Its February! Happy Black History Month !

[MisterMajestic]

Black History in Music:

@ the 2005 GRAMMY awards John Legend became the first Black Male Solo Artist to win “Best New Artist”…It took 48yrs...

[thatgirl]

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (1701–1773), also known as Job ben Solomon, was a famous Muslim who was a victim of the Atlantic slave trade. Born in Bondu, Senegal (West Africa), Ayuba's memoirs were published as one of the earliest slave narratives, that is, a first-person account of the slave trade, in Thomas Bluett's Some Memories of the Life of Job, the Son of the Solomon High Priest of Boonda in Africa; Who was enslaved about two Years in Maryland; and afterwards being brought to England, was set free, and sent to his native Land in the Year 1734. However, this version is not a first-person account.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayuba_Suleiman_Diallo

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo was an educated man from a family of Muslim clerics in West Africa. In 1731 he was taken into slavery and sent to work on a plantation in America. By his own enterprise, and assisted by a series of spectacular strokes of fortune, Diallo arrived in London in 1733. Recognised as a deeply pious and educated man, in England Diallo mixed with high and intellectual society, was introduced at Court and was bought out of slavery by public subscription. Through the publication of his Memoirs in 1734, Diallo had an important and lasting impact on Britain’s understanding of West African culture, black identity and Islam. In the early years of the nineteenth-century, advocates of the abolition of slavery would cite Diallo as a key figure in asserting the moral rights and humanity of black people.

Now on a five-year loan to the Gallery, William Hoare’s sensitive portrait of Diallo is the earliest known British oil portrait of a freed slave and the first portrait to honour an African subject as an individual and an equal. Painted at the time when there was a new interest in Islamic culture and faith in Britain, it provides a fascinating insight into the eighteenth-century response to other peoples and religions.

http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/displa...man-diallo.php

[thatgirl]

Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745 – 31 March 1797) also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement for the abolition of the slave trade. He was enslaved as a child, purchased his freedom, and worked as an author, merchant, and explorer in South America, the Caribbean, the Arctic, the American colonies, and the United Kingdom, where he settled by 1792. His autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, depicts the horrors of slavery and influenced the enactment of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaudah_Equiano

[MisterMajestic]

ThatGirl I see you're expanding Black History month in America across the water...LOL...

[thatgirl]

ThatGirl I see you're expanding Black History month in America across the water...LOL...

Well, MissAnne (she created the thread) said she was interested in Black History that wasn't limited to America but was more inclusive of the African Diaspora in other parts of the world. At least that's how I understood it.

For example, the last two guys I mentioned were traded in the Atlantic Slave Trade and were slaves in America before they obtained their freedom and went back abroad to England and elsewhere in order to become influential black figures in the movement to end slavery.

[chrisrobin]

.
Interested in Black History? Consider reading:



Howard Zinn reveals the Black POV that you don't get in standard U.S. History textbooks.

[MisterMajestic]

Black History in Theatre:

In 2004 Phylicia Rashad became the First Black woman to win the Tony award for Best Leading Actress in the play “A Raisin in the Sun”..

[MissAnne]

Well I didn't know this but, today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. GLAAD posted this:

[MissAnne]

Did you know ?

Tice Davids, a runaway slave from Kentucky, was the inspiration for the first usage of the term "Underground Railroad." Davids' owner assumed the slave had drowned when he attempted his swim across the Ohio River. He told the local paper that if Davids had escaped, he must have traveled on "an underground railroad." Davids, however, did live, giving the Underground Railroad its now-famous name.

[MissAnne]

Today in Black History:


February 8, 1894

Congress repeals the Enforcement Act which makes it easier for some states to disenfranchise African American voters.

February 8, 1986

Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show.

[xbuzzerx]

I feel kinda stupid not knowing that Oprah was the very first to have a talkshow.

[MissAnne]

I feel kinda stupid not knowing that Oprah was the very first to have a talkshow.

I didn't know that either.

[chrisrobin]

.
This would be a good time to remember the Massachusetts 54th Regiment:

http://www.nps.gov/boaf/historyculture/shaw.htm

Final scenes from the movie Glory, depicting African-Americans' of the 54th and their bravery in battle.

