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BlackFacts Minute: July 6

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Black Facts for July 6th

1968 - Sarah Gertrude Millin

Sarah Gertrude Millin , née Liebson (born March 19, 1888, Žagarė, Lithuania, Russian Empire—died July 6, 1968, Johannesburg, South Africa), South African writer whose novels deal with the problems of South African life.

Millin’s Russian Jewish parents immigrated to South Africa when she was an infant. She spent her childhood near the diamond fields at Kimberley and the river diggings at Barkly West, whose white, Coloured, and black communities provided the background for much of her writing. Her first novel, The Dark River (1920), was set around Barkly West. Others followed, but it was God’s Step-Children (1924; new ed. 1951)—dealing with the problems of four generations of a half-black, half-white (“Coloured”) family in South Africa—that established her reputation. With Mary Glenn (1925), a study of a mother’s reaction to her child’s disappearance, Millin became one of the most popular South African novelists in English, identified by a nervous, sharp, vivid, often almost staccato style. She also wrote biographies of Cecil Rhodes (1933; new ed. 1952) and General Jan C. Smuts (1936). In a few of her many novels she referred to actual events in South African history—e.g., The Coming of the Lord (1928), about a black “prophet” in the eastern Cape, and King of the Bastards (1949), on the life of the white chieftain Coenraad Buys. Men on a Voyage (1930) is a collection of essays; she also wrote a series of war diaries (1944–48) and two autobiographical books, The Night Is Long (1941) and The Measure of My Days (1955). Millin’s last novels were The Wizard Bird (1962) and Goodbye, Dear England (1965). Her literary reputation diminished after her death.

1975 - Moroni, Comoros (10th Century- )

Moroni is a coastal town that serves as the capital of Comoros, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. In 2003 the city had a population of 41,577 people making it the largest city in the archipelago.  It is simultaneously one of the least populous capitals on or near the African continent. Moroni is also the capital of Grande Comore (also known as Ngazidja), the largest of three islands that make up the republic. The city covers an area of 30 square kilometers (about 12 square miles) and is located at the base of Mount Karthala, one of the largest active volcanoes in the world. Moroni experiences a maritime tropical climate that is defined by warm temperatures and heavy rainfall throughout the year.

The city of Moroni was founded in the 10th century as a capital of a sultanate connected commercially to the Swahili City States along the east coast of Africa in what now constitutes the nations of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique.  All of these cities were settled by Arab immigrants who intermarried with the local inhabitants.  Monori’s language and culture are similar to the Swahili coastal cities.  

In 1958 Moroni succeeded the city of Dzaoudzi, located on the island of Mayonette, as the administrative capital of the country. Comoros became an independent nation on July 6, 1975 and Moroni became the capital.  The nation lived mostly in peace until violence erupted in April of 1999 due to the refusal by the Comoros Island government to accept a proposal by representatives of the Anjouan Islands in the Moroni archipelago who demanded greater autonomy for their three islands. In December 2003 the president signed the Moroni Agreement on Transition Agreements. In 2010 as a part of a humanitarian project, the U.S. Navy Seabees constructed the Hamramba School at Moroni.

Cocoa, coffee, and vanilla are principal exports from the Port of Moroni. The ports facilities include warehouse storage for imports, exports, and for petroleum products. The city produces metals, soft drinks, processed and distilled

1971 - Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong was a multi-talented American jazz icon who was a singer, trumpeter, actor and comedian. He was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He had an impoverished childhood; his father was a factory worker who abandoned the family when Armstrong was born and his mother often left him with his grandmother as she worked the streets as a prostitute. He left school in 5th grade so he could start earning full time and took up any odd jobs he could get his hands on such as collecting junk and delivering coal.

Due to an incident involving a rifle fired accidentally in the air, Armstrong was arrested and later sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys where he was first exposed to jazz music. He learnt to play the cornet and began to dream of a career in music. While still working odd jobs to support himself, Armstrong pursued his passion for music and began learning with Joe “King” Oliver who was the greatest cornet player of his time. Oliver encouraged Armstrong and sometimes even used him in his recordings. In 1918, Armstrong married a prostitute named Daisy Parker with whom he adopted a 3 year old child named Clarence. Clarence’s deceased mother had been Armstrong’s cousin and the child was brain damaged so Armstrong took him under his wing and cared for him his entire life. Armstrong and Parker separated shortly.

His reputation as a musician began to grow and he joined a band and began to play in bars, clubs and parties. He also perfected his skill of reading music and soon he was well known in musical circles by jazz greats such as Bix Beiderbecke and Jack Teagarden. In 1922, he joined Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band as a coronet player in Chicago. His talent as an instrumentalist earned him much fame and soon he recorded his first single. He then married Lillian Hardin who was the pianist from his band. She encouraged him to join Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra, which was the top African American dance band in New York back then. His work was much admired and he influenced the band’s style of music

1964 - Banda, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu (c. 1896-1997)

HastingsBanda, the first president of Malawi, was initially presented to the Malawipeople by British Colonial officials as the best person who could lead them intoindependence. Later as the country’s self-declared “life president,” Banda transformedthis African democracy into a repressive dictatorship that spanned threedecades. The regime eventually succumbed to international pressure forpolitical reform, forcing Banda out of the presidency at the age of 98.

