Black History Series

A Sharing of Knowledge to Stimulate Appreciation and Education of those of Black History. While we are sharing facts, we encourage EVERYONE to do their own further research and/or to learn facts of their own.

“For We BUILD BLACK DAILY for Historical Appreciation,
Embracing Cultural Awareness, Knowing we’re ALL GOD’s Creations.
Honoring the Past in the Present with the Future in Mind,
Taking Steps to Ensure Our Youth Are Not Left Behind”
-Russell Drake, Build Black Daily Founder

BLACK HISTORY EMPOWERMENT (BHE) SERIES

BHE Fact 1) DR. KATHERINE JOHNSON was a mathematician, scientist and NASA Computing Genius. Born Creola Katherine Coleman in August 1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, she attended high school at 10 years old and graduated at 14. She went on to attend on West Virginia State College (WVSC) taking every math course offered. Mentored by Professors W. W. Schieffelin Claytor, the third Black person in the U,S, to receive a PhD in math, Katherine graduated summa cum laude at age 18 (1937), with degrees in mathematics and French, and also joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. In 1939, she was the first Black woman to attend graduate school at West Virginia University. She decided on a career as a research mathematician. Katherine initially worked as a teacher and in 1953 was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as computer, analyzing topics such as gust alleviation for aircrafts, reading data from black boxes of planes and carrying out precise mathematical tasks. In 1958, NACA became a part of NASA and adopted digital computers.The next year, Katherine married James Johnson, and remained married for 60 years (until his 2019 passing). During her 35-year career at NASA and its predecessor, Johnson earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. Her work included calculating trajectories, launch windows and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights, including those for astronauts Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and John Glenn, the first American in orbit, and rendezvous paths for the Apollo Lunar Module and command module on flights to the Moon. Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, and she worked on plans for a mission to Mars. In 1970, Johnson worked on the Apollo 13 Moon mission. When the mission was aborted, her work on backup procedures and charts helped set a safe path for the crew’s return to Earth. Johnson co-authored 26 scientific papers in her career, and was the first Black woman to have a NASA paper published with her name on it. To her legacy, Johnson was named West Virginia State College Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in 1999. President Barack Obama presented Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. In 2016, Johnson was included in BBC’s list of 100 influential women worldwide. The highly acclaimed film Hidden Figures, released in December 2016 follows Johnson and other female African-American mathematicians (Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan) who worked at NASA. Taraji P. Henson plays Johnson in the film. In 2018, Johnson was awarded an honorary doctorate by the College of William & Mary. The same year, West Virginia State University established a STEM scholarship in her honor and erected a life-size statue of her on campus. In 2018, Mattel produced a Barbie doll in the likeness of Johnson. In 2019, Dr. Johnson was announced as one of the members of the inaugural class of Government Executive’s “Government Hall of Fame”. Two NASA facilities have been named in honor of Dr. Johnson: Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility in Hampton, Virginia and the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility. In 2019, Dr. Johnson was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Katherine Johnson died at a retirement home in Newport News on February 24, 2020, at age 101
BHE Fact 2) JAMES ARTHUR BALDWIN was an iconic writer; an essayist, playwright and novelist, breaking new literary ground with the exploration of racial and social issues in his many works. Born in 1924, in Harlem, NY, he developed a passion for reading at an early age. Baldwin worked for his high school’s magazine and published numerous poems, short stories and plays. He also became a youth minister in his teens. Graduating high school in 1942, he soon moved to Greenwich Village, a New York City neighborhood popular with artists and writers. Devoting himself to writing a novel, Baldwin took odd jobs to support himself. He befriended writer Richard Wright, and through Wright was able to land a fellowship in 1945 to cover his expenses. Baldwin started getting essays and short stories published in national periodicals. Three years later, he moved to Paris, France on another fellowship. There Baldwin felt free to write more about his personal and racial background saying “Once I found myself on the other side of the ocean, I see where I came from very clearly. I am the grandson of a slave, and I am a writer. I must deal with both”. In 1953, Baldwin published his first novel, “Go Tell It on the Mountain”. In 1955, he published “Giovanni’s Room” – the work broke new ground for its complex depiction of homosexuality, a then-taboo subject. Baldwin was openly about his homosexuality, yet believed the focus on such rigid categories was just a way of limiting freedom. Writing for the stage, he wrote “The Amen Corner,” produced at the prestigious Howard University in 1955, and later on Broadway in the mid-1960s. Baldwin returned to the U.S. in 1957 and wanted to report & write about happenings in the South. He traveled to Charlotte and Montgomery, Alabama, conducting interviews and meeting Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. The result was two essays on the Black experience in America: “The Hard Kind of Courage” and “Nobody Knows My Name” – hitting the bestsellers list, with more than a million copies sold. Subsequent Baldwin articles on the movement followed, with like “Down at the Cross” and “The Fire Next Time”. While he wrote about the movement, Baldwin aligned himself with the ideals of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). In 1963 he conducted a CORE lecture tour of the South, traveling to North Carolina and New Orleans, lecturing about his racial ideological position between the muscular approach of Malcolm X and nonviolent program of Martin Luther King Jr. By the spring of 1963, Baldwin emerged as one of the leading voices in the Civil Rights Movement for his compelling work on race and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine on the turmoil in Birmingham, AL. “There is not another writer-white or black-who expresses with such poignancy and abrasiveness the dark realities of the racial ferment in North and South,” Time said in the feature. In 1964, Baldwin’s play, “Blues for Mister Charlie”, based on the murder of Emmett Till, debuted on Broadway. In March 1965, Baldwin joined marchers who walked 50 miles from Selma, Alabama, to the capitol in Montgomery under the protection of federal troops. Despite his involvement, he rejected the notion of being in the civil rights movement, instead calling it, “The Latest Slave Rebellion”. In early 1972 he wrote a collection of essays, “No Name in the Street,” a piercing literary reflection on the assassinations of three of his personal friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. He also worked on a screenplay around this time, trying to adapt The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley for the big screen. As his literary fame faded in the late 70s, he spent his later years as a college professor. Baldwin died in 1987. His works stretched on after death, with the December 2016 film “I am Not Your Negro” being based on one of Baldwin’s unfinished novels. An influence to Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison, James Baldwin regarded writings as his personal mission of bearing “witness to the truth”
BHE Fact 3) HARRY TYSON MOORE was a pioneering leader of the civil rights movement in Florida and the southern United States. Born in Houston, Florida in 1905 and excelling in studies, he went on to graduate from Bethune Cookman College. He went on to become the Principal of the Titusville Colored School in Brevard County, FL, where he met his wife Harriette Vyda Simms, marrying her on December 25, 1926. The Moores founded the Brevard County chapter of the NAACP in 1934. Soon after, Harry helped organize the Statewide NAACP Organization and in 1941 was named President of Florida’s NAACP. He pursued a variety of efforts for civil rights, including equal pay, investigation of lynching and voter registration discriminatory state laws. After 1943, he became involved in reviewing every lynching case in Florida. Moore also led the Progressive Voters League in voter registration drives that succeeded in registering 116,000 Black people, 31% of those eligible to vote in Florida; 51% higher than the proportion of blacks registered to vote in any other southern state. In 1946, the public school system fired the Moores and blacklisted them because of Harry’s political activism. Moore then became a full-time NAACP activist, increasing the membership in the state to a peak of 10,000 in the next two years. On Christmas night, 1951, Harry and Harriette Moore (age 46 and 49) were killed at home by a bomb that went off beneath their house. It was the Moores’ 25th Wedding Anniversary. Harry Moore was the first NAACP official murdered in the civil rights struggle and has been called the first martyr in the Civil Rights Movement. The murders caused a national and international outcry. The NAACP held a huge rally in New York, where the renowned poet Langston Hughes read a poem written in memory of Moore In 1952, Harry Moore was posthumously awarded the NAACP Spingarn Medal. In 1999, the Moores’ homesite was labeled a Florida Historical Heritage Landmark. In 2004 #BrevardCounty created the Harry T. and Harriette Moore Memorial Park and Interpretive Center at the homesite in Mims. The Brevard County Justice Center is named in honor of the Moores and includes material there about their lives and work. Harry T Moore Ave in Mims, FL is named in his honor as well. The Book “Before His Time: The Untold Story of Harry T. Moore, America’s First Civil Rights Martyr” tells Moore’s story
