October 7, 2021
William Grant Still
On this day in 1821 William Grant Still was born. He is known popularly as the Chronicler of the Underground Railroad.
Also on this day
On this day in 1993, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Toni Morrison, the Committee saying her novels “…characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality”.
Playwright, poet, novelist essayist and university professor Imamu Amiri Baraka, also known as Leroi Jones, was born on this day in 1934 in Newark, New Jersey.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was born on this day in 1897 as Elijah Poole. He was the founder of the Nation of Islam in 1934, and the spiritual father of Malcolm X until the latter broke off in 1964.
Moses Walker Fleetwood nicknamed ‘Fleet’, perhaps the first Black player in professional baseball, was born on this day in 1857. After attending Oberlin College, he played for a professional baseball team in 1884.