The conspiracy behind the cartoon, Static Shock

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The conspiracy behind the cartoon, Static Shock
My boys were introduced to Static Shock, the television series this summer. Like most kids, they love ‘superhero’s but they also typically ‘don’t understand any show that ‘isn’t filmed in high definition. However, they love this show and look forward to each episode. If you are not familiar with this black superhero, you should check it out! The main question I have is, Static is overdue for a reboot or a film. Why ‘hasn’t it been done?
Who is Static?
Static is a fictional black superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC. Comics. Milestone Comics created Static. They are an independently-owned imprint of DC Comics founded by Dwayne McDuffie, (who passed away on Feb 21, 2011, at the age of 49), Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek Dingle. McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III initially wrote it and illustrated by John Paul Leon. However, the creation of Static was a group effort, according to McDuffie.
Static’s character, Virgil Hawkins, was named after Virgil D. Hawkins. He was a black man who was denied entrance to the University of Florida’s law school in 1949 because he was black. Milestone published its first release of Static in June of 1993. However, the Warner Brothers (WB) animated series Static Shock, which aired for four seasons led to the 2001 comic book miniseries Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool. Static was incorporated into the D.C. Universe and became a member of the Teen Titans.
Static Shock?
One of the many co-creators of the successful Cartoon Network animated series “Static Shock!’, It was the only animated superhero series with a black lead that is not part of an ensemble, as with Cyborg or Green Lantern until Black Panther in 2010. Static was also the first black D.C. character to have his own show. Static after the end of the New 52; he had a brief cameo in Teen Titans.
Who is Michael Davis?
Michael Davis later became president and CEO of Motown Animation and Filmworks. His first move as CEO was to start a comic book line to create a universe of characters and content for multiple media platforms. He was involved in the development of T.V. shows at Disney, ABC, W.B., and Fox. Cousin Skeeter, developed at Motown, ran from 1998 to 2001 on Nickelodeon. Static Shock, the hit Emmy award-winning animated show originally ran from 2000 to 2004 on the W.B. He is the author of the comics based reading program ‘The Action Files’, and one of the brains behind the Magic Media reading program and the Los Angeles Comics Arts Festival. By 2006, Davis began an association with the black publisher Urban Ministries Inc. and created the Christian comic book line ‘The Guardian Line’ that features titles like ‘Code,’ ‘Jesse,’ ‘Joe’ and ‘The Messenger.’
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FZMTgKsw0Q&w=854&h=480]
The controversy
My husband attended San Diego Comic-Con a few weeks ago and sat in on the Black Panel with co-creator Michael Davis. Davis announced to his audience his ongoing issues with DC Comics because he thinks there is a conspiracy to keep Static down. He claims they DC is doing this so they won’t pay him. He signed a nondisclosure agreement with Warner Brothers (WB) stating he can’t get work for any W.B. company or affiliate, which is standard. However, W.B. has a court case saying broke this agreement.
Other creators collaborated again and left him out of plans to reboot Milestone Media. In 2017, a reboot of Milestone 2.0 was launched with but without Davis. However, this resulted in a lawsuit, not from Davis but the widow of McDuffie, Charlotte Fullerton. According to Variety, she claimed that the ‘company’s new leadership had completely ignored her late ‘husband’s share of Milestone Media. Davis wrote a column detailing his feelings on being left out of this reboot in Michael Davis: Milestone 2.0 – I Was There, I ‘Didn’t Get It.
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Unknown sources at Comic-Con stated that there are rumors that Davis may be mentally unstable. Davis regularly wrote about depression and suicidal thoughts in His Bleeding Cool column. In past conventions, attendees have witnessed Davis saying.
Why ‘hasn’t Static become mainstream media success?
With the popularity of Netflix Luke Cage, the movie Black Panther and hit television series Black Lighting, what happened to Static? ‘It’s obvious Static is popular with fan clubs and even fans making their Static Shock trailer with a budget of $3,000. Why ‘isn’t D.C. moving on this prime opportunity?


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[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n24JyIgLj4&w=854&h=480]

Work Cited
Static (DC Comics) – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_%28DC_Comics%29
Static Shock Is Returning To DC Comics After Years Of Neglect. https://www.cbr.com/static-shock-milestone-return-important/
Michael Davis – Lambiek Comiclopedia. https://www.lambiek.net/artists/d/davis_m.htm
Michael Davis – Afro Comic-Con. https://www.afrocomiccon.org/michael-davis/

A Memphian’s voice of reason

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Podcast Notes
Closing Music Credits: WOLF
In this episode, Bernita Jordon introduces herself as a true Memphian born and raised. She discussed the time she recalled when Martin Luther King Jr. was visiting Memphis and tanks were driving up and down her street. Her mother was making sure her siblings were all inside because they applied a curfew that night. She didn’t recall the actual event that was going on but remembers that MLK Jr. came to speak because of a black person killed by a white man at the workplace. We will have to do more research to find out what the exact event was.
Ms. Bernita provided advice for parents and youth in the black community. She believes that it’s the mom’s role to educate and keep our children out of trouble. If parents take more responsibility for themselves and their children, our kids will have better role models, and therefore, the black community will come together. She says first to put God first!

A law enforcement source provides tips for parents!

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Intro Music: SOLO BLUES CONTES
Closing Music: Wolf
In part two of this interview with a Chicago Law Enforcement source, we discuss, “Should we teach our kids their legal rights? In case they get stopped by a police officer?”. This teller explains what we, as parents, should tell our kids. Vanessa then asks him, “How can we, as parents (any race) make sure our kids do not get caught up in gangs, guns, and violence?” His main advice is to have parents be involved with their son’s and daughter’s lives. This teller expresses the importance for our youth to not make excuses and to get advice and take it! And we should educate our youth always.

Black History Timeline: 1700-1794

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Black History Timeline: 1700-1794
18th CENTURY
1700 Pennsylvania legalizes slavery. After 1700, when Pennsylvania was not yet 20 years old, blacks, free or slave, were tried in special courts without the benefit of a jury. The goal of this anti-slavery society was to have the passage of high duties placed on the importation of slaves.


