This Week In Black History April 3-10, 2024

MARIAN ANDERSON APRIL 3 1930—Ras Tafari is proclaimed Emper­or of Ethiopia—one of the only African nations to successfully resist European colonization. He is renamed Haile Se­lassie. Blacks in many parts of the world view him as a god-like figure. Indeed, Jamaicans form a religion in his honor. They call themselves Rastafarians. Selas­sie could trace his ancestry as far back as the Queen of Sheba and King Solo­mon of the Christian Bible. 1950—Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History Month, dies at age 74 in Washington, D.C. 1961—Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy is born in Brooklyn, N.Y. 1968—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. de­livers his powerful and prophetic “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech in Memphis, Tenn. Many felt he used the speech to predict his own death. He was assassinated the very next day—at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968. APRIL 4 1915—Muddy Waters is born McKinley Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Miss. Wal­ters would go on to become one of the primary shapers of that genre of music known as the blues. Indeed, he was easi­ly one of the most influential musicians of the first half of the 20th century. 1928—Poet Maya Angelou is born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Mo. An­gelou now...