika (present day Tanzania), 

James David Rubadiri lukin Hendricks (b. July 19, 1930, Liuli, British Tanganyika [today Tanzania] – d. September 15, 2018, Mzuzu, Malawi) was a Malawian diplomat, academic and poet, playwright and novelist. Rubadiri is ranked as one of Africa's most widely anthologized and celebrated poets to emerge after independence.

Rubadiri attended King's College, Budo, in Uganda from 1941 to 1950, then Makerere University in Kampala (1952–56), where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English literature and History. Between 1960 and 1962, he studied Literature at King's College, Cambridge, earning an MA degree.  He went on to receive a Diploma in Education from the University of Bristol.

At Malawi's independence in 1964, Rubadiri was appointed the country's first ambassador to the United States and the United Nations (UN). When he presented his credentials to President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House on August 18, 1964, he expressed the hope that his newly independent country would get more aid from the United States.  He said that Malawi needed help to build its democratic institutions and noted that Malawi was already receiving United States economic and technical help. That same year Rubadiri appeared on the National Education Television (New York City) series African Writers of Today.

Rubadiri left the Malawian government in 1965 when he broke with President Hastings Banda. As an exile, Rubadiri taught at Makerere University (1968–75), but he was again exiled during the Idi Amin years.  He was also Visiting Professor of English Literature at Northwestern University in 1972.  Rubadiri subsequently taught at the University of Nairobi, Kenya (1976–84), and was also briefly, along with Okot p'Bitek,  at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, at the invitation of Wole Soyinka.  Between 1975 and 1980, Rubadiri was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Theater of Kenya. From 1984 to 1997, he taught at the University of Botswana, where he was dean of the Language and Social Sciences Education Department.

In 1997, after Banda's death, Rubadiri was reappointed Malawi's ambassador to the United Nations, and he was named vice-chancellor of the University of Malawi in 2000. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde in 2005.

Rubadiri died on September 15, 2018 at Mzuzu Central Hospital in Mzuzu, Malawi.

Rubadiri's poetry is some of the appreciated in contemporary Africa.  His work was published in the 1963 anthology Modern Poetry of Africa and appeared in international publications including Transition, Black Orpheus and Presence Africaine. 

Rubadiri's only novel, No Bride Price, was published in 1967. It criticized the Banda regime and was, along with Legson Kayira's The Looming Shadow,  among the earliest published fiction by Malawians.

July 24

*Charles Decatur Brooks, a Seventh-day Adventist evangelist best known for his Breath of Life television ministry.

Charles Decatur Brooks, also known as C. D. Brooks, (b. July 24, 1930, Greensboro, North Carolina - d. June 5, 2016, Laurel, Maryland) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on July 24, 1930, the tenth child of Marvin and Mattie Brooks. Although Methodists at the time, shortly after C.D.’s birth the Brooks family began observing the seventh-day Sabbath in honor of a pledge Mattie Brooks made to God while in a hospital bed suffering from a near-fatal illness. Learning more truth years later from reading Ellen G. White's The Great Controversy, C.D., along with his mother and six sisters, was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church on a Sabbath in 1940. In 1947 after attending an evangelistic tent meeting, C.D. remained under the tent long after the last person had departed. “Charles, I want you to make truth clear,” C.D. distinctly heard a voice say, and then had a vision of himself standing behind the pulpit at the front of the tent, proclaiming the truth with power and clarity. Brooks immediately jettisoned his career plans for dentistry for the ministry, setting his sights on Oakwood.

At Oakwood, Brooks met the love of his life, Walterene Wagner, daughter of John H. Wagner, Sr., a stalwart of 20th century black Adventism. Along with other roles, Wagner was the first president of Allegheny Conference, one of the five inaugural leaders of regional conferences in 1945.

In 1951, Brooks graduated from Oakwood College (now Oakwood University) in Huntsville, Alabama, with a degree in theology.
 
Brooks and Walterene were united in marriage on September 14, 1952, at the Ebenezer Seventh-day Adventist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brooks would go on to serve the Columbia Union as a pastor, evangelist and administrator until 1971, working mostly in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Ohio.

In 1971. Brooks was asked by General Conference (GC) president Robert Pierson to serve as a field secretary for the Seventh-day Adventist world church, a role he held until 1995, making him the longest tenured field secretary in church history. While serving at the GC, Brooks took on the dual role as speaker/director for the Breath of Life Ministry, a new television ministry of the GC that was produced at the Adventist Media Center in Thousand Oaks, California. Brooks partnered with Walter Arties, Louis B. Reynolds, and the Breath of Life Quartet to produce television programming that reached out to audiences all around the world. As speaker-director of Breath of Life, Brooks took his place among legendary Adventist media revolutionaries such as H.M.S. Richards, George Vandeman, and William Fagal. In 1989 the ministry was broadcast on Black Entertainment Television (BET), and reached a potential audience of more than 90 million people a week.