The only poem that has survived, Bars Fight is a true story about the killing of two white families by Native Americans. - Lucy Terry Prince The only poem that has survived, Bars Fight, is a true story about the killing of two white families by Native Americans. – Lucy Terry Prince
1702 New York passes An Act for Regulating Slaves. Among the prohibitions of this act are meetings of more than three slaves, trading by slaves, and testimony by slaves in court.
1703 Connecticut assigns whipping to slaves who disturb the peace or assault whites.
1703 Rhode Island makes it illegal for blacks and Indians to walk at night without passes.
1746 Lucy Terry, Prince, an enslaved person in 1746, becomes the earliest known black American poet when she writes about the last American Indian attack on her village of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Her poem, Bar’s Fight, is not published until 1855.
1753 Benjamin Banneker designed and built the first clock in the British American colonies. He also created a series of almanacs. He corresponded with Thomas Jefferson and wrote that “blacks were intellectually equal to whites.” Banneker worked with Pierre L’Enfant to survey and design a street and urban plan for Washington, D.C.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKnwyVR4P88&w=854&h=480]
1760 Jupiter Hammon has a poem printed, becoming the first published African-American poet.
 1773 Phillis Wheatley’s book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral is published, making her the first African American to do so.
1787 Slavery is made illegal in the Northwest Territory. The U.S. Constitution states that Congress may not ban the slave trade until 1808.
1774  The first black Baptist congregations are organized in the South: Silver Bluff Baptist Church in South Carolina and First African Baptist Church near Petersburg, Virginia.
Silver Bluff Baptist Church Silver Bluff Baptist Church
1775   The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage holds four meetings. It was re-formed in 1784 as the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, and Benjamin Franklin would later be its president.
Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, 1780
 1776–1783 American Revolution
Thousands of enslaved blacks in the South escaped to British lines, as they were promised freedom to fight with the British. In South Carolina, 25,000 enslaved blacks. One-quarter of those held escaped to the British or left their plantations. After the war, many blacks were evacuated with the British for England; more than 3,000 Black Loyalists were transported with other Loyalists to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where they were granted land. The others went to Jamaica and the West Indies. Around 8–10,000 were evacuated from the colonies in these years as free people; about 50 percent of those slaves defected to the British, and about 80 percent of those who survived. Many free blacks in the North fought with the colonists for the rebellion.
V
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFBP2CY3IGk&w=640&h=480]
 1777  July 8 The Vermont Republic abolishes slavery. They were the first future state to do so. No slaves were held in Vermont.
 1780 Pennsylvania becomes the first U.S. state to abolish slavery.
1781  A woman by the name of Elizabeth Freeman tried suing for her freedom in the state of Massachusetts. In the court case Brom & Bett v. Ashley, under the state constitution of 1780, she becomes the first slave in the state to win her freedom.
Writ of Replevin ordering Ashley to release Brett and Brom
Verdict in Brom and Bett v. Ashley
1783  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed that the Massachusetts state constitution had abolished slavery. It ruled that “granting rights and privileges [was] wholly incompatible and repugnant to” slavery in an appeal case arising from the escape of former slave Quock Walker. When the British left New York and Charleston in 1783, they took the last 5500 Loyalists to the Caribbean and some 15,000 slaves.
 1787   Slavery is made illegal in the Northwest Territory. The U.S. Constitution states that Congress may not ban the slave trade until 1808.
1787 The Northwest Ordinance bans the expansion of slavery into U.S. territories north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River.
 1788  the U.S. Constitution is ratified, and when it came to congressional representation and tax apportionment, they put in a fugitive slave law declaring that slaves were three-fifths human. This mandate further reinforces political power away from slaves.
 1790–1810 Manumission of slaves
Following the Revolution, numerous slaveholders in the Upper South free their slaves; the percentage of free blacks rises from less than one to 10 percent. By 1810, 75 percent of all blacks in Delaware are free, and 7.2 percent of blacks in Virginia are free.
 1793, Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin. This affected slavery.
1793 A federal fugitive slave law was enacted, providing for the return slaves who had escaped and crossed state lines.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12IQurjUomU&w=640&h=480]
1794  Eli Whitney is granted a patent on the cotton gin. This enables the cultivation and processing of short-staple cotton to be profitable in the uplands and interior areas of the Deep South; as this cotton can be cultivated in a wide area, the change dramatically increases the need for enslaved labor and leads to the development of King Cotton as the chief commodity crop.
1794  the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, with Absalom Jones, and the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, with Richard Allen, the latter the first church of what would become 1816 the first independent black denomination in the United States.
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Work Cited
Black History & Civil Rights Movement Timeline. https://www.infoplease.com/history/black-history/timeline-key-moments-in-black-history
Potter, Joan (2002). African American Firsts. Kensington. pp. 295–296.
Slavery and the Making of America. Timeline | PBS. https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/timeline/1694.html
Timeline of African-American history – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_African-American_history
Talk:Timeline of African-American history/Archive 1 …. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Timeline_of_African-American_history/Archive_1
The American Revolution and Slavery”, Digital History. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War? – Democratic …. https://www.democraticunderground.com/10021915738
18th Century Civil Rights timeline | Timetoast timelines. https://media.timetoast.com/timelines/18th-century-civil-rights

Is Chicago safe? A Law Enforcement Officer will tell us.

