Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
56 Forsyth Street, NW, Atlanta, GA

When: 5/8/1992

What: After two years of countersuits and trials, the Eleventh Federal Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a previous ruling that 2 Live Crew’s As Nasty As They Wanna Be was obscene and sale of the album illegal. The decision was a major win for free speech in music.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

When: May 4, 1959

What: At the first ever Grammy Awards, legendary songstress Ella Fitzgerald and bandleader Count Basie become the first African Americans to win Grammy Awards.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

When: 1958

What: Formed in 1958 in Canton, Ohio, the O’Jays were inspired to start their singing group after seeing a performance by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. First calling themselves the Triumphs and then the Mascots, they made their recording debut in 1961 with the single “Miracles,” issued on Cincinnati-based King records. Two years later, they renamed themselves The O’Jays, after Cleveland DJ and mentor, Eddie O’Jay.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquar

When: April 9, 1939

What: Marian Anderson wanted to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington DC, but at the time African-Americans were not allowed to perform there. Instead, Anderson sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 75,000 people attended, and the performance became a symbol of the Civil Rights movement.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

When: March 21, 1959

What: Organized by Alan Freed, a disc jockey considered to have coined the term “Rock and Roll” at WJW-Radio, and generally accepted as the first major rock and roll concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball drew an estimated 20,000 people trying to crowd into an arena that held slightly more than half that. The fire authorities shut down the concert after the first song by opening act Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams ended.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents 100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

Maxine Elliot Theater
39th & Broadway New York, NY 10018

When: November 20, 1955

What: Bo-Diddley becomes the first black performer on the most popular program on American television, “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents 100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

When: 1959

What: The Ohio Players are one of the greatest R&B and funk groups to come out of the Dayton scene in the 70s. The band’s grooves, fortified in funk, are still being raided by Hip-Hop producers today.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents 100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

Lincoln High School
East St. Louis, IL 62201

When: 1939

What: Miles Davis picked up the trumpet at his father’s behest after the family moved from Alton, IL to East St. Louis, IL when he was about a year old.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents 100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

When: September 23, 1926

What: The iconic jazz saxophonist and composer is known as one of the greatest influences on the birth and development of jazz, receiving many posthumous awards and recognitions, including canonization by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents 100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

When: April 1970

What: Miles Davis’ first certified gold record sold more than half a million copies, later being recognized as one of jazz’s greatest albums and a progenitor of the jazz rock genre.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents 100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

When: August 10, 1920

What: Written by African-American songwriter Perry Bradford, Smith’s rendition is the first recording of vocal blues by an African American artist, selling a million copies in less than a year.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents 100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

As a noted surgeon and scientist, Charles Drew was responsible for creating the technology to store blood for long periods of time. His lifelong concern for the necessary transport and storage of blood and plasma made him a pioneer in his field and a valued scientist in world history. Drew saved thousands of soldiers’ lives in World War Two, when he developed his technology and techniques during the Battle of Britain; and millions more since then. At the same time, Drew battled segregation and bigory at home. Dr. Charles Drew and Barack Obama are, of course, alike in that they both accomplished legendary African-American firsts in the face of prejudice. But President Barack Obama may indeed accomplish a similar lifesaving legacy if he ends the bloody wars begun by the previous administration.

Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3rd, 1904 in Washington D.C. Drew first discovered his passion for medicine at Amherst College, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1926. Drew saved money for medical school by taking instruction jobs and working hard labor before enrolling at McGill University Medical School in Montreal. He finished his residency at Montreal General Hospital and then moved to his hometown of Washington D.C. to serve as a professor at Howard University. But it was during his fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian where he endeavored his groundbreaking research about blood transfusions. His thesis project, “Banked Blood: A Study in Blood Preservation,” earned Drew a Doctorate of Science in medicine from Columbia University in 1940, and then proceeded to change the world.

At the outset of World War II, Drew’s work with plasma was critical in helping the United States and their allied forces to save soldiers’ lives. Drew became an integral member of the American Red Cross in 1941, but later denounced his affiliation when the U.S. War Department declared that blood should be segregated by race. After making his commitment to soldiers of all colors, Drew was disheartened that his countrymen would not support his efforts. In 1946, he was elected to the International College of Surgeons after winning the NAACP’s Spingard Medal two years prior. On his way to a conference at Tuskegee in 1950, Drew fell asleep at the wheel, and his car wrecked. He died on April 1st of that year. Drew did not, as myth has it, die because he was refused a blood transfusion.

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Born Sarah Breedlove, Walker descended from slaves who died when she was still a child. While many young children would have been too traumatized to overcome the death of two parents, she and her sister took jobs laboring in kitchens, and on farms until they could sustain themselves. In 1910, after forming the Hair Culturists’ Union of America in Indianapolis, she made it a point to find allies in the Black political community. She moved to New York in 1916, building (with the help of the first registered black architect) a palatial home that rivaled any in the Hudson River Valley.

How she came into the hair business was no coincidence. Walker may have suffered from alopecia, a rare ailment that is characterized by little or no hair growth on the body. As a response to her own condition, Walker created a formula (that she claimed had been delivered to her in a dream) to restore hair growth. While many say she did invent a metal “hot comb” specifically for Black women to straighten out the curl in their roots, that is not accurate. The primary cause of her hair loss was the result of a common problem of the era i.e. infrequent washing and products that were not designed for the hair of black women.