[bankside]

I feel kinda stupid not knowing that Oprah was the very first to have a talkshow.

I didn't know that either.

Don't feel bad - she must have been pretty close to the second person to ever have a talk show… It was pretty much nothing but Phil Donahue until she came along, and then the floodgates opened. It used to be almost a news program in her early days. Kind of like Oprah does Piers Morgan, but with a studio audience who got to ask questions.


edit - oh - there was Alan Thicke before her too.

[pat grimshaw]

Britain had TV talk shows in the 1960s

[BronzeBoyturnedBronzeMan]

damm i mite not be alive if it wasnt for mlk mr.x and all of the various people who supported the civil rights movement. now on to solving chicagos genoicde and the other various things happening in todays world. i sure mlk wouldnt want black to killen blacks like they are now, instead unite.But people do and see things for various reasons.. more peace and love. im thankfull

[Huntneo(PT)]

Shout out to Madam CJ Walker...

entrepreneur extraordinaire and (regarded as) the first self-made female millionaire. On her game...

[thatgirl]

Evolution of Black Barbie...

"Colored Francie" made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than a dark skin. The first African American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968. Black Barbie was launched in 1980 but still had Caucasian features. In September 2009, Mattel introduced the So In Style range, which was intended to create a more realistic depiction of black people than previous dolls.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie

Colored Francie 1967



Christie 1968




Black Barbie 1980



So In Style 2009-present

[Hard-up1]

Don't feel bad - she must have been pretty close to the second person to ever have a talk show… It was pretty much nothing but Phil Donahue until she came along, and then the floodgates opened.

You must mean daytime talk shows, as the Tonight Show is definitely a talk show and it goes back decades before with a range of hosts before.

That's kinda like counting soaps as dramas and ignoring primetime TV.

[bankside]

You must mean daytime talk shows, as the Tonight Show is definitely a talk show and it goes back decades before with a range of hosts before.

That's kinda like counting soaps as dramas and ignoring primetime TV.

Ahh, I would call Carson "comedy with interviews…" anyway don't want to go on too much of a tangent:

Evolution of Black Barbie...



Black Barbie 1980

Two things about that historic day:
1) Yaaaaay! Now little black girls could have a role model to promote unhealthy and unrealistic body image just like little white girls!
2) The thing I notice most is the photo on the packaging. Anyone else think it was odd for Mattel to enforce segregated dating policies? Why couldn't Black Barbie go out with White Ken, or vice versa? I mean maybe hoping for White Ken to be going out with Black Ken was a step more than the 80's could handle, but I was alive then, and I remember walking past toys like that and sit-coms like that coming up from the states and wondering why they wanted everyone to match. It stood out as bizarre and fake, even before I was 10 years old.

[MissAnne]

I had to laugh at this:

Black Barbie: She's Black, She's Beautiful, She's Dynamite

[Hard-up1]

Ahh, I would call Carson "comedy with interviews…" anyway don't want to go on too much of a tangent:

But that isn't a category. Television historians call them talk shows. See "Pioneers of Television" as just one example. Watched it this week.

And it wasn't Carson. His predecessors were certainly interviewing folks long before he was hired.

All that said, kudos to Ms. Winfrey. She owns it, pardon the pun.

And, what do you mean "don't want to go on too much of a tangent"? This is Hot Topics. We should be talking about cake already.

[xbuzzerx]

But that isn't a category. Television historians call them talk shows. See "Pioneers of Television" as just one example. Watched it this week.

And it wasn't Carson. His predecessors were certainly interviewing folks long before he was hired.

All that said, kudos to Ms. Winfrey. She owns it, pardon the pun.

And, what do you mean "don't want to go on too much of a tangent"? This is Hot Topics. We should be talking about cake already.

When I said "I didn't know she was first" I meant "first black person to have a nationally syndicated talkshow", rather than "first talkshow" or whatever.

[Hard-up1]

When I said "I didn't know she was first" I meant "first black person to have a nationally syndicated talkshow", rather than "first talkshow" or whatever.

