Faith, Freedom and Cultural Revival—Positive Music Matters!

PO

SIT

IVE

MU

SIC

MAT

TER

S® 2016

Commemorative Calendar

Photos by Bob Gore and Rasisi Dais

PC_Mag_2016_Clndr_FNL.indd 1 12/2/15 7:01 PM

Welcome to 2016. Welcome to The Positive Community. We present to you The Positive Community’s 2016 Commemorative Calendar. The

theme: Faith, Freedom and Cultural Revival—Positive Music Matters! The beautiful images of life and music in this calendar are from the

Bob Gore spiritual photography collection joined by popular, Newark, NJ based music photographer, Rasisi Dais.

The monthly calendar quotes are inspired from a collection of The Publisher’s Desk editorials written over the past year. Special thanks to

Newark pastor Rev. Dr. Pauline E. Ballard whose quotes from a spiritual, biblical perspective affirm our course. Her unique insight is shared in a

guest editorial in the 2015 Harlem Summer Issue of The Positive Community, entitled, I Do Believe: Positive Music Matters. This cultural document also

includes quotes from Wynton Marsalis and Duke Ellington. The calendar is all about the music, positive music—now more than ever, in spirit

and in truth—Positive Music Matters!

Faith-Testing HopeThis year, 2016, begins a new chapter of change in our American freedom journey. We are now in the final year of President Barack Obama’s

2nd term in the nation’s highest office. One hundred and fifty years ago, in 1866, Reconstruction came to the South in the wake of Civil War

(to end slavery 1861–1865); a war that cost almost 700,000 American lives. Reconstruction was a violent, bitter period for the African American

freedman. But, it was also a time of great faith-testing hope . . .“We Got By!”

Four hundred years ago, our ancestors were forcibly brought to these shores in shackles and chains. For 250 years the people toiled and

suffered all manner of physical abuse; enduring much torment in the mind and the soul—a broken people. We survived Reconstruction and

the humiliation of Jim Crow segregation and discrimination right through the March on Washington in 1963—The Second Emancipation—to the

triumph of the election of America’ first black president in 2008 and again in 2012. And today, with much hope, we look forward to a future of

health, prosperity and happiness—ideals of peace and goodwill.

The Soul of a NationUnlike any other ethnic group or race in this country, we the people, descendants of The Great Emancipation have been blessed with a very special

gift; a great cultural treasure, a mighty spiritual asset—a goodly heritage; a great music legacy!

From the Slave Work Songs, Folk Tales and the Negro Spirituals; from the Blues, Jazz, to Gospel and Soul Music; from R&B to Hip-Hop,

all are the precious gifts and talents of the liberated sons and daughters of the Most High God—The Great Emancipator. Indeed, a forlorn, forsaken

people spoke freedom to the soul of this nation and healed the world through the power of music, song and the spoken word—a righteous

sound—Positive Music Matters!

Faith, Freedom and Cultural Revival By Adrian A. Council, Sr., Publisher The Positive Community

POSITIVE MUSIC MATTERS®®

…We’re all built up with progress;

but sometimes I must confess;

we can deal with

rockets and dreams;

but reality what does it mean? …

From the Superfly Soundtrack

“Freddie’s Dead “—Curtis Mayfield

…Emancipate

yourselves from mental slavery;

none but ourselves

can free our minds;

have no fear from atomic energy;

for none of them can

stop the time…

“Redemption Song” by Bob Marley


Where Do We Go from Here?Today, as a people, we stand at the crossroads of a great reckoning. Our generation must account for the gifts bestowed upon us, our divine inheritance. It is the gift of our music, the progress

of our children and the integrity of our culture that matters most—Positive Music Matters!How then, in less than a single generation, did we go from enjoying a renowned, world-class artist/ entertainer, a supreme talent named Michael Jackson, “The King of Pop,” to celebrating a

rapper that goes by the name “Young Thug”; from songs of love, freedom, hope and happiness to an enslaving sound track of doom and death—vulgar, obscene and crude expressions of self-

hate and anti-social attitudes, in complete bondage to fashion and debt; from inspired creativity, to shallow cleverness; from music and song to nursery rhyme cadences and music-less chants?

I believe the answers can be found in two sincere, simple and straight-forward questions:

#1—Who are we; and where do we go from here?

#2—Who are we praying to; and just what are we praying for?

America’s BestA conversation about the future is a conversation about the children and the future of our children’s children! To do nothing is to go backward; and one cannot go forward and backward at the same

time. A real conversation and celebration about the inherent, soul-saving qualities of Black Music is a step forward! Matthew 25:14-30, Parable of the Talents, illustrates the point.

After all, the fate and destiny of the people—God’s people—is ultimately in the hands of the people! Only through rediscovery of the African American group personality—our music,

art, and culture, can we “revive the smoldering embers of positive values and traditions.” To quote, historian and theologian, James H. Cone, “Music has been and continues to be the most significant

creative art expressions of African Americans.”

Never forget this truth: politics fades with fashion; culture endures— generation, to generation, to generation. It carries the faith-hope potential to transcend experiences of many, many lifetimes.

Each of us is called into loving service— to be about the business of our future. It is therefore our God-given responsibility, moral obligation and patriotic duty to protect, promote

and preserve our very best—America’s best! A cultural renaissance—a great awakening—is surely underway! We must now decide for ourselves; by ourselves—on our own terms—what really matters!

Positive Music Matters!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:We thank professor, James H. Cone, of Union Theological Seminary for his insightful, inspiring research study in the book, The Spirituals and the Blues. Dr. Cones is “Widely regarded as one of the most influential theologians in America”. Rev. Dr. Pauline E. Ballard is pastor Pentecostal Family Prayer Center, Newark, NJ.

Special thanks to the more than 160 member churches, clergy leadership organizations of all denomina-tions—our friends—that has joined and continues to support The Positive Community’s Great Roll Call to Progress, subscribers of bulk deliveries of the magazine. Special thanks to advertisers: businesses, schools, public and pri-vate institutions; civic organizations, fraternities and sororities, and forward thinking cultural groups, that have said “Yes” to a positive community ideal. We encourage our readers to support our community partners—businesses that advertise in this publication, online (thepositivecommunity.com) and our weekly newsletter, That’s What’s Up!