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Intro Music: SOLO BLUES CONTES
Closing Music: Wolf
Podcast Notes
Introduction: We have a special teller today. I have known him for maybe 20 years now. He has a background in education, marketing, and promotions, but today I’m talking to him about his work as a Law Enforcement source.
Vanessa: So let me get to some law enforcement questions. First of all, there’s a statistic in 2019 here in Chicago. The figures show that the shooting and killings have been 213 till today, the shooting and wounds 914 in a total shooting in the city are 1127 with 235 being homicides. In 2018 the numbers were extremely high. They were almost doubled if not triple. There are a lot of people that live in Chicago, and that live elsewhere that are scared to live here; scared to leave their homes. Some seniors have said and then those that have traveled from other places that want to come to Chicago. They are scared. They are afraid to get shot. What do you say to these people?
Teller: Well, I have heard that ideology before, and it’s one of those things on one side of it. You have a right to know how you feel, but what I found in some of those conversations is that few people have an experience that is triggering that feeling of fear is not just based on the numbers. It’s not based on somebody else experience or with somebody else they heard or thought they saw or with somebody else believes. There are a lot of things. Chicago or city that has crime yet sad crime for decades, that’s just the nature of an urban area, but there’s going to be crimes. Unfortunately, the thought behind it as where is it coming from? Is it coming from their peers? The very people that are scared to go there? And hang out?
Vanessa: Wait, what do you mean by that? When I first moved here because you know, I’m not originally from here. When I first moved here, and I went to one of those agencies for rental property. Do you know? When I was going to grad school, and they said to not go on the Southside or the Westside and to not get near it. You see all that’s happening and you hear all these things outside, but you’re still living in one of the sides. What do you say to those people?
Teller: I say to them to find out from your own experience. Don’t go out just without doing your research. Where did they get that from? You know, were you there? I would see if they’re telling me that the Southside, but experience and challenge it because just because they had a friend that showed them something doesn’t mean ts dangerous. It goes on the reverse because it comes out to be a whole class and race thing. There is a discount between people because now you have two sides.
Vanessa: I understand your view entirely. I have so many questions, so let me see if we can run through them.
Jackass,com Jackass.com
Vanessa: I have friends that come into town, and they say, “Let’s go to the south side!” I mean, “oh!
Officer: Find out your level of comfort. You are taking people’s word on it. Where did they get that from? You don’t know their circumstances. To find out for yourself. People can feel how you feel. When you don’t do your research, that’s the issue.
If someone came into town and they said: “I heard the south side is dangerous?”
I would challenge them. I would give them that teachable moment. Just if they had any experience, you can’t say the entire south side is dangerous. I can make that statement in reverse and generalize it. A stereotype may not be who they are or their knowledge, and now you have a disconnect, and it needs to be clarified.
Vanessa: I agree to challenge someone about it. What should we call law enforcement? Cops or Police.
Teller: It doesn’t matter. Cops call other cops, cops. It’s like the same with kids vs. children.
Vanessa: What do you say about the seniors sying cops area an issue? There is fear in the community about cops. There re cops killing black men. What should we tell our kids? Aren’t they suppose to be the good guys?
Tellers: Seniors, you have to think about their age. What is their legacy? What did they do to bring up their past generations? Statistics are an issue. Only 2 percent are black on black crime. How many people did you help bring up? They should have been the advisor, and there should be a disconnect. The police are out to do multiple things. When they are out to engage, it’s not pretty.
Vanessa: What about those that are forced to confess.
Teller: Chicago Police were cameras. They are recorded. If so, they are in some shady situation. People get that from television.
Vanessa: When did they put cameras there?
Teller: For a while.
Vanessa: What about the felonies? They can’t rent, get a job, vote? That happened to rehab them? They may go back to jail.
Teller: It’s not our issue. It’s a court thing; then they do their time. Some organizations can help them. Some have had not done well because of some workers in the organizations. Some want to collect a check. Others have succeeded. It’s not good to generalize. Every arrest is different. Same with every case.
Vanessa: It sounds like it that a lot of people in the community have a lack of knowledge. Thank you for the interview. We will have parts 2 and 3 on a latter-day. If you are interested in asking this teller any questions, please leave a comment below.
PBS.com PBS.com

Unknown Hero- ENS Jesse L Brown, USN, Aviator

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Unknown Hero- ENS Jesse L Brown, USN, Aviator
By David Robinson

I would like to shed some light upon a hero, patriot, and pioneer who is virtually unknown with the exception of us diehard aviation buffs. Ensign Jesse Leroy Brown, USN, was the first black naval aviator in the United States Navy and flew and fought in the Korean War. Unlike the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII fame, Jesse underwent his odyssey alone right after WWII in the middle of deep-seated prejudices and Jim Crow. I need not tell anyone of a certain age, black or white, what that was like. Indeed, recent events involving the black experience with law enforcement demonstrate how close to surface racial issues still run in the United States. In the late 1940s, those issues were front and center, and Jesse Brown took them head-on.

Jesse was born into a sharecropper’s family in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in the year 1926. An outstanding student and athlete, he graduated from high school in 1945 with honors. Jesse chose to attend Ohio State University majoring in architectural engineering. Always interested in aviation, Jesse tried to join the OSU aviation program but was excluded because of his race. However, the Navy had an aviation cadet program that Jesse qualified for and was able to join, becoming a Navy ROTC cadet despite the sometimes vitriolic hostility demonstrated by some of the instructors. Jesse persevered and earned his Navy wings and was commissioned as an ensign in 1949, helping to break the rigid color barrier of the Navy further. Jesse was assigned to Fighting Squadron 32 (VF-32) aboard the carrier USS Leyte. VF-32 operated the F4U Corsair which during WWII was a superb air superiority fighter. By the 1950s jets had become the prevailing fighter aircraft, and prop airplanes like the Corsair were utilized in close air support of the ground troops, dropping bombs and strafing enemy infantry with the six machine guns (later cannons) mounted in the Corsairs wings.

Jesse got along well with his squadron mates and became known as a ‘good stick’, in other words, a good pilot. He and his wife Daisy and infant daughter Pamela relocated to Quonset Point, Rhode Island where VF-32 was based. Jesse also met someone who would play a critical role in his life, LT(jg) Tom Hudner.

Hudner was from a wealthy New England family and was in the Navy during WWII. Bored with the duties aboard surface ships, Hudner allowed himself to be talked into applying for aviator training despite not having much interest in flying. Hudner and Brown became good friends once introduced, and Hudner was assigned as Jesse’s wingman with Jesse becoming a section leader. In December of 1950 VF-32 was part of the USS Leyte’s air wing and sailed to Korea as part of Task Force 77. VF-32 immediately began flying ground support missions to cover UN infantry in the battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

It was at the Chosin Reservoir that China became involved on the side of North Korea, invading with enough troops that the UN was forced to withdraw from the Chosin. The cold was so severe that the reservoir was frozen solid enough and could easily support tanks, trucks, and troops. US Marine and Army infantry found themselves cut off and isolated by the overwhelming number of Chinese infantry and were forced to engage in brutal hand to hand fighting. VF-32 was flying an armed reconnaissance mission over the reservoir and surrounding snow-covered mountains when Jesse radioed that he had been hit from ground fire.

