Half-Month, Inclusive History

November/Part II

November Black History

Established to address the deep-seated dissatisfaction with the history of slavery and to honor Black Culture and history, today, November 20^th, is National Day of Zumnbi and Black Consciousness Day in countries like Brazil, and because it is, do you know that November Black History also includes:

• 16^th - Nigerian author Chinua Achebe was born (1930); Zina Garrison was born (1963); Lisa Bonet was born (1967); Pam Johnson was named publisher of the Ithaca (NY) Journal, and became the first Black American woman to head a daily newspaper (1981);

• 17^th - Omega Psi Phi Fraternity was founded on the campus of Howard University (1911); Susan Rice was born (1964); Barbara Jordan and Andrew Young made history as the first Black Americans from the south to be elected to Congress since the Reconstruction era (1972); WHHM, the first Black-operated radio station, aired for the first time at Howard University (1980); Audre Lorde succumbed (1992); Esther Rolle succumbed (1998);

• 18^th - Sojourner Truth was born (1787); Warren Moon was born (1956); Sinbad was born (1956); United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young was awarded the Spingarn Medal (1978); Cab Calloway succumbed (1994);

• 19^th - Roy Campanella was named MVP in National League Baseball for the second time (1953);

• 20^th - Howard Seminary (later Howard University) was founded (1865); Pauli Murray was born (1910); Garret T. Morgan received the patent for the traffic signal (1923); Dominique Dawes was born (1976);

• 21^st - Granville T. Woods received the patent for the electric railway conduit (1893);

• 22^nd - Marcus Garvey gave his speech outlining “The Principles of The Universal Negro Improvement Association” (1922); Elijah Muhammad established the Nation of Islam (1930); Guion “Guy” Bluford, the first Black astronaut, was born (1942); Colonel Frederick D. Gregory became the first Black American to lead a space mission (1989);

• 23^rd - A.J. Beard received the patent for the “Jenny Coupler”, still in use today to connect railroad cars (1897); John L. Love received the patent for the pencil sharpener (1897); Bobby Lee Rush was born (1946); Robin Roberts was born (1960); August Wilson received the Pulitzer Prize for drama (1990 );

• 24^th - Scott Joplin was born (1868);

• 25^th – Thirty-five formerly enslaved survivors of the Amistad returned home to Africa (1841); Ralph J. Bunche was awarded the Spingarn Medal (1949); Bill “Bojangles” Robinson succumbed (1949); Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands (1975); Flip Wilson succumbed (1998);

• 26^th – Tina Turner was born (1939); Charles Gordone became the first Black playwright to receive the Pulitzer Prize (1970);

• 27^th – Christopher J. Perry founded The Philadelphia Tribune (1884); Jimi Hendrix was born (1942); Dorothy Height was elected as president of the National Council of Negro Women (1957); Robin Givens was born (1964); Jaleel White was born (1976); Charles Johnson received the National Book Award for Fiction (1990);

• 28^th – Berry Gordy was born (1929); Richard Wright succumbed (1960); Ernie Davis became the first Black to win the Heisman Trophy (1961);

• 29^th - Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was born (1908); Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was born (1908); Alice Childress became the first Black woman to receive an Obie Award (1955); Coleman Young succumbed (1997); Singer Rihanna was named the National Hero of Barbados (2021); and

• 30^th - Samuel R. Scottron received the patent for the curtain rod (1889); J.A. Sweeting received the patent for the cigarette-rolling device (1897); Gordon Parks was born (1912); Shirley Chisholm was born (1924); Judith Jamison debuted with Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theatre (1965); Coleman Young received the Springarn Medal (1891)?