Education

Monday, February 04, 2008

5 African Americans who Changed the World

Here are 5 outstanding African Americans who made contributions during the 20th century to change our world.  These 5 black history people usually rise to the top in the spotlight during black history month.


1) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Martin Luther King Jr. is the father of the modern civil rights movement.  He was born Michael Luther King, January 15, 1929, in Atlanta Georgia.

Dr. King earned his Ph.D. from Boston University in 1955 (a Doctorate in Theology).

He married Coretta Scott King in 1953.  The young 26 year-old Martin organized the Montgomery bus boycott with the Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and the NAACP in 1955 after Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to whites.

King became the first leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957.  By 1961, he was supporting freedom rides to integrate Southern lunch counters and rest rooms.

His famous “I Have a Dream Speech” was delivered on the Washington D.C. mall in 1963.  King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.  He was assassinated in 1968 as he was preparing to lead a labor protest march on behalf of sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.


2) Rosa Parks


The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1956 that segregation on common carrier buses was illegal.  The decision was reached primarily because of the Montgomery bus boycott that lasted one year.

Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger (December 1, 1955).  Arrested for her act, Parks eventually found justice in the courts.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented her with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor for a U.S. civilian.


3) Thurgood Marshall


Thurgood Marshall, (1908-1993), was born in Baltimore, Maryland.  “Mr. Civil Rights,” changed history in 1954 when he successfully argued Brown vs. the Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Brown case outlawed segregation in schools.

Marshall was educated at Lincoln University and Howard Law School.  He began practicing law in 1933, became assistant special counsel for the NAACP in 1936, then chief counsel in 1938.

He was the first director/chief counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (1940-1961).

In 1961, President John Kennedy appointed him Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals judge.  By 1965 he was appointed solicitor general in the Department of Justice.

Marshall was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967 becoming the first African American on the court.

Thurgood Marshall is considered the most prominent civil rights lawyer of the 20th Century.


4) Jackie Robinson


U.S. Army Lieutenant and former UCLA football great Jackie Robinson (1919-1972), entered major league baseball in 1945 by signing a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers’ farm team, the Montreal Royals.

Robinson, the first ever black player at the start of the 1947 season, was one of three African Americans on the roster of a major league baseball franchise by the end of 1947 (joined by Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians, and Henry Thompson of the St. Louis Browns).


5) Muhammad Ali


Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay on January 17, 1942, won an Olympic gold medal in Rome as a light heavy weight in 1960.

He defeated Sonny Liston in 1964 to win the heavy weight championship for the first time.  Ali won the crown again in 1974 by beating George Foreman.

"The Greatest” became the first in boxing history to win the heavy-weight title three times when he took out Leon Spinks in 1978.

Ali refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army (he was a conscientious objector on religious and moral grounds).  He was stripped of his first title in 1967.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 02/04 at 12:02 AM
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

50th Anniversary of “the Little Rock Nine” Students who made Black History

Ernest Green and Daisy Bates are important black history people central to the story of the “Little Rock Nine."

Little Rock Nine student Ernest Green was cast into the national spotlight in 1957 integrating all white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

He graduated in 1958, then went on to achieve his B.A. from Michigan State University in 1962, and his M.A. in 1964.  In 1977, President Jimmy Carter nominated Green to become Assistant Secretary of Labor in charge of employment and training.

Activist Daisy Bates co-founded Arkansas’ State-Press Newspaper.  In 1953, she was elected President of the Arkansas Conference of NAACP branches.

After the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court case (outlawing segregation in public schools), Bates pressured the Little Rock School Board to desegregate.

In 1957, nine students were selected to enroll in Central High School.  Twice during September of 1957, the Little Rock Nine were prevented from entering Central High.

Daisy Bates appealed to President Eisenhower.  Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock and the nine students were enrolled.  Governor Faubus of Arkansas then closed the high schools.  In August, 1958, the U.S. Eight Circuit of Appeals reopened the high schools.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 09/05 at 06:30 PM
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Wednesday, March 07, 2007

How New Museums are Preserving Black Culture

Museums that focus on the critical role of African Americans in U.S. history and culture are more popular than ever, and several cities are planning new or expanded facilities to attract tourists and scholars.

