The Faces of Black History: Part One
Graphic for Black History Month.
Logan Moore, PNN Staff
February 21, 2012
Filed under Features, Life, News, Top Stories, World, World
It seems that time flies by faster and faster every day. People are born, they live, and then it seems that they merely fade into history. But some, however, are so extraordinary that their legacy survives and history will not allow us to forget them.
In honor of Black History month, the Panther News Network is celebrating African American achievements and advancements in the form of a three part series. This series highlights major successes and milestones made by African Americans in the fields of sports and entertainment, government and social reform, and science and medicine.
This week we will honor the many faces of icons in the world of sports and entertainment. These groundbreaking individuals fought through the obstacles and racial prejudices of the time to reshape what it meant to be an athlete or entertainer. These are the faces of black history.
Sports
Jackie Robinson
(1919-1972)
Jack Roosevelt Robinson, born January 31, 1919, was the first African American to play in the modern professional baseball league. He broke the race barrier in professional baseball in his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The signing of Robinson and his subsequent success with the Dodgers lead to the addition of more African American players and the end of the Negro League, a separate professional baseball league for black players. Jackie Robinson had a fantastic career with 137 home runs, 197 stolen bases, six All-Star selections (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954), an MVP title (1949), an MLB Rookie of the Year title (1947), and a World Series victory (1955). Robinson was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Willie Thrower
(1930-2002)
William Lawrence Thrower, born March 22, 1930, was the first African American quarterback in the NFL. Thrower played for the Chicago Bears and also played football in Canada as well. Before his NFL career, Willie Thrower was a part of the Michigan State Spartan team that won the national championship in 1952. Thrower’s legacy is not well known but it is by no means forgotten.
Jack Johnson
(1878-1946)
John Arthur “Jack” Johnson, born March 31, 1878, was the first African American heavyweight boxing champion. Also known as the Galveston Giant, Jack Johnson was a premiere fighter during a period of high racial tension. In his illustrious professional career Johnson fought 104 fights, 79 of which he won, 46 by knockout. One of Johnson’s most famous fights was against James J. Jefferies on July 4, 1910. Jefferies was the former undefeated heavyweight champion who came out of retirement to fight Johnson. Jefferies and Johnson had the opportunity to fight for a title contention previously but Jefferies refused to fight Jack due to the fact that he was black. Jefferies made this statement in regards to the fight against Jack Johnson, “I feel obligated to the sporting public at least to make an effort to reclaim the heavyweight championship for the white race. . . . I should step into the ring again and demonstrate that a white man is king of them all.” Fighting in Reno, Nevada to an unheard of 20,000 person crowd, Jack Johnson defeated James J. Jefferies in 15 rounds in what would later be called the fight of the century. The victory was a triumph for both Johnson and African Americans everywhere, but it also sparked several race riots across the country.
Willie O’Ree
(1935-)
Willie O’Ree, born on October 15, 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, is a Canadian born hockey player who made his entrance to the National Hockey League as its first black player. O’Ree played right wing for the Boston Bruins along with several other teams both in the NHL and other smaller leagues from the years 1957-1979. Much like many of the other black players in various sports at the time, O’Ree encountered a great deal of racism. However, O’Ree didn’t let the negativity affect his game and he persevered throughout his 22 year career.
Althea Gibson
(1927-2003)
Althea Gibson, born August 25, 1927 in South Carolina, was the first African American woman to win any major tennis title. With her wins in the French Championship in 1956, two Wimbeldon and two U.S. Championship victories in 1957 and 1958, Althea Gibson made her mark on the tennis world indefinitely. Gibson blazed an new path and cleared the way for not only African Americans but women as well in the world of tennis.
Arthur Ashe
(1943-1993)
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr., born July 10, 1943, was a professional tennis player who broke racial barriers and made history by being the first African American man to win a singles title in the U.S. Open, Australian Open, and Wimbeldon. Ashe dominated the late 1960’s and early 1970’s with several title wins. While off of the tennis court, Arthur Ashe was also a passion civil rights activist, traveling as far as South Africa to protest racial injustice and apartheid. Though he died in 1993 his legacy lives on in the form of the immense impact on the game of tennis. Ashe currently has a tennis stadium that bears his name in Queens, New York.