The Positive Community dedicates this 2016 Calendar to our friends, the encouragers who have “gone on to Glory” in 2015: Rev. Dr. Garner C. Taylor, Cephas Bowels (WBGO), Bob Curvin (author and educator), Bishop Kelmo C. Porter, Jr., Rev Wendell F. McGunnis Jr., Alfonso Bernard, Jr. (son of Rev. AR Bernard) Larrie W. Stalks, Rev. Anita Burson, Annette Hubbard RN, Rev. Ron Christian and many others whoº have lived their lives in ministry and in unselfish, loving service to the people.

The Positive Community acknowledges the pastors, musicians, singers, songwriters, composers, Gospel Choirs, music directors, arrangers, Ministers of Music, band leaders, music teachers; music schools and, dance instructors, Praise Dancers, poets, Worship Leaders, music publishers, music producers; music writers and critics and all good

people of every race, nation, ethnicity, religion, gender, class and age—the beloved community—who understand and agree that ultimately, Positive Music Matters!

The Positive Community recognizes the support of the dfree movement to eliminate personal debt in our communi-ties. Dfree is about the business of the future—our future! Visit their website: www.mydfree.org

We also thank a very special group, African Americans for Health Awareness (AHAA), a growing team of com-munity-based health advocates and professionals for a healthy future. Their motto: Health, Family, Education!

A special shout-out to theologians, schools of religious study, colleges and seminaries: New York School of The-ology (NYTS), New Brunswick Theological School, Drew University, Newark School of Theology, Nyack College, Union Theological (NY), Unification Theological Seminary (UTS); College of New Rochelle, Felician University and Princeton Theological Seminary. Also, The Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture.

Cover Photo: Sunday service at the Greater Allen Cathedral AME Church, Queens , NY by Bob Gore. Inserted photos of Jazz and Dance: vocalist, Diane Reeves; jazz dancer and modern tap, Savion Glover, and legendary Jazz drummer Max Roach by Rasisi Dais.

Credits: Photography: Bob Gore (bobgore.smugmug.com www.facebook.com/robert.gore.902) Risasi Dais ([email protected]; Publisher: Adrian A. Council, Sr. ([email protected])Editor: Jean Nash Wells ([email protected]; Special Project Coordinator: Kaylyn Kendall DinesGraphic Design/Production: Penguin Design Group and Martin Maishman


Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Marsalis family with the Lincoln Center Orchestra in 2012 at Lincoln Center in NYC. Wynton and his brothers: Brandford on saxophone; Delfeayo , trombone; Jason on drums, and father Ellis Marsalis, Jr. playing piano. (Photo by Risasi Dais © 2012)

Music is the tonal reflection of beauty.

—Duke Ellington


Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

February 2016

New Year’s Day

Martin Luther King Jr.Holiday

JanuaryS M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

December 2015S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

1923–Forty to eighty people were killed by white mobs in the affluent Black town of Rosewood, FL

1971–The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) was organized

2005-Barack Obama was sworn in to the US Senate as the third African American senator since Reconstruction and the fifth in history

1804–Ohio passed the “Black Laws” restricting the movement of Black people

1911–The Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity was founded at Indiana University

1832–The New England Antislavery Society (later the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society) was organized

1837–The Weekly Advocate, the second major Black newspaper in America, was established in New York

1840–Slaves who seized the slave ship Amistad were tried for murder and mutiny in New Haven, CT; the court found they had the right to resist slavery

1914–Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was founded at Howard University

1867–Legislation giving voting rights to Blacks in the District of Columbia was passed over President Andrew Johnson’s veto

1867–Howard Theological Seminary became Howard University

1804–Jean Jacques Dessalines proclaimed the independence of Haiti

The seventh day of Kwanzaa, “Imani,” which means “faith,” is observed on this date annually.

1914–Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was founded at Howard University

1865–A Black division of the military par-ticipated in the Fort Fisher Expedition that closed the Confederate’s last major port

1908–Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Black Greek Letter Sorority, was founded at Howard University

1920–Zeta Phi Beta Sorority was founded at Howard University

1917–The United States succeeded Denmark as the sovereign authority in the Virgin Islands

1891–The Chicago Provident Hospital opened the first training school for Black nurses

1964–The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified by Congress, outlawing the poll tax

1788–Freed Black people organized the First African Baptist Church (originally named the Ethiopian Church of Jesus Christ) in Savannah, GA

1870–Hiram Rhodes Revels (Mississippi) was elected as the first Black U.S. Senator

1930–Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, origi-nally founded in 1913, was incorporated

1972–Shirley Chisholm opened her historic campaign for President

1963–Harvey B. Gantt enrolled in Clemson University, breaking segregation in South Carolina, the last state to integrate

1908–The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the first Black Greek Letter Fraternity was incorporated

1913–Alpha Kappa Alpha, was incorporated1956–Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home was bombed

1934–The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY held its first live show

1948–President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, designed to end segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces

1865–The 13th Amendment, which on ratification outlawed slavery, was passed by Congress

1920–Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was incorporated

1962–Lt. Cmdr. Samuel Lee Gravely became the first Black person to command a U.S. warship


Indeed our African American history, culture, values, tradition and ideals are most accessible through positive, life affirming music and song! As a people we pay a heavy price for forgetting our blessings—

tragic loss of cultural memory and ethnic identity

—Positive Music Matters®

Sidewalk Ministry, 1985, 42nd St. and Eighth Ave., New York City (Photo by Bob Gore)



1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

S M T W T F S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

January 2016 March 2016

February

Presidents’ DayValentine’s Day

Groundhog Day

FULL

FIRST

NEW

Mardi Gras Ash Wednesay

LAST

1865–John S. Rock became the first Black lawyer admitted to practice before the Supreme Court

1960–NCA&T students staged a sit-in at the F. W. Woolworth segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, NC

1990–A 30-year ban on the African National Congress was finally lifted in South Africa 1958–Clifton Reginald Wharton, Sr.

became the first Black person to head a U.S. embassy in Europe

1820–The Mayflower of Liberia, the first organized emigration of Black people back to Africa, left New York for Sierra Leone with 86 Black people

1984–84-year-old Freedom Rider Walter Bergman, beaten by Ku Klux Klansmen at an Alabama bus station in 1961, was awarded $50,000 by a U.S. District Court

1944–Harry S. McAlpin became the first Black journalist allowed to attend a White House press conference

1968–Three South Carolina State students were killed during segregation protests in Orangeburg, SC

