Editor: Olivia Phoenix Co -Editor: Brady Eblin Myles Morrison Dawson Russell Kelsey Brown Jacob Campbell Volume 5 Issue 13 February 28. 2017 Robbie Schuhl Rachel Horner

Black History Month, or National African American History Month, is an annual cel- ebration of achievements by Black Ameri- cans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United King- dom, also devote a month to celebrate Black History.

http://www.biography.com/people/maya-angelou-9185388 Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson was born in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, on August 26, 1918. Johnson was an incredibly intelligent child, finishing 8th grade at the age of 10. By the age of 13 Johnson was attending high school at West Virginia State College. She had a mind seemingly made for math. At age 18, she graduated from col- lege with degrees in both mathematics and French. For a number of years after this, she taught French and math at schools in both Virginia and West Virginia. In 1953 Johnson was hired to work for NACA where she started her work in the aeronautics field, working in the Maneuver Loads Branch of the Flight Research Division. Johnson spent the next four years analyzing data from flight tests. In 1957, she provided math to the 1958 document Notes of Space Technology, a move that would change life. When NACA became NASA, Katherine was invited to continue working with the group, which she did. One of her first jobs at NASA was calculating flight trajectory for Alan Shepard’s 1961 spaceflight. In 1960 she worked with engineer Ted Skopinski to coauthor a report that laid out equations for describing orbital space flight and determined the landing coordinates of spacecraft. This was the first time any woman in her de- partment received credit for work on a report. When NASA was prepar- ing for John Glen’s orbital flight in 1962, she was assigned to work on it. At the time, NASA used IBM machines to calculate all trajectories and orbital equations needed for the mission, a situation that left astronauts skeptical. So, before Glen left for his flight, he called engineers and asked them to “get the girl,” wanting Johnson to manually check all the trajectories for reas- surance. Because of her, Glen’s flight was suc- cessful. Glenn’s success guaranteed a place for Katherine Johnson in this- tory books.

by Robbie Schuhl

https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography/

Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century. Ali was born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Ken- tucky, in 1942, Muhammad Ali became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960 and the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964. Following his sus- pension for refusing military service, Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title two more times during the 1970s, winning famed bouts against Joe Fra- zier and George Foreman along the way. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984, Ali devoted much of his time to philanthropy. Ali earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. He died on June 3, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona. Ali is most famous for his boxing career and his saying, “Float like a butterfly sting like a bee. His eyes can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.” Muhammad Ali's boxing rec- ord: 56 wins, 5 losses, 37 knockouts.

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/muhammad-ali

by Jacob Campbell  Born December 30, 1984

 Lived with his mom Gloria James

 Played high school basketball at Saint Vincent Saint Mary

 Won three state championships while he was in high school.

 Won three NBA titles

 Played for two professional teams- the Cavaliers and the Miami Heat

 10th on the all time scoring list with 28,178 points and still counting

 Has the record for the most assists by a forward

 13th on the all time assists list with 7,273 and still counting

 20th on the all time steals list with 1,731

 Only front court player to reach 7,000 assists

 First player in NBA History to pass 27,000 points; 7,000 rebounds; and 7,000 assists

 Youngest player to score 27,000 points

 First player to lead all five statistical categories; a whole playoff series on both teams that won last year against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals

 Three finals MVP’s

 Four season MVP’s

 Two All-Star MVP’s

 13 time NBA All-Star awards

 Played with Team USA three times resulting in two Gold Medals and one Bronze

By: Myles Morrison Nina Simone was an author, pianist, civil rights activist, musician, and singer who sang a mix of jazz, blues, and folk music during the 1950s and 1960s. She was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. She studied classical piano at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City but she had to leave early because she ran out of money. She moved in with her family to try to save money and attend a more affordable music program. Simone was denied en- trance to the Curtis Institute because she was African American. She released a full album in 1957. By the mid 1960s, Nina was known as a voice of the Civil Rights Movement. She grew tired of American music and lived in multiple countries such as Liberia, Swit- zerland, England, and Barbados. She took a break from recording in the 1970s. On April 21, 2003, at the age of 70, Nina lost her battle with breast cancer. She left lasting impressions in the world of music, art, and activism.

