Thalia Sanders

03/03/2026

With reignstormpit – I just earned their Stormie badge!

03/02/2026

On this day, February 26th, in Black Herstory

This date in 1869 commemorates the birth of Sissieretta Jones, a Black concert and spiritual singer.

She was born Matilda S. Joyner in Portsmouth, Virginia, and she is the daughter of a Baptist minister, Jeremiah Joyner, and Henrietta Joyner. She inherited her enchanting soprano voice from her parents. When she was 7, the family moved to Providence for better educational and economic opportunities. At 14, she began her first formal music training at the Providence Academy of Music and music schools in Boston. The same year, she married David Richard Jones, "a gambling man" who went on to manage his wife's career and lavishly spend their money until the couple divorced in 1900.

In 1892, at 23, Jones sang in New York's Madison Square Garden. A newspaper review of the performance compared her to famous Italian opera singer Adelina Patti, and it condescendingly tagged Jones as "the Black Patti," a nickname she disliked but could not remove from her public. She sang at the Chicago World Fair in 1893 and for several Presidents of the United States.

From 1895 to 1916, Jones led a troupe of singers and musicians on a tour through the United States and abroad. Called the Black Patti Troubadours, the group performed minstrel shows and musical skits. While Jones initially considered the minstrel performances demeaning, she was able to expand her repertoire by singing spirituals and opera arias for her show's finale.

The show served as a training ground for hundreds of Black entertainers. Jones was given many gifts from admirers, among them, a medal from President Hector Hippolyte of Haiti, a bar of diamonds and emeralds from the citizens of St. Thomas, an emerald shamrock from the Irish people of Providence, and a diamond tiara from the governor-general of a West Indies island. She often wore her 17 medals across her chest during performances.

After touring for about 20 years, the Troubadours disbanded, and Jones returned to her home in Providence to care for her ailing mother and grandmother. She retired in 1916. She lived the next 18 years at her home on Wheaton Street, taking in homeless children and selling mementos from her glory days to pay her living expenses. Jones died of cancer in June 1933 in Rhode Island Hospital. She was buried in Grace Church Cemetery. (African American Registry, 2026)

03/02/2026

(Top Photo) Aaliyah in the front with glasses. She attended Gesu Elementary in Detroit. In 1986, at the age of six or seven, she was cast in the stage play 'Annie' at her school which inspired her to become an entertainer.

January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the "Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop, and hip hop. Aaliyah's accolades include three American Music Awards and two MTV VMAs, along with five Grammy Award nominations.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit, she first gained recognition at the age of 10, when she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight. At the age of 12, Aaliyah signed with Jive Records and her uncle Barry Hankerson's Blackground Records. Hankerson introduced her to R. Kelly, who became her mentor, as well as lead songwriter and producer of her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number (1994). The album sold three million copies in the US and was certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her first single, "Back & Forth", rose to number five on the Billboard Hot 100.

Aaliyah worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album, One in a Million (1996), which sold three million copies in the US and more than eight million copies worldwide. She made her acting debut in the action film Romeo Must Die. Its soundtrack was supported by her single "Try Again", the first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 solely through airplay. Aaliyah subsequently filmed her starring role in Queen of the Damned (2002; released posthumously) and released her third album, Aaliyah (2001), which topped the Billboard 200. The album spawned the singles "We Need a Resolution", "Rock the Boat", and "More Than a Woman".

Beyond music, Aaliyah shaped fashion trends with her signature look—bedazzled bras, high-top sneakers, and sleek hairstyles that became cultural touchstones. Her style fused streetwear with high fashion, inspiring a generation of fans to embrace individuality and confidence.

On August 25, 2001, at the age of 22, Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash along with eight other people on board, when the overloaded aircraft she was traveling in crashed shortly after takeoff.

After her death, Aaliyah's music has continued to achieve commercial success, aided by several posthumous releases, including the compilation albums I Care 4 U (2002) and Ultimate Aaliyah (2005). She has sold 8.1 million albums in the US and an estimated 24 to 32 million albums worldwide.

