Valentines Day Black History (14)

1. Happy Valentines Day!
Black History
Birthday Roll Call
February 14
th
Reach…Teach…Learn…Discern…Go…Grow…

2. Frederick Douglass
Born Valentines Day 1817
He was a Black
abolitionist, orator,
and writer, who escaped
slavery and urged other
Blacks to do likewise
before and during the
American Civil War.
From Tuckahoe,
Maryland, he was the son
of a slave. He escaped
slavery in 1838 by
reaching New Bedford,
Massachusetts. Following
an antislavery convention
in 1841, he became an
agent of the
Massachusetts Anti-
Slavery Society. His work
for the Underground
Railroad did much to
further the cause of the
abolitionists and made his
name a symbol of
freedom. In 1845
Douglass went to England to
escape the danger of Fugitive
Slave Laws. His lectures on the
question of slavery in the United
States prompted many to raise
funds to purchase his freedom.
After returning to the United
States in 1847, Douglass
became the leader of the
Underground Railroad in
Rochester, New York. There he
established the abolitionist
newspaper North Star. During
the presidential election of 1860
Douglass campaigned for
Abraham Lincoln. Following the
outbreak of the American Civil
War, he helped raise two
regiments of Black soldiers. After
the war, Douglass fought for
enactment of the 13th, 14th, and
15th Amendments to the
Constitution of the United States.
He later served in governmental
positions, including U.S. minister
to Haiti. Frederick Douglass died
in 1895 in Washington D.C.

3. Gregory Hines
Born Valentines Day 1946
He was an African-
American tap dancer,
choreographer, actor,
singer, and director.
From New York City he
became involved in show
business as a toddler.
Hines was the brother of
actor/dancer Maurice
Hines. When he was two,
his father had him in a
dance act with his older
brothers. Hines polished
his dancing skills with
master tap dancer Henry
Le Tang. He was five when
his father teamed Gregory
with his big brother, Jake,
to form the Hines Kids and
later the Hines Brothers.
The siblings spent much of
their early careers dancing
at the Apollo Theater and
learned from such famed
fellow performers as the
Nicholas Brothers and
Sandman Sims.
Hines made his feature-film debut
in The History of the World, Pt. I.
He proved himself a versatile
actor and starred in musical
dramas (The Cotton Club and
White Nights), straight dramas
(The Preacher's Wife), comedy
(Renaissance Man), sci-fi horror
(Wolfen), and action films
(Running Scared). In 1994, Hines
directed Bleeding Hearts.
Musically he released an album,
simply titled Gregory Hines, in
1987. Though short-lived, he was
seen on TV’s Will and Grace. In
addition, he did voice work for the
Blues Clues Adventure, Big Blue's
Treasure Hunt and the children's
series Little Bill. Hines also
appeared in Things You Can Tell
Just by Looking at Her (2000),
and Bojangles (2001), in which he
portrayed the title role of
legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles"
Robinson. On August 9, 2003,
Gregory Hines died of cancer in
Los Angeles. He was 57. The
lights of Broadway were dimmed
in his honor.

4. Moneta Sleet
Born Valentines Day 1926
He was an African-
American
photographer.
From Owensboro, KY,
he began taking
photographs after his
parents gave an old box
camera. After
graduating from high
school, Sleet attended
Kentucky State College
and later he relocated
to New York City. It was
there that he earned a
M.A. in journalism from
NYU. In 1955, Sleet
joined the staff at Ebony
Magazine, covering
many prominent
moments of the Civil
Rights Movement, the
Nobel Peace Prize, and
other world events.
Sleets’ photos have been
exhibited in a number of
museums and libraries. In
1969, he was the first
Black to receive a Pulitzer
Prize in journalism for his
photo of Coretta Scott
King at the funeral of her
husband Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. He wrote Special
Moments in African
American History: The
photographs of Moneta
Sleet, Jr. 1955-1996,
which was published in
1999. Moneta Sleet died
on September 30, 1996 in
New York City.

