October 28th is Aesop Day!!!

October 28th is Aesop Day!!!

His fables and stories were some of my favorites when I was younger and I huge inspiration and boost of confidence to me.  I am sooo happy and glad to finally find out the true origin of his history and be able to spread it as well. "Aesop, an ancient and famous Black storyteller, was born on this day around 620 BC. Aesop is known for his stories, which are called "Aesop's Fables," which have become a blanket term for collections of brief fables, usually involving anthropomorphic animals. Aesop was a Black slave of Iadmon,located in the south of Greece near northern Africa. Most accounts describe Aesop as a deformed man whose name came from the Greek word Aethiops which means Ethiopia." Thank you Mr. Aesop for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Aesop. :-)

http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/aesop-original-teller-stories

"After all is said and done, more is said than done." - Aesop

October 25th is Gaspar Yanga Day!!!

October 25th is Gaspar Yanga Day!!!

"Known as the Primer Libertador de America or “first liberator of the Americas,” Gaspar Yanga led one of colonial Mexico’s first successful slave uprisings and would go on to establish one of the Americas earliest free black settlements.  Rumored to be of royal lineage from West Africa, Yanga was an enslaved worker in the sugarcane plantations of Veracruz, Mexico.  In 1570 he, along with a group of followers, escaped, fled to the mountainous regions near Córdoba, and established a settlement of former slaves or palenque.  They remained there virtually unmolested by Spanish authorities for nearly 40 years.  Taking the role of spiritual and military leader, he structured the agricultural community in an ordered capacity, allowing its growth and occupation of various locations." Thank you Mr. Yanga for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Gaspar Yanga. :-)

http://www.blackpast.org/gah/yanga-gaspar-c-1545

October 23rd is Pelé Day!!!

October 23rd is Pelé Day!!!

"Born on October 23, 1940, in Três Corações, Brazil, soccer legend Pelé became a superstar with his performance in the 1958 World Cup. Pelé played professionally in Brazil for two decades, winning three World Cups along the way, before joining the New York Cosmos late in his career. Named FIFA co-Player of the Century in 1999, he is a global ambassador for soccer and other humanitarian causes." Thank you Mr. Pele for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Pele. :-)

http://www.biography.com/people/pel%C3%A9-39221

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QEmnP48PEc

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do” - Pele

October 22nd is Bobby Seale Day!!!

October 22nd is Bobby Seale Day!!!

"Bobby Seale was the co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense along with Huey P. Newton. After serving for three years in the US Air Force, he was court-martialed and received a bad conduct discharge. He soon entered Merritt College in Oakland, California where he met Newton. It was in October 1966 when Seale and Newton created the BPP and wrote the Ten-Point Program. Bobby speaking at Community Survival Conference
Over the course of his life, Seale was arrested multiple times, the most major charges being his involvement at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In 1969, Seale was indicted in Chicago for conspiracy to incite riots. The court refused to allow him to have his choice of lawyer. When Seale continually rose to speak out for his constitutional rights, specifically to choose his own counsel, the judge ordered him bound and gagged. He was convicted of 16 counts of contempt and sentenced to four years in prison, which was later reversed. In 1970-71 he and a codefendant were tried for the 1969 murder of a Black Panther suspected of being a police informer. The six-month-long trial ended with a hung jury. Bobby Seale continues today speaking of his involvement with the Black Panthers and is an advocate for civil rights and social change." Thank you Mr. Seale for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Bobby Seale. :-)

http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/people/people_seale.html

"They came down on us because we had a grass-roots, real people's revolution, complete with the programs, complete with the unity, complete with the working coalitions, where we crossed racial lines." - Bobby Seale

October 21st is Dizzy Gillespie Day!!!

October 21st is Dizzy Gillespie Day!!!

"John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, along with Charlie Parker, ushered in the era of Be-Bop in the American jazz tradition. He was born Cheraw, South Carolina, and was the youngest of nine children. He began playing piano at the age of four and received a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Most noted for his trademark "swollen cheeks", Gillespie admitted to copying the style of trumpeter Roy Eldridge early in his career. He replaced Eldridge in the 'Teddy Hill' Band after Eldridge's departure. He eventually began experimenting and creating his own style which would eventually come to the attention of Mario Bauza, the Godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz who was then a member of the Cap Calloway Orchestra, joining Calloway in 1939, Gillespie was fired after two years when he cut a portion of the Calloway's buttocks with a knife after Calloway accused him of throwing spitballs (the two men later became lifelong friends and often retold this story with great relish until both of their deaths)." Thank you Mr. Gillespie for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Dizzy Gillespie. :-)

http://www.dizzygillespie.com/

"I always try to teach by example and not force my ideas on a young musician. One of the reasons we're here is to be a part of this process of exchange." - Dizzy Gillespie

October 20th is The Nicholas Brothers Day!!!

