December 9

December 9, 2007 Talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama at a rally in Manchester, N.H
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

St Martin de Porres (December 9, 1579 – November 3, 1639) was born in Lima, Peru, the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a formerly enslaved mother of African descent. He was apprenticed to a barber/surgeon from whom he learned healing and pharmacology. At the age of 15 he asked for admission to the Dominican Convent of the Rosary in Lima and was received first as a servant boy, and as his duties grew he was promoted to almoner. Descendants of Africans and Indians were not usually allowed to join a holy order, but the prior permitted him to take vows as a Dominican lay brother in 1603. He was later placed in charge of the infirmary where he worked until his death at the age of 59. In addition to caring for the members or the order, he treated the poor of Lima, and was reported to have been able to heal with only a drink of water. He was beatified in 1837 and canonized in 1962, and is depicted in iconography often depicted as a young mulatto friar wearing the old habit of the Dominican lay brother, a black scapular and capuce, along with a broom, since he considered all work to be sacred no matter how menial. He is sometimes shown with a dog, a cat and a mouse eating in peace from the same dish. He has been named as a patron saint of those of mixed race.

Birthdays

Tim Moore (born Harry Roscoe Moore,  December 9, 1887- December 1958) was widely known as "The Kingfish" in The Amos 'n Andy Show, but had been a vaudeville comedian for many years. He dropped out of grammar school and was a street busker, performing with his friend Romeo Washburn, and was 11 years old when the two were signed to tour with Cora Miskel. He continued in vaudeville until the 1920s, and also was a boxer fighting under the name of "Kid Klondike". He appeared in Broadway musical revues and in in Oscar Micheaux's first talking picture, The Darktown Revue.

Cleveland Leigh Abbott (December 9, 1892 - April 14, 1955) was hired as an agricultural chemist and athletic director at Tuskegee Institute in 1923, a job that had been personally offered to him by Booker T. Washington in 1913 on the condition that he successfully earn his B.A. degree. During Abbott’s 32-year career, the Tuskegee football team had a 202–95–27 record including six undefeated seasons. He also started the women’s track and field program at Tuskegee in 1937. The team was undefeated from 1937 to 1942. Six of his athletes competed on U.S. Olympic track teams, including gold medalists Alice Coachman and Mildred McDaniel. He also coached tennis stars Margaret “Pete” Peters and Roumania “Repeat” Peters during their college years at Tuskegee.

Donald Lee Hollowell (December 9, 1917 - December 27, 2004) was an Atlanta civil rights attorney. He sued the University of Georgia in 1961 to admit African American Students Charlayne Gault and Hamilton Holmes, freed Martin Luther King from the Georgia State Prison where he was being held on traffic charges, and defended members of the Albany Movement. In 1966 President Johnson appointed him regional director of EEOC, a post he held for 20 years.

Roy DeCarava (December 9, 1919 - October 27, 2009) was the first African American photographer to win a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1952. The photographs from that period were collected in his book The Sweet Flypaper of Life, which had text written by Langston Hughes.He taught at Cooper Union and Hunter College and is most noted for his portraits of jazz musicians.

Redd Foxx (born John Elroy Sanford, Dec. 9, 1922 – Oct. 11, 1991) was an American comedian amd actor, best remembered for his explicit comedy records and his starring role on the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son. Foxx gained notoriety with his raunchy nightclub acts during the 1950s & 60s. Known as the "King of the Party Records", he performed on more than 50 records in his lifetime.

Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture  (Don) Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013). A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a pop artist!

David D. "Deacon" Jones (December 9, 1938 – June 3, 2013) was an American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980. Jones specialized in quarterback "sacks", a term which he coined.

Singer and songwriter Joan Armatrading, best known for her influential and eclectic music styles, ranging from soul, pop, and even reggae, was born on December 9, 1950 in Basseteree, Saint Kitts in Antigua. This mix of “black” to “white” did not work as well with American audiences as it had with British music lovers. Ironically when American artist Tracy Chapman became popular in the late 1980s, she was called the “new Joan Armatrading.”

Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American actor and voice artist who is best known for his role as the Klingon Worf from the Star Trek franchise. Dorn's most famous role to date is that of the Klingon Starfleet officer Lieutenant J.G. (later Lieutenant and then Lt. Commander) Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Dorn has appeared on-screen in more Star Trek episodes and movies as the same character than anyone else:




Events

On December 9, 1872, P.B.S. Pinchback became the first African American governor of any state in the U.S. when the Louisiana legislature filed impeachment charges against the incumbent Republican governor, Henry Clay Warmoth. State law required that Warmoth step aside until his case was tried. Pinchback took the oath as acting governor  and served for 35 days until the end of Warmoth's term. Warmoth was not convicted, and the charges were eventually dropped.

In December 9, 1873: The Colored Normal School at Huntsville is created by legislative act. Founded by ex-slave William Hooper Councill, the school educated black teachers for the public schools. It became a land-grant institution in 1891, eventually evolving into Alabama A&M University.



Photo Gallery

December 9, 1992 Barbara Jordan, lawyer, educator, political leader, and stateswoman, received the 77th NAACP Spingarn Medal

December 9, 1993: Nelson Mandela and South African President Frederik de Klerk received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo for the peaceful termination of the apartheid.

On  December 9, 1995 Kweisi Mfume was unanimously elected President and CEO of the NAACP.

Publications

Eartha Kitt Broadway Bound with a New Show - Say Magazine December 9, 1954

December 9, 1968: TV Guide listing for Diana Ross & The Supremes' first TV special, "T.C.B." 

Jet - December 9, 1985

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