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BLACK FACT of the DAY
It is BLACK HISTORY MONTH and to honor it I want to share a BLACK FACT for every day. We will have more than 28. I am sure of that but I want us to share some deeper, hidden BLACK facts. I want you to help too. This will be a COMMUNITY effort. "DATE IT and STATE IT"!! :D
February 1, 2002 1834 Henry McNeal Turner Born Henry McNeal Turner was born on what is now Hannah Circuit, near Newberry, which was then in Abbeville County, South Carolina. Young Turner was "bound out" to the hardest king of labor in the cotton fields and the blacksmith's trade in Abbeville until his "manhood" at age 12. He possessed an insatiable craving for knowledge. In some way he procured an old Webster's Blue Back Spelling Book. An elderly white lady and a boy with whom he played taught him the alphabet and to spell as far as two-syllable words, but he no farther then as he was caught in the unspeakable act of learning to read. He found an old slave who did not know a letter, but was a prodigy in sounds and could pronounce anything spelled to him. This helper to Henry was moved to another plantation, and he was again left to his own resources. His mother hired a white lady to give him lessons every Sabbath, but the neighbors were so indignant that they threatened to have the law on her, as it was then against the law to teach a Negro the alphabet. Three years later, at the age of fifteen, Henry was given work in a lawyer's office at the Abbeville Court House. The men in the office were impressed with his excellent memory and taught him, in defiance of the law, to read accurately, history, theology, and even works on law. He continued to pursue his studies alone, and later went to New Orleans, then to Missouri, and still later to Baltimore, where he had charge of a small mission. Here he studied grammar, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, and theology under eminent teachers. Reverend Turner joined the Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1848 and was licensed to preach in 1853. He was ordained Deacon in 1860 and Elder in 1862. At the beginning of the Civil War (which was called War of the Rebellion at that time), he was commissioned by President Abraham Lincoln as the first Negro Chaplain in the United States Army, and served with distinction throughout. In 1865, the Reverend Henry McNeal Turner, later elected to Bishop, moved to Georgia from South Carolina. Before moving to Marietta, Reverend Turner organized St. Phillips AME Church in Savannah, Georgia. Upon his arrival to Marietta, he found former slaves worshipping without ministerial leadership, so he organized the church under the auspices of the AME Church and was the first Negro pastor of Trinity Church for Negroes and Indians. He received the degree of L.L. D from the University of Pennsylvania in 1872. He served as Vice-president of the African Colonization Society in 1877. He founded the Southern Christian Recorder and the Women's Home and Foreign Missionary Society. He is credited with bringing the South African Conference into the Connection. In addition to being an author and orator, Henry McNeal Turner also served as a member of the Georgia Legislature. Taken from http://www.turnerchapelame.org/history/histhmt.htm 1865 First African American Before US Supreme Court John Sweat Rock (1825-1866), a noted Boston lawyer, became in 1865 the first African-American to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the first Black person to speak before the U.S. House of Rep ... (MORE) 1865 Ratification of the 13th Amendment The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, was adopted by the 38th Congress. Ratification was completed December 6, 1865. 1871 1st Black to Speak in US House of Representatives Jefferson Long of Georgia became the first Black to make an official speech in the House of Representatives. He opposed leniency to former Confederates. 1887 J. Robinson patents food carrier Robinson, J. Dinner Pail Feb. 01, 1887 Patent No. 356,852 1902 Langston Hughes One of the most famous poets, Langston Hughes was born in the year 1902. 1926 Negro History Week Begins What is now known as Black History Month, was first celebrated on this date as Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson. It became a month long celebration in 1976. 1937 Actor/Comedian Garrett Morris born Actor/Comedian Garrett Morris, formerly of Saturday Night Live, born in New Orleans, Louisiana. 1960 Sit-in Movement in Greensboro, North Carolina Four students form North Carolina A&T College started Sit-in movement at Greensboro, N.C., five-and-dime store. By February 10 movement had spread to fifteen Southern cities in five states. 1965 Selma Demonstration Ends in 700 Arrests More than seven hundred demonstrators, including Martin Luther King Jr., arrested in Selma. 1965 Actress Ruby Dee in Shakespeare Festival Ruby Dee was the first African American actress to play a major role at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn. 1990 Original Sit-In Revisited In Greensboro, North Carolina, Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair), Franklin McCain and David Richond repeated the original sit-in of 30 years prior, by having breakfast at the Greensboro Woolworth store. 1990 Ida Wells Postage Stamp Issued Ida Wells, a black reformer who compiled records on lynching, is the subject of a United States Postal Service stamp. 1997 First 24-Hour Black Movie Channel BET Holdings and Encore Media Corp. launch BET Movie/Starz the first 24 hour Black Movie channel. 1997 Black Facts Online Goes Live! Black Facts Online, the premiere spot for Black history goes online. February 2, 2002 Black Facts that happened on February the 2nd: 1839 Spark Plug Patent Inventor Edmond Berger patented the spark plug. 1862 District of Columbia abolishes slavery 1897 A.L. Cralle patents Ice Cream Mold Cralle, A. L. Ice-Cream Mold Feb. 02, 1897 Patent No.576,395 1897 Ice Cream Scooper Invented Alfred L. Cralle invented the ice cram scooper, patent #576,395 1912 Quartet Singer Herbert Mills born Herbert Mills, of the original Mills Brothers Quartet, was born in Piqua, Ohio. The highly successful quartet was known for its smooth harmony. 1914 William Ellisworth Artist is born William Ellisworth Artist is born in Washington,N.C. Educated at Syracuse University and a student of Augusta Savage. His works will be exhibited at Atlanta University, the Whitney Museum, the Two Centuries of Black American Art exhibit and collected by Fisk University, Hampton University, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and private collectors. 1915 Biologist Ernest E. Just Receives Spingarn Medal Biologist Ernest E. Just receives the Spingarn medal for his pioneering in cell division and fertilization. 1948 Truman sends Congress Anti-Lynching Message President Truman sent Congress a special message urging adoption of a civil rights program, including a fair employment practices commission and anti-lynching and anti-poll tax measures. 1962 Eleven People Arrested After Sit-In Seven whites and four Blacks arrested after all-night sit-in at Englewood, N.J., city hall. Four Black mothers arrested after sit-in at Chicago elementary school. Mothers later received suspended $50 fines. Protests, picketing and demonstrations continued for several weeks against de facto segregation, double shifts and mobile classrooms. 1989 Rebellion After Suspicious Death During Arrest In Tampa,Florida, a rebellion followed the suspicious death of Edgar Allen Price, a police suspect who died during an arrest. Police contended that Price "hit his head on the ground several times." http://www.blackfacts.com |
February 3
February 3