BHE Fact 4) DR. ANNA JULIA COOPER is the “Mother of Black Feminism” and fourth Black woman in U.S. history to earn a Doctoral Degree. Born into slavery in 1858 in Raleigh, NC, by 1868 she enrolled in the newly established Saint Augustine’s Normal School & Collegiate Institute, a school for freed slaves. Anna excelled quickly, teaching math part-time at age 10. While at Saint Augustine’s, Anna had a feminist awakening when she realized that her male classmates were encouraged to study more rigorous curriculum than female students. She fought to take the same classes and developed a passion for advocating for Black women’s education. She went on to Oberlin College (Ohio), graduating with a B.A degree in 1884 and earning a Master’s Degree in Math in 1887. That same year, Cooper became a faculty member at M Street High School in Washington, DC. During this period, she began writing and publishing works that earned renowned scholarly distinction. Her best-known book, “A Voice from the South, by a Black Woman of the South,” was published in 1892 – emphasizing the nature and role of Black women, it is widely considered to be the first written articulation of Black feminism. Cooper held that women were specially qualified to lead Blacks in their efforts to improve their lives, and advocated women’s advancement through education & social progress. Cooper became active on the lecture circuit, promoting these same themes of self-determination and improvement. She co-founded the Colored Women’s League in 1892. In 1893, she attended the World’s Congress of Representative Women, (in Chicago), delivering a speech entitled, “The Intellectual Progress of Colored Women of the United States Since Emancipation” – one of five Black women invited to speak. At the first Pan-African Conference, held in London in 1900, Cooper was a member of the executive committee and one of only two women to address the gathering, delivering “The Negro Problem in America”. She later was one of the founders of the Colored Women’s YWCA and the Colored YMCA, advancing the view that it was the duty of educated and successful Black women to support their underprivileged peers in achieving their goals. In 1902 Cooper was named principal of the M Street High School, enhancing the academic reputation of the school with an emphasis on college prep courses. In 1906, Cooper went on to teach at Lincoln University in Missouri. In 1910 she was returned to M Street High as a Latin teacher. Cooper began doctoral work at Columbia University in 1911, but interrupted her studies when her brother died leaving five grandchildren orphaned. She adopted all five, and in 1924, with the children at boarding school, she resumed work on her degree at the University of Paris in France. She completed her dissertation, “The Attitude of France toward Slavery in the Revolution,” in 1925, earning her Ph.D. at 67, and became the fourth Black woman to do so. Dr. Cooper continued her teaching career at M Street (now Paul Laurence Dunbar) High until 1930. From 1930 to 1941 she served as President of the Frelinghuysen University, a night school for Black adults. Dr. Cooper continued writing up to her death in 1964 at age of 105. The prestigious Howard University holds Dr. Cooper’s personal papers: https://dh.howard.edu/ajcooper/. To her legacy, Wake Forest University established The Anna Julia Cooper Center on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South; in 2009 a USPS Black Heritage stamp was released in her honor; Pages 24 and 25 of the 2016 United States passport contain her famous quote: “The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class – it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.”
BHE Fact 5) THEODORE TED POSTON was the first Black journalist to work at a mainstream newspaper. Born in 1906, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, he was raised by his 8 older siblings, while his father, Ephraim, taught at the Kentucky State Industrial College for Negroes (now Kentucky State Univ), which was located over 200 miles away. By the age of 15, Poston had begun his career writing articles for his family’s paper, the Hopkinsville Contender. He graduated from Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College (now Tennessee State Univ) in 1928 and moved to New York to pursue a career in journalism. He found work as a reporter for the Amsterdam News in Harlem in 1928, eventually becoming Editor of the paper. Shortly after his promotion Poston led an attempt to unionize his fellow reporters and instigated a strike – He was fired because of his activities. Following his dismissal, he was hired by the New York Post in 1936, making him only the third Black person hired as a reporter for a major New York City daily paper. Poston remained at the New York Post for the next 35 years. While working there, he engaged in “race work,” the effort to improve the lives of Blacks. Poston covered many important stories of the day, such as Jackie Robinson’s entrance into Major League Baseball, the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Little Rock Nine and the Scottsboro Boys trials in Alabama, where authorities would not allow a black journalist to report in the segregated South and Poston resorting to disguising himself as a preacher and turning his stories in secretly with the help of white colleagues. In 1949, he was chased by white mobs while covering the Groveland Four Case in Lake County, Florida; to which he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. In the 1940s he also became part of the famed “Black cabinet,” an informal group of African American policy advisors to President Franklin Roosevelt. Poston provided vital information to Black newspapers across the nation in the campaign to integrate the industry workforce. He retired from the New York Post in 1972 to work on a collection of autobiographical short stories until his death in 1974. Poston was one of the first journalists inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Hall of Fame when it opened in 1990. In 1999, his series on the Groveland Case was named to the 100 most important journalistic works of the 20th century. His book of short stories was published posthumously in 1991 as The Dark Side of Hopkinsville. Poston is often referred to as the “Dean of Black Journalists”.
BHE Fact 6) On February 7, 1926, DR. CARTER G. WOODSON established Negro History Week to share the historical journeys and accomplishments of persons of African decent, in a time when NO Blacks were mentioned in America’s school history books. He chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and Abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The week gained popularity by Woodson creating & distributing educational kits for children. In 1976 it evolved into Black History Month. It was his vision that persons of African decent would celebrate, appreciate and obtain knowledge about their history and share it with the world. In his own words, Dr. Woodson believed “Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history”. He further philosophized that “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated”. Further about his life, DR. CARTER GOODWIN WOODSON was a historian, author, journalist and educator. Born in Buckingham County, Virginia in 1875, the son of former slaves, through self-instruction Woodson mastered the fundamentals of common school subjects by age 17. Wanting more education, Carter went to earn a living as a miner in the coal fields. He was able to devote only a few months each year to his schooling. In 1895, at the age of 20, Woodson entered Douglass High School, where he received his diploma in less than two years. From 1897 to 1900, Woodson taught school and in 1900 he was selected as the principal of Douglass High School. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Literature degree from Berea College in Kentucky in 1903 by taking classes part-time between 1901 and 1903. From 1903 to 1907, Woodson was a school supervisor in the Philippines. Later, he attended the University of Chicago, where he was earned A.B. and A.M. in 1908. He was a member of the first Black professional fraternity “Sigma Pi Phi” and a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.He completed his PhD in history at Harvard University in 1912, where he was the second Black man (after W.E.B. Du Bois) to earn a Doctorate. He continued teaching in public schools, later joining the faculty at Howard University as a professor, and Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. Convinced that the role of Black history and the history of other cultures was being ignored or misrepresented among scholars, Woodson saw a need for research into the neglected past and published “The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861” in 1915. The same year, through frequent visits and experiences in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, he was inspired to create the “Association for the Study of Negro Life and History” (ASAALH). The Association worked to preserve the history of Blacks and accumulated a collection of thousands of artifacts and publications. Woodson noted that Black contributions “were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them … the inevitable outcome of the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind.” In 1926, Woodson pioneered “Negro History Week” to combat this; the week of recognition is now known as BLACK HISTORY MONTH. A literary genius, he went on to write “The History of the Negro Church” and “The Mis-Education of the Negro”. Woodson was placed at the center of a circle of Black intellectuals and activists from the 1920s to 1940s. He corresponded with W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey and others; becoming a regular columnist for Garvey’s weekly Negro World. Woodson saluted efforts by West Indians to include materials related to Black history and culture into their school curriculum. At the time, educators in America felt that it was wrong to teach or understand Black history. According to these educators, “Negroes” were simply Americans, darker skinned, but with no history apart from that of any other. Thus Woodson’s efforts to get Black culture and history into the curricula of institutions were often unsuccessful. In the late 1940s, Dr. Woodson worked on an ever completed six-volume Encyclopedia Africana until his death in 1950, at the age of 74. More than a decade after his death, schools started teaching Black History. Today African Heritage studies have become specialized fields in history, music, culture, literature and other areas. To his legacy, the Carter G. Woodson Book Award was established in 1974, for the most distinguished social science books for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States; his Washington, DC home has been preserved and designated the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site; and the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in his honor in 1984, seventh in the Black Heritage stamp collection. One of Dr. Woodson’s most profound quotes: “If you can control a man’s thinking, you don’t have to worry about his actions. If you can determine what a man thinks you do not have to worry about what he will do. If you can make a man believe that he is inferior, you don’t have to compel him to seek an inferior status, he will do so without being told and if you can make a man believe that he is justly an outcast, you don’t have to order him to the back door, he will go to the back door on his own and if there is no back door, the very nature of the man will demand that you build one”
