@ 9:15 a.m. on Nov. 21, 1963, Caroline Kennedy kissed her daddy goodbye. At 9:55 JFK wrote letters to two fatherless Texas children. At 10:42 a.m. JFK received an updated Texas weather report

80 years ago today Wilma Rudolph was born. She wore a leg brace due to polio until she was 12. Her left leg & foot were atrophied. She has 21 siblings. Ed Temple discovered her when he reffed her h.s. basketball games. She avg'd 38 ppg. Rudolph began training w/ Temple when she was in h.s. At 16 she competed in the '56 Olympics. She was the youngest U.S. athlete in Melbourne. In the 4 X 100 M relay, she ran the bend, & the US (the other three athletes were really Tenn. State's team) took bronze

It's intriguing that the person who put the noose in that garage benefits from living on stolen land, which was force farmed 246 years f/ free, even if his fam wasn't here yet, but he feels a need to intimidate. I never felt a need to leave such an object in someone's work space Not one day I've been on the planet, have I been compelled to scrawl a slur on a wall, ask a stranger to go back to their country, bomb children, shoot old ladies @ a Bible study, chant invective @ marchers, yell a leader's name @ someone, or tell anyone I'm better than they.

@NASCAR was founded by DC's Bill France. The activity has its roots in anti-federal sentiment, an outgrowth of cars souped up to elude revenuers during 'shine hauls. One of its first heroes was 'shine runner Junior Johnson: classic.esquire.com/article/1965/3… The recreational aspect evolved from the fastest 'shine runners racing on dirt tracks & ovals. So the tradition of thumbing its nose @ government is part of NASCAR DNA. What makes tonight's race @ Martinsville doubly significant, is @BubbaWallace races under the same # as...

On June 5, 1968 Bobby Kennedy was killed. On 11/22/63 his brother Jack was killed. When Bobby called Parkland Hospital in Dallas for information about the shooting, he sounded so much like Jack that Secret Svc agent Clint Hill nearly collapsed on the phone At the time news bulletins were that the president was "injured". When the wire services, radio networks & tv confirmed his death, there were still rumors Lyndon Johnson was clutching an arm entering the hospital. Speaker McCormack feared he might soon be president

On Memorial Day we commemorate the lives of those who died so that we might enjoy freedom Including Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn, Jimmie Lee Jackson, Sgt. Medgar Evers, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Little Bobby Hutton, Emmett Till, James Chaney, Vernon Dahmer

The 380,000 Black veterans of The Great War were targets of hate crimes during The Red Summer of 1919, including race riots & illegal public hangings. There were 25 race riots, and nearly 100 mob hangings. Four were killed in a GA. church, DC papers ran fake news about rapes "At a high point of the mayhem, one Washington newspaper reported that the city had 'passed through its wildest and bloodiest night since Civil War times.'" These veterans should be recognized every Memorial Day

Little Richard died. Otis, Jimi & Prince come out of Richard. Richard x Jimi x James = Prince Otis was from Macon- Richard's stomp. Thus his first disc was a shout record:

"Maelo" was probably one of the greatest entertainers of all time: If he'd been a ballplayer, Puerto Ricans would have said "Ese tipo es muy 'showman'"

Otis Redding last live tv appearance: (December 9, 1967, Cleveland's "Upbeat", WEWS TV- note the homage to Aretha's cover) The previous year, Otis intros Patti & The Bluebelles on live tv, (note that Cindy Birdsong is still a member):

85 years ago today Roberto Clemente de Walker was born. As a teen he qualified f/ the Helsinki Olympics as a triple jumper. A year later, the Dodgers tried to hide him in Montreal When he was around 31, Clemente was kidnapped on the way back fr. buying some bird, road trip Padres. The men, who spoke Spanish, were to rob him. He told them he was a very important pelotero, & he'd give them cash. They released him.