No disagreement about Ms. Winfrey's role whatsoever, and didn't post that.

Was taking issue with the other statement that she was probably second to host a talk show. Simply not true, but really not about Black History Month. Bankside's statement was off, way off, and by decades.

[thatgirl]

Anyone else think it was odd for Mattel to enforce segregated dating policies? Why couldn't Black Barbie go out with White Ken, or vice versa? I mean maybe hoping for White Ken to be going out with Black Ken was a step more than the 80's could handle, but I was alive then, and I remember walking past toys like that and sit-coms like that coming up from the states and wondering why they wanted everyone to match. It stood out as bizarre and fake, even before I was 10 years old.

From what I've seen/read online on black sites/forums/blogs, African American women dating white men is still somewhat of a touchy subject in the AA community even though more AA women are open to the idea, now. A lot of it stems from how black women were sexually abused throughout American history by white men, so it's sort of still frowned upon by many. So, imagine how it would be 33 years ago debuting Black Barbie and pairing her up with White Ken. And I'm sure it would have been pretty taboo for the white mainstream as well. Especially for something target towards children. 0_o

I had to laugh at this:

It made me laugh, too. She's dynamite, mkay. ~

[thatgirl]

Octavia E. Butler, the first black woman to gain prominence as a science fiction writer.

Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction writer. A recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, Butler was one of the best-known African-American women in the field. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.

Butler was born and raised in Pasadena, California. Since her father Laurice, a shoeshiner, died when she was a baby, Butler was raised by her grandmother and her mother (Octavia M. Butler), who worked as a maid in order to support the family. Butler grew up in a struggling, racially mixed neighborhood. According to the Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Butler was "an introspective, only child in a strict Baptist household" and "was drawn early to [science fiction] magazines such as Amazing, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Galaxy and soon began reading all the science fiction classics."

Octavia Jr., nicknamed Junie, was paralytically shy and a daydreamer, and was later diagnosed as being dyslexic. She began writing at the age of 10 "to escape loneliness and boredom"; she was 12 when she began a lifelong interest in science fiction. "I was writing my own little stories and when I was 12, I was watching a bad science fiction movie called Devil Girl from Mars," she told the journal Black Scholar, "and decided that I could write a better story than that. And I turned off the TV and proceeded to try, and I've been writing science fiction ever since."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_E._Butler

Willie Eldon O'Ree

Willie Eldon O'Ree, OC, ONB (born October 15, 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, known best for being the first black player in the National Hockey League. O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins. O'Ree is referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of ice hockey" due to breaking the colour barrier in the sport, and has stated publicly that he had met Jackie Robinson twice in his own younger years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O%27Ree

[Cameron Haze]

those BYU students should be ashamed, this is why the world thinks that America is retarded...

[thatgirl]

Michaëlle Jean - first black Governor General of Canada

Michaëlle Jean (born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation, from 2005 to 2010.

Jean was a refugee from Haiti—coming to Canada in 1968—and was raised in the town of Thetford Mines, Quebec. After receiving a number of university degrees, Jean worked as a journalist and broadcaster for Radio-Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), as well as undertaking charity work, mostly in the field of assisting victims of domestic violence. In 2005, she was appointed governor general by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Paul Martin, to replace Adrienne Clarkson as vicereine, and she occupied the post until succeeded by David Johnston in 2010.
Jean is currently the Special Envoy for Haiti for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and Chancellor of the University of Ottawa.

Michaelle Jean was sworn in as a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on September 26, 2012, giving her the accordant style of The Honourable; however, as a former Governor General of Canada, Jean is entitled to be styled for life with the superior form of The Right Honourable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha%C3%ABlle_Jean

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - 1989 - Win First Grammy For Rap

The first award for Best Rap Performance was first presented to DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (the vocal duo consisting of DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith) for "Parents Just Don't Understand".[3] The ceremony was not without controversy; nominees Jeff and Smith led a boycott in protest of the award presentation not being televised, and some members of the rap community felt that more qualified artists were overlooked. After the 1990 ceremony, where Young MC won the award, the category was split into Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

These two categories were once again combined from 2012, as a result of a restructure of Grammy categories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_...ap_Performance

[Blk_Thickness]

Happy Black History Month, even though I do nothing to celebrate it, lol

[Hard-up1]

As I woke this morning, one of the three PBS affiliates I watch locally was carrying this documentary about Summer Hill School in Cartersville, GA. It was a wonderful way to wake, and conveyed the embodiment of Black Pride.

