BLACK HISTORY MONTH - POST #6

For my final post for Black History Month, I will add to the books I suggested back in "Post #2".  I have six more books for you to consider reading.

THIS BRIDGE CALLED MY BACK:

WRITINGS BY RADICAL WOMEN OF COLOR, FOURTH EDITION

by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Alzaldúa

Originally released in 1981 and reissued in 2015, This Bridge Called

My Back is a testimony to women of color feminism as it emerged in

the last quarter of the twentieth century. Through personal essays,

criticism, interviews, testimonials, poetry, and visual art, the collection

explores, as coeditor Cherríe Moraga writes, "the complex confluence

of identities—race, class, gender, and sexuality—systemic to women

of color oppression and liberation."  The fourth edition contains an

extensive new introduction by Moraga, along with a previously

unpublished statement by Gloria Anzaldúa. The new edition also

includes visual artists whose work was produced during the same

period as Bridge, including Betye Saar, Ana Mendieta, and Yolanda

López, as well as current contributor biographies. [Amazon description] 

*   *   *   *

I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS

by Mata Angelou

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother

in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache

of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash."  At eight

years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked
by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences
for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for
herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of
great authors ("I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare") will
allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.  [Amazon description]

*   *   *   *

MULES AND MEN
by Zora Neale Hurston

For the student of cultural history, Mules and Men is a treasury

of Black America’s folklore as collected by Zora Neale Hurston,

the storyteller and anthropologist who grew up hearing the songs

and sermons, sayings and tall tales that have formed and oral

history of the South since the time of slavery. Set intimately
within the social context of Black life, the stories, "big old lies,"
songs, voodoo customs, and superstitions recorded in these
pages capture the imagination and bring back to life the humor
and wisdom that is the unique heritage of Black Americans.
[Amazon description]

*   *   *   *

FREEDOM IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE: FERGUSON,
PALESTINE, AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF A MOVEMENT
by Angela Y. Davis

In these newly collected essays, interviews, and speeches,

world-renowned activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis

illuminates the connections between struggles against state

violence and oppression throughout history and around the

world.

Reflecting on the importance of black feminism,

intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today's

struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation

struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South

African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections

and analyzes today's struggles against state terror, from

Ferguson to Palestine.

Facing a world of outrageous injustice, Davis challenges us

to imagine and build the movement for human liberation. And

in doing so, she reminds us that "Freedom is a constant

struggle."  [Amazon description] 

*   *   *   *

THE FIRE NEXT TIME
by James Baldwin

At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life

in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences

of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and

provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale

Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists

of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of

the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both

black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. 

Described by The New York Times Book Review as "sermon,

ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle...

all presented in searing, brilliant prose."  [Amazon description]

*   *   *   *

HOW THE WORD IS PASSED: A RECKONING WITH
THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY ACROSS AMERICA
by Clint Smith

Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads

the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and

landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those

that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how

slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective

history, and ourselves.

It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate

where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent

need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people.

It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former

plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the

enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the

story of Angola, a former plantation-turned-maximum-security

prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work

across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the

story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of

thousands of Confederate soldiers.

A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the

legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American

history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our

country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view—

whether in places we might drive by on our way to work,

holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods like

downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in

enslaved men, women, and children has been deeply

imprinted.  [Amazon description]

*   *   *   *

I hope you will find any of these books I've mentioned here or in my earlier post (Post #2) interesting enough to read them.  If you have any other suggestions, please click on Post a Comment below.

We need to learn our history.  Black history is American history.


Terry

BLACK HISTORY MONTH - POST #5

I will wrap up my Black History Month posts with back-to-back posts.  Tomorrow, I will be posting more books to add to those I posted earlier this month (Post #2) for you to read.

Today, if movies are your thing, I have several suggestions  for you to check out.  Now, Hollywood does get many things wrong when making movies about history.  Sometimes, it's for creative license; sometimes, it's combining individuals or events for time. 

