Archive for the ‘What’s On’ Category
Significant Dates and Anniversaries in May
Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a former West Indian international cricket player. He is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of his era and one of the finest ever to have graced the game. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, with 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994, which is the only quintuple hundred in first-class cricket history.
Lara also holds the record for the highest individual score in a Test innings after scoring 400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004. He is the only batsman to have ever scored a hundred, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century in first class games over the course of a senior career. Lara also holds the test record of scoring the highest number of runs in a single over in a Test match, when he scored 28 runs off an over by Robin Peterson of South Africa in 2003. (wikipedia)
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), better known as Joe Louis, was an American professional boxer and the World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis helped elevate boxing from a nadir in popularity in the post-Jack Dempsey era by establishing a reputation as an honest, hardworking fighter at a time when the sport was dominated by gambling interests. Louis’ championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights; a 27th fight, against Ezzard Charles, was a challenge to Charles’ heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis’ reign. All in all, Joe was victorious in 25 title defenses, a record for the heavyweight division. In 2005, Louis was ranked as the #1 heavyweight of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked #1 on The Ring’s list of the 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time.
Louis’ cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first African American to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport’s color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor’s exemption in a PGA event in 1952.
Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League, and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s Joe Louis “The Champ” Golf Course, situated south of Chicago in Riverdale, IL, are named in his honor. (wikipedia)
Samuel “Sam” Sharpe, or Sharp, National Hero of Jamaica (1801 – 23 May 1832), was the slave leader behind the widespread Jamaican Baptist War slave rebellion of 1831.
Samuel Sharpe was born in the parish of St James. Although he was a slave most of his life, he was allowed to become well-educated. Because of his education, he was respected by other slaves, and he became a well-known preacher and leader. Sharpe was a deacon at the Burchell Baptist Church in Montego Bay, whose pastor was Rev. Thomas Burchell. Sharpe spent most of his time travelling to different parishes in Jamaica, educating the slaves about Christianity and freedom.
Slaves learned that the British Parliament was discussing abolition of slavery; those who could read followed such news closely. In the mistaken belief that emancipation had already been granted by the British Parliament, Sharpe organised a peaceful general strike across many estates in western Jamaica to protest working conditions. It was a critical time for the plantation owners: the harvest of the sugar cane, which the workforce generally had to work overtime to process the cane quickly at its peak. The Christmas Rebellion (Baptist War) began on 25 December 1831 at the Kensington Estate. Reprisals by the plantation owners led to the rebels’ burning the crops.
Sharpe’s originally peaceful protest turned into Jamaica’s largest slave rebellion. Hundreds of slaves and 14 whites died in the violence. The colonial government used the armed Jamaican military forces to put down the rebellion, suppressing it within two weeks. The government tried, convicted and hanged many of the ringleaders, including Sharpe, in 1832.
Just before he was hanged for his role in the rebellion, Sharpe said: “I would rather die among yonder gallows, than live in slavery”. The rebellion provoked two detailed Parliamentary Inquiries, which arguably contributed to the 1833 Abolition of Slavery across the British Empire. (wikipedia)
AKWANTU the Maroons of Jamaica
Not to be missed!!!
A showing of the fantastic film AKWANTU about the Maroons of Jamaica is at Jalgos, Rose St, Preston on Sunday 11th May 2014 at 5.30pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICOlg6j8iyQ
Hope to see you there.
Contact info@prestonblackhistorygroup.org.uk for more information
Launch of UCLan Institute for Black Atlantic Research
The new Institute for Black Atlantic Research launches at UCLan, with a talk by writer Caryl Phillips from Yale University.
The project will utilise the University’s internationally renowned research in African Atlantic studies, across art, culture, literature performance and more, and will include a programme of academic events and annual lectures.
Celebrating the launch of the Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR) – AN EVENING WITH THE WRITER CARYL PHILLIPS (YALE UNIVERSITY)
‘one of the literary giants of our times’ (The New York Times) ‘Phillips is a storyteller of considerable talent with utter control over his narrative’ (The Times) ‘Phillips’s writing, shot through with sensuality and unexpected beauties, compels one to read on’ (The Daily Telegraph)
Refreshments provided Tuesday 13 May
Greenbank Lecture Theatre 6-‐9pm
To confirm attendance, contact Lyndsay Cambridge: LCambridge@uclan.ac.uk
or 01772 894240
Hosted by the School of Language, Literature and International Studies
Preston Black History Group are Community Partners in IBAR
Significant Dates and Anniversaries in January
January 20th 2009: Barack Obama becomes the first African American President of USA
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States, and the first African American to hold the office. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2000.
In 2004, Obama received national attention during his campaign to represent Illinois in the United States Senate with his victory in the March Democratic Party primary, his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July, and his election to the Senate in November. He began his presidential campaign in 2007, and in 2008, after a close primary campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won sufficient delegates in the Democratic Party primaries to receive the presidential nomination. He then defeated Republican nominee John McCain in the general election, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months after his election, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. (Wikipedia)
January 20th 2014: Martin Luther King Jr Day in USA
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.)is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King’s birthday, January 15. The floating holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. (Wikipedia).
January 22nd: Birthday of legendary soul singer Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke(January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), born Samuel Cook, was an African-American recording artist, singer-songwriter and entrepreneur. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and influence on the modern world of music. His pioneering contributions to soul music led to the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Billy Preston and popularized the likes of Otis Redding and James Brown.
Cooke had 30 U.S. top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964, and a further three after his death. Major hits like “You Send Me“, “A Change Is Gonna Come“, “Cupid“, “Chain Gang“, “Wonderful World“, and “Twistin’ the Night Away” are some of his most popular songs. Cooke was also among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career. He founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. He also took an active part in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
On December 11, 1964, Cooke was fatally shot by the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 33. At the time, the courts ruled that Cooke was drunk and distressed, and that the manager had killed Cooke in what was later ruled a justifiable homicide. Since that time, the circumstances of his death have been widely questioned. (Wikipedia)
January 30th 2006: Death of Coretta Scott King in Mexico
Coretta Scott King (April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. King often participated in many of her husband’s exploits and goals during the battle for African-American equality. King met the future civil rights leader while in college and the two quickly escalated to the center of the movement.
Mrs. King played a prominent role in the years after her husband’s 1968 assassination when she took on the leadership of the struggle for racial equality herself and became active in the Women’s Movement and the LGBT rights movement. (Wikipedia)
RIP Madiba
Madiba
The world has lost a giant of a man and will be so much poorer without him. Long may his influence continue.
Rest in Peace
‘Have You Heard’ Issue 4
Here’s a link to Issue 4 of PBHG’s ‘Have You Heard’ news sheet for Preston’s African Caribbean Community.
Preston Youth present Esther: the Musical, 2nd and 3rd Nov 2013
Just to inform you that Preston Seventh Day Adventist Youth will be performing the Biblical story of Esther as a musical
This is a special invite for you and your friends.
It will surely make you laugh and at times make you cry but we are sure you will have a fabulous evening of entertainment.
This is our fourth bi annual musical and every event has been excellent, so please support our youth as we fund raise for our European Camping event to be held in Holland in July 2014.
If for any reason you are unable to attend please support by sending a donation to the address on the poster, every penny counts.
PBHG Visioning Exercise
We had a small select group at the PBHG meeting last week – everyone must be busy with BHM events LOL! So we took the opportunity to try out a visioning exercise, we’ll be doing it again with everyone. It was great and stimulated lots of interesting conversation. It’s clear what the main focus of everyone’s priorities are!!!
