Lena Horne
Entertainment Legend, Lena Horne, Was Born June 30, 1917 In Brooklyn, New York.
Lena Horne Began Her Career At 16, As A Chorus Girl At The "Whites-Only" Cotton Club In Harlem.
She Then Toured With Noble Sissle's Orchestra And Later Became The First Black American To Front A White Band When She Sang With Charlie Barnet's Orchestra. Her Tunes Included "Stormy Weather," "Blues In The Night," "The Lady Is A Tramp" And "Mad About The Boy."
During The 1940's Lena Horne Went From Dancer And Nightclub Singer To Hollywood Movie Star. She Was The Second Black Female After Madame Sul-Te-Wan, To Sign With A Major Film Studio. Her Films Include Panama Hattie (1942), Cabin In The Sky (1943), Meet Me In Las Vegas (1956), Death Of A Gunfighter (1969) And The Wiz (1979).
She Was The Black Pin-Up Girl For Soldiers During World War II And When Entertaining The Troops For The USO, Refused To Perform "for segregated audiences or to groups in which German P.O.W.s were seated in front of African American servicemen."
Horne Won A Tony Award In 1981 For Her Broadway Show, Lena Horne, The Lady And Her Music -- The Longest Running One-Woman Show On Broadway. She Was Also The Recipient Of The Kennedy Center's Lifetime Contribution To The Arts Award.
Lena Horne Died May 9, 2010, At The Age Of 92.
"In order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into it." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
Lena Horne At Her Best
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Mary McLeod Bethune
On This Date In 1936, Mary McLeod Bethune Became The First Woman To Receive A Major Appointment From The Federal Government When She Was Named Director Of Negro Affairs Of The National Youth Administration.
The Daughter Of Former Slaves (Samuel And Patsy McLeod), Mary Bethune Was Born July 10, 1875, In Mayesville, South Carolina. She Was One Of 17 Children.
Growing Up, She Worked In The Cotton Fields Of South Carolina. She Eventually Made Her Way Through College (Scotia Seminary, Near Concord, NC), Got Married (To Albertus Bethune) And Had A Son.
Mary McLeod Bethune Would Go On To Become One Of The Most Influential And Important Black Americans In History.
In 1904, With Only A $1.50 To Invest, She Built Daytona Normal And Industrial School For Negro Girls. The Original Four-Room Schoolhouse Was Built On A Garbage Dump. After Merging With The Cookman Institute For Men In 1923, Bethune-Cookman College Became One Of The Finest Institutions Of Higher Learning In The Country. Bethune Served As The School's President From 1904-1942.
Bethune Was Known As "America's First Black Lady," And Served Regularly As An Adviser To Presidents. She Worked With Herbert Hoover On Child Health Issues And With Franklin D. Roosevelt On Youth And Minority Affairs. She Was Harry S. Truman's Personal Representative At The Inauguration Ceremony Of The President Of Liberia. In 1935, She Founded, And Was The First President Of, The National Council Of Negro Women.
Mary McLeod Bethune Died Of A Heart Attack In 1955. In 1974, The $400,000 Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Was Unveiled In Washington DC's Lincoln Park. The Inscription Was Taken From Her Own Words:
"I leave you love, I leave you hope, I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you a thirst for education. I leave you respect for the uses of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity."
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
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Betty Shabazz
The Widow Of Malcolm X, Dr. Betty Shabazz, Died On June 23, 1997, At The Age Of 61.
Dr. Shabazz Was Trapped In A Fire Set By Her 12 Year-Old Grandson, Malcolm Shabazz, In Their Apartment In Yonkers, New York. Shabazz Died Three Weeks Later, From 3rd Degree Burns Covering 95% Of Her Body.
Shabazz Was Born Betty Jean Sanders On May 28, 1936 In Detroit, Michigan. She Was An Adopted Child Who Grew Up In A Fairly Sheltered, Middle-Class Household. She Attended Tuskegee Institute In Alabama.
She Left Tuskegee And Moved To New York City To Escape Southern Racism, And Enrolled As A Nursing Student At The Brooklyn State Hospital School of Nursing. It Was In New York That She Would First Encounter Future Husband, Malcolm X.
In 1958, After She Had Completed Nursing School, Malcolm, Who Was Traveling The Country At The Time, Called Her From Detroit And Proposed Marriage. Before The Week Was Out, Betty, 22 And Malcolm, 33, Were Married.
Betty Shabazz Was Catapulted Into The American Consciousness And The Media Spotlight Following Her Husband's Assassination In 1965.