BHE Fact 7) DR. ERNEST EVERETT JUST was a pioneering biologist and science researcher & writer. Born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1883 and losing his father at the age of 4, his Mother (Mary) became his sole supporter. Working as a teacher, Mary wanted the BEST education for Ernest. Believing that schools for blacks in the south were inferior at the time, she sent him up to New Hampshire for college prep school at Kimball Union Academy. Ernest excelled there, graduating in 1903, and went on to enroll & graduate magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1907. He also won special honors in zoology, and distinguished himself in botany, history, and sociology. Aspiring to be a Professor, Just had difficulty finding a University faculty position due to discrimination of the times. Fortunately there were Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCU) who believed in Black Teaching Ability, thus Just became a Professor of Science at the prestigious Howard University in the fall of 1907. While at Howard he taught science, but explored advanced biology. He took a leave of absence from Howard to enroll at The University of Chicago where he earned his Doctorate Degree in experimental embryology in 1916; becoming one of the handful of blacks who had gained a PhD from a major university. Gaining a national reputation as an outstanding young scientist, Ernest Just was the first recipient of the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal on February 12, 1915 (while in Grad School). He later blossomed to be a world renowned Doctor with a focus on marine biology and cytology. In 1930, Just became the first American to be invited to Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for research. Dr. Just authored two books, “Basic Methods for Experiments on Eggs of Marine Mammals” (1922) and “The Biology of the Cell Surface” (1939). While doing research in France in 1940 (during World War II), Just was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp. He was rescued and returned to the U.S. later that year, but suffered from illness in the prison turmoil, leading to his death in 1941. To his legacy, Dr. Ernest Just is the 19th Member in the USPS Black Heritage Stamp Collection and the Biology Building at Howard University is named in his honor. In all his greatness in science and world travels, in 1911 the then Professor Ernest Just was one of the Founders of the world renowned Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. Dr. Just is the subject of the 1983 biography “Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just”
BHE Fact 8)The BLACK HERITAGE STAMP SERIES was created in 1978 by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a tribute to outstanding Blacks. Harriet Tubman was the first person observed in the series. Although the first official Black Heritage stamp was not issued until 1978, more than 100 Blacks have been on stamps dating back to 1940, with Booker T. Washington being the first Black on a USPS stamp. For the 2021 year, legendary Playwright August is the 44th honoree in the USPS Black Heritage series
BHE Fact 9) DAVID WALKER was one of the earliest Black Freedom Fighters and author of “Walker’s Appeal to the Coulored Citized of the World”. Born free in 1797 to a slave father & free mother in Wilmington, North Carolina, he witnessed firsthand degradations of slavery at an early age; including seeing a son forced to whip his mother until she died. As a young adult, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, a Mecca for upwardly mobile free Blacks and became affiliated with the AME Church community of activist. By the 1820s, he settled in Boston where the level of Black competency and activism was high as slavery had been abolished in Massachusetts since 1780. There he opened a clothing store and began to associate with prominent Black activists, Freemasons and religious groups whom denounced slavery and aided runaway slaves. Walker also contributed articles to NYC’s “Freedom’s Journal,” the first newspaper owned & operated by African American in the US. By 1828 David Walker had become Boston’s leading spokesman against slavery. In 1829, he published “David Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World” to encourage readers to take an active role in fighting their oppression, regardless of the risk, and to press White Americans to realize the moral & religious failure of slavery. Walker wrote against published assertions of black inferiority and lesser humanity stating, “I say that unless we refute Mr. (Thomas) Jefferson’s arguments respecting us, we will only establish them”. Walker argued, “America is more our country, than it is the whites – we have enriched it with our blood and tears”. The book rejected notions that the Bible sanctioned slavery and offered a version of Christianity that was purged of racist heresies; one which held that God was a God of justice to all His creatures. He believed Blacks had to assume responsibility for themselves if they wanted to overcome oppression and envisioned all Blacks reading The Appeal: “It is expected that all coloured men, women and children, of every nation, language and tongue under heaven, will try to procure a copy of this Appeal and read it, or get someone to read it to them, for it is designed more particularly for them”. Walker distributed his book through black communication networks along the Atlantic coast, even sewing copies into the lining of clothing for sailors to take down south. The Appeal was inspiring to slaves and instilled a sense of hope. Whites in the South were angered by the book, leading to laws forbidding Blacks from reading and banning antislavery literature; they offered a $10,000 reward for Walker’s capture. In the wake of threats, Walker stood his ground believing he served a glorious and heavenly cause stating “Somebody must die in this cause. I may be doomed to the stake and the fire, or to the scaffold tree, but it is not in me to falter if I can promote the work of emancipation”. David Walker died in 1830, just two months after publishing a third edition of his Appeal; it was speculated (but never proven) that he was poisoned. Years after his death, the Great Frederick Douglass said of Walker: “Walker’s Appeal is the first sustained written assault upon slavery and racism to come from a Black man in the United States”. You can read “Walker’s Appeal” online at: http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/walker/walker.html
BHE Fact 10) SAMUEL “SAM” COOKE is one of the pioneers and founders of Soul Music. He was the son of a Baptist Minister, born in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1931 and relocated to Chicago, Illinois at the age of 3. His music talents of singing & writing started in the church with gospel, and later crossed over to R&B, soul and pop. In 1950 he became lead singer of Gospel Group “The Stirrers,” releasing several Gospel hits written by Sam himself. By 1956, Cooke made the jump to secular music, leading to him having 29 top-40 hits from 1957-1964. He was also among the first modern Black performers & composers to tend to the business side of his musical career, founding record label and publishing company SAR Records. He also took an active part in the Civil Rights Movement making several songs in dedication to civil rights. Sam Cooke became known as the “King of Soul” for his distinctive vocal abilities and influence on the modern world of music. His contribution in pioneering soul music led to the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, and popularized the likes of Otis Redding and James Brown. In 1964, Sam Cooke was fatally shot and killed in Los Angeles, at the age of 33. After death Cooke was mourned worldwide, with Greats of Ray Charles and Lou Rawls singing at his funeral. He received many posthumous honors including: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Charter Inductee (1986), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1999) and being named to Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Greatest Singer of All Time” List at #4 (2008). The Amazon film One Night in Miami showcases Sam Cooke’s interactions and friendship with Malcom X, Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown. Right after Cooke’s Death, his record company released his song “A Change Is Gonna Come”. Sam wrote this in response to Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”. It was his most pointedly political song and went on to become a “Civil Rights Anthem” and timeless hit played until the present day: https://youtu.be/wEBlaMOmKV4
BHE Fact 11) CAROL ELIZABETH MOSLEY BRAUN is the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate, first Black U.S. Senator from the Democratic Party, first woman to defeat an incumbent U.S. Senator in an election, and first female Senator from Illinois. Born in 1947, in Chicago, to a Police Officer Father and Medical Technician Mother, she attended Parker High School (now Paul Robeson High), and grew up in a segregated middle-class neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. She went on to earn a Bachelor Degree from University of Illinois-Chicago and a law degree from the University of Chicago, joining the U.S. Attorney’s office immediately afterwards (1973). Attorney Mosley Braun’s work in housing, health policy, and environmental law won her the Attorney General’s Special Achievement Award. In 1978, she was first elected to public office as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. There, she rose to the post of assistant majority leader and became recognized as a champion for social causes; advocating for civil rights, education, health care and against the death penalty. In what became a landmark reapportionment case, “Crosby v. State Board of Elections,” Representative Mosley Braun victoriously sued the Democratic Party and the State of Illinois on behalf of Black and Hispanic citizens. Leaving the state legislature in 1987, her colleagues recognized her in a resolution as “the conscience of the House.” That same year, she was elected as Cook County, IL Recorder of Deeds, a post she held for four years. In 1991, backed by the political coalition built by the late Mayor Harold Washington, Recorder Mosley Braun ran for U.S Senate, WINNING on November 3, 1992, she was elected the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Senate. Her election marked the first time Illinois had elected a woman and the first time a Black Democrat was elected to the U.S Senate. She was a strong supporter of public education, voting against school vouchers and requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer. Consistently Senator Moseley Braun fought discrimination against women, sexual orientation, and immigrants, in a distinguished six-year senate voting record. She also voted against the death penalty and in favor of gun control measures. In 1993, she boldly convinced the Senate Judiciary Committee not to renew a design patent for the United Daughters of the Confederacy because it contained the Confederate flag. Senator Mosley Braun became the first woman to serve on the Senate Finance Committee. At the time of her election, Women were not allowed to wear pants on the U.S. Senate floor. In 1993, Senators Moseley Braun and Barbara Mikulski wore pants onto the floor in defiance of the rule; female support staff followed soon after, with the rule being amended later that year to allow women to wear pants on the floor so long as they also wore a jacket. As a Black woman, Moseley Braun felt compelled to reach out to countries in Africa as part of her responsibility to bridge the gap in her heritage. She was criticized for meeting with high ranking African leaders whom had questionable human rights records and her career suffered as a result. Senator Moseley Braun was a one-term Senator, losing her re-election bid in 1998. In 1999, President Clinton appointed her to be a U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand; serving until 2001. Ambassador Mosley Braun briefly ran for President in 2004, dropping out after the D.C. primary. In 2011, she again sought office, running in Chicago’s mayoral election, but ultimately being defeated. The Honorable Carol Mosley Braun still resides in Chicago and is on the advisory board of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority Inc, and has an Illinois school named in her honor. She is one of two Black people to serve in the Senate in the 20th century and was the sole Black person in the Senate for her entire term. Of the 1,994 Senators in U.S. History, Carol Mosley Braun is one of the fifty eight (58) women, one of eleven (11) Black people, and one of just TWO Black women (Vice President Kamala Harris) to serve in the capacity.
