2023: June 1930 Chronology

 

1930 

Pan-African Chronology

*****

June 

*Bernardo Baro, a professional baseball player who was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame, died.

Bernardo Baró (b. February 27, 1896 – d. June 1930) was a Cuban professional baseball player player in the Negro leagues and the Cuban League. Primarily an outfielder, he also played some games as a pitcher or an infielder. He played from 1913 to 1930 for the Cuban Stars (West), the Cuban Stars (East), and the Kansas City Monarchs.

Baró played winter baseball in the Cuban League from 1915 to 1929. He led the league in batting average in 1922/23 with an average of .401. He ranks fifth all-time in Cuban League career batting average with an average of .311. In 1945 he was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bernardo Baró was a top Cuban player of the 1910s and 1920s.

Baró debuted in the USA with the 1913 Cuban Stars. He first appeared in the Cuban Winter League (CWL) in 1915-1916, hitting .250 for San Francisco.  In 1916-1917, he batted .382 for Almendares and would have led the CWL had he qualified. He hit .218 for the Cuban Stars in 1917 and went 2-2 on the mound.  Baro never pitched regularly back in Cuba. In 1918, he batted .130 for the Stars and was 2-3. On July 21, he had his best game as a pitcher, throwing a no-hitter against the Indianapolis ABCs.  Moving to the outfield full-time in 1919, he hit .320, third best among midwestern black clubs behind Pete Hill and Oscar Charleston. In 24 games against white major leaguers that fall, he hit .271. In 1919-1920, he hit .352 for Almendares, second in the CWL behind Cristobal Torriente. Bernardo led the league with 105 at-bats, 21 runs and 37 hits.

Baró hit .364 for the Cuban Stars in 1920, second in the new Negro National League (NNL) behind Jimmie Lyons.  He went 6 for 14 in an exhibition series against the New York Giants. He struggled with Almendares in 1920-1921, going 5 for 34 with a double in a reduced role. He batted .327 in 1921 and stole 23 bases, tying Lyons for third in the NNL. The Cuban season shut down early in December 1921 after Bernardo started 5 for 15. He moved to the eastern edition of the Cuban Stars in 1922; there was no organized league in the east that winter, so statistics are unavailable.

Bernardo starred for Almendares in 1922-1923, hitting .401 to win the batting crown. He also led the league with 12 doubles and tied Torriente for the most hits (61). His 13 steals were second-most, two behind Torriente. In 1923, Baró hit .366, 5th in the Eastern Colored League behind Biz Mackey, Pop Lloyd, Jud Wilson and fellow Cuban Alejandro Oms.  He fell to .293 for Almendares in 1923-1924.

In 1924, Baró had leg surgery following a fracture, which reduced his speed. He moved to first base for the next couple years in the United States, though he continued to patrol the outfield back in Cuba. He hit .353 in 1924 and also managed the Stars for part of the year. He hit .412 in 1925, third-best in the ECL behind Wilson and Charleston. In 1925-1926, the veteran hit .309 for Almendares.

The left-hander hit only .205 for the Cuban Stars in 1926 while moving back to the outfield. In 1926-1927, he batted .309 once again for Almendares, followed by a .277 mark in the United States in 1927. He batted .246 for Almendares in 1927-1928, .284 for the Stars in 1928, .311 between two Cuban Winter League teams in 1928-1929 and .315 in 1929, his best average in four years. That year, he had a mental collapse. He recovered to join the Kansas City Monarchs in 1930 but he died after a quick illness that summer.

Overall, Baró hit .311 in the Cuban Winter League, fifth all-time behind Torriente, Oms, Lloyd and Willie Wells. He was inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.

 *****

June 1

*Eugenio de Paula Tavares, a Cape Verdean poet known for his famous poems (mornas) written in the Crioulo of Brava, died in Vila Nova Sintra, Cape Verde.

Eugénio de Paula Tavares (b. October 18, 1867, Brava, Cape Verde - d. June 1, 1930, Vila Nova Sintra, Cape Verde) was born on the island of Brava to Francisco de Paula Tavares and Eugenia Roiz Nozzolini Tavares. His family is mainly descended from Santarem, Portugal.  He was baptized at the Saint John the Baptist (São João Baptista) church in Brava. A few years later, his father starved to death and he was adopted by José and Eugenia Martins de Vera Cruz.  José Martins de Vera Cruz, a physician and surgeon who was also mayor (now president) of Boa Vista and Sal (Sal was not its own municipality until the 1930s) and later of Brava after he moved.

In 1876, Tavares attended Nova Sintra's primary school (Escola Primaria). However, most of the time, Tavares never attended school.  Along with another Cape Verdean poet, Jose Lopes, he was self-taught.

The city of Mindelo was largely marked by the Bravense child, later he went to the public farm in Tarrafal de Santiago. At the age of 15, Tavares made an anthology known as the Almanaque de lembraço Luso-Brasileiro, an almanac which he wrote until his death, the remaining were posthumously published in 1932. He returned to his native island in 1890, first he received his own farm and married D. Guiomar Leça. When Serpa Pinto was colonial governor, he congratulated the poet. He published several "morna" poems, his new themes included love, island, sea, women, emigrant and health. 

Between 1890 and 1900, Tavares was the "dolphin" of Cape Verde". One of his works did not appear until 1996 in Cape Verde and was "Hino de Brava" ("Hymn of Brava") which became the island's official anthem. As hunger affected the island along with the archipelago, Tavares lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the United States of America between 1900 and 1910, there he wrote articles for A Alvorada, a Portuguese language exile newspaper. When Portugal along with its empire became a republic, it promoted criticism in the colonies. He went back to Cape Verde afterwards. A year after his return, he published one of the most influential newspapers at the time, A Voz de Cabo Verde (Voice of Cape Verde) up to 1916.

