Detroit History Facts

Recorded History of Detroits Worst Snow Storms.

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Detroit and Our Black History

Weusi Olusola

Olusola survived a drive-by shooting at 16 that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He changed his name from Willie Brown Jr. and became one of Detroit's foremost antigang and antigun activists, cofounding Pioneers for Peace, a group of shooting survivors who speak to children and young adults about violence.
His message is continuing to reach young ears today as children gather and play at the celebration of Olusola's life outside of the Joseph Walker Williams Community Center.

Dr. BEN CARSON

Dr. Benjamin Carson, one of the world's most gifted surgeons was born in Detroit, Michigan. After graduating with honors from high school, he attended Yale University where he earned a degree in Psychology. From Yale he went to the Medical School of the University of Michigan, where his interest shifted from psychology to neurosurgery. After medical school he became a neurosurgery resident at the world famous Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. At the age of 32, he became the hospital's Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery.
In 1987, Carson made medical history with an operation to separate a pair of Siamese twins. The Binder twins were born joined at the back of the head. Operations to separate twins joined in this way had always failed, resulting in the death of one or both of the infants. Carson agreed to undertake the operation. A 70-member surgical team, led by Dr. Carson, worked for 22 hours. At the end, the twins were successfully separated and can now survive independently.
In addition to his surgical duties, Carson finds time at least twice a month to address groups of junior high school and high school students who visit the hospital. Carson has written two books Gifted Hands and Think Big.
Dr. Carson's Early Life

"Dr. Carson grew up poor in inner-city Detroit and Boston. After his parents divorced when he was eight, he and his brother were raised by his mother, who was one of 24 children and got married at the age of 13. Dr. Carson was such a poor student in elementary school that his fifth-grade classmates nicknamed him "Dummy," and he even got into a fight over whether he was just the "dumbest kid in the class" or the "dumbest person in the world." At that point in his life he was totally unmotivated with failing grades, low self-esteem, and a terrible temper by measures, a child in danger of being left behind.
Fortunately, Dr. Carson had two things working in his favor. One was his strong faith in God that continues to sustain him. The other was a mother who was involved in his life and believed in him--a mother who prayed for the wisdom to go beyond her own third-grade education in order to instill in her sons an enthusiasm for learning. Her prayers led her to a plan that worked: Mrs. Carson began sending the boys to the public library every day instead of letting them watch television and making them each turn in two book reports to her every week.
Dr. Carson recalls that at first he and his brother thought this was certified child abuse. But as he began to read, his entire world opened up. Dr. Carson started realizing that through books he could go anywhere and do anything. He became interested in learning and in aspiring to something more than the factory job and nice car that most of his classmates wanted. By the seventh grade he was at the top of his class, and his love of reading and learning and commitment to excellence and doing his best were fully ingrained.
As he says now, "When I was in the fifth grade I thought I was stupid, so I conducted myself like a stupid person and achieved like a stupid person. When I was is the seventh grade I thought I was smart; I conducted myself like a smart person and achieved like a smart person. What does that say about human potential?" It was not until years later that Dr. Carson realized his mother had not even been able to read the book reports that had turned his life around.
Eventually he received a scholarship to Yale University and went on to medical school at the University of Michigan. By age 33 he had earned his current position as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins."
Dr. CARSON'S COLLEGE DAYS

"From mediocre grades to brain surgery At the School of Medicine, Ben faced two dilemmas. He initially studied to become a psychiatrist. But as he got deeper into his major, he realized that the profession was not what he thought it was. "My concepts had been derived largely from television," he says.
Looking at his options, he didn't want to backtrack, wasting his years spent studying the brain. So Ben prayed and considered his situation. He knew he had excellent hand-eye coordination; he was a champion foosball (table soccer) player at Yale. In addition, he had a superior ability to manipulate spatial relationships in his mind (thinking in 3-D images), critical when working on the brain, which he likens in consistency to "a hard-boiled egg with oatmeal mixed inside." And he considered himself to be a careful person, another vital asset if you're in a position to work on a person's most important body part. "Now, what would be something that would take advantage of those things? Brain surgery! That's a no-brainer," he says.
If his new goal was brain surgery, Ben knew his grades wouldn't cut it. He had to get them up. A counselor suggested medical school was too much for him. But with a history of overcoming obstacles, Ben didn't let the advice get him down."

Damon J. Keith Biography

Damon J. Keith has served as a United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Sixth Circuit since 1977. Prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Keith served as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Judge Keith is a graduate of West Virginia State College (B.A. 1943), Howard Law School (J.D. 1949), where he was elected Chief Justice of the Court of Peers, and Wayne State University (L.L.M. 1956).

As a member of the federal judiciary, Judge Keith has consistently been a courageous defender of the constitutional and civil rights of all people. Some of his most notable cases include: Davis v. School District of City of Pontiac, (school desegregation); Baker v. City of Detroit (municipal affirmative action plan); United States v. Blanton, (jury selection and pretrial publicity in a criminal case); Rabidue v. Osceola Refining Co., (sex discrimination); and United States v. Sinclair (evidence obtained through warrantless electronic surveillance).

In Garrett v. City of Hamtramck (1971) Keith ruled that the city of Hamtramck, Michigan practiced "Negro removal" under the guise of urban renewal and ordered the city to build new public housing.
In Stamps v. Detroit Edison Co. (1973) Keith ruled that the Detroit Edison Company had practiced systematic racial discrimination and ordered the company to begin an aggressive affirmative action program.

Although Judge Keith is well known for his many landmark decisions, he is most cited for his opinion in United States v. Sinclair, commonly referred to as The Keith Decision. In Sinclair, Judge Keith, sitting on the district court, found that then-President Richard Nixon and then-Attorney General John Mitchell could not engage in warrantless wiretap surveillance of three individuals suspected of conspiring to destroy government property because the surveillance was in violation of the Fourth Amendment. This decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and unanimously upheld by the United States Supreme Court.

In 1985, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger appointed Judge Keith as Chairman of the Bicentennial of the Constitution Committee for the Sixth Circuit. Then, in 1987, Judge Keith was appointed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist to serve as the National Chairman of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Bicentennial of the Constitution. In 1990, President George Bush appointed him to the Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution. In recognition of Judge Keith's service to the Bicentennial Committee, more than 300 Bill of Rights plaques commemorating this important constitutional anniversary bear Judge Keith's name and adorn the walls of courthouses and law schools throughout the United States and Guam, as well as the FBI Headquarters and the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Center in Washington, D.C.
Judge Keith has received 37 honorary degrees from the following colleges and universities: West Virginia State College, Wayne State University, Howard University, Lincoln University, University of Detroit, Atlanta University, Detroit College of Law, University of Michigan, New York Law School, Michigan State University, Marygrove College, Detroit Institute of Technology, Shaw College, Central State University, Yale University, Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), Eastern Michigan University, Virginia Union University, Central Michigan University, Morehouse College, Western Michigan University, Tuskegee University, Georgetown University, Hofstra University, DePaul University, Ohio State University, Colgate University, Paine College, Bowling Green State University, College of William & Mary, Spelman College, University of Cincinnati, Oberlin College, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Oakland University, Ohio Northern University and Lawrence Technological University.

Andrew Young with Judge Keith

In 1974, the Detroit Board of Education dedicated one of its primary schools in his honor, naming it The Damon J. Keith Elementary School. Judge Keith is also a recipient of numerous awards, most notably: the NAACP's highest award, the Spingarn Medal (past recipients include the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall, and General Colin Powell); and the Distinguished Public Service Award from the National Anti-Defamation League of B-nai B-rith. He has also been recognized by the Detroit Legal News as one of only 16 Legal Legends of the Century in Michigan. In addition, Wayne State University has recently created the Damon J. Keith Law Collection, the first national archive devoted entirely to the accomplishments of our nation's African American lawyers and judges. Most recently, he received the lifetime achievement award from the National Black College Alumni and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Judge Keith was named the 1997 recipient of the American Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall Award. In naming Judge Keith the recipient of this highest of honors, the ABA said: "Judge Keith represents the best in the legal profession. His work reflects incisive analysis of issues, principled application of laws and the Constitution, passionate belief in the courts' role in protecting civil rights, a commitment to community service and, most significantly, an independence of mind to do what's right that is at the core of his view of professional responsibility. There is no better role model today for lawyers and law students seeking to work for equal justice."
In 1998, Judge Keith was selected to receive of the Detroit Urban League's 1998 Distinguished Warrior Award, as well as recipient of the prestigious Edward J. Devitt Award for Distinguished Service to Justice. The Devitt Award annually honors a federal judge who has achieved an exemplary career and has made significant contributions to the administration of justice, the advancement of the rule of law, and the improvement of society as a whole. Judge Keith was nominated for the Devitt Award by lawyers and judges throughout the country. United States Court of Appeals Judge Peter Fay remarked: "One cannot be around Damon for very long without sensing his commitment to all that is good about our country. But, unlike many, he does not limit his commitment to words his actions speak volumes. He gets involved. He spends the time. He does the work. Yes, he gets his hands dirty because there is nothing he will not do if he is convinced it will help others and strengthen our way of life."
In 1999, The Michigan Chronicle chose Judge Keith to represent the legal profession as one of ten of "The Century's Finest Michiganders." Judge Keith's dedication to equality under the law and his contributions to civil rights prompted the Chronicle to say of Judge Keith: "There is no better role model today for lawyers and law students seeking to work for equal justice."
In January of 2000, Turner Broadcasting Systems, presented Judge Keith the Pinnacle Award at the Eighth Annual Trumpet Awards in Atlanta. Trumpet Awards are given annually to African Americans whose achievements in their fields, coupled with their humanitarian and community-oriented efforts, have helped create a better society.
In February of 2000, Judge Keith's career was profiled by Court TV as part of a program honoring "America's Great Legal Minds" in honor of Black History Month.
On February 17, 2001, Judge Keith received the American Bar Association Spirit of Excellence Award.
Judge Keith is married to Rachel Boone Keith, M.D. They have three daughters, Gilda Keith, Debbie Keith, and Cecile Keith-Brown. Cecile and her husband, Daryle Brown, are parents of Judge Keith's granddaughters, Nia and Camara.

Dr. Ossian Sweet purchased this Detroit home on Garland and Charlevoix so he could bring up his daughter in good surroundings.

'I have to die a man or live a coward' -- the saga of Dr. Ossian Sweet

By Patricia Zacharias / The Detroit News
"I have to die a man or live a coward." With these words, a mild-mannered black Detroit physician set in motion forces that would result in a dramatic milestone in America's civil rights movement, extending the notion that a man's home is his castle to blacks.
It began in the summer of 1925 when Dr. Ossian Sweet decided to move his wife and baby daughter from the crowded lower east side black ghetto into an all-white neighborhood at Garland and Charlevoix.

Dr. Ossian Sweet

"He wasn't looking for trouble," Dr. Sweet's brother Otis, a dentist, recalled. "He just wanted to bring up his little girl in good surroundings."
The surroundings may have been good, but they were dangerous for blacks. Sweet knew the risks. Just a few months earlier, another black physician, Dr. A.L. Turner, had moved into an all-white west side neighborhood on Spokane Street. A mob invaded his home, moved all his furniture into a van and drove him out of the neighborhood.
"This made a profound impression on my brother," continued Otis. "It was then that he told me he was prepared to die like a man."
By 1925, Detroit's black population was nearly 80,000. Blacks had migrated to the Northern industrial cities in search of better jobs. Most were packed into a near east side area called Paradise Valley, or Black Bottom. The area was badly overcrowded -- seven percent of the city's population was squeezed into one percent of its housing. Some residents slept on bar pool tables and lived four families to a flat.
Dr. Sweet, and his wife, Gladys, wanted something better.

Gladys Sweet

Born in a small inland Florida community, Ossian Sweet studied medicine at Howard University, practiced briefly in Detroit, then continued his studies in Vienna and Paris. Upon his return to Detroit in 1924, he accepted a position at Detroit's first black hospital, Dunbar, and began saving for a home. By the spring of 1925 he had saved enough to purchase a home on Garland for $18,500 with a down payment of $3,500 cash.
Rumblings of trouble began well before Ossian Sweet took occupancy of the house. An organization called the "Water Works Improvement Association" vowed to keep blacks out of the neighborhood.
The woman who sold Dr. Sweet the house told him that she had been warned by a phone caller that if he moved in, she would be killed along with the doctor and the house would be blown up. Ironically, she and her light-skinned black husband had lived in the house undisturbed, the neighbors apparently unaware of her husband's heritage.
On Tuesday, Sept. 8, Dr. Sweet arrived at his new home with two small vans of furniture. He also brought along guns and ammunition and had arranged for friends and relatives to stay with him for the first few days. They included brothers Otis and Henry, 21, a student at Wilberforce University, John Latting, and William Davis, a federal narcotics officer who had been an army captain overseas during World War I. All were black.
Throughout the day tensions rose in the neighborhood. The Detroit Police Department regarded the situation as grave enough to post officers there day and night.

Famed attorney Clarence Darrow headed the defense team.

On the following day, Dr. Sweet attended to his practice downtown and most of the others in his home also went to their jobs. When he returned that night, Dr. Sweet had recruited more friends to join those in the house, bringing the total to 11 including Mrs. Sweet.
"The street was a sea of humanity," Otis recalled. "The crowd was so thick you couldn't see the street or the sidewalk. Just getting to the front door was like running the gantlet. I was hit by a rock before I got inside."
The prosecution later produced a series of witnesses who swore that there never were more than 25 or 30 persons in front of the Sweet home.
About 10 p.m. a series of shots rang out from the Sweet home. Leon Breiner, who lived across the street, fell dead and another man was wounded. Police rushed in and arrested everyone in the Sweet house, charging them all -- including Mrs. Sweet -- charged with murder.
The NAACP promised to defend Dr. Sweet, his wife and friends and brought in Clarence Darrow, a titan of the American bar for more than three decades, as chief counsel. His assistants included Arthur Garfield Hays, one of the nation's leading liberal lawyers, and Walter M. Nelson, a Detroiter.
Presiding over the trial would be a young redheaded judge named Frank Murphy, who would go on to become mayor of Detroit, governor of Michigan, U.S. Attorney General and a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Afterward Murphy said, "This was the greatest experience of my life. This was Clarence Darrow at his best. I will never see anything like it again. He is the most Christ-like man I have ever known."
The facts in the case were relatively simple: Someone in Dr. Sweet's house fired a shot that killed Leon Breiner. Another neighborhood resident, Erik Hofberg, received a bullet in the leg.

Judge Frank Murphy presided over the trial and, in his charge to the jury, made it clear that the right to defend one's home applied to blacks as well as whites.

But the issue was far more complicated: Had there been justification for firing that shot?
In his book "Let Freedom Ring," defense attorney Hays left a graphic memoir of the case. "Colored people regarded the case as one which raised the definite question of race segregation. The claim was made that the shots were fired in defense of the home. It was pointed out that in Detroit, the Negro population had vastly increased in numbers; that Negro districts had become congested and were centers of filth and squalor; that it was almost impossible for a Negro to obtain a decent home except in a white neighborhood; that the whites were always hostile and the colored man was ordinarily either compelled to move or to use force to protect himself."
Hays, however, conceded in his account of the trial, "On the face of it, our case was not strong. It seemed clear that Breiner had been killed by a fusillade from the house. Ten men had gathered there with provisions to withstand a possible siege, with guns and ammunition. And there had been police protection."
The defense, as Hays saw it, depended on the attitude of the defendants at the time of the shooting. Did they think they were in danger? Were they actually scared? Not all of the defendants cared to admit they were scared. They had become heroes to the black community.
The prosecution, meanwhile, had formed its own theory of the case. Lester Moll, chief assistant to Prosecutor Robert M. Toms, recalls "The case had come to the attention of our office 24 hours before the actual shooting. Phone threats to the Sweets had been reported and a police guard had been posted. The following night shots were fired simultaneously from the Sweet home. Mr. Breiner was hit while on the porch of a house across the street. The shooting appeared to follow a pre-arranged signal from within the Sweet home."
"We interviewed police who were in agreement that the crowd out in front was not numerous and that there was no threat of violence. Based on these conversations we issued a warrant on the theory that the shots were fired without provocation."
A Detroit News reporter, Philip A. Adler, testified for the defense. He was at the scene of the shooting and told of a "considerable mob" of between "400 and 500," and stones hitting the house "like hail."
"I heard someone say, 'A Negro family has moved in here and we're going to get them out'," Adler testified. "I asked a policeman what the trouble was and he told me it was none of my business."
The defense hammered hard at the purpose of the Water Works Improvement Association and its goal to keep blacks out. In 1925 the Ku Klux Klan claimed 100,000 members in Detroit and a cross had recently been burned at the steps of city hall.

Detroit News reporter Philip A. Adler testified he saw a mob of about 400 to 500 outside the Sweet home and that rocks were hitting the house "like hail."

Darrow stressed the state of mind of those huddled inside the Sweet home that night. The emotional climax of the trial came when Darrow called Ossian Sweet to the stand in his own defense.
Sweet told of seeing a menacing crowd outside his home: "Frightened, after getting a gun I ran upstairs. Stones were hitting the house intermittently. I threw myself on the bed and lay there awhile, perhaps 15 or 20 minutes- when a stone came through the window. Part of the glass hit me."
"What happened next?" asked Darrow.
"Pandemonium -- I guess that's the best way to describe it--broke loose inside my house," replied Sweet. "Everyone was running from room to room. There was a general uproar."
"Somebody yelled, 'There's someone coming.' A car had pulled up to the curb. My brother Otis, and Mr. Davis got out. The mob yelled, 'Here's niggers, get them! Get them!' As my brother and Davis rushed inside my house, a mob surged forward. It looked like a human sea. Stones kept coming, faster. I was downstairs. Another window was smashed. Then one shot, then eight or 10 from upstairs, Then it was all over."
Then came Darrow's key question: "What was your state of mind at the time of the shooting?"
Sweet replied, "When I opened the door and saw the mob, I realized I was facing the same mob that had hounded my people throughout its entire history. In my mind I was pretty confident of what I was up against. I had my back against the wall. I was filled with a peculiar fear, the fear of one who knows the history of my race. I knew what mobs had done to my people before."
Under Darrow's skillful sympathetic question, Dr Sweet told of the terrible legacy of fear that mob violence had left with his race. Over the protests of the prosecution, his testimony was admitted as having a bearing on the psychology of the occupants of the Sweet home.

The second jury took only four hours to find Henry Sweet, brother of Dr. Sweet, not guilty.

In his closing arguments to the jury, Darrow questioned whether it was possible for 12 white men (however hard they tried) to give a fair trial to a Negro.
He argued, "The Sweets spent their first night in their new home afraid to go to bed. The next night they spent in jail. Now the state wants them to spend the rest of their lives in the penitentiary....There are persons in the North and South who say a black man is inferior to the white and should be controlled by whites. There are also those who recognize his rights and say he should enjoy them. To me this case is a cross-section of human history. It involves the future and the hope of some of us that the future will be better than the past."
In his charge to the jury Judge Murphy indicated clearly his belief that a man's home is his castle and that no one has a right to invade it. He left no question of the right to shoot when one has reasonable grounds to fear that his life or property is in danger. And he made it clear that these rights belong to blacks as well as to whites.
The jury deliberated for 46 hours, then announced that it had been unable to reach a verdict. The prosecution was not ready to give up, and elected to press charges against a single defendent, Henry Sweet, the 21-year-old brother of Ossian. The state believed he fired the shot that killed Leon Breiner. The second trial in many ways paralled the first. The testimony remained almost unchanged and Darrow again gave a moving summation.

Prosecutor Robert M. Toms

After reviewing the horrors of the slave ships and the two centuries in bondage in the United States that Black Americans had endured, Darrow declared that they were owed a debt and obligation by the white race.
He went on: "Your verdict means something in this case. It means something more than the fate of this boy. It is not often that a case is submitted to 12 men where the decision may mean a milestone in the history of the human race. But this case does. And I hope and trust that you have a feeling of responsibility that will make you take it and do your duty as citizens of a great nation, and as members of the human family, which is better still."
The jury found Henry Sweet innocent after less than four hours deliberation. No further effort was made to prosecute any of the defendents.
After all charges were dropped against him, Ossian Sweet moved back into his home on Garland.
However, tragedy plagued his later life. Not long after his brother's trial, Dr. Sweet lost the family he had purchased the house for in the first place. His daughter, Iva, died of tuberculosis in 1926, at the age of 2. His wife, Gladys, succumbed to the same disease soon after. The widow of Leon Breiner, shot on Garland Street, sued for $150,000 but the case was dismissed. Dr. Sweet tried his hand at politics, running four times for various offices, but losing all. He remarried twice, both marriages ending in divorce.
In 1944, he sold the house on Garland and purchased a pharmacy where he lived above the store. In 1960, after years of ill health and depression, he was found dead, a bullet through his head and a revolver in his hand.

Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson became one of the first R&B vocalists to enjoy success in the early rock and roll era and became to be regarded as one of the first great soul singers.

Jackie "Sonny" Wilson was born June 9,1934 in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Highland Park, Michigan. The only child of Jack and Eliza Mae Wilson from Columbus, Mississippi, Wilson's father was an alcoholic and generally unemployed. Eliza Mae who had lost two earlier children doted on Wilson and was a powerful influence on his life.
Wilson began singing at an early age. In his early teens Jackie formed a quartet, the Ever Ready Gospel Singers Group, which became a popular feature of churches in the area. Jackie wasn't religious, he just loved to sing and the cash came in handy for the cheap wine which he drank from the age of nine.
Growing up in North End, a rough section of Detroit, Wilson was an habitual truant, belonged to a gang called the Shakers, and was continuously in and out of trouble. Twice he was sent to detention in the Lansing Correctional Institute. It was there that he learned how to box. Wilson dropped out of the school in the ninth grade, in 1950 at 16.
At sixteen Wilson became a Golden Gloves boxing champion in Detroit.

In February 1951 Wilson married Freda Hood, whom he had known since he was ten, after she had become pregnant. It was the first of her 15 pregnancies. A daughter was born the next month. At this time he was singing in a group that consisted of Levi Stubbs, Sonny Woods and Lawson Smith. They only knew a few songs, but were welcome additions at house parties where they split the five dollars they were paid to perform.

Billy Ward and the Dominoes
Jackie Wilson on the far right

After dropping out of high school, Wilson began performing at local clubs. He was discovered at a talent show by Johnny Otis in 1951. Wilson sang with the Thrillers before they changed their name to the Royals, an R&B quartet. Before Wilson could become a full fledged member of the group they signed with King Records and left him behind. He the briefly recorded with Dizzy Gillespie's Dee Gee label ("Danny Boy" 1952) before he successfully audition for Billy Ward's Dominoes in 1953. He eventually replaced Clyde McPhatter when McPhatter left the group to form the Drifters. The Dominoes first release with Wilson, "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down," became a near R&B hit and was soon followed by the R&B hit "Rags to Riches." Wilson was lead singer on the Dominoes first pop hit, "St. Therese of the Roses" in 1956.

Wilson, Nate Tarnopol and Alan Freed

In 1957 Wilson left the Dominoes for a solo career. Al Green, a music publisher and manager, who already managed singers Johnnie Ray, Della Reese and LaVern Baker, took over as Wilson's manager. Green went to New York, met Decca Records' Bob Theile, and secured Wilson a contract with Decca's Brunswick label. The day before the deal was to be signed, Al Green died. Upon Green's death , Nat Tarnopol, a Green business associate, became Wilson's manager.
jackie2.jpg (77603 bytes)
Signing with Brunswick Records, Wilson soon had a minor hit with "Reet Petite," co-written with Berry Gordy, Jr and Roquel "Billy" Davis. Gordy/Davis also co-wrote Wilson's major pop and R&B smash hits "To Be Loved," "That's Why," and "I'll Be Satisfied," and his top R&B and pop hit classic "Lonely Teardrops." Wilson appeared in the film Go, Johnny, Go singing "You Better Know It." jackiered.jpg (8784 bytes)
The initial success Wilson had with the song writing team of Davis/Gordy ended due to disagreements between them and Tarnopol over inadequate payment. Tarnopol felt confident he could do without them, despite the remarkable success the team had, and refused to pay what they felt was owed them. Without knowing it, Tarnopol did Davis and Gordy a favor, as both went on to have successful careers.

Berry Gordy used his royalties on the nine hits he'd co-written for Jackie to establish his Hitsville USA Studios - destined to become the enormous Motown recording label. Davis joined Chess Records in Chicago as A&R manager, song writer and producer, achieving success for himself and other black acts.
Jackie trusted Nat Tarnopol implicitly and foolishly signed over power-of-attorney to him. Deciding that Wilson should not limit himself to singing rock and roll, Tarnopol had veteran band leader and Decca arranger Dick Jacobs produce most of Jackie's recordings from 1957 through 1966. Jacobs knew Jackie could sing and reveled in all styles, so he combined him with huge orchestral accompaniments.

Jackie Wilson at the Apollo Theatre

Performing engagements at major Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York nightclubs and recording a variety of material, including bland pop material and classical adaptations such as "Night," "Alone at Last," and "My Empty Arms," Wilson suffered through intrusive arrangements and critical neglect in the early '60s. Nonetheless, he scored four two sided crossover hits in 1960-1961 with "Night"/"Doggin' Around," "All My Love"/"A Woman, a Lover, a Friend," "Alone at Last"/ "Am I the Man," and "My Empty Arms"/"The Tear of the Year." "Night" was a pop smash, while "Alone at Last" and "My Empty Arms," were near pop smashes. "Doggin' Around" and "A Woman, a Lover, a Friend" were top R&B hits. Later in 1961 Wilson had major pop and R&B hits with "Please Tell Me Why" and "I'm Comin' Back to You," followed by moderate pop hit with "Years from Now" and "The Greatest Hurt." He subsequently formed a songwriting partnership with Alonzo Tucker that yielded a top R&B and smash pop hit with "Baby Workout" in 1961. Later R&B and pop hits included "Shake a Hand" and "Shake! Shake! Shake!"
By 1961 Jackie was involved with Harlean Harris, a former girlfriend of Sam Cooke and a Ebony magazine fashion model while at the same time having a relationship with a Juanita Jones.

Leaving the hospital after being shot with mother
Eliza Wilson, Jackie and wife Freda

February 15, 1961, Jones shot Wilson twice as he returned with Harris to his Manhattan jackie_pub.jpg (24798 bytes) apartment. Despite his wounds, Wilson made it downstairs where he was taken to the Roosevelt Hospital. Life saving surgery was performed followed by weeks of medical care. Wilson lost a kidney and would carry the bullet that was to close to his spine to be removed, around for the rest of his life.

A month and a half later Jackie was discharged and, apart from a limp and discomfort for a while, he was quickly on the mend. He discovered that despite being at the peak of success, he was jackie.jpg (243568 bytes) broke.
Around this time the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized Jackie's Detroit family home. Tarnopol and his accountant were supposed to take care of such matters. At the time Jackie had declared annual earnings of $263,000, while the average salary a man earned then was just $5,000 a year. Yet the fact was he was nearly broke. Fortunately Jackie made arrangements with the IRS to make restitution on the unpaid taxes and to re-purchase the family home at auction.

However, Freda's patience had finally run out due to Jackie's notorious philandering and she filed for divorce. Jackie didn't contest it and so their thirteen year marriage was annulled in 1965. Freda was granted the house, $10,000 and a modest $50-per-week for each of their four children. For the rest of her life Freda regretted seeking the divorce and, moreover, Jackie still treated her as though she was still his wife.
In March 1967 Jackie and his friend and drummer, Jimmy Smith, were arrested in South Carolina on morals charges. Both were arrested in a motel with two 24-year-old white women. Lurid details of the case appeared in the newspapers. Tarnopol decided that to restore Jackie's public image, a marriage to long-time girlfriend Harlean had to be held. The civil ceremony was held the next month. Jackie had been going with Harlean from at least 1960 and they'd had a son in 1963. Jackie and Smith were only fined a few hundred dollars and the "morals charges" were soon forgotten.

Although he continued to have hits over the next three years, Wilson didn't have another major pop and smash R&B hit until he began recording in Chicago with producer Carl Davis. Under Davis, Wilson staged a dramatic comeback with "Whispers (Getting Louder)," and the classic "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," a top R&B and smash pop hit, and "I Get the Sweetest Feeling." Wilson recorded with Count Basie in 1968 and managed his last near smash R&B and moderate pop hit with "This Love is Real" in the late '70s. He was subsequently relegated to the oldies revival circuit, despite having continued R&B hits.
September 1970 Wilson's oldest son, 16-year-old Jackie Jr., was shot and killed during a confrontation on the porch of a Detroit neighbors' home.

On the night of September 29, 1975 while performing at the Latin Casino near Cherry Hill, New Jersey Wilson was stricken with a massive heart attack. One of the first to reach Jackie was Cornell Gunter of the Coasters group who immediately noticed he wasn't breathing. Gunter applied resuscitation and got him breathing again. An ambulance quickly got him to the nearby hospital where he remained in a coma for over three months.

Jackie gradually improved to the stage of semi-coma state, but obviously he had suffered severe brain damage and, at 41, a tremendous career was ended. Although he never uttered another word, he remained clinging to life for a further eight and a quarter years. He remained hospitalized until his death on January 21, 1984, at the age of forty-nine.
Jackie Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.


	A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Speech at the Great March on Detroit

23 June 1963
Detroit, Mich.
My good friend, the Reverend C. L. Franklin, all of the officers and I think there is something else that must be said because it is a Almost one hundred and one years ago, on September the 22nd, 1862, to be But now more than ever before, America is forced to grapple with this The events of Birmingham, Alabama, and the more than sixty communities Now Birmingham and the freedom struggle tell us something else. They But then something happened to the Negro. Circumstances made it possible So, the Negro can now unconsciously cry out with the eloquent poet, Fleecy locks and black complexion
Cannot forfeit nature’s claim.
Skin may differ, but affection
Dwells in black and white the same.
Were I so tall as to reach the pole
Or to grasp at the ocean at a span,
I must be measured by my soul
The mind is the standard of the man. [Applause]
But these events that are taking place in our nation tell us something Then there is another cry. They say, "Why don’t you do it in a And so we must say, now is the time to make real the promises of And so this social revolution taking place can be summarized in three Now the other thing that we must see about this struggle is that by and You see, this method has a way of disarming the opponent. It exposes his This method has wrought wonders. As a result of the nonviolent Freedom And I think by following this approach it will also help us to go into the We are coming to see now, the psychiatrists are saying to us, that many of Now there is a magnificent new militancy within the Negro community all And then another thing I can understand. We’ve been pushed around so long; As I move toward my conclusion, you’re asking, I’m Now the second thing that you can do to help us down in Alabama and And then we also need your support in order to get the civil rights bill And if we will do this we will be able to bring that new day of freedom And so I go back to the South not in despair. I go back to the South not I have a dream that one day, right down in Georgia and Mississippi and I have a dream this afternoon (I have a dream) that one I have a dream this afternoon that one day, [Applause] that one day I have a dream this afternoon (I have a dream) that there will be a I have a dream this afternoon (Yeah) that my four little children, I have a dream this afternoon that one day right here in Detroit, Negroes Yes, I have a dream this afternoon that one day in this land the words of I have a dream this evening that one day we will recognize the words of I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and "every I have a dream this afternoon that the brotherhood of man will become a And with this faith I will go out and carve a tunnel of hope through the Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God almighty, we are free at last! [Applause] members of the Detroit Council of Human Rights, distinguished platform guests, ladies and gentlemen, I cannot begin to say to you this afternoon how thrilled I am, and I cannot begin to tell you the deep joy that comes to my heart as I participate with you in what I consider the largest and greatest demonstration for freedom ever held in the United States. [Applause] And I can assure you that what has been done here today will serve as a source of inspiration for all of the freedom-loving people of this nation. [Applause] [Audience:] (All right)
magnificent demonstration of discipline. With all of the thousands and hundreds of thousands of people engaged in this demonstration today, there has not been one reported incident of violence. [Applause] I think this is a magnificent demonstration of our commitment to nonviolence in this struggle for freedom all over the United States, and I want to commend the leadership of this community for making this great event possible and making such a great event possible through such disciplined channels. [Applause]
exact, a great and noble American, Abraham Lincoln, signed an executive order, which was to take effect on January the first, 1863. This executive order was called the Emancipation Proclamation and it served to free the Negro from the bondage of physical slavery. But one hundred years later, the Negro in the United States of America still isn't free. [Applause]
problem, for the shape of the world today does not afford us the luxury of an anemic democracy. The price that this nation must pay for the continued oppression and exploitation of the Negro or any other minority group is the price of its own destruction. For the hour is late. The clock of destiny is ticking out, and we must act now before it is too late. (Yeah) [Applause]
that have started protest movements since Birmingham, are indicative of the fact that the Negro is now determined to be free. (Yeah) [Applause] For Birmingham tells us something in glaring terms. It says first that the Negro is no longer willing to accept racial segregation in any of its dimensions. [Applause] For we have come to see that segregation is not only sociologically untenable, it is not only politically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. Segregation is a cancer in the body politic, which must be removed before our democratic health can be realized. [Applause] (Yeah) Segregation is wrong because it is nothing but a new form of slavery covered up with certain niceties of complexity. [Applause] Segregation is wrong because it is a system of adultery perpetuated by an illicit intercourse between injustice and immorality. [Applause] And in Birmingham, Alabama, and all over the South and all over the nation, we are simply saying that we will no longer sell our birthright of freedom for a mess of segregated pottage. [Applause] (All right) In a real sense, we are through with segregation now, henceforth, and forevermore. [Sustained applause]
reveal to us that the Negro has a new sense of dignity and a new sense of self-respect. (Yes) For years— (That’s right. Come a long way) [Applause] I think we all will agree that probably the most damaging effect of segregation has been what it has done to the soul of the segregated as well as the segregator. [Applause] It has given the segregator a false sense of superiority and it has left the segregated with a false sense of inferiority. (All right) [Applause] And so because of the legacy of slavery and segregation, many Negroes lost faith in themselves and many felt that they were inferior.
and necessary for him to travel more: the coming of the automobile, the upheavals of two world wars, the Great Depression. And so his rural, plantation background gradually gave way to urban, industrial life. And even his economic life was rising through the growth of industry, the influence of organized labor, expanded educational opportunities. And even his cultural life was rising through the steady decline of crippling illiteracy. And all of these forces conjoined to cause the Negro to take a new look at himself. Negro masses, [Applause] Negro masses all over began to re-evaluate themselves, and the Negro came to feel that he was somebody. His religion revealed to him, [Laughter. Applause] his religion revealed to him that God loves all of his children, and that all men are made in His image, and that figuratively speaking, every man from a bass-black to a treble-white is significant on God's keyboard. [Applause]

else. They tell us that the Negro and his allies in the white community now recognize the urgency of the moment. I know we have heard a lot of cries saying, "Slow up and cool off." [Laughter] We still hear these cries. They are telling us over and over again that you’re pushing things too fast, and so they’re saying, "Cool off." Well, the only answer that we can give to that is that we’ve cooled off all too long, and that is the danger. [Applause] There’s always the danger if you cool off too much that you will end up in a deep freeze. [Applause] "Well," they’re saying, "you need to put on brakes." The only answer that we can give to that is that the motor’s now cranked up and we’re moving up the highway of freedom toward the city of equality, [Applause] and we can’t afford to stop now because our nation has a date with destiny. We must keep moving.
gradual manner?" Well, gradualism is little more than escapism and do-nothingism, which ends up in stand-stillism. [Applause] We know that our brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia are moving with jet-like speed toward the goal of political independence. And in some communities we are still moving at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a hamburger and a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. [Applause]
democracy. Now is the time to transform this pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our nation. [Applause] Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of racial justice. Now is the time to get rid of segregation and discrimination. Now is the time. [Applause] (Now. Now)
little words. They are not big words. One does not need an extensive vocabulary to understand them. They are the words "all," "here," and "now." We want all of our rights, we want them here, and we want them now. [Applause] [Recording interrupted]
large it has been a nonviolent struggle. Let nobody make you feel that those who are engaged or who are engaging in the demonstrations in communities all across the South are resorting to violence; these are few in number. For we’ve come to see the power of nonviolence. We’ve come to see that this method is not a weak method, for it’s the strong man who can stand up amid opposition, who can stand up amid violence being inflicted upon him and not retaliate with violence. (Yeah) [Applause]
moral defenses. It weakens his morale, and at the same time it works on his conscience, and he just doesn’t know what to do. If he doesn’t beat you, wonderful. If he beats you, you develop the quiet courage of accepting blows without retaliating. If he doesn’t put you in jail, wonderful. Nobody with any sense likes to go to jail. But if he puts you in jail, you go in that jail and transform it from a dungeon of shame to a haven of freedom and human dignity. [Applause] And even if he tries to kill you, (He can’t kill you) you’ll develop the inner conviction that there are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for. (Yes) [Applause] And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live. [Applause]
Ride movement, segregation in public transportation has almost passed away absolutely in the South. As a result of the sit-in movement at lunch counters, more than 285 cities have now integrated their lunch counters in the South. I say to you, there is power in this method. [Applause]
new age that is emerging with the right attitude. For nonviolence not only calls upon its adherents to avoid external physical violence, but it calls upon them to avoid internal violence of spirit. It calls on them to engage in that something called love. And I know it is difficult sometimes. When I say "love" at this point, I’m not talking about an affectionate emotion. (All right) It’s nonsense to urge people, oppressed people, to love their oppressors in an affectionate sense. I’m talking about something much deeper. I’m talking about a sort of understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. [Applause]
the strange things that happen in the subconscience, many of the inner conflicts, are rooted in hate. And so they are saying, "Love or perish." But Jesus told us this a long time ago. And I can still hear that voice crying through the vista of time, saying, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." And there is still a voice saying to every potential Peter, "Put up your sword." History is replete with the bleached bones of nations, history is cluttered with the wreckage of communities that failed to follow this command. And isn’t it marvelous to have a method of struggle where it is possible to stand up against an unjust system, fight it with all of your might, never accept it, and yet not stoop to violence and hatred in the process? This is what we have. [Applause]
across this nation. And I welcome this as a marvelous development. The Negro of America is saying he’s determined to be free and he is militant enough to stand up. But this new militancy must not lead us to the position of distrusting every white person who lives in the United States. There are some white people in this country who are as determined to see the Negro free as we are to be free. [Applause] This new militancy must be kept within understanding boundaries.
we’ve been the victims of lynching mobs so long; we’ve been the victims of economic injustice so long—still the last hired and the first fired all over this nation. And I know the temptation. I can understand from a psychological point of view why some caught up in the clutches of the injustices surrounding them almost respond with bitterness and come to the conclusion that the problem can’t be solved within, and they talk about getting away from it in terms of racial separation. But even though I can understand it psychologically, I must say to you this afternoon that this isn’t the way. Black supremacy is as dangerous as white supremacy. [Applause] No, I hope you will allow me to say to you this afternoon that God is not interested merely in the freedom of black men and brown men and yellow men. God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race. [Applause] And I believe that with this philosophy and this determined struggle we will be able to go on in the days ahead and transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
sure, "What can we do here in Detroit to help in the struggle in the South?" Well, there are several things that you can do. One of them you’ve done already, and I hope you will do it in even greater dimensions before we leave this meeting. [Recording interrupted]
Mississippi and all over the South is to work with determination to get rid of any segregation and discrimination in Detroit, [Applause] realizing that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And we’ve got to come to see that the problem of racial injustice is a national problem. No community in this country can boast of clean hands in the area of brotherhood. Now in the North it’s different in that it doesn’t have the legal sanction that it has in the South. But it has its subtle and hidden forms and it exists in three areas: in the area of employment discrimination, in the area of housing discrimination, and in the area of de facto segregation in the public schools. And we must come to see that de facto segregation in the North is just as injurious as the actual segregation in the South. [Applause] And so if you want to help us in Alabama and Mississippi and over the South, do all that you can to get rid of the problem here.
that the President is offering passed. And there’s a reality, let’s not fool ourselves: this bill isn’t going to get through if we don’t put some work in it and some determined pressure. And this is why I’ve said that in order to get this bill through, we’ve got to arouse the conscience of the nation, and we ought to march to Washington more than 100,000 in order to say, [Applause] in order to say that we are determined, and in order to engage in a nonviolent protest to keep this issue before the conscience of the nation.
into being. If we will do this we will be able to make the American dream a reality. And I do not want to give you the impression that it’s going to be easy. There can be no great social gain without individual pain. And before the victory for brotherhood is won, some will have to get scarred up a bit. Before the victory is won, some more will be thrown into jail. Before the victory is won, some, like Medgar Evers, may have to face physical death. But if physical death is the price that some must pay to free their children and their white brothers from an eternal psychological death, then nothing can be more redemptive. Before the victory is won, some will be misunderstood and called bad names, but we must go on with a determination and with a faith that this problem can be solved. (Yeah) [Applause]
with a feeling that we are caught in a dark dungeon that will never lead to a way out. I go back believing that the new day is coming. And so this afternoon, I have a dream. (Go ahead) It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
Alabama, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to live together as brothers.
day, [Applause] one day little white children and little Negro children will be able to join hands as brothers and sisters.
men will no longer burn down houses and the church of God simply because people want to be free.
day that we will no longer face the atrocities that Emmett Till had to face or Medgar Evers had to face, that all men can live with dignity.
that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin. [Applause]
will be able to buy a house or rent a house anywhere that their money will carry them and they will be able to get a job. [Applause] (That’s right)
Amos will become real and "justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
Jefferson that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have a dream this afternoon. [Applause]
valley shall be exalted, and every hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." [Applause]
reality in this day.
mountain of despair. With this faith, I will go out with you and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. With this faith, we will be able to achieve this new day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old:

WILLIE JONES
&
THE ROYAL JOKERS

Willie Jones started singing at a young age of fourteen, with the New
Liberty Baptist Church Choir, in Detroit Michigan. The choir included such
later stars as Little Willie John, Laura Lee, Jackie Wilson and Della Reese.