1909–The NAACP was founded in Springfield, IL

1948–First Lieutenant Nancy C. Leftenant became the first Black member in the regular Army Nursing Corps

1920–Andrew “Rube” Foster organized the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs (Negro League), the first Black baseball league

1990–Nelson R. Mandela was released from prison after 27 years

1989–Ronald (Ron) H. Brown was elected Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, the first African American to head a major political party

1971–Leroy “Satchel” Paige became the first Negro League player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

1995–Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr. became the first Black astronaut to take a spacewalk

1897–Dr. George Washington Carver was successful in getting a Branch Agricultural Experiment Station and Agricultural School at Tuskegee Normal School

1965–The home of Malcolm X was bombed

1968–Henry Lewis was named Director of the New Jersey Symphony, the first African American to direct an American orchestra

1919–The first Pan African Congress was organized in Paris

1688–The first formal antislavery resolution was passed by the Quakers of Germantown, PA

1804–Lemuel Haynes, Revolutionary War Veteran and the first Black minister to serve for a white congregation, became the first Black person to receive an honorary degree from a white college

1979–Frank E. Petersen, Jr. became the first Black Brigadier General in the U.S. Marine Corps

1988–Debi Thomas, figure skater, became the first African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics

1870–Hiram Rhodes Revels of Mississippi was sworn in as the first Black U.S. Senator


Hip Hop meets Jazz: Two Hip-Hop dancers rocking & dancing to jazz music onstage during “Harlem Nights” at The Apollo Theater as Marc Cary & other jazz musicians are checking them out. (Photo by Risasi Dais © 2015)

There are forces all around you who wish to exploit division, rob you of your freedom, and tell you what to think.

But young folks can rekindle the weary spirit of a slumbering nation

—Wynton Marsalis



1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

March

St. Patrick’s Day

First Day of SpringPalm Sunday

Good Friday

Easter Sunday

Daylight Saving Time Begins

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

LAST

February 2016

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29

S M T W T F S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

April 2016

Holy Saturday

1875–The Civil Rights Act of 1875, outlawing discrimination in hotels, places of amusement, and other public conveyances, was passed by Congress; the House removed clauses banning discrimination in churches, schools, and cemeteries

1867–Howard University was chartered by Congress

1919–Claude Albert Barnett founded the Associated Negro Press

1956–Morocco gained its independence1770–Crispus Attucks was the first person killed in the Boston Massacre

1798–James Forten, Sr. patented a Sail-Handling device, becoming the first Black person to receive a patent

1865–The Freedmen’s Bureau for Black Edu-cation was founded to help freed Black people in contractual relationships and in education

1990–Carole Gist became the first Black woman to win the “Miss USA” pageant

1942–The first cadets graduated from the Tuskegee Flying School

1965–A Selma to Montgomery civil rights march was halted and became known as “Bloody Sunday”

1966–The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was upheld by the Supreme Court

1857–The Dred Scott decision, asserting that Black people could not be citizens of the United States was handed down by the Supreme Court

1876–P. B. S. Pinchback, the first Black state Governor (Louisiana), was denied his seat by the Senate

1945–Phyllis Mae Dailey became the first Black nurse appointed to the Navy Nurses Corps

1841–The Supreme Court upheld a not guilty verdict for murder and mutiny on the Amistad slaveship

1964–Malcolm X withdrew from the Nation of Islam

1926–The Savoy Ballroom opened its doors in Harlem, NY for the first time

1959–Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun became the first play written by a Black woman to be performed on Broadway1968–A Civil Rights Bill that made it illegal to discriminate against Blacks looking for housing sold through brokers was passed by the Senate

1969–James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to killing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

1972–Maya Angelou, became the first Black woman to have a motion picture (Georgia, Georgia) produced

1917–The U.S. Army created the first training camp for Black officers in Des Moines, IA

1932–The first Black contemporary daily newspaper, the Atlanta Daily World, began publishing daily

1947–John Lee, the first Black commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, was assigned

1965–President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the Voting Rights Bill of 1965 to a joint session of Congress

1827–The first Black newspaper, Free-dom’s Journal, published the first issue

1960–San Antonio, TX became the first major metropolitan city to integrate its lunch counters

1939–Langston Hughes founded the New Negro Theater in Los Angeles, CA

1968–Howard University students seized the school’s administration building in protest for a curriculum that strongly reflected Black culture

1972–The USS Jesse L. Brown was launched, the first ship named in honor of a Black naval officer

1877–Clark College was charted in Atlanta, GA

1946–Kenny Washington became the first Black NFL player when he signed with the Los Angeles Rams

1965–The Selma Freedom March to the State Capitol in Montgomery, AL began

1990–The nation of Namibia gained its independence

1956–The nation of Tunisia gained its independence

1837–Canada granted Blacks the right to vote

1937–William Henry Hastie became the first Black federal judge in the United States.

1931–The Scottsboro Boys, nine Black youths who were falsely accused of raping two white women in Scottsboro, AL were arrested

1939–The Renaissance, the first Black pro basketball team, became the first Black team on record to win a professional world’s championship

1968–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led 6,000 protesters in support of striking sanitation workers, through downtown Memphis, TN

1969–The Black Academy of Arts and Letters was founded in Boston, MA

1923–The Zeta Phi Beta Sorority was incorporated

1963–Capt. Edward J. Dwight, Jr. became the first Black candidate for astronaut training

1870–Thomas Mundy Petersen of Perth Amboy, NJ became the first Black person to vote

1890–George “Little Chocolate” Dixon knocked out Cal McCarthy to become the first Black man to hold an American title in any sport


Positive Music is the substance of power that can and will break every type of enslavement.