The name of Eugenio Tavares is honored in the name of the town square in Vila Nova Sintra along with a statue, where his home is located which is now a museum. Later, a street name was named in the western part of the capital city of Praia in Cidadela which runs for about 500 meters and intersects the Praia-Cidade Velha road, near the Jean Piaget University of Cape Verde.

Cape Verdean singers and musicians including Cesaria Evora and Celina Pereira sang songs based on Tavares' morna.

The poem "morna aguada" was featured in a Cape Verdean escudo note in 1999. Between 2007 and 2014, Tavares was featured on a Cape Verdean $2000 escudo note.

In 2007, the Monument to the Emigrants which features one of Tavares' mornas on top was erected in Praia's Achada Grande Tras at a circle or a roundabout intersecting the Praia Circular Road (Circular da Praia), Avenida Aristides Pereira and the road to Nelson Mandela International Airport. 

*****

June 3

Dakota Staton, an American jazz vocalist, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Dakota Staton (b. June 3, 1930, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – d. April 10, 2007, New York, New York) was an American jazz vocalist who found international acclaim with the 1957 No. 4 hit "The Late, Late Show". She was also known by her Muslim name Aliyah Rabia for a period due to her conversion to Islam and affiliation with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. 

Born in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she attended George Westinghouse High School, and studied music at the Filion School of Music in Pittsburgh. Later she performed regularly in the Hill District, a jazz hotspot, as a vocalist with the Joe Westray Orchestra, a popular Pittsburgh orchestra. She next spent several years in the nightclub circuit in such cities as Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland and St. Louis. While in New York, she was noticed singing at a Harlem nightclub called the Baby Grand by Dave Cavanaugh, a producer for Capitol Records. She was signed and released several singles, her success leading her to win Down Beat magazine's "Most Promising Newcomer" award in 1955. 

In 1958, Staton wed Talib Dawud, a black Antigua-born Ahmadi Muslim who was a jazz trumpeter and a noted critic of Elijah Muhammad.  Staton subsequently converted to Islam and used the name Aliyah Rabia for some time. The marriage ultimately ended in divorce.

Staton released several critically acclaimed albums in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including: The Late, Late Show (1957), whose title track was her biggest hit; In the Night (1958), a collaboration with pianist George Shearing, Dynamic! (1958) and Dakota at Storyville (1962), a live album recorded at the Storyville jazz club in Boston. In the mid-1960s, Staton moved to England, where she recorded the album Dakota ′67. Returning to the United States in the early 1970s, she continued to record semi-regularly, her recordings reflecting an increasingly strong gospel and blues influence. 

Staton suffered a stroke in 1999, after which her health deteriorated. Dakota Staton died in New York City on April 10, 2007. 

*****

June 5

*Fatimah Rifaat, better known by her pen name Alita Rifaat, an Egyptian author whose controversial short stories are renowned for their depictions of the dynamics of female sexuality, relationships, and loss in rural Egyptian culture, was born in Cairo, Egypt.

Fatimah Rifaat (b. June 5, 1930, Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt – d. January 1996, Cairo, Egypt), better known by her pen name Alifa Rifaat, was an Egyptian author whose controversial short stories are renowned for their depictions of the dynamics of female sexuality, relationships, and loss in rural Egyptian culture. While taking on such controversial subjects, Fatimah Rifaat's protagonists remained religiously faithful with passive feelings towards their fate. Her stories did not attempt to undermine the patriarchal system; rather they were used to depict the problems inherent in a patriarchal society when men do not adhere to their religious teachings that advocate for the kind treatment of women. Fatimah Rifaat used the pseudonym Alifa to prevent embarrassment on the part of her family due to the themes of her stories and her writing career.

Fatimah Abdullah Rifaat was born on June 5, 1930, in Cairo, Egypt. Her father was an architect and her mother was a housewife. Her family boasted that their roots are said to extend back to Umar ibn al-Khattab, a companion and advisor to the prophet Muhammad. She was raised in provincial Egypt and spent most of her life there. Subsequently, rural Egypt became the setting for most of her stories. Her active interest in writing began at age nine when she wrote a poem expressing the despair in her village. For this, she was met with punishment by her family due to the poem's subject matter. Fatimah attended Misr al-Jadidah Primary school and The Cultural Center for Women for her intermediate education. She also attended the British Institute in Cairo from 1946 to 1949 where she studied English. When Fatimah expressed interest in continuing her education by enrolling in the College of Fine Arts in Egypt her father instead arranged for her to marry her cousin, a police officer.

For the first few years of their marriage, Fatima's husband allowed her to write and publish stories under her pseudonym despite the common idea of writing being a purely masculine field in Egyptian culture. She published her stories from 1955 until 1960 when she chose to stop after facing pressure from her husband to end her writing career. During this nearly 14-year period of literary silence, Fatimah pursued the study of literature, astronomy, and history. Despite her attempts at preoccupation through these means, Fatimah remained frustrated at her inability to express herself and the societal issues she faced as a woman through literary means.

 In 1973, after facing a serious illness, Fatimah's husband allowed her once more to write and publish her work. She went on to publish a collection of short stories and two novels beginning with the short story "My World of the Unknown," for which she gained initial popularity.

Fatimah Rifaat's husband died in 1979.  Although she traveled across provincial Egypt in accordance with her husband's transfers for work, she never left Egypt until after his death. She continued on to make the hajj, the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca, in 1981 and traveled to multiple European and Arab states including England, Turkey, Germany, Morocco, and Austria.

