The Americas
Canada
*William White, a Nova Scotian of African descent who became the first black officer in the British army, died (September).
William Andrew White, II (b. June 16, 1874, King and Queen County, Virginia – d. September 1936) served in World War I as a chaplain, the only black chaplain in the entire British Army during the war. He was the father of singer Portia White and politicians Bill White and Jack White. In 1936, White was awarded an honorary doctorate from Acadia University, the first Black Canadian to be given an honorary doctorate.
He was born to former slaves in King and Queen County, Virginia. He came to Nova Scotia in 1900 after a Canadian school teacher in Baltimore, Maryland, impressed him with descriptions of the province. He pictured this land as his key to freedom. He became the second black man accepted by Acadia University and the first to be later honored with a Doctorate of Divinity. White graduated from Acadia in 1903 with an arts degree in theology, was ordained a minister, and spent the next two years as a travelling missionary for the African Baptist churches of Nova Scotia.
In 1916, White enlisted in the No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all black segregated unit serving in World War I. He was the only black chaplain in the entire British Army and was a commissioned officer serving with the rank of Captain.
Following the war, White returned home to Halifax and was called to Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, a position he held for over 17 years. During the early 1930s, his services were broadcast over the radio every month, and they were heard throughout the Maritimes. He died of cancer in September 1936.
White met and married Izie Dora White (coincidentally she had the same last name) of Mill Village, Nova Scotia, and together they raised a family of thirteen children. One of their children, Portia White, grew to become a world-famous singer. Another, William "Bill" White, Jr., became the first Black Canadian to run for federal political office in Canada when he stood as a candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the 1949 federal election. A third, Jack, was a noted Canadian labor union activist and the second black candidate to run for office in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
His grandchildren include Senator Donald Oliver, politician and activist Sheila White and folk musician Chris White. The novelist and playwright George Elliott Clarke is his great-grandson.
Cuba
*General elections were held in Cuba. Miguel Mariano Gomez was elected the country's new president (January 10).
Dominican Republic
*The Dominican Republic's capital city of Santo Domingo was renamed Ciudad Trujillo (Trujillo City), after the country's ruler Rafael Trujillo, a person of African descent (January 10).
*The Dominican Republic National Police was formed (March 2).
Haiti
*Max Beauvoir, a Haitian high priest of voodoo, was born in Haiti (August 25).
Max Gesner Beauvoir (b. August 25, 1936 – d. September 12, 2015) was a Haitian biochemist and houngan. Beauvoir held one of the highest titles of Voudou priesthood, "Supreme Servitur" (supreme servant), a title given to Houngans and Mambos (Voudou priests and priestesses) who have a great and very deep knowledge of the religion, and status within the religion. As Supreme Servitur, Beauvoir was seen as a high authority within Voudou.
Beauvoir graduated in 1958 from City College of New York with a degree in chemistry. He continued his studies at the Sorbonne from 1959 to 1962, when he graduated with a degree in biochemistry. In 1965, at the Cornell Medical Center, he supervised a team in synthesizing metabolic steroids. This led him to a job at an engineering company in northern New Jersey, and later as an engineer at Digital Equipment Company in Massachusetts. His interest in steroids led him to experiment with hydrocortisone synthesized from plants. However, the death of his father led him to move back to Haiti in January 1973 and become a voodoo priest.
In 1974, he founded Le Péristyle de Mariani, a Hounfour (voodoo temple) in his home (which also served as a village clinic) in the village of Mariani. He had a troubled relationship with the ruling Duvalier family. While he urged that they do more to meet the medical needs of the poor, his status as a houngan kept him from being subjected to much of the wanton violence exacted by the Tonton Macoutes against critics.
During this period, he founded the Group for Studies and Research on the African Tradition (French: Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches Traditionnelles, GERT) with a group of scholars, and later founded the Bòde Nasyonal in 1986 to counter the effects of the post-Duvalier dechoukaj violence which had targeted both Vodou practitioners and the Tonton Macoutes paramilitary, both of which had been used by the Duvalier regime to oppress the Haitian people.
In 1996, Beauvoir founded The Temple of Yehwe, a Washington, D. C. based non-profit organization for the promotion of education concerning African American religion. In 1997, he became involved with the creation of the KOSANBA group at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
In 2005, Beauvoir launched the Federasyon Nasyonal Vodou Ayisyen, which he later renamed in 2008 as Konfederasyon Nasyonal Vodou Ayisyen; he serves as "chef Supreme" or "Ati Nasyonal" of the organization, which is an attempt to organize the defense of Vodou in the country against defamation.
