First Blues Compostion

Smith, Bessie (1894-1937)

Along with Ma Rainey and Mamie Smith, singer Bessie Smith helped pioneer the genre of blues music and propel it into popular culture. Her early death at the age of 43 cut short a career that influenced the direction of American music and contributed to the success of African Americans in the

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Source: Black Past

Sep

26

1937

Protesters net updated responses from mayor, MPD director

Mayor Jim Strickland and Memphis Police Department Director Michael Rallings on Tuesday gave fresh accounts of ongoing efforts to meet the demands of a multi-pronged band of local

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Source: TSDMemphis.com - The New Tri-State Defender - TSDMemphis.com

Jackson, Mahalia

Jackson, Mahalia məhăl´yə [key], 1911–72, American gospel singer, b. New Orleans. She sang in church choirs during her childhood. Moving (1927) to Chicago, she worked at various menial jobs and sang in churches and at revival meetings, attracting attention for her vigorous, joyful gospel style. As

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Greenleaf: OWN Network Hit Is The Number One Cable Telecast For Women 25-54

The fifth and final season premiere of OWN’s hit megachurch drama “Greenleaf” (6/23/20) delivered 1.9 million viewers and ranked as Tuesday night’s #1 cable telecast in OWN’s key demographic of women 25-54, which is up +2% from last

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Source: https://seattlemedium.com

Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe , byname of William Smith Monroe (born Sept. 13, 1911, Rosine, Ky., U.S.—died Sept. 9, 1996, Springfield, near Nashville, Tenn.), American singer, songwriter, and mandolin player who invented the bluegrass style of country

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Source: Brittanica

Fela Kuti - Birthday

Fela Kuti , byname of Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, also called Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (born October 15, 1938, Abeokuta, Nigeria—died August 2, 1997, Lagos), Nigerian musician and activist who launched a modern style of music called Afro-beat, which fused American blues, jazz, and funk with

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Source: Brittanica

Oct

15

1938

Sterling Brown

Sterling Brown , in full Sterling Allen Brown (born May 1, 1901, Washington, D.C., U.S.—died Jan. 13, 1989, Takoma Park, Md.), influential African-American teacher, literary critic, and poet whose poetry was rooted in folklore sources and black

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Source: Brittanica

May

1

1901

George Duke

George Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as

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Source: BlackHistory.com

(1998) Clarence Thomas, "Speech to the National Bar Association"

On July 28, 1998, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas gave the keynote speech at the National Bar Association, the predominately black national lawyerss association, at its annual convention held that year in Memphis, Tennessee. The speech appears

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Source: Black Past

Jul

28

1998

New York Knicks Owner Upsets Players By Staying Silent on George Floyd's Death, Issues Letter Explaining His Rationale

Considering the New York Knicks have been one of the worst teams in the NBA for many years, the decisions made by team owner James Dolan are often heavily

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Source: Visit Atlanta Black Star For African-American | Black News and Information

Nina Simone

jazz

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Source: AA Studies Research Guide

Moneybagg Yo “Said Sum,” IDK & PnB Rock “End of Discussion” & More | Daily Visuals 6.30.20

Source: Interscope / Interscope

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Source: The Urban Daily

Muddy Waters

Name at birth: McKinley Morganfield

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Vinyl reissues from New Orleans royalty, Irma Thomas and James Booker

and the vinyl debut of Thomas’ GRAMMY® Award-winning 2006 LP, After the Rain

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Source: Milwaukee Community Journal - Wisconsin's Largest African American Newspaper

The Color Purple (musical)

The Color Purple is a musical with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell, and Allee Willis. Based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, the show follows the journey of Celie, an African-American woman in the American South from the early to mid-20th

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Source: BlackHistory.com

Sep

9

2004

W. C. Handy

Born: /6/873 Florence, AlabamaDied: 3/28/958 New York City, New YorkW. C. Handy was an American blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the Father of the BluesAwards / Achievements:

The Blues Music Award, widely recognized as the most prestigious award for blues artists was

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Little Richard, Founding Father of Rock Who Broke Musical Barriers, Dead at 87

Little Richard, a founding father of rock and roll whose fervent shrieks, flamboyant garb, and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form, died

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Source: Rolling Stone - Music, Film, TV and Political News Coverage

May

9

2020

Evvie McKinney's new single leaves no doubt about where she's from

Powerhouse performer and first-ever winner of FOX’s “The Four: Battle For Stardom,” Evvie McKinney has released the upbeat anthem “Bring the Whole Hood,” her debut single on Motown Gospel/Capitol

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Source: TSDMemphis.com - The New Tri-State Defender - TSDMemphis.com

Forget About Seeing Any Justice For Obamagate In 2020.