For her writing career, Fatimah Rifaat became a member of the Federation of Egyptian Writers, the Short-Story Club, and the Dar al-Udaba (Egypt). She also attended the First International Women's Book Fair in London, England, in 1984 where she spoke about the rights of women in Islam and the topic of polygamy. In 1984, Fatimah Rifaat received the Excellency Award from the Modern Literature Assembly.

Fatimah Rifaat died at the age of 65 in January 1996. She left behind three sons and a body of over 100 works that have been translated into multiple languages and have been produced for television. Some of her works have also been read on the BBC.

As Alifa Rifaat, Fatimah Rifaat wrote in Arabic throughout her literary career. Her style, though focusing more on romance in the beginning of her career, later shifted to social critique after she met translator Denys John-Davies. Denys also persuaded her to write in a more colloquial style of Arabic, which although being a more accessible form of writing to the Egyptian population, was also during this period a less desired form of writing than the formal style. Her novels and short stories have been translated into multiple languages including English, German, Dutch, and Swedish. The most popular English translation of her work is of her collection of short stories, Distant View of a Minaret and Other Short Stories, which is translated by Denys Johnson-Davies.

Fatimah Rifaat, unlike the prominent Egyptian Feminist Nawal El Saadawi, focused her writing on women in traditional Islamic roles. In her autobiography Fatimah describes her father's lack of affection towards her as a possible root of her exploration of the needs and desires of men in terms of women. She continues on to relate that through her life she found that "all men seek is pleasure. For that reason, I cry out for complete and complementary love in all my writings." Fatimah also expresses in her autobiography the need for men and women to only participate in intercourse when they are in a serene state, so that orgasm can be achieved, which she believes acts to strengthen faith in God.

Fatimah Rifaat's writing centers upon the silent plight of women in a patriarchal Muslim society. Her stories mainly take place in provincial Egypt. These stories handle themes such as sex, death, marriage, masturbation, clitoridectomy, love, teenage pregnancy, widowhood, and loss along with other controversial topics. During this time period, a woman was considered a purely sexual being, and the allowance of freedom of her sexuality was feared to result in fitna, or societal chaos. Although Alifa Rifaat strove to express through writing the sexual repression of women, her stories and her life were conducted in an orthodox Muslim manner, and she did not advocate the rise of women against patriarchy. Most of Rifaat's female protagonists take a resigned or begrudgingly accepting stance towards the hardships they face in life. For Fatimah Rifaat, patriarchy is merely a fact of life and acceptable under Quranic terms, however it is the opposite and, in some instances, even the same gender's lack of observance towards religious teachings that acts as the catalyst to many of the protagonists’ problems. In her stories many of the sexual encounters take place during the characters' marriage and there is no instance of extra-marital male-female relationships as this would be considered purely sinful under the practice of Islam.

Some of Fatimah Rifaat's most popular stories include "Distant View of a Minaret," "Bahiyya’s Eyes," and "My World of the Unknown."

*****

June 7

*In a gesture meant to convey respect, the New York Times began capitalizing the word "Negro" in its pages.

Around 1442, the Portuguese first arrived in Southern Africa while trying to find a sea route to India. The term negro, literally meaning "black", was used by the Spanish and Portuguese as a simple description to refer to the Bantu peoples that they encountered. Negro denotes "black" in Spanish and Portuguese, derived from the Latin word niger, meaning black.  "Negro" was also used of the peoples of West Africa in  old maps labelled Negroland, an area stretching along the Niger River.

,A specifically female form of the word, negress (sometimes capitalized), was occasionally used. However, like Jewess, it has all but completely fallen from use.

 "Negroid "has traditionally been used within physical anthropology to denote one of the three purported races of humankind, alongside Caucasoid and Momgoloid.  The suffix "-oid" means "similar to". "Negroid" as a noun was used to designate a wider or more generalized category than Negro; as an adjective, it qualified a noun as in, for example, "negroid features".

The term Negro superseded the term colored as the most appropriate word for African Americans at a time when black was considered more offensive.  In 17th-century Colonial America, the term "Negro" had been also used to describe Native Americans. John Belton O'Neall's The Negro Law of South Carolina (1848) stipulated that "the term negro is confined to slave African (the ancient Berbers) and their descendants.  It does not embrace the free inhabitants of Africa, such as the Egyptians, Moors, or the negro Asiatics, such as the Lascars."

The American Negro Academy was founded in 1896, to support liberal arts education.  Marcus Garvey used the word in the names of black nationalist and pan-Africanist organizations such as the Universal Negro Improvement Association (founded 1914), the Negro World (1918), the Negro Factories Corporation (1919), and the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World (1920).  W. E. B. DuBois and Dr. Carter G. Woodson used it in the titles of their non-fiction books, The Negro (1915) and The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933) respectively. "Negro" was accepted as normal, both as exonym (external name for a group of people) and as endonym (internal name for a group of people), until the late 1960s, after the later Civil Rights Movement.  One well-known example is the identification by Martin Luther King, Jr. of his own race as "Negro" in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech of 1963.

However, during the 1950s and 1960s, some black American leaders, notably Malcolm X, objected to the word Negro because they associated it with the long history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination that treated African Americans as second-class

 citizens, or worse. Malcolm X preferred Black to Negro, but also started using the term Afro-American after leaving the Nation of Islam. 

Since the late 1960s, various other terms have been more widespread in popular usage. These include black, Black African, Afro-American (in use from the late 1960s to 1990) and African American.  The word Negro fell out of favor by the early 1970s. However, many older African Americans initially found the term black more offensive than Negro.

The term Negro is still used in some historical contexts, such as the songs known as Negro spirituals, the Negro Leagues of sports in the early and mid-20th century, and organizations such as the United Negro College Fund.  The academic journal published by Howard University since 1932 still bears the title Journal of Negro Education, but others have changed: e.g. the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (founded 1915) became the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in 1973, and is now the Association for the Study of African American Life and Historey;  its publication The Journal of Negro History became The Journal of African American History in 2001. 