BHE Fact 12) HAITI is the world’s oldest Black Republic. Called Ayiti by its original inhabitants and renamed Hispaniola after Spanish intrusion (in 1492), it became a haven for pirates during the 1600s with European nations competing for control. France and Spain settled hostilities, dividing Hispaniola between them. France received the western third and named it Saint-Domingue. France imported thousands of slaves from Africa to develop it into sugar cane plantations. By 1789, French in Saint-Domingue were vastly outnumbered by a ten to one ratio of African slaves. Over time, French provided some rights to free Blacks; those mixed-race descendants. More of the free people of color lived in the south region near Port-au-Prince where they worked, owned property and soon petitioned the colonial government to expand their freedoms and civil rights. Inspired by the French Revolution, Revolts broke out in 1791, with the fierce & wise Toussaint L’Ouverture risen from slavery being the rebellion leader. In 1792, the French government sent troops to reestablish control. To build an alliance with slaves, the French abolished slavery in the colony. Freed for the moment, the former slaves agreed to help France defeat their enemies. L’Ouverture and his army drove out Spanish and British invaders who threatened the colony. In 1801 L’Ouverture created a separatist constitution with equal rights for Blacks in the colony and himself as its ruler. New Power Hungry Dictator of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, came after French colonies in a fury for supremacy. He reinstated slavery and in 1802 sent more than 20,000 men to retake total control of Saint-Dominque. The French captured L’Ouverture, transporting and imprisoning him in France until death in 1803.However, the slaves and free Blacks continued their fight for independence. Led by Toussaint’s second in command, Jean-Jacques Dessalines they defeated French troops in a deciding battle that led to France totally withdrawing remaining troops from the island and from the Americas. Independence of Saint-Domingue was proclaimed on January 1, 1804 as the “Republic of Haiti;” modifying the spelling of the original name (Ayiti). Haiti was the first Black Republic, first independent nation in the Caribbean, the only nation in the world established as a result of a successful slave revolt, and the second republic in the Americas; and all the first leaders of government were former slaves. Despite their independence, world powers refused to recognize Haiti and boycotted trade with them until 1825. Haiti was forced to pay France 150 million gold francs to lift trade boycotts by France, Britain, and the US. The Debt was not paid in full until 1947 and has affected their economy to present day. Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) to designate French as an official language. With 9.7 million people, Haiti is the most populous full member-state of the Caribbean Community
BHE Fact 13) ROLIHLAHLA NELSON MANDELA was the President of South Africa and a revolutionary anti-apartheid activist for the ages. Born in 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa, he stems from royalty as his Great grandfather was King of the Thembu people (in the 1830s) and his Father was Chief of Mvezo (in 1920s). The first member of his family to attend college, he was given the English name “Nelson” by a teacher and went on to study law at Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand. Mandela began actively participating in politics in the 1940s, joining the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League and sitting on their Executive Board. When the “National Party” Government implemented apartheid in 1948, Mandela rose to prominence in the ANC’s 1952 Defiance Campaign, being elected president of the Transvaal ANC branch and overseeing the 1955 Congress of the People, calling on all South Africans to send in proposals for an anti-apartheid era. Influenced by Mahatma Ghandi, Mandela initially became an anti-apartheid NON-VIOLENT activist. Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for speaking against apartheid and with the ANC leadership stood on a Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961. After years of increasing oppression & violence, Mandela became convinced that non-violent protest against apartheid could not achieve any progress. As a last resort, he moved to armed struggle. Nelson co-founded “Umkhonto we Sizwe,” the armed wing of the African National Congress in 1961 and led a militant campaign against government targets. In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government, being sentenced to life imprisonment. He served in Robben Island and then Pollsmoor Prison, while an international campaign lobbied for his release. While in jail, he studied, earned a law degree via mail from the University of London, and taught prisoners about life and his civic beliefs. Mandela wrote letters and corresponded with several U.S. Civil Right Leaders, including the Late Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He also wrote and received letters from many worldwide freedom fighters. Although in prison, his reputation grew to be the most significant Black leader in South Africa. Nelson was released from prison on February 11, 1990 after 27 years. Recommitting to the non-violent stance of Ghandi, Mandela led his party in negotiations for multi-racial democracy in 1994. That same year he was elected President of South Africa, serving until 1999. He was the first South African President to be elected in a fully representative multi-racial democratic election, winning in a land slide. As president, he created a new constitution and initiated the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses, while introducing policies aimed at land reform, combating poverty and expanding healthcare. Internationally, he acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw a military intervention in Lesotho. Nelson Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2009, the United Nations declared Nelson Mandela’s Birthday, July 18 as “Mandela Day,” an International Celebration of his legacy and a day dedicated to Promoting Global Peace. Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5, 2013 at the age of 95 years old. More than 90 Heads of States from around the world attended his Memorial Services in South Africa
BHE Fact 14) GWENDOLYN BROOKS was the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Growing up in Chicago in the 1920s and 30s, she developed a writing gift at an early age. She published her first poem in a children’s magazine at the age of 13. By age 16 she had a portfolio of 75 published poems. At 17, she was submitting poetry to the Chicago Defender. By 18 she was putting on poetry workshops. In 1945, at the age of 27 she published her first book of poetry, “ A Street in Bronzeville,” earning instant critical acclaim. She released her 2nd Book, “Annie Allen,” in 1950, winning the Pulitzer Prize for this collection and becoming the first African-American to do so. Brooks went on to read poetry at many public functions, including for President John F. Kennedy in 1962. She later taught at several universities in the 60s & 70s, and became Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to The Library of Congress in 1985. The Illinois State Library is named in her honor.