An example of this that popped in my mind right here as I'm writing this is the 1991 Oliver Stone film 'JFK'.  It's the scene between New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner) and Mr. X (played by Donald Sutherland).  The meeting never took place; it was a representation of correspondence between Garrison and a military intelligence officer.  

In short, never take a Hollywood historical film as absolute truth.  Still, there are many excellent films that cover Black history.  Here are some.

I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO

directed by Raoul Peck

Author and activist James Baldwin was working on a book titled Remember This House, but he was unable to finish it due to dying from stomach cancer in 1987.  (His final finished work, Harlem Quartet, was published earlier that same year.)  

 

The 2016 documentary 'I Am Not Your Negro' uses Baldwin's unfinished manuscript.  The film, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, covers Baldwin's memories of the American Civil Rights Movement, including memories of civil rights leaders Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.    

*   *   *   *

 

SOMETHING THE LORD MADE

directed by Joseph Sargent

This made-for-TV movie originally aired on HBO in 2004.  It featured the late Alan Rickman as surgeon Dr. Alfred Blalock and rapper Mos Def as surgical assistant Vivien Thomas.  The film focuses on Blalock's hiring of Thomas as a lab assistant in the 1930's.  Their relationship is regularly very tense, but Thomas' impressive manual dexterity shown in his work as a janitor catches Blalock's attention.  Eventually, Thomas becomes instrumental with Blalock in the development of techniques to treat Blue Baby Syndrome, that becomes the field of heart surgery. 

The film received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie, the Peabody Award, as well as many other accolades.

*   *   *   *

SELMA

directed by Ava DuVernay

The Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965 took place in support of gaining Blacks the right to vote.  They were led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Hosea Williams, and former Georgia Representative John ("good trouble") Lewis.  

This 2014 film culminates with both the violent attack on marchers at the base of the Edmund Pettus Bridge by state and local officers ("Bloody Sunday") and the march reaching the Alabama state capital of Montgomery.  All of which led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  The film features the Academy Award for Best Song winner 'Glory' by John Legend and Common, and has received dozens of awards and accolades.

*   *   *   *

MALCOLM X
Directed by Spike Lee

Spike Lee directed this 1996 biopic about the controversial civil rights leader Malcolm X, played superbly by Denzel Washington, and was based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X by the civil rights leader and Roots author Alex Haley. 

The film follows Malcolm's life from childhood to adult life.  It includes his imprisonment for illegal activities, converting to Islam (and joining and subsequently leaving The Nation of Islam), his activism, and his assassination in 1965.

The all-star cast includes Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert W. Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., Delroy Lindo, director Spike Lee, Ernest Lee Thomas, Giancarlo Esposito, and Peter Boyle.  The film has received over a dozen awards and accolades and was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2010.

*   *   *   *

HIDDEN FIGURES
Directed by Theodore Melfi

The practically unknown story of three Black women (Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson) working at NASA during the space race of 1960's America (played by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe, respectively).

The 2016 film follows their contributions for the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, which would be piloted by John Glenn, under the backdrop of racial inequality of the time.  The film concludes with a recap of the three women's continued, and highly-valued, work at NASA.

*   *   *   * 

GLORY
Directed by Edward Zwick

Edward Zwick's 1989 historical drama tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.  The regiment was only the second all-Black regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. 

How the Black troops are treated unfairly by others during their training and how their commander, Colonel Robert Shaw, sees them as soldiers and not merely Black men are pivotal to the film.  While not everything within the regiment goes smoothly, the men eventually develop a cohesive unit and respect for one another.

Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, and Andre Braugher lead an all-star cast in this Oscar-winning film (Best Supporting Actor [Denzel Washington], Best Cinematography, Best Sound).

*   *   *   *

AMISTAD
Directed by Steven Spielberg

I have a little bit of extra history with this 1997 historical drama.  More on that later.

Another all-star cast appears in this film which follows the exploits of a group African tribesmen called the Mende who are sold into slavery.  They are traveling aboard the La Amistad when they commit mutiny by overtaking their Spaniard captors, killing all but two.  They want the Spaniards to set the ship back toward Africa, but they betray the Mende by steering the schooner into American waters.  This leads to the taking of the tribesmen by a maritime customs enforcement ship, the U.S. Washington.

