Civil Rights

Friday, March 02, 2007

MLK DC Memorial Fund gets closer to Goal

February 2007 was the best fundraising month yet for the Martin Luther King Jr. Washington, DC National Memorial.

Harry Johnson, President and Chief Executive of the memorial’s foundation is asking everyone, including school kids, to get involved in the effort to raise the $100 million dollars needed to build and maintain the memorial on the national mall.

On February 27th, the National Association of Realtors announced a $1 million donation, bringing the total value of gifts raised from all sources to $78 million dollars.

Last week, I donated copies of the Empower Encyclopedia Salute to Black History DVD to a silent auction, sponsored by a major media organization, with all proceeds going to the King Memorial fund.

You can claim your copy of the Empower Encyclopedia Salute to Black History DVD and take advantage of a special incentive that ends today for readers of our blog.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is scheduled to open in 2008, facing the Jefferson Memorial, on the banks of the Tidal Basin.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 03/02 at 08:49 AM
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Monday, February 26, 2007

Journalist Frederick Douglass Honored

On Monday, February 26, a plaque was unveiled in the U.S. House of Representatives Press Gallery in Washington, DC honoring civil rights activist Frederick Douglass (1817-1895).

Best known for his support of the Abolitionist (anti-slavery) movement, Douglass spent most of his career as a journalist.  He founded the North Star, an African American newspaper, in 1847.

He was the first black reporter allowed into the Capitol press galleries.

Journalists watch laws being created on the floors of the House and Senate from the press galleries.

Douglass was instrumental in urging President Abraham Lincoln to use black troops in the Civil War.

During Reconstruction after the war, Frederick Douglass kept the African American community informed about what was really happening in Congress.

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Posted by Hugh Smith on 02/26 at 06:27 PM
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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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    Thursday, January 04, 2007

    Martin Luther King 15

    Happy New Year!

    Martin Luther King Day is January 15.  This year, the holiday falls on his actual birthday.

    To raise awareness of the campaign to make his birthday a national holiday in the USA, I proudly secured the license plate “King 15” several years before Congress passed the law.

    Unfortunately, today I’m asked by clueless citizens if my license plate refers to a gang!

    How much do you know about Martin Luther King Jr.?

    Go to our website, Black History People Quiz, and add a simple question with the correct answer about the life of MLK.

    I will select the best submissions between now and January 16.  Winners will receive a free copy of our black history software, “Empower Encyclopedia."

    You must submit both your question with the correct answer to be eligible to win.

    All winners will be contacted by email, so make sure you use your correct email address.  Good luck.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 01/04 at 07:00 AM
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    Wednesday, November 15, 2006

    The Martin Luther King Jr. Washington DC National Memorial

    Ground was broken this week in Washington, D.C., for the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.

    This photo is a computer enhanced model of what of the completed memorial will look like. Here are some fast facts about the project from the official MLK National Memorial website:

    • President Bill Clinton signed a Joint Congressional Resolution authorizing the building of a memorial for Dr. King on July 16, 1998.

    • The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial will be adjacent to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and on a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

    • The Memorial will evoke the memory and spiritual presence of Dr. King.

    • The groundbreaking was contingent upon raising the estimated $100 million dollars required to build and maintain the memorial.  $60 million has been raised so far.

    Visit the official website, discover the dream team members who are supporting the effort, and find out how you can help too.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 11/15 at 09:21 PM
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    Thursday, August 17, 2006

    Charles Sifford Links Black History to a Tee

    Golf Digest has profiled an amazing trailblazer, Charles Sifford, the first African American man to play on the Professional Golfers Association Tour (PGA).

    Forty years ago, for his own security, police escorted Sifford when he walked the fairways at professional tournaments.

    When he played in the 1961 Greater Greensboro Open, he was introduced on the tee as “Charlie Sifford ... the first black man to ever play golf in the South in a white tournament.” The nickname “Charlie” stuck, however Sifford counters, “My name is Charles Sifford."

    Despite dealing with death threats, discrimination, and verbal abuse from fans and peers, he won two PGA Tour events as well as the 1975 Senior PGA Championship.

    In 2005 at age 82, Sifford was honored as the first African American man inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

    Among black history people, and golfers of every ethnicity, Charles Sifford made a name for himself through his talent and determination.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 08/17 at 07:00 PM
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    Thursday, July 27, 2006

    Clarence Mitchell: the 101st Senator

    Clarence Mitchell, (1911-1984), earned the nickname the “101st. Senator,” thanks to his effective USA lobbying efforts for civil rights.

    His influence helped pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965, and just recently renewed for another 25 years by President George Bush in July, 2006).

    Mitchell helped extend a ban against voting literacy tests in 1970.  He was instrumental in gaining enforcement powers for the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) in 1972.

    President Jimmy Carter awarded Mitchell the Medal of Freedom in 1980 for his lifetime battle for civil rights.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 07/27 at 09:01 PM
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    Wednesday, June 28, 2006

    MLK Collection Safe and Sound

    Personal papers and books of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are safe and sound.

    Valued at about $30 million, the individual components of the collection were to be auctioned off to the highest bidders this week.

    Dr. King’s alma matter, Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia will receive the entire collection.

    Corporate donors and philanthropists put up the money to secure the collection for Morehouse.

    Andrew Young, an advisor of Dr. King, and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin lead the effort to liberate the civil rights leader’s archive from Sotheby’s auction house.

    I never had a doubt that this happy outcome would materialize.

