Category Archives: Black Icons

Black Icons Born Today

Chris Rock was Born Today, 1965

Chris Rock

Credit: Michael Caulfield/WireImage

Chris Rock was born 7th of February 1965.  He is a Comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director, boy does this guy have skills.

Christopher Julius “Chris” Rock III  was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central.  He was also voted in the UK as the 9th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4′s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2007, and again in the updated 2010 list as the 8th greatest stand-up comic.

Rock began doing stand-up comedy in 1984 in New York City’s Catch a Rising Star.  He slowly rose up the ranks of the comedy circuit in addition to earning bit roles in the film I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and the TV series Miami Vice. Upon seeing his act at a nightclub, Eddie Murphy befriended and mentored the aspiring comic. Murphy gave Rock his first film role in Beverly Hills Cop II.

George Carlin has been probably the biggest influence for him.  Other major influences have been Sam Kinison, with whom he managed to hang out with,  Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. 

Rock became a cast member of the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in 1990.

A frustrated Rock left Saturday Night Live in 1993, appearing instead as a “special guest” star on the predominantly African American sketch show In Living Color. The show, however, was canceled months later. Rock then decided to concentrate on a film career. He wrote and starred in the mockumentary CB4 but the film was not a success. Acting jobs became scarce, and Rock abandoned Hollywood to concentrate on stand-up comedy. 

Rock starred in his first HBO comedy special in 1994 titled Big Ass Jokes. But it was his second stand-up special, 1996′s Bring the Pain, that reinvented Rock as one of the best comedians in the industry. For it Rock won two Emmy Awards and gained large critical acclaim.  The segment on race in America, in which Rock used the “N word” extensively was most talked about.  Adding to his popularity was his much-publicized role as a commentator for Comedy Central’s Politically Incorrect during the 1996 Presidential elections[20] which earned him another Emmy nomination. Rock also was the voice for the “Lil Penny” puppet who was the alter ego to basketball star Penny Hardaway in a series of Nike shoe commercials from 1994–1998,  and hosted the ’97 MTV Video Music Awards.

Rock later had two more HBO comedy specials: Bigger & Blacker in 1999, and Never Scared in 2004. Articles relating to both specials called Rock “the funniest man in America” in Time  and Entertainment Weekly. HBO also aired his talk show, The Chris Rock Show, which gained critical acclaim for Rock’s interviews with celebrities and politicians. The show won an Emmy for writing. His television work has won him a total of three Emmy Awards and 15 nominations.  By the end of the decade, Rock was established as one of the preeminent stand-up comedians and comic minds of his generation.

Read More:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rock

 

Happy Birthday Chris Rock

Chris Rock

 

 



Black Icons Born Today

Rosa Parks was Born Today, 1913

Rosa Parks in 1955, with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the background

Rosa Parks in 1955, with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the background

Rosa Parks was born 4th of February 1913.  She was Known as the Best known as the “Mother” of the modern-day civil rights movement.

On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake’s order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Parks’ action was not the first of its kind to impact the civil rights issue. Others had taken similar steps, including Lizzie Jennings in 1854, Homer Plessy in 1892, Irene Morgan in 1946, Sarah Louise Keys in 1955, and Claudette Colvin on the same bus system nine months before Parks, but Parks’ civil disobedience had the effect of sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Parks’ act of defiance became an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement and Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. She organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including boycott leader Martin Luther King, Jr., helping to launch him to national prominence in the civil rights movement.

At the time of her action, Parks was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for workers’ rights and racial equality. Nonetheless, she took her action as a private citizen “tired of giving in”. Although widely honored in later years for her action, she suffered for it, losing her job as a seamstress in a local department store. Eventually, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she found similar work. From 1965 to 1988 she served as secretary and receptionist to African-American U.S. Representative John Conyers. After retirement from this position, she wrote an autobiography and lived a largely private life in Detroit. In her final years she suffered from dementia, and became involved in a lawsuit filed on her behalf against American hip-hop duo OutKast.

Read More:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks

 

Isn’t it ironic that as kids and teenagers the first thing we did and still do is run to the back of the bus, to occupy the back seat. Yet this iconic lady went to jail so we could sit at the front. Education is important, education is key and not all education can come from the schools, colleges and university’s. If we as parents do not educate ourselves, how can we help educate our children.

 

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks

Parks on a Montgomery bus on December 21, 1956, the day Montgomery's public transportation system was legally integrated.

Parks on a Montgomery bus on December 21, 1956, the day Montgomery's public transportation system was legally integrated.