Once brought to America, the Mende's fate ("rightful ownership" or freedom) is ultimately decided before the Supreme Court, with President Martin Van Buren publicly supporting "ownership".  Former President John Quincy Adams, now at the age of 72, eventually agreed to argue the case before the High Court for the Mende. 

The incredible cast includes Anthony Hopkins (John Quincy Adams), Djimon Hounsou (in his incredibly-performed breakthrough film as Cinqué, the leader of the captured Mende), Matthew McConaughey (Roger Sherman Baldwin, an initial attorney for the Mende), Morgan Freeman (Theodore Joadson, an abolitionist), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (in his very first film role as Ensign James Covey, a Mende translator).

My little extra bit of history is this: During my graduate studies in the early 2000's, I traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, to visit the Amistad, a rebuilt version of the nineteenth century ship which was launched in March of 2000.  The ship is used for educational purposes to tell the story of the ship, the slave trade in general, and for visitors to see how tight things must have been for those captured.  It was a very powerful and deeply moving experience.  For more information, visit the Discovering Amistad website here.

*   *   *   *

12 YEARS A SLAVE
Directed by Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen -- the director, not the famous actor of the 50's, 60's, and 70's (okay, I'm aging myself) -- directed this 2013 historical biographical film based on the mid-nineteenth century memoir of Solomon Northup. 

Northup was a Black man who was born free in Minerva, New York.  In addition to being a farmer and a landowner, he was a professional musician who played the violin.  He was offered a job to play violin in Washington, D.C., but the offer turned out to be a ruse.  Northup was captured and sold into slavery in Louisiana.

The film is extremely powerful.  I found it difficult to watch at times, not because of gore, but just recalling what happened in this country and how terrible I felt.  It wasn't "white guilt", not by a long shot, but it was just the horrors of people doing that to people is what shook me.  

Slavery is a part of American history just like anything else.  A huge black mark, to be sure, but no less a part of our history.

The film went on to win three Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress [Lupita Nyong'o]), in addition to nearly 150 awards and accolades.  The cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, mentioned above in Amistad, (as Solomon Northup), Lupita Nyong'o (as Patsey, a fellow slave), Michael Fassbender (as Edwin Epps, a plantation owner), Brad Pitt (producer, as Samuel Bass, a Canadian carpenter and abolitionist), and Benedict Cumberbatch (as William Ford, the first slave owner to buy Northup, who showed him the only kindness under slavery). 

*   *   *   *

 If you have any other suggestions of films, click on Post a Comment below.

Terry

SPECIAL BULLETIN - FEBRUARY 25, 2025

The American Subordinate Court grants a retrial to Oklahoma

death row inmate Richard Glossip, who's been on death row

for the better part of three decades

In a case I followed during the original run of this blog, Richard Glossip, the Oklahoma death row inmate convicted of murder -- incorrectly convicted of murder, I might add -- finally had his case for a new trial reach the Subordinate Court last year.  Today, in a 5-3 vote, the Subordinate Court granted Glossip's request by overturning his conviction, paving the way for Glossip to receive a justified (and long-overdue) retrial.  

Glossip has always maintained his innocence, and his lawyers have revealed that the prosecution in his case withheld exculpatory (helpful to defense) evidence.  Even the State Attorney General has said that Glossip should receive a new trial.

Today, the Subordinate Court made the right call.

If you want to read a recap of the case, below is a link to my blog post from 2015.  The 'Dr. Phil' show episode embedded in the post provides a very good one.
*** PLEASE NOTE:  A couple of the links in the paragraphs below the video (Save Richard Glossip's life and Richard Glossip Is an Innocent Man) are outdated.
Term of the Day: STAY OF EXECUTION (4TH UPDATE)

I've been following Richard Glossip's case for ten years.  He was wrongfully accused, wrongfully prosecuted, wrongfully convicted, and wrongfully sentenced.  He was imprisoned in his mid-thirties and is now in his early sixties.

In fact, Glossip has had not one, not two, but three Last Meals. Three!

I was thrilled when I saw the news today.  The Subordinate Court has now allowed Richard Glossip the opportunity to a fair trial.  