Brooks was speaker-director of Breath of Life Ministries for 23 years, from 1974 to 1997. In his time at the helm, the ministry brought approximately 15,000 people to Christ, established 15 Breath of Life congregations, and was viewed by untold millions. In 1994 Brooks was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers and Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1996 health challenges forced Brooks to retire from the General Conference and in 1997 he stepped down as speaker-director for Breath of Life. Brooks had a long and productive retirement and in 2007, in honor of Edward Earl Cleveland, Charles Bradford, and Brooks, the Bradford-Cleveland-Brooks Leadership Center (BCBLC) was established. The center is housed on the campus of Oakwood University in a 10,000-square-foot, $2.5 million state-of-the-art edifice.

On December 1, 2010, the Ellen G. White Estate elected Brooks a lifetime member of the Ellen G. White Estate Board. The North American Division invited Brooks to be its chaplain in residence in 2013, a position he held until his death.

*****

July 25

*Ado Bayero, the Emir of Kano from 1963 to 2014, was born in Kano, Northern Nigeria.

Ado Abdullahi Bayero (b. July 25, 1930, Kano, Northern Nigeria – d. June 6, 2014, Kano, Nigeria) was seen as one of Nigeria's most prominent and revered Muslim leaders.  He was the son of Abdullahi Bayero son of Muhammad Abbas. Ado Bayero was the 13th Fulani emir since the Fulani War of Usman dan Fodio, when the Fulani took over the Hausa city-states. He was one of the strongest and most powerful emirs in the history of the Hausa land. He was renowned for his abundant wealth, maintained by means of stock market investments and large-scale agricultural entrepreneurship both at home and abroad.

Ado Bayero was the son of Abdullahi Bayero, a former emir, who reigned for 27 years.

 

Bayero was born to the family of Hajiya Hasiya and Abdullahi Bayero and into the Fulani Sullubawa clan that has presided over the emirate of Kano since 1819. He was the eleventh child of his father and the second of his mother. At the age of seven, he was sent to live with Maikano Zagi.

Bayero started his education in Kano studying Islam, after which he attended Kano Middle School. He graduated from the School of Arabic Studies in 1947. He then worked as a bank clerk for the Bank of British West Africa until 1949, when he joined the Kano Native Authority. He attended Zaria Clerical College in 1952. In 1954, he won a seat to the Northern regional House of Assembly.

He was head of the Kano Native Authority police division from 1957 until 1962, during which he tried to minimize the practice of briefly detaining individuals and political opponents on the orders of powerful individuals in Kano. He then became the Nigerian ambassador to Senegal. During this time he enrolled in a French language class. In 1963, he succeeded Muhammadu Inuwa as Emir of Kano.

Muhammadu Sanusi who was Ado Bayero's half brother ruled after their father from 1953 to 1963. Following his dethronement in 1963, Muhammadu Inuwa ruled only for three months. After Muhammadu's death, Ado Bayero ascended the throne in October 1963. Bayero was the longest-serving emir in Kano's history. Bayero's Palace played host to official visits by many government officials and foreigners.

  

Bayero became emir during the first republic, at a time when Nigeria was going through rapid social and political changes and regional, sub-regional and ethnic discord was increasing. In his first few years, two pro-Kano political movements gained support among some Kano elites. The Kano People's Party emerged during the reign of Muhammadu Inuwa  and supported the deposed Emir Sanusi, but it soon evaporated. The Kano State Movement emerged towards the end of 1965 and favored more economic autonomy for the province.

The death in 1966 of many political agitators from northern Nigeria, and the subsequent establishment of a unitary state, consolidated a united front in the northern region but also resulted in a spate of violence there, including in Kano. Bayero's admirers credit him with bringing calm and stability during this and later crises in Kano.

As emir, Bayero became a patron of Islamic scholarship and embraced Western education as a means to succeed in a modern Nigeria. The constitutional powers of the emir were whittled down by the military regimes between 1966 and 1979. The Native Authority Police and Prisons Department was abolished, the emir's judicial council was supplanted by another body, and local government reforms in 1968, 1972, and 1976 reduced the powers of the emir. During the second republic, he witnessed hostilities from the People's Redemption Party led government of Abubakar Rimi.

In 1981, Governor Abubakar Rimi restricted traditional homage paid by village heads to Ado Bayero and excised some domains from his emirate. In 1984, a travel ban was placed on the emir and his friend Okunade Sijuwade.

