ORIGINAL APE: I will bow to your view of history as told by your relatives. I was aware of free Blacks and some Indians owning slaves, but that was extremely rare.

Blood Plasma and the method for storing it was invented and perfected by none other than a great African American and Omega, Dr Charles Drew. His methods were used successfully in WWII to save hundreds of thousands of lives.

And I will bow down to yo Brutha, Dr. Drew and his great accomplishments! A Dog-Gone Good One for Omega! It's good to hear from a man that crossed in the "80s" like myself! We really know what hood means!!!

I'm going to try to post about 2 of these a day. I'm getting these little facts from a book called, "Dirty Little Secrets," by Claud Anderson. It's really interesting!!

They Mailed Themselves to Freedom

Two black slaves took the US Postal Service at their word that nothing, "rain, sleet nor snow shall stop the mail" from going through, and mailed themselves to freedom.

In 1856, Henry Brown mailed himself from Richmond, VA to freedom in Philadelphia, PA. It seems physically impossible for Brown's plan to have worked. He built a box 3 ft. long by 2 ft. and eight inches deep and packed a jug of water, a few biscuits, and a pry-bar to open the box from the inside. He had his friend, James A. Smith, another slave, to address the box to the home of an abolitionist, William H. Johnson, on Philadelphia's Arch Street. To lessen the hardship of being locked in the box, in a fetal position, Brown marked the outside of the box"Handle With Care" and "This Side Up" so that he would travel with his head up.

The postal service did not follow outside instructions to keep the box right side up. After traveling upside down in the box for 25 hours, Brown arrived in Philly at Johnson's home. Johnson took the box to the office of the Anti-Slavery Society. After members of the society pried the top of the box open, Brown jumped up and said, "How do you do, gentlemen!"

In 1859, William Peel Jones used Henry "Box" Brown as a model in planning his escape from slavery in a box aboard a steamship from Baltimore, MD, to Philly, PA. Jones had a special reason to attempt his escape. His white master had confided that he was liquidating his assets and intended to sell Jones and other slaves as soon as possible. Like Henry Brown, Jones acquired a box for his escape. But, in his haste, he picked a box that was too small for him, even in a fetal position. He was forced to keep his legs folded in a painful position throughout his voyage. In addition to the pain of leg cramps and bruises from the cramped space, Jones was ill-clothed for the cold sea air and moisture that penetrated the box.

Jones was finally rescued when the boat reached Philly by the same friends who had mailed him and traveled by land to be in Philly when the box containing Jones arrived. Jones' pain and his friends; teamwork paid off when they opened the box and jones was alive and free.

Aesop, A Black Slave

Millions of children and their parents are familiar with the fables like the tortoise and the hare, and the ant and the grasshopper. They know these are Aesop's fables, but few know his racial origin. Even fewer of Aesop's fans know that his impact goes beyond his "stories." Aesop was a gifted black man who lived, suffered, and died as a slave in ancient times. His great mind and wit were a powerful influence on the thought and the moral views of many of the world's great thinkers. The philosophies embedded in his fables had a mojor influence on the development of ancient and modern societies. Plato, Socrates, Aristophanes, Shakespeare and other great minds of the Western world, thought about and found inspiration in his simple stories.

Aesop is believed to have lived during the 6th century, before the birth of Christ, in ancient Greece. His name meant "Ethiop of Africa."

Hundreds of years after Aesop's death, in the 14th century, his fables were first presented to the public by Planudes the Great, a scholarly monk who researched and wrote Aesop's biography. In the 17th century, French poet and author Jean de La Fontaine wrote a biography of Aesop. Both Planudes and de La Fontaine proclaimed Aesop's African origin and described his broad flat nose, thick lips, black skin and kinky hair.

This description of Aesop as an old black slave, the teller of tales and fables, gives him a special place in black history. He is the classic-era counterpart of more modern day Uncle Remus and his tales. Socrates spent his last days putting Aesop's fables into verse. The mass entertainment markets, print and electronic media, have kept alive and perpetuated the wit and fables of this black slave.

These are very interesting, especially the slaves who mailed themselves to freedom.

Did anyone see the Parkers last night? Kim and Stevie showed how their life would be effected by not using any products that were invented by Blacks.

I don't profess to know everything about BLACK HISTORY so as I seek it, I pass it on. . .

Did You know?
1. That the state of Massachusetts was the first state to legalize slavery and Pennsylvania was the first to abolish it?

2. Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) Made the first clock in the new world in 1791. Helped to survey the District of Columbia.

3 T.J. Marshall Was awarded the patent for the fire extinguisher in 1872.

4 Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931) In 1893 he performed the world's first successful open heart surgery without the use of anesthesia. He was a founder of the National Medical Association.

5 Shirley Chisholm First African American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, 1969-1982. Sought the Democratic Party nomination for president in 1972.