1810 Black Hero of Argentina dies Antonio Ruiz (El Negro Falucho), national hero of Buenos Aires, Agentina, dies for his country. 1874 Blanche Kelso Bruce elected to US Senate Blanche Kelso Bruce elected to a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate by the Mississippi legislature. 1903 Jack Johnson, Negro Heavyweight On February 3, 1903; Jackson became the first Negro Heavyweight Champion 1920 Negro Baseball League founded The Negro Baseball League founded. 1948 Black Mother and Sons Condemned to Death Rosa Ingram and her fourteen-and sixteen -year-old sons condemned to death for the alleged murder of a white Georgian. Mrs. Ingram said she acted in self-defense. 1956 U of Alabama First Black Student Autherine J. Lucy becomes the first black student to attend the University of Alabama. She was expelled three days later "for her own safety" in response to threats from a mob. In 1992 Autherine Lucy Foster graduated from the University with a master’s degree in education. The same day, her daughter, Grazia Foster, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance. 1964 Blacks, Puerto Ricans Boycott NYC Public Schools School officials reported that 464,000 Black and Puerto Rican students boycotted New York City public schools. More than 267,000 were absent during second boycott, March 16. 1965 Geraldine McCullough Wins Widener Gold Medal Geraldine McCullough, sculptor, wins the Widener Gold Medal award. 1988 Confederate Flag Protest In Montgomery, Alabama, Thomas Reed, president of the Alabama chapter of the NAACP, was arrested after he and 11 others attempted to strike a Confederate flag flying atop the state capitol building. 1989 Bill White named president of National League Six time All-Star Bill White was named president of National League. 1989 Tennis player Lori McNeil defeats Chris Evert Tennis professional Lori McNeil defeated Chris Evert in the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. 1997 Jazz artist Tony Williams dies Award-winning jazz drummer Tony Williams dies in Daly City, California. 1999 Cyber-Youth Network Launch On Wednesday, February 3rd, for the first time in history, America's urban students will have a Web site specifically designed to address their educational needs and interests. The site -- called the Cyber-Youth Network -- provides a model for online education by offering students and teachers culturally relevant material that is both educational and entertaining. With help from organizations like founding sponsor DaimlerChrysler Corp., the launch of the program will showcase students from Washington, DC's Eastern and Ballou Senior High Schools who, using the Cyber-Youth Network, will trace their ancestors through the African-American Civil War Memorial online database, access sites about Black History Month and participate in a live video conference with African-American role models. The project is conducted in partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with plans to expand the program to other urban school systems within HUD's existing nine Enterprise Zone Communities over the next year. The launch of the Cyber-Youth Network will coincide with the first week of Black History Month. WHAT: The Cyber-Youth Network will launch the nation's first fully interactive Internet Web site specifically designed for urban students, teachers and parents in recognition of Black History Month. More than 15 students will demonstrate the Network's capabilities. |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
1913
Rosa Parks (born Rosa Louise McCauley) was born on this day. 1974 MAMABUUDHA was born on this day. :D HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOROR! |
I like that.
I like that, Crimson. I'm gon check yall's forum each day for these facts for the day.
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February 5, 2002
On this day in History, the following Blacks were born:
Henry "Hank" Aaron -- 1934 Natalie Cole -- 1950 Black Facts of the Day: 1866 Congressman Thaddeus Stevens offered an amendment to Freedmen's Bureau bill authorizing the distribution of public land and confiscated land to freedmen and loyal refugees in forty acre lots. The measure was defeated in the House by a vote of 126 to 37. A Black delegation, led by Frederick Douglas called on President Johnson and urged ballots for former slaves. Meeting ended in disagreement and controversy after Johnson reiterated his opposition to Black suffrage. 1958 Clifton R. Wharton Sr. confirmed as minister to Rumania. Career diplomat was the first Black to head a U.S. embassy in Europe. 1962 Suit seeking to bar Englewood, N.J., from maintaining "racial segregated" elementary schools filed in U.S. District Court. 1990 Columbia University graduate and Harvard University law student Barack Obabma became the first African American named president of the Harvard Law Review. |
February 6, 2002
1820 United States population: 9,638,453. Black population: 1,771,656 (18.4 per cent). "Mayflower of Liberia" sailed from New York City with eighty-six Blacks. Ship arrived in Sierra Leone, March 9. 1820 U.S. Blacks emigrate back to Sierra Leone First organized emigration of U.S. Blacks back to Africa, from New York to Sierra Leone, 1820. The first organized emigration back to Africa begins when 86 free African Americans leave New York Harbor aboard the Mayflower of Liberia. They are bound for the British colony of Sierra Leone, which welcomes free African Americans as well as fugitive slaves. 1867 Peabody Fund established The Peabody Fund for Black education in the South established. 1933 Walter E. Fauntroy was born in Washington, D.C. He went on to become a District of Columbia delegate to the House of Representatives. 1945 Bob Marley, Jamacian reggae star is born. 1961 Jail-in movement started in Rock Hill, S.C., when students refused to pay fines and requested jail sentences. Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee urged south-wide "Jail, No Bail" campaign. 1993 Tennis player Arthur Ashe dies. Ashe was the first African American to win at Wimbledon. |
I love it!
Great job Crimson!!! I want to be just like you soror! You hold it down!
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February 7, 2002
1872
Alcorn A&M College opened. 1883 Eubie Blake, pianist, born. 1926 Carter G. Woodson creates Negro History Week. In 1976 it became Black History Month. 1945 Irwin Molison appointed judge of the US Customs Court. 1946 Filibuster in U.S. Senate killed FEPC bill. **Information about FEPC BILL: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indi...hts_radio.html *** 1967 Comedian, author, recording artist, actor, and talk show host Chris Rock was born in South Carolina. He will become a critically comedian, hosting his self titled show on HBO. He will also bring to the forefront a boycott of the flag of his birthplace. He will star in and make a few movies of his own. |
1925
Marcus Garvey entered federal prison in Atlanta. Students staged strike at Fisk University to protest policies of white administration. 1944 Harry S. McAlphin - First African American to accredited to attend White House press conference. 1968 Officers killed three students during demonstration on the campus of South Carolina State in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Students were protesting segregation at an Orangeburg bowling alley. 1968 Diminutive actor Gary Coleman was born in Zion, Illinois. Despite a childhood of medical troubles, Coleman went on to become a television star in numerous situation comedies. 1978 Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali for heavyweight boxing championship. Ali regained the title on September 15 and became the person to win the title three times. 1985 Brenda Renee Pearson an official court reporter for the House of Representatives was the first black female to record the State of the Union message delivered by the president in the House chambers. 1986 Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show. 1986 Figure skater Debi Thomas became the first African American to win the Women's Singles of the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship competition, was a pre-med student at Stanford University. 1990 Andy Rooney, a CBS "60 Minutes" commentator, received a 90-day suspension from work because of racist remarks about African Americans attributed to him by Chris Bull, a New York-based reporter for "The Advocate," a bi-weekly national gay & lesbian newsmagazine published in Los Angeles. Bull quoted Rooney as having said during an interview: "I've believed all along that most people are born with equal intelligence, but Blacks have watered down thier genes because the less intelligent ones are the ones that have the children. They drop out of school early, do drugs, and get pregnant." |
FEBRUARY 9, 2002