Jamaica
*Lee "Scratch" Perry, a reggae producer, as born in Kendal, Jamaica (March 20).
Lee "Scratch" Perry (b. Rainford Hugh Perry, March 20, 1936 in Kendal, Jamaica), a Jamaican music producer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production values was born in Kendal, Jamaica. Perry was one of the pioneers in the development of dub music with his early adoption of effects and remixing to create new instrumental or vocal versions of existing reggae tracks. Perry has worked with Bob Marley and the Wailers, Junior Murvin, the Congos, Max Romeo and many others.
Mexico
Julia López (b. 1936), a self-taught Mexican painter whose works depict her childhood home in the Costa Chica region of Guerrero state. She was born in a small farming village but left early for Acapulco and Mexico City to find a better life. In the capital, she was hired as a model for artists at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" and as such became part of the circle of notable artists of that time. Their influenced encouraged her to draw and paint, with Carlos Orozco Romero discouraging her from formal instruction as to not destroy her style. She began exhibiting in 1958 and exhibited individually and collectively in Mexico, the United States and Europe. Her work was recognized with awards and membership in the Salon de la Plastica Mexicana.
López was born in 1936 in a small village near the town of Ometepec on the Costa Chica of Guerrero. She was one of eight daughters born to African and Amuzgo heritage parents. The parents were farmers, raising cotton, chili peppers, tobacco, sesame seed, bananas and other crops.
She has stated that she was blessed to have the childhood that she did, which would not have been possible in a big city. However, she wanted more in life and began her journey by going to Ometepec to work in a hotel called Casa Verde when she was only thirteen years old. In 1951, she moved again, this time to Acapulco, where she worked in a hotel kitchen. During this time she did not attend school but rather taught herself to read and do basic math.
Her final move was to Mexico City, finding initial employment modeling bridal and other formal dresses. This job allowed her to meet a number of people, especially from Coyoacan including a muralist that introduced her to Frida Kahlo in 1952. She gave her a card to present herself to Antonio M. Ruiz, then director of La Esmeralda. Her professionalism in her work allowed her to model for most of the well-known artists of the mid-20th century such as Jose Chavez Morado, Vlady and even Diego Rivera at La Esmeralda and at the Academy of San Carlos.
While doing this, she listened carefully to teachers’ comments to students and integrated herself with this artistic community. She initially remained very poor, along with her artist friends, which included Alberto Gironella, Hector Javier, Lauro Lopez, Vlady and Jose Luis Cuevas sharing accommodations, food and work. She began sketching on old bread wrappers images of saints, horses, seahorses and other familiar elements. She showed her work to Carlos Orozco Romero, who encouraged her novel style. She suggested an exchange whereby she would pose and he would teach her to paint. However, Orozco Romero convinced her that the classes would take away her spontaneity.
López developed her art career while continuing to pose in order to earn money for materials. She began exhibiting in 1958 and since then her work has been shown in various parts of Mexico, the United States and in Europe. Her work can be found in the collections of over forty museums and galleries, but most of her work is in private collections in Mexico and abroad.
Her work was first recognized with a first place prize at a competition held at the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. Later she received the New Vales Prize from the Fine Art Gallery of California. She is a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.
Three books have been written about her life and work Los colores mágicos de Julia López (1995), Fiori e Canti, Nella Pittura di Julia López (1996, in Italian) and Dueña de la luz (1998).
Puerto Rico
*Puerto Rico's Chief of Police E. Francis Riggs was shot and killed by two young Nationalists. The two assailants were captured and executed immediately without trial.
*Ronald Venetiaan, the 6th and 8th President of Suriname, was born in Paramaribo, Suriname (June 18).
Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan (b. June 18, 1936) served as the 6th and 8th President of Suriname. His first term as president ran from 1991 to 1996 after which he lost in the elections to Jules Wijdenbosch. In 2000, however, he regained his former position on the New Front banner, receiving an absolute majority of 37 from 51 votes in the Parliament.
Uruguay
In 2005, he was re-elected to serve a third term as president and sworn in on August 12, 2005.
*The Black Native Party was founded in Uruguay.
