Do you or someone you know play *real football*? Tryouts coming up for the Detroit City Football Club!
'via Blog this'
Monday, January 30, 2012
Detroit City Football Club | Detroit's Minor League Soccer Team
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuskegee Airman: Former Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young
Coleman Alexander Young (1918-1997), was the longest-serving mayor of Detroit, Michigan. After ten years as a Michigan state senator, Mr. Young was elected to the mayorship in 1973 and served until 1993.
* Born in Tuscaloosa Alabama and raised in Detroit since the age of 5, Mr. Young always achieved academically. He was offered a scholarship to a local Catholic high school, but the offer was rescinded when a priest realized that young Coleman was Black. He attended Eastern High School instead and graduated second in his class.
* Young Coleman excelled in the Boy Scouts, achieving the level of Eagle Scout. However, when his troop won a trip to Bob-lo Island Amusement Park, young Coleman was turned away at the ferry boat to the island because he was Black and the day of the trip was not "Colored Day at Bob-lo".
* While working at Ford Motor Company, Mr. Young became involved in union organizing activities, believing that civil rights and workers' rights were linked. He was blacklisted and had an FBI file opened against him. Yet, he became the first Black official in the CIO.
* Mr. Young was drafted into the military during WWII and became a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, rising to the rank of lieutenant.
* Because of his political views and union work, Mr. Young had trouble finding work after he returned from the war. When his wife experienced complications with her pregnancy, Mr. Young could not afford proper medical care and they lost the baby.
* Mr.Young was called to testify before the Congress and its "Un-American Activities Committee"; he became a local hero to the Black committee in Detroit due to the radiocast of his testimony.
* Mr. Young served on the Michigan Constitutional Convention committee in the 1960s, writing the civil rights section of the new constitution. He became the first Black member of the Democratic National Committee in 1968.
All of his life experiences, including being a member of the renowned Tuskegee Airmen, shaped the person known as Mayor Coleman Alexander Young.
If you personally know any Tuskegee Airmen--friends or family--please let us know in the comments!
Today in Black History
Image via Wikipedia
January 18
1949: Congresman William Dawson is elected Chairman of the House Expentiture Committe, becoming the first African-American to head a standing committee of Congress.
1966: Robert Weaver takes the oath of office as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and becoming the first African-American to serve in the official Cabinet of a U.S. President.
1990: Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Berry is arrested in a hotel room on a charge of purchasing and using cocaine; he was tried and convicted on the highly contested misdemeanor charge.
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