Blue Lines Blog: This Day In American History – Hattie McDaniel Wins Oscar (1939)

Tags

1939, Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Hattie McDaniel, Kentucky, Key Yemaya Walker, Oscar, This Day In American History, WInner

Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1895 – October 26, 1952) was the first Black actress to win an Academy Award. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939).

In addition to having acted in many films, McDaniel was a professional singer-songwriter, comedian, stage actress, radio performer, and television star. Hattie McDaniel was in fact the first black woman to sing on the radio in America. Over the course of her career, McDaniel appeared in over 300 films, although she received screen credits for only about 80. She gained the respect of the Black show business community with her generosity, elegance, and charm.


The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog: This Day In American History – French colonist Elias Neau Opens A School

Tags

Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Elias Neau, French, Key Yemaya Walker, New York, School, This Day In American History

French colonist Elias Neau opens a school for enslaved African Americans in New York City.

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog: This Day In American History – Maria Steward First American-born woman to give public lectures (1883)

Tags

Angelina Weld Grimke, Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, Black History, Black History Month, Boston, Connecticut, David Walker, First American-born woman to give public lectures, General Colored Association, Hartford, Maria Miller, Maria W. Steward, Massachusetts, This Day In American History

On this day in 1833, Maria W. Steward delivered one of the four speeches which confirmed her place in history as the first American-born woman to give public lectures. Stewards lectures focused on encouraging African-Americans to attain education, political rights, and public recognition for their achievements. Her speech on thi day delivered at the African Masonic Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, was titled “On African Rights and Liberty.” Sixty-seven years later in Boston on this same day, African-American teacher and poet Angelina Weld Grimke was born. Grimke was a descendant of the famous white abolitionist and feminist sisters Angelina and Sarah Grimke.

Maria Stewart (Maria Miller) (1803 – December 17, 1879) was an African American essayist, public speaker, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist.

She was born Maria Miller, the child of free black parents in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1803. At the age of five she became an orphan and was sent to live with a minister and his family. Until she was fifteen, Maria was a servant in the home where she resided and was deprived of an education. When Maria turned twenty, her life took a turn for the better. Maria began to attend Sabbath School, where she learned new and exciting things. During her early adulthood, while attending school, Maria worked as a domestic servant for a living.
Stewart was the first black woman to lecture about women’s rights — particularly the rights of black women — religion, and social justice among black people. She was influenced by David Walker, a prosperous clothing shop owner, who was a well known, outspoken member of the General Colored Association. Walker was known as a leader within the African-American enclave of Boston, who wrote a very controversial piece on race relations called David Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. (1829).

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog: This Day In American History – Cassius Clay Becomes Muhammed Ali (1964)

Tags

1964, American History, Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Boxer, Cassius Clay, Changed Name, Christianity, Islam, Kentucky, Key Yemaya Walker, Muhammed Ali, This Day In American History

On this day, the Kentucky boxer known to all as Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; January 17, 1942) American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist, changed his name to Muhammad Ali as he accepted Islam and rejected Christianity. “I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and in peace…I’m not a Christian anymore.”

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog: This Day In American History – Martin Luther King, Jr. Ordained

Tags

Baptist Minister, Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines Blog, Key Yemaya Walker, Martin Luther King Jr., Ordained, This Day In American History

On this day in 1948 Martin Luther King, Jr. was ordained.

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog: This Day In American History – Edward Perkins Nominated U.N. Ambassador (1986)

Tags

Ambassador to South Africa, Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Edward Joseph Perkins, Edward Perkins, Jefferson High School, Key Yemaya Walker, Louisiana, Oregon, Portland, South Africa, Sterlington, This Day In American History, U.N. Ambassador, U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, University of Maryland University College, University of Southern California

Edward Perkins, the first Black Ambassador to South Africa, was nominated U.N. Ambassador on this date in 1986.

Edward Joseph Perkins (born June 8, 1928) is a former American diplomat. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, South Africa, and the United Nations 1992-1993. He was later Director of the US State Department’s Diplomatic Corps.

Perkins was born in Sterlington, Louisiana, son of Edward Joseph Perkins, Sr. and Tiny Estella Noble Holmes. He grew up in Pine Bluff, AR and graduated in 1947 from Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon. He earned his B.A. from the University of Maryland University College in 1967, and his M.A. and Doctor of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He is an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and holds the highest honor the fraternity bestows on its members, the Laurel Wreath award.

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

This Day In American History – Constance Baker Motley Elected President of Manhattan

Tags

Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines Blog, Constance Baker Motley, Key Yemaya Walker, This Day In American History

Constance Baker Motley (September 14, 1921 – September 28, 2005) was an African American civil rights activist, lawyer, judge, state senator, and on this day became President of Manhattan, New York City, the highest elective office held by a Black woman in a major American city.

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

This Day In American History – Poet and Activist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Dies

Tags

'Moses, a Story of the Nile, Baltimore, Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Bronze Muse, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Key Yemaya Walker, Maryland, National Association of Colored Women, Poet, Sketches of Southern Life, This Day In American History, Underground Railroad, Writer

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911) was an African American abolitionist and poet. Born free in Baltimore, Maryland, she had a long and prolific career, publishing her first book of poetry at twenty and her first novel, the widely praised Iola Leroy, at age 67.

On this day, the “Bronze Muse” died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper wrote more than a dozen books, including ‘Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects'(1854); ‘Moses, a Story of the Nile'(1869);and ‘Sketches of Southern Life'(1872). Harper was the most famous female poet of her day and the most famous African-American poet of the 19th century. Also a well-known orator, she spoke frequently in public(sometimes twice in one day)promoting equal rights for women and African-Americans. She was a worker for the Underground Railroad, and in 1896 she helped establish the National Association of Colored Women.

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

This Day In American History – Nina Simone Born

Tags

Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, I Put A Spell On You, Key Yemaya Walker, music, Nina Simone, This Day In American History

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.


The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

This Day In American History – J.F. Bickering patents airship invention

Tags

Black History, Black History Month, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, J.F. Bickering, Key Yemaya Walker, This Day In American History

1900 J.F. Bickering patents airship invention

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.