1906 Death of Paul Laurence Dunbar (33), Dayton, Ohio. 1944 1944 Novelist Alice Walker was born in Eatonton, Georgia. 1952 Author Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man wins the National Book Award 1971 Baseball Hall of Fame inducts Leroy "Satchel" Paige. 1995 Bernard Harris, African-American astronaut, takes space walk. |
FEBRUARY 10, 2002
1787 Georgia's House of Assembly named Willliam Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, Georgie Walton, William Houston, and Nathaniel Pendleton as Georgia's commissioners to the Philadelphia constitutional convention. 1854 Educator Joseph Charles Price was born Few Individuals have made the impact on their times or left the legacy to their beneficiaries as did Joseph Charles Price, founder and first president of Livingstone College. Born February 10, 1854 at Elizabeth City, NC, he rose to fame and world renown as a scholar, Christian Gospel Preacher, orator and shining example of selflessness in devotion to his people. He graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania as valedictorian of the Class of 1879, and completed the three-year theological course in two years. So impressive were his early achievements and so dynamic his personality that Bishop James Walker Hood named him to the A.M.E. Zion Church's delegation to the 1881 Ecumenical Methodist Conference which met in the City Road Chapel, London. Here Dr. Price so excited and thrilled the people assembled until he was persuaded to remain in England and speak on behalf of the fledgling school the denomination had adopted through the General Conference. While in England he raised $10,000 for the college and returned in 1882 to embark upon the task of establishing and securing the institution. Dr. Joseph Charles Price (1854-1893) was the founder and first President of the college. A brilliant scholar, great Gospel Preacher, world-famous orator, and advocate for the common man, Dr. Price sought to educate the whole man; his hands, his head and his heart. During his ten years as President of the college, Dr. Price attracted students, friends and funds through the sheer power of his personality and Christian compassion. His great faith and hope for the future has been epitomized in this famous quotation of his: "I do not care how dark the night; I believe in the coming of the morning." Dr. Price served the college until his death in 1893, refusing positions of great prestige and attractive salaries to devote his life and engeries to the college. He demonstrated faith in his people, and called upon all to seize the opportunity to contribute toward elevating the black man through generous support of educational enterprises. Three of Dr. Price's grandsons survive him: Dr. Price S. Braithwaite of Los Angles, California, Mr. Charles P. Sherrill of Salisbury, North Carolina and Dr. Richard Sherrill of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The annual observance of Founder's Day in our churches not only honors his memory, but provides us the opportunity to join in perpetuating his work by supporting Livingstone College. 1868 Conservatives, aided by military forces, seized convention hall and established effective control over Reconstruction process in Florida. Republican conservatives drafted new constitution which concentrated political power in hands of governor and limited the impact of the Black vote. 1907 Civil rights activist and politician Grace Towns Hamilton was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her undergraduate degree from hometown Atlanta University, before completing her master's degree at Ohio State University. She held teaching positions at the Atlanta School of Social Work, Clark College, and LeMoyne College in Memphis, while maintaining an active interest in the civil rights movement. Hamilton served as executive director of the Atlanta Urban League from 1943-1960, and also sat on the board of the Southern Regional Council and the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women, as well as many other voluntary positions. But she made her most lasting mark by becoming the first African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1965. She served in Georgia House of Representatives until 1984. Today, a chair in the Emory University political science department is named in her honor. 1927 Leontyne Price has achieved heights in the music world that many aspire to but that very few reach. As a singer she became famous all around the world. Mary Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi, on February 10, 1927. As a youth, she sang in church choirs. Later, she attended Central State College in Wilberforce, Ohio, where she received encouragement and specialized vocal training. Through the financial assistance of people from her hometown and the great Paul Robeson, she was able to continue her training at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Price first attracted widespread attention while she was at Juilliard. Her fame in the United States led to her being selected to play of Bess in a European tour of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. That triumphal tour brought her worldwide fame. After the tour, she went on to sing the part of Aida in Austria, Belgium, Italy, and Yugoslavia. She was so popular in Europe that she signed to a contract to record songs in most of the major European languages. Back in the United States, her popularity continued to grow. In 1961, Price debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, singing the part of Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi's II Trovatore. For her performance, she received a standing ovation that lasted forty-two minutes. At the peak of her popularity, Leontyne Price retired from active operatic singing. Her retirement from the stage left a gap that has yet to be filled. 1927 Attorney Ronald Brown was elected national chairman of the Democratic Party and became the first African American to hold the post. Brown was later appointed Secretary of Commerce under the Clinton administration in 1994. He served in this capacity until he was killed in 1996 when he and 32 others died in a plane crash while on a diplmatic mission in Croatia. 1940 Singer Roberta Flack born Born into a musical family, Flack graduated from Howard University with a BA in music. She was discovered singing and playing jazz in a Washington nightclub by pianist Les McCann, who recommended her talents to Atlantic Records. Two classy albums, First Take and Chapter Two, garnered considerable acclaim for their skilful, often introspective, content before Flack achieved huge success with a poignant version of folk-singer Ewan MacColl 's ballad, 'First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'. Recorded in 1969, it was a major international hit three years later, following its inclusion in the film Play Misty For Me. Further hits came with 'Where Is The Love?' (1972), a duet with Donny Hathaway, and 'Killing Me Softly With His Song' (1973), where Flack's penchant for sweeter, more MOR-styled compositions gained an ascendancy. Her cool, almost unemotional style benefited from a measured use of slow material, although she seemed less comfortable on up-tempo songs. Flack's self-assurance wavered during the mid-70s, but further duets with Hathaway, 'The Closer I Get To You' (1978) and 'You Are My Heaven' (1980), suggested a rebirth. She was shattered when her partner committed suicide in 1979, but in the 80s Flack enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Peabo Bryson that reached a commercial, if sentimental, peak with 'Tonight I Celebrate My Love' in 1983. Set The Night To Music was produced by the highly respected Arif Mardin, but the bland duet with Maxi Priest on the title track was representative of this soulless collection of songs. Still, Roberta Flack remains a crafted, if precisionist, performer. 