December 11

Minnie Evans (December 11, 1892 - December 16, 1987) began to draw and paint at the age of 43, creating her first pieces of artwork on a scrap of paper bag. She painted her early works on US Coast Guard stationery and later worked with more precision, using ink, graphite, wax crayon, water color, and oil on canvas, board and paper. Evans' drawings were inspired by her dreams and are complex, with elements recalling the art of China and the Caribbean combined with more Western themes. The central motif in many pieces is a human face surrounded by plant and animal forms. The eyes, which Evans equated with God's omniscience, are central to each figure, often three eyes were depicted and frontal faces with concealed lips. In addition, God is sometimes depicted with wings and a multicolored collar and halo and shown surrounded by all manner of creatures.

Lion of Judah by Minnie Evans

Birthdays

Morris "Morrie" Turner (December 11, 1923 – January 25, 2014) got his first training in cartooning via the Art Instruction, Inc. home study correspondence course. During World War II, where he served as a mechanic with Tuskegee Airmen, his illustrations appeared in the newspaper Stars and Stripes. After the war, while working for the Oakland Police Department, he created the comic strip Baker's Helper. When Turner began questioning why there were no minorities in cartoons, his mentor, Charles M. Schulz of Peanuts fame, suggested he create one. Morris' first attempt, Dinky Fellas, featured an all-black cast, but found publication in only one newspaper, the Chicago Defender. Turner integrated the strip, renaming it Wee Pals, and in 1965 it became the first American syndicated comic strip to have a cast of diverse ethnicity. Although the strip was only originally carried by five newspapers, after Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968, it was picked up by more than 100 papers.was a syndicated cartoonist, creator of the strip Wee Pals. Turner was the first nationally syndicated African-American cartoonist.

Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (Dec. 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984) was an American rhythm & blues singer/songwriter. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog" in 1952, which became her biggest hit. It spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard R&B charts in 1953 and sold almost two million copies. Her success was overshadowed three years later, when Elvis Presley recorded "Hound Dog". Similarly, her "Ball 'n' Chain" was a bigger hit when recorded by Janis Joplin in the late 1960s

Leslie Esdaile Banks, née Peterson (December 11, 1959 – August 2, 2011) was an American writer under the pennames of Leslie Esdaile, Leslie E. Banks, Leslie Banks, Leslie Esdaile Banks and L. A. Banks. She wrote in various genres, including African-American literature, romance, women's fiction, crime suspense, dark fantasy/horror and non-fiction.

Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known professionally as Mo'Nique, is a comedian and actress. Best known for her role as Nikki Parker in the UPN series The Parkers and as a stand-up comedian hosting Showtime at the Apollo. She in such films as Phat Girlz, and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. In 2009, she received critical praise for her villainous role as Mary Lee Johnston in the film Precious and won numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.



Events

On December 11, 1917 thirteen African American soldiers were executed for their participation in a confrontation between Houston police and troops from nearby Camp Logan. Others sentenced to death later had their sentences commuted by President Wilson after negative publicity and investigation by the NAACP.

On December 11, 1964, singer Sam Cooke was fatally shot by the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 33. At the time, the courts ruled that Cooke was drunk and distressed, and that the manager had killed Cooke in what was later ruled a justifiable homicide.





Photo Gallery

Born in Rumley,Virginia on December 11th, 1827, CHARLES R. BELL, WAS A FORMER SLAVE who fled to freedom via the Underground Railroad. | "the appraiser said that on account of a broken jaw, I was worth $800. However at the sale I brought for $1,050. After the sale my new master, a Mr. Marner, took those of us he had purchased away to his plantation. Then for the first time in my life I fully realized that I was a SLAVE." 

Langston Hughes' Musical BLACK NATIVITY opened on Broadway on December 11, 1961 and ran in Philly's Freedom Theatre as a holiday tradition, 

Robert Kennedy signed letter and photograph relating to the 1962 Civil Rights unrest when James Meredith was admitted as the first African American student at the University of Mississippi. In this eloquent letter, dated December 11, 1962, Kennedy is writing to U.S. Marshall Ernest Mike regarding Mike's injuries sustained at Oxford, Mississippi on September 30th and October 1st.

December 11,1968 - Arthur Ashe became the first black man to be ranked #1 in tennis.

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama (2R) and daughters Malia Obama (L) and Sasha Obama (2L) walk from St. John's Church to the White House after attending Sunday services December 11, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mike Theiler-Pool/Getty Images)

Publications

What Happens to Negro Child Prodigies Like Philippa Schuyler - Jet Magazine, December 11, 1952

Rene Vaughan Has A Kiss for the Loveliest Female Impersonator - Jet Magazine, December 11, 1952

Josephine Premice and Husband Timothy Fales Want to be Left Alone Jet Magazine, December 11, 1958.

Black Experience Magazine Cooking from Scratch: Soul Food for the Soul by Mr. William C Jenkins Jr. $19.98. Publication: December 11, 2012. Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

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