Research

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Black History People Android App

Black History People Android AppDiscover the profiles of nearly 100 black history people in the free Black History People App for Android smart phones.

Authors, poets, civil rights, politics, education, sports, entertainment, art, business, inventors, law, medicine, science, aviation, and music are categories you can explore in the app.

You can Download the Black History People App directly to your Android smart phone using the web browser in your phone.  Install it after downloading.

If you use a Blackberry, iPhone, or a full featured cell phone with a web browser…no problem.  The app exists as it’s own website at BHP365.mobi.




Posted by Hugh Smith on 05/11 at 08:45 PM
Education • Civil Rights • Film • Government • Inventors • Law • Medicine • Entertainment • Poets • Politics • Research • Science • Sports • Technology • (0) Comments • Permalink

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

USA Black History from Africans, Europeans, and Asians

"58% of the African American community has at least 12.5 percent European ancestry which is the equivalent of one great grand parent."

This revelation comes from Henry Louis Gates Jr., Executive Director and host of the PBS series, Faces of America.

Gates is also Director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

“Skip" Gates has used genealogy and genetics to trace families histories.

The opening statistic I used to magnify universal black history implies that the focus for better understanding must be global, rather than just USA based (for Americans).

Dr. Gates is set to expand his future footprint as he’ll be bringing us The Black Americas, a four hour TV series examining black culture in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Gates notes that “Brazil is the 2nd largest black nation in the world after Nigeria."

African global migration out of the continent following the dawn of man has fostered complicated African - European and African - Asian ancestry.

Runoko Rashidi (pictured here), a historian, research specialist, writer, world traveler, and public lecturer focusing on the African foundations of world civilizations is an expert in this area.

He has made presentations at more than 125 colleges, universities, secondary schools, libraries, book stores, churches and community centers.

Traveling the international circuit Runoko has lectured in over 50 countries.

Some of Dr. Rashidi’s expertise:

  1. The African Presence in India - black presence in India in ancient and modern times
  2. The African presence in Southeast and East Asia - black presence in ancient Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, China and Japan
  3. The African presence in the Americas - African presence in the Americas from ancient to modern times
  4. The African presence in the Middle East - African presence in Southwest Asia from ancient to modern times
  5. The Black presence in South Asia - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh from ancient to modern times
  6. The African Presence in Europe - the African presence in early Europe
  7. High in the Andes - Runoko’s travels in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia
  8. Return to the Nile Valley - a comprehensive look at the African presence in ancient Egypt and Nubia
  9. Runoko Rashidi Live in Egypt - Interviews in Egyptian museums and temples
  10. Who is the Original Man? - A look at Africa as the Mother Continent of humanity
  11. Asia and Blacks - A television interview featuring Runoko Rashidi on the African presence in ancient and modern Asia

These are some of his DVD titles that explore the global presence of black people.

Black history cross-cultural interconnections are fascinating.  Discover more by visiting Dr. Runuko Rashidi on the web.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 02/17 at 06:30 PM
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Iconic African Americans in Philadelphia Go Digital

Audacious Freedom, African Americans in Philadelphia, 1776 - 1876, is a modest sized but creative new 2009 black history exhibit with a focus on 18th and 19th Century City of Brotherly Love legends.

The African American Museum in Philadelphia, (just a block away from the National Constitution Center), is hosting this new permanent exhibit which opened on Juneteenth.

On a recent Sunday, I toured the galleries and was pleasantly surprised by the electrified presence of 10 symbolic representatives of the era, who tell their stories in the first person, through the magic of digital video technology.

Here is Octavious V. Catto, the post Civil War Philadelphia educator, talking to his audience.

Each of the 10 historical figures recreated by actors comes alive in life-sized high definition screens.  Visitors can press buttons on the kiosks to interact with the personalities who talk about the issues of their day.

Kids have their own special area of the presentation allowing them to interact with the exhibit and experience how post Civil War kids connected with day-to-day living.

According to AAMP President and CEO Romona Riscoe Benson, “Audacious Freedom gives us the opportunity to celebrate the richness of the culture and experiences of people of African descent.”

Although the video elements are a highlight of the exhibit, visitors can still view traditional pictures, artifacts, and timelines documenting the rich contributions African Americans have made to Philadelphia’s important history.

Visit aampmuseum.org for more information.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 06/24 at 06:30 PM
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Black History Month Highlights 2009

Black History Month 2009 still has a few days to go.  So far, we’ve had over 20,000 searches through our main website (BlackHistoryPeople.com) for interesting black history people.

Here are our top 10 searches (in order) for February, 2009:

  1. Rosa Parks
  2. Harriet Tubman
  3. Martin Luther King Jr.
  4. Bill Cosby
  5. Barack Obama
  6. Jesse Owens
  7. Louis Armstrong
  8. Daisy Bates
  9. Jackie Robinson
  10. Thurgood Marshall

Thanks for all of your excellent suggestions and feedback.  Remember to grab our Black History People List and share it with your friends.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 02/25 at 07:00 AM
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Black History People for Black History Month Projects

Even though Black History Month began in 1976, Dr. Carter G. Woodson created what was once known as Negro History Week in 1926.

Dr. Woodson selected the second week of February between the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln to honor African American culture, sacrifice, achievement, and societal contributions.

Now generating global interest, black history is saluted internationally.  For instance, October is Black History Month in the United Kingdom.

If you are looking for some interesting people to spotlight for your projects and celebrations, you’ll want to grab Black History People for Black History Projects, a new tool from BlackHistoryPeople.com.

Turn on your computer speakers, watch the short 30 second video, and discover more!

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Get Black History People for Black History Projects right now.



Posted by Hugh Smith on 01/28 at 06:30 PM
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Martin Luther King Jr. Online Archive

The MLK Jr. Archival Collaborative, an online home for the electronic display of the papers of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is now live on the Internet.

Three institutions partnered to make this ‘research rich’ website happen:

  • The Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center
  • The Howard Gotlieb Archival Center at Boston University
  • The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University

You can electronically search and view Dr. King’s papers, writings, and documents housed in Atlanta, Georgia, and Boston, Massachusetts.

The Boston University Dr. King archive alone includes more than 80,000 items.

A few bugs exist in the online search system.  I searched using the keywords “nobel prize.” Several of the links that were returned were test links.  In addition, there were quite a few server errors.

I’m sure the technical problems will be resolved soon, as the site is only a day old as of this writing.

Congratulations to the 3 institutions whose partnership made this historic black history website possible.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 01/14 at 12:00 AM
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