BHM Fact 15) LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING is the Black National Anthem. It was first performed as a poem to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday in February 1900 by 500 children at the segregated Stanton Grade School in Jacksonville, Florida; Stanton being the first school designated for Blacks in the state of Florida. Principal James Weldon Johnson wrote the poem to introduce guest speaker for the day, renown Freedom Fighter Booker T Washington. In 1905, James’ Brother John thought enough of the poem to set it to music. The song was shared with friends and civic groups across the nation, spreading rapidly. Over the next decade, the song grew to mean unity and hope for Blacks. In 1919 the NAACP adopted Lift every Voice and Sing as the Black National Anthem. By the 1920s, the song could be found in hymnals of Black churches. Today, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is known across the globe and sang to open functions with a majority Black audience. Here is the HBCU 105 Voice Choir passionately singing it: https://youtu.be/EYN7wfypURE
BHE Fact 16) LAWRENCE DOUGLAS WILDER is the second Black person to serve as Governor of a U.S. state, and the first elected Black governor in U.S. History. Born in 1931, in the segregated Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond, VA, Wilder was named after poet laureate Paul Laurence Dunbar and Abolitionist Frederick Douglass. He attended Armstrong High in Richmond and went on to Virginia Union University, earning a chemistry degree in 1951 and pledging Omega Psi Phi Fraternity (Zeta Chapter). After college, Wilder joined the Army, serving in the Korean War and earning a Bronze Star for heroism. After the war, he worked in the Virginia state medical examiner’s office as a chemist. He later enrolled at the prestigious Howard University Law School, graduating in 1959; and soon afterwards established Wilder, Gregory and Associates law Firm. In 1969 Wilder entered politics, winning a seat in the Virginia State Senate during a special election, becoming the first Black state senator in Virginia since Reconstruction; serving until 1985. That same year, Senator Wilder ran for and was elected as the 35th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia; the first Black to win a statewide election in Virginia. Four years later, on November 8, 1989, Lt Governor Wilder was elected Governor, becoming the first black elected Governor in U.S. history. On January 13, 1990 L. Douglas Wilder was sworn in as the 66th Governor of Virginia, only second Black man to be Governor U.S State (Pickney Stynback – 1881 – Louisiana). During his tenure as governor, Governor Wilder worked on crime and gun control initiatives. He also worked to fund Virginia’s transportation initiatives, passing state bond issues to support improving transportation. In May 1990 Governor Wilder ordered state agencies and universities to divest themselves of any investments in South Africa because of its policy of apartheid, making Virginia the first Southern state to take such action. In 1994 Governor Wilder commuted the sentence of Earl Washington, Jr, an intellectually disabled man sentence to life in prison, and granted a pardon to Allen Iverson, a popular high school basketball player who was accused of assault. Although a Democrat for most of his career, Governor Wilder developed a reputation as a law and order fiscal conservative, appealing to many conservative voters in Virginia. He left office in 1994 because of Virginia’s prohibition of successive gubernatorial terms. In 2001, Governor Wilder founded the United States National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He has received numerous awards, including the NAACP Spingarn Medal. The Virginia Union University Library, Norfolk State University Performing Arts Center, Virginia State University Cooperative Extension Building, a Hampton University dormitory and a Richmond Middle school are all named in Governor Wilder’s honor. Virginia Commonwealth University named its School of Government & Public Affairs in his as well, with Governor Wilder currently serving as an adjunct faculty member at the school. To date there have only been 4 Black Governors in US History.
BHE Fact 17) MARLA GIBBS is an iconic actress, comedian, singer, writer and television producer, whose career spans five decades. Born as Margaret Theresa Bradley in 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, she was raised in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood. Upon completing high school, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, attending Peters Business School (1950-1952) and later working as a reservations agent for United Airlines. In 1955, she married Jordan Gibbs, with their union bearing 3 children: Angela, Dorian and Joseph. Margaret, affectionately referred to as Marla, moved to Los Angeles on a job transfer in the 60s; there she gave acting a try, initially studying at the Mafundi Institute and Watts Writers Workshop. She went on to appear in a number of local productions, including “Medea”, “The Amen Corner” and “The Gingerbread Lady”. Gibbs got her first major acting job in the early 1970s, in the films Sweet Jesus, Preacher Man and ‪Black Belt Jones‬. In 1975 she was cast in comedy series “The Jeffersons” as the family maid Florence Johnston – the maid was initially set up as a one guest part, but Marla showed the character’s potential. Playing the role for all 11 seasons, Gibbs was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress 5 times, and once for a Golden Globe Award. In 1981, Marla founded Crossroads Theatre for various local and large plays. A few years later Gibbs was featured as lead actress in an award-winning play “227” written by Christine Houston and produced by her daughter Angela Gibbs. The play was a hit and Marla wisely purchased the TV rights. Just two months after the last “Jeffersons” episode in 1985, NBC aired new TV sitcom “227”, with Marla Gibbs as lead actress (Mary Jenkins), co-producer and vocalist of show theme song “There’s No Place Like Home”. The series aired until 1990, producing 116 episodes. Marla has appeared in film roles in Up Against the Wall, Meteor Man, Lost & Found, The Brothers, The Visit, Stanley’s Gig, several Tyler Perry Films and more. Gibbs had a number of guest appearances on TV shows including Fresh Prince of Belair, Chappelle’s Show, Touched by an Angel, King of Queens, Scandal; and recuuring roles in The Hughleys and most recently Station 19. Gibbs owned a jazz club in South Central L.A. called “Marla’s Memory Lane Jazz and Supper Club” from 1981 to 1999, and released her own CD of music, “It’s Never Too Late”, in May 2006. In 2019, Gibbs reprised her role as Florence on “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons,” less than a month shy of her 88th birthday. An eight-time NAACP Image Award winner, Marla has received several honors over the years, including Essence Woman of the Year. Her older sister is the late actress Susie Garrett.
BHE Fact 18) DR. ROBERT HENRY LAWRENCE, JR. was the first Black astronaut. Born in 1935 in Chicago, Robert excelled in math & science. At age 16, he graduated High School in the top 10% of his class. At age 20, he graduated from Bradley University with a BS in Chemistry. At Bradley, Lawrence became Cadet Commander in the Air Force (AF) ROTC, received the commission of second lieutenant in AF Reserve Program and joined the elite #OmegaPsiPhi Fraternity. At age 21, he was designated as a U.S. Air Force (USAF) pilot, completing flight training at Malden AF Base, Missouri. At 22, Robert married childhood sweetheart Barbara Cress. By 25, he was a Senior USAF pilot at rank of Major, accumulating well over 2,500 flight hours, (2,000 in jets). Major Lawrence flew many tests in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to investigate gliding flight of unpowered spacecrafts returning to Earth from orbit. NASA cited Lawrence for accomplishments and flight maneuver data that “contributed greatly to the development of the Space Shuttle.” In 1965, at age 30, he earned a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Ohio State Univ. In June 1967, Dr. Lawrence successfully completed the USAF Test Pilot School (Class 66B) at Edwards AFB, California. The same month, he was selected by the #USAF as an astronaut in the AF Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program, thus becoming the first Black astronaut. On December 8, 1967, at age 32, Dr. Lawrence was tragically killed in the crash of an F-104 Starfighter at Edwards AFB while flying backseat on the mission as the instructor pilot for a flight test trainee. Had Lawrence lived, he would have been among the #MOL astronauts who became #NASA Astronaut Group 7 after MOL’s cancellation. During his brief career, Dr. Lawrence earned the Air Force Commendation Medal Outstanding Unit Citation. In 1997, 30 years after death, Major Dr. Robert Lawrence was inscribed on the Space Mirror Memorial at Kennedy Space Center
BHE Fact 19) KATIE BEATRICE HALL authored & sponsored the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Law legislation and was the first Black person to represent the state of Indiana in the United States Congress. Born 1938 in Mound Bayou and growing up on a farm with 10 siblings, she went on to attend Mississippi Vocational College (now Mississippi Valley State University) and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. In college, she met & married USAF Officer John Hall (husband of 54 years). Graduating with a BS in 1960, she immediately left the south and moved to Gary, Indiana. Katie first worked as a substitute teacher with the Gary Community School Corporation. After a few years, she secured a permanent position, teaching US history, Government and Economics, and obtained a Master’s degree in Education from Indian University. While teaching, she sponsored annual Educational Tours to Washington DC, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the US Naval Academy and other historical sites. Developing an interest in politics, Katie actively worked on the Mayoral campaign for Richard Hatcher, helping him become the first Black mayor of a major US city – Gary, IN in 1967. By the 1970s, Hall launched her own political campaigns, serving in the Indiana House of Representatives and Senate. She chiefly served on the House & State Education Committee and authored many pieces of legislation that improved the lives of the citizens of Gary and State of Indiana. Katie Hall became Indiana’s first Black US House Rep in 1982. As a freshman congresswoman, she introduced legislation to make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a national holiday; an effort stalled in the US House for 16 years. Through Katie’s rigorous efforts, on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law; the first federal legislation to honor the life an African-American. One of her main Congressional Studies was “Famine in Ethiopia”, an extensive study of causes, scope, devastating effects, and recommendations of the problems of hunger in Ethiopia in 1983. Leaving a legacy for women, Congresswoman Hall was a charter member of the National Congress of Black Women in 1984. She exited congress in 1985 and resumed her career as a Government & Economics teacher, retiring from the Gary school system in 2004. In that same span she remained active civically, becoming Chair of the Indiana State Democratic Convention, Assistant Coordinator of Jesse Jackson for President Campaign and serving as City Clerk for Gary from 1988 to 2003. As Clerk, she digitized the city’s records, improved quality of service and gave many young women & men a chance to work & earn money for college. Katie Hall passed away in 2012 at the age of 73. In her lifetime, Congresswoman Hall received more than 500 awards for outstanding service in religion, education, politics, community service and legislature. To her legacy, the Katie Hall Educational Foundation was developed in her honor, and there is a “Katie Hall Public Service Awards Luncheon” held in Gary, Indiana Annually
