The Light of Light

   
Armstrong, Louis

Black American jazz musician. Equally at home as a trumpet player (from which his nickname came “Satchmo”)and as a singer, he was acknowledged as the worlds leading jazz musician of his day. He was a member of the Lodge Montgomery No. 18 Prince Hall Affiliation, New York  

Louis Armstrong was born in a poor section of New Orleans known as “the Battlefield” on August 4, 1901. By the time of his death in 1971, the man known around the world as Satchmo was widely recognized as a founding father of jazz – a uniquely American art form. His influence, as an artist and cultural icon, is universal, unmatched, and very much alive today.

Louis Armstrong’s achievements are remarkable. During his career, he:

• developed a way of playing jazz, as an instrumentalist and a vocalist, which has had an impact on all musicians to follow;
• recorded hit songs for five decades, and his music is still heard today on television and radio and in films;
• wrote two autobiographies, more than ten magazine articles, hundreds of pages of memoirs, and thousands of letters;
• appeared in over 30 films as a gifted actor with superb comic timing and an unabashed joy of life;
• composed dozens of songs that have become jazz standards;
• performed an average of 300 concerts each year, with his frequent tours to all parts of the world earning him the nickname “Ambassador Satch”; and became one of the first great celebrities of the twentieth century.

Through the years, Louis entertained millions, from heads of state and royalty to the kids on his stoop in Corona. Despite his fame, he lived a simple life in a working-class neighborhood. To this day, everyone loves Satchmo – just the mention of his name makes people smile

Cole, Nat (Haniel) King

Black American Singer and pianist. One of the most popular of black entertainers. Nat ‘King’ Cole was initiated in Thomas Waller Lodge No.49 Los Angeles, Prince Hall Affiliation 

Nat "King" Cole had two overlapping careers. He was one of the truly great swing pianists, inspired by Earl Hines and a big influence on Oscar Peterson. And he was a superb pop ballad singer whose great commercial success in that field unfortunately resulted in him greatly de-emphasizing his piano after 1949. Perhaps if his talents had been divided between two different people.

Nat Cole grew up in Chicago and, by the time he was 12, he was playing organ and singing in church; his three brothers (Eddie, Fred, and Isaac) would become jazz musicians. After making his recording debut with Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers in 1936, he left Chicago to lead the band for the revival of the revue Shuffle Along, and settled in Los Angeles when the show ended. Cole struggled a bit, put together a trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince, and eventually settled in for a long residency in Hollywood. In the early days (documented on radio transcriptions), most of the group's repertoire was comprised of instrumentals, although the trio often sang jivey novelty vocals together. However, by the time the trio had its first opportunity to record for Decca in December 1940, Nat King Cole had gained more confidence in his own singing. "Sweet Lorraine" resulted from that session and the trio soon became quite popular. In future years, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Ahmad Jamal would all form piano/guitar/bass combos inspired by Cole's group 

Alexander Murphy Palmer Haley was born on August 11, 1921 in Ithaca, New York.Alex Haley's quest to learn more about his family history resulted in his writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Roots. The book has been published in 37 languages.Haley's writing career began after he entered the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939. Haley was the first member of the U.S. Coast Guard with a Journalist designation. In 1999 the U.S. Coast Guard honored Haley by naming a Coast Guard Cutter after him. Haley's personal motto, "Find the Good and Praise It," appears on the ship's emblem. He retired from the military after 20 years of service, and then continued writing. Out of the service, he tried his hand at journalism in the private sector. His first successful article was an interview that appeared in Playboy Magazine in 1962. Alex next worked on.  Published in 1965, it became Haley's first major book. One of Alex Haley's greatest gifts was in speaking. He was a fascinating teller of tales. In great demand as a lecturer, both nationally and internationally, he was on a lecture tour in Seattle, Washington, when he died on February 10, 1992

Thurgood Marshall is one of the most well known figures in the history of civil rights in America and the first Black Supreme Court Justice. He served on the Court for 24 years until June 28, 1991 when he announced his retirement due to advancing age and deteriorating health.  Before serving on the Supreme Court, Marshall served as legal director of the NAACP. His tenure, from 1940 to 1961, was a pivotal time for the organization, as overturning racial segregation was one of its prime directives. Marshall, along with his mentor Charles Hamilton (who was the first Black lawyer to win a case before the Supreme Court), developed a long-term strategy for eradicating segregation in schools. They first concentrated on graduate and professional schools, believing that White judges would be more likely to sympathize with the ambitious young Blacks in those settings. As the team won more and more cases, they turned toward elementary and high schools. President John Kennedy appointed Marshall to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1961. It was not an easy confirmation: a group of Southern senators held up his confirmation for months, and he served initially under a special appointment made during a Congressional recess. Still, from 1961 to 1965, he managed to write 112 opinions on that court, none of which were overturned on appeal. In fact, the Supreme Court eventually adopted several of his dissenting opinions as majority opinions. From 1965 to 1967, he served as Solicitor General under President Johnson. By the time Marshall succeeded Justice Tom Clark on the Supreme Court, he had argued 32 cases before that body, winning 29 of them. He passed away January 24, 1993