October 20th is The Nicholas Brothers Day!!!

The Nicholas Brothers are celebrated on this day which is Fayard Nicholas's birthday. "The two greatest tap dancers that ever lived-certainly the most beloved dance team in the history of entertainment are Fayard (born 1914) and Harold (born 1921-2000), the famous Nicholas Brothers. The Nicholas Brothers grew up in Philadelphia, the sons of musicians who played in their own band at the old Standard Theater, their mother at the piano and father on drums. At the age of three, Fayard was always seated in the front row while his parents worked, and by the time he was ten, he had seen most of the great black Vaudeville acts, particularly the dancers, including such notables of the time as Alice Whitman, Willie Bryant and Bill Robinson. He was completely fascinated by them and imitated their acrobatics and clowning for the kids in his neighborhood. Harold watched and imitated Fayard until he was able to dance too, then apparently, he worked his own ideas into mimicry." Thank you Harold and Fayard for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about The Nicholas Brothers. :-)

http://www.nicholasbrothers.com/

"We were tap-dancers, but we put more style into it, more bodywork, instead of just footwork." - Harold Nicholas

October 18th is Chuck Berry Day!!!

October 18th is Chuck Berry Day!!!

"Chuck Berry’s music has transcende
d generations. He earns respect to this day because he is truly an entertainer. Berry, also known as “The Father of Rock & Roll,” gained success by watching the audience’s reaction and playing accordingly, putting his listeners’ amusement above all else. For this reason, tunes like “Johnny B. Goode,” “Maybellene” and “Memphis” have become anthems to an integrated American youth and popular culture. Berry is a musical icon who established rock and roll as a musical form and brought the worlds of black and white together in song.
Born in St. Louis on October 18, 1926 Berry had many influences on his life that shaped his musical style. He emulated the smooth vocal clarity of his idol, Nat King Cole, while playing blues songs from bands like Muddy Waters. For his first stage performance, Berry chose to sing a Jay McShann song called “Confessin’ the Blues.” It was at his high school’s student musical performance, when the blues was well-liked but not considered appropriate for such an event. He got a thunderous applause for his daring choice, and from then on, Berry had to be onstage." Thank you Mr. Berry for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Chuck Berry. :-)

http://chuckberry.com/biography/

"It's amazing how much you can learn if your intentions are truly earnest." - Chuck Berry

October 17th is Mae C. Jemison Day!!!

October 17th is Mae C. Jemison Day!!!

"Mae C. Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. On June 4, 1987, she became the first African-American woman ever admitted into the astronaut training program. On September 12, 1992, Jemison finally flew into space with six other astronauts aboard the Endeavour on mission STS47. In recognition of her accomplishments, Jemison received several awards and honorary doctorates." Thank you Ms. Jemison for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Mae C. Jemison. :-)

http://www.biography.com/people/mae-c-jemison-9542378

"When I'm asked about the relevance to Black people of what I do, I take that as an affront. It presupposes that Black people have never been involved in exploring the heavens, but this is not so. Ancient African empires -- Mali, Songhai, Egypt -- had scientists, astronomers. The fact is that space and its resources belong to all of us, not to any one group." - Mae C. Jemison

October 14th is Dr. Allison Davis Day!!!

October 14th is Dr. Allison Davis Day!!!

"William Allison Davis devoted his life to uncovering and correcting unfair bias in the U.S. educational system, and ensuring equal opportunity for all. His landmark studies of caste and class in the south, and the effects of culturally biased tests on underprivileged children, led to dramatic improvements in the use of such tests and the general quality of education." Thank you Dr. Davis for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Dr. Allison Davis. :-)

http://blackhistorynow.com/allison-davis/

"teaching in the standard manner made no sense to these poor and poorly schooled rural blacks. I decided that I didn't know anything to teach them since our backgrounds were so different, yet I wanted to do something to affect such students." - Dr. Allison Davis

October 13th is Jerry Rice Day!!!

October 13th is Jerry Rice Day!!!