Willie began his professional career with the Five Willows, where he was
quickly noticed by Noah Howell of the Serenaders, and recruited as the lead
singer of the group.

Al Green, owner of the legendary Flame Show bar, hosted many great stars as
Dinah Washington, Lou Rawls, Bobby Lewis, Jackie Wilson, Sarah Vaughn and
The Midnigthers. Al Green also managed acts like Johnny Ray, Laverne Baker
and the Drifters. It was Al who noticed the sound and comedy antics that
Willie brought to the group; so he quickly negotiated a contract with
Atlantic Records and changed the name of the group to the Royal Jokers.

The Royal Jokers first release was an instant hit "You Tickle Me Baby",
followed by "Don't Leave Me Fanny", "She Mine All Mine" (written by Willie
Jones) and "Rocks In My Pillow" and many more. These hits open the door to
tours known today, as in those days, as the Chitlin circuit. The Jokers
played popular venues such as the Fox Theater in Detroit, Michigan, the
Apollo in New York City, and the Howard in Washington.

Willie's versatile style of singing Jazz to Blues carried him through every
facet of show business, traveling and performing with notable artists as
Count Basse, Dinah Washington, BB King, Miles Davis and many many more.

Willie, an icon in the business himself, was later recruited to replace
Clyde McPhatter of the Drifters. However, Atlantic decided to change the
group's musical direction by replacing the entire line up with the Five
Crowns, featuring baritone lead Ben E. King. Undaunted by this, Willie also
changed direction; he became a solo artist on Big Top Records where he wrote
many songs of notoriety like "All Alone", "Coming Back To You", and "Stay
Here".

After Willie's time with Big Top Records, he spent time owning and managing
his own nightclubs and bringing young talent to the stage. However, Willie
could not get his love for R&B out of his heart. So Willie returned to his
true love.., the music.

Noted Playwright and Director, Ron Milner was the first to introduce Willie
to the acting stage with the play Great Music Great Legends. Willie went
on to act in other plays written and produced by the exceedingly talented
Playwright, Director Michael Matthews such as Secret Lover, Forbidden Fruit,
Who Can You Trust and others. Willie received rave reviews for his acting
and singing in these plays around the country.

Willie sharpened his craft by performing with great stars such as Melba
Moore, James Avery, Richard Roundtree and many, many more. After Willie
finished his travels and acting in plays, he returned to Detroit where he
searched and found the best, most talented individuals (Marvin Abney,
Thaddaeus Ted Frye and Marvin Poncho Turner) to re-form the now "World
Famous Royal Jokers".

Marvin Abney
Marvin has sung with such artists as Patte LaBell, George Clinton, Carl
Carton, Ray Parker Jr. and the Superlatives. He has sung on many hits but
most notably with the Elements.

Marvin is a 1st and 2nd Tenor with a versatile style and is able to play the
keyboard. Marvin grew up in and around the music industry singing as an
early age in his father's recording studio. Marvin recently joined the
Royal Jokers and has already become an asset to the group.

Thaddeus (Ted) Frye
Ted sung with such groups as the Soul Mates, the Magic Tones and the
Perfections. Ted, an international performer shared the stage with great
artists like the Jimmy Hendrix, Pink Floyd, the Cream, Johnny Lee Hooker,
Sam & Dave and many, many more all across the United States and Europe.

Marvin (Poncho) Turner
Poncho, a former member of the R & B Band The Phorce is a highly
professional, all around entertainer. Music major at Western Michigan
University, Poncho plays trumpet, piano and sings a complete range from
Tenor to Baritone and can sign lead with control and authority.

Poncho as he is affectionate called has traveled and performed with the best
of R & B groups and bands across the United States and accomplished
musicians, as well as singers. Poncho with his magnetic personality and
polished style will have you inspired and intrigued patting your feet and
clapping your hands. A true professional and with the Royal Jokers he's
headed for the top.

The Royal Jokers
The combined experience of this Royal Jokers ensemble brings versatility
unrivaled by most vocal groups on the scene today. These four are capable
of delivering background harmonies and energetic leads with ease.

Their showcase encompasses everything from popular and jazz standards to
rhythm 'n' blues, soul, Motown and modern harmony. When the spirit moves,
they'll even take you to church and back in a gospel zephyr.

Unlike many contemporary acts, their presentation is smoothly choreographed,
dressed in elegance and delivered with class reverence for their audience.
Just when you think you can relax in some audio-visual reverie, the comedy
bug will bite them, often bringing them off the stage and out among their
patrons.

After all, they are the Royal Jokers "Royal" because they are regal, at the
top of their game!! "Jokers" because like no other royal family, mischief
and laughter are their crown and scepter. Even now, after almost fifty
years in entertainment, veteran acts and shooting stars are coming to their
shows to see what the fuss is all about... and taking notes.

THE ROYAL JOKERS ARE BACK AS NEVER BEFORE. DON'T MISS THE MUSIC AND MAYHEM
WHEN THEY STORM INTO YOUR TOWN.

For booking information, interviews or merchandise, contact Willie Jones of
Detroit, Michigan (313) 585-6250

Martha the Queen
Martha Jean "The Queen"

Martha Jean "The Queen" arrived in Detroit, in 1963, to become a part of the Bell Broadcasting Company and found the Motor City to be somewhat similar to the southern roots of Memphis. She was an instant success. She was unique. She brought freshness, life, personality, and a philosophy that people are the greatest investment in the world, and the truth will set you free. She was a much sought after personality, appearing at nightclubs, civic and religious functions.
Within the community, the people knew she cared, appreciated and loved them enough to risk stepping on toes to tell them the truth. Her reputation for selling products followed her from Memphis and her reputation for selling people on themselves was fast growing. She worked at WCHB-AM, in Inkster for about 2 years.
"The Queen" moved to WJLB, in 1966, to be hailed as the "only female radio personality in the city and the nation to so steadily command the air waves." Many who had migrated from the south had a voice through her.
The power of her influence as a "voice of reason" emerged when she posted herself at the microphone for 48 hours during the rebellion of 1967, pleading with Detroiters to "get off the streets." Afterwards, she regularly co-hosted a call-in radio show with the Police Commissioner called "Buzz the Fuzz" in an attempt to improve relations between the police and the people.
Her ever-growing love for the community and the "forgotten man" sparked her to begin her work with the Blue Collar Workers of America, later to become the Queen's Community Workers. On July 9, 1993 Queen was selected as a delegate agency for Head Start, serving over 450 children and parents in Detroit.
In the midst of her greatest achievements she experienced the joyless routine of unrewarded labor, the dramatic violence against one another and society, and men's hopeless quest for satisfaction and power. The creation of her Inspiration Time gave voice to a need to nurture, advise and comfort her people, to change their lives by expressing her strong belief in God. She continued for five years, and then, in the serenity of Inspiration Time it happened!
On February 2, 1972, her midday show broke format. "The Queen" received the power of the Holy Spirit, setting her free, preparing her to be called to God's service. After 25 years of selling people on products, "The Queen" started selling people on GOD! On April 10, 1975, the Holy Spirit led "The Queen" to found The Order of the Fishermen Ministry, a non-denominational spirit filled movement to help people establish a fulfilling relationship with GOD with an emphasis on obedience, discipline and faith with compassionate and merciful love. She continued to use the radio airwaves as the medium of her message.
As her followers grew, and the establishment of the "Home of Love" which houses her church, her longtime commitment and resolve to radio ministry strengthened. In 1982, Booth Broadcasting, WJLB-FM, dropped her from the station lineup. Queen and associated investors purchased WJLB-AM and changed the call letters to WQBH-AM, an acronym for "Welcome The Queen Back Home." She became co-founder and General manager (on air personality) at WQBH (1400 AM). The value of the station tripled and established her as a highly successful businesswoman.
On May 12, 1997, with the blessing of the Holy Spirit and the support of the community, Martha Jean "The Queen' purchased WQBH Radio, (Queen's Broadcasting Corporation), and, became one of the first Black female radio owners in the country. She served also as its President/General manager. A Legend, "The Queen" has been recognized as a Black radio pioneer. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's roll of distinguished radio personalities in 1998, and received "The Living Legends" Awards for those who have paved the way in the music industry as well as over 400 community service, media and state awards, including keys to various cities in the United States.
The state of Michigan recognized her as its "Michiganian of the Year" in 1995. December 31, 1999 was named "Martha Jean 'The QUEEN' Day" by Mayor Dennis Archer at her annual "Victory Rally'" to pray for the peace, prosperity and wholeness for the city of Detroit. Determined to bring jobs, prosperity and opportunity to her beloved city, "The QUEEN" was instrumental in bringing casino gaming into Detroit. When invited, she became one of seven local partners in MGM Grand Detroit. She wanted to be in a position to "make sure her people and city were treated right."
For over 40 years "The QUEEN" has been "helping us sell ourselves on ourselves, to help us get ourselves together."
On Saturday, January 29, 2000, at 10:45 a.m., Martha Jean "The QUEEN" Steinberg laid her earthly burdens down and said yes to GOD.
She is survived by her three daughters: Diane Steinberg-Lewis, Sandra Steinberg and Trienere Steinberg, her three granddaughters Sierra Kiani Lewis, Kendra Jean Lewis, and Kayla Fox Steinberg, her mother, Elder Mother Florence Jones, her sister Mildred Johnson and her brother, Virgil Jones, Jr. and a host of relatives, friends and parishioners.
God bless you, we love you! Long Live the Queen.

The Scene, a daily dance show that featured many National and Local Guests artists as well as many youngsters from the community was debuted. The show ran for a record 12 consecutive years from 1975 to 1987 and retired as one the most popular and successful shows in the history of WGPR-TV channel 62.
The Scene had a strong loyal following of viewers that grew to include city and suburb, white and Black, the young and the young at heart. Nat Morris, Executive producer and host, provided opportunities for unknown artists, launching many careers that went to national and international fame. The Scene paved the way for all the Detroit local entertainment TV shows that followed and had the impact on Detroit Black Television in much the same way that Soul Train and Don Cornelius had on a national level.

ARE YOU READY TO THROW DOWN?

Video Producers

Emanuel Stewart
Emanuel Steward
He turns youth into world champions

Emanuel Steward

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emanuel Steward (born 1944) is a boxing trainer who is in the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
Steward was born in West Virginia, and by the age of 12, he had moved with his mother to Detroit, Michigan. Before that, Steward had boxed on some play bouts his father had set up with his neighbor friends. When he moved to Detroit, he immediately submerged into the Brewster Recreation Center, where fellow hall of famers Joe Louis and Eddie Futch had trained before. Steward was able to compile a record of 95 wins and 3 losses as an amateur boxer, and he won many tournaments, including the 1963 national Golden Gloves tournament. He soon started training amateur boxers,but because of his family's economical situation, he needed a steady job, and so he became an electrician.
Soon after, he was asked to look out for his half brother James. This was 1971, and Emanuel took James to the nearby Kronk Gym. Emanuel got interested in coaching boxers again while he attended Kronk with James.
By the 1970s, Kronk had become an amateur boxer hot-bed, as many of the United States top amateur contenders came to be trained by Steward, and eventually, many of these guys went to the professional rankings and became world champions. By the late '70s, Steward had become known in the boxing world as a trainer.
During the 1980s, those amateur guys that came to Kronk to work under Steward had begun to become world champions,(On March 2 of 1980 Hilmer Kenty became Steward's first world champion by knocking out world Lightweight champ Ernesto Espana), and Steward often found himself involved in some of boxing's biggest events as a trainer, such as The War, where Steward trainee Thomas Hearns faced Marvin Hagler for the world Middleweight title, and Hearns' fights with Wilfredo Benitez, Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Kronk became a property of Steward, who now is famous also for his collection of Rolls Royce cars and mansion. He opened a branch of the gym in Tucson, Arizona, and has started an association with the Dodge Theater in Phoenix to present boxing undercards once a month. Teenage amateur prospect Ernie Gonzalez has been boxing in some of those undercards, which brings an interesting twist to Steward's cards, because usually boxing cards do not include both amateur and professional fights the same night.
Among the world champions who have trained or sought Steward's guidance at some point of their career are:

Hilmer Kenty
Thomas Hearns
Milton McCrory
Mike McCallum
Dennis Andries
Jimmy Paul
Duane Thomas
John David Jackson
Michael Moorer
Steve McCrory
Gerald McClellan
Wilfredo Benitez
Evander Holyfield
Julio Cesar Chavez
Lennox Lewis
Oscar De La Hoya

Steward is very appreciative of his fame and is good about signing autographs for his fans.
Steward gained new fame for his recent calls during the epic fights of Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward -- including his legendary assessment of Gatti Ward I's Round 9: "This should be the Round of the Century!" an instant assessment shared by the many millions watching the titanic duel.

History of the Mission

Mother Waddles opens her first soup kitchen in the Cass Corridor in 1957

She organizes Christmas food baskets for the needy in 1970

Mother Waddles once said we live in a society that creates a lot of monsters.
She spent her life trying to rehabilitate them.
Charleszetta Waddles, whose charity work got her invited to the White House, written up in countless publications and featured in a PBS television documentary, died Thursday morning at her Detroit home from an undisclosed cause. She was 88.
"I don't think there's been anyone who's had a greater impact for the better part of the last century in helping those who live in the shadows," said her lawyer, Butch Hollowell of Detroit. "She dedicated her whole life to those in need."
Hollowell last spoke to her two weeks ago and had seen her a few weeks before that at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Freedom Fund Dinner in Detroit.
"She had that Mother Waddles unfailing smile on her face," he said. "You could tell she was fighting the years of several strokes and other kinds of ailments. But she still had that inner strength."
Though she became a Detroit institution, Waddles described her life as following the Lord's work. She said she trusted Him to provide the means.
He and thousands of friends always seemed to come through to help her Perpetual Mission dodge one crisis or another.
At times she even struggled with her image, which some thought of as a kind of fur-and-Lincoln look. To which she once responded: "They're damn fools. I wore good clothes when I was on welfare."
She was a charismatic, complex, larger-than-life personality who once sold whiskey to feed her 10 children. But her greatest gift, say those who loved her most, was her ability to withhold judgment.
"She didn't care how you came to her," said her oldest daughter, Beatrice Nance, 74. "She took you in."
Among the thousands over the years who had aided her cause was former champion boxer Tommy Hearns. He called one holiday season to donate turkeys. He had been to her mission when he was 8 years old, and she had fed him. He'd never forgotten it.
She had run her small, stitched-together charity since 1958, sometimes without regard for details such as paperwork -- which occasionally prompted questions about how the business end of the charity was handled.
But she dismissed them. "I am carrying out a will larger than the Edison man's or any city inspector," she said.
Born in St. Louis in 1912, the oldest of seven children, she wanted to become a nurse but had to quit school at 12 to work to support her mother.
She moved to Detroit in 1937. She took what jobs she could, operating a blind pig, or after-hours drinking spot, and collecting numbers slips, the underworld's illegal version of the weekly lottery.
In late 1957, while operating a secondhand clothing store on East Adams, she "felt something tell me to turn my life around." Soon she had opened a storefront mission on Columbia and Hastings, selling meals for 35 cents.
Yet working with troubled people sometimes brought trouble to her and to others.
In February 1971, a man waving a gun shot and killed a Detroit policeman in a shootout inside her Gratiot Avenue mission.
The incident caused Mother Waddles to reflect but not to quit.
"There's no fire and brimstone after death," she said. "I think there's plenty of hell right here in Detroit."
Then in 1974, a raffle to raise money for the mission by selling chances on a Rolls Royce turned sour. Her son, Leroy, and a promoter charged each other with skimming off about $70,000 of the $80,000 raised. Police investigated, but no one was prosecuted.
Ten years later, a fire damaged her headquarters on Gratiot. So she moved again, this time west to a storefront on Grand River.
She eventually earned a place in a Smithsonian Institution exhibit about the achievements of black women. She was interviewed by an Ivy League scholar as part of an oral history project.
"She was a gracious figure," said former attorney general Frank Kelley, who knew Waddles for 40 years. "She had a kind and compassionate heart."
The Mother Waddles Lots of Love on Jos. Campau is now the mission's headquarters. The sanctuary, where Mother Waddles preached until this year, is there. And the food program -- free box lunches on Thursdays -- is there.
The lease at the Grand River property ran out a few years ago, and fires at various warehouses hurt the mission. Over the years, the charity faced evictions for unpaid rent and utility shutoffs for unpaid bills.
But Mother Waddles always found hope: "I'm in the business of loving the hell out of people."
Charleszetta "Mother" Waddles 1912-2001

'Mother' Waddles gave heart to poor
Mission founder dies in her sleep

By Kim Kozlowski and Candice Cunningham / The Detroit News

    DETROIT -- It was 2:30 p.m. Thursday outside of the Mother Waddles Perpetual Mission on Jos. Campau. Normally, Charleszetta "Mother" Waddles and a group of volunteers would have been passing out whole chickens, vegetables and canned goods to hundreds of needy families in the community. function gallery1() { newsgallery=window.open ("http://pc99.detnews.com/newsgallery/frame.hbs?project=waddles","newsgallery",'toolbar=0,menubar=0,scrollbars=1,resizable=1,width=615,height=550') }
   But Waddles, who could be called Detroit's Mother Teresa, was recovering from a heart attack she suffered recently, so one of her daughters on Wednesday night cancelled the weekly event. Within hours of that decision, Detroit lost a beloved Samaritan, spiritual leader and controversial figure, when Waddles, 88, passed away peacefully in her sleep.
   "I feel like I lost a mother," said David Smith, sales manager at Mother Waddles Car Donations. He, like so many others in Detroit, said Waddles was the inspiration for change in his life. "She's probably the main reason to go on and fight so hard to be a God-fearing man and live right."
   Her Mother Waddles Perpetual Mission, operating since 1957, reached out to thousands in need of food, clothing, shelter and transportation.
   Her influence also extended to the parishioners whom she served for several years as an ordained minister, and as far away as Africa, where she opened 17 missions.
   "Mother Waddles loss is Detroit's loss," said Mayor Dennis Archer. "She was an icon to this city, having helped more people who have been in need and touched the lives of so many who have been down and out."
   Born in St. Louis, Waddles was the daughter of a barber who died when she was 12. She quit school in the eighth grade to work as a kitchen maid to help her mother. In 1936, she moved to Detroit.
   Waddles began her good works years before she founded her mission when she passed out bread and vegetables to her neighbors, even though at the time she couldn't afford it. She also came to the aid of others when they suffered crises, and needed refrigerators, stoves and other necessities. When she opened her mission in 1957, its focus was small: distributing canned goods donated from her and her friends' pantries. Later, the mission expanded to include a food and clothing dispatch, a meal and medical center, a used car lot, emergency services department and a restaurant serving meals for 35 cents.
   Her work earned her a slew of accolades, that included former Gov. William Milliken proclaiming a week in her honor and the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame adding her to its list of distinguished Michigan women.
   "She was an example to so many people of what you can do when you have a good heart and you have a passion," said Eleanor Josaitis, co-founder Focus:Hope.
   An ordained minister, Waddles preached from her church for many years on Sundays.
   She married three times, and bore 10 children, seven of whom are still surviving.
   Waddles' life, however, did not escape scrutiny. Figures released in 1975 by the mission showed only 7 percent of the funding was funnelled to charitable programs while the rest went to administrative and related costs. She also faced eviction notices and utility shut offs because of unpaid bills, along with some legal troubles.
   Still, many will always remembers her as one of the city's best hopes for the poor. They promise to continue her legacy.
   Detroit City Council Member Brenda M. Scott said Waddles' life is best exemplified by what Martin Luther King once said:
   " 'Everyone can be great because anyone can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.'
   "That's Mother Waddles."