Thinking about the aggressive/invasive folk walking their dogs on Howard's campus. Black people didn't drink out of "Colored" only water fountains, because they knew bigots urinated in them, or allowed their dogs to do their biz in them. People also spat in them. A lot of white children begged their folks to let them drink out of those water fountains. Can you guess why? (think about how a small child's mind is wired)

55 years ago today Cassius Clay fought Sonny Liston for the first time. He had talked promoters, fans and media into scheduling the bout, though he'd only been 22 a month, & had a close decision w/ light heavy Doug Jones, & been dropped by Henry Cooper. Clay was an 8-1 'dog. Only three of 46 sportswriters picked the chatty kid who had looked so unimpressive vs. journeypersons Jones & Cooper not long before. Liston, for his part, had dispatched Patterson in 2:06 & 2:10 in the 1st round in their two meetings.

So, like, I lived in Greater Cincinnati from 2000-2007. Covington Catholic is located in the city where Cincinnati's airport is. Part of a massive Catholic ecosystem that includes Moeller HS (Griffey, Jr, Larkin) St. Xavier, Purcell Marian HS (Staubach), LaSalle, Newport Cath 1/3 Cowens played @ Newport Cath. This universe also contains St. Ursula's (ex- graduated there), Ursuline, Mount Notre Dame, Roger Bacon, Elder. Ppl in Cincy identify by asking "What parish are you from?". Fams of 9 or 10 children are commonplace. Youth sport governs weekends 2/3

Today I will take a deep dive into the life/legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr., including footage & stills, on the 90th anniversary of his birth. Along the lines of this piece I wrote, but more granular, & multi-platform: salon.com/2013/01/21/8_t…

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the most unanimous human civic effort in history, but it's taught to schoolchildren Santa Clausized & sanitized. Rosa Parks was secretary of the Montgomery NAACP 12 years before the boycott. Not an admin- "Secretary", like Medgar Evers in Jackson She married an NAACP member 11 years before she became branch secretary. For a time she was activist Virginia Durr's seamstress. But although she was hand picked, that was because 15 year old Claudette Colvin had refused to give up her seat- but was pregnant

Think back to an activity you were involved in before 1996. It could be a campus rehearsal, fam reunion, boot camp, a book reading, pickup basketball, where you were when you heard Lady Di died. No one had a smartphone. That's as culturally impactful as saying "No one had a car" In 1979, not one Congressional or Senate staffer or legislative aide could look anything up on a search engine or laptop computer. Not even the most advanced individual.

Activist & GA State Senator, ATL city councilperson Hosea Williams served under Gen. Patton, & was sole survivor of a Nazi bombing which hospitalized him f/ a year. Confined to a cane as a teen. Returned home, beaten nearly to death by terrorists @ a segregated water fountain A funeral parlor came to collect the young vet. 20 years later, Staff Sgt. Williams was gassed & severely beaten @ Selma, Ala.

50 years ago today Bob Beamon did this:
Beamon had played basketball at Jamaica High in Queens. & attended North Carolina A & T. He transferred to Texas Western w/ a kid named Neville Shed. His leap of 29'2 1/2" broke Ralph Boston's WR by nearly 22 inches. He jumped beyond the capability of the measuring equipment

When Kavanaugh attended Georgetown Prep there's no way 65 girls knew him well enough to vouch for his respect for women 35 years hence. The school's all-male. My brother attended Bullis at that time, which had boys & girls, like Kavanaugh, was an athlete. But not 65 knew him well I went to St. Albans. We played Prep. We had a sister school, National Cathedral. Not even the most popular kid at St. Albans can say 65 girls from NCS, Greater DC, Sidwell, his community knew him well. Not in terms of teen respect for women.

On public shaming: Five days before the 1960 pres. election, LBJ & Lady B in Dallas, hissed & spat upon leaving Baker Hotel event, while a GOP ladies event occurring outdoors. One sign read "Let's Ground Lady Bird". On Oct. 24, 1963 U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson in Dallas for U.N. Day. Outside Memorial Auditorium Theater, a male spat on Stevenson, a woman heckler struck him w/ a protest sign. Host was dep't store magnate Stanley Marcus