The Black Native Party (Spanish: Partido Autóctono Negro, abbreviated PAN) was a political party in Uruguay seeking to defend the rights of the Afro-Uruguayan community. The founders of the party were Afro-Uruguayan intellectuals who sought to develop the party as a platform to elect Afro-Uruguayans to Congress. The party was founded in 1936 and was close to the Nuestra Raza group. The foundation of PAN followed the establishment of two other Black political parties in Latin America, in Cuba (1908) and Brazil (1931).
A first reference of the project to launch a Black political party can be found in the October 24, 1935 issue of Nuestra Raza. The following issues of the journal carried more editorials and articles arguing for the foundation of the party. On May 9, 1936 a preliminary assembly of the party was held. Some thirty people participated in the event. Two preparatory bodies were named, a Reporting Committee and a Provisional Board. On May 23, 1936 the manifesto of the party (drafted by the Reporting Committee) was adopted at a party meeting. The manifesto of the party was formulated along Popular Front lines, calling for struggle against fascism and imperialism.
Salvador Betervide was the founding chairman of the party. Other founders included Ventura Barrios and Elemo Cabral. After Betervide's death from tuberculosis in 1936 the chairmanship of the party was taken over by Mario Méndez. On January 5, 1937 the party was recognized by the Electoral Court. In March 1937 a new manifesto was issued, following similar lines as the original party manifesto.
On July 5, 1937 a local committee of the party was established in Rivera. On December 4, 1937 a General Assembly of the party was organized. On December 18, 1937 a local committee was set up in the town of Melo.
The party published the journal Pan ('Bread') as its organ. The first issue was published on April 15, 1937. Nine issues were published until December 1937. Sandalio del Puerto was the editor of Pan, until being replaced by Carmelo Gentile in October 1937.
On March 5, 1938 the party convention was opened. The convention was a public event. The majority of the 22 participants came from Montevideo. The convention was chaired by Victoriano Rivero, Isabelino José Gares and Félix Tejera. At the meeting a draft candidate list for the upcoming elections was presented. On the second day of the convention (March 7), 16 people participated. The candidate list was approved with Mario Méndez as the top candidate. Other candidates were Carmelo Gentile, Pilar Barrios, Rufino Silva Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Martinez, Rolando R. Olivera, Victoriano Rivero, Cándido Guimaraes, Sandalio del Puerto and Roberto Sosa.
The party failed to win major support as the majority of Afro-Uruguayans preferred to vote for either of the two main parties. The party launched a list of ten candidates ahead of the 1938 general election. The election campaign, carried out in Montevideo, centered around racial discrimination in employment in the state administration. The campaign had meager results, though, receiving a mere 87 votes. Following this humiliating experience, the party never contested elections again.
PAN suffered a split in 1941. A group of Executive Committee members met on August 13, 1941 and voted to demote Méndez from his post as party chairman. Effectively two groups emerged that claimed to be the legitimate PAN, the group led by Méndez and another led by Anibal Eduarte, Ignacio Suarez Peña (chairman) and Ismael Arribio. I. Bello served as general secretary of the Méndez faction. On August 15, 1941 Méndez reported to police that properties at the PAN office had been stolen by the Suarez Peña faction. The Suarez Peña group responded by appealing to the Electoral Court that they be recognized as the genuine PAN. The Suarez Peña faction held a party assembly on August 23, 1941. 49 persons signed the declaration of the assembly.
In January 1942 the Méndez faction adopted a party hymn, composed by Victor Irrazabal and Carlos Tarama.
On January 23, 1942 the Electoral Court declared that it would not take sides in the dispute in PAN, arguing that it was not possible to determine who was the legitimate claimant to the name PAN.
Méndez died on June 5, 1942. Following his death the two factions were reunited in October 1942.
The party was dissolved on June 11, 1944. The few properties of the party were donated to Nuestra Raza.
*****
Europe
*Austrian Vice-Chancellor Ernst Rudiger Starhemberg sent Mussolini a telegram congratulating him on his conquest of Ethiopia (May 13). The Austrian foreign office was flooded with diplomatic protests from other countries that same day.
*Ernst Rudiger Starhemberg was dismissed as Vice-Chancellor of Austria (May 14). An official statement explained that it was due to "differences of opinion with Chancellor Schuschnigg."
France
*Charles Maurras published a column in Action Francaise calling for "the knife" to be used against politicians who supported sanctions against Italy (February 13). That same day, French politician Leon Blum was attacked and cut about the head by student followers of Maurras. That night, the French government banned the Action Française, Camelots du Roi and Royalist Students' Association under the law passed in December prohibiting extremist political leagues.
