October 18, 1926 Charles Edward “Chuck” Berry, guitarist, singer and songwriter, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Berry made his first public performances while he was still in high school and by early 1953 was performing at popular clubs in East St. Louis, Illinois. In 1955, Berry recorded “Maybelene” which sold over a million copies […]
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October 18th in African American History – Cyril Valentine Briggs
October 18, 1966 Cyril Valentine Briggs, writer and political activist, died. Briggs was born May 28, 1888 in Nevis, West Indies. He moved to New York City in 1905 and got his first writing job at the Amsterdam News in 1912. In 1917, Briggs founded the African Blood Brotherhood to stop lynchings in the South […]
October 17th in African American History – Lerone Bennett, Jr.
October 17, 1928, Lerone Bennett, Jr., scholar, author and social historian, was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Bennett earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College in 1949 and served in the United States Army from 1951 to 1952. He joined Ebony Magazine in 1954 and for decades served as executive editor. Bennett is the […]
October 17th in African American History – Graca Simbine Machel
October 17, 1945 Graca Simbine Machel, educator and international advocate for women’s and children’s rights, was born in Incadine, Mozambique. In 1968, Machel earned a scholarship to the University of Lisbon in Portugal where she first became involved in independence issues. She returned to Mozambique in 1973 and following the country’s independence in 1975 was […]
October 16th in African American History – Henry Jay Lewis
October 16, 1932 Henry Jay Lewis, double-bass player and orchestra conductor, was born in Los Angeles, California. Lewis began playing the piano at the age of five and later learned to play the clarinet and several string instruments. At the age of 16, he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic, becoming the first black instrumentalist in […]
October 16th in African American History – The Million Man March
October 16, 1995 The Million Man March occurred in Washington, D.C.Led by the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, black men from across the country converged on Washington to “convey to the world a vastly different picture of the Black male and to unite in self-help and self-defense against the economic and social ills plaguing […]
October 15th in African American History – Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti (Fela Kuti)
October 15, 1938 Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti (Fela Kuti), multi-instrumentalist, composer, and human rights activist, was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria. In 1958, Fela was sent to London, England to study medicine, but decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. In 1963, he moved back to Nigeria and formed a band. In […]