What do you know about Ida B. Wells? Where do we start? She was a journalist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the US in the 1890s. And is the founder of the NAACP. She became disenchanted with the organization’s white and elite black leadership and distanced herself from the organization. She then founded and became the first president of the Negro Fellowship League which sided newly arrived migrants from the south. When she was just 14 years old she began teaching at a country school. Very gifted early on!
Black History 365 | # 107 Claudette Colvin
This is Claudette Colvin. Did you know at age 15, on March 2nd, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, she refused to give up her seat to a white woman? Colvin was motivated by what she had been learning in school about African American history and the U.S. Constitution. Note that this action took place just days after Negro History Week. This was 9 months before Rosa Parks in December, but because of respectability politics and Ms. Parks complexion white media outlets made a concerted effort to credit Rosa Parks as the mother of the civil rights movement. This is no fault of Ms. Rosa Parks, but this is the world we live in. And this is our history. Did you know a day after her arrest they staged a photoshoot where she is sitting in front of a white man on a bus? There are some protests and protesters deemed more acceptable by the powers that be I guess. And one could surmise that psychologically seeing a 15-year-old child refusing this “law” might be too inspiring for the civil rights movement youth. But I digress…Mary Louise Smith, a darker complected teenager at 18 also did the same a 40 days before Ms. Parks in October. Let’s put in context the torture, mutilation, and murder of a 14 year old Emmitt Till also happened in that same year in August 1955. You might see a pattern of history still repeating itself.
Black History 365 | # 106 Marcus Garvey
How much do you know about Marcus Garvey? We don’t hear about him as much as we should. His power can be summed up in one phrase, “Know Thyself.” He believed that with knowledge of self there was nothing that black people couldn’t achieve. In 1914 he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association to achieve Black Nationalism. Which is advocacy for the unity and political self determination for Black people. It is grounded in the belief that efforts to operate within a political system deemed racist and unresponsive to black needs are doomed to failure. He also fostered restaurants and shopping centers to encourage black economic independence. In 1922 he had a meeting with the leaders of the Ku Klux Klan. He believed that the KKK was a “secret” government of the USA and that the UNIA had common interests with the KKK in racial separatism and total segregation. And when news of that meeting leaked many of his followers left the organization. Earl and Louise Little remained steadfast in their loyalty to Garvey, the parents of Malcolm X. On June 10th 1940 He died at age 52 after multiple strokes. His organization was very much a precursor to the Nation of Islam and his thoughts and ideas are still seen as radical in todays society. I highly advise listening to his knowledge of self speech. His legacy continues to instill pride and inspiration among many black people throughout the diaspora.
Black History 365 | # 105 Nat Turner (Nat Turner's Rebellion)
This is Nat Turner. He was an educated preacher, most likely taught to read by his Master Turner’s son. Sold by the Turner family to a less prosperous farmer and sold again to a Southampton craftsman named Joseph Travis. Nat Turner was exposed to his new slave masters and overseers that really tortured and punished their slaves. He was then conflicted about being brought to preach to the slaves about God’s love and what his previous owners held him in high regard for. Subsequently Nat saw himself as the catalyst for change for his people. Following an eclipse he saw as a sign from the lord he led a team of slaves in Virginia in August 1831 and killed between 55 and 65 White people including women and children, making it the deadliest slave revolt in US History. Once captured he was obviously tortured, hung, and killed. His corpse was given to doctors for dissection and his body parts were distributed among White families. His skin was made into souvenirs such as purses and lampshades. His flesh was made into grease and his bones were divided into “trophies” to be handed down as heirlooms. It is even said his flesh was eaten as well 😳. There was widespread fear in the aftermath of the rebellion. Militia and mobs killed as many as 120 enslaved people and free so-called Black people in retaliation. Because Turner was educated and was a preacher, Southern state legislatures subsequently passed new laws prohibiting the education of enslaved people, restricting rights of assembly and other civil liberties for freed slaves. Requiring White ministers to be present at all worship services. It is known as one of the most significant rebellions in US history.
Black History 365 | # 104 Fred Hampton
Did you know when Fred Hampton was 19 years old he became the president of his NAACP Youth Council? A year after that he was recruited by Bobby Rush, a founder of the Chicago Illinois chapter of The Black Panther Party. He had so much charisma when he spoke that he quickly rose through the ranks and at age 21 he began to build and lead the chapters members. In 1969 he aligned himself with a coalition of activists within the same economic class but different racial background. Their name was The Rainbow Coalition (The Black Panthers, The Young Lords, and The Young Patriots). Then the FBI, under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover deemed The Black Panther Party the number one threat to the internal security of the United States of America. Their tactics to destroy the Panthers were straight up unlawful. Several of the party’s leaders were killed or imprisoned under false pretense. On December 4th Fred Hampton was met with ninety bullets in his bed laying next to his 9-month pregnant wife. History has shown us time and time again when people are effective in creating change within their local communities they are killed. And the darker they are the more brutal the punishment. Across cultures. This was 55 years ago. This is our recent history.