The United States Census Bureau included Negro on the 2010 Census, alongside Black and African American, because some older black Americans still self-identify with the term. The United States Census now uses the grouping "Black, African American, or Negro".  On the other hand, the term has been censored by some newspaper archives.

*****

June 8

*Jacques Sellschop, a South African nuclear physicist, was born in Luderitz, Namibia.

Jacques Pierre Friederich (Friedel) Sellschop (b. June 8, 1930, Luderitz, Namibia – d. August 4, 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa) was a South African scientist and pioneer in the field of applied nuclear physics. 

Sellschop was born in Luderitz, Namibia, on June 8, 1930.  He was educated at the University of Pretoria (BSc) and Stellenbosch University (MSc) and earned a PhD in Nuclear Physics at the University of Cambridge.  On completing his education in England, he returned in South Africa on the advice of Basil Schonland, his mentor.

In February 1965, Sellschop was part of a group which identified the first neutrino found in nature, in one of South Africa's gold mines.  The experiment was performed in a specially prepared chamber at a depth of 3 km in the ERPM mine near Boksburg.  A plaque in the main building commemorates the discovery. The experiments also implemented a primitive neutrino astronomy and looked at issues of neutrino physics and weak interactions.

Friedel Sellschop is remembered as an innovative and visionary scientific leader. He contributed both to his university and country. From 1959 to 1988, Sellschop served as the University of Witwatersrand's chair of Nuclear Physics, the first person to hold such a chair in all of South Africa. In this capacity, as a young man, he began from nothing and developed a significant nuclear physics laboratory and research department.  He was therefore the founding director of the Nuclear Physics Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand in 1956. This laboratory was later renamed the Schonland Centre for Nuclear Sciences. In 2005, the Schonland Centre was donated to the state to be run as a National Facility by iThemba LABS.

Sellschop was Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand from 1979 to 1983. He subsequently became Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) from 1984 to 1996. In this position, from which he retired, Sellschop assisted in creating funding policies and procedures that would ensure transparency in awarding research money.

Friedel Sellschop authored over 300 publications in international peer reviewed journals. 

Friedel Sellschop died peacefully on August 4, 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

*****

June 9

*Ibrahima Fall, a disciple of Aamadu Bamba and the founder of the influential Baye Fall movement, died in Touba, Senegal.

Ibrahima Fall (b. 1855, Ndiaby Fall, Cayor, Senegal – d. June 9, 1930, Touba, Senegal) was a disciple of Sheikh Aamadu Bamba Mbakke (Amadou Bamba), founder of the Mouride Brotherhood movement in West Africa.  Well-known in the Mouride Brotherhood, Ibrahima Fall established the influential Baye Fall movement.

Ibrahima Fall catalyzed the Mouride movement. Fall led all the labor work in the Mouride brotherhood. Fall reshaped the relation between Mouride Talibes (Mouride disciples) and their guide, Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke. Fall instituted the culture of work among Mourides with his concept of Dieuf Dieul “you reap what you sow”.

Ibrahima Fall was born around 1855 in a northern village, Ndiaby Fall, Cayor. His original tyeddo name was Yapsa Khanth Fall. Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke later gave him the name Ibrahima Fall. Ibrahima Fall was a son of Amadou Rokhaya Fall and Seynabou Ndiaye. At an early age, Ibrahima Fall learned the Qur'an in a neighboring village, Ndiaré. Fall studied major Arabic sciences such as theology, fiqh, tafsir, grammar and rhetoric. 

In 1882, Ibrahima Fall went looking for the best Muslim teachers. Ibrahima Fall studied under Serigne Massamba Syll and afterwards under Serigne Adama Gueye. It was Adama Gueye who directed Ibrahima Fall to Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke in 1883.

The encounter between Ibrahima Fall and Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke defined the beginning of Mouridism. 

An accord developed between Fall and Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke. Ibrahima Fall became Aamadu Bamba's 40th disciple. From this moment, Fall followed the Ndiguel "orders" of Aamadu Bamba until Fall’s death.

Within this accord called “Diebelou”, Ibrahima Fall displayed an absolute, slave-like devotion to his master. His “pastef” (courage and devotion) served example for all Mourides. Fall started growing food, cutting firewood, fetching water and building shelters and mosques. Likewise, Serigne Moussa Kâ tells us that Fall reshaped quickly the relation between a disciple and his guide. Ibrahima Fall instituted five rules of deference to the Sheikh:

1. Never stand at the same level than Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke
2. Never greet the Shaikh with your hat on your head
3. Never walk in front of him
4. Always do the “sudiot” (kiss his hands) with the Shaikh
5. Always lower your voice in front of him

Ibrahima Fall himself supervised these rules.

In 1890, Shaikh Aamadu Bàmba nominated Fall the third responsible in the Mouride Brotherhood. Fall had to supervise all manual works. With the exile of Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, Fall’s life changed. He moved to Saint-Louis, Senegal, to defend the innocence of his Shaikh. 

On September 21, 1895, the French exiled Aamadu Bàmba to Gabon.  Aamadu Bàmba then ordered Ibrahima Fall to work for Sherif Hassan.  He did so until 1901, when Sherif Hassan died. In this interval (1895–1901), Fall kept sending money (in Wolof “Adiya”) to the Shaikh until his return in 1902. On November 11, 1902, Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke returned to Senegal and awarded Ibrahima Fall the degree of Sheikh.

