blackhistory

Patriot Ledger: From all indications, James Tuttle was a pillar of Hingham’s small, thriving 19th century African-American community. Employed by a local shoe factory, he helped lead a drive to secure land and money for a small church the neighborhood built in 1873.

The Tuttles and their fellow families lived through momentous years. James and Henrietta Tuttle’s daughter was born 2 months before Abraham Lincoln was nominated for president. Their younger son was born 6 months after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter and beginning of the Civil War. Yet their only remembrance is on local maps that identify the residential area around the High Street-Ward Street intersection as Tuttleville.

Far from the bondage of Southern slave states, Tuttleville was typical of countless now-forgotten black, working communities that could be found throughout the North. And it wasn’t the only one on the South Shore.

Parting Ways, close to the Kingston-Plymouth border, was founded after the Revolutionary War by four slaves who were freed after they fought in the Continental Army. In Norwell, Cuffey Hill, named for another freed slave, symbolizes the more than 100 blacks who worked at the Scituate shipyards in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the town included what is now Norwell.( Read more...Collapse )

Students ' raising money for human rights in New Orleans, challenge others to match their efforts.


Students at Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development in Brooklyn, New York go beyond the textbooks, and apply the lessons of Black History Month to their daily lives. Banneker Academy students have pledged $5,000 the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a grassroots social justice group based in New Orleans and are challenging 1,000 other fundraisers to come forward and match their efforts.

Brooklyn, NY-- Each February children across the United states study examples of student activism on behalf of human rights. During Black History Month, students read about young people marching for voting right with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. They see photos of youthful future leaders like John Lewis protesting segregation through student sit-ins in Nashville. They learn how the qualities of youth have helped promote social change in American communities throughout history.

Students from the Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development in Brooklyn are putting these lessons into action.

"Black History Month celebrates the black leaders whose struggles and sacrifices gave us the rights and freedoms we cherish today", said La-Keisha Towner, a senior at Banneker Academy. "We want to honor their courage by raising money for Katrina survivors struggling to realize their human rights to return and rebuild their communities."( Read more...Collapse )

Observance inspires celebration, but does cultural saturation mean success?

Black History Month: Come February, the now-familiar observance seems to inspire ever more — and ever more random — celebrations.

The players are both big and small. Multinational corporations mount billboard campaigns, while community centers hold fashion shows and tourist spots highlight their connection to black history.

But does saturation equal success?

While the concept of Black History Month has been widely embraced in pop culture, it means some of the nation's most bitter history also is getting watered down into cliches or irrelevance. Some events have no historical tie-in at all — they're merely topics of interest to African-Americans. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, black history is used as a kind of commercial brand, which can feel off-key.

"It has become very mainstream," said Sheri Parks, a professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland. "I do think it's been diluted. Some of this seems like an excuse to put things on sale."

At Drexel University in Philadelphia, February events range from panel discussions about affirmative action and self-segregation on campus to a black art sale and an African American Down-Home Soul Food Dinner.( Read more...Collapse )

From MSNBC

Starts today! As always--I will try to find local stories in New England on how people are celebrating/learning/observing Black History Month.

Maybe we could have a theme this year? Focusing on the accomplishments of black women?

ETA: from kynn

Dr. Laura Nobles Banks: Tucson Educator
By Kynn Bartlett

One of Tucson's most honored African-American educators almost failed a required course for her elementary and physical education course at the University of Arizona -- because her professor would not allow her to swim in the university's pool.

( Read more...Collapse )

A white supremacist group is planning to visit the Museum of Afro-American History on Beacon Hill tomorrow to protest MLK Day, the first such demonstration at the museum since it opened to the public 20 years ago.

“Our concern is to make the building accessible during the time they plan to protest,” said Tracy Gibbs, museum spokeswoman.

A representative of the group, North East White Pride, replied to the Herald yesterday in an e-mail message, saying its representatives will be joined tomorrow by several similar groups.

“We are entirely peaceful and seek only to alert the public to the truth behind the fraud known as Martin Luther King Jr.,” wrote Rob O’Donovan, who runs the group’s Web site.( Read more...Collapse )



Boston Herald

Products touted under guise of paying homage to African Americans

WASHINGTON - The green and yellow flier from the Kmart in Aspen Hill proclaimed, "Celebrate Black History" and then advertised "3 for $1 Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix" and "3 for $10 Tone 6-Bar Soap."

The makers of Metamucil and Pepto-Bismol ran a full-page ad in this month's Ebony magazine declaring, "Black History Month is a legacy of pride and achievement leading to a healthier tomorrow." The ad continues, "It's the same ideals you turn to when it comes to your GI Health — a history of digestive solutions."

The advertisements are among dozens that tout laxatives, cars, even yoga classes under the guise of paying homage to African American history. Educators and some civil rights activists say they are bothered by what they consider exploitation of a season meant to honor the contributions of black Americans. But marketing experts say the trend is not surprising in a nation that once considered draping advertising banners across the base of the Statue of Liberty. ( Read more...Collapse )

Philip Emeagwali   
University of London   
University of Maryland   
Environmental engineering   
1975   
Internet
"a father of the internet"




cross posted to blackfolkandblackhistory

There's a list of all the BH postage stamps here

And here's USPS' current BH page--guess they added Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee to their educational video recently.

Thought this was interesting:

Discontinuing the series?
Destroying the stamps? No way!
Just more of those untrue Internet rumors

A recent Internet rumor saying the Postal Service is discontinuing the Black Heritage series is another one of those untrue yarns that the Internet is sometimes famous for, as is the rumor that the Postal Service is destroying current Black Heritage series stamps.

The fact is that the Black Heritage stamp series is one of our most popular. We have no plans whatsoever to discontinue it. The Postal Service remains as strongly committed to honoring the historical achievements and contributions of African Americans on stamps as we've always been. And we are proud to offer the latest stamp in the series honoring the great civil rights advocate and Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall.

And in commemoration of BHM:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/31/eyes_on_the_screen_t.html
http://videobaseproject.net/blogtorrent/

Third annual tribute to Robinson scheduled for Monday

BOSTON -- As it turns out, it wasn't the Curse of the Bambino after all. It was the Curse of Jackie Robinson.

With all due respect to the ghost of Babe Ruth, now that the current Red Sox hierarchy has confronted the decisions of a more recent past, the World Series championship is theirs. It's as simple as that. ( Read more...Collapse )

**If you look back a few months in this community--you'll see a posting I did on a book about the Red Sox' racist years under Yawkey, et al. Very interesting stuff. Another interesting tradition: the Red Sox wore numbers of the old Negro League players. I hope this continues...**