 

Parks and U.S. President Bill Clinton

Parks and U.S. President Bill Clinton

 

Rosa Parks Transit Center, Detroit

Rosa Parks Transit Center, Detroit



Black Icons Born Today

William Artis was Born Today, 1914

William Artis

William Ellisworth Artis was born 2nd of February 1914.  He was an African-American Ceramacist and sculptor.

He studied sculpture and pottery at Augusta Savage Studios in the early 1930s and was a part of the Harmon Foundation exhibition in 1933. He received the John Hope Prize, which led to a scholarship at the Art Students League in 1933-34. Artis was hired by Audrey McMahon, the director of the College Art Association, along with several other artists to teach crafts and paint murals in churches and community centres.

In 1950 he received his Bachelors in Fine Arts, and in 1951 his Masters in Fine Arts from Syracuse University, where he studied with the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. From 1956 to 1966 he was Professor of Ceramics at Nebraska Teachers College after which he was Professor of Art at Mankato State College until 1975. During this time a joint retrospective exhibition with his works was held in 1971 at Fisk University. He is also featured in Against the Odds, an exhibition of African American Artists from the Harmon Foundation.

William Ellisworth Artis died in 1977  but today we celebrate his life.

www.aaregistry.org

 

Created by William Ellisworth Artis

Created by William Ellisworth Artis

 

Happy Birthday William Artis

 

 

Image Credit from left to right

Untitled (Idealized Head of a Woman)

Head of Boy bronze

A Mother’s Love, 1963

 

 

 

 

 



Black Icons Born Today

Jamie Foxx was Born Today, 1967

Jamie FoxxEric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a musical/comedy. He is also a Grammy Award winning musician, producing three albums which have charted highly on the Billboard 200: Unpredictable, which topped the chart, Best Night of My Life and Intuition.
Born in Terrell, Texas, Foxx was raised by his mother’s adoptive parents. He performed in high school and was awarded with a scholarship to United States International University. In his twenties, Foxx began performing stand-up at comedy clubs, and eventually joined the cast of In Living Color in 1991; this exposure helped him land film roles and star in his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show. He released his debut album, Peep This, in 1994, but he did not gain significant musical success until 2004 when he was featured in Twista’s song “Slow Jamz”.

Also in 2004, Foxx played critically acclaimed roles in the films Collateral and Ray. He released his second album, Unpredictable, in 2005, which was helped by his collaboration on Kanye West’s number-one single “Gold Digger”. His third album Intuition was released in 2008 and was anchored by the single “Blame It”. Foxx released his fourth studio album, Best Night of My Life, in 2010. Jamiefoxx.com Jamie Foxx at Wiki

 

 

Happy Birthday Jamie Foxx



Black Icons Born Today

Dionne Warwick was Born Today, 1940

Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health.Best known for her partnership with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest hit makers of the entire rock era (1955–1999), based on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. Warwick ranks second only to Aretha Franklin as the most charted female vocalist with 56 singles making the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998.

Dionne Warwick has, over an illustrious four-decade career, established herself as an international musical legend. Her reputation as a hit maker has been firmly etched into public consciousness, thanks to nearly sixty charted hits since “Don’t Make Me Over” began its climb up the charts in December 1962. As a performer, she has charmed and entertained audiences on every continent, amassing a worldwide audience. There are a few important “firsts” that make Dionne Warwick a true pioneer.

Dionne Warwick received her first Grammy Award in 1968 (for the classic “Do You Know The Way to San Jose?”), and in so doing became the first African-American solo female artist of her generation to win the prestigious award for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance. This award has only been awarded to one other female African-American legend, Ella Fitzgerald. Dionnewarwick.info Dionne-Warwick at wiki

 

 

Happy Birthday Dionne Warwick

 



Black Icons Born Today

Redd Foxx was Born Today, 1922

Redd Foxx

John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.

In the 1940s, he was an associate of Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X. In Malcolm’s autobiography, Foxx is referred to as “Chicago Red, the funniest dishwasher on this earth.” Foxx earned the nickname due to his reddish hair and complexion. His stage surname was taken from baseball star Jimmie Foxx.

Foxx achieved his most widespread fame starring in the television sitcom comedy Sanford and Son, an adaptation of the BBC series, Steptoe and Son, which premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons, the final episode airing on March 25, 1977. Foxx played the role of Fred G. Sanford, while Foxx’s co-star Demond Wilson played the role of his son LaMont. reddfoxx.com

Happy Birthday Redd Foxx