1946 Georgia-born Jackie Robinson -- major league baseball's first black player -- married Rachel Isum. 1964 1964 After 12 days of debate and voting on 125 amendments, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by a vote of 290-130. The bill prohibited any state or local government or public facility from denying access to anyone because of race or ethnic origin. It further gave the U.S. Attorney General the power to bring school desegregation law suits. The bill allowed the federal government the power to bring school desegregation law suits and to cut off federal funds to companies or states who discriminated. It forbade labor organizations or interstate commercial companies from discriminating against workers due to race or ethnic origins. Lastly, the federal government could compile records of denial of voting rights. After passage in the House, the bill went to the Senate, which after 83 days of debate passed a similar package on June 19 by a vote of 73 to 27. President Lyndon Johnson signed the legislation on July 2. Later, future Georgia governor Lester Maddox would become the first person prosecuted under the Civil Rights Act. 1966 Andrew Brimmer becomes the first African-American governor of the Federal Reserve Board when he is appointed by President Johnson. 1967 The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. That amendment provided that in the case of a vice president's become president, the new president would name a new vice president, subject to confirmation by a majority vote of both houses of Congress. 1992 American biographer, scriptwriter, author who became famous with the publication of the novel ROOTS, which traces his ancestry back to Africa and covers seven American generations as they are taken slaves to the United States. The book was adapted to television series, and woke up an interest in genealogy, particularly among African-Americans. Haley himself commented that the book was not so much history as a study of mythmaking. "What Roots gets at in whatever form, is that it touches the pulse of how alike we human beings are when you get down to the bottom, beneath these man-imposed differences." |
Today's Boondocks
I thought this would make a nice addition to Black Fact of the Day. Also since no one else is contributing:( :confused: , I can do what I want.:cool:
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...o/bo020210.jpg |
February 11, 2002
FEBRUARY 11, 2002
1898 Owen L. W. Smith of North Carolina, AME Zion minister and educator, named minister to Liberia. 1961 First Black legal protest in America pressed by eleven Blacks who petitioned for freedom in New Netherlands (New York). Council of New Netherlands freed the eleven petitioners because they had "served the Company seventeen or eighteen years" and had been "long since promised their freedom on the same footing as other free people in New Netherlands." 1961 February 11, Robert Weaver sworn in as administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, highest federal post to date by a Black American. 1971 Whitney Young Jr., National Urban League director, drowned during recreational swim at international conference in Lagos, Nigeria. 1976 Clifford Alexander Jr. confirmed as the first Black secretary of the United States army. 1977 First Black Secretary of the Army, Clifford Alexander, Jr. appointed. 1989 Barbara C. Harris becomes the first woman bishop of the Anglican Church. 1990 Nelson Mandela's greatest pleasure, his most private moment, is watching the sun set with the music of Handel or Tchaikovsky playing. Locked up in his cell during daylight hours, deprived of music, both these simple pleasures were denied him for decades. With his fellow prisoners, concerts were organised when possible, particularly at Christmas time, where they would sing. Nelson Mandela finds music very uplifting, and takes a keen interest not only in European classical music but also in African choral music and the many talents in South African music. But one voice stands out above all - that of Paul Robeson, whom he describes as our hero. The years in jail reinforced habits that were already entrenched: the disciplined eating regime of an athlete began in the 1940s, as did the early morning exercise. Still today Nelson Mandela is up by 4.30am, irrespective of how late he has worked the previous evening. By 5am he has begun his exercise routine that lasts at least an hour. Breakfast is by 6.30, when the days newspapers are read. The day s work has begun. With a standard working day of at least 12 hours, time management is critical and Nelson Mandela is extremely impatient with unpunctuality, regarding it as insulting to those you are dealing with. When speaking of the extensive travelling he has undertaken since his release from prison, Nelson Mandela says: I was helped when preparing for my release by the biography of Pandit Nehru, who wrote of what happens when you leave jail. My daughter Zinzi says that she grew up without a father, who, when he returned, became a father of the nation. This has placed a great responsibility of my shoulders. And wherever I travel, I immediately begin to miss the familiar - the mine dumps, the colour and smell that is uniquely South African, and, above all, the people. I do not like to be away for any length of time. For me, there is no place like home. Mandela accepted the Nobel Peace Prize as an accolade to all people who have worked for peace and stood against racism. It was as much an award to his person as it was to the ANC and all South Africa s people. In particular, he regards it as a tribute to the people of Norway who stood against apartheid while many in the world were silent. We know it was Norway that provided resources for farming; thereby enabling us to grow food; resources for education and vocational training and the provision of accommodation over the years in exile. The reward for all this sacrifice will be the attainment of freedom and democracy in South Africa, in an open society which respects the rights of all individuals. That goal is now in sight, and we have to thank the people and governments of Norway and Sweden for the tremendous role they played. |
This is an excellent idea. Kudos Soror for making us aware of our heritage!!!
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Interesting
Thanks AKA2D :D
http://www.ujima.com/bim/index.htm http://www.ujima.com/bim/history101/...bertymodel.JPG Photo's Caption: Presenting the Statue of Liberty? The French artist Bartholdi originally designed the Statue of Liberty as Frances’s tribute to the emancipation of U.S. slaves. The statue had Negroid features and the broken chains of slavery hanging from her arm. He was "encouraged" to alter the image. :confused: :eek: |
FEBRUARY 12, 2002
1793 In 1793, Congress passed the first Fugitive Slave Law to implement the provisions in the Constitution. It stated that to reclaim an escaped slave a master needed only to go before a magistrate and provide oral or written proof of ownership. The magistrate would then issue an order for the arrest of the slave. The slave was not given a trial in court or allowed to present evidence on their own behalf, including proof of having previously earned their freedom. Many Northern states passed "Personal Liberty" laws that granted a fugitive slave rights, such as trial by jury. Other states, such as Pennsylvania, passed strong kidnapping laws which functioned to punish slave catchers. Edward Prigg was convicted of kidnapping in Pennsylvania after capturing a slave family. Prigg took his case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court issued a double edged decision: it declared Pennsylvania's law unconstitutional but also ruled that the states did not have to use their facilities to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. This led to some states passing new personal liberty laws prohibiting the use of state facilities for the enforcement of the fugitive law. After the first Fugitive Slave Law was passed, lawyer Salmon P. Chase was just starting on his anti slavery career. He became an avid supporter of abolitionist causes when he met the editor of an abolitionist newspaper, James Birney, in 1836. The year after Chase and Birney had met, Birney's housekeeper Matilda, a part African female, was captured as a runaway slave. Birney had been unaware she was a fugitive. Despite Chase's defense, which denounced the Fugitive Slave Law as unconstitutional, the authorities took Matilda back to New Orleans, where she was sold at auction. Chase moved on to defend Birney, who was charged with harboring a fugitive slave. Chase took the case to the Supreme Court, where the charges were dismissed because Birney did not know Matilda was a slave when he hired her. Chase continued to work defending fugitive slaves and those who aided them. Although he never won a case defending a runaway, he became known as the "Attorney General of Fugitive Slaves." The Fugitive Slave Law angered many free blacks residing throughout the United States. In January of 1800 a group petitioned for Congress to repeal the Fugitive Slave Law and abolish slavery. This petition, and others like it sent by free blacks, was predictably ignored by Congress on the basis that blacks were not recognized by the Constitution and thus not their equals. 