BLACK HISTORY QUIZ - the answer

Arthur Ashe attended the University of California on a tennis scholarship.

To read the details of his bio GOOGLE his name.

on this DAY

THE STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE (SNCC) WAS FOUNDED IN 1960

To learn more about this organization that played a key role in the development of the Civil Rights Movement GOOGLE the name.

on this DAY

ON THIS DAY, APRIL 12, 1861, THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR BEGAN WHEN CONFEDERATE FORCES FROM THE SOUTH FIRED ON THE UNION FORCES OF THE NORTH AT FORT SUMPTER.

 

To read more on the Civil War GOOGLE the name.

on this DAY

ON OCTOBER 25, 1940, BENJAMIN O. DAVIS. SR. ATTAINS THE RANK OF BRIGADIER GENERAL, BECOMING THE FIRST BLACK GENERAL IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

To read about his incredible journey GOOGLE his name

BIRTH OF A WRITER

RICHARD WRIGHT, novelist, essayist, poet, and short story writer, was born on a cotton plantation September 4, 1908.  Wright"s first major success came in 1940. when his novel Native Son  was published.

It became the first book written by a Black writer to be chosen for the Book-of-the-Month club.

1908-1960

To  read a comprehensive bio and details of his literary career GOOGLE his name

HISTORICAL NEWS JOURNAL

February, 1778


"Restless Property"
Not Very Valuable

     The following ad, placed in
the Maryland Gazette, indicates
that "restless" slaves are not
valuable property.
FOR SALE: Healthy young
Negro. Has worked twelve years
in a merchant mill, and is complete
in that business. No other motive
than his having attempted to escape
to the enemy induces the proprietor
to dispose of him.
------------------------------------------------------
Letters to the Editor

Sir:... I am one of that unfortunate race of 
men, distinguished from the rest of the
human species by a black skin and wooly
hair.
     Can it be, that a difference of color
alone can constitute a difference of species?
     To attempt to escape from the cruelties
exercised over us, is punished sometimes
with death.
     And yet I learn from writers that 
"master" and "slave" are in a state of war.
     But, when a Negro feels the wrongs of his
brothers and attempts to revenge them, I see
him treated as the most horrible of mankind.
     Do the rights of nature cease to be when
a Negro is to enjoy them? Why is patriotism,
in the heart of an African, called treason?

                                       From a free Negro
==========================

DO NOT USE
     SUGAR
    OR OTHER
PRODUCTS OF
SLAVE LABOR
---------------------------------------------------------
***The preceding were actual newspaper articles.

ON THIS DAY...4/19

CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY FOUNDED AS THE INSTITUTE FOR COLORED YOUTH, 1837.

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is known as the first institution of higher learning for Black people. It is the only Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORDS FOR IT! GO SEARCH FOR YOUR OWN!  (GOOGLE IT!)

ON THIS DAY...4/12

THE UNITED STATES CIVIL WAR STARTED IN 1861. THE WAR HAD ITS ORIGIN IN THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY.

HISTORICAL NEWS JOURNAL

SLAVE BECOMES A DOCTOR
-------------------------------------------
The Penn. Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the
Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully held in Bondage has released
the following communication:

New Orleans, La., Feb. 1793- There is now in the city a black
man of the name of James Derham, a practitioner of medicine. This
man was born a slave into a family which taught him reading, writing
and the principles of Christianity. When a boy he was transferred by
his master to the late Dr. John Kearsly., who employed him
occasionally to compound medicines and to perform other humble acts.
     After passing through several hands, Derham became the property of
Dr. George Weiss, a British surgeon under whom, during the late war in
America, he performed many minor medical duties.
     At the war's end, he was sold to Dr. Robert Dove, of New Orleans,
who employed him as an assistant. His ability gained him so much
confidence and friendship, that Dr. Dove, consented to liberate him
after two or three years.
     Dr. Derham had become so well acquainted with the healing art, as
to commence practice at New Orleans under the patronage of his last master.
He is now 26 years of age, has a wife; but no children, and does business to the
amount of $3,000 a year...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE WILL
     Among the Bequests of
George Fox, Who Died Last
Year, are mentioned: 1 Negro
Man, 1 warming Pan, 1 old
looking -glass, & 1 gun.
--------------------------------------------------------------
              POEMS
         on Comic, Serious
       and Moral Subjects
      by Phillis Wheatley
                       
                   Printed for J. French
                     bookseller (1784)

Ed. Note: We express our deep
sorrow at the death of Miss
Wheatley, who after an
unfortunate marriage to John
Peters (who neglected her and
her child), died a pauper, forced
to work in a boarding house to
provide for herself and her family.


