Change.

"Tears will get you sympathy. Sweat will get you change."
-- Jesse Jackson, minister and activist

Today in Black History

November 25

1895
National Negro Medical Association founded.

1883

Sojourner Truth dies.

Background

Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–November 26, 1883) was the self-given name, from 1843, of an American abolitionist born into slavery from Hurley, New York. (Her original name was Isabella Baumfree, but some sources list her name as Isabella Van Wagener.)

Great African Americans

Bobby Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American civil rights activist, who along with Huey P. Newton co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966.
Seale joined the African American Association in college and this is said to have inspired him to start the Black Panthers, which at one point had over 2000 members. Seale went on to become the chairman of the party and underwent FBI surveillance as part of its COINTELPRO program. He was one of the original Chicago Eight defendants charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot, in the wake of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, in Chicago. Judge Julius Hoffman sentenced him to four years of imprisonment for contempt of court because of his outbursts, and eventually ordered Seale severed from the case, hence the "Chicago Seven." During one of the court trials Bobby Seale's many outbursts led the judge to have him bound and gagged, as commemorated in the song Chicago written by Graham Nash.
Seale was also tried in 1970 in the New Haven Black Panther trials for the murder of Alex Rackley and acquitted by a hung jury. The trials were widely decried as an example of political repression by such relative moderates as Yale University president Kingman Brewster, Jr., and were accompanied by a large demonstration in New Haven, Connecticut, on May Day, 1970, which coincided with the beginning of the US college student strike of May, 1970.
In 2002, he began dedicating his time to Reach!, a group that focuses on youth education programs.
Today Bobby Seale is popularly known for marketing a line of barbecue products.

Moments in Black History

J. Edgar Hoover vs. Black Panter Party

Hoover's involvement with the Black Panther Party came as the party began to gain prominence during 1967 & 68. As COINTELPRO had been established in 1956 to police "political radicals" within the United States, focus and pressure now came onto the Black Panther Party. On June 15, 1969, J. Edgar Hoover declared, "the Black Panther Party, without question, represents the greatest threat to internal security of the country"; he pledged that 1969 would be the last year of the Party's existence.

As Roger states in the film (A Huey P. Newton Story), "if you read the FBI files you will see that even Mr. J. Edgar Hoover himself had to say that it was not the guns that were the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States of America; it was not the guns, it was the Free Children's Breakfast Program that was the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States of America. Grits. Now why was it the Free Children's Breakfast Program? It was the Free Children's Breakfast Program because the Free Children's Breakfast Program engendered a certain following on the Black community's part, a certain respect on the Black community's part. I mean, nobody can argue with free grits. So Hoover saw it as a kind of, he saw the Free Children's Breakfast Program as a kind of, what's the word he used? He said it was a kind of, look in the file, you'll see, he said it was a kind of infiltration. That's ridiculous isn't it? Infiltration? How are Black people, who are born and raised in the Black community, who live and work in the Black community, going to infiltrate their own Black community? If anybody's infiltrating I think its J. Edgar Hoover.

Source

KKKramer!

By now everyone should have seen the Michael Richards tirade from his stand up at a certain comedy club, well you should also know that he went on Letterman to apologizes. I want to state now I do not except his apology. Hes worthless and washed up and needs to sit his behind down somewhere in a dark hole where he might possibly be able to stop offending us "afro-americans", apparently we are our hair.

One of the worst sites on the internet

In my quest to scour the net for information to provide on my blog I came across a rather corny site
www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

Now normally I wouldn't want to link my page to something like this but I have to put it out there. This is one of the worst sites I have come across. It is not funny, in fact I am slightly offended (I say slightly because being completely offended would mean that I cared about this site). View it if you would like to see what is not appropriate.

A Great People

"If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, "There lived a great people—a black people—who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

Today in Black History

November 21



















1855
A Convention of California Blacks meet in Sacramento.

1865
Shaw University founded in Raleigh NC.

1893
Granville T. Woods patents an electric railway conduit.


1904
Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins is born in St. Joseph, MO, he will record "Body and Soul"

1944
Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, who will be noted for his electrifying basketball style, is born in Philadelphia, PA. He will be selected by the Baltimore Bullets in the first round of the 1967 NBA Draft and traded to the New York Knicks in 1971.