During The Years Following Malcolm's Murder, Shabazz Managed To Rear Their Four Daughters And Advance Her Own Education. Between 1970 And 1975, She Completed A Master's Degree In Public Health Administration And Received A Doctorate In Education From The University Of Massachusetts At Amherst.
In 1976, She Joined The Faculty Of Medgar Evers College In Brooklyn As Associate Professor Of Health Administration. Shortly Thereafter, She Became Director Of The School's Department Of Communications And Public Relations.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy,
Jr.
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James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson Was Born June 17, 1871, In Jacksonville, Florida.
In November, 1900, James Weldon Johnson And His Brother, John Rosemond Johnson, Composed The Song, "Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing," Generally Known As The Black National Anthem.
Author And Educator James Weldon Johnson Served As General Secretary Of The NAACP From 1920 - 1930, Resigning To Teach Creative Literature At Fisk University. Johnson Was The First Black Executive Secretary Of The NAACP.
Johnson Was A True Renaissance Man. During His Distinguished Career He Was A Lawyer (He Was The First Black Person Admitted To The Florida Bar), Diplomat (U.S. Consul To Venezuela And Nicaragua), Educator, Civil Rights Activist Poet, Editor, Literary Critic And Author.
As An African American Literary Critic And Author, Johnson Had A Profound Influence On Black Literature In The 1900's. He Was A Major Presence During the Harlem Renaissance.
His Books Includes The Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man (1912), The Book Of American Negro Spirituals (1925) And Black Manhattan (1935).
Johnson Died June 26, 1938.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
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Gordon Parks
A Pictorial Essay On Flavio De Silva, An Impoverished And Sickly Boy Living In The Favela, Or Slums, Of Rio De Janeiro, Appeared In The June 16, 1961 Issue Of Time Magazine.
When The Heart-Wrenching Images Were Seen, And Flavio's Story Read, Nearly $30,000 Was Donated To Help The Boy And His Family Get A New Home. Part Of The Money Was Also Used Fly The Child To America To Receive Medical Treatment For Severe Asthma.
The Author Of The Photo Piece Was Award-Winning Photo Journalist, Film Director, Composer, Poet And Social Activist, Gordon Alexander Buchannan Parks, Sr. --- Born November 30, 1912.
During The 1970's Parks Signed With Paramount Pictures As The First Black American To Work For A Major Motion Picture Studio. He Directed The Films, Shaft And Shaft's Big Sore, Two Motion Pictures Which Demonstrated The Box Office Power Of Movies Targeted At Black Audiences. Shaft Grossed $12 Million In Its First Year.
His First Film, The Learning Tree, Was Registered By The National Film Registry Of The Library Of Congress, On September 19, 1989.
Released In 1969, And Adapted From The Book By The Same Title, The Learning Tree Is An Autobiographical Offering By Parks. It Tells The Coming Of Age Story Of Newt Winger, A Young Black Boy Growing Up In Racist, Pre-Civil Rights Movement Kansas, During The 1920's.
Gordon Parks Died March 7, 2006.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
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Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel, The First Black American To Win An Academy Award, Was Born On June 10, 1895 In Wichita, Kansas.
On February 29, 1940 Hattie McDaniel Won The Oscar For Best Supporting Actress For Her Role As Mammy In The 1939 Film, Gone With The Wind.
McDaniel Began Her Career On The Vaudeville Circuit. An Excellent Blues Singer, She Was The First Black Woman To Sing On Radio. She Starred In The Beulah Series On Both Radio And Television.
During The 1930's And 1940's, McDaniel Acted In Over 70 Films. Her Roles Were Nearly All The Same---The Supportive And Outspoken "Mammy" Type, Which She Perfected In Gone With The Wind. When Asked About Her Limited Movie Roles McDaniel Said "I'd Rather Play A Maid Than Be One."
McDaniel Has Two Stars On The Hollywood Walk of Fame: One For Her Contributions To Radio At 6933 Hollywood Boulevard, And One For Motion Pictures At 1719 Vine Street. In 1975, She Was Inducted Into The Black Filmmakers Hall Of Fame, And In 2006 Became The First Black Oscar Winner Honored With A U.S. Postage Stamp.
Hattie McDaniel Died At Age 57, On October 26, 1952
"In Order For Black History To Live We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy. Jr.
Remembering Ms. Hattie McDaniel
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Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
The Sculptress, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Was Born June 9, 1877, In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fuller Was One Of The Principal Visual Artists During The Harlem Renaissance Of The 1920s. She Was The First Black American Artist To Feature Afrocentric Themes In Her Work -- Largely From Black American Folktales. Her Best-Known Works Are Bronze Sculpture Called Ethiopia Awakening
(1914) And Mary Turner (1919).