Hudner observed and reported to Jesse that the Corsair was trailing vapor from the engine which quickly stopped operating. Without power, Jesse could neither climb over the mountains to friendly territory nor bailout. His only option was a wheels-up forced landing at the first opportunity. With Hudner’s help, Jesse picked a place that was sloping up to a snow-covered mountainside. Jesse and Hudner went over the checklist to make a forced landing and Jesse’s airplane began sliding uphill; doing well until suddenly Jesse’s airplane pitched up tail first and sideways, losing part of a wing and bending the fuselage in half and knocking the engine loose from its mounts. He had hit a huge boulder hidden in the snow. Jesse’s squadron flew over the smoking wreck in stunned silence, thinking to a man that Jesse had just died. Then the canopy slid back, and an arm shot up from the cockpit.

Jesse was still alive! They tried reaching him over the radio without success as Jesse’s radio had been destroyed in the crash. Nor did Jesse try to leave the cockpit despite the increasing amount of smoke coming from the engine. It became apparent that Jesse was unable to get out, and Tom Hudner became horrified at the thought of Jesse burning alive. Hudner pressed the transmit button for his radio and said: “I’m going in.”

Hudner picked a place about a hundred yards from Jesse and once stopped unstrapped and began nearly an hour-long slog through chest-deep snow to Jesse. Hudner started packing snow into the cowling surrounding the engine to put out the fire, burning his hands in the process. Unable to put out the fire, Hudner climbed on the Corsair’s wing and leaned in to see Jesse’s ashen face. Jesse had lost his helmet, and his hands were bare from removing his gloves to unfasten the seat harness. Jesses said, “I’m trapped, Tom, and I can’t get out.” Hudner got behind Jesse and grasping him under the arms pulled with all he had, but Jesse just groaned in pain and did not budge. Jesse was really trapped in that airplane. Hudner put an extra stocking cap he had on Jesse’s head and wrapped his frozen hands in a scarf and told Jesse he had to go back to his airplane to radio for a rescue helicopter. Jesse nodded, and Hudner radioed that the helicopter needed to bring an axe and fire extinguisher. Hudner then went back to Jesse and did what he could to try to comfort his friend and extricate him from the wreck.

Hudner noted that Jesse was extremely calm despite being in what had to be terrible pain. Jesse never complained, never said ‘why me’ and soon began to lose consciousness from a few seconds to a few minutes. Finally, the clatter of rotor blades could be heard over the sound of the VF-32 flying cover. The small helicopter landed and Marine Lt. Charlie Ward jumped out with a fire extinguisher and fire axe.

Hudner and Ward could not put out the engine fire despite the extinguisher, and for nearly an hour they took turns trying to open a hole in the Corsairs fuselage to free Jesse. All they managed to do was scratch the paint. They both tried lifting Jesse out but were unsuccessful. They even discussed cutting Jesse’s trapped leg off with a knife, but could not bring themselves to do that, either. The sun was beginning to set; VF-32 had to withdraw due to low fuel, encroaching darkness, and no more ammunition. Ward looked at Hudner and said, “We have to go.” Helicopters in 1950 did not have the ability to fly at night safely. Nor would the engine operate at the insanely low temperature that would occur that far north.

Tom Hudner told Jesse, “We have to go now, Jesse. We’ll be back in the morning to get you.” Jesse knew better and said softly, “Tom, if I don’t make it, tell Daisy I love her.” Jesse lost conciseness and died shortly thereafter from the injuries received in the crash. Ward and Hudner made it back to an allied airfield and the next day flew back to the Leyte where Hudner recounted to the ship’s captain and other high ranking officers what had transpired.

The next day with Jesse being dead and behind enemy lines, VF-32 flew to the wreckage of both Corsairs’s and dropped napalm on them to deprive the enemy of any way to exploit Jesse Brown and the weapons aboard the aircraft. The pilots of VF-32 said aloud the Lord’s Prayer as they dropped the napalm, noting that though Jesse was still in the cockpit, his clothing was gone. The mood aboard the USS Leyte and in particular VF-32 was somber from Jesse’s loss. Jesse was not only the first black aviator in the Navy; he was the first black naval officer to be killed in combat.


Tom Hudner would meet Daisy Brown in Washington DC where Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor for his attempt to rescue Jesse. Daisy Brown received her husband’s posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and Air Medal from President Truman. Hudner told Daisy personally what Jesse’s last thoughts were. He would stay in contact with her for the rest of their lives. Shamefully, Daisy Brown was not allowed to remain in the same hotel as Hudner’s family despite her husband’s sacrifice in the name of freedom.

In 1973 Captain Tom Hudner spoke at the commissioning ceremony of the Knox Class Fast Frigate USS Jesse L Brown, FF-1089. Also, there was Daisy Brown Thorne, who had remarried and Pamela Brown. In his dedication, Hudner said of Jesse “He died in the wreckage of his airplane with courage and unfathomable dignity. He willingly gave his life to tear down the barriers of freedom to others”.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyAMpK0UU1Y&w=640&h=480]
Work Cited
The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown by Theodore Taylor, Blue Jacket Books, 2007
Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam Makos, Ballantine Books 2015
Incident at Chosin Reservoir, Naval Aviation News 1953 (my first exposure to this story in 1978)
Limitation Of Ashtakoot Guna Milan in a Married Life …. https://astrolight08.wordpress.com/2018/08/29/limitation-of-ashtakoot-guna-milan-in-a-married-life/ John F Dalton (1946-1983) –
Find A Grave Memorial. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/551398/john-f-dalton
He died in the wreckage of his airplane with courage and …. https://www.delandnavalairmuseum.org/newsletters/DELANDINGS%20FEBRUARY%202019%20FINAL%20PDF.pdf

Black History Timeline: 1619-1696

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Black History Timeline: 1619-1696
Black History Timeline series, in which we explore pivotal events and figures that helped to define the trajectory of Black history. This edition focuses on the time between 1619 and 1696, a crucial period that saw the first Africans brought into slavery in British North America and the emergence of the first African American communities.