BHE Fact 20) DR. MAE CAROL JEMISON is the first Black woman to travel in space. Born in Decatur, Alabama, she relocated to Chicago at the age of 3. She had a fascination with science from an early age, going on to excel & graduate from Chicago’s Morgan Park High School and entered Stanford University at the age of 16. There she attained her a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and a B.A. degree in African and African-American studies. Jemison also led the Black Students Union in college. She went on to earn her Doctorate in Medicine from Cornell University in 1981. During her years at Cornell, she also took modern dance lessons at Alvin Ailey School. Dr. Jemison briefly worked as a general practitioner, before serving 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer, spending time in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and learning to speak Russian, Japanese and Swahili. After returning to the U.S., Dr. Jemison applied to NASA’s astronaut program, becoming one of 15 candidates selected out of more than 2,000 people (1987). After a year of training, she became the first Black Female Astronaut. On September 12, 1992, Dr. Mae Jemison became the first Black Woman in space when the space shuttle Endeavour carried her and six other astronauts on 126 orbits around the Earth. A mission specialist, Jemison was a co-investigator of two bone cell research experiments, one of 43 scientific investigations that were done on mission STS-47. In her own words, “The first thing I saw from space was Chicago, my hometown”. Aboard the shuttle, Dr. Jemison brought several small art objects from West African countries to symbolize that space belongs to all nations, a photo of Bessie Coleman (the very first licensed Black pilot), and her beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority banner. The shuttle landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 20, 1992, with Dr. Jemison logging 190 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds in space. Dr. Jemison left NASA in 1993 and founded her own company, The Jemison Group. to promote science & technology research to schools around the world. She was also a Professor at Dartmouth College until 2002. Dr. Jemison continues to advocate strongly in favor of science education and getting minority students interested in science. A lover of arts, Dr. Jemison has a dance studio in her home and has choreographed & produced several shows of modern jazz and African dance. Dr. Jemison has received 8 honorary Doctorate degrees, has 5 schools named in her honor, has written several books and has received over 100 awards, and has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame as well as the International Space Hall of Fame. In 2008, Jemison was the featured speaker for the 100th anniversary of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Dr. Mae Jemison currently lead’s the “100 Year Starship Project,” working to make human space travel beyond the solar system a reality within the next century
BHE Fact 21) FRED HAMPTON was Deputy Chairman of the Black Panther Party – a POWERFUL Brother wrongfully killed at age 21 because of his potential to liberate & educate people. Born in 1948, raised in Chicago suburb of Maywood, Hampton went on to graduate from Proviso East High with honors. He then enrolled at Triton Junior College majoring in pre-law. Hampton also became involved in civil rights movement joining his local branch NAACP. His dynamic leadership and organizational skills in the branch enabled him to rise to Youth Council President. There Hampton built up a membership of 500 people who successfully lobbied city officials to create better academic services and recreational facilities. At the time of Hampton’s successful NAACP organizing, the Black Panther Party started rising to national prominence. Fred was quickly attracted to their approach, and joined in 1968. Using his NAACP experience, he soon headed the Panther’s Chicago chapter. As President, he organized weekly rallies, worked closely with their Clinic, taught political education classes every morning at 6 am, launched a project for community supervision of the police, and was instrumental in the Panther’s Free Breakfast Program. The Panthers also established a truce between Chicago’s most powerful street gangs; emphasizing that racial conflict between gangs would only keep its members in poverty. Hampton further strove to forge a multi-racial alliance with other progressive groups of the time. He started a national “Rainbow Coalition” between the Panthers, Young Lords (Puerto Rican nationalist), Students for a Democratic Society, Brown Berets, and Red Guard Party to name a few. Hampton’s organizing & oratorical skills allowed him to rise quickly in the Black Panthers, becoming Chairman of the Illinois state Black Panther Party and National Deputy Chair. Shortly thereafter, he was to assume the position of Chief of Staff and major spokesman. While Hampton impressed many as a talented leader, those very qualities marked him as a major threat in the eyes of then, FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover, whom was determined to prevent the formation of a cohesive Black movement. In 1969, Hampton was on the verge of creating a merger between the Black Panthers and a southside street gang with thousands of members, which would have doubled the size of the national Black Panther Party, uniting them with white and Latino organizers. Hoover viewed this as an ultimate threat and ordered an intensified FBI crackdown. Hoover saw Hampton as a frightening steppingstone toward the creation of a revolutionary body that could cause a radical change in the US. To counteract the growth, the FBI sent an informant to infiltrate the Party, whom quickly rose in the organization, becoming Director of Chapter security and Hampton’s bodyguard. Determined to prevent any more enhancement of Hampton’s effectiveness, the FBI and Chicago Police conspired to set up an armed raid on Hampton’s apartment. The informant provided them with detailed information about the layout and room in which Hampton slept. On December 4, 1969 at 4 am, 12 officers raided the apartment and opened fire, killing the 21 year old Hampton and Panther Mark Clark, also seriously wounding 4 other Panthers, including his 8 month pregnant girlfriend. Many in the Chicago Community were outraged over the unnecessary deaths. Over 5,000 people attended Hampton’s funeral where Rev Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson eulogized him. The families of Hampton and Clark filed a civil suit in 1970 with the suit finally settled for $1.85 Million in 1982. To his legacy, Maywood’s “Fred Hampton Family Aquatic Center” is named in his honor. In 1990 and 2004, the Chicago City Council passed resolutions commemorating December 4 as “Fred Hampton Day”. The resolution read in part: “Fred Hampton, who was only 21 years old, made his mark in Chicago history not so much by his death as by the heroic efforts of his life and by his goals of empowering the most oppressed sector of Chicago’s Black community, bringing people into political life through participation in their own freedom fighting organization”. Fred Hampton is portrayed in the film Judas and the Black Messiah. Hampton’s most famous quote, often chanted by others, was “I AM A REVOLUTIONARY”. For your viewing and listening pleasure, the late Fred Hampton. Feel the Passion of this man Gone Too Soon:
https://youtu.be/vkz0gAZgVyo
BHE Fact 22) DOROTHY JOHNSON VAUGHAN was a gifted mathematician, human computer and NASA’s first Black Supervisor. Born September 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri as Dorothy Jean Johnson, her family later moved to Morgantown, West Virginia where she graduated from high school as class valedictorian. Vaughan went on to attend Wilberforce University graduating Cum Laude in 1929 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and joining Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. In 1932, she married Howard Vaughan, and relocated to Newport News, Virginia, where they had 6 children; there Dorothy worked as a mathematics teacher for 14 years. After President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 Executive Orders to end discrimination in hiring among federal agencies and defense contractors; Vaughan began a career as a mathematician and programmer at National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in 1943. NACA had established a section of women mathematicians, who performed complex calculations. Vaughan was assigned to the West Area Computing, a segregated unit consisting of Black women who made complex mathematical calculations by hand. The West Computers made contributions to every area of research with their work expanding in the postwar years to support research and design for the United States’ space program. In 1949, Vaughan was assigned as the Supervisor of the West Area Computers, becoming the first Black Supervisor at NACA and one of few female supervisors. Seeing that machine computers were going to be the future, Vaughan became proficient in computer programming, teaching herself FORTRAN and teaching it to her coworkers to prepare them for the transition. She contributed to the space program through her work on the Scout Launch Vehicle Program. In 1958 NACA transitioned to become NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and Dorothy Vaughn became Head of the Programming Section of the Analysis and Computation Division (ACD). Vaughan retired from NASA in 1971 after a 28 year career. She continued to live a life of service mentoring women in math & science and working with the AME Church until her passing in 2008 at age of 98. Dorothy Vaughan is one of the women featured in Margot Lee Shetterly’s 2016 non-fiction book Hidden Figures, and the feature film of the same name – portrayed by Academy Award winning actress Octavia Spencer. In 2019, Vaughan was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. A crater on the far side of the Moon was named in her honor – “Vaughan Crater”. In November 2020, a satellite named after her (ÑuSat 12 or “Dorothy”, COSPAR 2020-079D) was launched into space