—Dr. Pauline E. Ballard Ms. Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson ( with microphone) and the Mama Foundation For The Arts Gospel for Teens Choir at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Harlem, NY(Photo by Bob Gore)



1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

May 2016

April

April Fool’s Day

Tax Day

Earth Day

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

March 2016

Passover Begins

Passover EndsArbor Day

868–Hampton Institute (University) was founded

1949–Happy Pappy, the first variety talent show series with a Black cast, aired on WENR-TV

1989–Bill White was elected President of the National Baseball League, the first African American to head a major profes-sional sports league in the United States

1968–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN

1953–Fisk University established the first chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at a Black school

1968–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountain-top” speech

1976–FBI documents revealed that the government had conducted an intensive campaign against civil rights organizations

1909–Matthew A. Henson became the first person to reach the North Pole

1919–The African Orthodox Church was organized by George Alexander McGuire

1990–Percy Lavon Julian and George Washington Carver became the first Black inventors elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame

1974–Henry “Hank” Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s MLB record with 715 homeruns

1881–Spelman College, the first institution of higher learning for Black women, opened in Atlanta, GA

1956–Nat King Cole was attacked by a mob of white supremacists while performing on stage in Birmingham, AL

1968–President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights (Fair Housing) Act of 1968, banning discrimination in the sale of most housing

1947–Jackie Robinson became the first modern Black professional baseball player

1975–Lee Elder became the first African American to play in golf’s Masters Championship

1787–The Philadelphia Free African Society was created

1873–Sixty to one hundred African Americans were killed by white mobs in Grant Parish, LA in the Colfax Massacre

1907–Harlem Hospital opened

1964–Sidney Poitier was the first African American man to receive an “Oscar” for a leading role for his performance in Lilies of the Field.

1962–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”

1929–Oscar DePriest, the first Black Congressman from the North (Illinois), was sworn in

1960–The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was organized at Shaw University

1997–Jackie Robinson’s number was permanently retired from Major League Baseball on the 50th anniversary of his first game

1775–The first abolitionist society in the United States was founded by the Pennsylvania Quakers in Philadelphia, PA

1837–Cheyney State College was founded as a school for African American boys

1972–Major General Frederic E. Davidson became the first African American to lead an Army division

1999–Rosa Parks was given the Congressional Medal of Honor for inspiring the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott

1913–The National Urban League was incorporated

1884–The Medico-Chirurgical Society was formed in Washington, DC because the AMA refused to allow Black physicians into their group

1944–The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) was founded

1960–The nation of Togo gained its independence

1961–Sierra Leone gained its independence

1983–Robert C. Maynard bought the Oakland Tribune, becoming the first African American to own a major daily metropolitan newspaper

1992–The L.A. Rebellion, sparked by the acquittal of four white LAPD officers in the beating of Rodney King, began

1967–The WBA and the New York State Athletic Commission stripped Muhammad Ali of his World Heavyweight Boxing title for refusing to enter the Armed Forces


Kojo Roney, the 12 year old dynamic jazz drummer performing at the 2015 Vision Festival in NYC. (Photo by Risasi Dais © 2015)

Each of us is entrusted with and responsible for the survival and safe-passage of values from this generation to the next. Music, cultural literacy is essential to

the ideal of a quality education.—Positive Music Matters®



1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 June 2016

May

National Day of Prayer

Peace Officer’sMemorial Day

Mother’s Day

Armed Forces Day

Memorial Day

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

S M T W T F S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

April 2016

Pentecost

1920–The first game of the National Negro Baseball League was played in Indianapolis, IN

1950–Gwendolyn Brooks’ Annie Allen makes her the first Black person to win a Pulitzer Prize

1948–The Supreme Court decided Shelly v. Kraemer, providing that no state or federal court could prevent individuals from owning or occupying property due to their race

1904–The first Black Greek-letter organization, Sigma Pi Phi, was formed in Philadelphia, PA

1961–CORE began “Freedom Rides” to test the South’s compliance to the Interstate Commerce Commission’s order of desegregation

1946–William Henry Hastie was inaugurated the first Black Governor of the Virgin Islands

1787–The African Lodge No. 459 was founded by Prince Hall in Massachusetts

1988–Eugene Antonio Marion was installed as the first Black Archbishop in the United States

1858–John Brown convened an antislavery convention in Chatham, Canada 1994–Nelson R. Mandela was

inaugurated the first Black President of South Africa

1990–Virginia Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder ordered all state agencies and institutions to divest from companies that had dealings in South Africa

1888–Slavery was abolished in Brazil

1961–The Freedom Riders’ bus was bombed and set afire by segregationists in Alabama

1820–Congress declared foreign slave trade an act of piracy, punishable by death

1911–Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity was incorporated

1916–More than 15,000 people attended the “Waco Horror,” where Jesse Washington was burned alive in a public square

1942–The 93rd Infantry, the first Black divi-sion to be assembled during World War II

1891–Isaac Burns Murphy became the first person to win the Kentucky Derby three times

1990–George Augustus Stallings was ordained the first Bishop of the African-American Catholic Church

1997–The U.S. Government finally issued an official apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

1875–Oliver Lewis won the first Kentucky Derby

1915–The National Baptist Convention was chartered

1954–The Supreme Court overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education

1957– MLK led more than 15,000 people in The “Prayer Pilgrimage”

2000–The South Carolina General Assembly voted to remove the confederate flag from South Carolina’s Capitol dome

1964–Elder Hawkins Garnet became the first Black moderator of the United Presbyterian Church

1961–The Freedom Riders were attacked by a mob in Montgomery, AL

1965–Patricia Roberts Harris was the first Black woman to be named a US Ambassador

1863–The War Department created the Bureau of Colored Troops and began an aggressive effort to recruit Black soldiers

1935–Jesse Owens broke five world records and tied a sixth in a 45-minute span while running for Ohio State University in the Big Ten Championship track meet

1870–Congress passed the first Civil Rights Enforcement Act to protect the voting rights of Black people

1951–The Municipal Court of Appeals ruled that racial segregation in Wash-ington, DC restaurants was illegal

1963–The home of civil rights activist Medgar Evers was bombed

1942–Dorie Miller was awarded the Navy Cross aboard the USS Enterprise by direct Presidential order for his heroic deeds at Pearl Harbor

1854–The Kansas-Nebraska Act over-turned the Missouri Compromise and allowed slavery in the Northern territory

1968–Ruth A. Lucas became the first Black woman to be promoted to Colonel in the U.S. Air Force

1980–Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., National Urban League president, was seriously injured in an assassination attempt in Fort Wayne, IN


Positive music speaks the language that our soul understands and does respond to. After the song has ended, the melody

lingers to sustain us even when we are at “wits end corner!” “Then sings my soul, My Savoir God to Thee; How Great

Thou art; How Great Thou art.”—Dr. Pauline E. Ballard

Noted Gospel singer, Rev. Maxine Casellas, at the Cake Man Raven annual show, 2012, Brooklyn, NY (Photo by Bob Gore)