The world was going through significant social, political, and economic upheavals during this period. Global dynamics were being altered by exploration, colonization, and the transatlantic slave trade, while African cultures, traditions, and resiliency were significantly influencing the experience of the African diaspora.

With this timeline, we hope to highlight significant occasions and figures that helped shape the history of African Americans during this critical time. These years provided the groundwork for the battles and victories that would come after, from the beginnings of slavery in the American colonies through the development of the first abolitionist movements.

By examining the timeline of events, we are better able to comprehend the difficult reality that Black people in the 17th century had to deal with. We can understand the resiliency, courage, and tenacity of individuals who faced many obstacles on their way to freedom, equality, and justice by appreciating and learning from this history.

1619  

The first African slaves arrive in Virginia. The first Africans arrived in Virginia because of the transatlantic slave trade. The Africans who came to Virginia in 1619 had been taken from Angola in West Central Africa.

1640 

John Punch, a black indentured servant, ran away with two white indentured servants, James, Gregory, and Victor. After the three were captured, Punch was sentenced to serve Virginia planter Hugh Gwyn for life. This made John Punch the first legally documented slave in Virginia (and the US).

1641

Some slaves now have legal rights thanks to the passage of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties. The Body of Liberties recognized some legal rights for those who were in servitude even though it did not end slavery in Massachusetts.

1644

The Colony of Maryland enacted a law forbidding the union of Black and White people. This law, which was the first of its kind in the English colonies, was part of a broader initiative to support the institution of slavery and reinforce racial divisions.

1652

The first recorded slave revolt in English North America took place in Gloucester County, Virginia. A group of enslaved Africans and Irish indentured servants rebelled against their masters and fled into the surrounding wilderness.

1660

A monopoly on the English slave trade was granted to the Royal African Company, allowing it the sole authority to ship Africans into slavery to the English colonies.

1746   Lucy Terry Prince, an enslaved person becomes the earliest known black American poet when she writes about the last American Indian attack on her village of Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Her poem, Bar’s Fight was not published until 1855.

Lucy Terry Prince: “Singer of History ” David R. Proper
Court Ruling on Anthony Johnson and His Servant

1654

John Casor became the first legal slave in America. Anthony Johnson, previously an African indentured slave, claimed John Casor as his slave. The Northampton County rule against Casor and declared him a slave for life by Anthony Johnson. Since Africans were not English, they were not covered by the English Common Law.

1662

Massachusetts reverses a ruling dating back to 1652, which allowed blacks to train in arms. New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire pass similar laws restricting the bearing of arms.

1662

Virginia law, using the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, said that children in the colony were born into their mother’s social status; therefore children born to enslaved mothers were classified as slaves, regardless of their father’s race or status. This was contrary to English common law for English subjects, which held that children took their father’s social status.

1663

Maryland legalized slavery.

1664

New York and New Jersey legalized slavery

1664

Maryland is the first colony to take legal action against marriages between white women and black men.

1664

The State of Maryland mandates lifelong servitude for all black slaves. New York, New Jersey, the Carolinas, and Virginia all pass similar laws.

1666

Maryland passes a fugitive slave law.

1667

Virginia declares that Christian baptism will not alter a person’s status as a slave.

1668

New Jersey passes a fugitive slave law

1670

The State of Virginia prohibits free blacks and Indians from keeping Christian white servants.

1672

Royal African Company is founded in England, allowing slaves to be shipped from Africa to the colonies in North America and the Caribbean. England entered the slave trade.

It was led by the Duke of York, who was the brother of Charles II and later took the throne as James II.

The constitution and finance of the Royal African Company of England from its foundation till 1720, 1 / 24

1674

New York declares that blacks who converted to Christianity after their enslavement will not be freed.

1676 

Both free and enslaved African Americans fought in Bacon’s Rebellion along with English colonists.

1680

The General Court of Massachusetts (which was the governing body of the Colony) passed a law that required all ships that were bringing any cargo of slaves to the colony to obtain permission from the governor. John Usher, John Saffin, and four others develop and implement a plan to circumvent the Royal African Company’s monopoly and import slaves into Massachusetts. They were successful in bringing slaves and selling them in 1681.

1682

All servants except Turks and Moors, blacks, racially mixed people, or Indians whose parents and native country are not Christian are to be treated as slaves • No owner or master should let any black or slave that doesn’t belong to him remain on his plantation for more than 4 hours at a time

1682

New York enacts its first slave codes. They restrict the freedom of movement and the ability to trade all enslaved people in the colony.

1682

Virginia declares that all imported black servants are slaves for life.

1684

New York makes it illegal for slaves to sell goods.

1690

By this year, all English colonies in America have enslaved Africans

1691

Virginia enacts a new law that punishes forbidding marriages between whites and blacks or whites and Native Americans. Children of such interracial liaisons become the property of the church for 30 years.

Statutory Prohibitions against Interracial Marriage

1691

South Carolina passes the first comprehensive slave codes

1691

County justices were authorized to send out armed men to apprehend “such [blacks], mulattoes or other slaves” who were runaways and if they were killed, their owner would be compensated.

If a white person were to marry a person who was black, racially mixed, or Indian, the couple had to leave Virginia within three months; fines for a free white woman producing a racially mixed child and servitude for the woman if the fine is not paid. If the owner of a black person sets him or her free, the newly freed person has to leave Virginia within 6 months. Virginia law bans interracial marriages. Virginia law prohibits whites from freeing blacks or mulattoes without paying to have them removed from the colony.

“An act for suppressing outlying slaves” (1691)

1695

Rev. Samuel Thomas, a white cleric in Charleston, South Carolina, establishes the first school for African Americans in the British North American colonies.

1696

The Royal African Trade Company loses its monopoly, and New England colonists enter the slave trade.