1962
Bowler George Branham, who will be the first Black to win the Professional Bowlers Association title, is born in Detroit.

They are thinking about it?!?

I think they can kiss my back side. Why are they stmbling around it? If they want to appologize do it! It seems they are trying to create a media circus for the whole thing and there is no appology in sight.


British Government thinks about saying slavery was regretable

Press Association
Friday September 22, 2006
The Guardian
The government is considering issuing a statement of regret for the slave trade on the 200th anniversary of its abolition. Commemorations are to be held across the UK on March 25, two centuries after the passing of an 1807 parliamentary bill outlawing the trade in the British empire. The deputy prime minister, John Prescott, ruled out a formal apology for Britain's part in slavery earlier this year. But he will chair a meeting next month of the advisory committee overseeing preparations for the commemoration, at which proposals for a statement of regret are expected to be discussed.http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrigh...1878270,00.html

Our Certain Unalienable Rights

"If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves and allow those responsible to salve their conscience by believing that they have our acceptance and concurrence. We should, therefore, protest openly everything . . . that smacks of discrimination or slander." -- Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) "Certain Unalienable Rights", What the Negro Wants, edited by Rayford W. Logan (1944)

Today In Black History

November 20

1923
Garrett Morgan invented and patented the traffic signal,

Background
Garrett Augustus Morgan (March 4, 1877, Paris, Kentucky - August 27, 1963, Cleveland, Ohio) was an African American inventor who originated a respiratory protective hood (although many people said it is a myth), invented a hair-straightening preparation and patented a type of traffic signal. He is renowned for a heroic rescue in which he used his hood to save workers trapped in a tunnel system filled with fumes.



1865

Howard University founded in Washington DC

John Hope Franklin

Duke University historian John Hope Franklin has won the 2006 John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity, a lifetime achievement award worth $1 million.The award, announced today by the Library of Congress, also was given to Yu Ying-shih, retired professor of Asian studies and history at Princeton University.Franklin, 91, was recognized for his pioneering work that examined how African-Americans shaped the nation. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, in a statement about Franklin, said: "The transformation he has helped bring about in how we think about American history and society will stand as his lasting intellectual legacy."Franklin's landmark survey of black history, "From Slavery to Freedom," was published in 1947 and has introduced hundreds of thousands of students to the African-American experience.In 1997, Franklin was appointed by President Clinton to lead a national discussion on race.http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/510691.html

Rest in Peace

My love and best wishes go out to your families.

The Souls of Black Folk

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. . . . One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warrings ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder." --W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) The Souls of Black Folk (1903)

Today in Black History

November 16

1873
W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues, is born in Florence, AL. He will compose numerous hits such as "St. Louis Blues" and "Memphis Blues".
1941
Composer and organist Edward Margetson is honored by the Schubert Music Society at the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1981
Pam Johnson is named publisher of the Ithaca Journal (NY), becoming the first Black woman to run a daily newspaper
2000
Coca Cola settles race discrimination case to approximately 2,000 African American workers for $193 million in compensation. This is the biggest settlement in the history of USA Coca Cola.
2000
Civil Rights activist Hosea Williams dies from prostate cancer at the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, GA. He was a top lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who continued the battle for civil rights long after King's death.

Police Brutality Video found On YouTube

A witness shot a video of police beating a suspect. He took the video to the local police department and no one there did anything about it... so the witness put it on you tube.

The Link to the video.

Today in Black History

November 14

Booker T. Washington died, 1856 - 1915

Background

Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American political leader, educator and author. He was one of the dominant figures in African American history in the United States from 1890 to 1915.
Washington was born into slavery to a white, slave owner father and a black, slave mother in Franklin County, Virginia. He learned to read and write while working at manual labor jobs. At the age of sixteen, he went to Hampton, Virginia to Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, now Hampton University, to train as a teacher. In 1881, he was named as the first leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He was granted an honorary Masters of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1896 and an honorary Doctorate degree from Dartmouth College in 1901. Washington played a very prominent role in black politics.

Blatantly Racist

This is a story out of Baltimore MD. where a frat themed their Halloween party "Halloween In the Hood", you can read on but continuing on they called Baltimore an "HIV pit" and encouraged people to come dressed in "bling bling..." They even had the nerve to put a dark-skinned pirate hanging out front of the house in a noose.


