28 Days of American History

(My great great-uncle on the far left, elected to the small town of Badin's first town council)

Sooooo, it's American Black History Month. Depending on how long you have been reading my blog, you may be aware that around this time last year I did a little blog series entitled 28 Days of American History, highlighting some well-known and some not so well-known black hero(ine)s.

This year, a fellow Tarheel alum, Taikein, is carrying the flame and taking it upon himself to inform the masses each day of this month. He is accepting entries from his readers for the posts. To submit an entry, hit him up on Twitter: @tcoop32, Facebook: Taikein Cooper, or Email: taikeincooper@gmail.com. You can peep his first post HERE.

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28 Days of American History

Before reality TV, before Tyra, before Wendy Williams, there was Seely Oprah Winfrey. Click here to learn about her talk show legacy.

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28 Days of American History

This Jamaican native was known for embracing his blackness as beautiful..so much so that he actually founded the organization UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) and led a "back to Africa" movement with ~half a million followers! Click here to learn more about Sir Marcus Garvey.

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28 Days of American History

"Loving vs. Virginia"

Click here to learn about Mildred and Richard Loving. This interracial couple tied the not in D.C. but moved back to their hometown in VA and were arrested for violating a racial integrity law in 1958 that stated interracial marriage was unlawful. Learn how this couple won the case that struck down these old laws (and made couples like Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush possible! You mad? lol

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28 Days of American History

Shirley Chisholm actually ran for president in the early 1970s who claimed that she lost because she was female more so than it was about her being black. Click here to learn more about her story.

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28 Days of American History

Jackie Robinson is responsible for breaking the color barrier in professional baseball. Click here to learn more about his story.

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28 Days of American History

Who? Ralph Frasier
What? One of the first black students to integrate UNC-Chapel Hill
When? 55 years ago

Check out an excerpt from the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History:

"On April 27, 1955, only 8 days after applying for admission, three students, including Frasier, received identical letters from the Director of Admissions that stated that the Trustees of the University had not changed the policy of admission of Negroes to the University because Negroes were eligible to apply to a Negro college in the state. Mr. Ralph Frasier along with the other two youth requested that the University reverse its policy of discrimination.

Mr. Ralph Frasier, his brother LeRoy and John Lewis Brandon filed suit against the Board of Trustees for the University of North Carolina in Federal District Court in North Carolina. In their lawsuit they argued that the resolution passed by the Board of Trustees was invalid and unconstitutional because it expressly provided for separate but equal colleges for blacks as declared in the landmark Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education ruling of the Supreme Court in 1954. On September 16, 1955, the NC Federal District Court ordered that the University of North Carolina was prohibited from denying admission to these applicants solely because of their race or color if they were qualified.

In 1958, Mr. Ralph Frasier left the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill due to racial tension and continued discrimination and began two years active military service after which he enrolled at North Carolina Central University. After graduating NCCU, he obtained a Juris Doctorate Degree from that university as well. The North Carolina Bar Association, a voluntary organization for lawyers, initially denied admission to Mr. Frasier because of his race. That permission was eventually granted and he had a illustrious career spanning over 40 years."

Copyright (C) 2010 The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History All rights reserved.

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28 Days of American History

I almost wanted to post this picture and not one word further. Looking at it just gives me motivation. Sometimes I fight to get up in the morning and take the bus to class with not a care in the world and I often take that for granted. I just wonder what was going through the mind of the young girl in this picture and the other 8 African American students (known as the "Little Rock Nine") the day that they stepped into an all-white school for the first time faced with all that hatred??

If y'all aren't familiar with the story, basically, after the Supreme Court made segregation of public schools illegal following Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) a lot of schools in the south still didn't follow suit. Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas was one of those schools that turned a cold shoulder to the newly passed desegregation laws. The Governor at the time had won the election by a landslide due to the fact that he was in heavy opposition to desegregation and he was doing nothing to help change the state of these schools. So, it took a federal order from President Dwight Eisenhower himself and 1,000 members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne division to enforce the integration of Central High School....a nationally televised event showing angry mobs of white supremacists relentlessly opposing these little black children. It is truly an emotional day in American history in my opinion. Peep the vid below for a little story on it:

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28 Days of American History

Jacob Lawrence, painter

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28 Days of American History

Guess who today's post is about?! Check it out under the "full post" link, homie!