Terry

BLACK HISTORY MONTH - POST #4

Things we use personally, collectively, or for business had to be invented.  Many inventions from many years ago are things we use regularly.  Many of those inventions, more than you may know, came from Black inventors.

Many times, more often than not, those Black inventors are overlooked.

Today, I have a list of over fifty things created by Black inventors dating back to the eighteenth century.  Some of these things you probably have used, or do use regularly.  You have these Black inventors to thank.  Some of these inventors will be listed for multiple inventions; some, listed once, invented other items as well.

These will be listed by year, invention, and inventor form.

18th Century

1791 -- The almanac -- Benjamin Banneker
            (His Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and
            Ephemeris, for the Year of our Lord, 1792 was his first publication)

19th Century
1819 -- Record player arm -- Joseph H. Dickenson

1839 -- Auto cut-off switch -- Granville T. Woods

         -- Spark plug -- Edmond Berger

1864 -- Rolling pin -- John W. Reed

1867 -- Elevator -- Alexander Miles

1872 -- Fire extinguisher -- Thomas Marshall

1875 -- Biscuit cutter -- Alexander P. Ashbourne

1876 -- Straightening comb (Hot comb) -- Madam C.J. Walker

1878 -- Door knob and Door stop -- Osbourn Dorsey

         -- Fire escape ladder -- Joseph W. Winters

         -- Furniture caster -- David A. Fisher

1880 -- Safety glasses -- Powell Johnson

1883 -- Hand stamp  Walter B. Purvis

1884 -- Egg beater -- Willie Johnson

         -- Lantern -- Michael C. Harvey

         -- Phone transmitter -- Granville T. Woods
            (which combined the telephone and telegraph)

1886 -- Euphonica guitar -- Robert F. Fleming, Jr.
            (which was louder and more resonant than traditional guitars)

         -- Tricycle -- Matthew A. Cherry

1887 -- Ironing board -- Sarah Boone

         -- Lunch box -- James Robinson

1889 -- Baby buggy -- William H. Richardson

1890 -- Fountain pen -- Walter B. Purvis

         -- Street sweeper -- Charles B. Brooks

1891 -- Butter churn -- Albert C. Richardson

         -- Mail box -- Paul L. Downing

1892 -- Curtain rod -- Samuel R. Scrotton
         -- Clothes dryer -- George T. Sampson  (precursor to modern clothes dryer)

1893 -- Lemon squeezer -- John Thomas White

         -- Door lock -- Washington A. Martin  (precursor to a deadbolt lock)

         -- Mop -- Thomas W. Stewart

1894 -- Key chain -- Frederick J. Loudin

         -- Casket lowering device -- Albert C. Richardson

1895 -- Automatic oil-drip cup -- Elijah McCoy 
            (which lubricated the steam engine while moving)

1896 -- Curtain rod support -- William S. Grant

1897 -- Chamber commode -- Thomas Elkins
            (a combination of a bureau, mirror, book rack, washstand, table, easy chair,
            and a toilet)

         -- Ice cream scoop -- Alfred L. Cralle

         -- Lawn sprinkler -- John H. Smith

         -- Pencil sharpener -- John L. Love

1898 -- Hair brush -- Lydia O. Newman

         -- Shampoo headrest (for a hair salon sink) -- Charles Orren Bailiff

1899 -- Auto fishing device (fishing reel) -- George Cook

         -- Folding bed -- Leonard C. Bailey

         -- Golf tee -- George T. Grant 

         -- Insect destroyer gun -- Albert C. Richardson 
            (which destroyed insects from trees and plants while not affecting shoots
            and foliage)

20th Century
1914 -- Gas mask -- Garrett Morgan

1923 -- Traffic light -- Garrett Morgan

1945 -- Blood plasma bag -- Charles Drew

1949 -- Air conditioning unit -- Frederick M. Jones

1960 -- Thermostat control -- Frederick M. Jones

Terry

 

SPECIAL BULLETIN - FEBRUARY 20, 2025

The S.S.C.A. Congress and Subordinate Court on the verge
of complicating women's voting rights and overturning a
60+ year Court decision regarding free speech.

