Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Feb. 13, 1992, edition 1 / Page 9
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i?:$S?5 sw.wX.J 9M llilill Ifil "tocalljstbmstw UuifS^ #.W?. etent* during lhe gtgfM?H|| i ^ be DCrf<^aI^ S^te<?ionS fcO? ??*??? ;^?r,,iffiSf b"h?TO,C0 1 SyarofcOnfcChonW *3 p?u in AycocfcAM^o^H"-; ; ,Sb*?**. ?^*??gR,S?S.' ?-PiSS' b" lil It C.ner. Hill CCT?r (or N C Art - ?? . grg ? ft 5 - 1 Mil :- _- :' rnTrQttY<ij *01 sewt today through Friday ???MMi gsXv lliii ?Mi Sfi&f ? | - ipip IH TUESDAY, FEB. 18 1 1 g I ? > 1 1 ?t mutiny* will be presented at 12 p.m. In Washington.D.C., us pan of -S^S2SSSW- TJTT: SSSS *%ZJX? PB$1V ;M Scco*^ {MEM fW* ?o?JW# 1 ?III ?? ^ ** r | WEDfcesDAY, feb. 18 Emm P "Songs of Freedom," Includes special guests actor Roscoe Lee' Browtte, folk singer Odetta, soprano Shirley Verrett, and the Boys -Choir of Harlem. Tbis program wit! be featured cm Public IbSevisian as part of its Black History Month celebration. ?P U v'Vi. THURSDAY, FEB. 20 ? ' Continuing the Heritage Foundations Lecture Series, Dr. Marleoe ::Ahiraa2,;chief executive officer af Energy & International Develop "mentCorporatkm, a Chicago-based financial consulting firm, will jlpMonlini Role rrfBlack American the International Trade and t'fShaftehig Arena,* at 12 pan. in teaman Auditorium in Washington, ?SHI? ' * - ^^^^^^^tell!!Ii^j|glllli^ll!l!pll!ligllll!!!ll PUBUC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS 1$? University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCO) will pre sem*Afrtcatt?American Artists; The Color of Art,* at the EUkw Uni. versity Oentef^EUC) Gallery, open dally firom Feb. I Y f|ti9. , 1 ? "TheReal McCoy: African- American Invention ami Innovation, 1619-1930,* i? spearing at the Greensboro Historical Mofeum from now through March 1, "The Real McCoy* it divided , into six sections: "African Ingenuity in Colonial America** iNNMi Jnmtortt tm- ms,' 1 "Blaafc. Inventors In the Antebellum South,* I and Recognition* Black Inventors, * -Blac|l6xp??itioa|fovwnent" and|prbardz?| 0** 20th Century* Mo? gan 40 Sainton M|ImI x iiiii i 1 .j- \ jj5g::xV:W;: ?Sx-xjtv aftr BLACK HISTORY PROFILE Jack Johnson, Boxing's first 'Greatest' I Jack Johnson (1878-1946) I Born in poverty in Galveston, Tex., Jack Arthur Johnson would I become one of the most famous and I hated men in white America, when I as the first African-American j heavyweight boxing champion from 1908 to 1915, he taunted his white 1 opponents, led a high profile of fast I cars and expensive clothes, and I married three white women. Johnson picked up his skills as I a teenager hanging out in camps I where African-American fighters I trained. His first opportunity at 1 fighting came at a carnival in I Galveston where a carnival fighter I offered $5 to anyone who could 1 stay in the ring for four rounds. At I 17, Johnson not only lasted the four 1 rounds, but knocked out the fighter 1 in the fourth round. After that, Johnson took up the I trade in earnest, fighting for small j purses throughout the United States I and Europe. For years he tried to 1 get a championship fight, but during I this period, white fighters seldom il fought the good African- American j fighters. He couldn't get a champi I onship fight until 1908, when, at the il age of 30, he won the championship I from Canadian Tommy Burns in I Sydney, Australia. Johnson was .1 pummeling Burns when police il entered the ring in the 14th round 1 and stopped the fight After Johnson won the champi onship, he fought four times in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Fran I cisco and Colma, Calif ? three I "draws" and a 12-round knockout of I Sam Ketchel. The Ketchel fight was especially disturbing to whites because Johnson not only taunted I Ketchel, but knocked out some of I his teeth and then pulled Ketchel's I teeth from his gloves. The call had gone out for a | "Great White Hope" to take back js the championship from Johnson and m now whites persuaded former || champion Jim Jeffries, almost four ;i| years older than Johnson, to come I out of a six-year retirement to take I ? back the^ crown. His ~frght with | Johnson on July 4, 1910 would :|| become known as the "Fight of the | Century," grossing more than I $275,000 and drawing a record ?j crowd of almost 17,000 in Reno, I Nev., a town whose total population |j was only 11,000. Moreover, each fighter received record purses of more than $110,000 each. In the fight, Johnson taunted the former champion, hit him at will, opened cuts on his face and, finally knocked him out in the 15th round. Whites were so angered that race riots broke out in a number of cities after the fight and some towns banned showings of the fight films. In one southern town, an African American is said to have caused a riot in a restaurant when he ordered a "Jack Johnson Special," ? "cof fee, black and strong like Jack Johnson; eggs beat up and scram bled like Jim Jeffries." Johnson further angered whites because he was frequently seen, lavishly dressed in fast sports cars, with white women. Each of his three wives was white. After the Jeffries fight, Johnson beat Jim Flynn when Las Vegas