In this Black History Month, let us remember some of our heroes. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was certainly a major hero in African American History. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was one of the most important figures in African American life in the twentieth century, yet he is not well-known to many black or white Americans … [Read more…]
Today we are celebrating the birth of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Last fall we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, which was initiated by his namesake, Martin Luther. Martin Luther, a Catholic monk, could not adjust to the corruption in church practices during his day, so in 1517 he nailed his … [Read more…]
Although Trump and his racist white nationalist kind probably do not know it, Haitians helped the United States to win its independence from England. There were three black units in the Continental Army, with one coming from Haiti with the French to fight in the battle of Savannah, where the Americans were battling the British. … [Read more…]
“Kick some hiney Biney” were the words on the sign Maame Biney’s father waved just before the finals of the 500-meter speed skating event at the Olympic trials in Salt Lake City 12 days ago. And 17-year-old Maame did precisely that. She kicked some hiney as she won all of her races to win the … [Read more…]
I was preparing to write a post about the Doug Jones victory in Alabama when I received the article below from fraternity brother Gus Sankey. Since the article by Joshua Goodman covers so well key issues about the election, including a couple I was going to write about I include his article instead. Why did … [Read more…]
Once again, in an essential election, African Americans came to the rescue. In the Virginia election earlier this month, whites were 67% of all voters but only 42% of whites voted for Ralph Northam for governor. Even though he seldom invoked Trump’s name, Ed Gillespie, the Republican, ran on a Trumpian platform, and 57% of … [Read more…]
President Trump is making the federal judiciary more right-wing and less qualified. Trump may not be getting much legislation passed; however, he is adversely affecting the course of American history with his appointment of federal judges. In addition to flagrantly blocking President Obama’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, the Republicans in the Senate blocked … [Read more…]
I recorded but have not yet watched the recent television series by Ken Burns, The Vietnam War, therefore I did not see the way this film equated the shootings at Jackson State University with the shootings at Kent State University. At the time Kent State was considered a national tragedy, but Jackson State was not … [Read more…]
The National Anthem – Part 2 The national anthem is a result of America’s historical racism. In Part 1 we showed that the author—Francis Scott Keys, a slaveholder—was racist as well as his lyrics. How the song became our national anthem is also bound up in racism. See below for a short history of the song … [Read more…]
Here is something I wrote before about the national anthem: Many of us know that Francis Scott Key wrote the poem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” that eventually became the national anthem, and many of us know the first verse. However, the song has four verses and few of us know about these other verses, especially … [Read more…]