Marcellus Williams, whose murder conviction was questioned by a prosecutor, died by lethal injection September 24, 2024 in Missouri after the US Supreme Court denied a stay. Williams’ attorneys had filed a flurry of appeal efforts based on what they described as new evidence – including alleged bias in jury selection and contamination of the murder weapon prior to trial. The victim’s family had asked the inmate be spared death. The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which handled the trial against Williams, argued in the motion that DNA testing of the knife used in the killing might suggest Williams was not Gayle’s killer. Missouri executed Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors and the victim’s family asking that he be spared.
Black History 365 | # 171 The Mania People of Thailand
The Mani, also known as the Maniq or Sakai, are an ethnic minority group in southern Thailand, inhabiting the Bathat mountain area in Trang, Phatthalung, Satun, Songkhla, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces. They are the first ethnic group from Africa to migrate to Asia, from South India to Southeast Asia. The Mani are indigenous mobile hunter-gatherers who have lived in isolated forest areas at the foot of the Bathat mountains for centuries. Their communities spread across the forest, comprising around 25–35 presumably related people. They live in makeshift camps built out of wood, called ‘Ha Ya,’ with women and young children usually spending most of their time in these camps while the men are occupied with daily hunting and gathering activities. This article in the 14th volume of Genome Biology and Evolution unveils the genetic history of the Maniq people in great detail.
Black History 365 | # 170 The African Origins of Surfing
The first known account of surfing was written during the 1640s in what is now Ghana. Surfing was independently developed from Senegal to Angola. Africa possesses thousands of miles of warm, surf-filled waters and populations of strong swimmers and sea-going fishermen and merchants who knew surf patterns and crewed surf-canoes capable of catching and riding waves upwards of ten feet high. Popular histories of surfing tell us that Polynesians were the only people to develop surfing, that the first account of surfing was written in Hawai‘i in 1778 and that Bruce Brown, Robert August and Mike Hynson introduced surfing into West Africa. All these claims are incorrect. This is according to Surfing.com by way of University of California history professor Kevin Dawson who writes about longstanding connection between African people and the ocean in Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora.
Black History 365 | # 169 Benjamin O. Davis Jr.
The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is linked directly to the life and career of Benjamin O. Davis Jr. The son of an Army general and a 1936 graduate of West Point, Davis was a member of the first class of five cadets to earn their wings at Tuskegee. He was selected to lead the new 99th Pursuit Squadron, the Army Air Corps’ first all-black air unit. He was the first for a lot of things. He was the first Black military officer to attend any War College, graduating from the Air War College in 1950. After serving at the Pentagon for two years, the Air Force placed Davis in charge of a fighter wing stationed in South Korea. He was the first Black commander of an integrated fighter wing and proved that white pilots and officers could respect and take orders from a Black officer. After his success in Korea, Davis was promoted to brigadier general, making him the first Black general in the Air Force. Peace > War. But we can’t deny this major piece of Black history in America. Respect and thank you for your service.
Black History 365 | # 168 52 Blocks
There is a fighting style, known as 52 Blocks — according to Vice “…the term refers to a purported codified New York prison system-specific style of Jail House Boxing, aka Jail House Rock... The moves themselves supposedly reflect the prison environment. The idea is that the tight stances, lack of far-ranging movement, and emphasis on survival and defense were designed to function in the confines of a prison cell than a ring.” Defensively and offensively, the 52 never stops moving. The torso is constantly shifting and turning. The techniques have been handed down through word of mouth. So it’s history (much like many black histories) is a bit fuzzy. 52 Blocks scholar Daniel Marks, who first learned of the form from street savvy recruits while in the Army, refers in a brief monograph to the southern African American fighting of “Knocking and Kicking.” Frazier similarly connects Jail House Rock back to a “Virginia Scufflin” boxing practiced by slaves in the 1800s. The existence of enslaved bare knuckle boxers—like the famous Tom Molineaux—who were forced to fight for their masters’ entertainment, is documented in other sources, including the foundational early-1800s prize fighting account, Boxiana. Marks and Frazier both connect Southern African American fighting styles back to African martial arts, such as Hausa Boxing (also known as Dambe) in Nigeria.