I know that the front line for civil rights was bitter and acrimonious of necessity as the status quo had to be confronted, but these people in the documentary are the back story, and represented more of day-to-day pride and the foundation of what Dr. King and others were promoting, a unified spirit, and a desire to love others.

If you have a chance, it is worth looking up on your PBS affiliate. The second link has a dropdown to find it in your broadcast market. For those abroad, I could not find it as a video on the web, only a brief trailer in the Documentary page of the first link.

http://www.summer-hill.org/

http://www.aptonline.org/catalog.nsf...2570C2006063B3

https://www.suntrust.com/Microsites/...ill/index.html

[chrisrobin]

those BYU students should be ashamed, this is why the world thinks that America is retarded...

............
those BYU students should be ashamed, this is why the world thinks that America is retarded...

[bankside]

From what I've seen/read online on black sites/forums/blogs, African American women dating white men is still somewhat of a touchy subject in the AA community even though more AA women are open to the idea, now. A lot of it stems from how black women were sexually abused throughout American history by white men, so it's sort of still frowned upon by many. So, imagine how it would be 33 years ago debuting Black Barbie and pairing her up with White Ken. And I'm sure it would have been pretty taboo for the white mainstream as well. Especially for something target towards children. 0_o

Depends what your experience is. 33 years ago in western canada, there weren't that many non-white people. So if you saw a non-white person in a relationship, they were probably dating a white person... because who else was there to date? If I think back, any non-white person my parents knew was dating or married to a white person. The only "homogenous" couples we knew were white, just based on statistics, until we moved down the street from a family that had immigrated from the Philippines where the marriage occurred unsurprisingly between two filipino adults.

In my grandparent's generation (born in the 1910's to 1930's) anglicans married anglicans, french catholics married french catholics, jews married jews, german lutherans married german lutherans, and ukrainian orthodox married ukrainian orthodox. That covered pretty much the entire spectrum of ethnocultural diversity on the prairies, apart from the aboriginal cultures being ripped apart by the anglican and catholic churches.

In my parents' and aunts & uncles' generation (postwar to 1959 or 60), they just didn't respect those boundaries any more, and immigration threw open the door for all kinds of new combinations from around the world. Or at least, one or two new combinations, since it took a while for immigration to change the face of the prairies. For the 70's kid, this seemed obvious and inevitable. We all watched apartheid in south africa with contempt…and with smug superiority to be frank…look at that inept and cruelly racist afrikaner government! To recreate apartheid in one's personal relationships would never be legitimate. That was the "white mainstream" view, at least for the youngest two generations (mine/parents).

In American pop culture, I suppose the issue got raised on the Jeffersons by Tom and Helen Willis….but even as a kid it was "obvious" through the portrayal of George's mockable bigotry toward them that interracial couples should be considered the socially approved norm. It seemed as though the show was crafting a message to help people who were maybe a little slow in the head to get over the idea that couples should be colour-coordinated.

Anyway to a prairie boy, the idea that people would have to separate into ethnic communities, or separate into ethnic churches, or ethnic couples, seemed very strange. For two reasons: first, where would you find all the black/brown/russian or portuguese people?(I had no idea how far advanced immigration was in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver) but, second, vaguely suspicious (why are these particular black/brown/russian/portuguese people trying to avoid joining in the rest of the general community when every immigrant I've ever known has lived on the same streets, dated the same people, integrated into the same community events just like the rest of us?)

Even the idea of ethnocultural community identity seemed somewhere between outdated, divisiveness, or a sad concession to the bigotry of the oldest dying generation. If it was to be expressed at all, it was through two weeks of Folklorama. Joan will bring the Jamaican patties, Frank's father is bugging him to practice for the Dragon Dance but he really wants to do hockey summer camp... Sylvia's brother will do the Ukranian Dancing no problem. The Orthodox Church hall got flooded, so they're sharing space with the Italians - Tzatziki trattoria! I'll bring Grandma's scone recipe but she's going to have to make the haggis herself cause…just, no. We all have a culture for exactly two weeks every summer. And then we go back to being Canadians.