More Black History Timeline 1800-1896

Work Cited
African American History Timeline • BlackPast. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history-timeline/
Slavery and the Making of America. Timeline | PBS. https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/timeline/1676.html TIMELINE OF
SLAVERY IN AMERICA 1501-1865 1501 1522 1562 1612. https://sharondraper.com/timeline.pdf
MY ORGANIZATION | Resources. https://www.aahgs.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=3204&nodeID=61
The First Africans | Historic Jamestowne. https://historicjamestowne.org/history/the-first-africans/
Timeline of African-American history – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_African-American_history

Real Talk with a Woman Veteran!

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Podcast Notes
Introduction
Sharmell: I want to introduce this exceptional person today; her name is ‘
Charcia….Hey Hey, she is from Columbus, Ohio. OH-IO and she’s 31. She attended Columbus East High School. Go Tigers! She graduated from Ohio Dominican College and then……………. let’s bring Charcia in for the truth.
Vanessa: this special episode talking mainly about her as a Veteran. As you know, that is a very important position.
Charcia, can you tell us a little bit about your experience as a vet in the army? is that correct?
Charcia: Yes, OK. I joined the army…I should say I enlisted into the army February of 2011 at 22.
Vanessa: What made you decide to go into the army?
Charcia: I was looking more for stability, financial stability than anything. I had already lost one of my parents, my mom, sooner than I had expected. I didn’t have brothers and sisters here that I was kind of like leaning on the family just wasn’t uh in my for dogs at that time I just felt like I needed to establish myself somewhere and so I joined the military.
Vanessa: OK, well, what year did you say that was around 2011. I see is from 2016, and tell me if this is accurate for you when you were serving but so non-Hispanic whites say 77% of them served whereas 7% of them are Hispanic 12% being black and then 2% is Asian. I know it may be hard to get a percentage off when you serve but how many or how many do you think were serving around that time?
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Charcia: I will say this probably accurate. I don’t feel like we were the majority at all. We were one of the minorities there. We had some Asians, a lot of Caucasians, there were some blacks, but the the blacks that were there were the older veterans, the ones that joined back in the 80s and 90s. These people are moving out for retirement, so as far as young kids and enlisted when I was in…. it wasn’t many blacks.
Vanessa: So are you familiar with any history dealing with veterans?
Charcia: I am just starting to talk to my dad about how Vietnam was and when he came back, and that has been interesting. He was mentioning how when he did come back, he wasn’t welcome by the Americans. There’s a lot of history, and that war was a televised war. Now, for instance, you wouldn’t know what’s going over there. Now everything is kind of under the radar but because there’s such a significant difference from Vietnam. I mean they were just spat on, they were ridiculed for that and so hearing about that, the fact that that’s something that he had to deal with and knowing he was drafted as well. It wasn’t a choice that he made himself just not being able to come back and be welcome as he should’ve been along with his fellow comrades in history. I’m learning about that and
Vanessa: Did you know all this before?
Charcia: You know my dad, and I are very close, and even now he’s not that open about it. When it comes to what he experienced, many veterans want to talk to other veterans about it. They don’t like it to be broadcast it and so for him to even tell me what he’s told me is a stretch pretty vast for him.
Vanessa: So can you tell us any stories that you can remember you saw or you experience related racism or sexism?Anything like that.
Charcia: Oh definitely sexism, but not racism. I won’t say that i have actually seen it. I haven’t actually experienced that or even seen it for that matter but definitely sexism because women are the minority in the military anyway and so I’ve had instances where in a dorm fitness tests being counted for my push ups and setups and i have to do a two mile run under a certain amount of time. Well sometimes men in the army don’t like for women to progress or sometimes they feel like they don’t want you to be ahead. I’ve had instances where a male soldier was counting my push ups and end up stopping. he didn’t count my push ups anymore.
Vanessa: Why is that?
Charcia: Because he wanted to document that I didn’t pass my boot test. Vanessa : Was that because of the color of your skin? Like did they treat those that are black, Hispanic, Asian differently as females or is just literally female versus male?
Charcia: I don’t know that for sure, but I know as a female. It could have been because of the color of my skin, but I’m not sure exactly what his intent was as far as if he didn’t like me because I was black or because i was female, but I really think it was because it’s a man’s army. It’s a man’s military, and so anytime they feel like a female is going to get ahead they’re going to try to stop you from doing that so. ‘
Sharmell: I am eager to know what is something you think that we should know in your time that has happened or events that occur during the time you were serving?
Charcia: I think it’s important, I mean if I had to give you a question to ask me I would ask what is it that was some of the challenges that have affected you? For a long time, for instance, the military was a great value to my life, but there were some challenges a lot of challenges that as soldiers we had to overcome. The suicide rate is high. In the military because the environment is so confined and people feel like, well once I sign up I can’t get out. I want to go home. You’re not only dealing with the world of the military because it’s a different world from civilians you’re dealing with your personal issues too. I don’t think that people understand the processes of what it really, truly means to be a soldier.
Sharmell: OK well maybe they do deserve some type of i don’t know maybe they do deserve a voice, maybe you should be complaining about what you’re going through. ‘
Charcia: I still go through things that I’ve dealt with in the army., my friends as well. We deal with traumatic experiences that we still have challenges with today, like anxiety that came from the military. Do you know what I’m saying? It’s just I think if I had to give you a question to ask me, I would say, what are some of the challenges that you dealt with in the military and how are you dealing with them today?
Sharmell: I’m also eager to know during your time in the military, while you were serving, did you have support? I know you mentioned that there are some people that you know and that a big suicidal right. Do they have support and staff there to help?
Charcia: I will say we do have people there to help me.
Sharmell: But do you feel that they’re on your side? I’m also eager to know.