*Germany became the first country to recognize Italian rule of Ethiopia by abolishing its legation in Addis Ababa and replacing it with a general consulate (July 25).
The opening ceremony of the 1936 Summer Olympics was held in Berlin (August 1). As with the Winter Games in February, there was confusion between the Nazi salute and the Olympic salute. Most countries gave one salute or the other as they passed Hitler in the viewing stand. The British and Americans did not salute at all and gave a military-style 'eyes right' instead. The Americans were also the only country not to dip their country's flag while passing Hitler, in keeping with the U.S. custom of only dipping to the President of the United States.
On the first day of competition at the Summer Olympics, Adolf Hitler congratulated German gold medalists Tilly Fleischer and Hans Woellke, then invited all three Finnish medalists in the 10,000 meters to his box to congratulate them as well (August 2). However, he left before congratulating the gold medalist in the high jump, Cornelius Johnson of the United States. An international controversy broke out over whether Hitler had snubbed Johnson for being African-American. International Olympic Committee President Henri de Baillet-Latour told Hitler to either congratulate all the medalists or none at all. Hitler chose the latter and no athletes were invited to his box for the rest of the Olympics.
Cornelius Cooper Johnson (b. August 28, 1913, Los Angeles, California – d. February 15, 1946) was an Olympic champion high jumper. Born in Los Angeles in 1913, Cornelius ("Corny") Johnson first competed in organized track and field events at Berendo Junior High School. He achieved greater athletic success as a student at Los Angeles High School, competing in the sprint and in the high jump. Before going to the Olympics as a junior, he won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) California State Meet in 1932. He had been second the year before.
At the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932, Johnson, who was then an 18-year-old high school student, placed fourth in the high jump under the existing tiebreaker rules. Had the current rules been in force, he would have won the silver medal.
He repeated as champion at the State Meet in 1933. Afterwards, Johnson attended Compton College and with coach Herschel Smith continued his high jump career.
Johnson's technique was described as a panther-like western roll. At the 1936 United States Olympic Trials, Johnson set the world record at 6 ft 93⁄4 in (2.07 m). After the bar was remeasured and everybody celebrated, Dave Albritton equalled Johnson's record.
In 1936, Johnson was one of 19 African Americans at the Berlin Olympics, where he won the gold in the high jump. Johnson's winning height of 2.03m was an Olympic record and he tried unsuccessfully for the world record.
Johnson was the co-holder of the outdoor world record for the high jump for the year 1936-1937 and won eight career U.S. titles (five outdoor, three indoor).
After retiring from the high jump, he became a letter carrier for the United States Post Office in Los Angeles, and in 1945 he joined the United States Merchant Marine.
In 1946, while working as a ship's baker on board the Grace Line's "Santa Cruz," Johnson developed bronchial pneumonia. En route from the ship to a California hospital, Cornelius "Corny" Johnson died. He was 32 years old.
Cornelius Johnson was inducted into the United States Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1994, and the California Community Colleges Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1998.
Great Britain
*The Italian bombing of Harar was discussed in the British House of Commons (April 1).
Hugh Dalton of the Labour Party asked Foreign Minister Anthony Eden if he was aware "that British public opinion is increasingly stirred by these horrible atrocities which are being perpetrated, and when are His Majesty's Government going to take any further step to end it, at least by refusing to supply British oil to these murderous airmen?" Eden replied that the government was just as anxious "to bring this war, and the miserable suffering consequent upon it, to an end."
*The British government indicated that it would again apply pressure to impose an oil embargo against Italy unless it ceased its hostilities in Ethiopia, due to the strength of the evidence Britain had that the Italians were using poison gas (April 3).
Haile Selassie arrived by special train at London Waterloo station to a huge crowd cheering and displaying welcome banners (June 3).
*The British Union of Fascists held a rally in Hyde Park, London, to protest Haile Selassie's presence in the country (June 6).
*The Ethiopian Minister to the United Kingdom, Workneh Eshete, appealed to the British public for at least £2 million to continue the fight in Ethiopia (July 6).
*Britain announced it was reducing its naval presence in the Mediterranean to normal proportions, reversing the buildup it embarked upon last September when tensions were rising due to the impending war in Ethiopia. (July 9).
*Ethiopia asked the League of Nations to dispatch a commission to investigate the use of poison gas by Italian troops (January 8).
*Mussolini sent a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross referring to the Italian bombing of hospitals in Ethiopia as "accidents" (January 16).