30 years later, there is more complexity to it than that, and probably there was then, especially in places with more history. The entire history of Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton (hell, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan) occurred within the lifetime of a woman who held me when I was born. But from that perspective, then and now, it still looks baffling that people would restrict their dating based on how dead people treated other dead people. Or that Mattel would endorse it.

[xbuzzerx]

^Bankside, it totally makes sense what you're saying about how in the past in many parts of Canada, minorities would be intermarried with whites simply because there weren't large nonwhite communities around. In the U.S. and I'm not sure how "globally" this is studied, but I do know that intermarriage rate in the U.S. is heavily overlapped with assimilation. One of the groups with the highest intermarriage rates, for instance, are older northeast Asian immigrant groups-- Japanese, etc. It tends to be lowest with newest, non integrated groups-- you'll definitely find a lot more Japanese Americans married to whites than Cambodians or Thai, for example. Intermarriage rate has become one of the factors by which they gauge how well integrated a group is in the U.S.

[MisterMajestic]

February 8, 1986

Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show.

I didn't know that either...

Oprah was not the First Black woman to host a syndicated talk show...Della Reese was...Oprah saluted Della @ The Legends ball years ago and acknowledged the fact...

Della was also the FIRST Black woman to guest host Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show"....

Happy Black History Month, even though I do nothing to celebrate it, lol

Acknowledging it is just as good...

[xbuzzerx]

Shouldn't need introduction.

[xbuzzerx]

I have always admired Josephine Baker, a singer who acted as a spy for the Allies in WWII.

This scene of what she said while performing for troops is amazing.

[MissAnne]

Oprah was not the First Black woman to host a syndicated talk show...Della Reese was...Oprah saluted Della @ The Legends ball years ago and acknowledged the fact...

Della was also the FIRST Black woman to guest host Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show"....

Oh, Ooops.

I don't know why its all over the internet then. I thought that I got that from a reputable website.

Its there a difference between syndication and national syndication ?

[legend145]

Learning so much from this thread. Love it!

[Keeland]

William Hall, the first black to be honoured with the Victoria Cross.

In February 2010 Canada Post released a stamp to celebrate the remarkable story of William Hall, the first Black to be honoured with the Victoria Cross.

William Hall was the son of Jacob and Lucy Hall, former slaves who fled the US and landed in Halifax as refugees of the War of 1812. The Halls eventually moved to Horton Bluff, on the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia, where William and 6 other children were born. Like many Nova Scotians growing up in the age of sail, William chose to go to sea. He was only 15 years old when he joined the crew of a merchant ship. He served for three years in the American Navy and in 1852 joined the British Navy as an able seaman. During the Crimean War he saw action with a gun crew in the siege of Sevastopol (in present-day Ukraine). . . .

[thatgirl]

And then we go back to being Canadians.

lol, Welp. That's interesting.

Personally, as an immigrant, I have a bi-cultural identity and I work to preserve that... I never felt a desire to ditch one for the other in order to see myself as a "real" Canadian. No big.

I have always admired Josephine Baker, a singer who acted as a spy for the Allies in WWII.

This scene of what she said while performing for troops is amazing.

That was great.

[thatgirl]

Donyale Luna - First black model to get a Vogue cover (1966)

Donyale Luna (August 31, 1945 – May 17, 1979) was an American model and actress. In 1966, Luna became the first African American model to appear on the cover of British Vogue.

She also appeared in several underground films by Andy Warhol, and had roles in Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo? (1966), and most notably as Oenothea in Federico Fellini's Satyricon (1970).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donyale_Luna

Beverly Johnson - First black model to get American Vogue cover (1974)

Beverly Johnson (born October 13, 1952) is an American model, actress, and businesswoman. She made history when she rose to fame as the first black model to appear on the cover of American Vogue in August 1974. A year later, she became the first black woman to appear on the cover of the French edition of Elle. She is currently the star of the reality series Beverly's Full House on the Oprah Winfrey Network which focuses on her attempt to heal the flawed mother/daughter relationship with her daughter, Anansa Sims.

