black facts AROUND THE REGION

APRIL 27 - MAY 3, 2023

SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB

buys The Oakland Tribune newspaper from Gannett Company Inc., becoming the first African American to gain a controlling interest in a major daily newspaper.

1992 – The final episode of top-rated sitcom "The Cosby Show" airs on NBC, concluding a successful eight-year run for the show.

MAY 1

1867 – Howard University opens its doors to the first students.

1939 – Max Robinson, the first African American broadcast network news anchor in the United States, is born in Richmond, Virginia.

1946 – Emma Clarissa Clement, an African American theological educator, becomes the first Black woman to be named National Mother of the Year.

1950 – Gwendolyn Brooks wins the Pulitzer Prize for "Annie Allen," a book of poetry, making her the first African American to receive the award.

MAY 2

1762 – James Durham, also known as James Derham, the first African American to formally practice medicine in the United States, is born in Philadelphia.

APRIL 27

1903 – Maggie L. Walker is named president of Richmond's St. Luke Bank and Trust Company, becoming the first black woman to head a bank.

1927 – Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader and wife of Martin Luther King Jr., is born in Heiberger, Alabama.

1945 – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson is born in Pittsburgh.

1971 – Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. becomes the first Black American to be selected as an admiral in the U.S. Navy.

APRIL 28

1967 – Boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. Army and is immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision.

APRIL 29

1899 – Famed jazz pianist and composer Duke Ellington is born in Washington, D.C. 1983 – Harold Washington is sworn in as the first Black mayor of Chicago.

1992 – Four white Los Angeles Police Department officers are acquitted of excessive force in the videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King, touching off six days of violent rioting throughout South Central Los Angeles that caused more than $1 billion in damages.

APRIL 30

1983 – Journalist and publisher Robert C. Maynard

1920 – The Negro National League, the first financially successful all-Black baseball league, holds its first game.

MAY 3

1921 – Hall of Fame boxer Sugar Ray Robinson is born in Detroit.

1933 – Music legend James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," is born in Barnwell, South Carolina. WI

BY SARAFINA WRIGHT

Longtime CNN anchor Don Lemon announced on Twitter that he was terminated from his role after 17 years with the company. This news follows allegations of mistreatment toward his female colleagues and criticism of his on-air comments. Lemon claimed he was not informed of the decision directly by management. What are your thoughts?

LAMISHA VANHOOK / WASHINGTON, D.C.

They’re just firing cable news anchors everywhere. He stayed employed longer than most, especially with everything he had going on.

OTIS TROTTER / CANTON, OHIO

Well, don’t cry about it. He had a good ride with them and should have a great nest egg saved up, where he doesn’t have to work again if he doesn’t want to. Don shouldn’t have a problem getting another news job if he wants.

MARGARET GRATE / HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA

He is better than CNN. Love to him and his family. Watch out for that bigger door that’s already open. Let God handle it.

CARMEN SANDERS / CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

I love Don Lemon, but I’m not surprised. After he was moved to the morning spot last year, and when he made that comment about Nikki Haley, it was downhill from there. Don Lemon is a professional. He will be picked up from another big station.

CAROL THORNTON / BALTIMORE, MD.

What did he really expect? It’s CNN. Take time off, take your severance package, regroup and walk on! My mama once told me: “You were looking for a job when you found that one.”