1865 Henry Highland Garnet, first Black to speak in the Capitol, delivered memorial sermon on the abolition of slavery at services in the House of Representatives. Henry Highland Garnet was born a slave in New Market, Maryland, in 1815. He escaped in 1824 and made his way to New York where he studied at the Oneida Theological Institute in Whitesboro before becoming a Presbyterian minister in Troy, New York. Garnet joined the Anti-Slavery Society and became one of the organizations leading lecturers. However, in 1843 he was disowned by the society when he called upon slaves to murder their masters. Garnet served as a pastor in Jamaica (1853-56) but returned to the United States during the Civil War and demanded that Abraham Lincoln permit the enlistment of African-American soldiers. In 1864 Garnet was appointed pastor of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington. During this period he became the first African-American to deliver a sermon before the House of Representatives. He also worked for the Freedmen's Bureau, where he was involved in developing programs to help former slaves. In 1881 Henry Highland Garnet was appointed minister to Liberia. However, he died two months later on 13th February, 1882. 1869 Issac Burns Murphy, jockey, dies. 1882 Black rights activist Henry Highland Garnet dies, soon after being appointed the U.S. ambassador to Liberia. 1900 For a Lincoln birthday celebration, James Weldon Johnson writes the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing". With music by his brother, J. Rosamond, the song is first sung by 500 children in Jacksonville, Fla. It will become known as the "Negro National Anthem". 1907 Born this day in Helena, AR --- died Jan. 18, 1969 Worked with gospel greats like Thomas Dorsey and Theodore Frye. Sis. Martin became owner of one of the largest gospel publishing houses in Chicago. 1909 The National Association for The Advancement of Colored People is a civil rights organization founded in 1909 by 60 black and white citizens. It helps prevent unjust acts,and set equality for all minorites. It achieved major success in the arts, business,and other fields. 1930 In Tuskegee, Alabama, the Rosenwald Fund made grants to the Alabama State Board of Health to help meet the cost of a study of syphilis in African American men living in rural Georgia and Alabama. Thus would begin a four decade long study of syphilis without treatment. Over 400 men were allowed to carry the disease without medical treatment for nearly 40 years. Several government agencies including the Federal Public Health Service and the Center for Disease Control participated in the unethical study. It was kept a secret until 1972 when a newspaper reporter disclosed it. 1934 Birthday of William Felton Russell, better known as "Bill" Russel, he was player-coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team in 1968 and 1969. Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana. 1948 First Lt. Nancy C. Leftenant became the first Black accepted in the regular army nursing corps. 1952 Congressional Medal of Honor awarded posthumously to Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton for heroism in Korea. 1956 In 1956, the first black late-night talk show host in history, Arsenio hall was born. 1962 Bus boycott started in Macon, Georgia. 1983 Pianist Eubie Blake died in Brooklyn, NY 5 days after his 100th birthday. |
A schedule of programs for Black History Month on The History Channel:
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibi.../schedule.html |
Black History Month Websites
For parents, teachers, family members, etc.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH Celebrate the history, heritage, and contributions of African Americans during National African American Heritage Month and Black History Month inFebruary. Bold and Bright Harlem <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2974> Freedom Train <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2975> Harriet Tubman Triarama <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2976> Martin Luther King Milestones <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2977> Ringgold's Storytelling Art <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2978> African Trade Beads <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2979> African Asimevo Cloth <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2980> Rhythm and Blues <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2981> Tell Us a Story Virginia Hamilton <http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2982> |
This day in history
February 12, 1909
NAACP founded after riot in Springfield, Illnois |
February 13, 2002
1635 America's first public school, the Boston Latin School, opened in Boston. Black students were excluded from attending. 1882 Death of Henry Highland Garnet (66), diplomat and protest leader, in Monrovia, Liberia. 1923 The first Black professional basketball team "The Renaissance" organized. 1957 Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized at New Orleans meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. as president. 1970 The New York Stock Exchange admits its first Black member, Joseph Searles. 1973 Gertrude E. Downing and William Desjardin Corner Cleaner Attachment, Patent No. 3,715,772 on February 13, 1973 |
http://infoplease.lycos.com/spot/bhm1.html -- A plethora of Black History Websites as well as other sites relevant to Black achievements.
Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History Week" and later as "Black History Month." What you might not know is that black history had barely begun to be studied—or even documented—when the tradition originated. Although blacks have been in America at least as far back as colonial times, it was not until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in the history books. Blacks Absent from History Books We owe the celebration of Black History Month, and more importantly, the study of black history, to Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Born to parents who were former slaves, he spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at age twenty. He graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population—and when blacks did figure into the picture, it was generally in ways that reflected the inferior social position they were assigned at the time. Established Journal of Negro History Woodson, always one to act on his ambitions, decided to take on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. He established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history. |
1760
Richard Allen born in slavery in Philadelphia. 1817 Possible birthday of Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and orator. Born into slavery as Frederick Bailey, Douglass purchased his freedom in 1845 and went on to become the greatest abolitionist of his time. 1867 Morehouse College organized in Augusta, Georgia. The institution was later moved to Atlanta. New registration law in Tennessee abolished racial distinctions in voting. 1936 National Negro Congress organized at Chicago meeting attended by 817 delegates representing more than 500 organizations. Asa Phillip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was elected president of the new organization. 1946 Entertainer and dancer Gregory Hines born |
February 16, 2002
