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Black History Month 2020

To recall and celebrate the positive contributions to our nation made by people of African descent, American historian Carter G. Woodson established Black History Week beginning on Feb. 12, 1926. In 1976, as part of the nation's bicentennial, the week was expanded into Black History Month.

TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT ON MICHAEL JACKSON

Michael Jackson was one of the top-selling artists of all time, only behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles, selling nearly 175 million albums worldwide. His 1982 album Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, with over 50 million copies sold worldwide. Dubbed the “King of Pop”, MJ was a singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, actor and humanitarian. He launched his solo career in 1971, after making his debut with his brothers The Jackson 5 in 1964. He is one of the only artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Dance Hall of Fame as the first and only dancer from pop and rock music. His other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records; 13 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; 26 American Music Awards, more than any other artist, including the “Artist of the Century” and “Artist of the 1980s”; 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career, more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era.

He is also the most awarded recording artists in the history of pop music. He is also the first artist to have a top ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades after “Love Never Felt So Good” reached number 9 in 2014. He earned nearly $1 billion during his career and became one of the top earning dead celebrities after his death in 2009.

TRIVIA

Shared with Carlos Santana the record for most Grammys won in one year, with eight. First solo artist to generate four top ten hits on the Billboard charts on one album with “Off the Wall.” First artist to generate seven top ten hits (USA) on one album with “Thriller.” Until August 2011, he was the only artist in history to generate five #1 hits (USA) from one album with “Bad”. Katy Perry has since tied this record with her album “Teenage Dream”. With Lionel Richie, co-wrote the song “We Are the World,” and was one of its performers. Wrote and recorded a song called “On the Line”, produced by Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, for the film Get on the Bus (1996) that was not included on the soundtrack for the film. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 (as a solo artist). Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 (as a member of the Jackson 5). Had three kids: Prince Michael, Prince Michael II, Paris Jackson. Was found not guilty on ten counts of child molestation on 13 June 2005 due to lack of evidence. Ranked #11 in VH1's list of the “100 Greatest Kid Stars” with his brothers as the Jackson 5. His hit song “Bad” from 1987 was initially supposed to be a duet with Prince. Prince said in an interview that he did not wish to sing the line “Your butt is mine”. He was the Godfather of Nicole Richie. The music video for his song “Thriller” was the longest video ever with 13 minutes, until this record was broken by Mike Skinner with the video for the song “When You Wasn't Famous”. Claimed to have given $300 million to charity, more than any other celebrity apart from Oprah Winfrey. Owed an estimated $435 million in debts at the time of his death. His memorial service from the Staples Center on Tuesday, July 7th 2009 brought the Internet's second largest day ever in terms of total traffic. He died on the same day as Farrah Fawcett. Both were in California at the time. She died at 9:28 a.m PDT, he was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. after hours of unsuccessful resuscitation. Holds 10 different Guinness World Records. MJ died at age 50 on June 25, 2009.

PERSONAL QUOTES

On being black: “I'm a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity.” On a better tomorrow: “Let us dream of tomorrow where we can truly love from the soul, and know love as the ultimate truth at the heart of all creation.” On hating his appearance: “Yes, and I had pimples so badly it used to make me so shy. I used not to look at myself. I'd hide my face in the dark, I wouldn't want to look in the mirror and my father teased me and I just hated it and I cried everyday.” On being a perfectionist: “I'm never pleased with anything, I'm a perfectionist, it's part of who I am.”

(Source: RIAA, Forbes, Wikipedia, Imdb, Brainy Quotes)

SOUND

On child abuse allegations:

“If I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists. I would never hurt a child. It's totally false. I was outraged. I could never do something like that.”

On his influences:

“Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy. I just have to say thank you. He was so important in our lives, and he is really my real inspiration, and I owe him so much. Quincy Jones, thank you. We talk about a 'Thriller,' it's Quincy. You're incredible. I love you, Quincy. He is the man. The glamorous–(crowd members shouts something) No, I…thank you. The glamorous and talented and beautiful Diana Ross, who is my second mother–I thank you.”