As A Young Girl, Fuller Received A Scholarship To Study At The Pennsylvania Museum And School For Industrial Arts By The Turn Of The Century, She Was Studying With French Sculptor, Rodin, In Paris. She Was An Established Artist In Both The United States And France, At. The Onset Of The Harlem Renaissance.
Ms Fuller Never Actually Lived In Harlem -- Preferring, Instead To Reside In Boston And Framingham, Massachusetts, Which To Her, More Closely Resembled A European Lifestyle. She Did, However, Embody The Ideals Of The Harlem Renaissance.
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Died March 13, 1968.
"In Order For Black History To Live, Me Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." - Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
THE WORKS OF META VAUX WARRICK FULLER
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Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker, One Of America's Most Legendary Expatriates, Was Born On This Date In 1906, In St. Louis Missouri.
In The 1920's, Baker Earned The Title, " The Toast Of Paris," As She Sang And Danced Her Way Throughout France. At Various Times In Her Career She Was Also Called The "Black Pearl" The "Creole Goddess" And "Black Venus."
Her Trademark Role Was " Dark Star" In The Folies Bergere, In Which She Appeared Topless, Wearing Only A Skirt Of Rubber Bananas. Critics Of Her Day Called Her "A Complete Artist" And "Master Of Her Tools."
As Flamboyant Offstage As She Was On, Baker Owned Pet Leopards That She Took For Strolls Down Champs-Elysees, The Main Thoroughfare Of Paris. She Worked As A Spy During World War II, For Which She Was Awarded The French Legion Of Honor.
In The 1950's She Adopted 14 Children Of Different Nationalities And Called It Her Rainbow Tribe. Unfortunately, The Care And Schooling Of The Children Caused Baker Financial Problems And She Was Consequently Evicted From Her $2 Million 15th Century French Chateau, By The Authorities.
Her Home Was Auctioned Off To Pay Her Debts And Baker Was Forced To Continue Performing Well Into Her Twilight Years, In Order To Provide For Her Children.
Baker Worked With The NAACP And Was The Only Woman To Speak At The Historic March On Washington In 1963.
Josephine Baker Died In Paris, In 1975, While Attending A Show Honoring Her 50 Years In Entertainment. She Was The First Black Female To Have A 21-Gun Salute Fired At Her Funeral.
She Is Also Noted For Being The First Black Woman To Star In A Major Motion Picture, Integrate An American Concert Hall And Become A World Famous Entertainer.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breath Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
THE LEGEND OF JOSEPHINE BAKER
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Ray Charles
"I Can't Stop Loving You," Ray Charles' Biggest-Selling Single Of All -Time, From The Groundbreaking Album, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Hit #1 On The Billboard Hot 100 Chart During The Week Of June 2, 1962. It Stayed In That Spot For Four Weeks. The Song Also Topped The United States Pop, Adult Contemporary And R&B Charts.
R&B Pioneer And Legend, Raymond Charles Robinson, Was Born In Albany, Georgia On September 23, 1930.Known Worldwide By His Stage Name, Ray Charles, The Blind Superstar Had A Career That Spanned More Than 50 Years. He Was An Innovative, Music Pioneer Who Helped Shape The Sound Of Modern Rhythm And Blues (Or Soul) Music.
Charles Began Recording R&B And Pop Music During The 1950's. He And Sam Cooke Were Leading Figures In Developing Soul Music -- A Fusion Of Gospel, Blues, With A Touch Of Country Influence.
The Versatile Singer, Songwriter And Pianist Also Successfully Performed Rock 'N' Roll, Gospel, And Jazz And Led The Way For Black Performers.
Among His Other Hits: "What'd I Say," "Hit The Road Jack,"
"Busted," "The Night Time Is The Right Time (To Be With The
One You Love)," "In The Heat Of The Night," "Georgia On My
Mind (This Song Was Made Into The Official State Song For
Georgia) And "Unchain My Heart."
Charles' Rendition Of "America The Beautiful " Has Been Called The Definitive Version Of The Song. Frank Sinatra Once Called Ray Charles "the only true genius in the business" And In 2004, Rolling Stone MagazineRanked Him #10 On Their List Of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
He Was One Of The First Inductees Into The Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame At Its Inaugural. He Received The Kennedy Center Honors in 1986.In 1987, He Was Awarded The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1991, He Was Inducted Into The Rhythm & Blues Foundation.
Ray Charles Died June 10, 2004, Of Liver Cancer, At His Home In Beverly Hills, California.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into it." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr. THE AMAZING RAY CHARLES:
The Man Who Defined Soul Music
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