That's right! This Uncle Tom is the great Bill Cosby. Born 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he is most famously known for his hit sitcom The Cosby Show. (I personally LOVE that show, but I don't know how I feel about Mr. Cosby himself. Don't judge me.)

Cosby excelled early on in high school, but focused so much on sports that his grade suffered. Consequently, he ended up dropping out of high school in the 10th grade (tsk, tsk, tsk) and enlisted in the Navy from 1956-60. In 1961, he earned a track and field scholarship to Temple University and stayed there until his sophomore year...then he left school again to pursue comedy. The rest is history. (Don't be mislead, Cosby earned the equivalent to a high school diploma and later attended UMASS and got a Doctor of Education degree.)

By the early 70s, he had snagged a spot on Saturday morning television doing voices for Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, an animated show about his childhood memories. In 1984, The Cosby Show debuted on NBC, becoming a staple in households across the country. A lot of people came down on him, saying that the show presented an unrealistic view of African-American lifestyle, while Cosby argued that the show provided a positive ALTERNATIVE to harsher images shown elsewhere on television.

Since the success of The Cosby Show, little Bill has written several books geared towards fatherhood, family, and college graduates and he has also spoken out vehemently about the negative portrayal of blacks in the media today.

The End.

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28 Days of American History

The other day, my roommates went back and forth about who was responsible for inventing the light bulb, which sparked this post. A lot of people seem to believe that Thomas Edison was solely responsible for inventing the light bulb, and while he indeed invented the incandescent bulb itself (the outer-covering), it was Lewis Howard Latimer, the only black member of the Edison's research team, who developed and patented the process for manufacturing the carbon filaments (the material inside the incandescent bulbs). In addition, Latimer was responsible for patenting a new way to attach the carbonized filament to the platinum wires that brought electricity into the bulb from the base.

Latimer worked for Edison's light company, and was also encouraged by Edison to write a book (published in 1890) entitled Incandescent Electric Lighting: A Practical Description of the Edison System, which explained how an incandescent bulb worked in an easy way. (So, no, Edison did not take credit for a black man's work per se. They were partners!)

The End.

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28 Days of American History

I'd like to refer to this man, Paul Robeson, as the "Superman of American history". He was versatile in so many ways, and I actually had the opportunity to go to an art gallery commemorating his legacy. And needless to say, it was really inspiring.

Born April 1898, Robeson was a "internationally renowned American bass-baritone concert singer, scholar, actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator and lawyer". (Think about that! He mastered music, acting, writing, public speaking, played professional football, AND graduated from Columbia law?! That's STUPID to me. Who does all of that besides Clark Kent?) Not to mention, Robeson was the son of a runaway slave.

Peep the video, I'm sure it would do more justice than I:

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28 Days of American History

Name: Daniel Chappie James, Jr.

DOB: February 11th, 1920

Known for: Member of the famous Tuskegee Airmen. Joined the segregated United States Army Air Corp while attending Tuskegee Institute, during WWII.

Recognition: Received the Distinguished Service Medal for his service in the Korean War, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and a Presidential Unit Citation.

I was gonna make a joke about him being fly, but how corny is that? Yikes.

The End.

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28 Days of American History

This man right here is the reason you set aside a small portion of yo' paycheck every month. Without this man, there would be no natural hair movement or movies such as Good Hair. Garrett Augustus Morgan, born in, Kentucky on March 4, 1877, is responsible for inventing the "perm" (for people who don't know any better), aka the "relaxer" (for the politically correct folk), aka that "creamy crack" (for all you addicts). Morgan originally called the product "hair refiner cream" and his slogan: Positively Straighten Hair in 15 Minutes.

Mr. Morgan is not only responsible for this staple product used by women all over the world, but he also created the traffic light. Go figure?

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28 Days of American History

Before TheYBF, before NecoleBitchie, before Concreteloop, and before your blog or mine, there was a man named William Edward Burghardt DuBois and The Souls of Black Folks. Part study, part reflection, and part poetry, W.E.B. DuBois' book is still looked at today as one of the most popular criticisms of race relations in America. (To put it plain and simple, DuBois was a baaaaad man when it came to writing stuff that people read and respected.)