"Hall of Fame wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion Jerry Rice is widely regarded as the best wide receiver to ever play in the National Football League, and arguably the greatest player of all time. During his 15-year career with the San Francisco 49ers, Rice won three Super Bowls (Super Bowl XXIII (’88), Super Bowl XXIV (’89) and SB XXIX (’94)) and one Super Bowl MVP. He enjoyed three seasons with the Oakland Raiders, including a Super Bowl appearance and one season with the Seattle Seahawks before retiring in 2005. Rice was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January 2010, his first year of eligibility." Thank you Mr. Rice for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Jerry Rice. :-)

http://www.jerryricefootball.com/#!about/cjg9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGe4WPHtIgo

"Like I said, repetition in practice and hard work." - Jerry Rice

October 11th is Peg Leg Bates Day!!!

October 11th is Peg Leg Bates Day!!!

"Peg Leg Bates was born Clayton Bates in Fountain Inn, South Carolina, the son of Rufus Bates, a laborer, and Emma Steward Bates, a sharecropper and housecleaner. He began dancing when he was five. At twelve, while working in a cotton-seed gin mill, he caught and mangled his left leg in a conveyor belt. The leg was amputated on his kitchen table at his home. Though he was left with only one leg and a wooden peg leg his uncle carved for him, Bates resolved to continue dancing. "It somehow grew in my mind that I wanted to be as good a dancer as any two-legged dancer," he called. "It hurt me that the boys pitied me. I was pretty popular before, and I still wanted to be popular. I told them not to feel sorry for me." He meant it. He began imitating the latest rhythm steps he saw dancers of metal-tap shoe dancers, adding his own novelty and acrobatic steps into the taps. He worked his way from minstrel shows and carnivals to the vaudeville circuits. Relearning how to dance with his wooden peg leg, Bates worked his way upward from minstrel shows and carnivals to the vaudeville circuits. At fifteen, after having become the undisputed king of one-legged dancers, able to execute acrobatic, graceful soft shoe, and powerful rhythm-tapping all with one leg and a peg, he established a professional career as a tap dancer." Thank you Mr. Bates for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Peg Leg Bates. :-)

http://www.atdf.org/awards/pegleg.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hayM4B7hcBQ

October 10th is Thelonious Monk Day!!!

October 10th is Thelonious Monk Day!!!

"Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917-1982) is recognized as one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz. He was one of the architects of bebop and his impact as a composer and pianist has had a profound influence on every genre of music. Monk was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, but his parents, Barbara Batts and Thelonious Monk, soon moved the family to New York City. Monk began piano lessons as a young child and by the age of 13 he had won the weekly amateur contest at the Apollo Theater so many times that he was barred from entering. At the age of 19, Monk joined the house band at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and a handful of other players, he developed the style of jazz that came to be known as bebop. Monk's compositions, among them "Round Midnight," were the canvasses upon which these legendary soloists expressed their musical ideas." Thank you Mr. Monk for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Thelonious Monk. :-)

http://www.monkinstitute.org/aboutus/theloniousmonk.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMmeNsmQaFw

"I say, play your own way. Don’t play what the public wants. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you’re doing? even if it does take them fifteen, twenty years." - Thelonious Monk

October 7th is William Still Day!!!

October 7th is William Still Day!!!

"William Still was a humble Philadelphia clerk who risked his life shepherding runaway slaves to freedom in the tumultuous years leading up to America’s Civil War.  Still was the director of a complex network of abolitionists, sympathizers and safe houses that stretched from Philadelphia to what is now Southern Ontario.  In his fourteen years in the service of the Underground Railroad, he helped nearly eight hundred former slaves to escape.
Still kept meticulous records of the many escapes slaves who passed through the Philadelphia "station."  After the Civil War, Still published the secret notes he’d kept in diaries during those years.  And to this day, his book contains some of the best evidence we have of the workings of the Underground Railroad, detailing the freedom seekers who used it, including where they came from, how they escaped and the families they left behind." Thank you Mr. Still for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about William Still. :-)

http://www.pbs.org/wned/underground-railroad/

"It was my good fortune to lend a helping hand to the weary travelers flying from the land of bondage." - William Still

October 6th is Fannie Lou Hamer Day!!!

October 6th is Fannie Lou Hamer Day!!!

"Fannie Lou Hamer was born on October 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi. In 1944, she met civil rights activists who encouraged blacks to register to vote, and soon became active in helping. Hamer also worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which fought racial segregation and injustice in the South. In 1964, she helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Hamer died in 1977." Thank you Ms. Hamer for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Fannie Lou Hamer. :-)

http://www.biography.com/people/fannie-lou-hamer-205625

"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired." - Fannie Lou Hamer

October 5th is Neil deGrasse Tyson Day!!!

October 5th is Neil deGrasse Tyson Day!!!