DONNIE SIMPSON
A true legend in the media world

Donnie began his radio career at WJLB in Detroit, at the age of 15!! After 8 successful years at JLB, Donnie moved to Washington, DC to join WKYS where he hosted the morning show and served as Program Director for 15 years. On March 11, 1993, Donnie joined WPGC-FM.
In 1981, Donnie served as George Michael's back-up sports anchor for WRC-TV (NBC's Washington affiliate). In 1983, he joined BET as host of Video Soul, where he broke new ground as one of the nations first "VJ's". Donnie presented a wide array of music videos and conducted hundreds of memorable live interviews on BET for 14 years.

Elijah McCoy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedh J. McCoy (2 May 1844 - 10 October 1929) was an inventor.

Elijah McCoy was born in Ontario, Canada, to runaway slaves from Kentucky in the United States, who escaped on the underground railroad. When he was three, McCoy's family moved back to the U.S., settling in Detroit, Michigan. He had 11 brothers and sisters. McCoy was fascinated by machinery. He studied engineering in Scotland from age 16 and on his return to the United States settled in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
While working as a fireman on the Michigan Central Railroad McCoy invented the automatic lubricator, which oils the engines of boats, trains, and so on. His "lubricating cup" for locomotives from 1872 was a great boon for the railroad industry, allowing trains to run faster and more profitably with much less need to stop for lubrication and maintenance. He also developed at least 56 other patented devices, including a folding ironing board and an automatic sprinkler. In 1920 he formed the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company.
McCoy married Ann Elizabeth Stewart in 1868; she died four years later. He remarried the next year to Mary Eleanor Delaney and moved to Detroit. Elijah McCoy died in Detroit in 1929 at the age of 85, still suffering from injuries from a car accident seven years earlier that killed his second wife. McCoy had been a resident of the Eloise Hospital, also known as the Michigan State Asylum before his death, suffering from dementia.
According to some sources, the saying the real McCoy, meaning the real thing, derives from Elijah: many of his inventions were the basis of inferior copies. Railroad engineers would enquire if a locomotive was equipt with "the real McCoy"; if so they knew it could be driven with confidence. Others dispute this account of the origin of the phrase.

WILLIE HORTON

Born in Detroit, Willie Horton was the youngest of 19 children, a four-time All-Star and a fan favorite for the Tigers in the 1960s and 1970s. He drew attention when at the age of 16 he blasted a home run into Tiger Stadium's right field stands in an All-City game. A tremendously strong man, Horton was the big power threat on Detroit's 1968 World Series Championship team. Horton hit 325 homers in his career, combining strength with quick wrists. After his playing career, Horton worked briefly for the Yankees under Billy Martin as baseball's first "harmony coach." His role was essentially to make sure Martin wasn't undermined by clubhouse politics, and to tutor young players on how to stay out of trouble.

Nicknames
"Willie the Wonder"

Played For
Detroit Tigers (1963-1977), Texas Rangers (1977), Cleveland Indians (1978), Oakland A's (1978), Toronto Blue Jays (1978), Seattle Mariners (1979-1980)

Coached
New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox

Post-Season
1968 World Series, 1972 ALCS

World Champion?
Yes, 1968 Tigers

Ultimate Games (1-1)
1968 World Series Game Seven, 1972 ALCS Game Five

Honors
All-Star (4): 1965, 1968, 1970, 1973; fourth in 1968 American League Most Valuable Player voting; in 1979 with the Mariners, Horton was named the AL's Outstanding Designated Hitter and the Comeback Player of the Year.

Stats
Career stats from baseball-reference.com

Similar Players
Joe Adcock, Roy Sievers

Players Linked
Lou Brock, who failed to slide in Game Five of the 1968 World Series and was gunned down by Horton's throw from left field.

Position
Left field through 1974, and designated hitter after that.

Major League Debut: September 10, 1963

Feats
Horton hit two homers in a game 30 times during his career... On June 9, 1970, Horton hit three homers against the Brewers... On May 15, 1977, a month after Detroit traded him to Texas, Horton hit three homers against the Royals.

Uniform #'s
#48 (1963, 1978 Blue Jays), #23 (1964-1978), #53 (1979-1980)

Transaction Data (courtesy Retrosheet.org)
August 7, 1961: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent; April 12, 1977: Traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Texas Rangers for Steve Foucault; February 28, 1978: Traded by the Texas Rangers with David Clyde to the Cleveland Indians for Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein; July 3, 1978: Released by the Cleveland Indians; July 13, 1978: Signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics; August 15, 1978: Traded by the Oakland Athletics with Phil Huffman to the Toronto Blue Jays for Rico Carty; December 2, 1978: Granted Free Agency; January 27, 1979: Signed as a Free Agent with the Seattle Mariners; December 1, 1979: Granted Free Agency; December 20, 1979: Signed as a Free Agent with the Seattle Mariners; December 12, 1980: Traded by the Seattle Mariners with Larry Cox, Rick Honeycutt, Mario Mendoza, and Leon Roberts to the Texas Rangers for Richie Zisk, Rick Auerbach, Ken Clay, Jerry Don Gleaton, Brian Allard, and Steve Finch (minors); April 1, 1981: Released by the Texas Rangers; May 4, 1981: Signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Best Season, 1968
Horton's career numbers appear modest because he toiled during the low-scoring 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968 he was second in the American League in slugging, OPS, total bases and homers (36). He was fourth in RBI (85) and batted .285, which was also fourth in the league. In the World Series he hit .304 with six runs scored, a homer and three RBI. In addition, his assist that nabbed Lou Brock at home in Game Five helped turn the series in Detroit's favor.

Hitting Streaks
16 games (1970), 15 games (1971, 1979)

They're All Willie's...
Willie Horton was a strong man. It once took four teammates to keep the slugger from beating an opposing pitcher after a brush back pitch. The true measure of Horton's strength? In a game in 1969 he checked his swing - and broke his bat!

Horton was a poor Detroit kid who made it big with his hometown team. As a boy he would sneak into Tiger Stadium to watch his heroes. In 1999 Tiger Stadium closed it's gates for good. When Horton ran onto the field for the post-game festivities after the final game, he was greeted with a tremendous ovation from fans who appreciated his 15 seasons and 262 home runs with Detroit. Willie Horton, the slugger who starred on the '68 World Champions...the little kid from the streets of Detroit...the strong man who broke bats with brute strength...broke down and cried like a baby.

FACTOID
Horton used the same batting helmet his entire career, having it painted to match his new teams after leaving Detroit.

National Training Center & Missionary Residence Hall
Detroit, MI

SHRINES OF THE BLACK MADONNA of the
Pan African Orthodox Christian Church
Detroit – Atlanta – Houston – Calhoun Falls

Central Region: 7625 Linwood, Detroit, MI 48238, 313-875-9700
Southern Region: 960 R.D. Abernathy Blvd, SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, 404-752-5490
Southwest Region: 5317 M.L. King Blvd, Houston, TX 77021, 713-641-5035
Beulah Land Region: Beulah Land Farm Drive, Calhoun Falls, SC 29638, 864-348-3232

For nearly 50 years, the Shrines of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church (PAOCC)has been dedicating its Christian ministry to the upliftment, empowerment and liberation of the Pan African world community. We alone provide the theological, philosophical, and programmatic foundation to build "institutional power" for Black People.

The Shrine of the Black Madonna (PAOCC) has always committed its resources to transforming the spiritual emptiness, economic powerlessness and social disorganization which have plagued the Black community. The church provides the worldwide community with a leadership framework for expanding institutional power for Black Liberation. The revolutionary Christian theology of the Church, Beulah Land Farms, Cultural Centers and Bookstores, Technological Centers, and Community Service Centers, are all examples of how the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church has operationalized spiritual power, Black excellence and economic empowerment.

The PAOCC began as a socially conscious, religious institution in 1953. The Shrine, formally known as The Central Congregational Church, was founded in Detroit, Michigan, by Reverend Albert B. Cleage Jr. (Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman). The Southern Region of the PAOCC was established in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1975, the Southwest Region in Houston, Texas, in 1977, and Beulah Land Farms in Calhoun Falls, SC, in 1999.

The PAOCC is "a force for good in our community and in the lives of men, women and children" because of our belief that "no area of life is separate and apart from our Christian faith, and no problem of society is too dangerous and too controversial for positive Christian action by our church." To that end, the PAOCC seeks to establish a system of Black institutions that can meet the growing needs of a Black community in crisis.

Revolutionary Black Church
The Pan African Orthodox Christian Church labors to bring the Black Church back to its historic roots—The African origins of Christianity and the original teachings of Jesus, the Black Messiah. We offer "seekers" not only a theology grounded in our African heritage, but also therapeutic processes and spiritual disciplines capable of leading one to a transforming, empowering experience of God.

The Shrine of the Black Madonna Cultural Center and Bookstore is one of the institutions of the Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church. Since the first Cultural Center opened in Detroit, MI, in 1970, our purpose has been to contribute to the strengthening of Black People’s identification with the Black experience. In carrying out this mission, the Cultural Centers help us to build a positive Black identity by maintaining our connection to our African heritage and culture. We lead the way for a Black Cultural Renaissance by providing a forum for creative Black artists to display their talents in the Black Community.

Our bookstores and cultural centers (located in Detroit, Atlanta and Houston) contain one of the largest selections of books related to the Black experience in the world.

The Cultural Center and Bookstore regularly sponsor and host book parties/signings, poetry readings and lectures on topics related to Black history and culture. We take special care to maintain an esthetic atmosphere of warmth, friendliness and spirituality in all of our centers. We are also very proud of our Karamu Art Gallery, which contains one of the most extensive collections of art from people of color in Africa, India, South America, the Islands, and America.

We invite you to experience the many aspects of our Cultural Center and Bookstore, including our BLACK HOLOCAUST EXHIBIT. For those of you unable to visit one of our local centers, we hope our web site offers you a virtual and cultural experience of a rich and diverse people.

Sincerely,
Barbara Martin, National Director
Nkengi Abi, Detroit Manager
Amir Omowale, Atlanta Manager
Anika Sala, Houston Manager

Reverend C. L. Franklin

On January 22, 1915, sharecropper Rachel Franklin and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world, and they named him Clarence LaVaughn. Little did Clarence's mother and soon-to-be stepfather Henry know that the boy they were raising would grow up to be one of the greatest orators of the 20th Century.
It was when his family moved from Sunflower County, MS to Cleveland, MS that Rev. Franklin found his calling. He was converted and baptized at age 10 at St. Peter's Rock Baptist Church, the church his family attended. From that point on, Rev. Franklin became an active member of the church community. One day, after hearing the passionate orator Benjamin J. Perkins preaching, Rev. Franklin was filled with the desire to become a pastor and preacher himself. At age sixteen, he was nominated for ordination by the Baptist Council, and accepted as an associate pastor at St. Peter's Rock Baptist Church.
He married Barbara Siggers, a church pianist, and had five children: Erma, Cecil, Aretha and Carolyn, as well as half-brother Vaughn. While his family was growing, so was word of his outstanding talent as a preacher, and demand grew rapidly for him to preach at churches all over the country. Before settling at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Rev. Franklin served as pastor at New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis and Friendship Baptist Church in Buffalo, NY, and was often invited to other churches as a guest speaker.
Rev. Franklin's accomplishments while serving 33 years as pastor at New Bethel had not only a profound impact on his congregation, but the United States as a whole. In his parish alone, he started a food ministry for those who could not afford sustenance for themselves or their families, offered financial and legal help for the homeless, and conducted a prison ministry.
On a larger scale, Rev. Franklin became involved in politics by urging voters to go out to the poles and vote for the qualified candidates he was endorsing. He became an active member in the civil rights movement. One of his greatest accomplishments was co-organizing the 1963 "Walk Toward Freedom March" with his close friend, Martin Luther King, Jr. Rev. Franklin was also actively involved in such organizations as the Urban League, NAACP, and on the Executive Board of the Southern Christian Leadership Council.
Perhaps most of all, Rev. C. L. Franklin was known as "the man with the golden voice." His sermons and music evoked waves of emotion from anyone listening. Unlike most faith-based orators of his time, C.L.'s sermons were broadcast on radio nationwide under the Chess Recording Company banner. In his 33 years at New Bethel, Rev. Franklin also released 76 live recordings of his sermons and music. He preached at churches all over the country and often brought his daughter, Aretha, though all the children joined CL in his road entourage at one time or another.
For a man who accomplished so much in his lifetime, his time on earth was cut short when, in June 1979, he was shot during a robbery attempt on his house in Detroit. He remained in a coma for 5 years and died on July 27, 1984. It is estimated that 10,000 people attended his funeral at New Bethel Baptist Church. A short time later, Detroit's mayor, Coleman A. Young, renamed Linwood Street as C. L. Franklin Boulevard, and renamed the park, (located 2 blocks from C. L. Franklin's house,) C. L. Franklin Park. It is at New Bethel Baptist Church where the legacy of the preacher with the golden voice will continue to live on.

Ree Ree
ARETHA FRANKLIN

In a career spanning more than forty years, the woman Time magazine named "one of the most influential people of the last century," The Wall Street Journal called "the most powerful singer alive" and VH1, "the greatest woman in rock ‘n’ roll," continues to find new ways to inspire and amaze. And on her recent Gold-plus album, A Rose Is Still A Rose, Rolling Stone says Aretha Franklin has never been in better form.
The Queen of Soul’s songs, the magazine says, are fresh, the hooks seductive and the album from start to finish filled with many pleasures and happy surprises.
A Rose Is Still A Rose teams Aretha with some of the hottest producers around, including Sean "Puffy" Combs, Lauryn Hill, Jermaine Dupri, Dallas Austin, Daryl Simmons, Michael Powell and Narada Micahel Walden. The results? A dynamic, smooth synthesis of classic soul and cutting-edge pop.
At the same time, A Rose Is Still A Rose reflects the wisdom and wit of someone who has lived the life of her songs. This is Aretha at the top of her game, singing with the emotional intensity that turned her into an international superstar.
Starting in the sixties, when she defined the Golden Age of Soul, her highly personal gospel-inspired sound brought her status as one of the Greats of American Music. She has won virtually every award there is to win, scoring dozens of smash hits, a truckload of Grammy's and Lifetime Achievement Awards. She is the youngest recipient in the history of the Kennedy Center Honors as well as the first woman elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But it's not the legendary icon who greets you at Vanguard Studios in Detroit; this isn't the fabled diva or hallowed Queen. This is simply Aretha, real and ready to sing. In between work sessions, she was delighted to discuss A Rose Is Still A Rose.
Her dress is sporty, her style all-the-way relaxed. A hip jogging suit and sequined baseball cap, sneakers and cool tinted glasses. My working outfit, she explains. I've come to sing.
And sing she does. The effortlessness with which she soars over Puffy’s smooth track has you shaking your head with wonder. In the vocal booth, eyes squeezed tight, she reaches the heavens. Before scatting a few bars in the bridge, she discusses the nature of scat singing. There are others who do this better than me, she declares. Minutes later, though, she proves herself wrong. Her scat solo is a gem of sweet soul-jazz - imaginative, whimsical and wholly satisfying.
She explains during a break, "I like a lyric that's saying, `The hunter gets capture by the game.’ I also like the idea of a woman saying things to a man that, at a different time, only a man would say to a woman. I like the attitude."
Aretha herself has attitude to spare. Her down-to-earth demeanor is refreshing and endearing. She exudes confidence without being cocky; she's smart without being pretentious, strong but not overbearing. In the studio, she seeks others advice. But when it gets down to the getting-down, Aretha delivers with the thrilling efficiency of a consummate pro. Her art is elevating.
"To sing a song," she says, "I must find meaning in the lyric. And of course I must feel the groove. That's why I was so excited about this album. The meanings are deep and the grooves are cooking."
The title cut, "A Rose is Still a Rose," is a case in point. The hip-hop tinged tune, with its dazzling overdubs, spins Aretha in a new direction. Lauryn Hill brought me the track, Aretha recalls. And it was love at first hearing. Lauryn reminds me of myself in the studio - very kicked-back. We clicked. I liked the role the song put me in. I felt comfortable giving advice to a woman who's being taken advantage of. It's a positive sister-to-sister, friend-to-friend affirmation: You've got the power. Don't be misused. You're in control. Go on, girl!
Aretha goes on to delineate her attitude about modern music. "I'm interested in modern attitudes. Take "Here We Go Again," a smash song," she says, referring to the sizzling Jermaine Dupri production. "The story says that the man will do better, but he comes back with the same old same old. They're going nowhere fast. He's been playing, and he's busted. Well, baby, I can relate."
The counterpoint may be "I'll Dip," Dallas Austin's spirited contribution. It's a saucy little song, says Aretha, with an extra-hip bounce. "This is a woman who's dependent on no man. She'll split in a sec. She'll move ahead and beyond him. She's strong.
There are times, though," adds Aretha, "when we can't always be so sure of ourselves. That's why I feel the truth of "In the Morning." Aretha refers to the production by Daryl Simmons, former partner of Babyface and L.A. Reid. "The question is will you love me in the morning? It takes a beautiful ballad to give such a question the right emotional framework. And, at least to my ears, "In the Morning" is a very beautiful ballad."
Simmons also produced "In Case U Forgot," a mid-tempo romp that catches Aretha in an especially assertive posture. She sings the socks off the song. "I mean what I sing, she insists. Here's a woman who, like all women, wants her men to remember that she was there when he had nothing. She was his anchor, and she wants respect."
Respect is a lifetime theme of the great Aretha Franklin. Personal respect and professional respect. Respect is the cornerstone of real relationships of any kind. "Every Little Bit Hurts," she says, pointing to another smokin' Jermaine Dupri production, "shows how intimacy depends on respect. Understanding is based on respect."
Every generation cherishes enduring love ballads, and "How Many Times" will surely endure as another Aretha classic. Produced by her long-time collaborator Narada Michael Walden (the man responsible for "Freeway of Love"), the song is a heartbreaker. Aretha explains: "I'm telling my man, `When will you wake up and smell the coffee?' I've been there for you through thick and thin. But you got your blinders on. You can't see the forest for the trees. You can't see the truth that every woman has a breaking point."
Narada also produced "Watch My Back." "The writer is a new young talent from Detroit," says Aretha, "a discovery of mine. Mr. Norman West. He customized these lyrics for a woman. It's a funky track and highly danceable. A sister’s saying, `I'm for you and you're for me, and let's keep it that way." I don't' mind broadcasting that message at all."
Detroiter Michael Powell produced "Love Pang." "That's another song I brought to the party," Aretha announces. "It was written by Myra Waters, a friend of mine from the old days. The sound and sentiment are very today. I find the ballad haunting, the genuine sentiments of a woman in love and the various scenarios she lives through."
Aretha has lived through a lot of love and a lot of music. Her self-penned "The Woman," with its arresting melody, attests to her ability as a writer as well as vocalist supreme. Sensitive to the subtleties of human emotion, she is the rarest of artists, one whose artistry actually heals the heart.
As the session ends, as Aretha says her goodbyes and heads to her limo, her new songs stay on your mind. Her voice stays in your head. That voice, one of the glories of American culture, conveys, as the poet once put it, all the aching joys and dizzy raptures of romantic love. Through the miracle of melody, her gift is renewed on what many are already calling a masterpiece.
On A Rose Is Still A Rose, Aretha is still Aretha.
And we couldn't be happier.
By David Ritz

Joe Louis

Joe Louis burst onto the professional boxing scene in 1934 with style and skill such as the boxing world has seldom seen. Known to many as the "Brown Bomber," Louis emerged victorious from his first 27 fights, all but four of which he won in knockouts. In the early days of his career, he destroyed such great heavyweight fighters as Stanley Poreda, Natie Brown, and Rosco Toles. It was here that Louis delivered to the entire world a premonition of the reign of domination that he was to begin.