In 2002, Bayero led a Kano elders forum in opposing the onshore and offshore abrogation bill.

Ado Bayero was seen as a vocal critic of the Islamist group Boko Haram who strongly opposed their campaign against western education.

On January 19, 2013, Bayero survived an assassination attempt blamed on the Islamist group which left two of his sons injured and his driver and bodyguard dead, among others.

 

Ado Bayero died on June 6, 2014. He was succeeded by his brother's grandson Muhammadu Sanusi II. 

*****

July 30

*Harvey Dean Williams, an African American who became a Major General in the United States Army, was born in Whiteville, North Carolina.

Harvey Dean Williams Sr. (b. July 30, 1930, Whiteville, North Carolina – d. August 7, 2020, Germantown, Maryland) was a United States Army major general. He was the first African American post commander of Fort Myer and was the Deputy Inspector General of the United States Army in 1980. He commanded artillery units in the Korean War and Vietnam War and his 1978 activism after facing discrimination as an African American soldier in Augsburg, West Germany made international news.

Harvey Dean Williams was born on July 30, 1930, in Whiteville, North Carolina, the son of Matthew Dean Williams and Addie Haynes Williams. He grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and attended Hillside High School (graduating in the class of 1946).

Williams received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) and a Master of Science in International Relations from George Washington University. 

Williams graduated from the Army Reserved Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at West Virginia State College in 1950. Williams was one of the first of 15 graduates of West Virginia State University to become general officers. He entered active duty in the United States Army in 1951, as a second lieutenant.  

Williams was a commander of a Battery in the Korean War, and he served two tours in Korea (the first in 1953–1954).

As an Army officer, then-Captain Williams served as a member of the military staff and faculty (within the Artillery department) at Cornell University from 1957 to 1959, an early pioneer of black Army officers becoming instructors at Ivy League universities. Williams became a major by 1965.

Williams was assigned to Vietnam during the Vietnam War in August 1969, first serving as Assistant G-4 (later Deputy G-4) of I Field Force. From January 1970 to June 1970, he was the commander of the 1st Battalion, 92nd Artillery, I Field Force in Vietnam. He was promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel on October 14, 1971.

Williams went on to attend the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, cited as being the first black Army officer selected to attend the Naval War College's senior course. In June 1973, Williams became the commander of the 75th Field Artillery Group at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. 

On June 16, 1975, then-Colonel Williams became the first African American commander of Fort Myer, a United States Army post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia (now part of the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall). He was the post commander of Fort Myer from 1975 to 1977.

Williams was promoted from colonel to brigadier general on September 2, 1977. According to Ebony in May 1978, Williams was one of 14 then-serving black United States Army generals at the time.

In the late 1970s, Williams was the commanding general of VII Corps Artillery — the commander of a community of 15,000 American soldiers in Europe stationed at Augsburg, West Germany. 

In 1978, while stationed in Augsburg, then-Brigadier General Williams and other American soldiers — especially other African Americans — faced discrimination. Earlier that year, Williams was barred from entering a German discotheque despite meeting the building's dress code and guidelines, until another mentioned Williams' rank.

Williams went on to speak out about this incident in interviews, including an interview with the Associated Press that same year, and advocated for German businesses and restaurants to stop barring American soldiers and GIs (especially people of color) from entering. This incident—and Williams' activism—made headlines internationally, reported on in magazines like Jet, and in cities across the United States, West Germany, and Portugal. The incident led Augsburg mayor Hans Breuer to change and amend policies to end these practices of discrimination in the treatment of American GIs.

In 1978, Williams was appointed as Deputy Commanding General of the United States Army Military District of Washington, becoming Chief of Staff of the United States Army Military District of Washington the previous February.

In 1980, Williams became the Deputy Inspector General of the United States Army. Williams was also the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence as Chief of the Security Division for the United States Department of the Army. 

Williams retired from military duty in 1982, as a major general. After retiring from military duty, Williams later went on to work for various information technology companies, including a non-profit organization bringing technology to diverse communities.

Williams was among the first inducted into the West Virginia State College ROTC Hall of Fame in 1980.

Williams was a recipient of the Legion of Merit. He was also a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster (first received 1953/54), the Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters (first received in 1965).

Williams was awarded the Gallantry Cross with silver star by the government of South Vietnam.

On August 31, 1996, Williams was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, an honor given for extraordinary service to the state of North Carolina, by Governor James B. Hunt Jr.

Harvey Williams and his wife, Mary, were married for 64 years, from 1956 to his death in 2020. The couple resided in Germantown, Maryland, and they had five adult children and two grandchildren. 

Williams died at home in Germantown, Maryland, on August 7, 2020, due to Parkinson's disease.