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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Little Known Black History Fact of the Day

Today's black history fact is one that will bring back a lot of memories for people all across the country. His birthday is coming up, so this is a perfect time to pay homage to him for his achievements for America in general, but more specifically for Black America.

He was born May 1, 1939 in Richmond, VA. In 1959, when he was 20, he applied for a position that he wanted, badly; so badly that when he was chosen over 4 other applicants (all white) but told that to keep the job the public was not to ever see his face, he accepted it. One night while working, he decided that he wanted his family to be able to see him, so he ordered the barriers the company was using to hide him removed. The next day he was fired. 
Max Robinson-the early years

  Such was the beginning of a long and distinguished career in news reporting for Max Robinson, the first black network news anchor.

He moved to Washington, DC, and in 1969 became the first black anchor on a local television news program. During this time at WTOP-TV Channel 9 he also became the first black anchor on a network television news program. He won six journalism awards for his work reporting on events such as the riots in 1968 which stemmed from the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.  During this time he did a documentary on black life in Anacostia, DC, called The Other Washington, which won him two regional Emmys.

Max Robinson-World News Tonight
On April 15, 1978, Max Robinson became the first black to anchor a network news nightly broadcast, the World News Tonight.

Robinson used his position to fight racism wherever he felt it was necessary, including in journalism. He did not always agree with the network on how black America was portrayed in the news, and how the black viewpoint was neglected.

Max Robinson left ABC in 1984 to go to Chicago, Ill. He was the first black anchor at WMAQ, but left there in 1985.

Shortly after leaving WMAQ he was hospitalized in Blue Island, Ill. with pneumonia, where it was discovered that he had AIDS.

In 1988 he traveled back to DC to give a speech to the Howard University School of Journalism. Later that night, he was admitted to Howard University Hospital, where he died on December 20, 1988.
 
Max Robinson-the later years


My source, and for more information:
Matt & Andrej Koymasky


Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Black History Fact I Bet You Didn't Know!

Normally the posts here are more of a "This Day in History" type, but I learned a very very interesting fact that I just had to post about. I'm hoping someone will find it as interesting as I did.


 Did you know that there was a patron saint of African slaves and their descendants? Do you know who he was?

I bet a lot of you didn't know that African slaves had a patron saint, let alone who it was, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. I think that is just one of the many facts about our history that are not well-known. This is why this blog is here, to hopefully enlighten us to how great our history truly is!

This man was born a slave, but according to some accounts, was freed by his owner in fulfillment of a promise the owner made to his father. Born in Sicily in 1524, Benedict did not become St. Benedict until 200 years after his death.

During his life he was an ascetic healer who believed in the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi (St. Francis took the Bible literally by joyfully following all that Jesus did and said.)  and devoted his life to them. After his death, the Catholic Church and colonial Europe used his image "to convert African slaves to Roman Catholicism". To emphasize the connection he was called St. Benedict the Moor and St. Benedict the Black.

St. Benedict of Palermo died on April 4, 1589. There is another great leader in black history whose life ended on that day; the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while he stood on the balcony outside his hotel room in Memphis, TN on April 4, 1968.





If you'd like to learn more, here's where I got my information:
The Root on St. Benedict of Palermo
St. Francis of Assisi

Monday, April 7, 2014

On This Day In Black History...

On this day in history, April 7th, 1915, Eleanora Fagin was born in Philadelphia, PA. She was a beautiful young woman, who unfortunately died much too soon. While she came to prominence during her short life, it was only after her death in 1959 that she became truly recognized and honored as the great talent that she was.

She was an inductee of several halls of fame; the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame in 1997, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, and in 2004 the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame. Four times her work was awarded Grammy Awards for Best Historical Album; the first, in 1980, was for "Giants of Jazz". The second came in 1992 with "The Complete Decca Recordings". The last two were in 1994 and 2002 for albums which bore her name. She herself was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and the United States Postal Service produced a stamp with her likeness in 1994. Five of her songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978, 1989, 2000, 2005, and 2010. One of her songs became known as the song which changed the history of American music; it was called Strange Fruit, and was a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism. Strange Fruit was also honored by the Library of Congress as one of the 50 songs that year to be added to the National Recording Registry.

In 1937 a sax player gave her a nickname which was to stay with her throughout her life. Please say Happy 99th Birthday to the legendary "Lady Day"; Miss Billie Holliday!!

Information gathered from:

Wikipedia
The Official Billie Holiday website
Strange Fruit by David Margolick
NPR Music


 Strange Fruit 
              by Abel Meeropol

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
             Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
             For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
             For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
             Here is a strange and bitter crop.