If you are fortunate enough to live in the coastal southeast the words Gullah and Geechee which are somewhat interchangeable will have made a huge impact on your life. In my personal experiences these people are healers and can bestow great blessings on you. But let’s start with their history before I share my history […]
Black History Month Spotlight: Ma Rainey
Ma Rainey created what is now known as “classic blues” while also portraying black life like never before. As a musical innovator she built on the minstrelsy and vaudeville performative traditions with comedic timing and a hybrid of American blues traditions she encountered in her vast tours across the country. She helped to pioneer a […]
Black History Month Spotlight: Katherine Johnson
Biography by Margot Lee Shetterly (on nasa.gov) Being handpicked to be one of three black students to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools is something that many people would consider one of their life’s most notable moments, but it’s just one of several breakthroughs that have marked Katherine Johnson’s long and remarkable life. Born in White Sulphur […]
Black History Month: Sandra Uwiringiyimana, How Dare The Sun Rise
“This gut-wrenching, poetic memoir reminds us that no life story can be reduced to the word ‘refugee.’” (New York Times Book Review) “A critical piece of literature, contributing to the larger refugee narrative in a way that is complex and nuanced.” (School Library Journal) This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story […]
Black History Spotlight: Maya Angelou
I’m copping out tonight. I feel like everyone knows about Maya Angelou. Then again it is always shocking about who you do not know about. It’s been a very scary day. Lots of explosions of some sort in the hood. Or maybe really loud gunshots? I’ m not sure what is happening. Also, I’ve had […]
Black History Month Spotlight: Alfred Masters
I can’t possibly explain how much I enjoy you guys appreciating my Black History Month posts. I really love that you guys are learning new things. Today’s spotlight is someone that I am learning about with you. Alfred Masters was the first African American to enlist in the United States Marine Corps in 1942. From […]
Black History Spotlight: Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence (1917- 2000) grew up in Harlem toward the end of the Harlem Renaissance. Despite the depression, he found inspiration and vitality among the black artists, poets, and writers in the community. He studied at the Harlem Art Workshop and joined the 306 studio, a collective of African American artists who worked and socialized […]
Black History Spotlight: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi
These three names are not exactly household names just yet, but they will be part of all the history books going forward. They are the founders of Black Lives Matter. The three came together to protest after the murder of Trayvon Martin and the subsequent acquittal of George Zimmerman. It is not the founders names […]
Amanda Gorman Continues To Inspire
What a moment. @TheAmandaGorman #SBLV pic.twitter.com/v8VM9uhPww — NFL (@NFL) February 7, 2021 And if you are not crying yet… this version of America by H.E.R. had the players fighting back tears. Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church sang the National Anthem
Black History Spotlight: Nikki Giovanni
Born in 1943, Nikki Giovanni is the author of numerous collections of poetry and was the first recipient of the Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award. Giovanni is commonly praised as one of the best African-American poets emerging from the 1960s Black Power and Black Arts Movements. Her early poems that were collected in the late 1960s and early […]
Black History Month Spotlight: Marcus Samuelsson
Marcus Samuelsson is a world renowned chef, a restaurateur, an author, a television host and producer, a philanthropist, an entrepreneur, a Black man, and an immigrant. He arrived in New York during the rough Giuliani years of the 90s. According to Samuelsson, Guiliani and his administration “did not make it easy for anyone that looked […]
Black History Month Spotlight: Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris is the first woman, first African American and first Asian American vice president in the history of the United States. Her motto is, “You may be the first, but make sure you’re not the last.” Harris was born in Oakland, California on October 20, 1964, to Indian American immigrant and breast cancer researcher, […]
Today’s Black History Month Spotlight: Stacey Abrams
I’m really focused on trying to focus at least at first on living people who are changing our future. And for today, I’d like to focus on Stacey Abrams. Let me begin by saying that Stacey Abrams was ROBBED from being our governor. He opponent, Governor Brian Kemp, was Secretary of State at the time. […]
Black History Month: Gloria Naylor
Sorry, I promise I will stop until tomorrow. I just have so many people I want to talk about and sadly, this one is actually Black History. I hosted Gloria Naylor as a guest speaker at a college I worked for. I’m not even sure where I was even working at the time. I used […]
Black History Month: Amanda Gorman
This girl. I am a HUGE Maya Angelou fan. I have every single book she has ever written in my library. I was teaching at an HBCU in South Carolina and managed to get the chance to meet her at a speaking event in Atlanta. Coretta Scott King was there too. My sister was my […]
Black History Month Part One: Eugene Goodman
My plan was to put up someone everyday for Black History Month. I got a bit behind the past few days and anxiety has been kind of high. It’s 5 am and I haven’t been to bed yet. I can’t seem to get my days and night’s straight. I promise to do better because there […]