The James Logan Courier

Dr. Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989), was co-founder and inspirational leader of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, a black nationalist/racial equality organization that began in October 1966.

Early life
Newton was born in Monroe, Louisiana, the seventh and youngest child in his family, from Armelia and Walter Newton, a sharecropper and Baptist minister. He was named after Louisiana governor Huey Long. Newton's family moved to Oakland, California when he was three. Despite "completing" his secondary education at Oakland Technical High School, Newton still did not know how to read. During his course of self-study, he struggled to read Plato's Republic, which he believed he understood after persistently reading it through five times. This success, he told an interviewer, was the spark that caused him to become a reader.

Watch a film clip of an interview with Huey Newton in the Alameda County Jail, free from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Warren "Baby" Dodds (December 24, 1898–February 14, 1959) was a jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

"Baby" Dodds was the younger brother of clarinetist Johnny Dodds. He is regarded as one of the very best jazz drummers of the pre-Big band era, and one of the most important early jazz drummers. Dodds was among the first drummers who improvised while performing to be recorded. He varied his drum patterns with accents and flourishes.

Watch Baby Dodds play, in one of the first films of any drummer.

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From wikipedia:
Roberta Martin (born February 12, 1907(1907-02-12) in Helena, Arkansas, died January 18, 1969) was an American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group, The Roberta Martin Singers.

Born in Helena, Arkansas, Martin moved to Chicago with her family in 1917, where she studied piano. Although a high school teacher inspired her to dream of becoming a concert pianist, her future course was changed after accompanying the Young People's Choir at Ebenezer Baptist Church. She came into contact with Thomas A. Dorsey, known as the Father of Gospel Music, through her work as the pianist for the youth choir. With Dorsey's help, she and Theodore Frye organized the Martin-Frye Quartet, a youth group consisting of Eugene Smith, Norsalus McKissick, Robert Anderson, James Lawrence, Willie Webb and Romance Watson, in 1933. Martin renamed the group the Roberta Martin Singers in 1936 and added Bessie Folk and Delois Barrett Campbell to the group in the 1940s. The group set the standard for the gospel choir and mixed group, and had an extremely successful recording career, featuring such hits as "Only A Look," and "Grace."

Watch the Roberta Martin Singers perform "God Specializes," free from YouTube.

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From wikipedia
Curtis Ousley (February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), who performed under the name King Curtis, was an American tenor, alto, and soprano saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and soul jazz.

Curtis was born in Fort Worth, Texas. During the 1950s and early to mid 1960s he both worked as a session player on such records as Yakety Yak and recorded his own singles. His best known singles from this period are "Soul Twist" (Enjoy) and "Soul Serenade" (Capitol). In 1965 he moved to Atlantic Records, where his most successful singles were "Memphis Soul Stew" and "Ode to Billie Joe." He led Aretha Franklin's backup band, The Kingpins, and produced records, at first with Jerry Wexler and then by himself.

Hear free samples of music from the Rhino Records CD, King Curtis Live at the Fillmore West, including "A White Shade of Pale," from www.rhino.com

Celebrate Black History Month with The Courier