More Black History

Garrett A. Morgan was an inventor and businessman from Cleveland Ohio. Morgan is credited with inventing: The gas mask, the traffic light, and the zig-zag stitching attachment for sewing machine. Morgan is also credited as being the very 1st African-American to own a car.

As We Round out February

I didn't quite meet my goal of posting everyday but as I find new interesting facts I will still be posting and sharing. Also thanks to everyone who has left comments!

I did a little research on the terms: negro, black, & African American. I looked more closely at these classifications because I have a hard time describing myself as black. I've never actually seen a black person, maybe cinnamon brown, cocoa colored, or even plum colored but never black. I, as I'm sure other people have, have been searching for a better term to describe my race and I've decided that black just ain't it! I also used to oppose African-American, because people who are from the continent of Africa and migrate to America are considered African-American. After my research I think African-American will suffice until I can come up with something else. So take a look at what I found, hopefully it will open your mind a little.

Negro/Colored/Nigrah/Nigger-1960
The term negro, literally meant "black", was used by theSpanish and Portuguese to refer to dark-skinned people. It fell out of favor by the 1970s in the United States, though it is still in use by a small number of older individuals (in its original sense)
Lyndon B. Johnson was the last American president to publicly refer to the African American population as Negroes, which, for much of his life, he pronounced "nig-ruhs", widely considered an insult by African Americans.

Black-70’s The Black Power movement defiantly embraced Black as a group identifier—a term they themselves had repudiated only two decades earlier—a term often associated in English with things negative and undesirable, proclaiming, "Black is beautiful".

Afro-American first used by Maya Angelou-1980’s
African American- During the 1980s, the most influential proponent of the widespread adoption of the term was Jesse Jackson. Jackson and like-minded persons argued that African American was more in keeping with the United States tradition of "hyphenated Americans", which links people with their ancestors' geographic points of origin, and allows people to assert pride in their ethnic heritage, while maintaining an American national identity. There is some criticism of the term 'African American'. To be African American, some argue that an individual would have to be born in Africa, then immigrate to the U.S., and then obtain citizenship. By this definition, an overwhelming majority of Black Americans would not be African American, but of African descent.

It Ain't Over

Okay here's another little known black history fact that I just read today and thought I'd share:


As track and field athlete, Alice Coachman was the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in Olympic competition. Initially banned from training with white athletes as a child, Coachman created her own athletic regimen and made her own equipment until she was able to join her high school team. She won a scholarship to the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and competed as the only African-American athlete on five All-American teams. At the 1948 Olympics in London, Coachman battled through back problems to take home the gold medal. She was the only American woman to medal that year.

Always So Innovative

"We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us"

Doesn't that quote still ring very true for many of us today? Those words were spoken by Samual Cornish and John B. Russwurm on the front page of Freedom's Journal, the very 1st black owned and operater newspaper that was ever published in the US. This was a weekly publication in New York from 1827 to 1829.
Freedom's Journal denounced slavery and advocated for black people's political rights, the right to vote, and spoke out against lynchings. As a paper of record, Freedom's Journal published birth, death and wedding announcements. To encourage black achievement it featured biographies of renowned black figures such as Paul Cuffee, a black Bostonian who owned a trading ship staffed by free black people, Touissant L'Ouverture and poet Phyllis Wheatley. The paper also printed school, job and housing listings.

Just another Black History Fact for ya. It's something I didn't know so I thought I would share.

You Go Girl!

"Tears will get you sympathy. Sweat will get you change."-Jesse Jackson, minister and activist




Carol Mosely-Braun made history in 1992 when she was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first, and thus far only, black woman senator. Her election marked the first time Illinois had elected a woman, and the first time a black person was elected as a Democratic Party candidate to the United States Senate. She was one of two African Americans to serve in the Senate in the 20th century, and was the sole African American in the Senate from 1993 to 1999.
In Sept. 2003, she announced her candidacy for U.S. president making her the 3rd Black woman in history to try to become the president, but pulled out in Jan. 2004 to throw her support to Howard Dean.

Moseley-Braun graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1969 and earned a law degree from the University of Chicago in 1972. She currently owns and runs a private law firm, Moseley Braun LLC in Chicago.

Say It Loud!

Black History Quote for the Day: "Freedom is never given; it is won." A. Phillip Randolf

I think people like Shirley Chisholm exemplify this quote. Mrs. Chisholm was the first black person ever to run for President Candidacy. In 1964 Chisholm ran for a state assembly seat which she won and served in the New York General Assembly from 1964 to 1968. In 1968, after finishing her term in the legislature, Chisholm campaigned to represent New York's Twelfth Congressional District. Her campaign slogan was "Fighting Shirley Chisholm--Unbought and Unbossed." She won the election and became the first African American woman elected to Congress. On January 25, 1972, Chisholm announced her candidacy for president, which she did not win but received 151 delegate votes.

Women like Mrs. Shirley Chisholm make me proud to be a Black woman! For more information on Shirley Chisholm, of course you can Google her or check out this link: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/reference/articles/shirley_chisholm.html

The History of Black History Month

As we all know February is Black History Month, so I thought it would be cool to try to post everyday a new and maybe little known black history fact. Don't worry, I'm going to cover each one of those 6 folks who ran for president so you can look for that coming soon!

So, here is today's fact" Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History Week" and later as "Black History Month". We owe the celebration of Black History Month, and more importantly, the study of black history, to Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Dr. Woodson, a Harvard PhD, decided to take on the challenge of writing Blacks into history books.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, we speak your name. (I borrowed that from Oprah!) I thank God that Dr. Woodson inconvenienced himself to do something special for his people. Without people like him we would still be absent from all history books, save for the brief mention we get when slavery is glanced over as the Emancipation Proclamation is taught.