1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

July 2016

June

D-Day

Flag Day

Father’s Day First Day of Summer

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

S M T W T F S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

May 2016

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 311941–The first Black tank battalion, the 758th Tank Battalion, was activated

1951–Mississippi Valley State University was founded in Itta Bena, MS

1946–Segregation in interstate bus travel was banned by the Supreme Court

1949–Wesley A. Brown became the first Black graduate from the Annapolis Naval Academy

2008–Barack Obama became the first Black person to win the Presidential primary for the Democrat Party

1863–Harriet Tubman, the first U.S woman to command an armed military raid, led Union Army guerillas into South Carolina and freed nearly 800 slaves1875–James Augustine Healy consecrated the 1st Black Roman Catholic Bishop in US1943–The 99th Pursuit Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen) flew their first combat mission1950–The Supreme Court outlawed segregation on dining cars used in interstate transportation

1790–Jean Baptist Pointe Du Sable founded Chicago, IL1831–The 1st Convention of Free Persons of Color, Philadelphia, PA1930–Dillard University chartered, New Orleans, LA1942–The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) founded, Chicago, IL1966–Stokley Carmichael (Kwame Toure’) launched the “Black Power” movement

1940–Frederick O’Neal and Abram Hill organized the American Negro Theatre

1950–The Supreme Court ruled that no distinctions can be made on the basis of race once a Black student is admitted to an all-white school and ordered Herman Sweatt admitted to the University of Texas Law School

1987–Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first Black woman astronaut

1892–Homer A. Plessy refused to move to a segregated railroad coach, initiating Plessy v. Ferguson.

1998–James Byrd, Jr. was brutally mur-dered by three white men in Jasper, TX

1953–Segregation was declared illegal in Washington, DC restaurants by the Supreme Court

1963–Vivian Malone and James Hood were escorted by the National Guard as they integrated Alabama University

1981–Grant Fuhr was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers, becoming the first Black professional hockey player

1866–The 14th Amendment was passed by the House, granting citizenship to Black people

1967–President Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall the Supreme Court’s first Black Justice

1963–Medgar Evers was assassinated at his Jackson, MS home

1921–Georgianna R. Simpson was the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D.

1970–Cheryl A. Brown won the “Miss Iowa” Pageant, becoming the first Black contestant in the “Miss America Pageant”

1877–Henry Ossian Flipper became the first Black graduate of the West Point Military Academy

1921–Bessie Coleman became the first Black licensed pilot.

1942–Bernard W. Robinson was promoted to Ensign, the first African American person to win a commission in the Navy

1983–Nelson W. Trout was elected the first Black U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Bishop

1822–Denmark Vesey led his famous slave rebellion in Charleston, SC

1911–The NAACP was incorporated in New York

1865–Juneteenth celebrates the date slaves in south Texas first heard news about the Emancipation Proclamation — more than two years after freedom had been proclaimed

1912–Tennessee State University opened as Tennessee A&I State College

1821–The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was founded in New York City

1945–Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr., the Air Force’s first Black General and the first Three-Star General, was named com-mander of Godman Field, the first African American to head an Army Air Force base

1938–Joe Louis knocked out German boxer, Max Schmeling, becoming the first Black national sports hero

1941–FDR issued Executive Order 8802 forbidding racial and religious discrimination in war industries and government training programs and industries

1971–Daniels & Bell became the NYSE’s first Black-operated securities firm

1975–Mozambique was proclaimed independent

1936–Mary McLeod Bethune was named Director of the Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration, the first woman to receive a major appointment from the federal government

1988–Atlanta University and Clark College merged to become Clark Atlanta University

2007–Anthony Reed became the first African American to complete 26.2-mile marathons on every continent, including Antarctica

1960–Djibouti gained its independence1960–Madagascar gained its independence1964–Malcolm X founded the Organiza-tion for Afro-American Unity 1976–Seychelles gained its independence


Our foremost great and present hope can only come from within: individual and collective faith; an awareness and knowledge of our collective experience

in this land—our history—and a real appreciation for love, wisdom and ideals as reflected through great music, positive music—our collective soul!


“Harlem Nights” at The Apollo Theater during the spring of 2015 included jazz trum-peter Roy Hargrove & 4 jazz pianists; Jason Moran, Gerald Clayton, Bertha Hope & Marc Cary & legendary jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb. (Photo by Risasi Dais © 2015)



1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

July

Independence Day

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

August 2016S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

June 2016S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 301777–Vermont became the first U.S. territory to abolish slavery

The African nations of Somalia (1960) and Rwanda (1962), and Burundi (1962) gained independence on this date.

1881–Tuskegee Institute was founded by Booker T. Washington

1775–The Black Masons in Boston, MA, formed the African Lodge No. 1.

1962–Jackie Robinson became the first Black person named to the Baseball Hall of Fame

1962–The African nation of Algeria gained its independence

1975–The Cape Verde Islands gained its independence

1957–Althea Gibson, tennis legend, won the women’s Wimbledon Singles Championship, becoming the first Black to do so

1964–The African nation of Malawi gained its independence

1975–The African nation of Comoros gained its independence

1893–Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the world’s first successful open-heart surgery without anesthesia at Provident Hospital in Chicago, IL.

1924–William DeHart Hubbard became the first Black person to win an Olympic Gold Medal when he won the broad jump (24.5 ft) in Paris

1791–Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and Benjamin Rush organized the “African Church,” a nondenominational church

2000–The Reverend Vashti Murphy McKenzie was named as the first female Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.

1964–James Thomas was elected Bishop of the predominantly white Iowa district of the Methodist Church

1975–The African nation of Soa Tome and Principe gained its independence

1976–Texas Congresswoman, Barbara Jordan, became the first Black person to give the keynote address at a national political convention by speaking at the Democratic National Convention

1862–Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act. This Act was designed to free the slaves from all rebels. Congress also authorized the President to accept Blacks into military service

1941–The first Black airman’s school (U.S. Army) was dedicated in Tuskegee, AL. This event marked the formal begin-ning of the 99th Pursuit Squadron

1941–The Fair Employment Practices Commission was established

1942–The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAC) was formed and accepted Black women.

1967–The first national “Black Power” conference opened in Newark, NJ.