Johnson was honored in 2006 at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball along with Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Tina Turner and other female African Americans in entertainment, civil rights, and the arts. The New York Times named Johnson one of the 20th century's most influential people in fashion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Johnson

[thatgirl]

So, when I saw this behind-the-scenes photo of Sidney Poitier with Tony Curtis on my tumblr dash, I was all askdjkfjasd. Cuteness overload. I <3 Sidney Poitier and I <3 The Defiant Ones. I mean, for its time I can see why it would be cutting-edge in terms of trying to address issues about race/racism. It didn't age well in that regard (some of the stuff makes me LOL) but I still love it.

Original caption:4/10/1958-Kernville, California- Actors Sidney Poitier (L) and Tony Curtis have become close friends during the filming of "The Defiant Ones," a United Artists Picture directed and produced by Stanley Kramer. In the film, Tony plays a white boy who hates Negroes and then finds his destiny intertwined with Sidney's as both attempt to escape from a chain gang.

For his role in The Defiant Ones, Sidney Poitier became the first black man to be nominated for 'Best Actor' in the Academy Awards in 1958. He was also nominated for and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the Silver Bear for Best Actor. In 1963, he went on to become the first black man to win in the 'Best Actor' category for his role in Lilies of the Field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Poitier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Defiant_Ones

[thatgirl]

Falcon - mainstream comics' first African-American superhero (1969)

The Falcon, real name Samuel Wilson, is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan, and introduced in Captain America #117 (Sept. 1969), the character is mainstream comics' first African-American superhero. Marvel's previously introduced Black Panther is African, a native of the fictional country Wakanda. The Falcon followed the company's first African-American co-starring character, the non-superpowered World War II soldier Gabe Jones, and first regular supporting character, Joe Robertson of The Amazing Spider-Man. The Falcon debuted nearly three years before Luke Cage, Marvel's first African-American series star, and almost six years before the African character Storm, the first black female. The Falcon is also the first superhero of African descent not to have the word "black" as part of his superhero name, preceding the John Stewart Green Lantern by over two years. (The first African-American starring character in comics is Dell Comics' Old West gunfighter Lobo, introduced in 1965.)

In May 2011, Falcon placed 96th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_%28comics%29

Jackie Ormes -- first African American woman cartoonist

Jackie Ormes (August 1, 1911 – December 26, 1985) is known as the first African American woman cartoonist.

In 1950, the Courier began an eight-page color comics insert, where Ormes re-invented her Torchy character in a new comic strip, Torchy in Heartbeats. This Torchy was a beautiful, independent woman who finds adventure while seeking true love. Ormes expressed her talent for fashion design as well as her vision of a beautiful black female body in the accompanying Torchy Togs paper doll cut outs. The strip is probably best known for its last episode in 1954, when Torchy and her doctor boyfriend confront racism and environmental pollution. Torchy presented an image of a black woman who, in contrast to the contemporary stereotypical media portrayals, was confident, intelligent, and brave.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Ormes

[chrisrobin]

............
those BYU students should be ashamed, this is why the world thinks that America is retarded...

I was asked to provide solutions for America's retarded condition:

1. Improve our educational system. Make teaching attractive enough to recruit more good people*
2. Repair the infrastructure. (good way to create jobs)
3. Continue to develop alternate energy sources.
4. Implement high-speed railroads.
5. Accept global climate change. Take corrective measures.
6. Repeal Citizens United. Corporations are not people. Worst SCOTUS decision since Dred Scott.
7. Reinstitute Glass Stegall. Financial institutions are not casinos.
8. Repeal Marbury v. Madison. The Supreme Court has way too much power.
9. Persuade the upper 2% to contribute their fair share to generate revenue.
10. Get the fuck out of Afghanistan. (costing us two billion dollars a week!)
11. Get over Barack Obama's reelection.
12. Our legislators need to quit , stop behaving like petulant children and do the jobs that their constituents are expecting.