(ThyBlackMan.com) Allow me to disabuse you of your naïve delusion that we still live in a country with a justice system and break it to you that no one is going to jail for what was done to Flynn, or for the unmasking business, or for the Russia hoax or, for that matter, for any of the corrupt

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Source: ThyBlackMan

Count Basie

William James Basie was one of the most notable jazz musicians of the 20th century. He was born on August 21, 1904 to Harvey Lee and Lillian Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey. Both his parents were musicians, which influenced Basie from an early age. His father played the mellophone, and his mother

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Source: Black History Resources

Aug

21

1904

Nina Simone

Nina Simone was an African-American singer, pianist and civil rights activist. Her birth name was Eunice Kathleen Waymon. She was born in Tryon, North Carolina to Mary Kate Waymon and John Divine Waymon. She was the sixth of seventh children and the family was quite poor when Simone was growing

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Source: Black History Resources

Hampton, Lionel

Hampton, Lionel, 1908?–2002, African-American vibraphonist and bandleader, b. Louisville, Ky. When his family moved to Chicago c.1916, the young Hampton began playing drums in a newsboys band. He moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and became a drummer in saxophonist Les Hites band. Encouraged by

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

African-American literature

African-American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. It begins with the works of such late 18th-century writers as Phillis Wheatley. Before the high point of slave narratives, African-American literature was dominated by autobiographical

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Source: ThoughtCo

Ike Turner

Ike Turner was a popular twentieth century African-American musician, bandleader and lyricist. He was also a record producer and is given credit for introducing rock and roll in 1950s. Turner came to stardom in 1960s and 1970s with his former wife Tina Turner and their record

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Source: Black History Resources

Dec

12

2007

The Roaming Blues Queen: Memphis Minnie Pt. 2

Memphis Minnie continued recording with throughout the late 1930s with Vocalion while backed by Kansas Joe’s brother, the mandolin player Papa Charlie and her husband, a singer named Little Son

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Source: Black Then

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin , in full Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.), American singer who defined the golden age of soul music of the 1960s. Franklin’s mother, Barbara, was a gospel singer and pianist. Her father, C.L. Franklin, presided over the New Bethel Baptist

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Source: Brittanica

Mar

25

1942

Greenleaf: OWN Network Hit is the Number One Cable Telecast for Women 25-54

By Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., NNPA Newswire Entertainment and Culture Editor

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Source: Observer News Group – Group Newspapers of Southern California

Ray Charles

Ray Charles , original name Ray Charles Robinson (born September 23, 1930, Albany, Georgia, U.S.—died June 10, 2004, Beverly Hills, California), American pianist, singer, composer, and bandleader, a leading black entertainer billed as “the Genius.” Charles was credited with the early

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Source: Brittanica

Jun

10

2004

John Lee Hooker

A distinguished musician in the transformative years of the 1950s and 1960s, John Lee Hooker effortlessly left an indelible mark on the culture of Blues music. Born a son of a sharecropper from Mississippi, United States, in August, 1917, Hooker rose to have a prominent influence in the

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Source: Black History Resources

Fields, Green (1840-1914)

Green Fields, former Seattle City employee, early African American resident of the Queen Anne Neighborhood in Seattle, and soldier with the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War, was born a slave in DeSoto, Mississippi, the son of Fannie Jackson and Richard Fields. In 1864 he escaped slavery and

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Source: Black Past

BlackFacts Details

First Blues Compostion

Martin Luther King Jr. Facts

Politics Facts

Black Sands : Rumble in Kerma Pt. 1

Facts About Women

Washington DC Facts