NAT TURNER
October 30
1831—Minister and mystic Nat Turner, leader of the bloodiest slave revolt in U.S. history, is captured in South Hampton County, Va. The uprising took place Aug. 21 and 22 of the same year and left 55 Whites dead. Turner was hanged and then skinned on Nov. 11.
1954—The U.S. Department of Defense announces the official end of all segregated military regiments in the armed forces.
BLACK PANTHERS
1966—The Black Panther Party is founded in California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The full name was the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. It was formed in major measure to bring attention to and combat brutality against Blacks by the Los Angeles Police Department.
1974—Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman for the heavyweight boxing title. The fight took place in Zaire (now the Congo) and was billed as the “Rumble in the Jungle.”
1991—BET Holdings, Inc. sells 4.2 million shares of stock in an initial public offering becoming the first Black company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Founder Bob Johnson has since sold the company to the media giant Viacom.
JAM MASTER JAY
2002—One of the original founders of modern rap music Jam Master Jay of the group Run-DMC was killed in a shooting at his New York recording studio. He was 37. His group, Run-DMC, was a major force attracting young Whites to rap music.
October 31
1517—Revolutionary Christian leader Martin Luther posted his famed 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Palace in Germany setting off the Protestant Reformation against the Catholic Church. It is believed the parents of American Civil Rights Movement icon Martin Luther King Jr. named him after Martin Luther. However, King’s original name was “Michael” and was later changed to “Martin.”
1820—(circa) Irish Catholics bring Halloween to America where it first gains popularity among the lower classes and becomes heavily influenced by both American Indian and Black American (slave) superstitions.
ETHEL WATERS
1896 (or 1900)—Actress and singer Ethel Waters is born in Chester, Pa. She became one of the nation’s best known jazz and gospel singers. Waters was born to a 12-year-old Black girl who had been raped by a White man.
November 1
1604—William Shakespeare’s great play “Othello” was first performed at Whitehall Palace in London. It is the earliest known European play with a Black lead character.
1866—America’s first Civil Rights Act is passed over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. In part, it was Johnson’s opposition to such pro-Black legislation that led a group called the “Radical Republicans” to seek his impeachment. Johnson had become president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and adopted a wide-range of anti-Black policies.
1910—Scholar and political activist W.E.B. DuBois published the first issue of the NAACP’s monthly magazine “Crisis.” DuBois would later break with the NAACP charging that its approach to ending discrimination against Black was too “gradualist.”
JOHN H. JOHNSON
1945—The first issue of Ebony Magazine was published in Chicago by founder John H. Johnson. Johnson died in September 2005. The magazine and its sister publication, Jet, are now facing financial difficulties and may be purchased by a group of non-Blacks.
CLARENCE THOMAS
1991—Clarence Thomas takes his seat on the United States Supreme Court after a prolonged controversy over his alleged sexual harassment of former co-worker Anita Hill. Thomas would go on to disappoint much of Black America by rendering votes on major issues, which many leading African-American felt were anti-Black.
1999—Chicago Bears running back great Walter Payton dies of cancer at the age of 45. His power and grace on the football field led to his nickname “Sweetness.”
November 2
1889—The last great African king is crowned. Menelik II became “Negusa Nagast” (King of Kings) of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). At that time Abyssinia included not only present day Ethiopia but parts of Kenya, Somalia and the Sudan. European colonialism would weaken and reduce the size of the kingdom. Menelik could trace his heritage back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba of the Christian Bible.
MAGGIE LENA WALKER
1903—Maggie L. Walker opens the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Va. Walker was one of the most accomplished business women in Black American history having founded a bank, a newspaper, other businesses and a political party known as the Lily Black. Constant refrain in her speeches was “Let us put our money together…and reap the benefits.”
HAILE SELASSIE
1930—Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia after the death of Ethiopian Empress Zawditu. Tracing his lineage back to the Bible’s King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, some Blacks (most notably the Jamaican Rastafarians) consider him a god. Selassie’s name prior to being crowned emperor was Raz Tafari.
1983—Conservative Republican President Ronald Reagan signs the law that designates the third Monday in January as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Shortly after the signing he angers some Blacks when in response to a reporter’s question he suggests that King may have been a communist.
November 3
1868—John W. Menard is elected to the U.S. Congress and was among the first group of Blacks to take a seat in that body during the Reconstruction period, which followed the Civil War. He defeated a White candidate in Louisiana’s 2nd District.
JESSE L. JACKSON SR.
1983—National Black political leader Jesse Jackson announces the first of his bids for president of the United States. His campaign, at the time, is credited with registering the largest number of Black voters in modern history.
1992—Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill., becomes the first Black woman elected to the United States Senate.
1992—James Clyburn becomes the first Black person elected to U.S. Congress from South Carolina since Reconstruction. He is now one of the most power people in Congress.
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