Black History is American history and by failing to remember the good and the bad…future generations lose momentum..

On the last day of #BlackHistoryMonth, I want to reconsider Black History along two lines: 1) the era of slavery and Jim Crow-an era that lasted over 300 years

and 2) the post-Civil Rights era-an era that is roughly 55 years old.

Let that sink in…300 years of separation and segregation compared to 55 years to try out liberty and integration. What other group of people in the history of people have had to endure such major contradictions in a country that isolated them completely from their native home, native languages, religions and customs?

Any historian could tell you that the odds of success would be slim to none. And yet, Black History illustrates over and over again that Black folks beat the odds over and over and over again. Of course with these highs there have been stubbornly persistent lows. There have been achievements and setbacks…

activism and new visions…

and Change and Hope presided over a nation for 8 straight years.

Black History is an incredible journey and the best thing about it is the fact that it is just getting started!
Cheers to you as you carve out your own piece of Black History. There are plenty of great chapters still left to write!

#BlackHistoryMonth
#TheGoodAndTheBad
#300YearsofOppression
#55YearsofOpportunity
#WriteYourChapter
#MarkYourEra
#YoureUpNow
#YoureUpNext

Black History is American history and by failing to remember the good and the bad…future generations lose momentum…

When Marian Anderson applied to a school of music in Philadelphia, she was rejected solely based on the color of her skin. Yet, her talent could not be contained by skin color or racism. Anderson’s voice was considered the greatest musical voice of her generation and in spite of not being accepted to formal music schools, Anderson became the Queen of opera and arias. In 1939, Anderson was invited to sing in Washington, DC before dignitaries and elites, but the Daughters of the Revolution who owned Constitutional Hall refused to allow Anderson to sing there because the hall was for “Whites Only.” The organizers than tried to rent a public high school but it too refused based on its “Whites Only” policy. Accustomed to rejection, Anderson collaborated with Eleanor Roosevelt and several Black activists including Charles Houston and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and they arranged a public concert for Anderson on the National Mall in front of the Lincoln monument on Easter Sunday, 1939. Over 75,000 people of all colors gathered to hear the great Anderson sing, and over 2 million people listened over the radio. Anderson, essentially laid the foundation for the March on Washington that occurred in 1963 and she was asked to sing at the event demonstrating that her actions 24 years ago had not gone unnoticed. Anderson chose a very fitting song to sing that day, “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands,” confirming to the audience of over 250,000 that rejection by man is no match for acceptance by God.

#BlackHistoryMonth
#SingBlackWomanSing
#MarianAnderson
#Legend
#MarchOnWashington

Black History is American history and by failing to remember the good and the bad…future generations lose momentum…

This film director, producer, screenwriter, and film distributor probably hasn’t even hit her stride yet, but she is already breaking barriers in the film and movie industry. Ava Duvernay is the first Black female director to have her film, Selma, nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy award. Her documentary, 13, was also the first documentary by a Black female director to be nominated for an Academy Award. Her current film, A Wrinkle in Time, makes her the first Black film director to direct a movie with over a 100 million dollar budget. What is even more amazing than Duvernay’s film accomplishments is her path to film making. An English and Afro American studies major at UCLA, Duvernay hoped to go into journalism but then turned to public relations and started her own PR firm, the Duvernay Agency, in 1999 as well as many other business ventures. It wasn’t until 2005 that she made her first short film and the rest is history. Duvernay is a good Monday morning reminder that your day job does not define you. Your dream is what truly defines you. Work the job until it is time to work the dream!

#BlackHistoryMonth
#AvaDuvernay
#BlackGirlsRock
#WorkYourDream
#WrinkleInTime

Black History is American history and by failing to remember the good and the bad…future generations lose momentum…

Long before Tiger Woods entered the golf world, Charlie Sifford was breaking barriers and making the road easier. A prolific golfer, Mr. Sifford was the first Black man to gain entrance to the PGA, an association that had a “whites only” clause in it’s bylaws. Although other Black players tried to integrate the PGA it was Sifford who after 9 years of unsuccessful attempts, finally broke the color barrier in 1961. Sifford credited Black athletes such as Joe Lewis and Jackie Robinson as helping him stay determined in spite of the death threats, hate mail and continual denials to the PGA. In 2004 Sifford became the first Black person inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Tiger Woods referred to Sifford as “the Grandfather I never had,” and in 2014 at the age of 91 and one year before his death, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

#BlackHistoryMonth
#CharlieSifford
#BarrierBreaker
#PGA
#Respect

Black History is American history and by failing to remember the good and the bad…future generations lose momentum…

