Media Monday - African American History Month - Week 2

Song of the Week 

"Umqombothi" by Yvonne Chaka Chaka. This song was featured in the beginning of the film Hotel Rwanda. Umqombothi is a South African beer made from maize (corn), maize salt, sorghum salt, yeast and flower in the Xhosa and Zulu cultures. The song released in 1988 and the music video has over 1 million views on YouTube (the embed tool for blogger wouldn't let me choose the music video, even though I wanted to). According to the description of the video, the video was an attempt to put social commentary about apartheid politics disgusing it as celebration and the song went viral in Africa. Watch the video here. Yvonne Chaka Chaka was born in 1965, began her career in 1984. She became popular for her African pop and met Nelson Mandela, the queen and Oprah Winfrey. She is an advocate for several causes, including Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria. Yvonne also teaches literacy in her native South Africa, along with fighting for women, orphan and children rights. She is called the "Princess of Africa".

African American First

Guion Bluford was the first African American to go into space in 1983. He was born in 1942. Bluford went to college and continued his education until he got a Doctor of Philsophy degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1978 and Master of Business Adminstration degree in 1987. He recieved his pilot wings from the Williams Air Force Base in 1966. Bluford flew 144 combat missions, most of them over North Vietnam. In 1979, a year after he got his Doctor of Philsophy degree, he was chosen to be an astronaut by NASA. He was chosen to go on the STS-8 mission which launched on April 30th, 1983. Bluford is also an Eagles Scout. He flew on 4 other missions, logging over 688 hours in space before retirement in 1993. 

This Week in African-American History

Monday, February 12th

In 1793, the fugtive slave law was enacted. This forced all states, even those that were non-slavery, to forcibly return slaves back to the South. As the Northen states abolished slavery, the Southern states made them change the law to state that "on pain of heavy penalty" should a slave be returned, but it was largerly disregarded by the North.

In 1865, Reverand Doctor Henry Highland Garnet was the first African American to address the US House of Representatives. He preached a sermon about slavery and civil war to the House. Garnet had escaped slavery in 1824 and was later made U.S. minister to Liberia in 1888 but died two months after arriving. 

Abraham Lincoln was born on this day in 1809. He would later go on abolish slavery during his presidental years and deliever the infamous Gettysburg Address. 

In 1934, basketball player Bill Russell was born. He would later lead the Boston Celtics to 11 NBA championships during his 13 year career. Despite his success and taking the Celtics to their first ever championships, he suffered racial abuse from spectators. Russell won a Gold medal in the 1956 Summer Olmypics in Melbourne Australia along with the team he captained. 

Tuesday, February 13th

On this day in 1905, Thedore "Teddy" Roosvelt delievered a stirring speech on America's racial problems and his plan to elevate them. He said that debasement of African-Americans would result in the eventual debasement of whites. While Roosevelt himself was a firm believer that all men were created equal, his adminstration only passively tried to fix the problem. It was not until 1964 and Lyndon Johnson that civil rights would be granted. 

Friday, February 16th

Archaelogist Howard Carter opened up King Tut's tomb in 1923. This also opened up a fascination about Ancient Egypt with the general Western public. King Tut's tomb was the first one to be found at least almost entirely entact. I know this isn't entirely American, but it is African history nontheless. 

Sunday, February 18th

Ray Charles recorded "What'd I Say" for Captial Records in 1959. It was written for the last 10 - 12 minutes of a four hour performance when Charles' band ran out of songs. "What'd I Say" became Ray Charles' closing song for every show until his final one. It reached the #1 spot in the Rhythm and Blues chart and #6 in the general pop spot. 

See you guys next week with more facts!