Joe Louis Barrow was born on May 13, 1914. His father, "Mun Barrow," was a cotton picker from Alabama and his family fought with poverty for most of his childhood. His family moved to Detroit in 1924, at which point Joe first became involved in boxing. Having grown up in the Old South, Louis had acquired the instinct and anger of a true fighter, even amidst the evils of racial discrimination and intolerance. His early career was a period of hard work and determination, and was one without glamour or fame. Ten years after his arrival in Detroit, Louis won the Golden Gloves as a light heavyweight. Following this win, Louis turned professional and won twelve contests within the first year. The first few years of Louis' pro career involved a steady ascension up the pyramid of the Heavyweight class. His boxing prowess, as well as his reputation, was growing at an incredible rate. In June of 1935, he fought Primo Carnera, the former heavyweight champion, before a Yankee Stadium crowd of 62,000. Louis followed this fight with a pairing against Max Baer, who he defeated by knockout in the fourth round. Ernest Hemingway described this fight as "the most disgusting public spectacle outside of a public hanging" that he had ever seen.

Joe Louis was seemingly invincible, until his meeting with Max Schmeling on June 19, 1936. Schmeling was the underdog but, to the surprise of all, gave Louis a defeat that would continue to sting long after the cuts had healed. Louis was counted out in the 12th round of this lengthy fight and suffered the first and most painful defeat of his boxing career.

In 1937, Louis faced world heavyweight champion James J. Braddock in Chicago. In an eight round match, Louis captured the heavyweight title of the world by knocking Braddock out. After this victory, Louis stated, "I don't want nobody to call me champ until I beat Schmeling." Louis had ascended to the top of the boxing world, but in his estimate his journey was far from complete. His embarrassing loss to Max Schmeling was the only dark spot on a career that otherwise was the stuff of dreams, and he was consumed by a desire for revenge.

Following this successful title defense against Welsh boxer Tommy Farr in a 15-round marathon match, Louis initiated his "Bum of the Month" campaign. The idea was for Louis to take on a variety of fighters, whether they were contenders or not.

During this period, on the day of June 22, 1938, Louis once again took on the only opponent who had ever beaten him, Max Schmeling. This time around, Louis knocked Schmeling out and captured the admiration of countless Americans. Louis gained a moral victory for himself and for his country, and simultaneously struck a damaging blow to Hitler and his pretentious beliefs.

Louis' first punches, a pair of powerful left hooks, began his opponent's eventual demise. Schmeling complained bitterly about being hit with foul kidney punches, but every punch was a fair one. The fight was nothing short of ridiculous, with Schmeling falling to the floor in just two minutes and four seconds.

It was this time period that bore witness to Louis' reign of terror in the heavyweight boxing world. Beginning in 1937, he began a 12-year reign as boxing's heavyweight champion of the world. During this stretch, Louis had victories over Lou Nova, Tony Galento, Gus Dorazio, Buddy Baer, and Johnny Paycheck. Louis' epic battle with Billy Conn at the Polo Grounds also occurred during this time.

In 1942, Joe Louis began a period of service in the Army and worked as a physical education teacher. It would be four years before Louis again returned to the ring. Between 1946 and 1949, Louis flawlessly defended his title four times, including two victorious fights against 'Jersey' Joe Walcott.

Louis retired in 1949, still the undefeated heavyweight champ. Succumbing to financial pressures and government debts, Louis was forced back into the ring. In 1950, he attempted to recapture his title in a bout against Ezzard Charles. However, in a points decision, Louis was handed the a loss. Not ready to accept defeat, he again tried his hand in 1951 against Rocky Marciano. During this unsuccessful return to the ring, Marciano knocked Louis through the ropes in the 8th round. This was Joe Louis' final time in the ring. He had earned $5 million in his illustrious boxing career. But at 37, Joe Louis had not a single cent to show for it. To support himself, Louis decided to make a living as a Las Vegas casino host.

Joe Louis still holds the distinction of having successfully defended his title more times than any other heavyweight in history. He knocked out five world champions and will remain a powerful part of boxing history for many decades to come. His life and success story serve as proof that black and white Americans can coexist. Joe Louis is a role model for all of us and proved that good sportsmanship can exist even in a sport as violent as boxing. When he died in 1981, Joe Louis was eulogized - and continues to be known - as one of the greatest prizefighters of all time.

Courtesy Emanuel Steward
Thomas 'The Hitman' Hearns has earned his place among boxings elite legends. He is known as a true warrior. Thomas Hearns- The Warrior

By Chris Bushnell
It isn't the long stiff jab that's made Thomas Hearns famous. Nor is it the wrecking ball right cross that left opponents crumpled on the canvas. It isn't that he's captured world titles in five weight divisions or his current tally of 59 professional victories. What set Hearns apart from his contemporaries was his aggression. Whether charging his opponent in a multi fisted attack, or carrying his left arm low to invite another exchange, Hearns' aggressiveness in the ring made him a legend and put the Kronk Gym on the boxing map.
The year was 1980. Less than 3 years removed from his amateur career, an undefeated Hearns put his sterling 28-0/26 record on the line against welterweight titlist Pipino Cuevas. Cuevas was a respected champion, but was shown little respect by the hungry "Motor City Cobra". Hearns stalked Cuevas from the opening bell, and hurt the champion with early with his sledgehammer right cross. Cuevas made it out of the first round, but would not last much longer. In the second round, Hearns punished Cuevas at will, until a perfectly timed right hand sent Cuevas face first into the canvas. At the ripe age of 21, Thomas Hearns was world champion. Although Hearns had five additional knockout victories that year, it was the Cuevas demolition that shined brightest as Tommy won Fighter of the Year.
Although Ray Leonard had garnered mainstream recognition with his Olympic Gold Medal, the adoration of many boxing fans was reserved for Tommy Hearns. His fearsome aggression was the perfect counterpart to Leonard's spiffy showmanship, and a showdown between the two was eminent as Hearns continued knocking out every opponent put before him.
When they finally stood across the ring from one another, Hearns dominated. Driving his stick into Leonard's mug, The Hitman wasted no time in marking Leonard's pretty face. As Leonard danced and ran, Hearns pursued, landing punches and winning rounds along the way. Desperate to turn the tide, Leonard began to stand and fight in the later rounds, and again Hearns dominated. Adjusting to Leonard's tactics, it was Hearns' chance to put on a boxing clinic: keeping Ray on the end of his jab and showing some impressive footwork of his own. Ahead on all of the official cards, but weary from the struggle to make weight, Hearns tired in the 13th and was stopped by a Leonard flurry. Although the fight was Tommy's first loss, it was Ray that suffered the most. Leonard had taken the more serious beating, and he retired one fight later.
Retirement wasn't in Hearns' vocabulary, however, and he wasted no time in moving up to a more natural weight, 154, and going back to the task of winning. In 1982, Hearns outpointed, and outclassed, Wilfred Benitez to win another world title. Fighting more confidently than ever, Hearns showed maturity in the ring, boxing when he had to, punching when he had to, but always pressing the issue, always dictating the pace, and always controlling his opponent.
Along with Tommy Hearns' success came recognition, and soon the stories of the Kronk Gym were on the lips of every boxing fan. There were anecdotes of the grueling heat in which the Kronk team worked out in and harrowing stories about legendary gym wars that sorted out the Kronk pecking order. These stories served to bolster the fearsome reputation of boxing's most explosive puncher. But perhaps nothing would cement Hearns' reputation like his victory over Roberto Duran in 1984.
Duran was as rugged a champion as there ever was. Widely recognized as the greatest 135 pounder of all time, Duran was still a force at 154. The "Hands of Stone" had dropped decision losses to Benitez and Hagler, but no one had been able to outgun the Panamanian slugger. Enter Thomas Hearns. Although Hearns could have used his jab and the ring to frustrate and outpoint Duran, such tactics didn't suit the quintessential Kronk fighter. Opting to slug with the slugger, Tommy dropped his atomic right hand onto Duran's chin and knocked him out. Hearns' KO2 of Duran shocked the boxing world. To this very day, through 117 fights, no one has been able to blow through Duran so quickly.
Less than a year later, Thomas Hearns would fight the most exciting round in all of boxing history. The site was Caesar's Palace, and again Hearns had been matched with an opponent whose ring dominance had been long established. Yet again, Hearns favored warfare over boxing. Charging Marvin Hagler at the opening bell, Hearns wobbled the middleweight champion 10 seconds into the round. As the crowd rabidly cheered on, Hearns stood toe to toe with Marvin Hagler for a blazing three minutes. At the end of that round, Hagler had been stunned by Hearns more than once, was bleeding from the forehead and already swelling around his eyes. For his part, Tommy emerged intact, save for a broken right hand, an injury incurred while slamming his fist into Hagler's skull.
In the second round, Hearns again gave out as good as he took it, displaying not only his trademark punching power but his often overlooked chin. Hagler's own rage turned to concern as blood stained his face and Hearns pressed the pace. Continuing the charge in the third, Hearns nearly stopped Hagler when the ringside doctor was asked to inspect the flowing gash on Marvin's face. At this point many fighters would take it down a notch and play it safe. But playing it safe wasn't part of the Kronk makeup. Tommy Hearns stood in with Hagler, and was stopped when Hagler surprised him with a quick combo that dropped the Hitman. Although he made it to his feet, Richard Steele would not let the fight continue, and Hearns was handed only the second loss of his career. His fans could care less. Ever the aggressor, Tommy Hearns had thrilled the world with his attack. The loss was a setback for Hearns, but his reputation as a warrior only grew.
As he had after the Leonard defeat, Hearns continued winning, picking up the middleweight title the next year by disposing of Juan Roldan in four rounds. Now a three-division champion, Hearns sought more titles. When the opportunity to add a fourth world title (in the newly constructed super middleweight division) against a comebacking Ray Leonard arose, Hearns jumped at the chance to avenge his first defeat.
Again in front of a capacity crowd at Caesar's Palace, Tommy's eyes were fixed on Ray from the moment both men were through the ropes. As Michael Buffer introduced him, a focused Hearns locked a stare on Leonard and pointed at him across the ring. The smiling Sugar Ray knew then that his night to shine was in jeopardy.
It was another classic. Although both men had their moments, Hearns dominated the evening, sweeping the early rounds, dropping Leonard twice and finishing strong at the final bell. Tommy's victory, however, was short lived. In one of the most flagrant robberies in recent memory, the fight was called a draw. As the crowd booed and hissed the bogus decision, Hearns stood in disbelief. His revenge was left unsatisfied, despite Leonard's later admission that Hearns had deserved the win.
No longer as fast as he once was, the calls began for Hearns to retire. He would have none of it. Retaining a piece of the supermiddleweight title he took from James Kinchin in 1988, Hearns continued to fight into the 90's. Moving up in weight again, now fighting at 175 lbs., Hearns again challenged the top dog in his division, this time in the form of Virgil Hill.
Hill was 30-0 at the time and had held the WBA light-heavyweight title since 1987, when Hearns was a junior middleweight. Hill's jab was one of the best in the game, and for the first time in his career, Hearns found himself a sizable underdog. No matter. Tommy would simply have to outjab the jabber. He did just that. Stinging Hill with a superior stick, Hearns expertly set up his right hand all night long. When the fight was over, Hearns was the victor, posting the biggest upset of the year. Now champion in five weight classes, Hearns had done what even Sugar Ray Robinson had failed to do: win titles spanning 147 to 175 pounds.
With millions in the bank, more title belts than he could carry, and more achievements than any other fighter of his generation, again retirement was suggested at every turn. And again, Hearns would not consider it.
Although Hearns has fought sparingly in the years since his victory over Hill, his career has nonetheless continued uninterrupted. No bogus retirements and no hopeless comebacks. Tommy Hearns remains an active fighter.
And now, in 1999, Hearns has one more challenge: an unprecedented sixth weight class championship. Campaigning now as a 190 lb. cruiserweight, Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns has his eyes fixated on this one final goal. Reunited with Emanuel Steward, after fighting outside the Kronk organization for most of this decade, Hearns is again preparing himself for another stirring victory.
Teaming with Steward, Tommy needed less than 90 seconds to render Jay Snyder unconscious in a Detroit ring last November. Stepping up in competition, Hearns easily outpointed Nate Miller, himself a recent cruiserweight champion, in April of this year. And now, with only one or two more fights before getting the title shot he craves, Hearns is again training in the sweltering Kronk facilities.
Whether or not he can capture a eighth world title at the age of 40 remains to be seen, but if Hearns' illustrious career has taught us anything, it's to never discount the Hitman. His power remains intact, his frame holds 190 lbs. nicely, and he is driven not by financial need but by championship heart.
Tommy promises that 1999 will be his final year, ensuring that his induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame will take place on his first eligable year(5 years after retirement)...a fitting tribute to one of the century's most enduring warriors.

WGPR-TV Channel 62

wgpr
In The Beginning…
In 1975, History was made in Detroit.
WGPR-TV channel 62, the first Black /Minority owned and operated TV station in the world was born. Founded by The Free and Accepted Modern Masons, headquartered in Detroit MI. Dr. William V. Banks, mansonic leader along with Jim Panagos and George White, Sales and Programming managers respectively of WGPR-FM radio, were responsible for putting the station on the air. It was then, for the first time in American history, that blacks were afforded the real opportunity to be a part of every aspect of television, from all that goes on behind the scenes to on-air talent. Many African-Americans got their start in television at WGPR-TV. THE SCENE was one of the most popular shows produced by WGPR-TV. It aired from October 13, 1975 to Decermber 31,1987.

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks

Most historians date the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the United States to December , 1955. That was the day when an unknown seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. This brave woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested and fined for violating a city ordinance, but her lonely act of defiance began a movement that ended legal segregation in America, and made her an inspiration to freedom-loving people everywhere.

Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama to James McCauley, a carpenter, and Leona McCauley, a teacher. At the age of two she moved to her grandparents' farm in Pine Level, Alabama with her mother and younger brother, Sylvester. At the age of 11 she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, a private school founded by liberal-minded women from the northern United States. The school's philosophy of self-worth was consistent with Leona McCauley's advice to "take advantage of the opportunities, no matter how few they were."

Opportunities were few indeed. "Back then," Mrs. Parks recalled in an interview, "we didn't have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down." In the same interview, she cited her lifelong acquaintance with fear as the reason for her relative fearlessness in deciding to appeal her conviction during the bus boycott. "I didn't have any special fear," she said. "It was more of a relief to know that I wasn't alone."

After attending Alabama State Teachers College, the young Rosa settled in Montgomery, with her husband, Raymond Parks. The couple joined the local chapter of the NAACP and worked quietly for many years to improve the lot of African-Americans in the segregated south.

"I worked on numerous cases with the NAACP," Mrs. Parks recalled, "but we did not get the publicity. There were cases of flogging, peonage, murder, and rape. We didn't seem to have too many successes. It was more a matter of trying to challenge the powers that be, and to let it be known that we did not wish to continue being second-class citizens."

The bus incident led to the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association, led by the young pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The association called for a boycott of the city-owned bus company. The boycott lasted 382 days and brought Mrs. Parks, Dr. King, and their cause to the attention of the world. A Supreme Court Decision struck down the Montgomery ordinance under which Mrs. Parks had been fined, and outlawed racial segregation on public transportation.

In 1957, Mrs. Parks and her husband moved to Detroit, Michigan where Mrs. Parks served on the staff of U.S. Representative John Conyers. The Southern Christian Leadership Council established an annual Rosa Parks Freedom Award in her honor.

After the death of her husband in 1977, Mrs. Parks founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. The Institute sponsors an annual summer program for teenagers called Pathways to Freedom. The young people tour the country in buses, under adult supervision, learning the history of their country and of the civil rights movement. President Clinton presented Rosa Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. She received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.

When asked if she was happy living in retirement, Rosa Parks replied, "I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don't think there is any such thing as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you're happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven't reached that stage yet."

Mrs. Parks spent her last years living quietly in Detroit, where she died in 2005 at the age of 92. After her death, her casket was placed in the rotunda of the United States Capitol for two days, so the nation could pay its respects to the woman whose courage had changed the lives of so many. She was the first woman in American history to lie in state at the Capitol, an honor usually reserved for Presidents of the United States.

A Salute to Celebs and Artists we lost in 2007

NAACP Convention

Banished: Thousands say 'good riddance' to N-word

Jonnelle Marte and Andy Henion / The Detroit News

Ending the use of the N-word is a centerpiece of the convention and one of the biggest goals of the NAACP's STOP campaign, which aims to clean up the way young African-Americans are portrayed in the media.

Estelle Holmes still remembers the last day of her father's life, when the Ku Klux Klan called him the N-word and lynched him.

(READ MORE)

A Salute to Celebs and Artists we lost in 2006

Proposal 2 “Affirmative Action” Michigan
R.I.P. 1972- Nov. 7 2006

Lou Rawls

Whose mellifluous baritone was featured on hits ranging from his own "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" to Sam Cooke's "Bring It on Home to Me," has died. He was 72.
Rawls died Friday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He was hospitalized last month for treatment of lung and brain cancer, said his publicist, Paul Shefrin. His wife, Nina, was at his bedside when he died.
The singer was as well known for his charitable activities as he was for his smooth four-octave range. He founded the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon, which raised millions of dollars for the United Negro College Fund.
"What I really loved about Lou was how his voice was so unique," Kenny Gamble, who with his partner Leon Huff wrote "You'll Never Find," told The Associated Press.
"The other thing was that he had a sense of community. Thousands and thousands of young kids benefited from his celebrity."
"Lou Rawls was one of the music world's most versatile vocalists," said Recording Academy President Neil Portnow in a statement from the organization, which awards the annual Grammys. "His deep, smooth, soulful style exemplified his classy elegance and made him one of the most recognizable voices anywhere. And his philanthropic efforts on behalf of many charitable causes further displayed his passion and commitment to helping others through music. We have lost a true musical pioneer, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all."
Rawls was born on December 1, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois. (Some sources say 1935.) He was trained in gospel, like his childhood friend Sam Cooke.
As a teenager he took Cooke's place in Cooke's gospel group, the Highway QCs. He later supported Cooke on tour and in the studio.
Rawls nearly died in an auto accident while traveling with Cooke in 1958, spending several days in a coma, according to Allmusic.com.
"I really got a new life out of that," Rawls said at the time. "I saw a lot of reasons to live. I began to learn acceptance, direction, understanding and perception -- all elements that had been sadly lacking in my life."
Rawls sang in a variety of genres, from gospel to soul to standards.
"I've gone the full spectrum, from gospel to blues to jazz to soul to pop," Rawls once said on his Web site, according to the AP. "And the public has accepted what I've done through it all."
Rawls sang background on Cooke's "Bring It on Home to Me" -- that's him doing the "yeah" responses and some harmonies. He had his first big solo hit with 1966's "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing," which earned him a mention in Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music."
He had his biggest hit in 1976 with "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," which topped the R&B charts and hit No. 2 on the pop charts.
Other hits include "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)," "A Natural Man" and "Lady Love."
He won three Grammys and is reported to have sold more than 40 million albums.
Rawls also appeared in a variety of TV shows and movies, including the films "Leaving Las Vegas" and "The Rugrats Movie" and the TV shows "The Big Valley," "Mannix," "Fantasy Island" and "Baywatch," according to the Internet Movie Database.
His voice also graced TV commercials, notably ads for Anheuser-Busch, the beer company for which he was the corporate spokesman.
Rawls was diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2004 and brain cancer in May 2005, according to the AP. Rawls, who quit smoking 35 years ago, remained upbeat during his battle against cancer.
In a 1994 interview, CNN asked the legendary singer how he would like to be remembered. "Just somebody that took the problem in hand and tried to deal with it," he said.
He is survived by his wife Nina, as well as his three adult children, Louanna Rawls, Lou Rawls Jr. and Kendra Smith, and his infant son, Aiden.

