Blog Archives
Black History Month–William Carney
During Black History Month I like to spotlight some people that most Americans have never heard of or the contribution they made to our society….
Who was the first African-American to win the Congressional Medal of Honor?
You guessed it…….William Carney.
William Carney was the first African-American recipient.
He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on July 18, 1863 at Fort Wagner, S.C. while a member of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment in the Civil War — the state’s first all-black regiment. During the disastrous battle at Ft. Wagner, Carney noticed that the man who carried the flag had been wounded.
So Carney bravely rescued the flag and carried it for him. He delivered it safely to his regiment and reportedly shouted “Boys, the old flag never touched the ground.” Carney was wounded during the battle but was not killed.
After the war he spent 31 years…
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Black History Month – 11 African American Inventors Who Changed the World
What an educational post! Thank you, Pastor Sneed.
Article by Kristin Fawcett of “Mental Floss”
1. THOMAS L. JENNINGS
Thomas L. Jennings (1791-1859) was the first African American person to receive a patent in the U.S., paving the way for future inventors of color to gain exclusive rights to their inventions. Born in 1791, Jennings lived and worked in New York City as a tailor and dry cleaner. He invented an early method of dry cleaning called “dry scouring,” and patented it in 1821—four years before Paris tailor Jean Baptiste Jolly refined his own chemical technique and established what many people claim was history’s first dry cleaning business.
People objected to an African American citizen receiving a patent, but Jennings had a loophole: He was a free man. At the time, U.S. patent laws said that the “[slavemaster] is the owner of the fruits of the labor of the slave both manual and intellectual”—meaning slaves couldn’t legally own…
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Black History Month – Little Rock Central High School September 1957
By Guest Blogger, Yahtzeebutterfly
Elizabeth Eckford being verbally attacked by the monstrous mob
The desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in September 1957 brought to the surface the vile racism of whites, both within the community and outside it. A huge, nasty mob formed around the high school on September 4, the day that nine black students were to integrate the school. The nine black students were, Minnijean Brown, Terrance Roberts, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls. Horrible acts of hate and violence were directed at them.
Just 12 years after the U.S. had liberated Hitler’s concentration camps where 6 million Jews were murdered, a New York Times reporter, Dr. Benjamin Fine, was spat upon and called a “dirty Jew” as he and a white woman, Grace Lorch, rescued Elizabeth Eckford from the mob. Dr. Fine told Daisy Bates what he had witnessed: Read the rest of this entry
The Slow Integration of Major League Baseball
“Racism still exists, but one day thanks to the efforts of the early ball-players as well as pioneers like President Obama, and the undying commitment of decent Americans to accept people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or even sexual orientation, we will see a new birth of freedom.”
I truly hope so.
Friends of Padre Steve’s World,
Back in 1947 Branch Rickey told Jackie Robinson, “Jackie, we’ve got no army. There’s virtually nobody on our side. No owners, no umpires, very few newspapermen. And I’m afraid that many fans will be hostile. We’ll be in a tough position. We can win only if we can convince the world that I’m doing this because you’re a great ballplayer, a fine gentleman.”
My friends, last week pitchers and catchers reported to their teams for the 2016 Baseball Spring Training, and it is time to reflect again on how Branch Rickey’s signing of Jackie Robinson helped advance the Civil Rights of Blacks in the United States. What Rickey did was a watershed, and though it took time for every team in the Major Leagues to integrate, the last being the Boston Red Sox in 1959, a dozen years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
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Black History Month – Desegregation of West End High School
By Yahtzeebutterfly, Guest Blogger
Desegregation of West End High School in Birmingham, AL was initiated in September of 1963. Patricia Marcus, shown in the following AP wire photo, was one of the two Black students enrolled there that September. The photograph is captioned with these words:
“Birmingham, ALA., Sept. 11—CAR WINDOW SMASHED—One of two Negro girl students who desegregated West End High School in Birmingham sits in car and is partially framed by broken auto window. A rock was hurled through the window as the Negro girls were leaving the school area after class this afternoon. (APWirephoto) 1963”
As I look at this September 11, 1963, photo of Patricia Marcus, I see a student who just wants to make it home safely after a thrown rock has shattered the window where she sits. Yet, at the same time, I see her in her eyes her strength and determination amidst what must have been hurt, anger, and shock. Associated with the hateful deed just committed against her is the Confederate flag in the left foreground. Historically that symbol has appeared, all too often, at the scenes where racial violence has been committed. All too often it announces the presence of hearts starved of compassion, open-mindedness, and understanding because of white supremacist indoctrination. Read the rest of this entry
Black History Month – Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 Presidential Campaign
February is Black History Month, and this year we are honored to have Yahtzeebutterfly as a guest blogger for the occasion. Yahtzeebutterfly loves history and collects historical documents and other items of black history interests.
