Every Day Is Special: black history

Showing posts with label black history. Show all posts

July 6 - Althea Gibson wins Wimbledon!

Posted on July 6, 2022

This is an update of my post published on July 6, 2011:

Althea Gibson didn't lose a set all through the opening rounds of the 1957 Wimbledon Tennis Championship. Then she faced Darlene Hard in the finals—and she crushed her! The entire match took only 50 minutes!

The score of that finals was 6-3, 6-2. Once again, Gibson didn't lose a set.

She had become the new Wimbledon champion—the first black player, man or woman, to do so!

The very next day, Gibson joined forces with her opponent, Darlene Hard, and played in the doubles finals. The two beat their competitors 6-1, 6-1. So Gibson became a double-champion!

Gibson has been called the Jackie Robinson of tennis because she helped to break the “color barrier.” She went also captured important titles in the French and U.S. Nationals, and she won championships multiple years.

Here is a You Tube video in which the children's biography Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson, by Sue Stauffacher, is read aloud.

Also on this date:

Jan Hus Day in Czechia

Independence Day in Comoros

Republic Day in Malawi

Artist Frida Kahlo's birthday

Eino Leino Day in Finland

Birthday of U.S. President George W. Bush

Statehood Day in Lithuania

World Kiss Day

Birthday of social justice activist Sophie Adlersparre

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May 19 - Malcolm X Day

Posted on May 19, 2022

This is an update of my post published on May 19, 2011:

This is the birthday of a controversial figure (1925-1965) who is despised by some, but who is celebrated by many as one of the most influential Black Americans in history. From Washington, D.C., to Berkeley, California, this day has been recognized as a holiday, and many streets and schools have been named after Malcolm X.

Do you wonder at that last name, “X”? Well, he was born Malcolm Little, but Malcolm decided to shed the surname “Little,” which was a white slavemaster's name. The letter “X” stood for the true African family name that Malcolm could never know, because slavery had so broken the chain of knowledge of ancestry and heritage.

Although Malcolm X went through a period of time when his beliefs were not only radical, but also violent and hateful, he changed his beliefs as he experienced more, read more, and met more and more people from all over the U.S. and the world. He regretted some of his former actions and disavowed some of his former beliefs.

In other words, he was open-minded enough, and honest enough, to publicly change his mind when faced with evidence contrary to his beliefs.

Malcolm X is credited with much of the energy and philosophy behind the Black Power movement, and the slogan “Black is beautiful,” which became ubiquitous in the 1960s, can trace its roots to Malcolm X.

Some Black Americans in the 1950s and 1960s found that Malcolm X spoke more to their situation and opinions than did the rest of the civil rights movement leaders, and many credit him with vastly improving feelings of self-worth and self-confidence in Black kids and young people.

By the way, Malcolm X was tragically assassinated, just like Martin Luther King, Jr.

Also on this date:

Anniversary of a Cosmic Non-collision

Anniversary of a dark day

May Ray Day

Holiday of Poetry in Turkmenistan

National Scooter Day

Birthday of Bacteriologist / Immunologist Ruth Ella Moore

Birthday of Resistance hero Tina Strobos

Youth and Sports Day in Turkey

Ho Chi Minh's Birthday in Vietnam

Birthday of the Ringling Brothers Circus

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April 11 - Happy Birthday, Percy Julian

Posted on April 11, 2022

This is an update of my post published on April 11, 2011:

A PhD in chemistry, an induction into the National Academy of Sciences, more than 130 patents—these things are not easy to achieve. How much harder do you think they were for Percy Julian, the grandson of people who were enslaved?

Born on this day in 1899, in Alabama, not only did Julian become a chemist, he became one of the first people to synthesize several medicinal drugs, including chemical syntheses of human hormones. He started his own company to create medicines based on the Mexican wild yam, and his work helped to reduce the costs of many drugs.