Entertainment
Hattie McDaniel
(1895-1952)
Hattie McDaniel, born June 10, 1895, was the first African American woman to both be nominated and win an Oscar. McDaniel played the role of Mammy in the 1939 cinema classic Gone with the Wind. As a daughter of former slaves, Hattie overcame the odds and the racial injustice of the early 1900s to become a star. Hattie McDaniel was a constant not only in movies, but also radio, television actor, comedian, and a singer and songwriter. In addition to being the first African American woman to win an Oscar, McDaniel was also the first African American to sing on the radio. McDaniel did come under fire for the stereotypical roles that she often played. She was often cast as the role as the nanny or “Mammy” that was common of black women at the time. Roles such as these made up the majority of the roles that were available for black women at the time. Nevertheless, Hattie McDaniel made a huge impact on the entertainment world as a whole acting in over 300 films, only 80 of which she received credit for. Hattie McDaniel is now immortalized twice on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sidney Poitier
(1927-)
Sir Sidney Poitier, born February 20, 1927, is a Bahamian American actor who holds the distinct honor of being the first black person, male or female, to receive the Academy Award for Best Actor. Poitier won Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field in 1963. Sidney Poitier became a break out star with later roles in films like To Sir, with Love, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and In the Heat of the Night. All three films were box office hits in the year 1967. Poitier was also a known Civil Rights activist and was heavily involved in and in support of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. Poitier later went on to star in many other successful films and also direct a few including Uptown Saturday Night (1974) with Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte, Stir Crazy (1980) with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, and a handful of documentaries. Poitier has been honored several times including the highest honor a civilian can receive in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom that he received in 2009. Sidney Poitier is a considered by many to be one of the greatest actors of his time and is truly a living legend.
Count Basie
(1904-1984)
William “Count” Basie, born August 21, 1904, was an influential composer, jazz pianist, and bandleader who was active in the music business for almost 50 years. Count Basie embraced several eras of music including Harlem jazz and blues, Kansas City jazz, New York big band and swing music and much much more. Basie, over his extensive music career, worked with many stars in the music business including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby and others. Through his work as an accomplished jazz pianist and composer and through his work with his band, Count Basie was awarded 9 Grammy awards in his lifetime. Basie was the first African American male to win a Grammy. The music of Count Basie helped to shape a generation and crossed racial lines to become wildly popular to music fans of all types.
Ella Fitzgerald
(1917-1996)
Ella Jane Fitzgerald, born April 25, 1917, was a jazz singer who made history for becoming the first African American female to win a Grammy award in 1958. Ella Fitzgerald got her start doing Big Band singing in the mid 1930’s and eventually found mainstream success in the years to follow. Ella has been acclaimed for her big voice and large vocal range that was central to the music she made. Ella Fitzgerald is also well known for her improvisational “scat” style of singing which helped make her so popular in the music industry. Throughout her 59 year long career, Ella Fitzgerald was able to work with some of music’s greats such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra and others. Ella claimed 13 Grammy Awards in her illustrious career as well as a National Medal of Arts awarded by Ronald Reagan in 1987and the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by George H.W. Bush in 1992. Ella Fitzgerald was fittingly called Lady Ella and the First Lady of Song. Ella Fitzgerald is forever immortalized in her music but also on her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her depiction on a postage stamp, and a bronze statue of her that was erected in Yonkers.
Nat King Cole
(1919-1965)
Nathaniel Adams Coles (better known by his stage name Nat King Cole), born March 17, 1919, was a singer and jazz pianist. Nat King Cole captivated the hearts of many fans with his smooth singing voice. Cole found early success with his hit songs “Straighten Up and Fly Right” in 1943 and “Unforgettable” in 1951. Like many at the time, Nat King Cole had to fight racial discrimination. Cole did his part to help fight discrimination by rarely doing shows in segregated venues. Apart from his music, Nat King Cole made history by being one of the first African Americans to every have a network television show. The Nat King Cole Show aired on NBC in 1956. The show caused a considerable amount of controversy but continued regardless. The Nat King Cole Show ran for a year but ended due to a lack of corporate sponsorship. Nat King Cole’s long and successful career was a testament to what African Americans can do in the world of entertainment.
Bill Cosby
(1937-)
William Henry Cosby, Jr., born July 12, 1937, is an African American comedian, actor, producer, activist and author who has been in the entertainment industry for over 50 years. Bill Cosby got his start as a stand-up comedian in the early 1960’s. He started playing in comedy clubs and then got more national exposure on television shows such as the Tonight Show. Cosby later went on to release several hit albums such as “Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow…Right!” and “Bill Cosby: Himself”. Cosby first made the jump to television in 1965 with the NBC show I Spy, an espionage adventure show that ran from 1965-1968. Cosby was the first African American to star in a network television show. Cosby continued to act in the years that followed starring in movies alongside the likes of Sidney Poitier in movies like Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Let’s Do It Again (1975). Cosby again tried his hand at television, acting in and producing some very successful programs. Cosby appeared on shows such as The Electric Company, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and a few other variety shows that bore his name. Cosby really found success with The Cosby Show which ran from 1984-1992. The Cosby Show, produced by Cosby himself, found tremendous commercial success with five consecutive seasons with #1 ratings. The Cosby Show also fostered several spin off television shows such as A Different World and Cosby. Bill Cosby has also found success as an author and activist and still remains busy to this day. Bill Cosby is the proud owner of four Emmys, nine Grammys, a Kennedy Center Honor, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom to name a few.
Photo Credits:
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