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BlackFacts Minute: February 18

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Black Facts for February 18th

1931 - Toni Morrison

Born on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio as Chloe Anthony Wofford, Toni Morrison is an American author, editor and professor who won the 1993 Nobel Prize in literature for being an author “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.”

Toni Morrison was born to Ramah and George Wofford and was the second of four children in a working class family. She grew up in the black community of Lorain as her parents moved there to escape the problems of southern racism. During her early childhood Toni, was quite a fan of Jane Austen and Tolstoy. In 1946, Toni got into Howard University in Washington, where she changed her name from “Chloe” to Toni. Later she continued her studies at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. From 1955-1957, Toni taught English at the Howard University and Texas Southern University where she also wrote her first book The Bluest Eye (1970) while taking care of her two children. The Bluest Eye is partly based on Morrison’s story written for a writers’ group, set in the community of a small, Midwestern Town, consisting of all black characters. Morrison’s second book, The Sula (1973), that won the National Book Critics Award, depicted two black woman friends and their community of Medallion, Ohio.

Morrison’s book Song of Solomon (1977) was the main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, which was the first novel after Native Son, written by a black American to be chosen. Through this book Morrison gained international attention. She received the Pulitzer Prize, in 1988, for the novel Beloved (1987), though this book failed to win the National Book Award. Although this work of hers proved to be quite a masterpiece, exploring love and the supernatural. Beloved was eventually turned into a movie starring Oprah Winfrey.

In 1989, Morrison continued to produce great work and also became a professor at Princeton University. After being the first African American woman to have received the Nobel Prize, Toni, published a novel

1965 - Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre is an American rap singer and producer who is sometimes referred to as the most influential rap producer of all time. Dre was born Andre Romelle Young on February 18, 1965 in Compton, California to Theodore and Verna Young, who were both singers. His parents separated when Dre was 3 years old and divorced when he was 8. Dre attended several high schools, including Vanguard Junior High School, Roosevelt Junior High School and Fremont High School, but could never keep up his grades. He was a diver on his school swim team and participated in social events. His mother remarried several times and frequently moved around. In 1984, he was gifted a music mixer for Christmas, which strengthened his musical interests and encouraged him to produce his own sounds at home.

He started frequenting a nightclub called Eve After Dark where he worked as a DJ and worked the turntables. He then joined a group called World Class Wreckin’ Cru in 1984 which gained prominence on local radio shows. In 1986, he met the rapper Ice Cube and joined his band N.W.A. along with fellow band members Arabian Prince, DJ Yella and Eazy-E.  The band were the pioneers of gangster rap, which profane lyrics about violence, drugs and life on the streets. They gained prominence with their first album, “Straight Outta Compton” which became a major success. However, the violent nature of their music attracted public attention, including a warning letter sent by the FBI. After Ice Cube left the group, Dre followed in 1991 and with the help of his bodyguard Suge Knight, founded Death Row Records.

He released his first single at Death Row for the soundtrack of the film “Deep Cover” in which he collaborated with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through his stepbrother, the rapper Warren G. He also released his first solo album titled “The Chronic” in 1992 which became triple platinum. He pioneered the sound known as G-funk which was a fusion of funk and gangster rap. Dre’s second solo album was released in 1999, titled “2001” which sold millions of

1931 - Morrison, Chloe Anthony Wofford "Toni" (1931- 2019)

Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio to parents George and Ella Ramah Wofford, novelist Toni Morrison grew up in a working class family.  She received a B.A. degree from Howard University after majoring in English and minoring in the classics.  Wofford earned an M.A. degree in English from Cornell University and then taught at Howard University and Texas Southern University, before entering the publishing world as an editor at Random House. She married (and later divorced) Harold Morrison and gave birth to sons Ford and Slade Kevin. Morrison taught at Yale, Bard College, Rutgers University and the State University of New York at Albany.  She later held the Robert F. Goheen Professorship in the Humanities at Princeton University.

Recognized internationally as a major American writer, Morrison is the author of eight novels, including The Bluest Eye (1973)—the story of a little black girl’s quest for identity and acceptance in a world that privileged whiteness; Sula (1973), which celebrates friendship between women and the complexity of black womanhood; Song of Solomon (1977), which follows its male protagonist, Milkman Dead, on his quest for cultural heritage; and Tar Baby (1981), which explores a love affair between a couple from radically different socio-economic backgrounds. Morrison’s early works received critical acclaim, including National Book Awards nominations and the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Song of Solomon.   

Morrison’s fifth novel, Beloved (1987), a haunting story about the atrocities of slavery and a black slave mother’s effort to protect her children against its dehumanizing effect through infanticide, won the Pulitzer Prize, and was instrumental in her receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. In 2006, Beloved, made into a movie starring Oprah Winfrey, was named the greatest work of American fiction in the past twenty five years by The New York Times Book Review.  

In her subsequent novels Jazz (1992), Paradise (1998), and Love (2003), Morrison

1894 - Mount Zion Baptist Church, Seattle, Washington (1890- )

Home to the largest African American congregation in the state of Washington, MountZion Baptist Church was organized in Seattle on February 18, 1894.  Led by Reverend Hesekiah C. Rice, eightfounding members initially met in a rented hall on the campus of the Universityof Washington, which was in what is now downtown Seattle.  Although many churches in Seattle were raciallyintegrated during this period, some black parishioners wanted a more expressiveenvironment within which to worship.

Mount Zion experienced tremendous instability in its leadership and locationbetween 1894 and 1907.  Numerous pastorspassed though the church, sometimes as frequently as one each year.  In addition, Mount Zion’s address changed no fewerthan five times during this period. Finally, a church building was constructed on land purchased at thecorner of 11th Avenue and Union Street in 1907.  In 1918 the church bought a parcel of land at19th Avenue and East Madison Street. Construction began in 1920 on the building that still houses Mount Ziontoday.

Church leadership, which had been transient for years, stabilized as well.  Mount Zion had just six pastors between 1912and 1957.  They were Reverend W. D. Carter (1912-1925), Reverend J. Sterling Moore(1926-1932), Reverend Taylor M. Davis (1932-1940), Reverend Fountain W. Penick(1940-1942), Reverend F. Benjamin Davis (1942-1954), and Reverend Gil B. Lloyd(1955-1957).  Many of these ministersplayed an active role in the larger community. Rev. Penick was considered an early civil rights activist and Rev. Daviswas a candidate for the Seattle City Council in 1946, garnering 27,000 votes inhis losing bid, which took place in an era when there were fewer than 3,500black voters in the city.

During World War II Seattle’s African American population grew rapidly as laborshortages forced companies like Boeing to integrate their workforces.  The corresponding growth in Mount Zion’smembership made space an issue, and would eventually lead to additions to andredesigns of the original sanctuary.

In 1958