5. Richard Allen
Born Valentines Day 1760
He was a Black religious
leader, founder and first
bishop of the African
Methodist Episcopal
(AME) Church.
Allen was born a slave in
Philadelphia, PA. He grew
up during the American
Revolution; an era
characterized by the
advocacy of individual
rights, the growth of
denominational
Christianity, and the
inception of the
antislavery movement.
Around 1768, Allen's
owner, a Philadelphia
lawyer named Benjamin
Chew, sold him, his three
siblings, and his parents
to Stokely Sturgis, a
plantation owner in
Delaware. With the
permission of Sturgis,
Allen began to attend
Methodist meetings, and
around 1777 he was
converted to Methodism.
Because Allen believed
enslaved and free Black
Americans could be best
served through education and
religious instruction, he
opposed organizations that
advocated the migration of
Black Americans to Africa.
Although the AME Church
initiated missionary efforts in
such countries as Haiti and
Canada during the late
1820s, Allen kept the church
focused on elevating Black
Americans, especially those
in the South. As he said, "We
will never separate ourselves
voluntarily from the slave
population in this country;
they are our brethren and we
feel there is more virtue in
suffering privations with them
than fancied advantage for a
season." The AME Church
proliferated in the South after
the Civil War and today has a
membership of more than 1.2
million.

6. Charlotta Bass
Born Valentines Day 1874
She was an African-
American newspaper
publisher, editor, and
civil rights activist.
Bass was born in Sumter,
South Carolina, but she
relocated to California for
health reasons. Charlotta
Bass took over control of
The California Eagle in
1912 and served as its
publisher until she retired
in 1951. She and her
husband Joseph Bass,
who had served as editor
of the Topeka and
Montana Plain Dealer
used The Eagle to push
for reforms. They
combated such issues as
the derogatory images
rampant in D.W. Griffith's
film Birth of A Nation; Los
Angeles' discriminatory
hiring practices; the Ku
Klux Klan; police brutality;
and restrictive housing
covenants.
Bass' life was threatened
on numerous occasions.
She was branded a
communist, and the FBI
placed her under
surveillance on the charge
that her paper was disloyal.
However, this never
deterred her or The
California Eagle from
seeking civil and political
rights for African-
Americans and the
disadvantaged. In 1952
she became the first
African-American woman to
run for national office as
the Vice Presidential
candidate for the
Progressive Party. She
died in 1969.

7. Oliver Harrington
Born Valentines Day 1913
He was an African-
American cartoonist.
Ollie Harrington was
from Valhalla, NY and
began his interest in
cartooning as a
teenager when he drew
caricatures of a teacher
he considered a bigot.
He was a graduate of
Yale University and also
studied at The National
Academy of Design. He
originated a number of
comic strips including
Dark Laughter. His most
famous cartoon series,
a chronicle of the trials
and tribulations of a
Harlem-born
protagonist, Bootsie
was created in 1936.
This was while he
worked as a temporary
cartoonist at The
Amsterdam News in
New York City. Bootsie
was a Black man
Harrington described as
“a jolly, rather well-fed but soulful
character.” The cartoon also
appeared in the many other
newspapers including The
Pittsburgh Courier; it was the first
Black comic strip to receive
national recognition. Harrington,
well aware of the double standard
in how Black people were dealt
with in the United States, rarely
turned the other cheek or bit his
tongue. His criticism of the apathy
about legislation regarding
lynching came under questioning
from the FBI during the McCarthy
era and eventually Harrington left
the United States. He lived in
Paris for some years while writing
for various American periodicals.
Here he was part of a group of
Black American expatriates, which
included authors Richard Wright
and Chester Himes. In later years,
Harrington's cartoons satirized
various issues including the
Vietnam War, Watergate, the
government, and social conditions
in the U.S. Harrington moved to
East Berlin in 1961 where he lived
until his death in 1995.

8. Web Source: http://aaregistry.com/
Happy Valentines Day!
Celebrate
Black
History