February 9, 2000
(Tbv in d ia n i» (Sbeetwr
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¡story
onth
l>. for Inventions
The follow ing in v en tio n s and
in n o v a tio n s w ere by A fric a n
Americans from 1900 to 1950:
Contribution to mathematical
probability and decision theory
by David H. Blackwell
Asphalt emulsion, puncture
sealing composition, stable dry
papain ingredient used in meat
tenderizer by Lloyd A. Hall
E lectric hair treatm ent by
Solomon Harper
Ticket dispensing machine, air
c o n d itio n in g u n it,
and
thermostat by Frederick M.
Jones
Gas mask and helmet, traffic
signal by Garrett A. Morgan
Airship by J.F. Pickering
Automatic gear shift, multiple-
b a rre l m a c h in e g u n by
R.B.Spikes
K
IL
for King o f Jazz
T onya B olden
Duke Ellington ( 1899-1974), bom
in Washington, D.C., and named
Edward Kennedy, came into the
nickname Duke when he was young
because o f his penchant for carrying
him self as if he were royalty. He
became a musical monarch - “ King
o f Swing,” “The King of Jazz” -
because o f his genius as a pianist, as
a composer, and as a manager of
aw esom e talents, am ong them
bassist Jimmy Blanton, saxophonist
Harry Carney, trumpeter William
“Cat” Anderson, drummer Sonny
Greer, and composer and
arranger Billy Strayhom,
whose most memorable
composition for the Duke
E llington O rchestra is
“ Take the ‘A ’ T rain.”
E llin g to n , w ho w rote
scores for several films
and musicals, composed
ro u g h ly one thousand
songs. His greatest hits
include “Black and Tan
Fantasy,” “ Mood Indigo,”
“ Satin Doll,” “It D on’t
Mean a Thing If It A in’t
Got That Swing” and the
fifty-minute tribute to the
African American will to
triu m p h o v er tragedy,
Black, Brown and Beige,
the work his orchestra
played at the 1943 debut
o f the annual concerts
Ellington held at New
York City’s Carnegie Hall
u n til th e m id -1 9 5 0 s.
E llin g to n ’s n u m erous
a w a rd s in c lu d e the
P resid en tial M edal o f
Freedom , aw arded by
Richard Nixon in 1970.
for Lynching
Lynching was no isolated act o f a
few lawless men, it was the shame
of the nation. Between the years
1878 and 1898, no fewer than ten
th o u san d had been ly n ch ed .
Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes to
Woodrow WiIson had turned a blind
eye to the problem.
On July 28, 1917, people took to
the streets ofNew York City for the
Negro Silent Protest Parade. An
estimated twenty thousand stood
stunned on the sidelines as ten
thousand African American men,
women, and children walked to the
beat o f muffled drums down historic
Fifth Avenue. Unwilling to wait for
th e favor o f no tice in a
Page 5
semisympathetic press, the event
was organized by James Weldon
Johnson, then executive secretary
of the NAACP, and promoted and
funded, in large part, through the
network established by Madam
C .J.W a lk e r and her ag en ts.
M axim izing our n etw o rk s,
foreshadowing theCivil Rights era,
a powerful image was telegraphed
worldwide. What power is in our
midst.
*
A composer and big-band leader equally at home in the Colton
Club and Carnegie Hall, ■‘Duke " Ellington ranks as one o f
Am erica's musical giants. Within his lifetime, he had created
over 2,000 compositions.
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