6 Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Renowned educator who founded Tuskegee Institute in 1881. He was the first African American depicted on a United States postage stamp.

I found it at the following website: http://www.bmf.net/history/blackhistorymonth/bhm.html
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Black is a mystery, and part of my history. Black is bold and worth a hell of a lot more than gold.

[This message has been edited by CrimsonTide4 (edited February 06, 2001).]

How many of you out there are Christians? If we examine Black History (let's go back to Egypt) we will see where many of the popular religious beliefs (on which this country is founded) originate... There is evidence out there that Christianity developed from Egyptian (Afrikan) practices and beliefs.

Akhenaten (also known as Amenhotep IV)
His wife was the famous and fabled Nefertiti. During his reign -- great strides were made in the arts, literature, and religion. He is best known as the "founder" (if you will) of Monotheism (worship of one God). The changes he made to the polytheistic religous practices of ancient Egypt were revolutionary, though short lived.
Suceeding his reign, the reforms he made to religion in Egypt were nearly forgotten...
Monotheism, in the form Akhenaten originally introduced, can be later noted in religous practices including belief in a trinity/triune God (Re, Ptah, & Amen).
It is the opinion of some (**MAJOR controversy**) that Eurocentric Christianity is a direct descendant of the Egyptian Monotheism religion implemented by Akhenaten over 3,500 years ago (approximately 1,500 years before Biblical Jesus Christ was born) ...
This post is getting lengthy -- but there is soooo much more y'all.
We have such a rich history/heritage -- not only here in America.
We originate from a GREAT and lengthy line of people. I am brought to a peak in emotion anytime I begin to reflect on the history of my people. There is so much out there that we don't know. So many lies we have consumed... I am welling up with tears -- I will cut this short.

Question EVERYTHING -- you will never know until you ask.

P.S. Does anyone know where I can BUY a copy of "The Browder File..." by Anthony Browder??
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"No matter how worthy, admirable or fiercely desired the goal may be, it takes commitment and action to make it a reality."



[This message has been edited by novella000 (edited February 06, 2001).]

Lsst night's episode of the Parkers was one of the best I have seen so far.

I recall a children's show with a similar scenario where the character had to imagine the world without Blacks. It was a miserable existence and he learned how important EVERYONE's contributions are.

I also enjoyed the parts of the Parkers episode where the fraternity XXX demonstrated the similarities between BGLO stepping and African dance. The professor stepped his behind off too.

The portions of the episode dealing with the Negro Leagues was demonstrative of the 'blackout' of our history and the misrepresentation of Blacks by the media (the newspaper article).

It is a shame that the NL and many other Black institutions ceased to exist because 'we' felt/feel that we are now 'integrated' and no longer 'need' our own. Without our own institutions, we will never hear OUR story, but only HIS-story.


Keep the Black History facts coming!


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MCCOYRED
Mu Psi '86
BaltCo Alumnae

Dynamic...Salient...Temperate...Since 1913

CrimsonTide4 asked me to post this, so here it is:

A humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white people who were fed up with African Americans, so they joined together and wished themselves away. They passed through a deep dark tunnel and emerged in sort of a twilight zone where there is an America without black people. At first these white people breathe a sigh of relief. At last, they say, no more crime, drugs, violence and welfare. All of the blacks have gone!!

Then suddenly, reality sets in. The "NEW AMERICA" is not America at all-only a barren land.

1. There are very few crops that have flourished because the nation was built on a slave-supported system.

2. There are no cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, a black man, invented the elevator, and without it one finds great difficulty reaching high floors.

3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gear shift, Joseph Gammell, also black, invented the Super Charger System for Internal Combustion engines, and Garrett A. Morgan invented the traffic signals.

4. Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because its precursor was the electric trolley,which was invented by another black man, Elbert R. Robinson.

5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid transit system could operate, they were cluttered with paper because an African American, Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper.

6. There were few if any newspapers, magazines and books because John Love
invented the pencil sharpener,William Purvis invented the fountain pen, Lee Burridge invented the Type Writing Machine and W.A. Lovette invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all black.

7. Even if Americans could write their letters, articles and books, they would not have been transported by mail because William Barry invented the Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purvis invented the Hand Stamp and Phillip Downing invented the Letter Drop.

8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower.

9. When they entered their homes, they found them to be poorly ventilated and poorly heated. You see, Frederick Jones invented the Air Conditioner and Alice Parker the Heating Furnace. Their homes were also Dim. But of course, Lewis Latimer invented the Electric Lamp, Michael Harvey nvented the Lantern and Granville T. Woods invented the Automatic Cut off Switch. Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward invented the Mop and Lloyd P. Ray, the Dust Pan.

10.Their children met them at the door-barefooted, shabby, motley and unkept. But what could one expect. Jan E.Matzelinger invented the Shoe Lacing Machine, Walter Sammons invented the Comb, Sarah Boone invented the Ironing Board and George T. Samon invented the Clothes Dryer.