***The preceding were actual newspaper articles.

AND THAT'S A FACT...

...WEALTH AND EDUCATION WERE NOT UNCOMMON IN THE URBAN CENTERS OF AFRICA BEFORE AND DURING THE SLAVE TRADE ERA.




...SLAVERY WAS COMMON IN AFRICA AMONG AFRICANS. IT WAS USED AS A PUNISHMENT FOR CRIMES OR MAKING WAR. HOWEVER, AFRICAN SLAVERY PROTECTED THE BASIC RIGHTS OF THE PRISONER AND ALLOWED HIM TO OWN PROPERTY, MARRY (EVEN A MEMBER OF THE "OWNER'S" FAMILY), AND EVENTUALLY GAIN HIS FREEDOM. SLAVERY IN THE NEW WORLD WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT.



...WHILE AFRICANS WERE A DIVERSE POPULATION OF MANY TRIBES, ALL SHARED A GREAT SKILL IN HANDICRAFTS AND CREATED SOME OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST ART, SOME OF WHICH WERE KNIVES AND OTHER WEAPONS. HOWEVER, BEAUTIFUL WEAPONS WERE  NO MATCH FOR EUROPEAN RIFLES AND CANNONS.






***Eyewitness: The Negro in American History - William Loren Katz

ON THIS DAY...4/9

PAUL ROBESON , singer, actor and political activist was born in 1898. He was CONSIDERABLY MORE than that, but I thought I would let YOU do the RESEARCH! 

During his time Robeson was known as a true "Renaissance Man."
He was an extraordinary talent and humanist.

=========================================================
ASSIGNMENT: 

GOOGLE Paul Robeson's name to read his bio and other exploits.

While you're at it find out what a RENAISSANCE MAN is. It will make you a better person!

BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORDS FOR IT - GO FIND YOUR OWN!!!

BIRTH OF A BLACK HERO

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON  was born in VIRGINIA on APRIL 5, 1856.

He rose from bondage to presidential advisor, a truly great American story. Read his autobiography "UP FROM SLAVERY."



For a thumbnail sketch see post on this blog of May 17, 2014 "Booker T. Washington" - Community Creator. 

For more in-depth knowledge Google his name 

MARCH 5TH - CRISPUS ATTUCKS DAY

Crispus Attucks (1723-1770)

Portrait of Crispus Attucks

Remembered as the "First to Die in the American Revolution", the life of Crispus Attucks is as controversial as the debates historians engage in when they discuss the negro runaway slave and question his place in history.

Who was Crispus Attucks? Was he a hero? Was he a patriot who died for freedom, or just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time?

The truth may never be known, but these facts we do know; He was born a negro slave and was believed to have had a Native American (Indian) mother. He was given the name Crispus Attucks. The name "Crispus" was most likely after Roman nobility "Crispus Ceasar" who was son of Constantine, c.300 AD. The name "Attucks" is believed to have been a Native American word -- many believe to also be the origin of the name for the Town of Natick (Massachusetts).

Death of Crispus Attucks at the Boston Massacre
by James Wells Champney, (American artist, 1843-1908)

Read the original documents from The Trial of the British soldiers charged with the murder of Crispus Attucks and other patriots at the Boston Massacre.

The following text is from a fugitive slave notice which ran on October 2, 1750 in The Boston Gazette-

10 Pound RewardFor Return of Run Away Slave Ran away from his master William Brown of Framingham on the 30th of Sept. last a mulatto fellow about 27 years of age, named Crispus, 6 feet and 2 inches high, short curl'd hair, his knees nearer together than common; and had on a light colour'd beaver skin coat, plain new buckskin breeches, blue yarn stockings and a checked woolen shirt. Whoever shall take up said runaway and convey him to his aforesaid master shall have 10 pounds old tenor reward, and all necessary charges paid. And all masters of vessels and others are hereby cautioned against concealing or carrying off said servant on penalty of law.