*An appeal from Benito Mussolini to "the students of Europe" was published in Il Popolo d'Italia, claiming that Italy wanted peace in Europe but sanctions against the country would lead to a war for which Italy would not be responsible (February 1).
*International Committee of the Red Cross President Max Huber went to Rome to discuss an investigation of the Italian bombing of Red Cross units (March 25). Italy set its conditions: the question of poison gas would be excluded from any investigation, no Ethiopians could participate and Italy could not appear to be standing trial. Huber left with a promise from Mussolini to respect the Red Cross flag, but nothing more.
*A committee of experts reported to the League of Nations that an oil embargo against Italy would take three and a half months to become effective, and even that would only be if the United States agreed to curtail its booming oil business with Italy (February 12).
*International Committee of the Red Cross President Max Huber went to Rome to discuss an investigation of the Italian bombing of Red Cross units (March 25). Italy set its conditions: the question of poison gas would be excluded from any investigation, no Ethiopians could participate and Italy could not appear to be standing trial. Huber left with a promise from Mussolini to respect the Red Cross flag, but nothing more.
*The Italian government ordered its citizens to stop requesting permission to adopt Ethiopian babies (April 16).
*On May 9, 1936, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed his Africa Orientale Italiana (AOI, Italian East African Empire), formed from the newly occupied Ethiopia and the colonies of Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland.
Benito Mussolini announced the annexation of Ethiopia and proclaimed Italian East Africa in a triumphant speech from the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia. He declared a resurgent Roman empire and asked the assembled crowd, "Will you be worthy of it?" The crowd answered with a cry of "Si!"
*The Italian Senate ratified the annexation of Ethiopia (May 16).
*The Italian Senate ratified the annexation of Ethiopia (May 16).
*A victory parade was staged in Rome for thousands of troops returning from the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (June 7).
*The League of Nations dropped all sanctions against Italy (July 4).
*President Roosevelt sent birthday greetings to Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, but only addressed him as the "king of Italy" and avoided his new additional title of "emperor of Ethiopia" (November 11).
Spain
* Francisco Franco and other high-ranking officers in the Spanish Army launched a coup against the Second Spanish Republic (July 17). The conspirators in the Army of Africa moved to seize control of Spanish Morocco. Spanish rebels seized the radio station in Melilla and proclaimed martial law. The Spanish Civil War had begun.
Law was killed in action during an attack he lead on Villanueva de la Canada, on July 13, 1937. Another African American, Harry Heywood, served as assistant to George Aitken, the commissar of the 15th Brigade, which included the Lincoln and Washington battalions. Another African American who served with distinction was Milton Herndon, the brother of Angelo Herndon, a well-known member of the United States Young Communist League. He headed a machine gun crew and was killed at Fuentes in the fall off 1937. Solaria Kee of Akron, Ohio, an African American nurse, also served with the American battalions in Spain.
Switzerland
*The League of Nations' Committee of Eighteen met in Geneva to renew discussions on expanding sanctions against Italy to include an oil embargo (March 2). France was opposed to the idea, believing it would not work and would only result in Italy quitting the League. The meeting adjourned with another agreement to make a last diplomatic attempt to bring about peace.
*Peace talks in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War broke off in Geneva as the League of Nations essentially concluded that it was too late to save Ethiopia from defeat (April 17).
*Haile Selassie arrived in Geneva to make a speech before the League of Nations (June 26). During a press conference with journalists, Selassie maintained that his government remained the only legitimate authority of Ethiopia.
*Haile Selassie arrived in Geneva to make a speech before the League of Nations (June 26). During a press conference with journalists, Selassie maintained that his government remained the only legitimate authority of Ethiopia.
*Haile Selassie appeared before the League of Nations to give a speech (June 30). Italian correspondents in the press gallery created a loud disturbance and had to be removed by police before he could speak. Selassie then made an impassioned speech recounting the principal events of the war and criticizing the League for its ineffective response.
On June 30, the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in person, "to claim the justice that is due to my people". He prophetically added, "It is us today; it will be you tomorrow."
*The 17th session of the League of Nations Assembly opened in Geneva (September 21). The Council wrestled with the question of whether Ethiopia should be allowed to keep its seat.
*The League of Nations Assembly voted 39-4 to allow Ethiopia to keep its seat, meaning that Haile Selassie's government continued to be recognized by the League as the legitimate authority of the country and not Italy (September 23). The dissenting votes were cast by Hungary, Austria, Albania and Ecuador.
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