www.biography.com www.nytimes.com

by Kelsey Brown Synopsia Henry Highland Garnet was an African-American best known for his Abolitionist speech “Call to Rebellion” in 1843, which encouraged slaves to rebel against their owners. Near the end of his life, Garnet fulfilled his lifelong dream of traveling to Li- beria, but his time there was short as he died on February 13th,1882. Early Life He was born December 23, 1815, in Kent County, Maryland as a slave. Garnet and his family escaped to New York when he was nine years old. He was viewed as a radical and became a controversial and important figure within the Abolition Move- ment. In 1865, Garnet became the first Black speaker to preach a sermon in the House Of Representatives. In 1881, Garnet was appointed United States Minister and Counsel General (a position equal to that of ambassador today) in Liberia. He died there a few months later on February 13,1882. Education and Career In New York, Garnet attended the African Free School. There he studied science and English among other subjects. He also learned about navigation and spent some time working aboard ships. In 1829, after returning from a voyage, Garnet dis- covered that a slave hunter had captured his sister. Garnet walked the city streets with a knife looking to confront the slave hunter until Garnet’s friends convinced him to give up and he went in hiding on Long Island. Eventually, Garnet returned to several institutions to continue his schooling. He fin- ished his studies in 1840. Then Garnet pursued a spiritual path and became a Pres- byterian minister and served as the first pastor of the Liberty Street Negro Presby- terian Church in Troy, New York, in the beginning of 1842.

"Henry Highland Garnet."biography.com A&E Networks Television, 06 May 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

by Dawson Russell

Ida B. Wells was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862. She was the oldest daughter of James and Lizzie Wells. Wells received her early schooling, but she had to drop out at the age of 16. She convinced a nearby country school administrator that she was 18 and landed a job as a teacher. In 1882, Wells moved with her sisters to Memphis, Tennessee, to live with an aunt. Wells continued her education at Fisk University in Nashville. She bought a first-class train ticket to Nashville. She was outraged when the train crew ordered her to move to the car for African Americans. She refused and was forcefully removed from the train. This injustice led Ida B. Wells to pick up a pen to write about issues of race and politics in the South. Her articles were published in Black newspapers and periodi- cals. Wells wrote an in-depth report on lynching in America for The New York Age, an African-American newspaper run by former slave T. Thom- as Fortune. She lectured abroad in 1893. Wells hoped to drum up sup- port for her cause among reform-minded Whites. In 1898, Wells brought her anti-lynching campaign to the White House. She lead a protest in Washington, D.C. where she called for President William McKinley to make reforms. She married Ferdinand Barnett, and was thereafter known as Ida B. Wells-Barnett. The couple eventually had four children together. She re- mained committed to her social and political activism. She established several civil rights organizations. In 1896, she formed the National Asso- ciation of Colored Women. She died of kidney disease on March 25, 1931, at the age of 68, in Chicago, Illinois.

By: Rachel Horner Found on Biography.com Marguerite Ann Johnson, better known as Maya Angelou, was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was an author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, and poet. In the early years of her life, her parents split up and she was sent to live with her father’s parents in Stamps, Ar- kansas. She experienced racial discrimination while living in Arkansas. When she went to go visit her mother . While there, at the young age of only seven, her mother’s boyfriend raped her. Angered by this occur- rence, her uncles killed the man. She suffered from this terrible action and when she returned to Arkansas, she became a mute. In 1944, at the age of 16, she becamepregnant. Her friend urged her to write. In 1969 she wrote a very popular memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This publication made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. This is the piece that marked her in history as an international star. She became the first African-American woman to have her screen- play produced for the drama she wrote, Georgia, Georgia in 1972 . She later on earned a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Look Away (1973) and an Emmy Award nomination for her work on the television miniseries Roots (1977). This is only a “smidge” of her honors.

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise. by Olivia Phoenix Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room.

http://www.biography.com/people/maya-angelou-9185388