    Dr. King’s papers are clearly one of the most valuable collections of 20th century history.

    Among black history people, Dr. King’s impact supersedes race.

    His legacy as a Nobel Peace Prize winner proves how possible it is for one person to change the world.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 06/28 at 02:44 PM
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    Monday, May 22, 2006

    Black History Dunham Dance

    Katherine Dunham, (1910 - 2006), the accomplished choreographer, dancer, teacher, humanitarian, anthropologist, civil rights activist, and black history pioneer, has passed away at 96.

    In the late 1930’s, she established the USA’s first self-supporting all-black modern dance company.

    The Joliet, Illinois native worked her way through the University of Chicago by giving dance lessons.  She operated a clinic for disadvantaged children in Haiti, and at one time was the Director of Performing Arts at Southern Illinois University.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 05/22 at 12:57 PM
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    Tuesday, May 02, 2006

    the Charles H. Houston Institute for Race & Justice

    Dr. Charles Ogletree, of the Harvard Law School, was recently on the Michael Eric Dyson radio show, to talk about among many other things, his new book: “From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State: Race & The Death Penalty in America."

    What caught my ear during the interview was when Dr. Ogletree mentioned “his website,” “CharlesHamiltonHouston.org."

    Knowing the background of the legendary Houston, It sounded unusual to my ear for Ogletree to reference Houston’s name as his website.

    Charles H. Houston, (1895-1950), was a premier constitutional lawyer and civil rights pioneer.  Under his watch as Dean of the Howard University Law School, many great lawyers were educated, including future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

    Houston won the famous 1935 Murray Case, a ruling that opened enrollment up to African American students at the University of Maryland Law School.

    The web presence of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice, founded in late 2005, is in a manner of speaking, Dr. Ogletree’s website, honoring Houston for his outstanding Twentieth Century contributions.

    Professor Ogletree is the founding director, and Executive Director, of the Institute.

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 05/02 at 08:39 PM
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    Thursday, April 27, 2006

    Marian Wright Edelman - Children's Champion

    Here’s a quick review of an important woman who has dedicated her life to the cause of helping others...

    Social activist and Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman hails from Bennettsville, South Carolina.

    Despite the racial segregation and poverty of 1939 when she was born, her parents encouraged her as a young girl to overcome these odds.

    Marian attended Spelman College, the first college for black women in the USA. In the next phase of her life, she proudly served in the Atlanta, Georgia office of the NAACP, an assignment that inspired her to become an attorney.

    Edelman graduated from Yale Law School in 1963, and in 1965, she became the first African American woman to pass the bar in Mississippi.

    Marian also distinguished herself by serving as the Director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University.

    She began the non-profit Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) in 1973. CDF is a strong contemporary national voice for children.

    The Children’s Defense Fund secured the 1990 Act for Better Child Care, dedicating over $3 billion in funds for improving day-care facilities and other programs to help poor children.

    Marian Wright Edelman’s awards include:

    • The Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize
    • The Heinz Award
    • The Ella J. Baker Prize
    • The Presidential Medal of Freedom.

    She was also a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellow, and has served on the Board of Trustees of Spelman College.

    Marian has written many articles and books, including “The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours” (A number 1 New York Times best-seller).

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    Posted by Hugh Smith on 04/27 at 07:48 PM
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    Tuesday, April 04, 2006

    The Ruby Bridges Story

    The William Frantz Public School in New Orleans may not have any significance to you, but for Ruby Bridges, her elementary school is an important part of Louisiana and U.S. history.

    We received a question from Victoria Hart asking about the fascinating story of Ruby Bridges.  Ruby was thrust into the spotlight as a six year old attending kindergarten on November 14, 1960, just months after a federal court ordered New Orleans public schools to desegregate.

    Read Ruby’s reflections about how a brave six year old girl got some life lessons in school she’ll never forget.  It’s the real Ruby Bridges story, from the lips of one of only four black students who would integrate the New Orleans public school system in the Fall of 1960.




    Posted by Hugh Smith on 04/04 at 09:13 PM
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    Wednesday, March 15, 2006

    Civil Rights Eyes on the Prize to Rise Again

    A new generation will be able to see the landmark civil rights documentary Eyes on the Prize in the Fall of 2006.  The last airing on USA public television was over 12 years ago.

    In 1987, the first six hours of the series captured the imagination of TV viewers through riveting first person narratives of 1954 - 1965 civil rights stories told by black history people with varying degrees of fame.  Eight additional hours were produced in 1990 expanding on the African American experience through 1985.

    When you don’t own the rights to use intellectual property, you have two choices.  Find public domain material, or pay to the license holder piper.  Eyes on the Prize used 110 songs, along with 80 reels of archival film, and 95 still photos.

    Hundreds of licenses have expired keeping the production silent since 1990.  Ford and Gilder foundations have raised $800,000 to renew these licenses for the rebroadcast of at least the first six hours.  PBS will air the rebroadcast on the program American Experience.

    During the five years my team and I took to develop our Empower Encyclopedia black history project, we proactively sought out as much public domain material as was available to minimize the very situation in which the producers of Eyes in the Prize inherited.

    Sometimes a project gets so ambitious, that reasonable caution is cast aside in favor of financial agreements made by the buyer that have very negative long term consequences.

    If you come across an Eyes on the Prize DVD on an auction site, it’s an illegal bootleg.  Just remember that the series has been out of print for 12 years.  Video tapes are extremely hard to find.




    Posted by Hugh Smith on 03/15 at 07:45 PM
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