He is primarily remembered today for being the first African-American to earn a PhD from Harvard (in 1895). Through his books, lectures, and publishing of magazines, Du Bois educated both blacks & whites on topics not otherwise discussed like the injustices suffered by colored folks. He researched and wrote extensively on lynchings, segregation, and black peoples' experiences with racism.

W.E.B. DuBois butted heads with the US government several times over his proposed solutions for improving injustice (namely Socialism), causing him to be put on trial for being "an agent for the Soviet Union" (where the heck do people come up with this nonsense? He was supposed to be the black James Bond, huh? Oh ok.)

Anywho....
His battles with the U.S. government laid the foundation for things such as the civil rights and the black power movements. In 1961 Du Bois moved to the newly independent West African nation of Ghana. In an act of defiance just before his departure, he joined the American Communist Party. Du Bois became a citizen of the West African nation of Ghana in 1963, when he was 95 years old.

The End.

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28 Days of American History

Lesson 3: Jesse Owens

• Born in Alabama in 1913, Owens was the grandson of a slave (which AMAZES me that he wasn't too far removed from those terrible conditions and was able to accomplish so much in his lifetime)
  
• He went to college at Ohio State and while at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor on May 25, 1935, he set three world records and tied a fourth, all in a span of about 45 minutes. (Son, it take me 45 minutes to run a few miles on the treadmill...setting 3 world records in that span? CRAZY!) And he did it ALL while suffering from back pain from falling down some stairs the day before
  
• Became the first athlete to win FOUR gold medals in one olympiad in the 1936 Olympic games held in Berlin. Not only was this important in terms of sport, but it occurred in the face of intense racial tension. (He also completely upstaged Hitler's theory of a superior race and was surprised that he was received BETTER in Germany than he was when he returned to the United States. Go figure?)
  
• In 1976, Jesse was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award bestowed upon a civilian, by Gerald R. Ford
• Owens was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush (not the complete idiot, the OTHER George Bush)

The End.

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28 Days of American History

Born John Gillespie on October 21, 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina (I've been there, trust me ain't NOTHING there). "Dizzy" Gillespie's parents were musicians and he didn't fall far from the tree, learning how to play piano at the age of 4 and teaching himself how to play the trumpet before he was a teenager (that is not easy task, I tried teaching myself the piano at age 21 and gave up in disgust).

He was a pioneer in jazz, specifically modern bebop. He was popular for his style of play, with an upturned horn. Heavily involved in the Afro-Cuban movement, Dizzy was responsible for bringing Latin and African elements to greater importance in jazz and even in pop music.

In the 1960s, he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame (that's a famous jazz magazine, folk, established in the early 30s).

I was gonna put how he got his nickname but can someone actually tell me how he got the nickname Dizzy?

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28 Days of American History

So, a lot of people get upset that black history month is in February, THE shortest month of the year. Yet and still, most black people (or at least myself) don't engage in active learning of our history in February, much less year round. With that said, I'ma do my part and drop some knowledge on y'all every day out of this month.

Lesson 1:

The Greensboro 4. I'd like to call 'em "the Cuatro Amigos" (is that disrespectful? hope I ain't just offend anyone)

ANYWHO, exactly 50 years ago today (before the iPad, before P. Diddy, and before Twitter) four African-American college students from NC A&T (shout out to my Aggies!) did a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Blacks were allowed to buy school supplies in the store; however, when it came to eating, they had to stand up when served (standing and eating?! it almost look like a typo don't it?). Well, the manager didn't have the students arrested, assuming they would eventually fall back, but over the course of the next few days the students returned with more and more support from fellow classmates (there were upwards of 300 students at one point).

(Pause.) Now imagine 300 hungry, black students ANYWHERE today? Did you picture pure, unadulterated ratchet-ness along the lines of:

I did.....
....don't judge me.

The students remained non-violent even in the midst of violent reactions from Whites.

The wrap-up:

Everything pretty much came to a halt after a bomb-threat was called into the restaurant (WTDTA?). So, what began as 4 students sitting in at a local restaurant sparked a slew of passive-resistance movements in the southeastern part of the United States during the Civil Rights Movement. It's crazy to think that students like you and I were an integral part of such an major event in American History.

The End.

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