Banda wasborn about 1896 near Mthunthama, Kasungu, a province in the southeast African Britishcolony of Nyasaland.  At the age of 20 hemoved to South Africa where he planned to attend Lovedale College.   Instead, he spent the next 10 years workingat the Witwatersrand deep mine in Boksburg.

In 1922 Bandajoined the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and a year later metAmerican Bishop William T. Vernon, who would sponsor Banda’s travel to theUnited States to study. Banda arrived in the United States in 1925 and enrolledin AME Church’s Wilberforce Institute in Ohio, where he graduated in threeyears. Banda then earned a medical degree, continuing his studies in 1938 atthe School of Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons inEdinburgh, Scotland. After World War II, Banda established a successfulpractice in London.

Active inthe Pan-African movement, Banda acted as an overseas advisor when the NyasalandAfrican Congress (NAC) formed in 1944, and in 1953 he left London to establisha medical practice in West African Ghana. After five years there he returned to Nyasaland when the NAC convincedhim to lead the fight for decolonization. Riots and other challenges to British rule in early 1959 led to thebanning of the NAC, and Banda and many other Congress members were imprisoned.

After ayear, Banda was released and took over the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), formedto replace the NAC. On July 6, 1964, Nyasaland became independent and wasrenamed Malawi with Banda as its first head of state. Within two months, Bandaoutlawed all other political parties

1949 - Hyman, Phyllis (1949–1995)

Phyllis Linda Hyman was an American singer-songwriter and actress. She was best known for her singles from the late 1970s through the early 1990s including: You Know How to Love Me, Living All Alone, and Don’t Wanna Change the World. Hyman was born on July 6, 1949 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Philip Hyman, a World War II veteran and Louise Hyman, a waitress at a local night club, but raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hyman was the eldest of seven children.

Her music training started when she received a music scholarship to attend Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh but she dropped out after one year there.  She performed on a national tour with the group, New Direction. Later she joined All the People while working with another group, The Hondo Beat. She made her acting debut in 1974 in the film Lenny. Hyman also led a group called Phyllis Hyman and the P/H factor.

Hyman’s debut solo album named Phyllis Hyman was released in 1977 on Buddah Records. When Arista Records bought Buddah Records, she transferred to the new label and released four albums: Somewhere in My Lifetime (1979), You Know How to Love Me (1979), Can’t We Fall in Love Again? (1981), and Goddess of Love (1983). Hyman also performed on Broadway in the musical, Sophisticated Ladies, the tribute play for Duke Ellington. For that work, she received a Tony Award, nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, and won a Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer.

In 1983 Hyman recorded the song Never Say Never Again for the James Bond movie of the same name which starred Sean Connery but the song she recorded couldn’t be used for the movie soundtrack due to legal reasons. In 1986 Hyman released the album, Living All Alone, on the Philadelphia International label. She also appeared in the movies, Too Scared to Scream (1985), Spike Lee’s School Daze (1988), and The Kill Reflex (1989).

In 1991 Hyman released the album, The Prime of My Life, on Philadelphia International, which was the biggest album of her career. It included her first

1964 - Malawi

Malawi is a landlocked country about the size of Pennsylvania. Located in southeast Africa, it is surrounded by Mozambique, Zambia, and Tanzania. Lake Malawi, formerly Lake Nyasa, occupies most of the countrys eastern border. The north-south Rift Valley is flanked by mountain ranges and high plateau areas.

Multiparty democracy.

Early human inhabitants of what is now Malawi date to 8000–2000 B.C. Bantu-speaking peoples migrated there between the 1st and 4th centuries A.D. A large slave trade took place in the 18th and 19th centuries and brought Islam to the region. At the same time, missionaries introduced Christianity. Several major kingdoms were established in the precolonial period: the Maravi in 1480, the Ngonde in 1600, and the Chikulamayembe in the 18th century.

The first European to make extensive explorations in the area was David Livingstone in the 1850s and 1860s. In 1884, Cecil Rhodess British South African Company received a charter to develop the country. The company came into conflict with the Arab slavers in 1887–1889. Britain annexed what was then called the Nyasaland territory in 1891 and made it a protectorate in 1892. Sir Harry Johnstone, the first high commissioner, used Royal Navy gunboats to wipe out the slavers.

Between 1951 and 1953, Britain combined Nyasaland with the colonies of Northern and Southern Rhodesia to form a federation, a move protested by black Africans who were wary of alignment with the ultra conservative white minority rule in South Rhodesia.

On July 6, 1964, Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi. Two years later, it became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. Dr. Hastings K. Banda became Malawis first prime minister (a title later changed to president). In his first month as ruler, he declared, “one party, one leader, one government, and no nonsense about it.” In 1971, he became president for life, further consolidating his authoritarian rule. In addition to allowing former colonialists to retain considerable power in the country, he maintained