Did you know a Jewish immigrant family helped Louis Armstrong buy his first horn? He dropped out of school and worked as a delivery boy for them. They started feeding him and eventually provided him with a bed while unofficially adopting him. He was known for wearing a necklace with the star of david on it.
Black History 365 | # 91 Richardson Viano
Did you know that a 19-year-old Haitian athlete, Richardson Viano was the sole representative of Haiti at the 2022 Winter Olympics? In fact he is the first Haitian Winter Olympian. Richardson was born in Haiti and was adopted by French-Italian couple Andrea Viano and Silvia Grosso-Viano from an orphanage along with two girls, Bellandine and Natacha. Richardson was introduced to skiing by his family via an instructor. He is 21 years old.
Black History 365 | # 85 El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (formerly Malcolm X)
Black History 365 | # 90 Angela Davis
Did you know how radical Angela Yvonne Davis is? As a teenager she organized interracial study groups, which were broken up by the police. As a graduate student at the University of California San Diego she joined the Black Panthers and the Che-Lumumba Club, an all black branch of the Communist Party. She got hired then subsequently fired at The University Of California Los Angeles because of her associations. She fought back in court and got her job back. She left when her contract expired in 1970. She spent 18 months in jail due to her support of three prison inmates and their escape attempt during a court hearing which result in two inmates being killed in a shootout. She was acquitted in June 1972. Today she is a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz. She is 80 years old.
Black History Month 365 | # 89 Marsha P. Johnson
Did you know Marsha P. Johnson is slowly being written into American History as a gay rights and liberation activist? In the 1960s same-sex relationships were illegal in New York City. Night clubs and bars were where gays would gather in privacy from the law. Police would still conduct raids because many bars were owned by the Mafia and operated without liquor licenses. For me, it’s presumable the Mafia could still make their money from the gay community and then allow the police to still do their job and kick them out. But that’s not historically accurate because I have no proof of there being deals between the Mafia and New York Police…lol. Anyway, an event cited as the Stonewall Riots took place after a raid happened at a club in the arts hub, Greenwich Village in 1969. Police roughly hauled employees and patrons out the bar. No deaths. Thankfully. That led to six days of protests and violent clashes with the law. It served as the catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world. It was said that Marsha P Johnson “really started it” according to others. It was said that she threw a brick, but that history is fuzzy. What isn’t fuzzy is Marsha P Johnson died mysteriously and was found floating in a river in 1992 after a gay pride parade.