Black History 365 | # 55 Harriet Tubman

Did you know Harriet Tubman carried a small pistol with her on her rescue missions, mostly for protection from slave catchers, but also to encourage weak-hearted runaways from turning back and risking the safety of the rest of the group.

Black History 365 | #52 Frantz Fanon

Frantz Fanon was a psychiatrist and anti-colonial cultural theorist. He enrolled in the University of Lyon where he studied psychiatry. With this degree, Fanon applied psychiatric theories to his personal experiences as a Europeanized West Indian. This application is seen in his published book, Peau noire, masques blancs (Black Skin, White Masks). His subsequent books, Studies in a Dying Colonialism and The Wretched of the Earth, would give a voice to the Third World liberation struggles of that time. With as varied disciplines as psychology, sociology, economics and politics, all of Fanon’s works grapple with social justice and racism on an internal level as well as in the interaction between the colonizers and colonized.

Black History 365 | # 51 - The Dap

Black service members in Vietnam developed the dap, a combination of hand and body gestures as a nonverbal form of communication. The dap could be as simple as tapping fists and shaking hands or as complex as dozens of gestures with the hands punctuated by slapping chests. Whatever the elements, the dap—an acronym for “dignity and pride”—was a symbol of solidarity and survival, an expression of black consciousness and a commitment to look after each other on the battlefield and in camp.

Black History 365 | #50 - The Coloured Hockey League

Did you know the first organized hockey league was for and by black people? Yes Canada’s first organized hockey league was The Coloured Hockey League formed by original teams like Africville Sea-Slides, The Halifax Eurekas, The Dartmouth Jubilees, and The Halifax Stanley. It was formed in 1895-1930, pre-dating the formation of the NHL by more than 20 years. It has been kept a secret for century and some change. CRAZY!

Black History 365 | #45 Dedan Kimanthi

This is Dedan Kimanthi, a rebel field marshal considered to be the most wanted Mau Mau fighter of all was captured and executed in October of 1956. His wife Mukami was detained and tortured in an attempt to get her to expose his whereabouts. In 1941, Kimathi was enlisted as a sweeper with the King’s African Rifles (KAR) only to desert the role soon after learning of the terrible conditions African soldiers were subjected to. Between 1947 and 1949 Kimathi joined the Kenya African Union (KAU), the first national political party in Kenya, and served as a secretary for the Ol Kalou branch. He rose to prominence within the movement in the early 1950s, first acting as an oath administrator, a method of initiation and a way of ensuring loyalty within the Mau Mau movement. He quickly became a leader of the Mau Mau fighters who migrated into the forests to fight the British forces after the declaration of the State of Emergency in late 1952. An although British media outlets tried to paint him as scared and helpless in his final moments. The last video of Kimathi reveals the opposite.