A poet wrote of Crispus Attucks and the Boston Massacre;

"And honor to Crispus Attucks, who was leader and voice that day; The first to defy, and the first to die, with Maverick, Carr and Gray. It riot or revolution, or mob or crowd as you may, such deaths have been seeds of nations, such lives shall be honored for ay". - John Boyle O'Reilly

"Crispus Attucks and the Minutemen" comic book from Fitzgerald Publishing Company's Golden Legacy Series, (1967).

Crispus Attucks is buried in the Granary Burial Ground, Boston, MA (USA).

---

A very good description of Crispus Attucks, his involvement in the March 5, 1770 Boston Massacre and other historical facts can be found in J.H. Temple's "History of Framingham 1640-1880", (published 1887). The first ten pages of Chapter V1, (pg. 246-256), under the title "War of the Revolution" provides some details of Attucks' life in Framingham, some details leading up Attucks' death, and some telling of the aftermath which ensued.

More Crispus Attucks Related Links:

• The Murder of Crispus Attucks - Documents and story about the trial of Crispus Attucks' murderers, (U.S. Library of Congress).
• Africans in America: Crispus Attucks - PBS teachers resources and information.
• Poem "Crispus Attucks" - from book "Original Poems", Olivia Bush, published Providence, Rhode Island, by Louis A. Basinet Press, 1899.
• Crispus Attucks Association - organization located in York, Pennsylvania (USA), actively promotes city rehabilitation projects and community programs.  Site contains historical information about Crispus Attucks.****ARTICLE COURTESY OF framingham.com

Microsoft® Translator

BLACK HISTORY MONTH (BIRTHDAY) PROFILE

If a "Ren-ais-sance man"  is - one with a stinging wit, an impeccable education, a profound knowledge of human history and culture, a "gentleman's" good taste in art, music and theater, and a philosopher's vision for a better humanity, then for Black people, that person would be...


...W.E.B. DU BOIS was born on February 23, 1868 as William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, three years after the end of the American Civil War. With his given birth name, and the name of a state like that, he was destined for greatness. He did not disappoint. Du Bois was a writer, scholar, sociologist, historian, Civil Rights activist, and Pan Africanist

Du Bois entered Fisk University in 1885 at the age of 17, and was granted sophomore status. He graduated from Fisk in 1888 and in 1891 he graduated from Harvard University, becoming the first Black man to earn a Ph.d degree, not to mention that from 1891-93 he did some graduate work at the University of Berlin in Germany. In the years to follow, Du Bois became a professor of sociology, history and economics at Atlanta University.

Du Bois was a prolic author. The amount of work he produced is so voluminous that it is estimated that his Annotated Bibliography of writings in magazines, journals, books, encyclopedias, pamphlets, leaflets, and manifestos, would balance out to him writing something scholarly every twelve days of his life for over fifty years.

 

W.E.B. Du Bois died on midnight of August 27, 1963,  the evening before the historic March On Washington. He was 93 years of age.  Du Bois is regarded as one of America's greatest intellectuals.

 

His various overall accomplishments in other walks of life are so great they could not even be mentioned in a blog of this size and scope. 

To learn more, please Google-search his name and prepare to be amazed. 

OH! BY THE WAY...DID I MENTION THAT IN 1909 HE WAS ONE OF THE CO-FOUNDERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE (NAACP)???  

BLACK HISTORY NEWS JOURNAL

January 1, 1794

             JEFFERSON CALLS NEGROES INFERIOR

     Comparing them (Negroes) by their faculties of memory,
reason, and imagination, it appears to me that in memory they are
equal to the whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one could be
scarcely found to be capable of tracing and comprehending the
investigations of Euclid; and that in imagination they are dull, (and)
tasteless...Religion, indeed, has produced a Phillis Wheatley; but it
could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her
name are below the dignity of criticism...I advance it, therefore, as
a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race,
or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the
whites in the endowments both of body and mind."