Currently, many nations regard the U.S. as a banana republic and for good reasons.

*I listed education deliberately.

[Axxess]

...
6. Repeal Citizens United. Corporations are not people. Worst SCOTUS decision since Dred Scott.
...

One would think that the more recent Plessy v. Ferguson would fit that description, but that's not important. This thread is about Black History Month, not America's perceived social and legal problems and your theories on fixing said issues. If you want to discuss such topics then make a new thread and talk about it there instead of derailing this thread.

[chrisrobin]

One would think that the more recent Plessy v. Ferguson would fit that description, but that's not important. This thread is about Black History Month, not America's perceived social and legal problems and your theories on fixing said issues. If you want to discuss such topics then make a new thread and talk about it there instead of derailing this thread.

Please re-read first line of post. I was asked how to make America less retarded by a fellow Jubber. See post #131. Your response merely reconfirms my original point. Meanwhile,

[kayman23]

Sure thing: here's some info on Amber Valley, Alberta:
It was settled by black homesteaders from Oklahoma just over a hundred years ago. The prejudice that would have given a strong reason for black families to stick together in a separate community weakened over time, and the settlement declined as farm life changed and people found better opportunities in other places in Alberta or the rest of the country. It's interesting that this Alberta story may be outside the US, but would not have happened without the US experience.

In fact when I think of "black history" in canada, i think of black people from the US as a cultural grouping, as opposed to, say, somalis or ghanaians or zimbabweans who have immigrated in the last 25 years or so…people who in some contexts might be considered part of the same demographic. But I think that's a different history month! Is there a "Black History Fact" that does not relate to the experience of people in the US?


https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Amber+...,+Alberta&z=15

Anyway, as you might guess from the map of Amber Valley as a farmer's field just north of a cloud, there is not a lot of black history on the canadian prairies, and not a lot of contemporary black presence with roots going back to the states either. I definitely noticed the demographic differences between my hometown and the US when I visited seattle…seattle has a huge black community compared to life in western Canadian cities, but Americans tell me Seattle is actually Whitey McWhiteville by comparison with other parts of the US.

Yep, Seattle is in fact that. Along with the other cities of Portland, Denver, and Salt Lake City...

[thatgirl]

Toni Morrison - First black woman to win a Nobel Prize (1993)

Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931) is an American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon and Beloved. She also was commissioned to write the libretto for a new opera, Margaret Garner, first performed in 2005. She won the Nobel Prize in 1993 and the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for Beloved. On 29 May 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Morrison

Lincoln MacCauley Alexander - Canada's first black Member of Parliament (1968)

Lincoln MacCauley Alexander (January 21, 1922 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, the federal Minister of Labour, and later as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, from 1985 to 1991. Alexander was also a governor of the Canadian Unity Council.

Alexander was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Mae Rose, who migrated from Jamaica, and Lincoln Alexander, Sr., a porter on the Canadian Pacific Railway who came to Canada from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He first distinguished himself in service to Canada in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. After the war Alexander completed his studies at Hamilton Central Collegiate and then to McMaster University in 1946 to study economics and history. Alexander graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto in 1953.

In 1968, Alexander ran in the Canadian federal election as the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the Hamilton West electoral district. He won, becoming Canada's first black Member of Parliament. He held the seat through four successive elections until stepping down in 1980.

[thatgirl]

SMH @ these vintage Valentines Day cards, tbh.

15 Unbelievably Racist Antique Valentine's Day Cards

In the early 1900s, racist imagery was widely used in consumer products—even Valentine's Day cards—and relied on caricatures and stereotypes to create humor. Harvey Young, Jr., an Associate Professor at Northwestern gave a talk last year on racist V-Day ephemera and had this to say:

They capture in a material object the racial discourse occurring at the moment...You can really get a sense of how common and everyday and widely accepted these cards were. It gestures to this past moment when racism was more apparent in society.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepste...ntines-day-car

[Huntneo(PT)]

SMH @ these vintage Valentines Day cards, tbh.

woooooooowww....really?


sometimes I really hate white people.

just joking, you guys.