1856 - T. (Timothy) Thomas Fortune is born a slave in Marianna,
Florida. In Chicago on January 25, 1890, he will
co-found the militant National Afro-American League to
right wrongs against African Americans authorized by law
and sanctioned or tolerated by public opinion. The league
will fall apart after four years. When it is revived in
Rochester, New York on September 15, 1898, it will have
the new name of the "National Afro-American Council",
with him as President. Those two organizations will play
a vital role in setting the stage for the Niagara Movement,
NAACP and other civil rights organizations to follow. He
will also be the leading advocate of using "Afro-American"
to identify his people. Since they are "African in origin
and American in birth", it is his argument that it most
accurately defines them. With himself at the helm as co-
owner with Emanuel Fortune, Jr. and Jerome B. Peterson, the
New York Age will become the most widely read of all Black
newspapers. It will stand at the forefront as a voice
agitating against the evils of discrimination, lynching,
mob violence, and disenfranchisement. Its popularity is due
to his editorials which condemn all forms of discrimination
and demand full justice for all African Americans. Ida B.
Wells's newspaper "Memphis Free Speech and Headlight" will
have its printing press destroyed and building burned as
the result of an article published in it on May 25, 1892. He
will then give her a job and a new platform from which to
detail and condemn lynching. His book, "The Kind of Education
the Afro-American Most Needs" is published in 1898. He will
publish "Dreams of Life: Miscellaneous Poems" in 1905. After
a nervous breakdown, he will sell the New York Age to Fred R.
Moore in 1907, who will continue publishing it until 1960.
He will publish another book, "The New York Negro in
Journalism" in 1915. He will join the ancestors on June 2,
1928 in Philadephia, Pennsylvania.
1904 - The Daytona Normal and Industrial School opens in Daytona
Beach, Florida. In 1923, the school merges with Cookman
Institute and becomes Bethune-Cookman College. One of
the leading institutions for training teachers, founder
Mary McLeod Bethune will later say the college was
started on "faith and a dollar and a half."
1935 - Ethiopia is invaded by Italy, despite Emperor Haile
Selasse's pleas for help to the League of Nations.
1941 - Ernest Evans is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later
adopting the name "Chubby Checker" after the renowned
Fats Domino, his best-known recording will be the
1960's "The Twist," which will spark the biggest dance
craze since the Charleston in the 1920's.
1949 - The first African American owned radio station, WERD-AM
in Atlanta, Georgia, is founded by Jesse Blanton, Sr.
1979 - Artist Charles White, joins the ancestors at the age of
61 in Los Angeles, California.
1990 – Rio de Janeiro’s first black congresswoman, Benedita da Silva, sweeps the first round of the city’s mayoral race.
1991 - Public Enemy released their platinum-selling 4th album “Apocalypse ‘91” – The Enemy Strikes Black on Def Jam Records , on this day in 1991. Classics tracks like “Shut ‘Em Down” , “Nighttrain” and a remake of “Bring The Noise” with heavy metal bad Anthrax , prompted hip-hop heads to call this set the “birth of hardcore rap”. Album cuts like “Lost At Birth” , “Rebirth” and “Move” would bring underground hip-hop to a whole other level. The album produced the hit single “Can’t Truss It”. Pete Rock’s remixes to singles like “Nighttrain” and “Shut ‘Em Down” also ushered in the era of “the hip-hop remix”, which would see rap singles flipped entirely from their original versions which is common place in the industry until this day. "By the Time I Get to Arizona" is a classic example of how hip hop music could have an influence on spreading awareness and sparking change when it comes to politics. “Apocalypse ‘91” also saw Gary “G” Wiz Rinaldo come to the forefront of The Bomb Squad production sound in regards to P.E. records , bringing in a heavy drum influence as well as meshing it with melodic horn lines while all the while keeping P.E.’s explosive sound.
1994 - U.S. soldiers in Haiti raid the headquarters of a pro-
army militia that is despised by the general Haitian
population.
1994 - Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy announces his
resignation because of questions about gifts he had
received.
1994 - South African President Nelson Mandela addresses the
United Nations, urging the world to support his
country's economy.
1995 - Ex-football star O.J. Simpson is cleared today of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
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