In June 1912, the French kept Aamadu Bàmba under house arrest in Ndjarèem, Diourbel.  Consequently, Sheikh Ibrahima Fall followed him to Diourbel. In Diourbel, Fall created a famous district, Keur Sheikh. In Keur Sheikh, the Baye Fall movement consolidated and expanded very quickly. Many tyeddos became his disciples. In 1925, the French banned construction of the Touba Mosque. Sheikh Ibrahima Fall enclosed the area of the mosque with timbers Fall carried from Ndjarèem to Touba.

In 1927, at the death of Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, Sheikh Ibrahima Fall performed the first obeisance to the Shaikh's son, Serigne Moustapha Mbacké. 

Sheikh Ibrahima Fall died June 9, 1930, after helping the succession of Aamadu Bàmba. He lies in Touba.

Sheikh Ibrahima Fall obviously helped Shaikh Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke to expand Mouridism, particularly with Fall’s establishment of the Baye Fall movement. For this contribution, Serigne Fallou (the second Caliph after Aamadu Bàmba) named him “Lamp Fall" (the light of Mouridism). In addition, Ibrahima Fall earned the title of “Babul Mouridina”, meaning "Gate of Mouridism".

*****

June 10

*Johnson Donatus Aihumekeokhai Ojeikere, known as J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, a Nigerian photographer known for his work with unique hairstyles found in Nigeria, was born in Ovbiomu-Emai, a rural village in south-western Nigeria

Johnson Donatus Aihumekeokhai Ojeikere (b. June 10, 1930, Ovbiomu-Emai, Nigeria – d. February 2, 2014), known as J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, Ojeikere was born on June 10 in 1930 in Ovbiomu-Emai, a rural village in south-western Nigeria. He worked and lived in Ketu, Nigeria. At the age of 20 he pursued photography, which was out of the ordinary for people in Nigeria, especially those in his village. Cameras were not in high demand and were of low priority as they were considered a luxury. However, in 1950 Ojeikere bought a modest Brownie D camera without flash, and had a friend teach him the fundamentals of photography.

Ojeikere started out as a darkroom assistant in 1954 at the Ministry of Information in Ibadan.  After Nigeria gained its independence in 1960, Ojeikere pursued his first job as a photographer. In 1961, he became a studio photographer, under Steve Rhodes, for Television House Ibadan. From 1963 to 1975 Ojeikere worked in publicity at West Africa Publicity in Lagos. In 1967, he joined the Nigerian Arts Council. In 1968, he began one of his largest projects as he documented Nigerian hairstyles. This was a hallmark of Ojeikere's work and he printed approximately a thousand pictures of different African women's hair.

A large selection of Ojeikere's work was included in the arsenale section of the 55th Venice Biennale d'arte, "Il Palazzo Enciclopedia" curated by Massimiliano Gioni in 2013.

Ojeikere died on February 2, 2014. He is the subject of a documentary film by Tam Fiofori entitled J. D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere: Master Photographer.

*****

June 11

*Johnny Bright, a professional football player in the Canadian Football League and a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame, the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame, the Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, and the Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana (June 11).

Johnny D. Bright (b. June 11, 1930, Fort Wayne, Indiana – d. December 14, 1983, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) played college football at Drake University. In 1951, Bright was named a First Team College Football All-American, and was awarded the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Sportsmanship Award. In 1969, Bright was named Drake University's greatest football player of all time. Bright became the first Drake football player to have his jersey number (No. 43) retired by the school.  In February 2006, the football field at Drake Stadium, in Des Moines, Iowa, was named in his honor. In November 2006, Bright was voted one of the Canadian Football League's Top 50 players (No. 19) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

*****

See also Appendix 42: Johnny Bright, Trailblazing African American Football Player.

*****

*Charles Rangel, a New York Congressman, was born in New York City.

Charles Bernard "Charlie" Rangel (b. June 11, 1930, New York City, New York), the United States Representative for New York's 13th Congressional District. Rangel was the first African American Chair of the influential House Ways and Means Committee.  He was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. 

Rangel was born in Harlem in New York City. He earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service in the United States Army during the Korean War, where he led a group of soldiers out of a deadly Chinese army encirclement during the Battle of Kunu-ri in 1950. Rangel graduated from New York University in 1957 and St. John's University School of Law in 1960. He then worked as a private lawyer, Assistant United States Attorney, and legal counsel during the early-mid-1960s. He served two terms in the New York State Assembly, from 1967 to 1971, and then defeated long-time incumbent Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in a primary challenge on his way to being elected to the House of Representatives.  

Once there, Rangel rose rapidly in the Democratic ranks, combining solidly liberal views with a pragmatic approach towards finding political and legislative compromises. His long-time concerns with battling the importation and effects of illegal drugs led to his becoming chair of the House Select Committee on Narcotics, where he helped define national policy on the issue during the 1980s. As one of Harlem's "Gang of Four", he also became a leader in New York City and State politics. He played a significant role in the creation of the 1995 Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation and the national Empowerment Zone Act, which helped change the economic face of Harlem and other inner-city areas. Rangel was known both for his genial manner, with an ability to win over fellow legislators, and for his blunt speaking; he has long been outspoken about his views and has been arrested several times as part of political demonstrations. He was a strong opponent of the George W. Bush administration and the Iraq War, and he put forth proposals to reinstate the draft during the 2000s. 

Beginning in 2008, Rangel faced a series of allegations of ethics violations and failures to comply with tax laws. The House Ethics Committee focused on whether Rangel improperly rented multiple rent-stabilized New York apartments, improperly used his office in raising money for the Rangel Center at the City College of New York, and failed to disclose rental income from his villa in the Dominican Republic. In March 2010, Rangel stepped aside as Ways and Means Chair. In November 2010, the Ethics Committee found Rangel guilty of 11 counts of violating House ethics rules, and on December 2, 2010, the full House approved a sanction of censure against him. During the 2012 and 2014 elections, Rangel faced two strong primary challenges in a now primarily Hispanic district but prevailed. He did not run for re-election in 2016 and left office in January 2017.