Wilson Pickett (March 18 1941 – January 19 2006) was an American R&B/Rock and Roll and soul singer. Known for his raw throaty passionate vocal deliveryhe recorded some of the most incendiary soul music of the twentieth century. A major figure in the development of Southern soul musiche recordings between 1963 and 1973 left behind a legacy of some of the deepest funkiest soul music ever to emerge from the South. The impact of his recordings also resulted in his 1991 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

June Antoinette Pointer Whitmore (November 30, 1953 — April 11, 2006) was an American vocalist best known for her work with The Pointer Sisters.
Early life and career
Born as the youngest of six siblings, the youngest of four sisters to minister parents, and like her sisters, June found a love for singing. In 1969, she and elder sister Bonnie formed 'The Pointers - A Pair'. The duo became a trio later on that year when Anita quit her job as a secretary to join them changing their name to The Pointer Sisters. After failed singles with Atlantic Records, and after recruiting eldest sister Ruth in 1972, the group signed with Blue Thumb where their history-making career finally began taking off.
The Pointer Sisters and solo career
Releasing their self-titled debut album in 1973, the Pointer Sisters found fame with hit singles such as "Yes We Can Can", the country hit, "Fairytale", and the R&B hits, "How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)" and "You Gotta Believe" before Bonnie made a sudden exit from the group to forge a solo career in 1977.
After much thought, the remaining members decided to continue on as a trio. Their decision sparked the group's biggest successes finding stardom with Top 10 pop singles such as their Bruce Springsteen cover of "Fire" (1978), "He's So Shy" (1980), "Slow Hand" (1981), and "I'm So Excited" (1982) before releasing their landmark 1983 recording, Break Out, which featured the group's biggest hits, "Jump (for My Love)" and a re-release of "Excited". June is notable for being the lead singer of hit songs such as "He's So Shy", "Jump (For My Love)", "Baby Come and Get It" and "Dare Me".
The group eventually would receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame confirming their legendary status. June ventured into a solo career releasing two solo albums in 1983 and 1989 scoring solo hits with 1983's "Ready For Some Love" and 1989's "Tight On Time (I'll Fit U In)". Her backing vocals on the Pointers' assisted guest spot on Bruce Willis' hit single, the cover of the Staples Singers' "Respect Yourself", had helped Willis score a top 5 pop single in 1987.
Struggling with drug addiction for much of her life, June had left the Pointer Sisters by 2005.

Gene McFadden (1949 – January 27, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as one of the key members of the Philadelphia International record label, and was one-half of the successful team of McFadden & Whitehead with John Whitehead.
McFadden and Whitehead wrote many hits for Philadelphia International artists such as The O'Jays and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and had their own hit with "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" in 1979. He was diagnosed with liver and lung cancer in 2004 and died at his home in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia on January 27, 2006 of cancer.

Gordon Parks, a Master of the Camera, Dies at 93

By ANDY GRUNDBERG
Published: March 8, 2006
Gordon Parks, the photographer, filmmaker, writer and composer who used his prodigious, largely self-taught talents to chronicle the African-American experience and to retell his own personal history, died yesterday at his home in Manhattan. He was 93.

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

Gordon Parks/ International Center of Photography
Gordon Parks's "Emerging Man," shot in Harlem in 1952

Suzanne Plunkett/Associated Press
Gordon Parks in Harlem in 2002 after a portrait session that featured him and other black photographers.
His death was announced by Genevieve Young, his former wife and executor. Gordon Parks was the first African-American to work as a staff photographer for Life magazine and the first black artist to produce and direct a major Hollywood film, "The Learning Tree," in 1969.
He developed a large following as a photographer for Life for more than 20 years, and by the time he was 50 he ranked among the most influential image makers of the postwar years. In the 1960's he began to write memoirs, novels, poems and screenplays, which led him to directing films. In addition to "The Learning Tree," he directed the popular action films "Shaft" and "Shaft's Big Score!" In 1970 he helped found Essence magazine and was its editorial director from 1970 to 1973.
An iconoclast, Mr. Parks fashioned a career that resisted categorization. No matter what medium he chose for his self-expression, he sought to challenge stereotypes while still communicating to a large audience. In finding early acclaim as a photographer despite a lack of professional training, he became convinced that he could accomplish whatever he set his mind to. To an astonishing extent, he proved himself right.
Gordon Parks developed his ability to overcome barriers in childhood, facing poverty, prejudice and the death of his mother when he was a teen-ager. Living by his wits during what would have been his high-school years, he came close to being claimed by urban poverty and crime. But his nascent talent, both musical and visual, was his exit visa.
His success as a photographer was largely due to his persistence and persuasiveness in pursuing his subjects, whether they were film stars and socialites or an impoverished slum child in Brazil.
Mr. Parks's years as a contributor to Life, the largest-circulation picture magazine of its day, lasted from 1948 to 1972, and it cemented his reputation as a humanitarian photojournalist and as an artist with an eye for elegance. He specialized in subjects relating to racism, poverty and black urban life, but he also took exemplary pictures of Paris fashions, celebrities and politicians.
"I still don't know exactly who I am," Mr. Parks wrote in his 1979 memoir, "To Smile in Autumn." He added, "I've disappeared into myself so many different ways that I don't know who 'me' is."
Much of his literary energy was channeled into memoirs, in which he mined incidents from his adolescence and early career in an effort to find deeper meaning in them. His talent for telling vivid stories was used to good effect in "The Learning Tree," which he wrote first as a novel and later converted into a screenplay. This was a coming-of-age story about a young black man whose childhood plainly resembled the author's. It was well received when it was published in 1963 and again in 1969, when Warner Brothers released the film version. Mr. Parks wrote, produced and directed the film and wrote the music for its soundtrack. He was also the cinematographer.
"Gordon Parks was like the Jackie Robinson of film," Donald Faulkner, the director of the New York State Writers Institute, once said. "He broke ground for a lot of people — Spike Lee, John Singleton."
Mr. Parks's subsequent films, "Shaft" (1971) and "Shaft's Big Score!" (1972), were prototypes for what became known as blaxploitation films. Among Mr. Park's other accomplishments were a second novel, four books of memoirs, four volumes of poetry, a ballet and several orchestral scores. As a photographer Mr. Parks combined a devotion to documentary realism with a knack for making his own feelings self-evident. The style he favored was derived from the Depression-era photography project of the Farm Security Administration, which he joined in 1942 at the age of 30.
Perhaps his best-known photograph, which he titled "American Gothic," was taken during his brief time with the agency; it shows a black cleaning woman named Ella Watson standing stiffly in front of an American flag, a mop in one hand and a broom in the other. Mr. Parks wanted the picture to speak to the existence of racial bigotry and inequality in the nation's capital. He was in an angry mood when he asked the woman to pose, having earlier been refused service at a clothing store, a movie theater and a restaurant.
Anger at social inequity was at the root of many of Mr. Parks's best photographic stories, including his most famous Life article, which focused on a desperately sick boy living in a miserable Rio de Janeiro slum. Mr. Parks described the plight of the boy, Flavio da Silva, in realistic detail. In one photograph Flavio lies in bed, looking close to death. In another he sits behind his baby brother, stuffing food into the baby's mouth while the baby reaches his wet, dirty hands into the dish for more food.
Mr. Parks's pictures of Flavio's life created a groundswell of public response when they were published in 1961. Life's readers sent some $30,000 in contributions, and the magazine arranged to have the boy flown to Denver for medical treatment for asthma and paid for a new home in Rio for his family.
Mr. Parks credited his first awareness of the power of the photographic image to the pictures taken by his predecessors at the Farm Security Administration, including Jack Delano, Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein and Ben Shahn. He first saw their photographs of migrant workers in a magazine he picked up while working as a waiter in a railroad car. "I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs," he told an interviewer in 1999. "I knew at that point I had to have a camera."
Many of Mr. Parks's early photo essays for Life, like his 1948 story of a Harlem youth gang called the Midtowners, were a revelation for many of the magazine's predominantly white readers and a confirmation for Mr. Parks of the camera's power to shape public discussion.
But Mr. Parks made his mark mainly with memorable single images within his essays, like "American Gothic," which were iconic in the manner of posters. His portraits of Malcolm X (1963), Muhammad Ali (1970) and the exiled Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver (1970) evoked the styles and strengths of black leadership in the turbulent transition from civil rights to black militancy.
But at Life Mr. Parks also used his camera for less politicized, more conventional ends, photographing the socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, who became his friend; a fashionable Parisian in a veiled hat puffing hard on her cigarette, and Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini at the beginning of their notorious love affair.
On his own time he photographed female nudes in a style akin to that of Baroque painting, experimented with double-exposing color film and recorded pastoral scenes that evoke the pictorial style of early-20-century art photography.
Much as his best pictures aspired to be metaphors, Mr. Parks shaped his own life story as a cautionary tale about overcoming racism, poverty and a lack of formal education. It was a project he pursued in his memoirs and in his novel; all freely mix documentary realism with a fictional sensibility.
The first version of his autobiography was "A Choice of Weapons" (1966), which was followed by "To Smile in Autumn" (1979) and "Voices in the Mirror: An Autobiography" (1990). The most recent account of his life appeared in 1997 in "Half Past Autumn" (Little, Brown), a companion to a traveling exhibition of his photographs.
Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born on Nov. 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kan. He was the youngest of 15 children born to a tenant farmer, Andrew Jackson Parks, and the former Sarah Ross. Although mired in poverty and threatened by segregation and the violence it engendered, the family was bound by Sarah Parks's strong conviction that dignity and hard work could overcome bigotry.
Young Gordon's security ended when his mother died. He was sent to St. Paul, Minn., to live with the family of an older sister. But the arrangement lasted only a few weeks; during a quarrel, Mr. Parks's brother-in-law threw him out of the house. Mr. Parks learned to survive on the streets, using his untutored musical gifts to find work as a piano player in a brothel and later as the singer for a big band. He attended high school in St. Paul but never graduated.
In 1933 he married a longtime sweetheart, Sally Alvis, and they soon had a child, Gordon Jr. While his family stayed near his wife's relatives in Minneapolis, Mr. Parks traveled widely to find work during the Depression.
He joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, toured as a semi-pro basketball player and worked as a busboy and waiter. It was while he was a waiter on the North Coast Limited, a train that ran between Chicago and Seattle, that he picked up a magazine discarded by a passenger and saw for the first time the documentary pictures of Lange, Rothstein and the other photographers of the Farm Security Administration.
In 1938 Mr. Parks purchased his first camera at a Seattle pawn shop. Within months he had his pictures exhibited in the store windows of the Eastman Kodak store in Minneapolis, and he began to specialize in portraits of African-American women.
He also talked his way into making fashion photographs for an exclusive St. Paul clothing store. Marva Louis, the elegant wife of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis, chanced to see his photographs and was so impressed that she suggested that he move to Chicago for better opportunities to do more of them.
In Chicago Mr. Parks continued to produce society portraits and fashion images, but he also turned to documenting the slums of the South Side. His efforts gained him a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, which he spent as an apprentice with the Farm Security Administration's photography project in Washington under its director, Roy Stryker.
In 1943, with World War II under way, the farm agency was disbanded and Stryker's project was transferred to the Office of War Information (O.W.I.). Mr. Parks became a correspondent for the O.W.I. photographing the 332d Fighter Group, an all-black unit based near Detroit. Unable to accompany the pilots overseas, he relocated to Harlem to search for freelance assignments.
In 1944 Alexander Liberman, then art director of Vogue, asked him to photograph women's fashions, and Mr. Parks's pictures appeared regularly in the magazine for five years. Mr. Parks's simultaneous pursuit of the worlds of beauty and of tough urban textures made him a natural for Life magazine. After talking himself into an audience with Wilson Hicks, Life's fabled photo editor, he emerged with two plum assignments: one to create a photo essay on gang wars in Harlem, the other to photograph the latest Paris collections.
Life often assigned Mr. Parks to subjects that would have been difficult or impossible for a white photojournalist to carry out, such as the Black Muslim movement and the Black Panther Party. But Mr. Parks also enjoyed making definitive portraits of Barbra Streisand, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Alberto Giacometti and Alexander Calder. From 1949 to 1951 he was assigned to the magazine's bureau in Paris, where he photographed everything from Marshal Pétain's funeral to scenes of everyday life. While in Paris he socialized with the expatriate author Richard Wright and wrote his first piano concerto, using a musical notation system of his own devising.
As the sole black photographer on Life's masthead in the 1960's, Mr. Parks was frequently characterized by black militants as a man willing to work for the oppressor. In the mid-1960's he declined to endorse a protest against the magazine by a number of black photographers, including Roy DeCarava, who said they felt that the editorial assignment staff discriminated against them. Mr. DeCarava never forgave him.
At the same time, according to Mr. Parks's memoirs, Life's editors came to question his ability to be objective. "I was black," he noted in "Half Past Autumn," "and my sentiments lay in the heart of black fury sweeping the country."
In 1962, at the suggestion of Carl Mydans, a fellow Life photographer, Mr. Parks began to write a story based on his memories of his childhood in Kansas. The story became the novel "The Learning Tree," and its success opened new horizons, leading him to write his first memoir, "A Choice of Weapons"; to combine his photographs and poems in a book called "A Poet and His Camera" (1968) and, most significantly, to become a film director, with the movie version of "The Learning Tree" in 1969.
Mr. Parks's second film, "Shaft," released in 1971, was a hit of a different order. Ushering in an onslaught of genre movies in which black protagonists played leading roles in violent, urban crime dramas, "Shaft" was both a commercial blockbuster and a racial breakthrough. Its hero, John Shaft, played by Richard Roundtree, was a wily private eye whose success came from operating in the interstices of organized crime and the law. Isaac Hayes won an Oscar for the theme music, and the title song became a pop hit.
After the successful "Shaft" sequel in 1972 and a comedy called "The Super Cops" (1974), Mr. Parks's Hollywood career sputtered to a halt with the film "Leadbelly" (1976). Intended as an homage to the folk singer Huddie Ledbetter, who died in 1949, the movie was both a critical and a box-office failure. Afterward Mr. Parks made films only for television.
After departing Life in 1972, the year the magazine shut down as a weekly, Mr. Parks continued to write and compose. His second novel, "Shannon" (1981), about Irish immigrants at the beginning of the century, is the least autobiographical of his writing. He wrote the music and the libretto for the 1989 ballet "Martin," a tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., choreographed by Rael Lamb.
He also continued to photograph. But much of Mr. Parks's artistic energy in the 1980's and 1990's was spent summing up his productive years with the camera. In 1987, the first major retrospective exhibition of his photographs was organized by the New York Public Library and the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University.
The more recent retrospective, "Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks," was organized in 1997 by the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington. It later traveled to New York and to other cities. Many honors came Mr. Parks's way, including a National Medal of Arts award from President Ronald Reagan in 1988. The man who never finished high school was a recipient of 40 honorary doctorates from colleges and universities in the United States and England.
His marriages to Sally Alvis, Elizabeth Campbell and Genevieve Young ended in divorce. A son from his first marriage, Gordon Parks Jr., died in 1979 in a plane crash while making a movie in Kenya. He is survived by his daughter Toni Parks Parson and his son David, also from his first marriage, and a daughter, Leslie Parks Harding, from his second marriage; five grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.
"I'm in a sense sort of a rare bird," Mr. Parks said in an interview in The New York Times in 1997. "I suppose a lot of it depended on my determination not to let discrimination stop me." He never forgot that one of his teachers told her students not to waste their parents' money on college because they would end up as porters or maids anyway. He dedicated one honorary degree to her because he had been so eager to prove her wrong.
"I had a great sense of curiosity and a great sense of just wanting to achieve," he said. "I just forgot I was black and walked in and asked for a job and tried to be prepared for what I was asking for."

Octavia Butler, 1947-2006: Sci-fi writer a gifted pioneer in white, male domain

By JOHN MARSHALL
P-I BOOK CRITIC
Her father was a shoeshine man who died when she was a child, her mother was a maid who brought her along on jobs, yet Octavia Butler rose from these humble beginnings to become one of the country's leading writers - a female African American pioneer in the white, male domain of science fiction.
Butler, 58, died after falling and striking her head Friday on a walkway outside her home in Lake Forest Park. The reclusive writer, who moved to Seattle in 1999 from her native Southern California, was a giant in stature (she was 6 feet tall by age 15) and in accomplishment.

Octavia Butler was one of the Northwest's most prominent science fiction writers.
She remains the only science fiction writer to receive one of the vaunted "genius grants" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a hard-earned $295,000 windfall in 1995 that followed years of poverty and personal struggles with shyness and self-doubt.
"People may call these 'genius grants,' " Butler said in a 2004 interview with the Seattle P-I, "but nobody made me take an IQ test before I got mine. I knew I'm no genius."
Butler's most popular work is "Kindred," a time-travel novel in which a black woman from 1976 Southern California is transported back to the violent days of slavery before the Civil War. The 1979 novel became a popular staple of school and college courses and now has more than a quarter million copies in print, but its birth was agonizing, like so much in Butler's solitary life.
"Kindred" was repeatedly rejected by publishers, many of whom could not understand how a science fiction novel could be set on a plantation in the antebellum South. Butler stuck to her social justice vision - "I think people really need to think what it's like to have all of society arrayed against you" - and finally found a publisher who paid her a $5,000 advance for "Kindred."
"I was living on my writing," Butler said, "and you could live on $5,000 back then. You could live, but not well. I got along by buying food I didn't really like but was nourishing: beans, potatoes. A 10-pound sack of potatoes lasts a long time."
Steven Barnes, another African American writer, knew Butler during her early writing days in Southern California and later in the Washington when he and his writer wife, Tananarive Due, lived for a time in Longview before returning to Los Angeles. Barnes saw Butler's confidence grow along with her reputation.
"Octavia was one of the purest writers I know," Barnes recalled Sunday. "She put everything she had into her work - she was extraordinarily committed to the craft. Yet, despite her shyness, she was also an open, generous and humane human being. I miss her so much already."

Due added, "It is a cliche to say that she was too good a soul, but it's true. What she really conveyed in her writing was the deep pain she felt about the injustices around her. All of it was a metaphor for war, poverty, power struggles and discrimination. All of that hurt her very deeply, but her gift was that she could use words for the pain and make the world better."
Due believed that Butler came to feel deeply at home in the Northwest after she relocated here with 300 boxes of books. The anonymity of her life in Seattle suited both her artistic devotion and temperament ("I always felt a deep loneliness in her," Barnes said). But Butler did become a frequent participant in readings and writers' conferences, especially Clarion West, which played a crucial role in her own start. She also served on the advisory board of Seattle's Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.
A few friends did get to see the relaxed Butler away from her infrequent moments in the limelight, including Leslie Howle, who took her to see the recent version of "King Kong." Howle describes the writer as "one of the most fun people to be around, with an acerbic sense of humor and a keen observer of human nature."
Butler was a confirmed non-driver who would chat with other bus passengers or with neighbors who gave her rides when she trudged home with bags of groceries, as neighbor Terry Morgan did.
"The first time I picked her up, she took me into her house and autographed a copy of one of her books," Morgan said. "That was a great 'thank you,' especially since I am an African American and we felt a common bond. But it was also obvious to me that writing was her life."
The MacArthur grant brought increasing visibility to Butler and allowed her to buy her first house, where she tended to her ailing mother until her death. (Butler's survivors are two elderly aunts and many cousins in Southern California.)
But the MacArthur grant also brought daunting pressure. Three years later, Butler published "Parable of the Talents," winner of one of her two Nebula Awards in science fiction. Then years passed without another new novel, as projects in Seattle "petered out." Characters and ideas went nowhere and her blood pressure medication left her drowsy and depressed.
The frustrated artist - who first turned to writing at 12 after the sci-fi movie, "Devil Girl from Mars," convinced her that she could write something better - battled worries that "maybe I cannot write anymore."
But at long last, an unlikely vampire novel rekindled her creative fires and brought a burgeoning joy to her craft.
"I can't say I've had much fun in the last few years, what with my version of writer's block," a relieved Butler recalled in 2004. "Writing has been as difficult for me as for people who don't like to write and as little fun. But now the well is filling up again with this vampire novel."
Butler's death means that "Fledgling," published last fall to enthusiastic praise, will likely stand as her final novel, to the great disappointment to Butler's many fans and friends who expected more work.
"The only consolation in losing Octavia so soon," stressed Due, "is that she must have known her place in history."
Moses Hardy

Moses Hardy (January 6, 1893 or 1894 — December 7, 2006) became the oldest documented man in the United States on the death of Fred H. Hale, Sr. in November 2004, and second-oldest in the world after Emiliano Mercado del Toro. He was the second-oldest surviving World War I veteran in the entire world, the oldest veteran of any war in history to have ever seen combat (if 113), and the oldest living man in the United States. He was born in Aberdeen, Mississippi, and he is the oldest male resident of the state of Mississippi ever recorded. His parents were freed slaves, and his family claims that his father was born in the 1830's.
Hardy served for one year (from July 1918 to July 1919) in France with the 805th Pioneer Infantry during the war and spent 39 days in combat. He returned to his hometown of Aberdeen after the war, where he farmed, drove a school bus and sold cosmetics. Until his death, he lived in Aberdeen.
Hardy had a large family, spread out over the entire country including the suburbs of Chicago. Of his eight children, five are still living as of 2006. Hardy had sixteen grandchildren, thirty-two great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren.
There is some dispute about Moses Hardy's birthdate. While his ID card, 1930 census and 1910 census support the 1893 date, his WWI papers and the 1900 census list him as born in 1894, which would make him only 112 when he died (but even here there is disagreement: the 1900 census says January 1894, while the draft papers say June 1894). This would drop him from the 'oldest combat veteran ever' title, but he would still have maintained the 'oldest man in America' title.
While his age status was not resolved, Mr. Hardy was not less than 112 years old at the time of his death, and the oldest living combat veteran and last African American veteran of World War I.