W.E.B. Dubois is one of the greatest minds ever. He was the first Black to graduate from Harvard with a PhD. He also attended Fisk University and the University of Berlin in Germany. He co-founded the NAACP, he is considered the Father of American Sociology, and he was an activist, prolific writer, and Pan-Africanist. Born in 1868, Dubois experienced 19th and 20th century life as a Black American. Highly educated, the doors of the eminent universities would not hire him. He coined the phrase, “Double Consciousness” and explained that Black Americans lived a twoness experience in America…one as a Negro and one as an American. Writing in 1903, Dubois felt that being Black and American and trying to reconcile the two experiences would be difficult. Dubois hoped for it to be “possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.” 105 years later Dubois’ double consciousness is still relevant and scholars and intellectuals continue to debate his words and legacy.

#BlackHistoryMonth
#WEBDubois
#ProphetScholarActivist
#DoubleConsciousness

Black History is American history and by failing to remember the good and the bad…future generations lose momentum…

Feb. 23 will always be a special day of Black History celebration because Geneva Estelle Lamb Ellis was born on this day in 1926. Gebo as she was affectionately called represents a generation of strong, determined, practical and beautiful Black women who had to navigate between two worlds…the world that their parents groomed them in-a world of segregation, lynching, disenfranchisement, deference to all things White-and a world that their children, grand and great grand children would be groomed in-a world of new opportunities, Civil Rights, affirmative action, Black power and Black pride. Gebo, like all of these grand-mothers did the best they could bridging the gaps between such different generations. Their advice and wisdom emphasized manners, cleanliness, getting a good education, loving God and treating people right. They disdained lying lips, women who kept dirty homes and men who wouldn’t work. They churched hard, gardened harder, saved any and everything, and gave to everyone in need. They healed with aloe plants, spider webs, snuff, pine needles, castor oil and red clay. And they loved. They loved unconditionally, matter of factly and unfailingly. They raised their own, their neighbor’s children, their grands and a few greats on incomes that could barely sustain one person. And in spite of it all, we are here as testaments to their commitment and faith. For their sacrifices, their tears, their pain, I salute my Gebo and all the Black grandmothers like her who became the backbone of an entire generation. Your living was not in vain. Make sure their living was not in vain.

#BlackHistoryMonth
#GrandMothers
#Gebo
#RestingInHeaven

Black History is American history and by failing to remember the good and the bad…future generations lose momentum…

This is a picture of what separate but equal looked like. The Black man seated at the desk outside the classroom is George McLaurin. He was the first Black student admitted to the PhD program at the University of Oklahoma and to attend the school he had to sue for admission. The practice was that if Black students applied to public White colleges and universities, rather than admit them, the White institution would pay for the Black students to attend the nearest Black college or university. McLaurin already had his Master’s degree and wanted to obtain a doctorate. The only PhD program was at Oklahoma so McLaurin sued to attend. Yet his admission came with conditions. All of his campus experiences-his dining experiences, library visits, bathrooms, athletic seating- would have to be segregated. McLaurin decided enough was enough. With Thurgood Marshall as one of his lawyers, he sued the University of Oklahoma again claiming the segregated class experience prevented him from an equal learning experience and his case made it all the way to the Supreme Court in 1950. The Supreme Court sided with Mr. McLaurin and this marked the beginning of the end of segregating public schools, colleges and universities. Although Mr. McLaurin did not finish his PhD program at Oklahoma, his courage and commitmemt to endure the extreme isolation and exclusion that he experienced is a testament to his strength. Salute.

#BlackHistoryMonth
#GeorgeMcLaurin
#SeparateAintEqual
#PhDLife
#BreakBarriers
#BlackMenRock

Black History is American history and by failing to remember the good and the bad…future generations lose momentum…

Black History has been made once again in the 2018 #WinterOlympics! This Nigerian bobsled team became the first African nation to compete in the bobsledding event marking what will perhaps be the beginning of a new era. Teammates, Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga raised money to sponsor their trip through Go Fund Me. In addition to a tough financial challenge, the women found themselves without a coach or a bobsled a week before their history making moment after the coach abruptly quit. Yet, they persisted and with much support they found and purchased another sled to use for the competition. Although these real-life #Wakanda women warriors finished last place in their first ever Winter Olympics, they have already torn down barriers for others to follow in their footsteps. They also remind us that the path with the most resistance is usually the path that will lead to the most success!

#BlackHistoryMonth
#AfricanBeauties
#WakandaWarriors
#Trailblazers
#Persist
#Nigeria