Black History Timeline: 1800-1896

tellersuntold
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Black History Timeline: 1800-1896
19th CENTURY
1800 Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved African-American blacksmith, organized a slave revolt intending to march on Richmond, Virginia. The conspiracy is uncovered, and Prosser and a number of the rebels are hanged. Virginia’s slave laws are consequently tightened.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeDsvrQeWjc&w=640&h=480]
1807 At President Thomas Jefferson’s urging, Congress passed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves. It makes it a federal crime to import a slave from abroad.
1808, Congress mandated that all importation of slaves from Africa is now banned. This mandate set down more lines for the conflict, known as the Civil War. The mandate was trying to be appealed by Southerners in the 1850s but later failed. The importation of slaves is a felony.
1816 Robert Finley begins the American Colonization Society to send free African Americans to what will become Liberia in West Africa.
1820 The Missouri Compromise bans slavery north of the southern boundary of Missouri.
1822 The American Colonization Society, founded by Presbyterian minister Robert Finley, established the colony of Monrovia (which would eventually become the country of Liberia) in western Africa. The society contends that the immigration of blacks to Africa is an answer to the problem of slavery and to what it feels is the incompatibility of the races. Over the next forty years, about 12,000 slaves are voluntarily relocated.
1829 September â€“ David Walker begins publication of the abolitionist pamphlet Walker’s Appeal.
David Walker’s Appeal
1830 October 28 “ Josiah Henson, a slave who fled and arrived in Canada, is an author, abolitionist, minister and the inspiration behind the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
1831 Nat Turner, an enslaved black preacher, led the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his followers launch a short, bloody rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The militia quells the rebellion, and Turner is eventually hanged. As a consequence, Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbXrufpEn_o&w=854&h=480]
1831 William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing the Liberator, a weekly paper that advocates the complete abolition of slavery. He becomes one of the most famous figures in the abolitionist movement.
1837 February â€“ The first Institute of Higher Education for African Americans is founded. It was founded as the African Institute in February 1837 and renamed the Institute of Coloured Youth (ICY) in April 1837 and is now known as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. The Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) was a school for Black American youth to receive an education and be part of American society.
1839, Fifty-three African slaves on board the slave ship the Amistad revolted against their captors, killing all but the ship’s navigator, who sailed them to Long Island, N.Y., instead of their intended destination, Africa. Joseph Cinqué was the group’s leader. The slaves aboard the ship became unwitting symbols for the antislavery movement in the pre-Civil War United States. After several trials in which local and federal courts argued that the slaves were taken as kidnap victims rather than merchandise, the slaves were acquitted. The former slaves aboard the Spanish vessel Amistad secured passage home to Africa with the help of sympathetic missionary societies in 1842.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XNzm6Uf6wo&w=854&h=480]
1839 July 2 “ Slaves revolt on the La Amistad, an illegal slave ship, resulting in a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court (see United States v. The Amistad) and their gaining freedom.
1846 Frederick Douglass launches his abolitionist newspaper.
1849 Roberts v. Boston seeks to end racial discrimination in Boston public schools.
1849, Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery and participated in the Underground Railroad. Because of her participation, she later became the movement’s most influential and celebrated leader. She worked hard enough to save seventy Blacks from slavery.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqoEs4cG6Uw&w=854&h=480]
1850 The continuing debate whether territory gained in the Mexican War should be open to slavery is decided in the Compromise of 1850 (includes the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850): California is admitted as a free state, Utah and New Mexico territories are left to be decided by popular sovereignty, and the slave trade in Washington, D.C., is prohibited. It also established a much stricter fugitive slave law than the original, passed in 1793.
1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published. It becomes one of the most influential works to stir anti-slavery D.
1853 December Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter, is the first novel published by an African-American.
1854 Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act, establishing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The legislation repeals the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and renews tensions between anti- and pro-slavery factions.
1854 Violence erupted in Kansas, commonly called Bleeding Kansas or the Border War.
1857 The Dred Scott case holds that Congress has no right to ban slavery in states and that slaves are not citizens. In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds slavery. This decision is regarded as a key cause of the American Civil War.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OML9AVR10PQ&w=854&h=480]
1859 John Brown and 21 followers capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va. (now West Virginia.), in an attempt to launch a slave revolt.
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1861 April 12 â€“ The American Civil War begins. Thousands of enslaved African Americans of all ages escaped to Union lines for freedom. Contraband camps were set up in some areas, where blacks started learning to read and write. Others travelled with the Union Army. By the war’s end, more than 180,000 African Americans, mostly from the South, fought with the Union Army and Navy as members of the US Colored Troops and sailors.
Photo Credit: Library of Congress Photo Credit: Library of Congress
1862 September 22 “ Lincoln announces the Emancipation Proclamation to go into effect January 1, 1863.
1863 President Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation. (Lincoln, however, initially signed the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in 1862.) It was “that all persons held as slaves” within the Confederate states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
1863 June 1st, Harriet Tubman, the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers, liberate 750 people with the Raid at Combahee Ferry.
1865  Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery.
1865 The Ku Klux Klan is formed in Tennessee by ex-Confederates (May).
Southern states pass 1865-66 Black codes. It was created to restrict the freedom of ex-slaves in the South.
Black Codes & Black Codes for Kids
1867 The Reconstruction Act was passed, which assigned the military to organize the local government. It ensured ex-slaves received the full right to vote and denied the right to vote to supporters of the Confederacy.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nowsS7pMApI&w=854&h=480]
1867 February 14 The college was founded as Augusta Institute by a Baptist minister and cabinetmaker, Reverand William Jefferson White, in Augusta, Georgia. The college was housed in Springfield Baptist Church (the oldest independent African American church in the United States).
1867 March 2 “ missionaries founded Howard University as a training facility for black preachers. The school was named after Civil War hero General Oliver O. Howard, a white man serving as the Commissioner of the Freedman’s Bureau.
1869  Howard University’s law school becomes the country’s first black law school.
1868 Elizabeth Keckly (a former slave who became a successful seamstress and civil activist) published Behind the Scenes (Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House).
1868 April 1st “ Hampton Institute was founded in Hampton, Virginia.
1870 Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote.
In 1870 Hiram Revels of Mississippi was elected the country’s first Black senator. Sixteen blacks served in Congress, and about 600 served in state legislatures.
1871 October 10th Octavius Catto, a civil rights activist, is murdered during harassment of blacks on Election Day in Philadelphia.
1875 March 1st“The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was signed. It affirmed the “equality of all men before the law” and prohibited racial discrimination in public places and facilities such as restaurants and public transportation.
1875 The Mississippi Plan to intimidate blacks and suppress black voter registration and voting. Their state government was trying to prevent Black political participation.
1876  Lewis Latimer prepared drawings for Alexander Graham Bell’s application for a telephone patent
1879 The Black Exodus takes place, in which tens of thousands of African Americans migrated from southern states to Kansas.
1881 Spelman College, the first college for black women in the U.S., is founded by Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles.
1881  Booker T. Washington establishes the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. The school becomes one of the leading schools of higher learning for Black Americans and stresses the practical application of knowledge.
1883  In Civil Rights Cases, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 as unconstitutional.
1884  Judy W. Reed of Washington, D.C., and Sarah E. Goode, of Chicago, are the first African-American women inventors to receive patents. Reed’s license is for a dough kneader and roller—Goode’s patent is for a cabinet bed.
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson, This landmark Supreme Court decision holds that racial segregation is constitutional, paving the way for the repressive Jim Crow laws in the South.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsDTqtyiNZk&w=854&h=480]
1896 Ida B. Wells sued the Chesapeake, Ohio & South Western Railroad Company for using segregated “Jim Crow” cars.
Learn Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Railroad Company v Ida B. Wellsore
1887 October 3rd “ Florida A&M University was founded, first named The State Normal School for Colored Students.
1892 Ida B. Wells publishes her pamphlet Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.
Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases By Ida B. Wells-Barnett
1895 W. E. B. Du Bois was the first African-American to be awarded a Ph.D. by Harvard University.
1896 The National Association of Colored Women was formed by the merger of smaller groups
In 1896 George Washington Carver began teaching at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama as director of the Department of agricultural research, gaining an international reputation for his agricultural advances.
Work Cited
Howard University Little Known Black History Fact | Black …. https://blackamericaweb.com/2013/12/18/little-known-black-history-fact-howard-university/
Milestones in African American Education – InfoPlease. https://www.infoplease.com/us/higher-education/milestones-african-american-education
Timeline of African-American history – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_African-American_history
History – Chapter 11 Flashcards | Quizlet. https://quizlet.com/1701823/history-chapter-11-flash-cards/
1869 Howard Universitys law school becomes the countrys …. https://www.coursehero.com/file/p5onspa/1869-Howard-Universitys-law-school-becomes-the-countrys-first-black-law-school/
FINAL EXAM History 041 Flashcards | Quizlet. https://quizlet.com/251847209/final-exam-history-041-flash-cards/
The Mississippi Plan, political deviance! – African …. https://aaregistry.org/story/the-mississippi-plan-political-deviance/
The Evolution of Business timeline | Timetoast timelines. https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/the-evolution-of-business