December 08,2006 | JACKSON, Miss. -- Moses Hardy, believed to be the second-oldest man in the world and the last black U.S. veteran of World War I, has died at age 113, family members said Friday.

Evelyn Davis, 68, one of Hardy's eight children, said her father died Thursday at a nursing home in Aberdeen. He would have been 114 on Jan. 6.

"He had been doing great. He didn't suffer and he wasn't sick -- he died of old age," said Davis, of Aberdeen. "He knew everybody and those he knew, he always knew them when they came in to visit."

60 Minutes and CBS News correspondent Ed Bradley (John P. Filo/CBS)

NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2006

(CBS) From dignitaries to average television viewers, tributes poured in for Ed Bradley, the veteran 60 Minutes correspondent who died Thursday in New York at the age of 65.

At the White House, President Bush said he and first lady Laura Bush were "deeply saddened by the death of Ed Bradley." Mr. Bush remembered Bradley for producing "distinctive investigative reports that inspired action and cemented his reputation as one of the most accomplished journalists of our time."

At CBS News, where Bradley spent 35 years, including 25 with 60 Minutes, friends and colleagues offered their remembrances.

Bradley was "a kind, gentle, strong man. A first-rate reporter and a first-rate human being," said fellow 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace. "When he laughed, he laughed whole-heartedly from down deep. He was just an absolutely delightful man."

CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer said Bradley "was simply the coolest person I have ever known. He was a great observer of the American scene with a shrewd eye and a terrific sense of humor. And let me tell you, no one ever put one over on Ed Bradley."

Bradley died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan of complications from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

His consummate skills as a broadcast journalist and his distinctive body of work were recognized with numerous awards, including 20 Emmys, the latest for an interview with Neil Armstrong.

As one of the most visible black journalists on television, Bradley broke down racial barriers and became a role model for young African Americans.

"The pressure is there," Bradley said. "It's been there every day of my life."

Bradley was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists. Three of his Emmys came at the 2003 awards: a Lifetime Achievement Emmy; one for a 60 Minutes report on brain cancer patients, "A New Lease on Life;" and another for an hour-long piece about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, “The Catholic Church on Trial."

Viewers who watched Bradley's reports over the years shared their thoughts on CBSNews.com.

"My wife and I wept at the news of Ed Bradley's passing. She said, 'He came into our home every Sunday with something important to say'. He did indeed. I don't write these types of 'fan letters' but Bradley was extraordinary," said RJGATOR.

"Ed Bradley will be sorely missed in our household and by countless admirers," said joycenbill. "His ability to give us the heart and soul of the people or stories he reported upon was extraordinarily human."

And jtmjc wrote: "We loved Ed Bradley here in New Orleans, he was here in town this past Jazz fest in May, and he got on stage with Irma Thomas and watched behind the stage as Lionel Richie performed his set. … We will miss his COOLNESS."
Ed Bradley was born June 22, 1941 in a rough section of Philadelphia, where he once recalled that his parents sometimes worked 20-hour days at two jobs apiece.

"I was told, 'You can be anything you want, kid,'" he once told an interviewer. "When you hear that often enough, you believe it."

After graduating from Cheney State College with a degree in education, he launched his career as a DJ and news reporter for a Philadelphia radio station in 1963, moving to New York's WCBS radio four years later.

Bradley's first job out of college was as a sixth-grade teacher.

He joined CBS News as a stringer in the Paris bureau in 1971, transferring a year later to the Saigon bureau during the Vietnam War. It was the story that put him on the map and almost killed him, Stahl reports.

As Bradley explained in one interview: "People were moved from Viet Cong areas into towns controlled by the government. And all of a sudden I heard this terrific noise ... if I had not moved to sit on the side, I would have been dead."

After reporting in Cambodia, Bradley moved to the Washington bureau in June 1974, 14 months after he was named a correspondent.

Other hour-long reports by Bradley prompted praise and action: "Death by Denial" won a Peabody Award for focusing on the plight of Africans dying of AIDS and helped convince drug companies to donate and discount AIDS drugs; "Unsafe Haven" spurred federal investigations into the nation's largest chain of psychiatric hospitals; and "Town Under Siege," about a small town battling toxic waste, was named one of the Ten Best Television Programs of 1997 by Time magazine.

Bradley's significant contribution to electronic journalism was also recognized by the Radio/Television News Directors Association when it named him its Paul White Award winner for 2000, joining distinguished journalists such as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings as a Paul White recipient.

More recently, the Denver Press Club awarded him its 2003 Damon Runyon Award for career journalistic excellence. Bradley also received the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards grand prize and television first prize for "CBS Reports: In the Killing Fields of America," a documentary about violence in America, for which he was co-anchor and reporter.

Bradley's work on 60 Minutes gained him much recognition, including a George Foster Peabody Award for "Big Man, Big Voice," the uplifting story of a German singer who became successful despite birth defects. In 1995, he won his 11th Emmy for a 60 Minutes segment on the cruel effects of nuclear testing in the town of Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan — a report that also won him an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award in 1994.

In 1983, two of Bradley’s reports for 60 Minutes won Emmy Awards: "In the Belly of the Beast," an interview with Jack Henry Abbott, a convicted murderer and author, and "Lena," a profile of singer Lena Horne. He received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton and a 1991 Emmy Award for his report "Made in China," a look at Chinese forced-labor camps, and another Emmy in 1992 for "Caitlin’s Story," an examination of the controversy between the parents of a deaf child and a deaf association.

In addition to "In the Killing Fields," his work for "CBS Reports" included: "Enter the Jury Room," an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award winner that revealed the jury deliberation process for the first time in front of network cameras. A series of stories from 1979 were award winners, including: "The Boat People," which won duPont, Emmy and Overseas Press Club Awards; "The Boston Goes to China," a report on the historic visit to China by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which won Emmy, Peabody and Ohio State Awards, and "Blacks in America: With All Deliberate Speed?," which won Emmy and duPont Awards.

Bradley's coverage of the plight of Cambodian refugees, broadcast on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and CBS News Sunday Morning, won a George Polk Award in journalism.

He also received a duPont citation for a segment on the Cambodian situation broadcast on CBS News' "Magazine" series. He covered the presidential campaign of Jimmy Carter during 1976, served as a floor correspondent for CBS News' coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions from 1976 through 1996, and has participated in CBS News' election-night coverage.

Prior to joining 60 Minutes, Bradley was a principal correspondent for "CBS Reports" from 1978 to 1981, after serving as CBS News' White House correspondent from 1976 to 1978. He was also anchor of the "CBS Sunday Night News” from 1976 to 1981 and of the CBS News magazine "Street Stories" from January 1992 to August 1993.

A lifelong fan of jazz, Bradley took on a side gig in recent years as radio host for "Jazz at Lincoln Center," for which he won one of his four Peabody awards.

Bradley joined CBS News as a stringer in its Paris bureau in September 1971. A year later, he was transferred to the Saigon bureau, where he remained until he was assigned to CBS News' Washington bureau in June 1974. He was named a CBS News correspondent in April 1973 and, shortly thereafter, was wounded while on assignment in Cambodia. In March 1975, he volunteered to return to Indochina and covered the fall of Cambodia and Vietnam.

What was Bradley's secret to getting such renowned stories? Schieffer said it was all in his style.

"Ed knew everyone from Jimmy Carter to Jimmy Buffett. He made people comfortable. He wasn't the bulldog type reporter like Mike Wallace," Schieffer said. "He set people at ease and got them to talk. Sometimes that was in their interest and sometimes it wasn't. But he was like Columbo, who had that disarming style and the knack of getting that last answer out of someone."

60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft said: "I think the thing that made him terrific was his presence. There was a dignity about him... a perfect mix of style and substance."

Bradley is survived by his wife, Patricia Blanchet and Reba E. Gaston, his aunt, of Dayton Ohio.

Author Bebe Moore Campbell Dies at 56

Barbara DuMetz
Bebe Moore Campbell was the author of several best-selling books that explored issues of race from several vantage points, including Brothers and Sisters, Singing in the Comeback Choir and Your Blues Ain't Like Mine.

All Things Considered, November 27, 2006 · Author Bebe Moore Campbell died of complications from brain cancer at her home in Los Angeles on Monday. She was 56.
In addition to being an author, Campbell was an NPR commentator and an advocate for the mentally ill.
"Stigma is one of the main reasons why people with mental health problems don't seek treatment or take their medication," Campbell said. "People of color, particularly African Americans, feel the stigma more keenly. In a race-conscious society, some don't want to be perceived as having yet another deficit."
Campbell is survived by her mother, husband, daughter and two grandchildren.
Michele Norris talks with Marita Golden, a friend of the author's and a fellow novelist, about how Campbell's journalism background and coming of age in the 1960s shaped her work.
Bebe Moore Campbell: The Stigma of Mental Illness
Bebe Moore Campbell, who died Monday at age 56, was outspoken on behalf of people she saw as short-changed by life -- battered spouses, bullied children and people with mental illness. In a November 2005 Morning Edition commentary, the author discussed the mental illness of a close relative.
A few years ago, a member of my family began to speak and behave in a bizarre manner. He stayed awake for days, talked non-stop and spent money recklessly. I was his passenger when he drove close to 100 miles an hour on the freeway. He laughed wildly as he dodged traffic, veered in and out of lanes and ignored my pleas to slow down. He seemed oblivious to the danger. I waited for things to return to normal, but they didn't.
Gradually, my relative became psychotic and violent. One night, I had to call 911 and watch the police drive him to a psychiatric facility. The doctor diagnosed bipolar disorder, a condition characterized by extreme mood swings. The illness became our family's deep, dark secret. Stigma had a hold on us, and stigma is as hard to control as bipolar disorder. "There's nothing wrong with me," my relative declared. It was shame that made him deny the problem and refuse treatment.
Many overwhelmed families can recount tales of calling 911 because of a psychiatric emergency only to have the ill person appear normal when police arrived. Once police appeared at my door moments after my relative had been raging and threatening, but as soon as he saw them, he went into normal mode. Seeing no one who was a danger to himself or others, lacking the criteria to impose a 72-hour hold in a psychiatric facility, the police left. And my loved one's treatment was delayed once again.
The word "crazy" relegates people to a world of semi-human. My relative didn't want to live there. No one does. Stigma is one of the main reasons why people with mental-health problems don't seek treatment or take their medication. People of color, particularly African-Americans, feel the stigma more keenly. In a race-conscious society, some don't want to be perceived as having yet another deficit. Others find it hard to trust medical personnel who don't seem to understand their culture. Some studies show that Latinos and African-Americans are much more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia than whites, even though the illness occurs in all races at the same rate. The psychiatric community must address inequities in treatment.
Once my loved one accepted the diagnosis, healing began for the entire family, but it took too long. It took years. Can't we, as a nation, begin to speed up that process? We need a national campaign to destigmatize mental illness, especially one targeted toward African-Americans. The message must go on billboards and in radio and TV public service announcements. It must be preached from pulpits and discussed in community forums. It's not shameful to have a mental illness. Get treatment. Recovery is possible.

J Dilla, Early Years and Production
Jay Dee grew up in Detroit, and developed a vast musical knowledge from his parents. At a young age, he began acquiring a large collection of records which inspired him to learn multiple instruments. By high school, he had developed a passion for MCing, and formed a rap group called Slum Village with some schoolmates. He had also taken up beatmaking, using a simple tapedeck as the center of his studio.
In 1992, he met experienced Detroit musician Amp Fiddler, who was impressed by what Jay Dee was able to accomplish with such limited tools. Amp Fiddler taught Jay Dee how to use a MIDI Production Center, which he learned quite quickly. Before too long, several other hiphop acts had heard work by Slum Village and made contact with Jay Dee.
By the late 1990s Jay Dee was known as a major hip-hop prospect, with a string of singles and remix projects, for Pharcyde, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest and others. (Many other Jay Dee productions were released without his name recognition, being credited to The Ummah, A Tribe Called Quest's production team.) This era climaxed with the independent release of a full Slum Village album in 1997, and production for Q-Tip's solo album in 1999.
Performing Career
2000 marked the major label debut of Slum Village with Fantastic, Vol. 2, creating a new following for Jay Dee as a producer and an MC. He was also a founding member of the production collective known as The Soulquarians (along with Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, D'Angelo and James Poyser amongst others) which earned him more recognition and buzz by working with Common, Erykah Badu, and Talib Kweli. The hip hop community took notice of his classic hip-hop inspired, breakbeat-laden style, and his name was mentioned among the all-time most important producers in hip-hop.
His debut as a solo artist came in 2001 with the single "Fuck the Police", followed by the album Welcome 2 Detroit, kicking off U.K. indie label BBE Music's "Beat Generation" series. In 2002, Jay Dee, now going by the name "J Dilla" (in an attempt to differentiate himself from Jermaine Dupri, who had begun going by "JD"), left Slum Village to pursue a major label solo deal with MCA. He worked on his debut solo album during 2002 and 2003, but the record was never released. J Dilla's major output of 2000 was production for Common's "Like Water for Chocolate," which went gold. Dilla also produced some tracks on Common's Electric Circus LP, which received mixed reviews for its experimental nature, and work was done for a solo album for MCA, but never released. From that point, his work has increasingly been released through independent record labels.
Later years
Producer and MC Madlib began a collaboration with J Dilla to form the group Jaylib in 2002, releasing the album Champion Sound in 2003. J Dilla appeared on tour with Jaylib in 2004, having various production, performance, and remix credits during 2004 and 2005, most notably two tracks on Common's Be. However, output slowed for the first time since his debut. Articles in publications Urb (March 2004) and XXL (June 2005) confirmed rumors of ill health and hospitalization during this period.
Despite a slower output of major releases, his cult status remained strong within his core audience, fueled in part by the unauthorized circulation of his underground "beat tapes" (instrumental, raw working material), mostly through internet file sharing. Three J Dilla solo albums, Donuts, The Shining, and Jay Love Japan had been announced as 2006 releases by independent labels Stones Throw Records, BBE, and Operation Unknown, respectively.
Facing a life threatening illness
In the later years of his career, rumors swirled that Jay faced serious illness. Some even suggested he had slipped into a coma. In June, 2005, he granted XXL an interview, in which he denied being comatose and said he had gotten sick overseas. Health concerns and the seriousness of his condition became more public in November 2005 when J Dilla toured Europe performing from a wheelchair alongside his mother, Maureen Yancey, and fellow Detroit artists Phat Kat and Frank N Dank.
J Dilla first noticed symptoms of his illness in 2002. His mother took him to the hospital, and doctors later diagnosed him with Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura or TTP, a rare blood disease that causes a low platelet count and a variety of symptoms including kidney failure and constant fever. In 2005 he was also diagnosed with Lupus.
J Dilla kept his illness mostly to himself. Friends knew he wasn't well, but only his mother and his doctor knew how bad things really were: he was slowly dying and there was no cure. Dilla showed his true passion for music by completing his last album, Donuts, from his hospital bed. He reportedly worked nearly constantly, breaking only when the process became too painful. He finished most of the album in September, 2005.
Donuts was released on February 7, 2006, Dilla's 32nd birthday, and the first one in years he didn't spend in the hospital. Three days later, on February 10, 2006, J Dilla died at his home in Los Angeles, California. His obituary in The New York Times on February 14 2006, states: "The cause was cardiac arrest, according to his mother, Maureen Yancey."
The creation of the J Dilla Foundation was announced in May 2006.
Posthumous Work
Aside from Donuts, Dilla completed or nearly completed two more full length releases in illness. The first to be released, The Shining, was released on August 8, 2006 by BBE Records. Final production of the album was handled posthumously by Karriem Riggins, whom Dilla had asked to help with the album. According to Riggins, The Shining was "75% completed when Dilla died." The album received mixed, but generally positive, reviews from critics and fans.
The second, Jay Love Japan, does not yet have a release date. It was announced during Dilla's lifetime as an instrumental EP, but leaked copies have circulated containing several songs with vocals. It quickly garnered comparisons to posthumous Tupac Shakur material, which many fans complain abuse his legacy by including artists and producers that Tupac may not have had any interest in working with, were he alive.
Stones Throw announced plans in November 2006 to re-issue Dilla's rarely heard classic Ruff Draft as a 2/CD, 2/LP set in March 2007. The re-issue will contain previously unreleased material from the Ruff Draft sessions and instrumentals.

Billy Preston: Labor Day Weekend of Love
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- August 31, 2006 -- The late Billy Preston would have turned 60 on September 2nd. According to his dear friend and manager, Joyce Moore, he was really looking forward to marking the milestone birthday and had started planning a television special and big concert to celebrate the event.
Tragically the world lost Billy on June 6th.
Moore and her husband, the legendary Sam Moore, are asking radio around the world to begin playing his last recording on his birthday, this Saturday, September 2nd at noon to celebrate and remember Preston and his vast contribution to music.
Before Billy fell ill he participated in the recording of this version of his great Billy Preston authored composition, "You Are So Beautiful," with his dear friend Sam Moore for Sam's newly released (Aug 29, 2006) album "Sam Moore Overnight Sensational." His sudden coma moved Sam, Joyce and the album's producer Randy Jackson to find a way to complete the track as a loving and respectful tribute to their Billy P that includes vocals from both Preston and Moore and the rarely recorded second verse of the song. (The verse Joe Cocker never tracked.)
Eric Clapton, another dear friend of Billy's, was devastated by Billy's sudden critical medical condition and added a passionate and emotional guitar solo to the recording.
Robert Randolph and Zucchero also lent support and love to Billy on the track that Billy heard and reacted with tears welling in his eyes while he was fighting to regain full consciousness in the hospital before he passed.
Sam and Billy likely are the only two artists to ever have performed the song's 2nd verse that so poignantly fits the mood and the moment... "such joy and happiness you bring, such joy and happiness you bring, just like a dream, my guiding light, my shining star, I'm going to love you where ever you are... you are so beautiful to me..."
Preston's career highlights include stints with The Stones, The Family Stone, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha and of course the last three albums with The Beatles as well as the last ever of their performances on the roof, The Concert for Bangladesh, The Concert for George, tours with Clapton, George, Ringo and a stellar solo career singing and/or playing on monster hits "Out A Space," "Nothing From Nothing" and "Will It Go Round In Circles."
He and Moore were best friends since Billy was a child prodigy and they were out on the road with gospel great Mahalia Jackson.

Co-founder of Kool & the Gang dies
Last Updated: Saturday, June 24, 2006 | 4:32 PM ET
CBC Arts

Claydes Charles Smith, co-founder and lead guitarist of the group Kool & the Gang, has died at age 57.
"We've lost a member of our family, as well as an infinitely creative and gifted artist who was with the band from the very beginning," band manager Tia Sinclair said in a statement released Friday.
The group's publicist, David Brokaw, said the musician died on Tuesday after a long illness. Brokaw would not reveal the illness. Smith passed away in Maplewood, N.J.
Known as Charles Smith, the guitarist was one of the band's songwriters and penned hits such as Joanna, Take My Heart, Hollywood Swinging and Jungle Boogie.
Kool & the Gang started off as a jazz group in the 1960s and moved into a blend of funk, R&B and pop during the 1970s. The group enjoyed success until the 1980s.
Smith was born in Jersey City, N.J., on Sept. 6, 1948, and was introduced to the jazz guitar by his father.
Smith formed a band, then known as the Jazziacs, in 1964 with a group of New Jersey jazz musicians including Ronald Bell (later Khalis Bayyan), Robert (Kool) Bell, George Brown, Dennis Thomas and Robert (Spike) Mickens. Other members would include lead singer James (JT) Taylor. The band would later be renamed Kool & the Gang.
Their self-titled debut album came out in 1969, but their 1973 Wild and Peaceful album broke into the mainstream with hits such as Jungle Boogie and Hollywood Swinging. Later albums, Spirit of the Boogie (1975) and Celebrate! (1980), would also become wildly successful. The 1980 international hit single Celebration was the top Billboard Pop single of the year.
The group's music has been featured in films like Rocky, Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction.
Illness forced Smith to stop touring with the group in January.
Smith is survived by his six children and nine grandchildren.