By Yahtzeebutterfly, Guest Blogger
With February marking the beginning of the presidential primary season as well as start of Black History Month, I have been reflecting back upon Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential campaign.
She had a great campaign slogan: UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED!
A presidential campaign leaflet tells of her beginnings as an articulate advocate for the rights of ALL with her direct experience of helping Blacks, Puerto Ricans, Chicanos, Native Americans, and women, to name a few:
“As a student, schoolteacher, and child-care supervisor, Shirley Chisholm lived, and worked with the shunned, the ignored, the forgotten people of New York’s largest ghetto (Bedford-Stuyvesant).”
Black History Month – Trayvon Martin
Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was a 17-year-old Black teen from Miami Gardens, Florida. His life became famous in his death that brought many issues to public interest, including neighborhood watch, stand your ground law, racial profiling, and police investigations. Trayvon’s death brought attention to the justice system and cultural diversity.
Trayvon Benjamin Martin
Trayvon was born in Miami, Florida. At the time he was killed, he was a junior at Dr. Michael M. Krop High School. Trayvon is the son of Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin who divorced in 1999. On February 26, 2012, Trayvon was visiting his father who was at his fiancee’s townhouse at the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida. That evening, Trayvon walked to a convenience store and purchased candy and juice. On his walk back, George Zimmerman saw him and called the Sanford Police reporting a suspicious person. According to an ear witness who was on the phone with Trayvon, after noticing that he was being closely and consistently followed by a man in a truck, Trayvon ran. The man in the truck was George Zimmerman who left his vehicle and followed Trayvon. Subsequently, Zimmerman shot Trayvon in the heart, killing him.
Black History Month – History of Black Police Officers in St. Louis MO
The video is a bit over 20 minutes, and is jam-packed with history and information, including interviews and photographs. After watching it, it brought revelation as to why the St. Louis police department made changes in who it appointed to oversee law enforcement during the Ferguson, MO protests after the police came out as a militarized occupying force.. That attitude goes back in history.
Celebrating Black History Month.The Black History Moment Series #30: My Black History Heroes & Heroines. The End Of The Series.
Thanks so much for this series and for including the link to the entire series for those who missed it, or might want to return to this great blogging on Black History.
Black History Month 2014: Edgar Nixon
Thanks for writing this. Strength through struggle.
Today I would like to honor and pay tribute to Edgar Daniel Nixon. As a community based social worker, Nixon caught my attention and my heart, since he dedicated his life to community organizing, activism, and social justice. Nixon was a key figure in organizing the now famous Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. Nixon played a pivotal role in bailing another civil rights hero, Rosa Parks out of jail. The bus boycott lasted 380 days, presenting over a year-long struggle for African Americans. As testament to this struggle, Nixon’s home was firebombed and he was indicted for violating a state anti-boycott statute. Fortunately, the bus boycott helped to put an end to bus segregation, an embarrassing mark in US history.
Prior to helping organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Nixon was organizing people for voting rights as a part of his dedication to the civil rights movement. In fact, Nixon rallied and…
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Dear Chris Cuomo and CNN
(Quotes in this article contain profanity.)
Chris Cuomo
I’m not one who writes many opinion pieces. Mostly, I like to report to inform. This time however, I feel compelled to address the most recent events. I was one opposed to the airing of Chris Cuomo’s interview of George Zimmerman. I refused to watch the interview, but CNN producers knew how to get excerpts into programming with panels who I did want to hear, such as Don Lemon and attorney Benjamin Crump. Thus, I saw some excerpts of George Zimmerman’s interview and also Cuomo address how he heard protests, but aired it anyway.
CNN moved the airing up a day early, on national Presidents Day, on the heels of the verdicts in the Michael Dunn trial, and Jordan Davis’ birthday, and during Black History month. Read the rest of this entry
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 