Independence Day: The Significance for Black America

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Independence Day: The Significance for Black America
Growing up in the suburbs of Ohio, July 4 was a massive celebration. The whole city of Columbus came together for fireworks on July 3. However, the next morning I participated in a parade where seats were reserved on lawns a week early in anticipation of the best viewing. How much do we know about this holiday? We don’t believe that it’s our fault to celebrate without knowing the full truth. What is the truth?
What is Independence Day?
Independence Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated every year on July 4, in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776. The 13 colonies claimed their independence from England, which eventually led to the formation of the United States. However, July 4, 1776, wasn’t the day that the Continental Congress decided to declare independence; it was on August 2, 1776. It wasn’t until 1783 the Fourth of July became a holiday in many places. The celebration included speeches, military events, parades, and fireworks.
The Declaration of Independence
This statement, written by Thomas Jefferson declared the freedom of thirteen American colonies from Great Britain. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator.”
Contradiction
While we were fighting for freedom from Great Britain, the Declaration of Independence stated that “all men were created equal.” The existence of American slavery attracted comment when the Declaration of Independence was first published. Before the final approval, Congress, having made a few alterations to some of the wording, also deleted nearly a fourth of the draft, including a passage criticizing the slave trade. Forty-one of the fifty-six signers were slave owners. The slave trade was still a big part of America. Declaring that all men are created equal, and transporting human beings to become slaves seems like a contradiction.
When American colonists took up arms in a battle for independence starting in 1775, it excluded black Americans. General George Washington stated on November 12, 1775, that “neither negroes” boys unable to bear arms, nor old men” could enlist in the Continental Army. Two days later, black soldiers proved themselves at the Battle of Kemp’s Landing along the Virginia coast.
Frederick Douglass gave a speech the day after Independence Day in 1852, saying “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn¦ Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?”.
Douglass reminded listeners that when the Declaration of Independence was signed, many blacks were still slaves. The British were even more likely to offer freedom to blacks. According to Christopher Klein of the History Channel, the patriots battled for independence from Great Britain, around 20,000 runaway slaves declared their own personal independence and fought on the side of the British.
What we should teach our kids about Independence Day
I spend hours searching the internet for “what to teach kids about Independence Day.” Many history books don’t tell the untold story that all men were and still are not created equal. Most of these blogs left out what they don’t want us to know. However, I do agree with the following teaching from the following blogs:
“We are blessed to live in a free country where we have the right to choose our religion, worship God how we want, and vote. That is a freedom that not all countries have.” – faithgateway.com
I will tell them that the great founders of our nation spoke boldly of freedom, and enlisted African Americans to fight alongside them to the death of liberty. I will tell them that around 5,000 African Americans enlisted in and fought bravely in the Continental Army. I will tell them that these brave African American soldiers, their forefathers, did this, despite the fact that their enemy-the British-offered their freedom and their countrymen continued slavery. I will tell them that their forefathers fought for America even though America wasn’t fighting for them. – Los Angeles Sentinel
“On this day, celebrate the willpower of the slaves who stayed alive and struggled through their hardships.” -The Black Media
Work Cited
July 2019 USA Holidays Calendar – Local and Federal Holidays. https://uricompare.com/july-2019-usa-holidays-calendar/
Independence Day of Ukraine – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_of_Ukraine
The Declaration of Independence: Full text – US History. https://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/
The Ex-Slaves Who Fought with the British – HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/the-ex-slaves-who-fought-with-the-british
Talking to Kids about the Importance of Independence Day …. https://www.faithgateway.com/talking-to-kids-importance-of-independence-day/
For Black Americans, Independence Day Is Complicated …. https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/07/05/for-black-americans-independence-day-is-complicated
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