1900–The Pan-African Congress held its first meeting in London

1933–Caterina Jarboro, a featured performer in Aida, became the first Black person to perform with an American opera company

1896–The National Association of Colored Women was founded in Washington, DC. Dr. Mary Church Terrell was elected as its first president

1950–The first victory in the Korean War was won by Black troops (24th Infantry Regiment) who captured Yechon

1943–The USS Harmon, the first warship named for a Black person (1st Class Leonard Roy Harmon), was commissioned

1992–General Colin L. Powell dedicated the Buffalo Soldier Memorial at Fort Leavenworth, KS.

1847–The African nation of Liberia declared its independence.

1948–President Harry Truman ordered the “equality of treatment and opportunity” for all people in the armed forces by issuing Executive Order No. 9981

1822–James Varick was consecrated the first Bishop of the AME Zion Church

1985–$3.5 million in back pay by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) was paid to approximately 300 Black employees denied promotions due to racial discrimination

1919–The National Association of Negro Musicians met for the first time in Chicago, IL.

1868–The 14th Amendment (ratified by Congress July 9, 1868), granting citizen-ship to Black people, was adopted

1917–The New York City Fifth Avenue March, a march organized by the NAACP with 10,000 Black people marching in silent protest of lynchings and racial inequalities

1874–Father Patrick Francis Healy was named President of Georgetown Univer-sity and became the first Black president of a predominately white institution


McCollough Sons of Thunder Brass Band at United House of Prayer for All People’s annual fire hose baptism, 2010, Harlem, NY (Photo by Bob Gore)

Even when we hum a sacred melody to ourselves, it ushers in a God-given calmness to any situation. Immediately there is a divine connection which resonates

a soothing and sweetness throughout the soul that does quiet the troubled heart.—Dr. Pauline E. Ballard



1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 September 2016

AugustNEW

FULL

LAST

S M T W T F S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

FIRST

July 2016

S M T W T F S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

1834–Slavery was outlawed in British colonies; over 700,000 slaves were freed

1960–Dahomey (Benin) gained its independence

1966–The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science was chartered 1960–Niger gained its independence

1861–Congress passed the Confiscation Act allowing property of rebel slaveholders, including slaves, to be appropriated

1965–President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, suspending literacy tests and allocating federal examiners to the South

1960–The African nation of Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) gained its independence

1948–Alice Coachman became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal

1954–Charles Henry Mahoney was confirmed as the first Black delegate to the United Nations

1960–The Ivory Coast gained its independence

1981–Coca-Cola agreed to supply $34 million to assist Black businesses and the Black community at large

1960–The Central African Republic gained its independence

1960–The African nation of Chad gained its independence

1960–Congo gained its independence

1973–The National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) was formed

1963–Georg Olden became the first African American to design a U.S. postage stamp

1960–The African nation of Gabon gained its independence

1619–The Dutch brought 24 slaves to the Jamestown colony, the origins of U.S. slavery

1960–Senegal gained its independence

1791–Slaves in the Northern Providence initiated the Haitian Revolution

1867–Fisk University was incorporated

1943–Harriet M. Waddy [West] became the Women’s Army Corps’ (WAC) first Black Major

1957–The Civil Rights (Voting Rights) Act of 1957 was passed

1979–The Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation purchased the Mutual Black Network, creating the first completely Black-owned radio network

1856–Wilberforce University was established by the AME Church

1967–Thurgood Marshall became the first Black Supreme Court Justice

1950–President Harry Truman appointed Edith Sampson the first Black delegate to the U.N.

1900–The National Negro Business League was founded

1997–A strip of Highway 93 between Cairo and Breckston Georgia was named for Jackie Robinson

2008–Barack Obama officially became the first Black Democrat nominee for President

1963–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial

1943–William L. Dawson was the first Black Democratic Party vice presidential candidate

1962–Trinidad and Tobago gained joint independence


Two forms of song—the spirituals and the blues—helped sustain slaves and their children in the mist of “a lot

of powerful tribulation.”

—James H. Cone “The Spirituals and the Blues”

Magnificent jazz guitar and Blues performer King Solomon Hicks playing during the summer of 2015 at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. (Photo by Risasi Dais © 2015)

PO

SIT

IVE

MU

SIC

MAT

TER

S®



1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

September

Labor Day

First Day of Autumn

Patriot DayNational POW/MIARecognition Day Constitution Day

NEW

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

October 2016

S M T W T F S

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

August 2016

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 1846–The American Missionary Association was founded to educate and train slaves

1975–Joseph Woodrow Hatchett became the first Black State Supreme Court Justice in the South since Reconstruction

1975–Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr. became the first Black Four-Star General

1979–Hazel W. Johnson became the first Black woman General in U.S. history

1957–The Little Rock Nine were met by a hateful mob and the National Guard when they attempted to integrate Central High School

1968–Swaziland and Mauritius gained independence

1987–Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson led a team in successfully separating 7-month-old conjoined twins joined at the head

1800–The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church of New York was dedicated

1993–Jocelyn Elders became both the first Black and the first female U.S. Surgeon General

1974–The African nation of Guinea-Bissau gained its independence

1957–President Eisenhower signed the first Civil Rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction

1968–The first “Miss Black America Pageant” was held in Atlantic City, NJ

1986–Oprah Winfrey became the first Black woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show

1992–Dr. Mae Jemison became the first Black woman to travel in space

1977–Alex Haley’s Roots mini-series received 36 Emmy Award nominations

1663–One of the first documented slave rebellions took place in Gloucester County, VA

1940–FDR signed the Selective Service Act, allowing Black people to enter all branches of the U.S. Military Service and receive equal training

1861–The American Missionary Association School, founded for the education of freedmen, opened in Fort Monroe, VA

1947–Jackie Robinson was named National League “Rookie of the Year”

1983–Vanessa L. Williams became the first Black woman to win the “Miss America” pageant

1915–Haiti became a de facto protector-ate of the United States by treaty

1898–The National Afro-American Council was founded in Rochester, NY

1963–Four little girls were killed when the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL was bombed

1865–Atlanta University was founded

1881–Tuskegee Institute opened

1956–The first International Conference of Black Writers and Artists convened in Paris

1963–The Iota Phi Theta fraternity was founded

1850–Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law

1830–The First National Negro Convention was held in Philadelphia, PA

1984–Leontine Turpeau Kelly was consecrated the first Black woman Bishop of the United Methodist Church

1872–John Henry Conyers became the first Black person to enter the U.S. Naval Academy

1962–The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the admittance of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi

1977–John T. Walker was installed as the first Black Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC

1988–Barbara C. Harris became the first woman Bishop

1998–Nelson Mandela was honored by President Clinton with the Congressional Medal of Honor

1950–Dr. Ralph Johnson Bunche became the first Black person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

1960–Mali gained its independence

1961–The Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations that outlawed segregation on buses and in terminal facilities used for interstate travel

1861–The Secretary of Navy authorized the enlistment of slaves as Union sailors

1957–The Little Rock Nine began the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, AR

1915–Xavier University opened in New Orleans, LA

1895–The National Baptist Convention was established at an Atlanta, GA

1921–George Alexander McGuire was consecrated the first Bishop of the African Orthodox Church

1991–The National Civil Rights Museum officially opened in Memphis, TN 1966–Botswana gained its independence

1975–WGPR-TV of Detroit, MI, began broadcasting as the first Black-owned television station in the U.S.