1804 The New Jersey Legislature approved a law calling for "gradual" emancipation of African Americans. In so doing, New Jersey became the last Northern state to outlaw slavery. 1848 Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston. Her father, Benjamin Roberts, filed the first school integration suit on her behalf. 1851 Black abolitionists invaded Boston courtroom and rescued a fugitive slave. 1961 U.S. and African nationalist protesting the slaying of Congo Premire Patrice Lumumba distrupts U.N. sessions. 1965 Nat King Cole (45), singer and pianist, died in Santa Monica, California. 1968 On this day Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States. 1970 Nationalists disrupted UN session on Congo with demonstration for slain Congo Premier Patrice Lumumba. |
February 16, 2002
1857
Frederick Douglass elected President of Freedman Bank and Trust. 1923 On this day Bessie Smith makes her first recording, "Down Hearted Blues," which sells 800,000 copies for Columbia Records. 1951 New York City Council passed bill prohibiting racial discrimination in city-assisted housing developments. 1957 Actor Levar Burton was born in Landsthul, Germany. Burton won fame for his acting in the television movie "Roots," which was based on the novel by Alex Haley. He became known once more in the 1980s and 1990s for his recurring role in the "Star Trek: Next Generation" series and movies. 1970 Joe Frazier knocked out Jimmy Ellis in the second round of their New York fight and became the world heavyweight boxing champion. |
FEBRUARY 17, 2002
1870 Congress passed resolution readmitting Mississippi on condition that it would never change its constitution to disenfranchise Blacks. 1891 A. C. Richardson, a black inventor, invented the churn, patent #466,470 1902 Opera singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Anderson was entered in the New York Philharmonic Competition at age 17 by her music teacher, and placed first over 299 other singers. Awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1930, Anderson went to Europe for a year of study. She returned briefly to the United States but went back to Europe in 1933 to debut in Berlin and again, in 1935, in Austria. In 1933, Anderson performed 142 concerts in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. On Easter Sunday in 1939, Anderson performed an open air recital at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The performance was scheduled for the concert hall controlled by the Daughters of the American Revolution but was cancelled when the DAR refeused to allow Anderson to sing there. In 1955, Anderson signed with New York's Metropolitan Opera Company. 1918 Birthday of Rep. Charles A. Hayes, D-Illinois, who was born in Cairo, Illinois. In 1989, Hayes was re-elected to a fourth term in the House of Representatives. He was first elected Sept. 12, 1983. 1936 James Nathaniel Brown, 63, Pro Football Hall of Fame Fullback, Born February 17, 1936 in St. Simons Island, GA 1938 On this day Mary Frances Berry, who will become the first woman to serve as a chancellor of a major research university, is born in Nashville, Tenn. 1942 Huey Newton, founder of the Black Panthers, born. 1963 Michael Jeffrey Jordan, 39, Basketball player, former minor league baseball player, Born New York, New York, February 17, 1963 1967 Ronald DeVoe, 35, Singer of Bell Biv DeVoe and New Edition was born Boston, MA, February 17, 1967. 1973 The Navy frigate USS Jesse L. Brown was commissioned. The ship was named for Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first African American naval aviator killed in combat over Korea. 1982 Jazz Pianist Thelonious Monk dies 1997 Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the state song, "Carry me back to old virginia," a tune which glorifies slavery. |
FEBRUARY 18, 2002
National Independence Day in Gambia 1688 First formal protest against slavery by organized white body in English America made by Germantown (Pa.) Quakers at monthly meeting. The historic "Germantown Protest" denounced slavery and the slave trade. 1865 Rebels abandoned Charleston. First Union troops to enter the city included Twenty-first U.S.C.T., followed by two companies of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers. 1867 An institution was founded at Augusta, Georgia which was later to become Morehouse College, following its relocation to Atlanta. Morehouse College is one of the most prestigious black colleges in the nation. 1896 H. Grenon patents razor stropping device Grenon, H. Razor Stropping Device Feb. 18, 1896 Patent No. 554,867 1931 On this day Toni Morrison, who will win the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved, is born in Lorain, Ohio. |
February 19, 2002
1864 Knights of Pythias established. Confederate troops defeated three Black and six white regiments at Battle of Olustee, about fifty miles from Jacksonville, Florida. 1919 Pan-African Congress, organized by W.E.B. Du Bois, met a Grand Hotel, Paris. There were fifty-seven delegates sixteen from the United States and fourteen from Africa form sixteen countries and colonies. Blaise Diagne of Senegal was elected president and Du Bois was named secretary. 1940 Soul singer William "Smokey" Robinson born in Detroit, Michigan. Robinson's first singing group was the Miracles which he formed in 1955 while still in high school. The group's first success came in 1960 with the hit, "Shop Around." 1942 The Army Air Corps' all African American 100th Pursuit Squadron, later designated a fighter squadron, was activated at Tuskegee Institute. The squadron served honorably in England and in other regions of the European continent during World War II. 1996 Concert singer Dorothy Maynor dies (1910-1996) |
just a quick addition to black history facts...
2.19.02 earlier today, vonetta flowers became the first african-american (male or female) to win a gold medal in the winter olympics. the event was 2-person bobsled. |
FYI: Middle Passage air times
Wed 2/20 03:00 PM HBO SIGNATURE - EAST
Wed 2/20 06:00 PM HBO SIGNATURE - WEST Wed 2/20 11:30 PM HBO SIGNATURE - EAST Thu 2/21 02:30 AM HBO SIGNATURE - WEST Fri 2/22 09:00 AM HBO - EAST Fri 2/22 09:00 AM HBO High Definition - EAST Fri 2/22 09:00 AM HBO LATINO - EAST Fri 2/22 12:00 PM HBO High Definition - WEST Fri 2/22 12:00 PM HBO - WEST Fri 2/22 12:00 PM HBO LATINO - WEST Sun 2/24 03:00 PM HBO - EAST Sun 2/24 03:00 PM HBO High Definition - EAST Sun 2/24 03:00 PM HBO LATINO - EAST Sun 2/24 06:00 PM HBO High Definition - WEST Sun 2/24 06:00 PM HBO - WEST Sun 2/24 06:00 PM HBO LATINO - WEST Tue 2/26 06:40 AM HBO SIGNATURE - EAST Tue 2/26 09:40 AM HBO SIGNATURE - WEST Thu 2/28 09:00 PM HBO SIGNATURE - EAST Fri 3/1 12:00 AM HBO SIGNATURE - WEST Sat 3/9 06:30 AM HBO PLUS - EAST Sat 3/9 09:30 AM HBO PLUS - WEST Tue 3/12 10:00 AM HBO PLUS - EAST Tue 3/12 01:00 PM HBO PLUS - WEST Tue 3/12 08:00 PM HBO PLUS - EAST Tue 3/12 11:00 PM HBO PLUS - WEST Mon 3/18 12:30 AM HBO PLUS - EAST Mon 3/18 03:30 AM HBO PLUS - WEST Fri 3/22 09:00 AM HBO PLUS - EAST Fri 3/22 12:00 PM HBO PLUS - WEST Wed 3/27 04:30 PM HBO PLUS - EAST Wed 3/27 07:30 PM HBO PLUS - WEST |
FEBRUARY 20, 2002
1869 Tennessee Governor W.C. Brownlow declared martial law in nine counties in Ku Klux Klan crisis. 1895 Death of Frederick Douglass (78), Anacostia Heights, District of Columbia. Douglass was the leading Black spokesman for almost fifty years. He was a major abolitionist and a lecturer and editor. 1900 J.F. Bickering patents airship invention 1927 On this day Sidney Poitier, who will be the first African American to win an Academy Award in a starring role, is born in Miami, Fl. (Can you name the movie he received the Academy Award for?) 1931 Army Lt. Gen. Emmett Paige, Jr. born in Jacksonville, Florida 1936 Death of John Hope (67), president, Atlanta University. 1936 Jazz singer, actress, Nancy Wilson was born in Chillicothe, Ohio 1963 Charles Wade Barkley, 39, basketball player, born Leeds, AL, February 20, 1963 1968 State troopers used tear gas to stop demonstrations at Alcorn A&M College. |
Quote:
excerpted from 2/20/02's Columbus Dispatch: The United States went 46 years without winning a bobsled medal, until Americans Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers did so last night in the first-ever women's competition. Americans haven't won a cross- country skiing medal since 1976. The last ski-jumping medal was 78 years ago. An American has never medaled in the biathlon or Nordic combined. http://www.dispatch.com/sports-story...2/1099872.html |
a quiz
correct answers are in bold.
