November 13, 1955 Caryn Elaine Johnson (Whoopi Goldberg), actress, comedienne and activist, was born in New York City. In 1983, Goldberg created “The Spook Show”, a one woman show which ran on Broadway for 156 sold out performances and won her the 1985 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One Person Show. In 1985, she made […]
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October 10th in African American History – Thelonious Monk
October 10, 1917 Thelonious Sphere Monk, Jr., jazz pianist and composer, was born in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. Monk started playing the piano at age six and although he had some formal training, he was essentially self-taught. In the early to mid-1940s, Monk served as the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse which featured most of […]
Ethel Waters – September 1st in African American History
a href=”http://todayinafricanamericanhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Ethel-Waters.jpg” target=”_blank”> September 1, 1977 Ethel Waters, blues and jazz vocalist and actress, died. Waters was born on October 31, 1896 in Chester, Pennsylvania. She began to sing professionally in 1913 in Baltimore, Maryland. For several years she toured on the Black vaudeville circuit. In 1921, Waters became the fifth Black woman to make […]
Charles “Bird” Parker, Jr – August 29th in African American History
August 29, 1920 Charles “Bird” Parker, Jr., jazz saxophonist and composer, was born in Kansas City, Kansas. Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11 and by 1938 was touring nightclubs and other venues in the southwest. In 1939, Parker moved to New York City where on November 26, 1945 he led a recording session […]