11.Finally, they were resigned to at least have dinner amidst all of this turmoil. But here again, the food had spoiled because another black man, John Standard invented the refrigerator.

What would this world be like without the contributions of Black people. If you value your students I challenge you to teach them the entire truth. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that by the time we leave for work we have been dependent on half the world-modern America is created by dependencies on the inventions from the minds of Black folk.

Teach all students that Black history includes more than just slavery. Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Jesse Jackson,Teach all students that Black history is American History and the History of America would not be so, without Black people.

Say it loud and clear.

ORIGINAL: someone has to hold it down. We are the last links between the old and the new.

Black History Month is the outgrowth of Negro History Week which was founded by another great Omega Man, Carter G. Woodson (a Past Grand Basileus) of Omega Psi Phi.

Ideal08 asked me to post this:

Tuskegee Study Revisted in Africa:

Even while suspicions and rumors continue to reverberate through black America that AIDS was intentionally introduced into the black race by World Health Organization experiments in Kenya, Africa, in the early 1980's, yet another medical study on blacks surfaced in 1997. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the NIH and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are sponsoring research in Africa in which pregnant black women infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are treated with placebos, instead of actual medicine.

Researchers claim it is too expensive to give pregnant African mothers "real medicine," and have not used some of the drugs proven effective against the disease. Although such an experimental medical study would now be unethical in the US, the researchers felt it was justified in Africa because: 1) African women gave their informal consent; 2) the research information may prove beneficial; 3) since the women would not be about to afford medical intervention anyway, they are no worse off receiving the "pretend" medicine; and 4) such studies are necessary to find affordable treatments for use in poor Third World countries. Government officials professed not to see the similarities between this study and the "imfamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study."

DAM! IF THAT AIN'T SOME UGLY SHIT!!! It use to take something like this to pull us together; it's a shame it don't work today.

Good post!

I heard that Akhenatan was probably the Biblical "Moses" since the physical locations of his temples were all destroyed after his reign. Based on carbon dating, the time frame in which the all the "signs" from Heaven occured a little bit after Aten Ra allegedly reappeared teaching the monotheistic concept to the Kemetics...

Moreover, the biological evidence also points to Akhenatan's reign as the same time that it is believed that Moses lived, according to anthropological/historical/Biblical evidence. There is no definitive scientific evidence to support a separate person at a separate time named Moses...

Look for The Browder Files at [a href="http://www.Blackvoices.com"]Blackvoices[/a] or [a href="http://www.blackplanet.com"]Blackplanet[/a].

Consumers Wanted the Real McCoy

When customers ask for the "real McCoy," they are asking for the original product, no an imitation. This comes from the experience of a black inventor, Elijah McCoy. Elijah was the son of fugitive slaves, George and Mildred McCoy, who fled a Kentucky plantation via the underground railroad and arrived in Detroit, Michigan, in 1841. Later, the family moved to Ontario, Canada, where Elijah was born. George McCoy opened a cigar manufacturing plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 1864 and used the profits from his business to send Elijah to study mechanical engineering in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Elijah returned to Ypsilanti in 1870 and opened a mechanics shop. He was a prolific inventor and also served as a fireman for the Michigan Central Railroad, whre he was in charge of lubricating all moving parts of the engine. His most famous invention was the lubricating cup. He received a patent for this invention in 1872. Some national and international industries discovered McCoy was black and refused to allow him to lecture to their staffs and students. Moreover, they refused to use his invention and used an inferior imitation instead. Loyal customers who used McCoy's lubricating cup claimed an advantage over their competitors. In their advertising they made sure that everyone knew they had the "real McCoy" and any other brand was a cheap imitation. In all, the "real" McCoy had 87 inventions and 57 patents including the lawn sprinkler. McCoy's other inventions, patents, and credit are lost in the pages of history.

(Taken from Claud Anderson's "Dirty Little Secrets")

Thank you for posting this information.

Even though my username is my line name (Dr McCoy from Star Trek), I was happy to learn shortly after I crossed that it is also the name of one of the greatest engineers/scientist/inventors of all time. Since I am also an engineer, it IS fitting. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif




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MCCOYRED
Mu Psi '86
BaltCo Alumnae

Dynamic...Salient...Temperate...Since 1913

Good looking out!!
I will have to research that some more... I have seen some documentation on the Moses theory... Never in very much detail. If Akhenaten WAS Moses -- then that would begin to line things up to the time frame for Christianity...
WHEW!! My brain aches. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif
I am still searching, there is so much.


BTW - AKA_Monet, have you read anything by Browder? Do you/does anyone have any additional reading suggestions related to this topic? Please enlighten http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif


[This message has been edited by novella000 (edited February 08, 2001).]