Birmingham, Alabama has a civil rights district that includes the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the site of a 1963 bombing that killed four young girls.  Another exhibit features the door to the jail cell where Martin Luther King Jr. sat in 1963 and wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

There are approximately 200 U.S. museums that focus on the African American experience.  Several new projects are on the drawing board.  Here are a few:

  • A museum in Atlanta to exhibit the papers of Martin Luther King Jr.
  • United States National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia
  • National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.

The old F.W. Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina, is being converted into a museum that will display the “whites only” lunch counter where, in 1960, four black college students launched the sit-in movement to protest segregation.

One of the newest museums is the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, which opened in 2004. It tells the stories of the estimated 100,000 slaves who escaped via the “underground railroad,” a loose network of clandestine routes and safe havens provided by abolitionists, freed slaves and other sympathizers.

Not all African American museums focus primarily on slavery or civil rights.

Museums in Dallas and New Orleans, among others, are dedicated to African American art and culture.

Kansas City, Missouri, has the American Jazz Museum.

There’s the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio, which created an exhibit that traced African dance over 400 years.

In New York, the Museum for African Art is being expanded and moved to a new home where it will be “a cultural gateway to Harlem,” according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The new museum in Washington, DC, which will take several years to develop, is going to cover the breadth of experience from African origins down to the present.

These museums are not just aimed at an African American audience, they are for everyone.  They create the opportunity to really understand the history of black people in the USA.

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Louise Fenner contributed to the research and wrote portions of this article.

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Check out the Association of African American Museums for more details and links to black museums across the USA.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 03/07 at 01:02 AM
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The Best Way to Discover Black History

Today, everyone seems to receive their 15 minutes of fame, whether they deserve it or not.  Our memories are short, so it’s good to be reminded from time to time about true originals who created their own models for success.

For this reason alone, the information that circulates during Black History Month is well worth keeping in front of global audiences.

Do you know someone who lacks a depth of knowledge about African American contributions?

I certainly do, that’s why we all can benefit from the focused stories about black history people during the month long February celebration.

I remember taking Asian/African history as an elective while a senior in high school, a course quite rare at the time.  Lerone Bennett Jr.’s book, Before the Mayflower, one of the main textbooks in the course, opened up a new world inside of my sixteen year old mind.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is now the first major city in the USA requiring a course in black history as a graduation requirement for all high school students.

Here’s a not so surprising revelation: some of the teachers in Philly observe that they are learning more than they think they’ve taught (about significant African American contributions) to their students.

The Philadelphia initiative is not without controversy, as debate continues about the value of segmenting black history into a box, at the expense of a multicultural approach.

All cultures can benefit from the experiences of others, we just have to respect what others bring to the table too.

Expanding our approach to consuming black history breaks apart what I call the one dimensional mold - that of viewing the center of past African American history as just social crusades by select individuals against discrimination.

So how do you soak in more stimulating ideas from diverse history makers while relaxing stress free at the same time?  How do most people do it?  How do you do it?  For some, it’s reading.  For others, it’s listening, For most, it’s watching - because all of our senses are activated when the visual eye is in the lead.

Take a look at the following information about a black history video DVD presentation we’ve created that comes highly recommended.

Watch the very short video clip, then reflect on another interesting Black History Month 2007 that comes quickly to a close today.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 02/28 at 01:05 AM
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Thursday, February 15, 2007

Black History People Visionaries and Pioneers

  • "What did Barbara Jordan do for us?”
  • "I need a report on Diana Ross”
  • “Something on Frederick Douglass”
  • “Do you have information on Malcolm X?”

These are four actual questions from among the many we received in the past week!  Yes, it is hard to find reliable information about African American visionaries and pioneers.

Here are 26 twentieth century personalities responsible for moving the American Dream forward you need to know about (in random order):

  1. Langston Hughes
  2. Marian Anderson
  3. Thomas Bradley
  4. Dr. Ralph J. Bunche
  5. Coretta Scott King
  6. Frederick Douglass
  7. Dr. Charles Drew
  8. Sammy Davis Jr.
  9. Shirley Chisholm
  10. Jesse Owens
  11. James Meredith
  12. Ella Fitzgerald
  13. William H. Hastie
  14. Richard Wright
  15. Malcolm X
  16. Diana Ross
  17. Charles H. Houston
  18. A. Philip Randolph
  19. Andrew Young
  20. Barbara Jordan
  21. Ronald Dellums
  22. Bo Diddley
  23. Rosa Parks
  24. Duke Ellington
  25. Lena Horne
  26. Joe Louis

    If you’d like to learn more about these achievers, (and you’ve signed up for our free black history biographies via email...and have confirmed your subscription), then you’ll be among the first to be able to benefit from an exciting new project profiling these African American legends coming soon.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 02/15 at 08:45 AM
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    Tuesday, January 30, 2007

    Diversity Data Explores USA Melting Pot

    We often think of black history in terms of past achievements by exceptional individuals.