1. William Wells is known for: a.) His jump shot b.) Inventing the fire extinguisher c.) His Literary talents d.) His son, "Charlie" 2. The Red Ball Express supplied vital supplies during: a.) World War II b.) The 2001 Super Bowl Game c.) The Cold War d.) The Civil War 3. The first African American to hold a federal employment position was: a.) Michael Cooper b.) William Cooper Nell c.) Neil Foote d.) Lloyd Garrison 4. Isaac Murphy was the first person to win: a.) The Daytona 500 b.) The Heisman Trophy in his sophomore year c.) The Nobel Peace Prize for physics d.) The Kentucky Derby three times |
February 21
1895
North Carolina Legislature, dominated by Black Republicans and white Populists, adjourned for the day to mark the death of Frederick Douglass. 1917 Thelonious Sphere Monk(1917--82) Jazz musician; born in Rocky Mount, N.C. He was raised in New York 1933 Nina Simone(Eunice Waymon), 66, singer ("I Love You Porgy," "Trouble in Mind") born Tryon, NC, Feb 21, 1933. 1936 Barbara Jordan, who will be the first African American woman elected to the House of Representatives, is born 1965 Bro. El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X (39)) assassinated in Audubon Ballroom at a rally of his organization. Three Blacks were later convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment. 1987 African Americans in Tampa, Florida rebelled after an African American man was killed by a white police officer while in custody. 1992 Eva Jessye choral director for the first Broadway production of Porgy and Bess died in Ann Arbor. |
February 22nd
1888
In West Chester, Pennsylvania, African American painter Horace Pippin was born. Pippin is considered one of the major American painters of his period. One of his more significant works, "John Brown Going to His Hanging," is owned by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. 1898 Black postmaster lynched and his wife and three daughters shot and maimed for life in Lake City, S.C. 1911 On this day, the "Bronze Muse" died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper wrote more than a dozen books, including 'Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects'(1854); 'Moses, a Story of the Nile'(1869); and 'Sketches of Southern Life'(1872). Harper was the most famous female poet of her day and the most famous African-American poet of the 19th century. Also a well-known orator, she spoke frequently in public(sometimes twice in one day)promoting equal rights for women and African-Americans. She was a worker for the Underground Railroad, and in 1896 she helped establish the National Association of Colored Women. 1950 Julius Winfield( "Dr.J") Erving, 52, former basketball player, born Roosevelt, NY. |
Thanks 12dn/Frederick Douglass
Thanks for picking up my slack these past two days. I have been umm a wee bit weary of copying and pasting but thank you. :D
-------------------- City unveils first historical marker in Fells Point to honor Douglass -------------------- He lived in neighborhood before escaping slavery By Jamil Roberts Sun Staff February 22, 2002 Baltimore officials signaled yesterday that the city is prepared to officially mark Frederick Douglass' place in local history. A historical marker honoring Douglass was unveiled yesterday at Fells PointSquare, the first of up to six signs that will be erected throughout the area where Douglass lived, worked and prayed. The marker is scheduled to be replaced with a plaque Sept. 3 - National Frederick Douglass Freedom Day - the day that Douglass escaped from slavery in Baltimore. "I think the recognition of Frederick Douglass is way overdue," said Mayor Martin O'Malley, who performed the ribbon cutting at the ceremony. The mayor echoed the sentiments of Baltimore residents who have criticized the city for failing to recognize the contributions of manyAfrican-Americans and the city's role in the slave trade. "I think that the city was embarrassed of its history. Other cities have already had historical markers," said Robert E. Reyes, 46, board member of the Friends of the President Street Station. For two years, Louis C. Fields lobbied the city to create the memorials. With the help of the Frederick Douglass Organization, founded by Frederick Douglass IV, and tourism groups, Fields hopes to increase African-American tourism in Baltimore. "This is a realization of a dream," said Fields, president of Black Baltimore Heritage Tours, who helped create the Frederick Douglass Historical Marker Program. Born Frederick Bailey in Talbot County, Douglass came to Fells Point in 1826, about the age of 8. There, he learned to read and write and bought his first book. He also worked as a caulker. Posing as a sailor, he escaped from bondage in 1838, taking a train to Philadelphia. He went to New York and then to Massachusetts, where he changed his last name to Douglass and became a preacher, lecturer, writer, and activist. He ultimately became an international abolitionist and orator, an ambassador to Haiti and presidential adviser. Copyright (c) 2002, The Baltimore Sun Link to the article: http://www.sunspot.net/bal-md.douglass22feb22.story |
Langston Hughes' Enduring Legacy
Langston Hughes' enduring legacy
His inspirational writings have kept the poet current 100 years after his birth. By M. Dion Thompson Sun Staff February 22, 2002 Langston Hughes lives! Listen to his poetry sounding through the voice of a fifth-grade boy who ends a recitation of "I, Too, Sing America" by raising a defiant fist straight from the days of Black Power: They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed - I, too, am America. Langston Hughes, the black poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance, lives. He's on a postage stamp issued this month. He looks good, suave and elegant in that classic style. You could easily imagine him toasting the evening with Duke Ellington and keeping company with Lena Horne. After all, he was a night owl, most comfortable between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. He lives because in this, the centennial year of his birth, his art continues to set off sympathetic vibrations in the hearts of those who approach his work. Andrea Jackson, who this month is guiding her Northwood Elementary School students on a journey through Hughes' life and literature, knows this to be true. As the young defiant one takes his seat, she turns to her class andasks: "What connections did you make?" "That we are proud to be black, and proud to be Americans," one student replies. Therein lies a summation of Hughes, a writer who, in the words of Professor Dolan Hubbard, a Hughes scholar, celebrated "the linguistic universe of black people." Of course, he wasn't always a revered figure. Hughes, whose life includes the classic wanderlust of American writers, was controversial when he began publishing in the 1920s. Works that have since become touchstones of America's literary voice were then cause for concern. Critics complained his poetry was too straightforward, too simple. It lacked depth. For the first time black literary expression was being widely recognized. Writers struggled over who would speak for black America and with what voice. On one hand there was Countee Cullen, whose eloquent sonnets of black life -"Yet Do I Marvel" and "From The Dark Tower" - sounded a tone handed down from Shakespeare and John Donne. Some would say Cullen wrote in a foreign tongue. Then there was Hughes. "Langston Hughes harkens back to a Walt Whitman, who said the poets should write in the language of the people," said Hubbard, chairman of the department of English and language arts at Morgan State University. Maybe that is why his poems are well-remembered and recited by children, like the ones from Highlandtown Middle School who gave a presentation earlier this week at the main branch of the post office on East Fayette Street. Maybe that is why the playwright Lorraine Hansberry turned to his "Dream Deferred" for the title of her groundbreaking play, A Raisin In The Sun. Hughes' language was familiar. It came from the American experience. "He wrote about the common black people, and what could be more indicative of the common black people than the language they created, the vernacular, the blues," said Hubbard, also president of the Langston Hughes Society, a national group of academics and Hughes devotees. "Hughes was not only looking to liberate black language, but liberate black expression from the Anglo-European aesthetic traditions." In "Madam and her Madam" his narrator gives off this blues lament: I worked for a woman, She wasn't mean - But she had a twelve-room House to clean. He wanted his poems to be a true statement of the lives of his people. Then as now, it was too easy to fall into stereotypes and caricatures, too easy to turn the vernacular into a comic dialect. Hughes consciously sought to avoid that trap. And his audiences responded. "When he read his poetry, people could see themselves in his words," said Hubbard. "They could hear the voice of their relatives and