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Black Facts for January 25th

1961 - Jack Schlossberg on President Obama and political courage

JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, says President Barack Obama inspired a new generation to public service.

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy honors President Barack Obama - Duration: 2:08. JFK Library 2,837 views

Profile In Courage Award Ceremony with President Barack Obama - Duration: 1:12:47. JFK Library 178,449 views

The Churchills and the Kennedys - Duration: 1:25:37. JFK Library 10,472 views

John F. Kennedy Library Profile in Courage Award 2014 - Duration: 39:43. JFK Library 24,500 views

Whistlestop: My Favorite Stories from Presidential Campaign History - Duration: 1:28:42. JFK Library 2,052 views

A Conversation with Robert Redford - Duration: 1:10:58. JFK Library 56,556 views

President Obama on JFKs political courage - Duration: 3:22. JFK Library 3,024 views

Chris Matthews on JFK - Duration: 1:03:28. JFK Library 19,540 views

The Nine of Us: Growing Up Kennedy - Duration: 48:16. JFK Library 32,404 views

Jack Schlossberg, JFKs grandson, on the importance of young people in public service work - Duration: 0:56. JFK Library 28,259 views

The Legacy of James Baldwin - Duration: 53:12. JFK Library 11,161 views

Senator Kennedy at the 1980 Democratic National Convention - Duration: 5:21. JFK Library 140,582 views

The Life of Nelson Rockefeller - Duration: 1:15:28. JFK Library 5,012 views

A Conversation with David McCullough - Duration: 18:04. JFK Library 4,819 views

A Conversation with Lauren Bush Lauren and Jack Schlossberg - Duration: 9:27. JFK Library 51,204 views

JFK: A Vision for America - Duration:

2012 - Egypt

Despite the political turmoil and uncertainty, millions of Egyptians voted in the first round of parliamentary elections on Nov. 28, 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood fared better than expected, winning about 40% of the vote. Even more of a shock was the second place finish of the ultraconservative Islamist Salafists, who took about 25%. The Muslim Brotherhood, however, said it did not plan to form a coalition with the Salafis—an apparent attempt to calm fears that it would assemble an Islamist government. In fact, it said that it planned to form a unity government with secularists and would respect the rights of women and religious minorities.

The second round of parliamentary elections in mid-December were marred by violence. Protesters demonstrating against military rule were beat up and troops assaulted civilians who assembled outside parliament and judges who were enlisted to supervise the vote counting. In response, the civilian advisory council, formed to help the military council gain acceptance with the populace, ceased operations. The move was an embarrassment to the military council. The reputation of the military was further tarnished in late December, when it beat, kicked, and stripped several women who were participating in a womens demonstration against military rule.

After the third and final round of voting, the Muslim Brotherhood emerged as the clear winner, taking 47% of the seats in parliament. The Salafis won 25%, giving Islamists more than 70% of the seats. The first democratically elected parliament in more than 60 years convened in January 2012. Parliament, however, will remain secondary to the military council until the military hands power to a civilian government, which is expected after Mays presidential election. The legislative body was charged with forming a committee to write a new constitution. The Muslim Brotherhood named as many as 70 Islamists, including 50 members of parliament, to the 100-person committee. Given its dominance in parliament and control over the new

2013 - Egypt

President Morsi faced his first test in early August 2012, when militants shot and killed 16 Egyptian soldiers at an army checkpoint in Egypts Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel. Several of the militants then drove into Israel, where their vehicle was destroyed by the Israeli military. Despite increased jihadist activity and warnings about a potential attack in the Sinai, the Egyptian Army was caught unprepared. Morsi ordered an airstrike on the Sinai, which killed about 20 militants. On Aug. 12, Morsi dismissed or reassigned several senior generals and the heads of each service branch of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), an influential force in Egypt that has effectively been in control since the fall of Hosni Mubarak and recently been in a power struggle with the new civilian government. Defense minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, a power broker in Egypt, was among the leaders Morsi stripped of his position. Morsi also voided a constitutional declaration imposed by the military that limited the role of the president, and implemented a new order that vastly expanded his power and that of the legislature. The bold move sent a clear message that the civilian government had taken back control of the country.

The attack in the Sinai highlighted the importance—and fragility—of the relationship between Israel and Egypt in dealing with the explosive nature of the region.

Protests broke out at the U.S. embassy in Cairo in September over the release of a YouTube film, Innocence of Muslims, which insulted the Prophet Muhammad and criticized Islam. Demonstrators stormed the walls of the embassy and ripped down the American flag. President Morsi was slow to respond to the protests and issued only a tepid condemnation of the violence, prompting a call from President Barack Obama, who warned that relations between the U.S. and Egypt will suffer if he fails to take stronger action against anti-American violence. The protests coincided with similar actions in Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Indonesia, and

1961 - President Obama says it takes courage to help the vulnerable

President Barack Obama accepted the Profile In Courage Award this week and called on Congress to have courage and stand up for the sick and vulnerable.