BHE Fact 23) MARY JACKSON was NASA’s first Black Female engineer. Born Mary Winston in 1921 in Hampton, Virginia, she finished high school with highest honors and went on to the Hampton Institute; earning Bachelor’s Degrees in mathematics and physics in 1942, and joining Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. After graduation, Mary taught at a high school and worked as a clerk at the Hampton Institute’s Health Department. In 1944 she married Levi Jackson and had two children in their union. In 1951, Jackson was recruited by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as a research mathematician/ computer at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. She worked under Dorothy Vaughan in the segregated West Area Computing Section. In 1953, she accepted an offer to work in the NACA Supersonic Pressure Tunnel – a wind tunnel used to study forces on a model by generating winds at almost twice the speed of sound. She analyzed data from wind tunnel experiments and real-world aircraft flight experiments. Her goal was to understand air flow, including thrust and drag forces, in order to improve United States planes. IN 1958, NACA transitioned to become NASA and set standards for graduate-level courses to qualify to be a NASA Engineer. Mary Jackson petitioned the City of Hampton to allow her to attend classes at the then segregated University of Virginia as it was the only University that offered graduate level engineer courses. Winning her petition and completing night courses at UVA, she was promoted to Aerospace Engineer in 1958, becoming NASA’s first Black Female Engineer. Jackson worked as an engineer in several NASA divisions: the Compressibility Research Division, Full-Scale Research Division, High-Speed Aerodynamics Division, and the Subsonic-Transonic Aerodynamics Division. She ultimately authored or co-authored 12 technical papers for NACA and NASA. She later served as both NASA’s Federal Women’s Program Manager in the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and as the Affirmative Action Program Manager, and worked to influence the career paths of women in science, engineering, and mathematics positions at NASA until her retirement in 1985. She further helped Black children in her community create a miniature wind tunnel for testing airplanes and served for more than 30 years as a Girl Scout leader. Mary Jackson died in 2005 at age of 83. To her legacy, Salt Lake City, Utah’s Mary Jackson Elementary School is named in her honor. In 2019, Jackson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. In 2020 NASA’s Washington, DC headquarters was renamed the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters. Mary Jackson is one of the women featured in Margot Lee Shetterly’s 2016 non-fiction book Hidden Figures, and the feature film of the same name. She was portrayed by actress and singer Janelle Monáe. In November 2020, a satellite named after her (ÑuSat 17 or “Mary”, COSPAR 2020-079J) was launched into space.
BHE Fact 24) GWENDOLYN IFILL was a trailblazing journalist and the first Black Woman to host a nationally televised U.S. Public Affairs Program. Born in 1955 in Jamaica Queens, NY to a family of Panamanian and Barbadian descent, she & her family relocated to Springfield, Massachusetts where she finished High School in 1973. Gwen went on to Simmons College in Boston, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications. While in school, she interned for the Boston Herald-American and worked there immediately after graduation. Ifill went on to work for the Baltimore Evening Sun from 1981 to 1984 and Washington Post from 1984 to 1991. She left the Post after being told she wasn’t ready to cover Capitol Hill, but was hired by The New York Times, where she covered the White House from 1991 to 1994. Her first job in television was with NBC, as Capitol Hill reporter in 1994. In 1999 she became the moderator of the PBS program Washington Week in Review, becoming the first Black Woman to host a national political talk show on television; She matriculated into a senior correspondent for PBS NewsHour and appeared on various news shows, including Meet the Press, Face the Nation, The Colbert Report, Charlie Rose, Inside Washington, and more. In 2006, she co-hosted an educational webcast commemorating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Virginia. Ifill served on the boards of the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Museum of Television and Radio, and the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. In 2004 and 2008, Ifill moderated the U.S. Vice-Presidential debates, the first Black woman in herstory to moderate a Vice-Presidential debate, and receiving high praise for her performances. Rising to be a knowledgeable and skilled political analyst, Ifill authored the best-selling book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama in 2009. In 2013, PBS News Hour named Gwen Ifill as a co-anchor and co-managing editor alongside Judy Woodruff. In February 2016, Ifill and Woodruff moderated the Democratic Primary Presidential debate, becoming the first pair of women to ever do so. On November 14, 2016 Gwen Ifill died of breast and endometrial cancer at age of 61. To her legacy, Ifill received more than 20 honorary doctorates from universities around the world. Her alma mater Simmons College named the “Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts and Humanities” in her honor. the Committee to Protect Journalists renamed the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award to Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award. Her hundreds of awards include Foundation for American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Allen Tribute Award (2004), Peabody Award (2008), First Amendment Award (2010), Harvard Univ Goldsmith Career Award, Women’s Media Center Lifetime Achievement award, National Press Club Fourth Estate Award (2015), Columbia University John Chancellor Award (2016). Gwen Ifill was inducted into the Washington, DC Journalism Hall of Fame and National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame.. In 2017 she was named an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. In 2020, Ifill was honored on a U.S. postage Black Heritage stamp.
BHE Fact 25) HAROLD LEE WASHINGTON is the first Black Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. Born in 1922, Washington grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago; the center of Black culture for the entire Midwest in the early & mid 1900s. He attended DuSable High and was a member of its first graduating class. At age 20 Harold was drafted in the US Army for WWII, serving overseas & rising to the rank of First Sergeant. Returning to Chicago a war veteran at 24, he enrolled at Roosevelt College; obtaining a BA in 1949 and pledging Phi Beta Sigma. Washington then entered Northwestern Univ Law School, graduating in 1952; He was the only Black student in his class. From then until 1965, Harold worked in the offices of Chicago’s 3rd Ward Alderman where he began to organize the 3rd Ward’s Young Democrats (YD) organization. The 3rd Ward YD pushed for numerous resolutions in the interest of Blacks. Eventually, other Black YD organizations would come to the 3rd Ward headquarters for advice. In 1960, Washington and others founded the Chicago League of Negro Voters, one of the first Black political organizations in the city. In 1965, they gained enough traction within the city to get Harold elected as a State Representative. Washington’s years in the Illinois House were focused on becoming an advocate for Black rights. He worked on the Fair Housing Act, and to strengthen the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC). Washington also passed bills honoring civil rights figures, including a resolution honoring James J. Reeb, a Unitarian minister beaten to death in Selma, Alabama. By 1976, Washington was elected to the Illinois Senate where his main focus was to to pass Illinois Human Rights Act. In 1980, Harold was elected to the US. House of Representatives in Illinois’ 1st Congressional District and re-elected in 1982. Washington’s major congressional accomplishment involved legislation to extend the Voting Rights Act. In 1983, Washington turned his attention to Chicago mayoral election. With 100,000 new registered voters that year, Washington was elected as Chicago’s 51st Mayor on April 12, 1983, the FIRST Black Mayor in the city’s history; second elected Black Mayor (Lori Lightfoot) was elected in 2019. As mayor, Harold stressed reforming the Chicago patronage system and jobs programs in the tight economy. Washington also established the Political Education Project (PEP), an organization to help organize political candidates for statewide elections. PEP managed Washington’s participation in the 1984 Democratic National Convention and his 1987 mayoral election, where we was reelected. November 1987, just 7 months into his second term, Mayor Harold Washington suspiciously passed away from a sudden heart attack while in his office. Reactions to his death were of shock and sadness, as many Blacks believed Washington was the only top Chicago official who would address their concerns. Thousands of Chicagoans attended his wake in the lobby of City Hall. Various city facilities and institutions were named or renamed to commemorate his legacy including: Harold Washington College, Harold Washington Library Center, Harold Washington Elementary School, Harold Washington Hall on the campus of Chicago State Univ, Harold Washington Park and Harold Washington Cultural Center in the Bronzeville neighborhood he grew up in.