"Neil deGrasse Tyson was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia. Tyson's professional research interests are broad, but include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of our Milky Way. In 2001, Tyson was appointed by President Bush to serve on a 12-member commission that studied the Future of the US Aerospace Industry. The final report was published in 2002 and contained recommendations (for Congress and for the major agencies of the government) that would promote a thriving future of transportation, space exploration, and national security." Thank you Mr. deGrasse Tyson for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Neil deGrasse Tyson. :-)

http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/profile/about-neil-degrasse-tyson

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.” - Neil deGrasse Tyson

October 3rd is India Arie Day!!!

October 3rd is India Arie Day!!!

"Arguably one of the substantial figures in either neo soul or R&B music genres, India was born India Arie Simpson on October 3, 1975 in Denver, Colorado as a daughter of professional basketball player Ralph Simpson and a former singer named Joyce, from whom she inherited abundant fondness for music unquestionably. With her mother being her mentor in singing, she persistently developed her musical skills during her early life, joining church's choir while in the meantime learning to play various musical instruments like saxophone, baritone clarinet, French horn, also trumpet. However, it was not until the girl began to take up guitar during her college years at Savannah College of Art and Design that her resoluteness to be fully involved in music finally came to the surface. “It was my first instrument I played that I could sing with", she recalled, "and that transformed my life and changed my musical expression.” Thank you Ms. Arie for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about India Arie. :-)

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/celebrity/india_arie/biography.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZwJqaeK9js

“Life is a journey, not a destination; there are no mistakes, just chances we've taken.” - India Arie

October 2nd is Jimmy Slyde Day!!!

October 2nd is Jimmy Slyde Day!!! 

"An elegant, engaging performer with a sharp wit, Mr. Slyde was one of the giants of rhythm tap, known for his great musicality, his impeccable timing and his ability to glide across the stage effortlessly. Closely affiliated with jazz, he worked with musicians like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong during the big-band era. His strongest musical affinity was bebop; for years he worked closely with the pianist Barry Harris." Thank you Mr. Slyde for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Jimmy Slyde. :-) 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/arts/dance/17slyde.html?_r=0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHhtwolps4M

“You don’t know how to dance till you fall...” Jimmy Slyde

October 2nd is Nat Turner Day!!!

October 2nd is Nat Turner Day!!! 

"Nat Turner is widely regarded as one of the most complex figures in American history and American literature. October marks the anniversary both of his birth and of his arrest as the leader of one of the United States' most famous slave rebellions.Nat Turner was born October 2, 1800 on a plantation in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner was deeply committed to his Christian faith and believed he received messages from God through visions and signs in nature. When he was in his early 20s, these signs led him to return to his master after an escape attempt. Similarly, a solar eclipse and an unusual atmospheric event are believed to have inspired his insurrection, which began on August 21, 1831.
Nat Turner's rebellion was one of the bloodiest and most effective in American history. It ignited a culture of fear in Virginia that eventually spread to the rest of the South, and is said to have expedited the coming of the Civil War. In the immediate aftermath of the rebellion, however, many Southern states, including North Carolina, tightened restrictions on African Americans. Over the course of two days, dozens of whites were killed as Turner's band of insurrectionists, which eventually numbered over fifty, moved systematically from plantation to plantation in Southampton County. Most of the rebels were executed along with countless other African Americans who were suspected, often without cause, of participating in the conspiracy. Nat Turner, though, eluded capture for over two months. He hid in the Dismal Swamp area and was discovered accidentally by a hunter on October 30. He surrendered peacefully." Thank you Mr. Turner for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Nat Turner. :-)

http://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/turner.html

"When I got large enough to go to work, while employed I was reflecting on many things that would present themselves to my imagination; and whenever an opportunity occurred of looking at a book, when the school-children were getting their lessons, I would find many things that the fertility of my own imagination had depicted to me before." - Nat Turner

October 1st is Teddy Seymour Day!!!

October 1st is Teddy Seymour Day!!! 


"The St. Croix sailor left Frederiksted harbor on February 26 1986 and returned on June 19 1987, becoming the first African-American man to solo circumnavigate the globe. Now, on the 25th anniversary of his feat, Seymour says it wasn’t an accomplishment he purposely set out to achieve." Thank you Mr. Seymour for all of your contributions and inspiration! Please click the link below and learn more about Teddy Seymour. :-)  

http://www.allatsea.net/sailors-in-the-news-teddy-seymour-pioneering-circumnavigator/

“I felt a bit of a letdown when it was over, but after sailing around the world, Frederikstead is still one of my favorite places,” says Seymour, who received the prestigious Golden Circle Award by the Joshua Slocum Society. “The trip proved to be an incredible and invaluable experience.”