1931
Pan-African Chronology
Pan-African Chronology
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January 5
*Dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey was born in Rogers, Texas.
January 6
*Arnold Pinkney, a political strategist and civil rights activist, was born in Youngstown, Ohio.
*Roland Alphonso or Rolando Alphonso aka "The Chief Musician" (b. January 12, 1931, Havana, Cuba – d. November 20, 1998, Los Angeles, California), a Jamaican tenor saxophonist, and one of the founding members of the Skatalites, was born in Havana, Cuba.
January 17
*Tony Award winning actor James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi.
*Douglas Wilder, the first African American to be elected governor of a state (Virginia) in the United States, was born in Richmond, Virginia.
January 19
January 22
*Horace Parlan, a jazz pianist, was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
January 22
*Sam Cooke, a popular singer during the 1960s, was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
January 31
*Ernie Banks, "Mr. Cub", a Hall of Fame baseball player, was born in Dallas, Texas.
February 18
*Toni Morrison, the first African American to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, was born in Lorain, Ohio,
March 3
March 5
*Dancer Carmen de Lavallade was born in Los Angeles.
March 25
*Ida B. Wells, journalist, editor and activist, died in Chicago, Illinois.
April
*Marcus Garvey launched the Edelweiss Amusement Company.
April 6
*Nine African American youths accused of raping two European American women of dubious reputation on a freight train went on trial for their lives in Scottsboro, Alabama. The case became a cause celebre, with African American organizations, liberal European Americans, and the Communist Party all vying to defend "the Scottsboro Boys." The defendants were hastily convicted, but by 1950 all were free by parole, appeal, or escape.
April 9
April 11
*Luís Severino de Almeida Cabral, the first President of Guinea-Bissau, was born in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea.
April 16
April 16
*John Wesley Funchess, known professionally as John (or Johnny) Littlejohn, an African American electric blues slide guitarist, was born in Lake, Mississippi. He was active on the Chicago blues circuit from the 1950s to the 1980s.
April 29
*The Negro Art Theater Dance Group gave its first concert.
April 30
*William Lacy Clay, a congressman from Missouri, was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
May 4
*Richard Williams, a jazz trumpeter, was born in Galveston, Texas.
May 5
*Artist Edwin A. Harleston died in Charleston, South Carolina.
May 6
May 6
*Willie Mays, nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid", a Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder who spent almost all of his 22 season career playing for the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets was born in Westfield, Alabama (May 6). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility.
May 7
*Darwin Turner, a literary critic, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
May 8
*A Sayville, New York, deputy arrested and charged Father Divine with disturbing the peace.
May 31
*Soprano and mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett, who would become known for her performance in the title role of Bizet's Carmen, was born in New Orleans.
June
*In South Africa, the Franchise Laws Amendment Act was passed.
June 7
*David C. Driskell, an artist and art historian, was born in Eatonton, Georgia.
June 14
*Marla Gibbs, an actress, singer, writer and producer, was born in Chicago, Illinois.
*Junior Walker, a musician known for the song "Shotgun" was born in Blytheville, Arkansas.
June 18
*Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician who served as President of Brazil from January 1, 1995 to January 1, 2003, was born in Rio de Janeiro. Cardoso was the first President of Brazil to be re-elected for a subsequent term.
July 1
June 18
*Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician who served as President of Brazil from January 1, 1995 to January 1, 2003, was born in Rio de Janeiro. Cardoso was the first President of Brazil to be re-elected for a subsequent term.
July 1
*The Trans-African Railroad opened, connecting Benguela, Angola to Katanga in the Belgian Congo.
*Seyni Kountche, a military officer who led a 1974 coup d'etat that deposed the government of Niger's first president Hamani Diori, was born in Damana Fandou, Niger, West Africa. He ruled Niger as a military head of state from 1974 to 1987. Stade General Seyni Kountche, Niger's national stadium in Niamey, is named after him.
*Seyni Kountche, a military officer who led a 1974 coup d'etat that deposed the government of Niger's first president Hamani Diori, was born in Damana Fandou, Niger, West Africa. He ruled Niger as a military head of state from 1974 to 1987. Stade General Seyni Kountche, Niger's national stadium in Niamey, is named after him.
*Buddie Petit, a highly regarded early jazz cornetist, died.
July 6
*Singer and actress Della Reese was born in Detroit, Michigan.
July 15
July 16
*John O'Bryant, the first African American to be elected to Boston's School Committee, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
July 16
*The first Constitution of Ethiopia was promulgated.
July 25
*Vincent Harding, a historian and scholar, was born in Harlem, New York.
July 28
*George Wells Parker, an African American political activist and writer who co-founded the Hamitic League of the World, died in Chicago, Illinois.
July 31
July 31
*Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell, an American jazz guitarist known for his collaborations with Jimmy Smith, including the 1965 Billboard Top Twenty hit album Organ Grinder Swing, was born in Detroit, Michigan. He cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues musicians T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters. Burrell also served as a professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
August 2
*Child prodigy pianist Philippa Schuyler was born.
