Richey,C. V.

Fire Ecsape Bracket

Dec. 28, 1897

Patent No. 596,427

Famed jazz musician and father of modern jazz piano, Earl Fatha Hines was born

Born on December 28, 1926 to Reverend Wade Hampton McKinney and Ruth Berry McKinney in Flint, Michigan, Samuel Berry McKinney would become a Baptist minister, author, and civil rights advocate in Seattle, Washington. He served as pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, one of the largest and oldest black churches in the Pacific Northwest, from 1958 to 1998 and again from 2005 to 2008.

As a child in Cleveland, Ohio McKinney was shaped by his father who challenged racism, and invited civil rights leaders such as Thurgood Marshall to speak frequently at his church. McKinney attended Morehouse College with the intention of becoming a civil rights lawyer, but changed paths after encountering Morehouse President Benjamin Mays who encouraged him to become a minister.  McKinney, a classmate of Martin Luther King, graduated from Morehouse in 1949 and enrolled in New Yorks Colgate Rochester Divinity School, graduating in 1952. One year later he married Louise Jones, an educator and activist in her own right.  The couple has two daughters.  

McKinney served as pastor of Olney Street Baptist Church in Providence, Rhode Island between 1955 and 1958. He arrived at Mt. Zion in 1958, beginning an activist ministry that transformed the church and Seattle.  At Mt. Zion, McKinney established numerous programs that assisted the black community including the Mount Zion Baptist Church Credit Union in 1958, the first Protestant credit union in the state of Washington.  McKinney was a founder of Liberty Bank, the first black-owned bank in Seattle and was the first black president of the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

In 1966 McKinney founded and served as president and CEO of the Seattle Opportunity Industrialization Center. He later led the construction of Samuel Berry McKinney Manor to house elderly and working poor people which was completed in 1998.  Under his leadership the Mt. Zion Pre-School and Kindergarten, and the Ethnic School (later the Louise Jones McKinney Learning Center), were founded. In 1975 he earned a Doctor of

Death of George H. White (66) last of the post Reconstruction congressman, Philadelphia.

Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman, dies. Born into slavery, she ran away form her owners after mistreatment by her masters wife. She petitioned successfully for her freedom, citing her knowledge of the Bill of Rights and the new constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in her argument that all men were created equal, thereby justifying her petition for freedom, Her victory effectively abolished slavery in Massachusetts. Freeman was the great-grandmother of W.E.B. DuBois, one of Americas most renowned scholars, leaders, and fighters for civil rights.

Spingarn Medal awarded to William Stanley Braithwaite, poet, literary critic and editor, for distinguished achievement in literature.

Actor Denzel Washington was born on this day in Mount Vernon, NY. Washington will star in such films as Malcolm X, Glory, Much Ado about Nothing, and A Soldiers Story. He will have a start in television in his role on popular show St. Elsewhere. He will win an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in Glory.

In “Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture” Maulana Karenga (the creator of Kwanzaa) describes collective work and responsibility (Ujima) as “a commitment to active and informed togetherness on matters of common interest”.

Karenga also identifies several other key factors that facilitate the principle and practice of collective work and responsibility.

Karenga also says that ujima (collective work and responsibility) is based on the assumption that “what one does to benefit others is at the same time a benefit to him/her”.

And finally, the principle and practice of collective work and responsibility is facilitated and maintained through “genuine and non-coerced agreement among people”, says Karenga.

Reference:  “Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture”, by Maulana Karenga,   University of Sankore Press, Los Angeles, California.

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is a renowned Hollywood actor and producer, known for his powerfully portrayed performances in film and television.  Washington was born on December 28, 1954 near New York City. His father, Reverend Denzel Hayes Washington Sr. was a minister, and his mother Lennis owned a beauty parlor. At the age of 6, he joined the local Boys & Girls Club of America in Mount Vernon, New York where he first performed on stage. It was this club that kept him occupied and out of trouble. His parents divorced when he was 14 years old, and Washington and his sister were sent to boarding school in New Windsor, New York. He attended Fordham University where he played basketball and studied drama and journalism. He dropped out of college for a semester to figure out his career choices, and after working as a creative arts director at a summer camp in Connecticut, decided that he wanted to pursue acting.

After graduating, Washington enrolled at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and landed his first role in the TV movie “Wilma” where he also met his future wife Pauletta Pearson.  He then starred in the comedy film “Carbon Copy” and received recognition for his role in the play “A Soldier’s Play”. His first major leading role was as Dr. Phillip Chandler in the TV drama “St. Elsewhere” which aired on NBC for 6 years. His other TV, film and stage roles during this time include “A Soldier’s Story”, “Hard Lessons”, “Power” and “For Queen and Country”. Washington earned his first Oscar nomination for the film “Cry Freedom” in 1987, and just two years later, he received the Oscar Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film “Glory”.

During the 1990s, Denzel Washington did several blockbuster films, of which the most critically acclaimed was “Malcolm X” in which he teamed up with director Spike Lee. Washington’s portrayal of Malcolm X was moving and believable and earned him another Oscar nomination. In a decision that surprised many critics and fans, Washington did not win the award. This

Third Day of Kwanzaa - Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)

Karen Farmer becomes the first African American member of the Daughters of the American Revolution when she traces her ancestry back to William Hood, a solider in the Revolutionary War.

American Colonization Society organized in hall of the House of Representatives .

Sixty Blacks were reported lynched in 1918.

John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor.

Prior to the release of Legends debut album, he collaborated with already established artists. At various points in his career, Legend has sung in Magnetic Mans Getting Nowhere, Kanye Wests Blame Game, on Slum Villages Selfish, and Dilated Peoples This Way. Other collaborative appearances include Jay-Zs Encore, backing vocals on Alicia Keys 2003 song You Dont Know My Name, the Kanye West remix of Britney Spears Me Against the Music, and Fort Minors High Road. Legend played piano on Lauryn Hills Everything Is Everything. For his solo work, he earned a Billboard Hot 100 number-one single with All of Me in 2013. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2015 for writing the song Glory from the film Selma. He has also won ten Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In 2007, Legend received the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[3] In 2017 Legend received a Tony Award for co-producing Jitney for the Broadway stage.[4]

Legend was born on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio.[5] He is one of four children[6] of Phyllis Elaine (née Lloyd), a seamstress, and Ronald Lamar Stephens, a factory worker and former National Guardsman.[11] Throughout his childhood, Legend was homeschooled on and off by his mother.[12] At the age of four, he performed with his church choir. He began playing the piano at age seven. At the age of 12, Legend attended North High School, from which he graduated salutatorian of his class four years later.[13] According to Legend, he was offered admission to Harvard University and scholarships to Georgetown University and Morehouse College.[14] He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied English with an emphasis on African-American literature.[15]

While in college, Legend served as president and musical director of a co-ed jazz and pop a cappella group called Counterparts. His