With her ingenious marketing in every Black publication, and her constant travel to trade shows, Walker became a household name. She interrupted Booker T. Washington’s prestigious National Negro Business League Convention after Washington had apparently ignored her requests to speak. As a woman who had founded and developed one of the nation’s most formidable businesses, she would not be denied the right to correlate with her peers on the same level.

Not one to horde her riches, Walker moved to create philanthropic projects that would help Black communities. She funded the YMCA building in Indianapolis where her business was, donated to the NAACP, and traveled to Woodrow Wilson’s White House to present an anti-lynching petition after violent outbursts had killed Blacks in an Illinois riot. She passed on her legacy of philanthropy to daughter A’Lelia, who was responsible for creating “The Dark Tower,” a salon that hosted Black writers and artists who would display their work during the Harlem Renaissance. Walker died of kidney disease, and bequeathed her estate to her female heirs.

In 1911 Madam Walker pledged $1000 toward the building fund of the black YMCA in Indianapolis. She was one of many funders.

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Led Zeppelin is considered by many to be one of the greatest bands in the history of rock music, but their roots clearly lie in the tradition of the blues.

Their blues influences got the best of them on a few occasions during their run in the late 60s and 70s. In 1972, the band was sued for copyright infringement by Arc Music, the music publishing company that handled the catalog of Chess Records, one of the premier blues record labels. At the center of the case were two Led Zeppelin songs, “Bring It On Home” and “The Lemon Song.”

Arc Music claimed that the intro to “Bring It On Home” borrowed liberally from Sonny Boy Williamson’s song of the same name written by Willie Dixon, and that “The Lemon Song” borrowed from Howlin’ Wolf’s song “Killing Floor.”

Related: Samples of History: Curtis Mayfield’s Impression on Today’s Music

Compare the songs below:

Sonny Boy Williamson’s original version of “Bring It On Home” vs Led Zeppelin’s “Bring It On Home.”

The Electric Flag’s version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” vs Led Zeppelin’s “The Lemon Song”

The case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. Ironically, Dixon himself didn’t receive any money from the settlement until he sued Arc Music over royalties and copyrights.

Dixon sued Led Zeppelin himself in 1985 in regards to another song he felt infringed on his copyrights, claiming that Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” ripped off lyrics from his song “You Need Love.” Again, a settlement was reached out of court, and Dixon was given credit as co-writer of “Whole Lotta Love.”

Jimmy Page, guitarist for Led Zeppelin, commented on the band’s use of classic blues songs in an interview with Guitar World magazine.

I always tried to bring something fresh to anything that I used. I always made sure to come up with some variation. In fact, I think in most cases, you would never know what the original source could be. Maybe not in every case — but in most cases. So most of the comparisons rest on the lyrics. And Robert [Plant, lead singer of Led Zeppelin] was supposed to change the lyrics, and he didn’t always do that — which is what brought on most of the grief. They couldn’t get us on the guitar parts of the music, but they nailed us on the lyrics. We did, however, take some liberties, I must say [laughs]. But never mind; we did try to do the right thing.

Years later, many hip-hop artists would find themselves in a similar position as Led Zeppelin as the laws surrounding sampling became more strict, ultimately changing the sound of the genre forever.

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In 1940, one Black novelist dared to show America what white supremacy did to one Black man. When “Native Son” appeared on America’s bookshelves, it became an instant bestseller, the first title by an African-American author selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club. It also introduced the world to the complicated protagonist of “Native Son,” Chicago’s Bigger Thomas, who was driven to murder a white woman through his terror of white people, not because of hate. Wright, as an accomplished writer, a prophet, and a leftist, helped cut the path on which Barack Obama walked into Chicago’s South Side, onto the local and national political stage, and now, the White House.

Richard Wright, the grandson of slaves, was born on a plantation in Mississippi in 1908. Shuffled between Mississippi and Memphis for most of his childhood, Wright published his first short story, “The Voodoo of Hell’s Half-Acre,” when he was 15. In 1927, after graduating high school, Wright moved to Chicago, where he worked for the post office and wrote in his spare time. During the Great Depression, Wright affiliated with the Communist Party, and Wright penned many of his earliest works for leftist publications. Richard Wright’s career blossomed after he moved to New York in 1937. He mentored Ralph Ellison, published an acclaimed book of short stories called “Uncle Tom’s Children,” and with the help of a Guggenheim Fellowship, wrote “Native Son,” published in 1940.

Related: WBW Honors: Toni Morrison

“Native Son” was criticized by many people for its violence. Black critics targeted Wright for writing a spectacle that seemed to confirm white America’s worst racist fantasies about Black men. But the book catapulted Wright to the top echelon of American letters. He published his autobiography, “Black Boy,” in 1945.

After World War II, Richard Wright expatriated to France, where he fell in with noted existentialist writer/philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. He traveled to Africa in the 1950s, where he contracted dysentery. The illness contributed to Wright’s failing health before his death in Paris in 1960 of a heart attack. Wright was only 52.

Richard Wright greatly influenced the mindset of white liberals in the 1940s and 50s, and his work inspired the Black activists of the 1960s. “Wright,” said Amiri Baraka, “was one of the people who made me conscious of the need to struggle.” Without a doubt, Wright inspired Barack Obama, too.

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