The Suffrage movement in America, which sought the right to vote for women, lasted eighty years, from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century.  Womens' right to vote was guaranteed by the ratification of 19th Amendment to the Constitution in the summer of 1920.  (Yes, women have had the right to vote for only a little more than 100 years in this country.) 

Although, the 19th Amendment only guaranteed White women that right.

Now, Congress is making it more complicated for married women who took their husband's name at the time of their marriage.  The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) would require some married women to have to fill out more documentation than most persons in order to prove citizenship for eligibility to vote.  The Act focuses on any differences between surnames on current ID's (e.g. driver's license, passport) and birth certificates. 

A spokesperson for The Brennan Center for Justice said, "For people who lack passports, any mismatch between their birth certificate and IDs would present problems with registration."  So, it's not necessarily an absolute road block, but it is unnecessary extra steps for a class of citizens whose right to vote was secured in 1920 and 1965 (Voting Rights Act).  This passed the House of Representatives last summer, but is currently stalled in the Senate.

Call your senators and tell them to vote NO on the SAVE Act!

*   *   *   *

Over at the Subordinate Court, another attack is under way.  They will be deciding on a petition filed in January by real estate developer and former casino and hotel mogul Steve Wynn.  He has petitioned the Court to overturn the 1964 Court decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which upheld the Constitution's 1st Amendment (freedom of speech, freedom of the press). 

It was within the context of a defamation suit brought by Montgomery, Alabama Public Safety Commissioner, L.B. Sullivan.  The ad in the Times was to raise money to support the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and The Struggle for Freedom in the South.  The ad mentioned atrocities against King and against Black persons in the South.  Nearly a dozen cities were mentioned in the ad; Montgomery was one of those cities.

The ad had a few inaccuracies, and the Court's decision in favor of The New York Times was in light of whether or not the inaccuracies were intentional as well as public officials bringing defamation cases needing to prove intent.  Thus, the 1st Amendment was upheld by the decision.  L.B. Sullivan felt the uncomplimentary mention of Montgomery in the ad reflected poorly on him, thus his filing the suit.

Steve Wynn's filing claims that New York Times Co. v. Sullivan "is not equipped to handle the world as it is today -- media is no longer controlled by companies that employ legions of factcheckers before publishing an article."  His petition seeks to have the Court overturn its 1964 decision in order to "correct its past mistakes".

MSNBC Daily's Senior Editor, Anthony L. Fisher, writes, 

"Make no mistake: if we lose Sullivan, we will have lost freedom

of the press. And as unpopular as 'the media' might be right now,

without a free press there can be no free speech writ large. The

rich and powerful can simply threaten litigation, and their allies in

government can threaten criminal and civil sanctions — and that

will be enough to sufficiently chill free speech to the point that it

ceases to exist as we once knew it."

Fisher's warning is spot-on.  Chipping away at the freedom of the press is the means to the end of freedom of speech in this country.  

By extension, it is the chipping away at freedom in general.

Terry

BLACK HISTORY MONTH - POST #3

Today's blog post will focus on Black poetry.  I've always enjoyed poetry; I've enjoyed reading it and hearing it.  (I used to write, or try to write, poetry on my own many years ago.)

My inspiration for this post is a recent news story out of Florida that centers around America's Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's poem, 'The Hill We Climb', which Gorman herself read at the inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021.

In 2023, a parent of an elementary school student complained that the poem contained "indirect hate speech" and it would "cause confusion and indoctrinate children".  The result was the poem being banned for elementary students and restricted to middle school students.

Indirect hate speech?  Cause confusion and indoctrination?  Really?

I watched the inauguration of Joe Biden and was utterly blown away by Ms. Gorman's poem and her reading of it.  See what you think...
                                                                                                                             

I continue with Langston Hughes.

A poet, social activist, and author, Hughes was a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural revival and intellectual uprising, that took place during the 1920's and 1930's in the Harlem section of New York City.  Hughes' work inspired others in Harlem, throughout the country, and around the world.