police stopped the fight in the ninth round. Shortly after that, Johnson s highrolling lifestyle was used by the U.S. government to charge and con vict him of a Mann Act violation of transporting^ women across state lines "for immoral purposes." Johnson fled the country and spent eight years outside the U.S. He fought four more times in Paris, with a knockout, two more draws, and a 20- round decision. Finally, in 1915 in Havana, Cuba he lost the championship when he was knocked out in the 26th round by Jess Willard. Johnson claimed he lost the fight intentionally as part of a deal with the U.S. government to avoid prison, but that he was dou ble-crossed. Films of the fight show Johnson lying on his back with one arm raised over his eyes as if to keep the sun out. He surrendered to authorities in 1920 and served a one-year sen tence in Leavenworth federal peni tentiary. Having lost all of his wealth, he spent the rest of his life touring and making public appear ances. He died on June 10, 1946 in a car accident near Raleigh, N.C. on his way to New York to attend the Joe Luuis-Billy Conn championship fight. For years, Jack Johnson was seen as the model not to be emulat ed by African-American fighters wishing to be a success in boxing. Joe Louis, the next African-Ameri can heavyweight champion would Jack Johnson be instructed not to act like John son. Not until 1964, with the arrival of young Cassius Clay, would an African-American fighter become so hated by whites in the Unites States, especially when he changed his name to Muhammad Ali and espoused the separatist religion of the Nation Islam. Ali frequently pointed out that the parallels and ironies of his career and that of Jack Johnson, noting that, unlike John son, he did not date white women, but he was still hated by whites because of his arrogance and skill. More about Jack Johnson can be read in Big Black Fire by Reggie DeCoy, Black Champion : The Life and Times of Jack John son , by Finis Farr, and Jack Johnson and His Timest by Denzil Bate he lor. Poster of Africa offer A vibrant poster featuring all of Africa's 52 heads of state as well as vital information on each country in vivid full color, is presented by BABAT Productions/Publications, an independently owned concern. The 36" x 25" poster also carries such important information on each country as flags, capitals, major exports, cur rencies, popula tions, and the offi cial languages. The continent, once labeled by colonial exploiters as the "Dark Conti nent" is now totally free of European domination and has cities that can rival * anywhere Tfi the world. The poster also lists Africa's landmarks such as lakes, rivers, and also capitals of each country, including the year of independence from those former colonial rulers. "The data on the poster can be used for comparative analysis," says the poster's associate publisher, Dr. Babatunde Soleye, an African born surgeon-podiatrist. "It is an impor tant educational tool that schools and colleges will find useful, since it also provides an excellent frame of reference for African, Global and Multicultural studies." Among the featured leaders are such veterans as Ivory Coast's Houphet Boigny, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, and newcomers such as Sam Njuoma of Namibia, formerly known as South West Africa. A sec tion of the poster also pays tribute to all people of color who have African ancestry. Reads the poster: "We have to recognize all people of color in this project, even though they no longer the GREAT CONTINENT of AFRICA L*acteft, CouoMm and Oth?f Vital kihxmaWon * ? "? ?*-? "IF* a *? fi"? i II The Great Continent of Africa Postar live in Africa, they are still direct descendants of our African ancestors who were blessed with great cultural heritage and civilization, but were unfortunate to have been forcibly transplanted from the shores of Africa, to North, Central and South America and also the Caribbean. Their sweat and blood immensely contributed to building these great nations, especially the United States of America ? We salute." The poster retails for S9.95 each (plus $3 for shipping and han dling) and can be ordered through Dr. Soleye at P.O. Box 1205, Scars dale, N.Y. 10583. For further infor mation call <9 14) 682-1423. FEBRUARY IS .. . BLACK HISTORY MONTH MM a )l\! Rainbow News carries a growing number of products and publications on African-Americans, their words and music, their courage and accomplishments. Winston-Salem's most unique bookstore , newsstand and Cafe. Browse over 2.000 magazines, a full selection of books, or enjoy a delicious lunch and dinner. CflFe*BOOKS Mon.-Frt. 9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. 7 12 Brooksfown Avenue Winston-Salem. NC 27101 (919) 723-0858 Sat. -Sun. 10:00 a.m. -9:00 p.m. REAL McCOY African-American Invention and Innovation, 1619-1930 Greensboro Historical Museum '"ii . mnir f ~ if 130 Summit Ave Jan 18 - Mar 1 Mon - Sat 10-5 Tue 10 - 8 Sun 2 - 5 Free Admission For more information, call 919/373-2043
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Feb. 13, 1992, edition 1
9
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