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June 12

*Percy Perry, a Canadian track and field coach, was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Percy Adolphus Perry (b. June 12, 1930, Port of Spain, Trinidad – d. January 5, 2005, Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada) was a Canadian track and field coach from Coquitlam, British Columbia.  Perry was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and played on Trinidad's national soccer team before immigrating to Canada. Perry worked for the city of New Westminster, and was responsible for the design of the Westminster Quay boardwalk. 

Perry took over as head coach of Coquitlam Cheetahs track and field club in 1989 when it was on the verge of folding. He stabilized the club's operations, and then worked as an advisor for the construction of Town Centre Stadium, which the Cheetahs moved to after the 1991 B. C. Summer Games. During Perry's tenure with the Cheetahs, the club produced five Canadian Olympians, including Perry's daughter, Tara Self.

Perry died of on January 5, 2005. Town Centre Stadium was renamed to Percy Perry Stadium the following year.

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June 14

*Babacar Ba, a Senegalese politician from Kaolack, who served as Foreign Minister of Senegal from 1971 to 1978, was born.

Babacar Ba (June 14, 1930 – December 13, 2006) served as Minister of Finance and Economy from 1971 to 1978, when Ousmane Seck took office. Ba stepped down from the foreign ministry later that same year and was succeeded by Moustapha Niasse.

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June 16

*John Perkins, an American Christian minister, civil rights activist, Bible teacher, author, and community developer, was born in New Hebron, Mississippi.

John M. Perkins (b. June 16, 1930, New Hebron, Mississippi).  An American Christian minister, civil rights activist, Bible teacher, best-selling author, philosopher and community developer. He is the founder and President Emeritus of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation with his wife, Vera Mae Perkins (also known as "Grandma Perkins"). He is co-founder of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA).  He is the author of 17 books, including the best-selling One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race. 

John M. Perkins was born in 1930 in New Hebron, Mississippi. His mother died of pellagra when he was just seven months old. Abandoned by his father, Perkins was raised by his grandmother and extended family, who worked as sharecroppers. He dropped out of school in third grade. In 1947, he moved away from Mississippi at the urging of his family, who worried that he might be in danger following the fatal shooting of his brother, Clyde, by a police officer. 

Perrkins settled in southern California. In June 1951, Perkins married Vera Mae Buckley. Earlier that year, he had been drafted into the United States Armed Forces. Perkins served in Okinawa during the Korean War. In 1957, Perkins' son, Spencer, invited him to church and Perkins converted to Christianity.

In 1960, Perkins moved with his wife and children from California to Mendenhall, Mississippi, which neighbors his childhood hometown of New Hebron. There, in 1964, he established Voice of Calvary Bible Institute.

In Mendenhall, Vera Mae started running a day-care center from their home that from 1966 to 1968 became part of the federally funded Head Start Program.

In 1965, Perkins supported voter registration efforts in Simpson County, and in 1967 he became involved in school desegregation when he enrolled his son Spencer in the previously all-white Mendenhall High School.

In the fall of 1969, Perkins became the leader in an economic boycott of white-owned stores in Mendenhall. On February 7, 1970, following the arrest of students who had taken part in a protest march in Mendenhall, Perkins was arrested and tortured by white police officers in Brandon Jail.

In 1976, Perkins published a book, A Quiet Revolution: The Christian response to human need, a strategy for today, which outlined his religious philosophy, revolving around the "three Rs" — relocation, redistribution and reconciliation.

By the mid-seventies, the Voice of Calvary, Jackson and Mendenhall Ministries were operating thrift stores, health clinics, a housing cooperative, and classes in Bible and theology. Perkins was in demand as a speaker in evangelical churches, colleges, and conventions across the country.

In 1982, the Perkins left Voice of Calvary Ministries to return to California, where they founded Harambee Christian Family Center, now called Harambee Ministries, in northwest Pasadena. 

In 1989, Perkins founded the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), a network of evangelical congregations and organizations working in deprived urban settings. CCDA sought to invite evangelicals into social justice and civil rights.

After the death of his son Spencer in 1998, Perkins established the Spencer Perkins Center, the youth arm of the John M. Perkins Foundation. It developed youth programs such as After School Tutoring, Summer Arts Camp, Junior and College Internship Program, Good News Bible Club, Young Life and Jubilee Youth Garden. The foundation also had a housing arm, Zechariah 8, providing affordable housing for low-to-moderate-income families, with a focus on single mothers.

On September 17, 2016, Perkins became President Emeritus of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation as his three daughters, Elizabeth, Priscilla, and Deborah Perkins, became co-presidents of the organization.

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*Thyrsa Frazier Svager, an American academic who was one of the first African American women to earn a doctorate in mathematics, was born in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Thyrsa Anne Frazier Svager (b. June 16, 1930, Wilberforce, Ohio – d. July 23, 1999) was an American academic who was one of the first African American women to earn a doctorate in mathematics. Born in Wilberforce, Ohio, she graduated from high school at the age of 16, going to Antioch College in Ohio and then doing her postgraduate degrees at Ohio State University. Frazier Svager was the head of the Department of Mathematics at Central State University (CSU) in Ohio for decades, ending her academic career as provost and dean for academic affairs. She and her husband, physics professor Aleksandar Svager, invested one of their salaries during their careers to build a legacy for scholarships. After her death, the Thyrsa Frazier Svager Fund was established to provide scholarships for African American women majoring in mathematics.

