TODAY IN OUR HISTORICITY Slavery was outlawed in the Northwest Territory (area northwest of the Ohio River) by the Continental Congress on this date in 1787. On this morning a mandatory draft called the "Enrollment Act" was enacted. The exemption of the wealthy led to summer draft riots in New York and other major northern cities. A mob of over 50,000 go wild, burning buildings including a Black orphanage, leaving over 3,000 Blacks homeless, between 1,500 and 2,500 civilians dead (most of them Black) and at least 8000 wounded. One in every five Black New Yorkers moves away after the riot. Of the hundreds arrested only 19 are convicted for their roles in the riot on this date in 1863. Congress of Berlin discusses division of African colonization ends on this date in 1878. Race riots in Longview & Gregg counties Texas on this date in 1919. Robert Nelson C. Nix, Jr., the first Black to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the first Black Chief Justice of a State Supreme Court, was born in Philadelphia, PA, on this date in 1928. Wole Soyinka, Nigerian novelist, playwright, poet, and teacher, was born on this date in 1934. His powerful writings enabled him to become the first African writer to win the "Nobel Prize" for literature in 1986. Actress Daphne Maxwell Reid born in New York City on this date in 1948. Spud Webb, NBA guard (Atlanta Hawks) on this date in 1963. Thurgood Marshall was appointed as the first Black U.S. Solicitor General on this date in 1965. R&B singer Gerald Levert born in Cleveland, Ohio on this date in 1966. Race riots break out in Newark, 27 die on this date in 1967. R&B singer Deborah Cox was born in Toronto, Canada die on this date in 1974. Eddie Van Halen joins in, in a Jacksons concert on this date in 1984. Arthur Ashe, the first Black male to win Wimbledon, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on this date in 1985. "Live Aid," a charitable concert to relieve the starving in Africa, was held in London and Philadelphia, PA, on this date in 1985. The 17-hour concert raised some $70 million and drew world-wide attention to the famine problem in Africa. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, clergyman, political leader, and civil rights activist, received the 74th NAACP Spingarn Medal on this date in 1989 for his political accomplishments, his presidential candidacy, and his work with young people. OJ Simpson (charged with murder) gives hair samples for testing on this date in 1994. John Hope Franklin, historian, scholar, and educator, received the 80th NAACP Spingarn Medal on this date in 1995 for his uncompromising quest for truth in establishing a true representation of American History on a racially inclusive level.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 07:54:23 +0000
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