=====================================================

                                      BANNEKER REPLIES

     "Now Sir, I apprehend you will embrace every opportunity to
eradicate that train of absurd and false ideas and opinions which so
generally prevails with respect to us; and that your sentiments are 
concurrent with mine, which are, that one universal Father hath
given being to us all; and that he hath not only made us all of one
flesh, but that he hath also, without partiality, afforded us all the
same sensations and endowed us all with the same faculties;and that
however variable we may be in society or religion, however 
diversified in situation or colour, we are all of the same family and
stand in the same relation to Him...
     "Sir, suffer me to recall to your m ind that time, in which the
arms and tyranny of the British crown were exerted with every
powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of servitude...
This, Sir, was a time when you clearly saw the injustice of a state of
slavery and in which you had just apprehensions of the horrors of its
condition...you publicly held forth this true and invaluable doctrine,
which is worthy to be recorded and remembered in all succeeding
ages: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights and that among these are life, liberty and the 
pursuit of happiness.'"

==============================

FUGITIVE SLAVES
     A GROWING
         CLASS


     A growing class of fugitives is
forming in the North.
     Slave owners have begun
offering large rewards for their
"property." and promoting
anti-fugitive legislation.
     So common are newspaper
advertisements for fugitive
slaves, that the New London 
Gazette has designed a standard
picture for the ads. A fugitive
black is pictured carrying a
bundle on his head and a stick
in his hand.
     In several states, if free blacks
are not carrying papers they may
be arrested as fugitives and sold...
========================================

***The preceding were actual newspaper articles.

THE BLACK EXPERIENCE 102

=====================================
DID YOU KNOW?...THIS PERSON WAS A TEACHER IN MISSISSIPPI BEFORE BECOMING A WELL-KNOWN JOURNALIST.

===================================
CAN YOU NAME THAT PERSON?

===============================

Answer to previous quiz (1/29/15) BENJAMIN BANNEKER

Benjamin Banneker - COMMUNITY CREATOR

Benjamin Banneker was an inventor, surveyor, astronomer, mathematician, almanac author, clock maker, and peace activist. 

Born on November 9, 1731, he received very little education from the school system. Much of his knowledge of mathematics and science was self-taught.

When given the task, Banneker created a surveyor's map for Washington, D.C. which rescued city planners from the inaccurate calculations of previous surveyors. In this way, he helped to create one of the world's most beautiful cities.

To read the incredible bio of one of America's first true pioneers Google-search his name

IN MEMORY OF...

Charlie Sifford was born on 6/2/1922, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was a professional golfer, and a pioneer in the sport.

In 1952, after playing in numerous golf tournaments organized by Black golfers, he attempted to qualify for a PGA tour event at the Phoenix Open. He was refused, and met with threats and racial abuse.

At this time, Black golfers were excluded from playing with the association because of racial segregation, not only at that event, but at other tournaments as well.

In  1957, Sifford became the first Black man to win a professional golf tournament by winning the Long Beach Open. It was not a PGA event, but was co-sponsored by the PGA, and had a number of well-know white players in the field.

Finally in 1961 he was admitted to the PGA tour, thus becoming the first Black man to do so. 

Six years later in 1967, Sifford became the first Black man to win a PGA tour event when he won the Greater Harvard Open Invitational .

In 2004 he broke ground again, becoming the first Black man to be inducted into the World Golf  Hall of Fame.

Sifford passed away on 2/3/2015 at the age of 92, in Cleveland, Ohio.

To read the details of his life Google-search his name

IN MEMORY OF...

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Ernie Banks (1/31/1931 - 1/23/2015) was a baseball player affectionately known as "Mr. Cub." Reason being: he played his entire baseball career for one team; the Chicago Cubs. 

Banks joined the Cubs in 1953 and was the first Black man to play on that team. For 19 seasons, as a shortstop, left fielder and first baseman, he excelled. He played in 14 National League All-Star games and in 1958 and 1959 won an unprecedented back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

For a comprehensive view of his life and career Google-search his name.

BIRTH OF A KING

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on this day in 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia as Michael King Jr.  He and his father Michael King Sr. adopted the name Martin Luther, after the religious figure who founded the Lutheran denomination.

King was a minister and civil rights leader. At the age of 26, he took up the leadership role that would fill the rest of his life. He furthered the stubborn determination of Black people to break down the barriers of a racist American society.

His strategy of non-violent protest brought the passage of legislation that changed America.

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

To read the details of his life Google-search his name