The idea of "coming to the table", for which there are religious and secular versions and references, is central to Hughes' poem 'I, Too', first published in The Weary Blues in 1926, nearly 100 years ago.

I, TOO

by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

                                                                                                                             

Next, I will highlight a poem that a dear friend of mine recently shared on social media.  (Thank you, Amber!)  The author is Claude McKay.

Claude McKay was a Jamaican-born poet and writer who came to the United States to attend college -- he would attend Tuskegee University and Kansas State University -- to study agriculture.  During that time, he was heavily influenced by the writings of W.E.B. DuBois.  He would move to New York City to begin living here permanently.  He would also become a prominent part of the Harlem Renaissance.

During the summer of 1919, White mobs across twenty-six cities committed several horrific acts of racial violence, resulting in hundreds killed and thousands injured.  Collectively, these race riots were known as the Red Summer.  McKay saw some of these riots himself while working for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

In 1919, McKay wrote and published his sonnet, 'If We Must Die', as a response to what he saw.

IF WE MUST DIE

by Claude McKay

If we must die, let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

If we must die, O let us nobly die,

So that our precious blood may not be shed

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!

Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,

And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

                                                                                                                             

Having mentioned W.E.B. DuBois above, I will highlight him next.

William Edward Burghardt DuBois was born in Massachusetts in the late 1800's and would become the first Black person to earn of Ph.D. from Harvard, as well as one of the most prominent and prolific Black leaders, whose work and writings are still important today.

DuBois was one of the founding members of the NAACP.  His work as editor was for the organization's publication The Crisis, which is still in print today.

DuBois was a sociologist, an author, a poet, a historian, an editor, and an activist in America and the Pan-Africanism movement.  In 1900, he attended the first Pan-African Conference, which inspired him to organize a series of four Pan-African Congress meetings between 1919 and 1927.  

Wanting to create an encyclopedia of the African diaspora, a project that the government of Ghana would fund, he moved to Ghana at the age of 93.  Unfortunately, DuBois would die two years later, on the day before the historic March on Washington in 1963.

Any of his non-poetry works would be excellent choices for reading, but this post is about poetry.  W.E.B. DuBois, a Black man with a lighter skin color, could pass for a White man, by his own account.  However, in his 1907 poem, The Song of the Smoke, DuBois outright proclaims his Blackness and rejects "passing" for anything else. 

THE SONG OF THE SMOKE

by W.E.B. DuBois

I am the Smoke King

I am black!

I am swinging in the sky,

I am wringing worlds awry;

I am the thought of the throbbing mills,

I am the soul of the soul-toil kills,

Wraith of the ripple of trading rills;

Up I’m curling from the sod,

I am whirling home to God;

I am the Smoke King

I am black.

I am the Smoke King,

I am black!

I am wreathing broken hearts,

I am sheathing love’s light darts;

Inspiration of iron times

Wedding the toil of toiling climes,

Shedding the blood of bloodless crimes —

Lurid lowering ’mid the blue,

Torrid towering toward the true,

I am the Smoke King,

I am black.

I am the Smoke King,

I am black!

I am darkening with song,

I am hearkening to wrong!

I will be black as blackness can —

The blacker the mantle, the mightier the man!

For blackness was ancient ere whiteness began.

I am daubing God in night,

I am swabbing Hell in white:

I am the Smoke King

I am black.

I am the Smoke King

I am black!

I am cursing ruddy morn,

I am hearsing hearts unborn:

Souls unto me are as stars in a night,

I whiten my black men — I blacken my white!

What’s the hue of a hide to a man in his might?

Hail! great, gritty, grimy hands —

Sweet Christ, pity toiling lands!

I am the Smoke King

I am black.

                                                                                                                             

I hope you find these poems both inspiring and educational.  I encourage you to seek out more Black poets.  If you have any suggestions of Black poets, click on Post a Comment below. 

Terry

BLACK HISTORY MONTH - POST #2

There is a plethora of books about Black history out there.  I am going to highlight a handful of these books throughout this month.  Let me say that this will not be a definitive list.  I don't have my finger on the pulse of the right books to read. 