Cultural Leadership and music literacy

is crucial! America’s great cultural

and spiritual move-ments led by King,

Malcolm and count-less others, success-fully overcame the

negative with a soul inspiring, positive

music soundtrack; it affirmed the dignity of our humanity and

revealed before all mankind, the truth, beauty and goodness

of a loving and gifted race!


Somi, the beautiful & talented Rwanda Jazz singer performing during the spring of 2015 at Mist-Harlem on 116th Street in Harlem. (Photo by Risasi Dais © 2015)

PO

SIT

IVE

MU

SIC

MAT

TER

S®



1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

November 2016

October

Columbus Day

Halloween

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

Rosh Hashana

Yom Kippur

Boss’s Day

September 2016

S M T W T F S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

1949–Atlanta’s WERD became the first Black-owned radio station

1974–Frank Robinson became the first Black manager of an MLB team

1989–Art Shell became the NFL’s first Black head coach

1851–Nearly 10,000 abolitionists broke into a Syracuse, NY courtroom and freed fugitive slave William “Jerry” Henry

1960–Nigeria gained its independence

1958–Guinea gained its independence

1967–Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first Black Supreme Court Justice

1864–The New Orleans Tribune, the first daily Black newspaper, was published in English and French

1966–The African nation of Lesotho gained its independence

1963–The Student Nonviolent Coordinat-ing Committee launched a mass voter-registration drive “Freedom Day.”

1993–Toni Morrison became the first Black woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature

1983–Wilma Rudolph was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame

1962–Uganda gained its independence1939–The NAACP organized the Legal Defense Fund and the Education Fund

1968–Equatorial Guinea gained its independence

1966–Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton founded the Black Panther Party

1986–Edward Perkins was confirmed as the country’s first Black Ambassador to South Africa

1787–Prince Hall led Black residents of Boston, MA in a petition for equal school facilities

1988–The first Black-owned bank, the Capital Savings Bank of Washington, DC opened

1968–Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in support of the Black struggle while being awarded the 200- meter Olympic Gold and Bronze Medals

1995–The Million Man March took place in Washington, DC

1944–The Navy admitted Black women into the Women’s Reserves

1963–225,000 students boycotted Chicago, IL schools to protest de facto segregation

1835–600 delegates assembled to form The New York Antislavery Society

1950–Earl Lloyd became the first Black person to play in an NBA game

1942–60 southern Black leaders issued the “Durham Manifesto”

1945–The United Nations was established on this date in 1945

1964–Zambia gained its independence from France

1947–The NAACP petitioned the United Nations to act against racial injustices

1958–The Youth March for Integrated Schools in Washington, DC was held

1976–Alabama Governor, George Wallace gave a full pardon to Clarence “Willie” Norris, the last survivor of the Scottsboro Boys

1997–The Million Woman March was held in Philadelphia, PA

1763–Black chimney sweeps in Charleston, SC, formed the first union-like organization

1969–The Supreme Court ordered an end to all school segregation

1862–The First Kansas Colored Volunteers were the first Black troops in the Civil War

1914–The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity was incorporated

1954–Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. became the first Black General in the U.S. Air Force

1997–Violet Palmer became the first woman to officiate a NBA game

1954–The last all-Negro unit in the Armed Forces was abolished by desegregation


Sacred music is the answer to health, healing and happiness. You see, sacred music is positive music

because music had its origins in heaven. —Dr. Pauline E. Ballard

Sunday worship at Cornerstone COGIC, Long Island, NY (Photo by Bob Gore)



1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 December 2016

Daylight Saving Time Ends Veteran’s DayElection Day

All Saints’ Day

Thanksgiving Day

First Sunday in Advent

November

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

S M T W T F S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

October 2016

S M T W T F S

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

1787–The African Free School opened in New York City

1910–The first issue of the NAACP monthly magazine, Crisis, was published

The first issues of the Negro Digest (1942), Ebony magazine (1945), and Jet magazine (1951) were published

1968–The Iota Phi Theta fraternity was incorporated 1983–President Ronald Reagan des-

ignated the third Monday in January “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day”

1836–Theo Wright became the first Black person in the U.S. to receive a degree in Theology

1841–Slaves aboard the slave ship Creole revolted and were given asylum and gained their freedom in Nassau, Bahamas

1956–Nat King Cole became the first Black person to host his own show

2008–Barack Obama was elected the first Black President of the United States

1989–David Dinkins was elected as the first Black mayor of New York

1868–The Howard University Medical School opened with eight students

1901–William Monroe Trotter founded the Boston Guardian

1957–Charlie Sifford became the first Black person to win a major professional golf tournament

1940–The Supreme Court ruled that Black people cannot be barred from white neighborhoods

1957–The Supreme Court ruled Alabama’s laws for segregation on buses unconstitutional

1922–The Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority was founded in Indianapolis, IN

1941–The National Negro Opera Company was founded

1975–Angola was proclaimed independent

1894–Dr. Daniel Hale Williams founded Freedmen’s Hospital School of Nursing

1969–The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, was officially incorporated as a research library

1900–The Washington Society of Colored Dentists was founded in Washington, DC

1911–The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity was founded at Howard University

1965–Howard University was founded in Washington, DC

1962–President John F. Kennedy ordered the end of racial discrimination in federally financed housing

1865–The Mississippi legislature began enacting the “Black Codes”

1884–Christopher J. Perry founded the Philadelphia Tribune

1930–Elijah Muhammad founded the Nation of Islam

1865–Shaw University was founded in Raleigh, NC

1984–Nationwide protests against apartheid and the Reagan administration began

1980–People from 25 states formed the National Black Independent Party

1984–Desmond Tutu became the first Black Bishop of Johannesburg

1880–The Baptist Foreign Mission Convention of the USA was formed

1892–The first Black college football game was played

1866–Rust College in Mississippi was founded

1975–Suriname gained its independence

1841–Thirty-five Amistad survivors were returned to Africa

1960–Mauritania gained its independence

1961–Ernie Davis became the first Black Heisman Trophy winner


The challenge of our times is to address the spiritual and cultural crisis in America today,

among the African American

people in particular; to respond

to the negative by affirming the positive—now.