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy honors President Barack Obama - Duration: 2:08. JFK Library 2,837 views

The Churchills and the Kennedys - Duration: 1:25:37. JFK Library 10,472 views

A Conversation with Robert Redford - Duration: 1:10:58. JFK Library 56,556 views

The Nine of Us: Growing Up Kennedy - Duration: 48:16. JFK Library 32,404 views

Profile In Courage Award Ceremony with President Barack Obama - Duration: 1:12:47. JFK Library 178,449 views

Barack Obama says members of Congress showed courage in passing ACA - Duration: 3:10. JFK Library 376 views

A Conversation With Senator Elizabeth Warren - Duration: 1:04:39. JFK Library 21,143 views

Why the Right Went Wrong - Duration: 1:34:41. JFK Library 1,711 views

Senator Kennedys Remarks at RFK Tribute - Duration: 6:11. JFK Library 33,049 views

A Conversation with Lauren Bush Lauren and Jack Schlossberg - Duration: 9:27. JFK Library 51,204 views

Listening In: JFKs Secret Tapes - Duration: 1:05:40. JFK Library 40,843 views

A Conversation with President Jimmy Carter - Duration: 1:06:29. JFK Library 32,924 views

JFKs Forgotten Crisis - Duration: 1:05:03. JFK Library 5,546 views

A Conversation with Al Gore - Duration: 1:07:00. JFK Library 1,980 views

The Life of Nelson Rockefeller - Duration: 1:15:28. JFK Library 5,012 views

President John F. Kennedys First Televised News Conference of January 25, 1961 - Duration:

2017 - Buchi Emecheta

Buchi Emecheta , in full Florence Onyebuchi Emecheta (born July 21, 1944, Lagos, Nigeria—died January 25, 2017, London, England), Igbo writer whose novels deal largely with the difficult and unequal role of women in both immigrant and African societies and explore the tension between tradition and modernity.

Emecheta married at age 16, and she emigrated with her husband from Nigeria to London in 1962. She began writing stories based on her life, including the problems she initially encountered in England. These works were first published in New Statesman magazine and were later collected in the novel In the Ditch (1972). That work was followed by Second-Class Citizen (1974), and both were later included in the single volume Adah’s Story (1983). Those books introduce Emecheta’s three major themes: the quests for equal treatment, self-confidence, and dignity as a woman. Somewhat different in style is Emecheta’s novel Gwendolen (1989; also published as The Family), which addresses the issues of immigrant life in Great Britain, as do Kehinde (1994) and The New Tribe (2000).

Most of Emecheta’s other novels—including The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977), The Joys of Motherhood (1979), Destination Biafra (1982), and Double Yoke (1982)—are realistic works of fiction set in Nigeria. Perhaps her strongest work, The Rape of Shavi (1983), is also the most difficult to categorize. Set in an imaginary idyllic African kingdom, it explores the dislocations that occur when a plane carrying Europeans seeking to escape an imminent nuclear disaster crashes.

Emecheta wrote an autobiography, Head Above Water (1986), and several works of children’s and juvenile fiction. She was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005.

1938 - Etta James

Etta James was a Grammy Award winning iconic singer who was known for her hits such as  “I’d Rather Go Blind” and “At Last”. Her birth name was Jamesetta Hawkins and she was born to a 14 year old single mother named Dorothy Hawkins on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California. Etta was a child prodigy as a church gospel singer, and Dorothy encouraged her daughter’s musical talent. Etta never knew who her father was, so that never bothered her. Her mother had brief relationships with various men, so Etta was raised by a series of foster parents.

Etta began singing in the local church choir and made an appearance on the local radio stations in her home town. To gain better exposure to the music scene, she moved to San Francisco when she was 12 years old, where she formed a musical trio to perform with. Here she met bandleader who was also a talent scout. She began working for him and four years later, they recorded the song “The Wallflower” together. During this time, she adopted the stage name of Etta James, and formed a band called “The Peaches”. She also began recording some of her own solo tunes such as “Good Rockin’ Daddy”.

She signed with Chess Records and released her debut album “At Last” in 1960. It featured a variety of musical styles, such as jazz, blues and R&B. The album included several hits such as “I Just Want to Make Love to You”, “A Sunday Kind of Love” and “At Last” (which reached number two on the R&B chart and number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100). The same year, she released her second album titled “The Second Time Around” which included hits like “Fool That I Am” and “Don’t Cry Baby”. She then reverted to her gospel roots, and came out with new hits such as “Something’s Got a Hold On Me”, “In The Basement” and “I’d Rather Go Blind”.

Etta continued to work productively throughout the 1960s and 1970s despite several career highs and lows. Her work briefly suffered due to her unfortunate heroin addiction, for which she went to rehab. However, she produced the album “Tell Mama” in 1967 which