Frazier Svager was born Thyrsa Anne Frazier on June 16, 1930, in Wilberforce, Ohio. Her mother, Elizabeth Anne Frazier, taught speech at Central State University (CSU), a historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Her father, G. Thuton Frazier, headed the Logistics Department at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.  She was a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, holding the position of Polemarch in the province. Frazier Svager had three sisters, Gail, Constance and Jane, and a brother, William Lafayette.

Frazier Svager graduated from Wilberforce University Preparatory Academy in Ohio at the age of 16 in 1947, as class valedictorian.  She attended Antioch College, a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, majoring in mathematics, with a minor in chemistry, and placed in the 99th percentile in the Princeton Senior Student Examination. Frazier Svager was one of only four black students at Antioch: one of the others was Coretta Scott, with whom she was friends. In fact, Coretta Scott wrote to Thyrsa Frazier that she herself had a met an extraordinary man up in Boston. Thyrsa encouraged Coretta to marry the man, the man known as Martin Luther King.  

Frazier Svager gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch in 1951, going on to gain a master's (1952) and a doctorate from Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus in 1965, where Paul Reichelderfer was her doctoral advisor. Her dissertation was titled "On the product of absolutely continuous transformations of measure spaces".

Frazier Svager worked for a year at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, before teaching at Texas Southern University in Houston. In 1954, she joined the faculty of CSU in Wilberforce.

In 1967, Frazier Svager was appointed chairman of the CSU department of mathematics. She was awarded tenure in 1970. She spent a summer in Washington, DC in 1966 as a systems analyst at NASA, as visiting faculty at MIT in 1969, and in 1985, she undertook postdoctoral study at OSU during the summer.

Frazier Svager was provost and vice president for academic affairs when she retired in 1993. In March 1995, she returned for a short time to CSU as Interim President.

Frazier Svager was active on the issue of scholarships, serving as the president of the local chapter of MOLES, a national association that provided scholarships for college students.  She was also a member of Beta Kappa Chi, the National Association of Mathematicians, and the Mathematical Association of America, and was involved with Jack and Jill of America. Frazier Svager participated in the meeting that founded the National Association of Mathematics in 1969.

Frazier Svager wrote two books, CSU's Modern Elementary Algebra Workbook (1969), and Essential Mathematics for College Freshmen (1976).

While on the CSU faculty, Frazier met Aleksandar Svager, a Holocaust survivor from Yugoslavia and a physics professor at CSU. They married in June 1968 at her parents' home.

Both university professors with a strong commitment to furthering education opportunities, the Svagers lived on one income, investing the other to build a scholarship fund.  After her death, her husband established the Thyrsa Frazier Svager Fund at the Dayton Foundation, for African American women who major in mathematics at one of six universities, with a legacy contribution planned. As of February 2017, 33 women had received support from the Fund. An annual contribution is also being made to the American Physical Society's Minority Scholarship. 

Frazier Svager was honored with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by CSU on her retirement, and she was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Greene County, Ohio. 

Thyrsa Frazier Svager died on July 23, 1999.

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June 22

*Mary McLeod Bethune, a Florida African American educator, feminist leader, and civil rights spokesperson, was named one of America's fifty leading women by the historian Ida Tarbell. Bethune was born in Maysville, South Carolina in 1875.  She studied at Scotia Seminary in North Carolina and at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.  In 1904, Bethune founded the Bethune-Cookman College at Daytona Beach, Florida.  A recipient of the Medal of Merit from the Republic of Haiti and the NAACP Spingarn Award, Bethune was president of the National Council of Negro Women and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.  She was a principal advisor as well as a friend to President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (b. Mary Jane McLeod; July 10, 1875, Mayesville, South Carolina – d. May 18, 1955, Daytona Beach, Florida) was an American educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, humanitarian, and civil rights activist.  Bethune founded the National Council for Negro Women in 1935, established the organization's flagship journal Aframerican Women's Journal, and resided as president or leader for myriad African American women's organizations including the National Association for Colored Women and the National Youth Administration's Negro Division. She also was appointed as a national adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom she worked with to create the Federal Council on Negro Affairs, also known as the Black Cabinet.  She is well known for starting a private school for African American students in Daytona Beach, Florida.  It later continued to develop as Bethune-Cookman University.  Bethune was the sole African American woman officially a part of the United States delegation that created the United Nations charter, and she held a leadership position for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.  For her lifetime of activism, she was deemed the "First Lady of Negro America" by Ebony magazine in July 1949 and was known by the Black Press as the "Female Booker T. Washington".  She was known as "The First Lady of The Struggle" because of her commitment to gaining better lives for African Americans.

Born in Mayesville, South Carolina, to parents who had been slaves, she started working in fields with her family at age five. She took an early interest in becoming educated. 
With the help of benefactors, Bethune attended college hoping to become a missionary in Africa. She started a school for African American girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. It later merged with a private institute for African American boys and was known as the Bethune-Cookman School. Bethune maintained high standards and promoted the school with tourists and donors, to demonstrate what educated African Americans could do. She was president of the college from 1923 to 1942, and 1946 to 1947. She was one of the few women in the world to serve as a college president at that time.

Bethune was also active in women's clubs, which were strong civic organizations supporting welfare and other needs and became a national leader. Bethune wrote prolifically, publishing in National Notes from 1924–1928, Pittsburgh Courier from 1937–1938, Aframerican Women’s Journal from 1940–1949, and Chicago Defender from 1948–1955, among others. After working on the presidential campaign for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, she was invited as a member of his "Black Cabinet." She advised him on concerns of African Americans and helped share Roosevelt's message and achievements with blacks, who had historically been Republican voters since the Civil War. At the time, blacks had been largely disenfranchised in the South since the turn of the century, so she was speaking to black voters across the North.