PO

SIT

IVE

MU

SIC

MAT

TER

S®

Mr. James Davis, Jr., Minister of Music and Fine Arts at The Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem, NY, conducts Handel’s Messiah.(Photo by Bob Gore)



1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

January 2017

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

Christmas Day

First Day of Winter

New Year’s Eve

December

Pearl HarborRemembrance Day

Hanukkah Begins

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

November 2016

1847–The first issue of the North Star, an antislavery paper, was published

1851–The Colored Girls School (now the University of the District of Columbia) opened

1970–Jennifer Hosten became the first Black woman to win the Miss World Pageant

1774–President George Washington signed The Fairfax Resolve to end the import and export of slaves

1955–Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white person, inspiring the Montgomery Bus Boycott

1833–Abolitionists formed the American Antislavery Society

1906–The first Black Greek-Letter Fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, was founded at Cornell University

1935–The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) was founded

1955–The Montgomery Bus Boycott began

1775–Billy Flora was the last patriot to leave the bridge at the Battle of Great Bridge

1961–Tanzania gained its independence

1948–The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations

1955–The Montgomery Bus Company stopped service in Black neighborhoods

1963–Zanzibar gained its independence

1964–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner

1754–Benjamin Banneker completed the first clock made entirely in America

1938–The Supreme Court ruled that a state must provide equal educational facilities for Blacks within its borders

1963–Kenya proclaimed its independence1944–Black women were admitted into the Women’s Naval Corps (WAVES)

1984–The “Sonning Prize” for musical excellence was awarded to Miles Davis

1870–The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Jackson, TN

1865–The 13th Amendment abolished slavery

1996–Koffi Annan became the first Black UN Secretary General

1956–The Montgomery Bus Boycott ended. 1951–Libya gained its independence

1971–Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity) was organized

1966–Kwanzaa was founded by Maulana (Ron) Karenga

The first day of Kwanzaa, “Umoja,” which means “unity”

The second day of Kwanzaa, “Kujichagulia,” which means “self-determination”

The third day of Kwanzaa, “Ujima,” which means “collective work and responsibility”

The fourth day of Kwanzaa, “Ujamaa,” which means “cooperative economics”

The fifth day of Kwanzaa, “Nia,” which means “purpose”

1929–The Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority was incorporated

The sixth day of Kwanzaa, “Ukuumba,” which means “creativity”


The Positive Community’s

GREAT COUNTDOWN TO FREEDOM—2016Faith, Freedom and Cultural Revival—Positive Music Matters!

This year, 2016, begins a new chapter of challenge, change and opportunity in our freedom journey. We are now in the final year of President Barack Obama’s 2nd term in the nation’shighest office. Imagine what life must have been like one hundred and fifty years ago. In 1866, Reconstruction came to the South in the wake of the Civil War (to end slavery 1861-1865); a war that cost almost 700,000 American lives.

These were also the early days of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s). From those troubling times to the present, we are blessed with an enormous opportunity tomeasure, analyze and define our American story, our collective claim on the American Dream—to proclaim for ourselves a new language of freedom!

The fate and destiny of the people—God’s people—is ultimately in the hands of the people! Only through rediscovery and revival of the African American group personality—our music,art and culture; positive values and traditions—can we save our own community and salvage a future for the children, inspiring a great American Renaissance! . . . And, yes, Positive Music Matters!

Below is a cultural narrative that every child should learn. Our story—our history—a brief presentation of our deep collective experience that dates back to before this nation’s founding.

THE CULTURAL NARRATIVEAfrican Americans are a unique people with a peculiar history in this land. Brought to these shores in chains, from Africa in the early 1600’s, our people toiled and suffered as captivesin brutal bondage for a quarter of a millennium (250 years). On January 1st 1863, two years into the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincolnbecame law, signaling an end to slavery. On that day, the African American community of the United States of America was born.

One hundred years later, in August, 1963, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial, as he led hundreds ofthousands to a “ March on Washington” seeking an end to discrimination and 90 years of Jim Crow segregation in the South. It was a demand for full and equal citizenship rights forthe people in what has been called “The Second Emancipation’

Forty years after Martin Luther King’s tragic assassination in 1968, America elects its first black president, Barrack Obama (2008).In the 100 years between the first and “second emancipation”, in the mist of bitter persecution, humiliation, lynching and enduring the denial of basic human rights, the resiliency

of the African American spirit continued to shine brightly in religion, business, education, medicine, invention, sports and in the creative arts—music, fashion, dance, language, litera-ture and theater. Indeed, original American art forms and a popular culture which has become the envy of the world were founded upon the souls of a forlorn people! That is our story—the Truth, Beauty and Goodness of a loving and gifted race—revealed!

An Extraordinary HistoryOurs is an extraordinary history of trial, tribulation and triumph that we must never forget! This is the story that we must tell our children and be ever remembered for all generations.We the people, descendants of The Great Emancipation, must tell our story and sing our songs to each other and the entire world! We must remind ourselves, over and over again of thenoble struggle, scarifies and wisdom of our torch-bearing forefathers; of our goodly heritage; our divine inheritance; our great music legacy—Positive Music Matters! This is our story, our cultural narrative, a new language of freedom—a springboard towards a great and prosperous future; a spiritually enlightened ideal. A vision of hope and progress;liberty and happiness; health and wholeness; peace and goodwill!

The struggle continues, but victory is certain . . . To God be the Glory, forever and ever . . . Amen!

2016_Calndr_backpage.qxp_Layout 1 12/2/15 7:03 PM Page 1

Date post:	03-Jan-2017
Category:	Documents
Upload:	trinhhuong
View:	215 times
Download:	1 times

Faith, Freedom and Cultural Revival—Positive Music Matters!

Documents