Some of these suggestions will be agreed upon by you; some you'll disagree with.  Some you may never have heard of.  Some of the authors of these books you may or may not have heard of.

My hope is to present the titles throughout the month to give you the opportunity to educate yourselves on Black history, which sadly, does not get the full attention it deserves.  

A TASTE OF POWER: A BLACK WOMAN'S STORY

by Elaine Brown

From a childhood of poverty in Philadelphia, which included attending an all-white school, to becoming the only female to lead the Black Panthers, this book tells of Brown's rise through the levels of leadership within the controversial, male-dominated, paramilitary organization in the 1970's.  "Stunning, lyrical, and acute, this is the indelible testimony of a Black woman's battle to define herself." (Amazon description)

THE THREE MOTHERS: HOW THE MOTHERS OF MARTIN LUTHER

KING, JR., MALCOLM X, AND JAMES BALDWIN SHAPED A NATION

by Anna Malaika Tubbs

Much has written about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, but how much do we know about their mothers?  While all three lived through Jim Crow in this country, they nonetheless taught their sons of their own worth as Black men.  This book tells the stories of Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin.  "These women used their strength and motherhood to push their children toward greatness, all with a conviction that every human being deserves dignity and respect despite the rampant discrimination they faced." (Amazon description)

FOUR HUNDRED SOULS: A COMMUNITY HISTORY

OF AFRICAN AMERICA, 1619-2019

Edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

This book is the near-equivalent of an encyclopedia of Black history in a single book.  Editors Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain assembled ninety writers for this broad project.  Each writer was given a five-year period to cover, for a total of four centuries of Black history in the United States, before it was "the United States", from 1619-2019.  This is ninety different perspectives, using a variety of writing styles and techniques, that "fundamentally deconstructs the idea that Africans in America are a monolith -- instead it unlocks the startling range of experiences and ideas that have always existed within the community of Blackness." (Amazon description)

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

by Colson Whitehead

This Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner tells the fictionalized story of Cora, a young slave, an outcast among fellow slaves, who is agrees to join a fellow slave to join the Underground Railroad.  "As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the terrors of the antebellum era, he weaves in the saga of our nation, from the brutal abduction of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is both the gripping tale of one woman's will to escape the horrors of bondage -- and a powerful meditation on the history we all share." (Amazon description)
This book was the basis for the 2021 Prime Video miniseries of the same name.


If you have any suggestions of books, share your suggestions by clicking on Post a Comment below.

Terry

BLACK HISTORY MONTH - POST #1

Today is February 1st, and it is the start of Black History Month.  While these things should be celebrated year-round, this is month when we highlight Black culture and celebrate the many contributions Black persons have made to the country and to the world.  Many times, these contributions are overlooked (e.g. ignored, not taught in schools, culturally appropriated, covered up).

Black History Month's start is attributed to Carter G. Woodson, a historian and journalist, and founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (later renamed as the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in the early 1970's).  

In the words of Woodson:

"If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition,

it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world,

and it stands in danger of being exterminated."

Black History Month's beginning goes back almost 100 years ago, when Woodson started Negro History Week in 1926.  Woodson picked the month of February, specifically the second week of the month, because Abraham Lincoln's and Frederick Douglass' birthdays are in the second week in February (February 12 and February 14, respectively).

As noted, the celebration was for one week.  Over the years, literally decades, more and more mayors across the country were recognizing the week-long celebration (only in states where there were significant Black populations) and endorsing it as a holiday.

The commemoration expanded to the entire month of February in 1970.  Led by a student group known as the Black United Students and university faculty at Kent State University in Ohio, the first Black History Month took place.  This action updated the entire idea of highlighting Black persons' contributions that had been for just one week in the forty-four years prior. 

In 1976, during America's bicentennial year, Black History Month was endorsed by then-President Gerald Ford, who issued a proclamation designating the month of February as Black History Month.  In doing so, Ford called on all Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history".  Absolutely!

Throughout this month, in addition to any other posts here, I will be posting in honor of Black History Month.  I will share some personal thoughts as well as highlighting films and books relative to Black history.  I hope will join me here.  Please share these posts/this blog with others. 

Terry