02/28/2026

02/28/2026

02/28/2026

02/26/2026

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James Skivring Smith - February 26, 1825 - Died 1892 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY - R.I.P.
Smith was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1825 to a family of free blacks. He arrived with his family in Liberia in 1833, and his parents died of malaria within a year. As a young man, he trained under Dr. James W. Lugenbeel, a medical doctor of the American Colonization Society. He then returned to the United States to study medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. He transferred to Berkshire Medical College in Massachusetts, graduating with his medical degree in 1848. He was the second African American to receive a Doctor of Medicine from an American medical school, after David J. Peck a year earlier. After graduating, he returned to the newly independent Liberia to work as a physician.
In 1855, Smith was elected to the Senate, representing Grand Bassa County. From 1856 to 1860, he was Secretary of State under President Stephen Allen Benson. In the 1869 presidential election, Smith was elected Vice President alongside President Edward James Roye. He and Roye were the first True Whig politicians to hold their respective offices. In 1871, after Roye was forced out of office, Smith served as president for the remainder of Roye's term. His two-month president remains the shortest in Liberian history. At the end of his presidential term, Smith returned home to Buchanan, and served as Superintendent of Grand Bassa County from 1874 to 1884. His son James Skivring Smith Jr. went on to serve as Vice President from 1930 to 1944.

02/25/2026

On this day, February 23rd, in Black Herstory

Muriel Burrell Smith was born on this date in 1923. She was a Black singer.

Smith was born in New York City. Her early life remains obscure. She appeared on the popular radio series Major Bowes' Amateur Hour in 1937. After singing at a cocktail party in 1939, one of the guests, Elizabeth Westmoreland, arranged a scholarship for her at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She was the first African-American to study at Curtis. She worked in a factory, earning $15 per week, to support herself during her studies. She graduated in 1946 in the same class as Leonard Bernstein and Isaac Stern.

She made her début on Broadway in December 1943, taking the title role in Carmen Jones, an updated version with a Black cast. At that time, U.S. opera companies were segregated; in the cast of 115, only one had previous Broadway experience. Carmen Jones received a positive critical reception and ran on Broadway for 14 months. Smith toured with the production until 1947, with two further Broadway revivals. 1947, she starred as Delphine in Our Lan at the Royal Theatre. Smith later performed with the American Negro Theatre in 1948.

She moved to London in 1949. After appearing in two revues at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End — Sauce Tartare in 1949 and Sauce Piquante in 1950 — Smith then performed in the London productions at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in South Pacific in 1951, and in The King and I in 1953-1955. She gave a recital at the Wigmore Hall in 1955 before returning to the U.S. to appear in a revival of Carmen Jones at the New York City Center. On December 17, 1956, she made her poignant début in opera, starring as Carmen in a production at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on December 27, 1956, broadcast live on BBC radio.

In cinema, she was the uncredited ghost singer for Zsa Zsa Gabor in the 1952 movie Moulin Rouge. She was a ghost singer in two songs for the 1958 Hollywood film version of South Pacific, providing the voice for actress Juanita Hall. She turned down an on-screen part in the 1959 film version of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, saying, "It doesn't do the right thing for my people." She is perhaps best known in the U.K. for her 1953 #3 hit single, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me." In the late 1950s, she starred in the stage musical "The Crowning Experience," inspired by the life of Mary McLeod Bethune, which was later made into a film of the same name.

She worked as a voice teacher at Virginia Union University, moving to the state in 1974. She received an arts award from the National Council of Negro Women in 1984. She appeared in several regional theatrical productions in Richmond, Virginia, and the première of Jeraldine Herbison's Sojourner Truth, Ain't I a Woman?, at Hampton University in 1985. Later that year, Muriel Smith died on September 13, 1985, aged 62, in Richmond, Virginia. (African American Registry, 2026)

01/26/2026

With Loni Love – I'm on a streak! I've been a top fan for 4 months in a row. 🎉

11/22/2025

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11/16/2025