The honors bestowed upon Bethune include the designation of her home in Daytona Beach as a National Historic Landmark; her house in Washington, D. C. as a National Historic Site; and the installation of a memorial sculpture of her in Lincoln Park in Washington, D. C.  The Legislature of Florida designated her in 2018 as the subject of one of Florida's two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. 

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*James Scott, a Negro League baseball player, was born in Macon, Georgia.

James Robert Scott Sr. (b. June 22, 1930, Macon, Georgia – d. October 11, 2020, Macon, Georgia) was an American Negro League pitcher from 1946 to 1950. A native of Macon, Georgia, Scott joined the New York Black Yankees as a 16-year-old in 1946 and played four seasons with the New York Black Yankees and the Boston Blues through 1950.  In 1950, Scott also played with the Jackie Robinson All-Stars. 

Scott was selected by the New York Mets in Major League Baseball's special 2008 Negro leagues draft and was honored by the Atlanta Braves in a ceremony at Turner Field in 2016. Scott was inducted into the Macon Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and died in Macon in 2020.

The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008.

Prior to the start of the draft, the League held a special round consisting of the surviving Negro Leagues players to acknowledge and rectify their exclusion from the major leagues on the basis of race in the past. The idea of the special draft was conceived by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield. Each major league team drafted one player from the Negro leagues. Notable in the draft were Emilio Navarro (who, at 101 years of age at the time of the draft, was believed to be the oldest living professional ballplayer) and Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, the first woman ever drafted.

June 23

*Elza Soares, a Brazilian samba singer who was named Singer of the Millennium by BBC Radio in 1999, was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Elza da Conceicao Soares (nee Elsa Gomes da Conceicao; b. June 23, 1930, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – d. January 20, 2022, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), known professionally as Elza Soares, was a Brazilian samba singer. In 1999, she was named Singer of the Millennium along with Tina Turner by BBC Radio. 

Elza was deemed dangerous by the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985), and in 1970 her house in the Jardim Botanico neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, was machine-gunned by regime agents. Inside were her partner, the Brazilian soccer star Garrincha and their children. The living room, where the young children were, was destroyed by the blasts. Elza and Garrincha had to flee to Italy, where they were received by Chico Buarque de Hollanda who was also in exile.

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See also Appendix 43: Elza Soares, Brazil's Singer of the Millennium

 See also Appendix 16: Samba

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June 28

*Amina Cachalia, a longtime friend and ally of Nelson Mandela, was born in Vereeniging, South Africa.

Amina Cachalia (b. Amina Asvat; June 28, 1930 Vereeniging, South Africa – d. January 31, 2013, Johannesburg, South Africa) was a longtime friend and ally of Nelson Mandela. Her late husband was political activist Yusuf Cachalia.

Cachalia was born Amina Asvat, the ninth of eleven children in Vereeniging, South Africa, on June 28, 1930. Her parents were political activists Ebrahim and Fatima Asvat. She began campaigning against apartheid and racial discrimination as a teenager. She became a women's rights activist, often focusing on economic issues, such as financial independence for women.

Amina and Yusuf Cachalia were friends of Nelson Mandela before his imprisonment at Robben Island in 1962. She became a staunch anti-apartheid activist. She spent fifteen years under house arrest throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She was the treasurer of the Federation of South African Women (Fedsaw), a leading supporter of the Federation of Transvaal Women, and a member of both the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress and Transvaal Indian Congress during the Apartheid era.

In 1995, Mandela asked Cachalia to marry him. At the time, he had been separated from his wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Cachalia turned down Mandela's proposal because she said that "I'm my own person and that I had just recently lost my husband whom I had enormous regard for". Mandela divorced Madikizela-Mandela a year later and married Graca Machel in 1998.

Cachalia was elected to the National Assembly of South Africa in the 1994 South African general election, the country's first with universal adult suffrage. In 2004, she was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Bronze for her contributions to gender and racial equality and democracy.

Cachalia died at Milpark Hospital in Parktown West, Johannesburg, January 31, 2013, aged 82. The cause of death was complications following an emergency operation due to a perforated ulcer.

Her funeral was held in her home in Parkview, Johannesburg, according to traditional Muslim customs. It was attended by South African President Jacob Zuma, former Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, ANC Deputy Cyril Ramaphosa, former First Lady Graca Machel, former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and fellow activisti Ahmed Kathrada, among others.

After her death, in March 2013, her autobiography When Hope and History Rhyme was published.

*****

June 30

*Thomas Sowell, a conservative American economist, author and social commentator, was born in Gastonia, North Carolina.

Thomas Sowell (b. June 30, 1930, Gastonia, North Carolina) was an American economist, author, and social commentator who was a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.  With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he became a well-known voice in the American conservative movement as a prominent black conservative.  He was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2002.

Sowell was born in segregated Gastonia, North Carolina, to a poor family, and grew up in Harlem, New York City.  Due to poverty and difficulties at home, he dropped out of Stuyvesant High School and worked various odd jobs, eventually serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War.  Afterward he took night classes at Howard University and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1958.  He earned a master's degree in economics from Columbia University the next year and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968. In his academic career, Sowell served on the faculties of Cornell University, Amherst College, Brandeis University, and the University of California, Los Angeles.  He also worked at think tanks including the Urban Institute.   After 1977, he worked at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he became the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy.

Sowell was an important figure to the conservative movement during the Reagan era, influencing fellow economist Walter E. Williams and United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  He was offered a position as Federal Trade Commissioner in the Ford administration and was considered for posts including United States Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration.  However, Sowell declined all such offers.

Sowell is the author of more than 45 books on a variety of subjects including politics, economics, education and race, and he was a syndicated columnist in more than 150 newspapers.  His views were described as conservative, especially on social issues; libertarian, especially on economics; or libertarian conservative. 

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See also Appendix 17: Black Rednecks and White Liberals

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