their friends." Jackson said her fifth-grade students were fascinated by Hughes' life as much as by his poetry. He was born in Joplin, Mo., in 1902 to a family that numbered among its ancestors a militant abolitionist, a member of John Brown's fighters at Harper's Ferry, and John Mercer Langston, a prominent black man of the 19th century. Hughes was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Langston. He left Columbia University in New York after a year and began three years of wandering. For awhile he worked aboard a freighter off the west coast of Africa. He also spent several months in Paris, the de rigueur stop for American artists, before returning to the United States in 1924. He had already published "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." It is the type of poem fit for Paul Robeson or James Earl Jones, someone with a sonorous, commanding voice, someone who can bring a certain stature to the words. I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. ... I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. But in Jackson's class the task falls to a little girl, who speaks softly, shyly, the last phrase falling away. The teacher challenges her students to take their understanding to a deeper level where they can begin to see the motivations that prodded his pen, the experiences that gave him a positive view of black American life. "We didn't want to just recite poetry. We wanted to make a connection," said Jackson. "He's proof that you can achieve anything. He had a gift, and with that gift he made a marvelous contribution." For Kwame Alexander, poet and founder of BlackWords Inc. publishing house in Alexandria, Va., Hughes was the consummate writer, versatile, able to make a living from his craft. "He's written it all. The poetry. The music. The film," said Alexander, who is writing a theatrical tribute based on Hughes' Jesse B. Semple stories. "They have the humor. They have the social protest. They are so timely." A favorite is "Feet Live Their Own Life" in which Semple, a common man of the people, says the story of his life begins with his feet. "These feet have walked 10,000 miles working for white folks and another 10,000 keeping up with colored," says Semple, whose name forms a code for Hughes' approach to writing. Just Be Simple. "I think that's the beauty of quality literature, of literature that comes from a place of passion, as opposed to a place of packaging," said Alexander. "It just resonates with you. It never stops resonating with you." There were complicated times in his life, especially during the McCarthy era of the 1950s. In 1953, he was forced to appear before U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Though he denied ever being a member of the Communist Party, Hughes characterized as misguided some of his earlier verse. Hubbard believes Hughes was trying to escape the hell that had been brought down on the heads of Paul Robeson and W.E.B. DuBois. "He did not want to have his pen silenced," said Hubbard. "But, to be fair to the historical record, that was not Hughes' finest hour." The testimony did not follow Hughes. His career continued with musicals, children's books and poetry. He died of cancer on May 22, 1967, in Harlem. His block on East 127th Street has been renamed Langston Hughes Place. In 1926, while still a young man, Hughes penned a manifesto that would inform his work for the rest of his life. The essay, "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," remains a definitive statement. "We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame," he wrote. "We know we are beautiful. And ugly too ... We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves." Copyright (c) 2002, The Baltimore Sun Link to the article: http://www.sunspot.net/bal-to.hughes22feb22.story |
Re: Thanks 12dn/Frederick Douglass
This is very significant because these markers will be in a very prominent place. Fels Point is a major shopping and nightlife district and is located adjacent to the famous Inner Harbor, a mecca for tourists.
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BLACK HISTORY PROGRAMMING
**COMPLIMENTS OF ESSENCE MAGAZINE**
For TV programmers, February may be sweeps month, but for us this month means a bonanza of documentaries and docudramas. But you don't have to fumble with the remote to catch the good shows. Let our Black History Month Highlights below be your guide to the best can't-miss specials: -- Janice R. Littlejohn Inside TV Land: African-Americans in Television is a documentary treasure trove of rare clips and memorable scenes from sitcoms, dramas and variety shows. Combined with insightful interviews from actors, writers, producers, TV executives and historians, the show details nearly 80 years of struggle and progress for African-American actors on the tube. TV Land, Feb. 8, 15, 22, at 9 p.m. EST. http://www.tvland.com/insidetvl/aa/ The Black Filmmaker Showcase celebrates the 10th year of Showtime's platform for up-and-coming African-American directors. The showcase highlights six short films, including winner Rayce R. Denton's gritty romance, Flight of the Bumblebee. Showtime, Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 7:30 p.m. EST.. http://www.sho.com/movies/ Adapted for television by Walter Mosley, The Middle Passage is a poignant drama recounting the horrors of a slaveship's transatlantic voyage. It's narrated by Amistad star Djimon Hounsou, who plays a dead captive who haunts the seas. HBO, Saturday, Feb. 9, at 10 p.m. EST. Heroes of Black Comedy highlights the careers of Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Pryor and the Original Kings of Comedy with performance clips and interviews with family and friends. Comedy Central, Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25 at 10 p.m. EST. www.comedycentral.com In Red Sneakers, a math whiz learns the value of his skills when a pair of magical red high-tops transform him into a high school basketball star. Gregory Hines co-stars and directs. Showtime, Sunday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. EST. Lumumba is an intense docudrama chronicling the rise and fall of Patrice Lumumba, who led the newly independent Congo in the 1960s. HBO, Saturday, Feb. 16, at 10:05 p.m. EST. Keep The Faith, Baby explores the tumultuous life and career of Congressman Adam Clayton Powell (Harry Lennix), the charismatic Harlem minister who became one of the most powerful politicians in the country. Vanessa Williams also stars. Showtime, Sunday, Feb. 17, at 8 p.m. EST. http://www.sho.com/movies/ A Huey P. Newton Story Roger Guenveur Smith stars in this one-man show about the Black Panther Party co-founder, directed by Spike Lee. PBS, Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 9 p.m. EST. http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/index.html American Masters presents Ralph Ellison: An American Journey offers a look at the career of the author of the seminal novel, The Invisible Man. PBS, Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 10 p.m. EST. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/ Angela Bassett stars in The Rosa Parks Story as the "accidental activist" whose protest on a Montgomery bus sparked the Civil Rights Movement. Cicely Tyson also stars. CBS, Sunday, Feb. 24, at 9 p.m. EST. http://www.cbs.com/specials/rosa_parks/ Emmy-award winner Andre Braugher stars as labor organizer Asa Philip Randolph in 10,000 Black Men Named George, the saga of a 12-year battle to unionize Black railway porters. Directed by Robert Townsend, Mario Van Pebbles and Charles Dutton also star. Showtime, Sunday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. EST. http://www.sho.com/movies/ Homes of the Underground Railroad is an unusual journey through some of the safe havens that housed scores of fugitive slaves on their way to freedom. HGTV, Sunday, Feb. 24, at 9 p.m. EST. http://www.hgtv.com/ |
1868
On this day Dr.William Edward Burghardt DuBois, educator and civil rights advocate, is born in Great Barrington, Mass. 1869 Louisiana governor signed public accommodations law. 1895 William H. Heard, AME minister and educator, named minister to Liberia. 1915 Death of Robert Smalls (75), Reconstruction congressman, in Beaufort, South Carolina. 1925 Louis Stokes, former mayor of Detroit, Michigan, and member of the US House of Representatives, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Stokes was the first African American elected to the House from Ohio. 1929 Baseball catcher Elston Gene Howard was born in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1965, Howard signed a $70,000 contract with the NY Yankees and became the highest paid player in the history of baseball at the time. 1965 Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough president, the highest elective office held by a Black woman in a major American city. 1979 Frank E. Peterson Jr. named the first Black general in the Marine Corps. |
Virtual Black History Museum
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