    If you wanted a broad general snapshot of most African American people today, the trends in their neighborhoods, and the factors that will influence the emerging black leaders of tomorrow, where would you turn?

    A new website has created an extremely easy way to discover information about racial and ethnic groups in the USA by using census data gathered by the U.S. government.

    According to the creators, “Diversity Data is an online tool for exploring quality of life data across different metropolitan areas, for people of different racial/ethnic groups in the United States.”

    Diversity Data “provides values and rankings for the largest U.S. metropolitan areas on different indicators in 8 areas of life (domains), including demographics, education, economic opportunity, housing, neighborhoods, and health."

    Just pick a state, select a metropolitan area, then instantly observe what the trends reveal.

    By using an option called “customize profile,” you can dissect and analyze the information in more ways than you could ever imagine.

    Each state can be searched by selecting from the largest counties.

    The brainchild of this fantastic free tool is the Harvard School of Public Health.

    I highly recommend Diversity Data for:

    • Population Demographics and Diversity
    • Health
    • Housing Opportunities
    • Economic Opportunities
    • Education
    • Residential Integration and Neighborhood Characteristics
    • Crime
    • Physical Environment

    Where are the rural or urban centers in the USA where different racial and ethnic groups are striding ahead?  You’ll discover the answer to this question and a lot more by digging into Diversity Data online.

    The trends reflect possible history in the making.  If you spot differences in your state that are surprising, let the information challenge you to think about some ways you might influence your community’s destiny.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 01/30 at 01:05 AM
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    Wednesday, January 24, 2007

    Oprah's Roots Traces Family Tree

    Genealogy research and DNA analysis have been the rage the last few years.

    More African American families are using these technologies to discover African ancestral connections.

    The PBS television series African American Lives, hosted by Henry “Skip” Louis Gates Jr., (shown above with Oprah Winfrey), debuted in February during Black History Month, 2006.

    African American Lives is fascinating.  Famous black history people in the USA trace their lineage to Africa with Gates guiding the series along.  I was very glad I watched several episodes last year.

    It’s Oprah’s chance this week, with a new, updated episode.  One good thing about PBS, the programs are always repeated, so you’ll eventually get a second chance to watch Oprah’s Roots: An African American Lives Special.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 01/24 at 07:09 AM
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    Wednesday, December 06, 2006

    African American Eyes Score Nobel Peace Prize

    The first Nobel Prize was presented in 1901.  It took 49 more years for the first African American to be honored.

    On Monday evening, December 11, 2006, Lionel Richie will perform in Oslo, Norway to help celebrate the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

    Dr. Ralph J. Bunche was the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

    Toni Morrison won the 1993 Nobel Prize in literature, becoming the first African American writer to be honored.

    Every year prizes are awarded in literature, economics, chemistry, physics, medicine, and “the peace prize."

    Discover more about the amazing will of Alfred Nobel from NobelPrize.org.

    Here’s what NobelPrize.org says about their prominently featured interactive Nobel website games...

    "You don’t have to be a genius to understand the work of the Nobel Laureates. Games and simulations, based on Nobel Prize-awarded achievements, will teach and inspire you while you’re having fun!"

    "Students, teachers and non-professionals of all ages will enjoy testing and building their knowledge in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace and economics."

    I highly recommend that you check out the skill building games of NobelPrize.org.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 12/06 at 07:47 PM
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    Wednesday, June 21, 2006

    Dr. Carolyn Payton's Ethnic Psychology

    Former Dean and Director of the Howard University Counseling Service, Dr. Carolyn Payton (1925-2001) developed the first American Psychological Association accredited Pre-doctoral Internship Training Program in Clinical and Counseling Psychology at a historically black institution.

    Her work improved the quality of mental health services to underserved African American communities.

    Dr. Payton was the first woman to become Director of the Peace Corps (1977 during the Jimmy Carter Administration).

    The leader of the Peace Corps sets the agenda for nearly 10,000 volunteers in scores of developing countries around the world.

    Carolyn Payton was an outstanding educator who earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 06/21 at 01:54 PM
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