On being beaten as a child:

“Michael Jackson tells Oprah he was beaten as a child. “(Michael) I remember going to the recording studio, there was a park across the street and I would see all the children playing and they were rooting and making noise and I would cry. It would make me sad that I would have to go and work instead. Oh there's a lot of sadness in my past life. And you know adolescence and my father and all those things, it just made me very sad. (Oprah) So he would tease you and make fun of you? (Michael) Yes. (Oprah) Did he ever beat you? (Michael) Yes he did.”

On Neverland Ranch:

“I wanted to have a place that I could create everything that I that I never had as a child. So, you see rides. You see animals. There's a movie theater. I was always on tour, traveling. You know? And — I never got a chance to do those things. So, I compensated for the loss by — I have a good time — I mean, I can't go into a park. I can't go to Disneyland, as myself. I can't go out and walk down the street. There's crowds, and bumper-to-bumper cars. So, I create my world behind my gates. Everything that I love is behind those gates.”

Janet Jackson speaks on behalf of her family after MJ's death at the 2009 BET Awards.

“I'm going to keep it very short but I, I just like to say that to you Michael is an icon… to us Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts. On behalf of my family and myself thank you for all of your love, thank you for all your support. We miss him so much.”

BLACK HISTORY MONTH QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Who is the first golfer to ever hold all four professional major championships at the same time?

Answer: Tiger Woods

TODAY IN BLACK HISTORY:

In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment, fiving blacks the right to vote, was ratified. In 1874, Blanche Kelso Bruce (Mississippi) was elected to a full six year term in the U.S. Senate. In 1903, Jack Johnson became the first Negro heavyweight champion. In 1920, The Negro Baseball League founded. In 1956, Autherine J. Lucy became the first black student to attend the University Of Alabama. She was expelled three days later “for her own safety” in response to threats from a mob. In 1992, Autherine Lucy Foster graduated from the University with a master's degree in education. The same day, her daughter,Grazia Foster, graduated with a bachelor's degree in corporate finance. In 1964, School officials reported that 464,000 black and Puerto Rican students boycotted New York City public schools. More than 267,000 were absent during second boycott on March 16th. In 1965, Geraldine McCullough, sculptor, won the Widener Gold Medal award. In 1968, Motown made history in England when The Supremes – Greatest Hits became the first album by a black group to reach Number One on the British sales chart. In 1981, The Air Force Academy discontinued its ban on considering the applications of persons with the sickle cell trait. Many people felt the ban had stigmatized blacks. In 1988, In Montgomery, Alabama, Thomas Reed, president of the Alabama chapter of the NAACP, was arrested after he and 11 others attempted to strike a Confederate flag flying atop the state capitol building. In 1989, Former St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White was named president of the National League. He was the first African-American to head a major sports league.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPOTLIGHT: DR. REBECCA LEE CRUMPLER

Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African-American woman physician in the United States. Dr. Crumpler was born in 1831 in Delaware and worked as a nurse in Massachusettes between 1852 and 1860. She was accepted to New England Female Medical College and earned an M.D. in 1864. She practiced medicine in Boston, Richmond, Virginia, primarily working with poor people who had limited access to medical care.

In 1883, Dr. Crumpler published a renowned book, Book of Medical Discourses In Two Parts — which many believe is the first medical text written by an African-American author. Dr. Crumpler died in 1895 in Massachusettes.

Source: (PBS, Time)

60 MINUTES Michael Jackson Explains Why He Built Neverland : https://audio.pulsewebcontent.com/MP3/2003/12_dec/60_MINUTES_Michael_Jackson_Explains_Why_He_Built_Neverland.mp3

60 MINUTES Michael Jackson Says He Would Never Hurt A Child : https://audio.pulsewebcontent.com/MP3/2003/12_dec/60_MINUTES_Michael_Jackson_Says_He_Would_Never_Hurt_A_Child.mp3

BET AWARDS 2009 Janet Jackson on Michael Jackson : https://audio.pulsewebcontent.com/MP3/2009/06_jun/BET_AWARDS_2009_Janet_Jackson_on_Michael_Jackson.mp3

Michael Jackson names his three biggest influences : https://audio.pulsewebcontent.com/MP3/2001/03_mar/Michael_Jackson_three_biggest_influences.mp3