Heatwave Frontman Johnnie Wilder Jr. Dies

Johnnie Wilder Jr.

May 18, 2006, 5:00 PM ET

Clover Hope, N.Y.
Johnnie Wilder Jr., frontman and co-founder of the 1970s R&B group Heatwave, died May 13 at his home in Clayton, Ohio. He was 56. No cause of death has been made public.

In 1979, Wilder became paralyzed from the neck down after a car accident and subsequently stopped touring with Heatwave, though he continued to serve as lead vocalist. The band’s hit singles include "Boogie Nights,” “Always and Forever” and "The Groove Line.”

Wilder and his brother Keith formed the group in the late ‘70s while they were stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. After leaving the service, the pair added several musicians, including songwriter/keyboardist Rod Temperton, who has written several hit records for Michael Jackson.

Heatwave released seven albums, beginning its 1977 debut “Too Hot To Handle” (Epic) and including a 1997 reunion set, “Live at the Greek Theater” (Century Vista). The group disbanded in 1983 after enduring a series of member arrivals and departures (Temperton quit in 1978).

The Wilder brothers released “Sound of Soul” (Blatent) in 1989, and Johnnie recorded two gospel albums, “My Goal” (Light) and "One More Day."

Mayme Clayton Dies at 83

By Norman Oder — November 15, 2006
Trove from black history collector may become part of cultural center

Mayme Clayton, a self-directed collector who earned her MLS in midcareer as she compiled one of the country's most substantial collection of black Americana, died October 13 at 83. As the Los Angeles Times reported, Clayton put her trove, which included much about African Americans in the West, in the garage behind her “humble” home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of West Adams.
However, her collection of some 30,000 items may get professional treatment and organization in the planned Mayme A. Clayton Library, Museum & Cultural Center, a 21,000 square foot former courthouse in Culver City, CA. “Once she knew her collection was going to be OK, she was able to go in peace,” her son Avery Clayton told the newspaper. Still, signifcant fundraising is needed for building renovation and setup for a 2008 grand opening.
“Mayme Clayton performed an absolutely vital act of generosity and foresight in collecting what she did,” Sara Hodson, curator of literary manuscripts for the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA, told the Times. “It's probably the most important [collection] outside the [New York Public Library's] Schomburg [Center] in New York,” added Darnell Hunt, a sociology professor and director of the University of California–Los Angeles's (UCLA) Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.
Clayton worked from 1954 to 1971 as a library assistant at UCLA, becoming frustrated that the university wouldn't buy out-of-print works by authors like Langston Hughes, even though it was developing a library focusing on the African American experience. She then helped operate a bookstore and, when it closed, used its inventory to run Third World Ethnic Books from her home. She subsequently got her bachelor's degree in history, followed by her master's in library science, the latter from Goddard College in Vermont. “It's frightening to realize that so few black people are actively involved in this task,” she told the Times in 1973, “because if we're not careful, the record of our history in this country can be permanently lost.”

NEW YORK --Gerald Levert, the fiery singer of passionate R&B love songs and the son of O'Jays singer Eddie Levert, died on Friday. He was 40. His label, Atlantic Records, confirmed that Levert died at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.

"All of us at Atlantic are shocked and deeply saddened by his untimely death. He was one of the greatest voices of our time, who sang with unmatched soulfulness and power, as well as a tremendously gifted composer and an accomplished producer," the statement read.
Dan Bomeli, public relations manager at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center in suburban Cleveland, said Levert had been brought to the hospital. Bomeli said Levert had died but he had no further details.
Patti LaBelle, who had worked and recorded with Levert, said he "was like a son" to her. "He was such a great entertainer. It's not for real to me that he is gone ... Nobody was prepared for this."
LaBelle added that she hopes to sing at Levert's funeral.
"It's very sad. He was an amazing talent, obviously," friend and fellow R&B singer Will Downing told The Associated Press. "Gerald was a hard worker. He would go out there and do his thing, and be in places where the folks were. He would touch the people, and that's really what it's all about."
Over his two-decade music career, Levert sold millions of albums and had numerous R&B hits.
Levert first gained fame in 1986 as a member of the R&B trio LeVert, which also included his brother, Sean, and childhood friend Marc Gordon. They quickly racked up hits like "(Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop) Goes My Mind," "Casanova," and "Baby I'm Ready."
But Gerald Levert's voice -- powerful and soulful, almost a carbon copy of his father's -- was always the focal point, and in 1991, he made his solo debut with the album "Private Line," which included a hit duet with his dad, "Baby Hold on to Me." His father also recorded the successful album "Father & Son."
Levert was known for his sensual, romantic songs, but unlike a Luther Vandross, whose voice and songs were more genteel, Levert's music was explosive and raw -- his 2002 album was titled "The G Spot."
"When we would do shows together, we would get on stage and battle for the hearts of women. Every night, that was our thing," Downing said.
Though Levert was successful as a solo singer, in 1997 he got into group mode again -- joining with R&B singers Johnny Gill and Keith Sweat for the supergroup of LSG. The self-titled album sold more than two million copies, and their hits included the sensual "My Body." Levert also worked with other artists as a songwriter and producer.
His most recent album was 2005's "Voices."
Levert had four children.

Original Commodore Milan B. Williams dies

HOUSTON— Milan B. Williams, one of the original members of the Commodores, died after a long battle with cancer. He was 58.
Williams died Sunday at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, said JoAnn Geffen, a spokeswoman for the band.
Williams, who played keyboard, was one of the founding members for the Commodores, which formed in 1968 while all the members were in college at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The group, whose best known member was singer Lionel Richie, had a series of hits during the 1970s and 1980s, including Brick House, Easy and Three Times A Lady. Williams wrote the band's first hit, Machine Gun.
"He was once, twice, three times a brother and we love him. He gave all that he could give to the Commodores. He'll always be remembered," said band member Walter Orange.
He is survived by his wife, Melanie Bruno-Williams, and two sons from previous marriages, Jason and Ricci. The funeral will be on Friday in Okolona, Miss., where Williams was born. There will be a memorial service in Los Angeles in August.

'Cleopatra Jones' actress dead

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- Tamara Dobson, the tall, stunning model-turned-actress who portrayed a strong female role as Cleopatra Jones in two "blaxploitation" films, has died.

Dobson, 59, died Monday of complications from pneumonia and multiple sclerosis at the Keswick Multi-Care Center, where she had lived for the past two years, her publicist said.

At 6 feet, 2 inches tall, Dobson was striking as the kung-fu fighting government agent Cleopatra Jones in 1973. She reprised the role in 1975's "Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold."

"She was not afraid to start a trend," said her brother, Peter Dobson, of Houston. "She designed a lot of the clothing that so many women emulated."

Dobson also appeared in "Come Back, Charleston Blue," "Norman, Is That You?" "Murder at the World Series" and "Chained Heat."

She had TV roles in the early 1980s in "Jason of Star Command" and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century."

Dobson lived most of her adult life in New York, her family said. She was diagnosed six years ago with multiple sclerosis.

DESHAUN HOLTON, AKA PROOF | 1973-2006: Slaying silences driving force of Detroit hip-hop

Proof and Eminem gave stature to city rap
April 12, 2006

BY KELLEY L. CARTER
FREE PRESS MUSIC WRITER
Detroit hip-hop was at a loss for words.
It was difficult for a community of word-slingers to talk about the shooting death of one of their own Tuesday, as news quickly traveled the streets of Detroit and around the world.

At age 32, Detroit rapper Proof was dead. The man many credit with helping push Detroit rap onto the national scene, and who was widely seen as Eminem's right-hand man, was gone.

"He was one of the forefathers of Detroit hip-hop," said 34-year-old rapper Phat Kat, who recently hung out with Proof at Detroit's Northern Lights Lounge, a bar that attracts Detroit's hip-hop heavyweights every Tuesday night. "That's a real blow to the hip-hop community. ... He was one of the persons that was responsible for Detroit hip-hop as a whole."

Proof, who was born Deshaun Holton, was one of the most recognizable figures in D12, the supergroup that includes Eminem. He's considered one of the top hype men in the hip-hop game, always on stage -- at the mic -- next to Eminem. But he's probably best known to the world for being best buddies with Eminem, a friendship fictionalized in the movie "8 Mile" with Mekhi Phifer playing a role based on Proof. He even served as best man in January when Eminem remarried his ex-wife, Kim.

But here in Detroit, Holton is regarded as the man who was passionate about getting Detroit hip-hop on the map, and as a master battle-rapper.

In the mid-'90s, Proof's Saturday afternoons were spent hosting rap battles at the famed Hip Hop Shop on 7 Mile Road. This was the spawning ground for the scene that helped produce acts like D12 and Slum Village, and a time when Detroit hip-hop was not a national player.

It was his idea to assemble a collection of Detroit's best hip-hop talent and call it D12, and he helped push Eminem to become one of the world's biggest pop stars. A source close to Eminem said Tuesday that Eminem was devastated, and that the pair had been particularly close over the past few weeks, as Eminem's second marriage unraveled.

A simple "RIP Big Proof" graced the Web site for Iron Fist Records, the downtown Detroit label he had founded with an eye toward promoting homegrown rock, soul and hip-hop. In August, the company released "Searching for Jerry Garcia," Proof's first solo album. With 20 tracks that incorporated bits of psychedelic funk, jazz and hard rock into its lively rap mix, the disc displayed Proof's eclectic mindset and his willingness to color outside the standard hip-hop lines.

Proof, who titled "Garcia" in homage to the late Grateful Dead guitarist, said the record reflected a quest for personal enlightenment, one he'd undertaken in response to "stress, a bad diet and drugs" as D12's star rose in the early '00s."It's about coming back, finding the way," he told the Free Press last summer.
'A regular guy'

After the 2002 release of "8 Mile," when battle rap was gaining newfound commercial exposure, Proof was hired by Showtime Networks to host the national search for the best battle rapper. .

"He was the mayor of Detroit," said rapper J-Hill, who was featured on the series. "He made it a point to try and be as much of a regular guy that he could. A lot of times that got him in trouble. A lot of people, they can get some kind of badge just trying to challenge a person. Regardless, he made it a point to stay in the local hip-hop clubs."

Proof wasn't necessarily an angel, though, and had several run-ins with the law in recent years. "You never knew which Proof you'd get when you'd meet him. You might get the guy that's real humble. You might get the comedian. You might get the MC. Or you just might get Deshaun. He was a man of all hats. There was a lot to him that made up his character. He was a really good person," said Detroit rapper Hush, who toured with Eminem and D12 in summer 2005.

On Tuesday night, Detroit hip-hop music makers and lovers crowded inside Northern Lights Lounge, paying homage to the fallen rapper. The event was helmed by DJ House Shoes, who wore a T-shirt memorializing Jay Dee, one of his best friends and a close friend of Proof, who died in February.

They memorialized Proof hip-hop style, listening to him spit gritty-voiced rap music and at times crying and hugging those around them.

Earlier, those who knew him were trying to make sense of what happened.

"It's a tremendous loss. What he had yet to accomplish is incomprehensible," said Danialle Karmanos, a video director and producer who filmed Proof promoting the city two months ago for a Super Bowl party she and husband Pete Karmanos held at Compuware in downtown Detroit. "Proof was really smart and charismatic and funny and silly and engaging and respectful. You just wanted to smile when you were around him."

Detroit's urban music scene was just coming to terms with the loss of another pioneer. James (Jay Dee) Yancey died after complications from a rare blood disease in February.

Proof wasn't the first member of D12 to die tragically. In 1999, right before the group gained international prominence, member Bugz (Karnail Pitts) was shot to death on Belle Isle. D12 was scheduled to begin recording its third album this month.

"I just don't know how to feel right now," said D12 member Denaun Porter, better known as Kon Artis, barely getting the words out. "It's crazy because we're suffering all these losses. We lost Bugz. Now we lost Proof. I just don't know, you know what I mean? We're all so messed up. Whatever happened, whoever this dude is, is still around. This is just crazy."

Memorial service arrangements are still being made. "His family and friends would appreciate privacy during this difficult time," said a statement from Interscope Records, Eminem and D12's label.

“Jeffersons” Star Mike Evans Dead at 57
Such a young age to die.

Actor Mike Evans, best known as Lionel Jefferson in the TV comedy series "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," died of throat cancer Dec. 14 at his mother's home in Twentynine Palms, Calif. He was 57.

Evans, along with writing partner Eric Monte, created and wrote for "Good Times," one of the first TV comedy series that featured a primarily African American cast.

Evans launched the role of Lionel on “The Jeffersons,” an “All in the Family” spinoff in 1975. kept the role of Lionel when "The Jeffersons" launched in 1975. Evans was replaced by Damon Evans (no relation) for four years, then he returned to the series from 1979 to 1981.

In recent years Evans had invested in real estate in Southern California.

Evans is survived by daughter Tammy, his mother, Annie Sue, his brother Thomas, cousin Harold, and his niece, Chrystal.

Soul 'Godfather' James Brown dies

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.
Copsidas said Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said.
Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style.
If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator. "James presented obviously the best grooves," rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press. "To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close."
His hit singles include such classics as "Out of Sight," "(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Say It Out Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud," a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.
"I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black," Brown said in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society."
He won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992, as well as Grammys in 1965 for "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (best R&B recording) and for "Living In America" in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male.) He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.
'Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown'
He triumphed despite an often unhappy personal life. Brown, who lived in Beech Island near the Georgia line, spent more than two years in a South Carolina prison for aggravated assault and failing to stop for a police officer. After his release on in 1991, Brown said he wanted to "try to straighten out" rock music.
From the 1950s, when Brown had his first R&B hit, "Please, Please, Please" in 1956, through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs. He earned the nickname "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business."
With his tight pants, shimmering feet, eye makeup and outrageous hair, Brown set the stage for younger stars such as Michael Jackson and Prince.
In 1986, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And rap stars of recent years overwhelmingly have borrowed his lyrics with a digital technique called sampling.
Brown's work has been replayed by the Fat Boys, Ice-T, Public Enemy and a host of other rappers. "The music out there is only as good as my last record," Brown joked in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
"Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I'm saying? You hear all the rappers, 90 percent of their music is me," he told the AP in 2003.
Born in poverty in Barnwell, South Carolina, in 1933, he was abandoned as a 4-year-old to the care of relatives and friends and grew up on the streets of Augusta, Georgia, in an "ill-repute area," as he once called it. There he learned to wheel and deal.
"I wanted to be somebody," Brown said.
By the eighth grade in 1949, Brown had served 3 1/2 years in Alto Reform School near Toccoa, Georgia, for breaking into cars.
While there, he met Bobby Byrd, whose family took Brown into their home. Byrd also took Brown into his group, the Gospel Starlighters. Soon they changed their name to the Famous Flames and their style to hard R&B.
In January 1956, King Records of Cincinnati signed the group, and four months later "Please, Please, Please" was in the R&B Top Ten.
While most of Brown's life was glitz and glitter, he was plagued with charges of abusing drugs and alcohol and of hitting his third wife, Adrienne.
In September 1988, Brown, high on PCP and carrying a shotgun, entered an insurance seminar next to his Augusta office. Police said he asked seminar participants if they were using his private restroom.
Police chased Brown for a half-hour from Augusta into South Carolina and back to Georgia. The chase ended when police shot out the tires of his truck.
Brown received a six-year prison sentence. He spent 15 months in a South Carolina prison and 10 months in a work release program before being paroled in February 1991. In 2003, the South Carolina parole board granted him a pardon for his crimes in that state.
Soon after his release, Brown was on stage again with an audience that included millions of cable television viewers nationwide who watched the three-hour, pay-per-view concert at Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.
Adrienne Brown died in 1996 in Los Angeles at age 47. She took PCP and several prescription drugs while she had a bad heart and was weak from cosmetic surgery two days earlier, the coroner said.
More recently, he married his fourth wife, Tomi Raye Hynie, one of his backup singers. The couple had a son, James Jr.
Two years later, Brown spent a week in a private Columbia hospital, recovering from what his agent said was dependency on painkillers. Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, said singer was exhausted from six years of road shows.

Lesson in Black History by Rev. G.L.H.
The Statue of Liberty

It is hard to believe that after my many years of schooling (secondary and post) the following facts about the Statue of Liberty were never taught:

Hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people including myself have visited the Statue of Liberty over the years but yet I'm unable to find one person who knows the true history behind the Statue...amazing!

Yes, amazing that so much important Black history (such as this) is hidden from us (Black and White). What makes this even worse is the fact that the current twist on history perpetuates and promotes white supremacy at the expense of Black Pride!

During my visit to France I saw the original Statue of Liberty. However, there was a difference...the statue in France is BLACK!!!!!!

"Ya learn something new everyday!"

The Statue of Liberty was originally a Black woman. But, as memory serves, it was because the model was Black. In a book called "The Journey of The Songhai People," as Dr. Jim Haskins (a member of the National Education Advisory Committee of the Liberty-Ellis Island Committee, professor of
English at the University of Florida, and prolific Black author) points out that is what stimulated the original idea for that 151 foot statue in the
harbor. He says that the idea for the creation of the statue initially was to acknowledge the part that Black soldiers played in the ending of Black
African Bondage in the United States.

It was created in the mind of the French historian Edourd de Laboulaye, Chairman of the French Anti-Slavery Society, who, together with sculptor
Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, proposed to the French government that the people of France present to the people of the United States through the
American Abolitionist Society, the gift of a Statue of Liberty in recognition of the fact that Black soldiers won the Civil War in the United States. It was widely known then that it was Black Soldiers who played the pivotal role in winning the war, and this gift would be a tribute to their prowess.

Suzanne Nakasian, director of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Foundations' National Ethnic Campaign said that the Black Americans' direct
connection to Lady Liberty is unknown to the majority of Americans, BLACK or WHITE.

When the statue was presented to the US. Minister to France in 1884, it is said that he remonstrated that the dominant view of the broken shackles
would be offensive to the U.S. South because the statue was a reminder of Blacks winning their freedom. It was a reminder to a beaten South of the ones who caused their defeat, their despised former captives.

Documents of Proof:

(1.) You may go and see the original model of the Statue of Liberty, with the broken chains at her feet and in her left hand. Go to the Museum of the
City of NY, Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street (212) 534-1672 or call the same number and dial ext. 208 and speak to Peter Simmons and he can send you
some documentation.

(2.) Check with the N.Y. Times magazine, part II May 18, 1986.

(3.) The dark original face of the Statue of Liberty can be seen in the N.Y. Post June 17, 1986, also the Post stated the reason for the broken chains at her feet.

(4.) Finally, you may check with the French Mission or the French Embassy at the U.N. or in Washington, D.C.and ask for some original French material on the Statue of Liberty, including the Bartholdi original model. You can call (202) 944-6060 or 6400.

Please pass this information along! Be sure to send it to people with children! Open a dialog and discuss it with your friends! Let this be the beginning of your quest for the Truth about
American History past and present!

In the completed statue the shackle, which Liberty symbolically has broken, lies in front of her right foot, the heel of which is raised as in walking. The shackle chain disappears beneath the draperies and reappears in front of her left foot, the end link modeled to appear broken. Unfortunately, these details are in such a position they cannot be seen by the visitor.

Lefteye and Aaliya

The Kings

Slave Ship

Buffalo Soldiers

Slave House

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Damon J. Keith Biography

Jackie Wilson

Billy Ward and the Dominoes Jackie Wilson on the far right

Wilson, Nate Tarnopol and Alan Freed

Jackie Wilson at the Apollo Theatre

Leaving the hospital after being shot with mother Eliza Wilson, Jackie and wife Freda

A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.