August 3
August 4
*Daniel Hale Williams, a heart surgeon and founder of Chicago's Provident Hospital died in Chicago, Illinois.
August 17
*A'Lelia Walker Robinson, the daughter of millionaire Madame C. J. Walker, died in New York City. Robinson created Harlem's celebrated "Dark Tower," a salon where African American writers, artists, and philosophers mingled with members of New York society.
August 20
August 20
*Donald "Don" King, a boxing promoter whose career highlights include promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila", was born in Cleveland, Ohio. King promoted some of the most prominent names in boxing, including Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio Cesar Chavez, Ricardo Mayorga, Andrew Golota, Bernard Hopkins, Felix Trinidad, Roy Jones, Jr., and Marco Antonio Barrera.
August 30
*Carrie Saxon Perry was born in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1987, she would become the first African American female mayor of a major city in the Northeast.
*Geraldine Travis, the first African American elected to the Montana State Legislature, was born in Albany, Georgia.
September 7
*Breno Mello, an athlete and actor best known for playing Orfeu in the Academy Award winning film Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil (September 7).
September 8
*Walter Kamba, a Yale Law School graduate who became the first black president of the University of Zimbabwe, was born.
September 10
*A hurricane struck British Honduras (Belize), killing about 2,500 people.
September 19
*Pop and soul singer Brook Benton was born in Camden, South Carolina. His 16 gold records include "A Rainy Night in Georgia."
September 24
*Cardiss Collins, the first African American woman to represent Illinois in Congress, was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
September 28
*John Gilmore, an avant-garde jazz saxophonist known for his tenure with keyboardist/bandleader Sun Ra from the 1950s to the 1990s, was born in Summit, Mississippi.
October 7
September 28
*John Gilmore, an avant-garde jazz saxophonist known for his tenure with keyboardist/bandleader Sun Ra from the 1950s to the 1990s, was born in Summit, Mississippi.
October 7
*Desmond Mpilo Tutu, a South African social rights activist and Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid, was born in Klerksdorp, Western Transvaal, South Africa. Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
October 12
*Eugene Ashley, Jr., a United States Army Special Forces soldier who was the recipient of America's highest military decoration -- the Medal of Honor -- for his actions in the Vietnam War, was born in Wilmington, North Carolina.
October 15
*Lionel Frederick "Freddy" Cole, a jazz singer and pianist, whose recording career spanned over fifty years, was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was leader of the Freddy Cole Quartet, which regularly toured the United States, Europe, the Far East and South America. He was the brother of musicians Nat King Cole and Ike Cole, father of Lionel Cole and uncle of Natalie Cole, Timolin Cole and Casey Cole.
*William Grant Still became the first African American to compose a symphony that was performed by a major orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, which presented the Afro-American Symphony, his first symphony, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
November 3
*On the anniversary of the Emperor's own coronation, Haile Selassie convened the first parliament of the new Ethiopian constitution.
November 4
*Buddy Bolden, considered to be the first man to play jazz, died in a segregated Louisiana mental institution in Jackson, Louisiana.
November 5
November 5
*"Ike" Turner, a musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer, was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. An early pioneer of fifties rock and roll, he is most popularly known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s with his then-wife Tina Turner in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.
November 15
November 15
*Mwai Kibaki, a Kenyan politician who was the third President of Kenya, serving from December 2002 to April 2013, was born in Gatuyaini, Kenya Colony.
November 16
November 16
*Hubert Sumlin, a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howlin' Wolf's band, was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. Sumlin was listed as number 65 in the 2010 compilation of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
*Jimmy Lyons, an alto saxophone player, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit, being the only constant member of the pianist's group from the mid-1960s to his death, after which Taylor never worked with another musician as frequently. Lyons's playing, which usually retained a strong influence from bebop pioneer Charlie Parker, helped keep Taylor's often wildly avant garde music tethered to the jazz tradition.
December 5
*James Cleveland, the "King of Gospel", was born in Chicago, Illinois. After singing with Mahalia Jackson and groups such as "The Caravans", Cleveland formed his own group, "The Gospel Chimes."
December 7
*Comer Cottrell was born in Mobile, Alabama. In 1973, he would found the Pro-Line Corporation, and in 1989 he would become co-owner of the Texas Rangers.
December 13
*Bubba Morton, a baseball player who became the first African American to serve as head coach at the University of Washington in any sport, was born in Washington, D. C.
December 21
*David Baker, a jazz composer and educator, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
December 31
*Gwendolyn Calvert Baker, the first African American woman to serve as president of the New York City Board of Education, was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Date Unknown
December 13
*Bubba Morton, a baseball player who became the first African American to serve as head coach at the University of Washington in any sport, was born in Washington, D. C.
December 21
*David Baker, a jazz composer and educator, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
December 31
*Gwendolyn Calvert Baker, the first African American woman to serve as president of the New York City Board of Education, was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Date Unknown
*William H. Crogman, a pioneering African American educator in the United States, was born on the West Indian island of Saint Martin.
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