The article:

BALTIMORE, Md. -- A John's Hopkins University fraternity has been barred from holding any more functions on campus after a controversial Halloween party was held this weekend.
JHU suspended all activities at the Sigma Chi fraternity during an investigation into the house's conduct last Saturday.
Angry students labeled that fraternity racist as they protested for hours along Charles Street in Baltimore Monday.
The protests were in reaction to an e-mail invitation to the fraternity house Saturday night. It referenced the party's theme: Halloween in the hood.
The e-mail called Baltimore an "HIV pit" and encouraged people to come dressed in "bling bling, ice ice."
The fraternity also had a dark-haired, stuffed pirate hanging from a noose out front of the house.
"I was appalled," said Christina Chapman, president of the Black Student Union.
"It's just very racist. There's no way you can be productive on this campus and come together as students and do things like this that they know are offensive and that they know are historically hurtful, considering black people were historically lynched in this country," Chapman said.
While the students protested, the university launched an investigation.
The fraternity declined to comment to WBAL TV 11 News.
"This should not be happening in a university community. There ought not to be an appeal to racial stereotypes as part of a party or advertisement for a party. It just shouldn't happen," said Dennis O'Shea, a spokesman for the university.
"Two of the students also went inside. There were students who said they were dressed in hood attire and slave attire. There was someone in a wife beater and overalls and barefoot with a straw hat impersonating a slave," Chapman said.
"The fact that this happened is a real shame. I hope that it won't overshadow the efforts of the kids who are really trying to reach out to each other around here," O'Shea said.


link

Knowledge is Power

Recently there is a new artist out of Saint Louis that goes by the name JIBBS. Jibbs debut single "Chain hang low" has a history that most people are not aware of. The particular nursery rhyme that the song mimics is "Ears Hang Low" The history behind this song is that during the civil war Confederate soldiers would remove certain body parts (primarily ears and testicles) from the deceased corpses of freed slaves who were fighting as Northern (Yankee) soldiers after their battles. These "trinkets" were then placed on a rope necklace and worn as a trophy piece. As the lyrics to the nursery rhyme state "do your ears hang low, do they wobble to and fro... etc" "Can you throw them over your shoulder like a (Continental) soldier". This word (Continental) took this nursery rhyme from racist jargon to playful melody. The word that filled this space was (Confederate) as in Confederate soldier. Other nursery rhymes have done the same i.e. Eenie, Meenie, Minee, Moe catch a Ni**er by his toe. Not Tiger. My question to young people black and white is that "Does knowing the history of the nursery rhyme change your opinion of the New single by Jibbs. " Personally knowing this myself I can't stand to hear the song. It seems to advertise our ignorance as a people. I wrote this note to inform people of this. Knowledge is power and Ignorance IS NOT BLISS; its SUICIDE if you don't know.

Tyson Foods Denies Discrimination

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Top U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE:TSN - news) has denied claims of racial discrimination after being sued over two black employees who complained about the posting of a "Whites Only" sign on a bathroom at a poultry plant in Ashland, Alabama. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tyson on Thursday, saying two black employees were disciplined after complaining about the sign."We're surprised and disappointed by this legal action and firmly believe the charges are without merit," the company said in a statement posted on Friday on its Web site.In a press release on Thursday, the EEOC said the two black employees were subjected to disciplinary action by Tyson management, including suspensions, after they complained about the segregated bathroom.The EEOC said it filed suit only after attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.The suit alleges that Tyson discriminated against Henry Adams, Leon Walker and other black employees by establishing and maintaining a locked bathroom, which on occasion had signs posted on it stating "Out of Order" and "Whites Only."Tyson said it had been cooperating with the federal agency in its investigation and said the company was "shocked" by the agency's decision to file a lawsuit."Our company has zero tolerance for discrimination in the workplace," Tyson said, adding that the presence of such a sign would be a violation of corporate policy.Tyson said the Ashland plant employs about 300 people."A company's commitment to equal opportunity is measured by more than the existence of written policies and diversity training," said Charles Guerrier, regional attorney for the agency's district office in Birmingham, Alabama, in the statement.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050813/bs_nm/food_tyson_dc