BHE Fact 26) DR. DOROTHY IRENE HEIGHT was a GIANT of civil rights, women’s rights and humanity. Born in Richmond, Virginia in 1912; Height showed great oratory talent as a youth. By high school, Height’s speaking skills took her to the Elks’ national oratory competition, where she won First place and was awarded a college scholarship. She was accepted to Barnard College in NY, but was later rejected stating they had “met their quota for Black students;” which was two (2). Undeterred, she applied to and entered New York University (NYU), earning a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Master’s in Psychology. After college, she worked as a social worker for NYC Welfare Dept and then at the Harlem Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in 1937. While working there, Height met educator & founder of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Mary McLeod Bethune; Bethune and US first lady Eleanor Roosevelt were on a facility visit. Through Bethune’s influence (and friendship), at just 25 yrs old Height became very active with NCNW; fighting for equal rights for both Blacks and women. By 1944 she joined the national staff of the YWCA and 2 years later directed the integration of all of its Centers across the nation. In 1947, she was elected 10th National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; serving until 1956 and remaining active throughout her life, she was key in developing Delta’s “Five Point Thrust” program to benefit Black Communities. Following her reign of Delta, in 1957 Height became President of the National Council of Negro Women and was soon one of the leading figures of the Civil Rights Movement. She was one of the organizers of the famed 1963 March on Washington, standing close to Dr. King when he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Despite her skills as a speaker and leader, neither Height nor any other female spoke at the March. Though disappointed, she was more motivated to establish respect for women. The day after the March, Height convened an interracial gathering that pulled in women from civil rights groups and such organizations as the National Council of Catholic Women and the National Council of Jewish Women; rising as a champion for women’s rights. Height soon began a column entitled “A Woman’s Word” in NY’s Amsterdam News. She also encouraged President Lyndon B. Johnson to appoint Black women to positions in government, and in 1971helped found the National Women’s Political Caucus. Still active with the YWCA she traveled to expand Centers internationally (in Africa and Asia) and established its Center for Racial Justice in 1965; running it until she retired in 1977. Height continued to run the NCNW until 1998, focused on strengthening the Black family, and launching a war against drugs, illiteracy & unemployment. She was deemed NCNW Chair & President Emerita, and remained the organization’s chair of the board until her death in 2010 at 98 yrs of age. Height received many honors for her contributions to society including: Presidential Citizens Medal (1989), NAACP Spingarn Medal (1993), Presidential Medal of Freedom (1994), Congressional Gold Medal (2004), 6 honorary doctorate degrees (one from the school that originally denied her entry) and the NCNW Headquarters is named in her honor. In 2016, she was honored as the 40th member of the USPS Black Heritage Stamp collection. At her funeral, 44th US President Barack Obama properly acknowledged Dr. Dorothy Height as “Godmother of the Civil Rights Movement”
BHE Fact 27) EARTHA KITT was an iconic singer, actress, dancer, activist and author. Born as Eartha Mae Keith in 1927 in North, South Carolina to a Mom of Cherokee and African descent; she was sent to live with relative Mamie in Harlem, New York attending high school there and getting into performing arts. At the age of 16, she started her career as a member of the renowned Katherine Dunham Company as a singer and dancer. Kitt first appeared on Broadway at the age of 18 in the 1945 original “Carib Song”. In 1950 she stared role as Helen of Troy, and 2 years later was cast in the revue New Faces of 1952. Known for her distinctive singing style she had 6 Top 30 hit recordings, including “C’est si bon” and “Santa Baby”, both reaching Billboard Top 10. Deemed the “most exciting woman in the world,” in the early 1960s, she recorded & toured; worked in film, television, and nightclubs; and returned to Broadway stage. In 1967, Kitt starred as Catwoman in the Batman TV series. In the 1960s Kitt became active in numerous social causes. She established the Kittsville Youth Foundation and supported Washington, DC’s “Rebels with a Cause” movement, helping them garner much needed funding to clean up communities. Kitt was also a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom criticizing war and its connection to poverty and racial unrest – part of a larger commitment to peace activism. In 1968, Kitt made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon that caused her to blackballed temporarily. She in turn took her talents abroad to Europe and Asia before returning to Broadway in the 1978 original production of the musical Timbuktu, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Kitt wrote three autobiographies, and later became a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights and publicly supported same-sex marriage, which she considered a civil right. Through the 80s and 90s, she recorded music again hit with disco song “Where Is My Man” becoming the first certified gold record of her career; as well as acted in TV and movies including film “Boomerang” and national touring of The Wizard of Oz.. In the 2000s her vocal roles in Disney films The Emperor’s New Groove an sequels, brought a new generation of fans. Eartha Kitt passed away on Christmas Day 2008. Her work earned multiple Daytime Emmy awards and Annie awards, and nominations for multiple Tony and Grammy awards. Kitt was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
BHE Fact 28) MAYOR RICHARD GORDON HATCHER was one of the first Black Mayors of a Metropolitan City. Born in Michigan City, Indiana in 1933, he attended Indiana University earning a Bachelors degree in Business and Government in 1956. He went on to Valparaiso University School of Law graduating in 1959. Attorney Hatcher soon moved to Gary, Indiana, and began serving as a deputy prosecutor for Lake County. In 1963 he was elected to Gary’s City Council, becoming the Chair (President) in his first year. In 1967, Councilman Hatcher launched a primary challenge against the incumbent Mayor, winning the Democratic primary. Going to the General Election, he faced an intensely fought election marked by racial violence, intimidation, voter purges and no support from the local Democratic Party (whom supported his Republican opponent). Overcoming the odds, Hatcher was able to assemble a coalition of Black voters and Liberal voters to win the November 7, 1967 election by a mere 2200 votes, becoming the first Black person elected as Mayor of a metropolitan city; with Carl Stokes being elected Mayor of Cleveland that same day. Mayor Hatcher’s tenure in office was initially difficult with an uncooperative city council consistently hostile to his proposals. Mayor Hatcher targeted neighboring unincorporated areas for annexation to gain more land for suburban expansion and was blocked by State Legislators, with State Reps passing racially motivated laws prohibiting incorporation and allowing surrounding areas to incorporate into majority white towns. Following this, over 100 major business establishments closed their location and fled to new suburban areas (Merrillville); causing Gary loss of jobs, residents, and tax revenues. Although societal forces beyond the city’s control caused a severe decline, Mayor Hatcher still pushed forward. In 1971, when a number of allies were elected to the city council, Hatcher’s good government initiatives were passed with innovative approaches to urban issues. He became internationally known as a brilliant and prolific civil rights spokesman and delivered speeches alongside Mayor Carl Stokes, Ambassador Andrew Young, Rev Jesse Jackson, Mayor Harold Washington and other historic proponents of civil rights. Mayor Hatcher was instrumental in getting the 1972 National Black Political Convention to come to Gary when the convention organizers struggled to find a city willing to host the event. Mayor Hatcher insured there was an influx of qualified Black staff members and appointees, mentoring many of the Black leaders in City of Gary for generations. Mayor Hatcher served as the Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1981 to 1985.In the 1984 U.S. presidential election, Mayor Hatcher served as the chairman for Rev Jesse Jackson’s campaign. Mayor Hatcher left office in 1988. He then started R. Gordon Hatcher & Associates consulting firm, worked as an Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and began teaching political science at Roosevelt University in 1989. In 1991 he became a senior research professor at Valparaiso University, and later taught a law course at Cambridge University in England and served as an adjunct professor at Indiana University-Northwest. Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher passed away in December 2019 at 86 years of age. To his legacy, he received hundreds of honors including Civil Rights Hall of Fame Induction and over 100 honorary degrees in his lifetime. His daughter, the Honorable Ragen Hatcher currently serves in the Indiana House of Representatives. A Life Size Statue was erected in front of Gary, Indiana’s City Hall in Mayor Hatcher’s honor with assistance of Markael Watkins and others. In February 2021, the Gary City Council voted to replace Columbus Day with Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher Day.