tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78909133814723076162024-03-06T00:19:21.114-05:00Call Me VicI'm not normal, I love being different, and it's one of the sexiest things about me...next to my creative brain and "Lil' Big Vic".Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.comBlogger387125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-67900736708864646312016-06-13T16:25:00.000-04:002016-06-13T16:26:17.436-04:00As The World Slept<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">As The World Slept</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">On June 12<sup>th</sup>, 2016 many people woke thinking it was going to be just another Sunday. To those in the LGBTQIA community of Orlando, they were enduring a nightmare.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sirens filled the air, bullets ricocheted, screams echoed, and cries and pleas for mercy sounded as those who had gone to Pulse in Orlando, Florida for Latin Night to be themselves, to embrace their truth, to kick off Pride Week, to dance, to love freely, were gunned down in hatred. In fear. In anger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">While the rest of the world slept and was unaware, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, partners, husbands and wives, lovers, fathers and mothers, friends, family members, colleagues, mentors, were fighting for their lives. Running for safety. Struggling to escape.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XenpbF-yswoRIK9z0END3Qy8_p6IVkBJMEHe5xPzDDNzsdlf0uidzNI22DziKIDqO4CJ_7AWG31NmP5PJ7FF6Z460ke19RBY9xwXbU2YNxQ6pL0EWrPtnCMma2oduafURD1ul7syH1R6/s1600/Pulse+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XenpbF-yswoRIK9z0END3Qy8_p6IVkBJMEHe5xPzDDNzsdlf0uidzNI22DziKIDqO4CJ_7AWG31NmP5PJ7FF6Z460ke19RBY9xwXbU2YNxQ6pL0EWrPtnCMma2oduafURD1ul7syH1R6/s320/Pulse+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Many of them called for help. Alerted family members, local law enforcement, friends on social media, of what was occurring, in a desperate attempt for help. For safety. While a madman calmly hunted them, shooting them. Killing them. Wounding them. Injuring them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The shooter, for he is not worthy of being named in this post, was “cool and calm” during negotiations, according to various news outlets. He had no regard for the lives of the people he was attacking. He cared not about the couples he was splitting up, the sons and daughters he was taking away from their parents, the fathers and mothers he was taking away from their children, the brothers and sisters he was taking away from their siblings, the friends he was taking away from their support system.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">While the rest of the world slumbered, or started their day, the victims of Pulse, tried to get to safety. They barricaded themselves in bathrooms, they ran out the back door, climbed over the fence, helped complete strangers to freedom, tried to patch up the wounded as they ran; all while a shooter intent on taking their lives continued his assault. Many of them escaped. Many of them did not.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The shooter’s father apologized to the victims’ families and to the city of Orlando, while in the same breath offered an explanation for the mass shooting, stating that it was seeing “two men kiss” that led to the hate crime and terrorist attack—because yes, this was both. However, the absurd notion, this bigoted ideology that “gay panic” can lead someone to commit a heinous violent act is nauseating. The very fact that anyone tries to use it to justify their actions is horrible. What about “black panic” or “Hispanic panic” or “white panic” or “women panic” or anything else? When just seeing someone who represents something you don’t like, or don’t agree with sends you into a rage, or a “panic” is suddenly justification for you to attack them or murder them. Will there suddenly be people shooting heterosexual couples? Cisgender, all white couples? What about cisgender, all white, Republican, wealthy, extreme right-wing couples? What if that causes a “panic” in someone? Will that be justification for them to walk into a country club and start shooting? Will the media and news outlets report that it was a mass shooting in a city, as they reported the shooting in Orlando—erasing the fact that it was in a gay nightclub, on Latin night with POC with trans headliners, or will they report that it was a mass shooting in an “affluent, known Republican, extreme right-wing, country club”?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Too long the gay community has been vilified, oppressed, and attacked in public, and now, in our safe haven, our nightclubs, we have another reason to look over our shoulder. To be on alert. To be watchful. While it will not prevent the dance, nor stop our expression of PRIDE, while we still believe (in the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda) “that love is love is love is love is love, and love cannot be killed or swept aside,” the fear that we live with outside in public, as we hold hands with our partners, our lovers, our boyfriends, our girlfriends, our spouses, our significant others, has now followed us inside the very places where we used to let go of those concerns.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscPAqqcDqWeAd7QZTVKMGL2rDvE6wGAjCmgvTYPMCN1lLt5-tKkTSppPwvjE_uv00kaieezNW-3900KB3mrKnniz9vaTwx7XjKRGBDoZ2qZ6UCvJRyIIgueS17eIlDVq14SRZti95_P8z/s1600/Pulse+Orlando.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscPAqqcDqWeAd7QZTVKMGL2rDvE6wGAjCmgvTYPMCN1lLt5-tKkTSppPwvjE_uv00kaieezNW-3900KB3mrKnniz9vaTwx7XjKRGBDoZ2qZ6UCvJRyIIgueS17eIlDVq14SRZti95_P8z/s320/Pulse+Orlando.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">As soon as the world awoke, we all watched and listened in horror as details were given. Those who knew someone, who had family, friends, loved ones, etc. in Orlando, around Pulse, or whom they knew were in Pulse at the time, began calling, texting, checking Facebook, hoping for word that they were okay. Hearts in our throats, tears in our eyes, fear clawing away at us. Terror had gripped the LGBTQIA community, our families, our friends, our loved ones, and the city of Orlando. Video after video was played of family members weeping, their tears and sobs burying deep inside those of us who were rooted to the unbelievable, unfolding story. Details unfolded slowly, and still we watched.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">In denial.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">In fear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">In horror.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Parents of LGBTQIA children reacted all over the world. Whether it was to call, text, or see their children, contact was made. Conversations were had, and parents who had accepted their sons and daughters coming out were having to deal with the very real fear, the reality, of what their children were dealing with, were facing, every day, simply for being who they were. For living their truth. Simply because someone didn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">agree</i> with who they were.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Then, the names of the fallen began to be released, and those of us who were in denial, who thought—who hoped—that maybe, just maybe, this was all just some horrible nightmare gone wrong, something they just couldn’t wake up from, had to face facts that yes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yes</i>, dear <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">god</i>, this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually. Happened.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Tears flowed. Bodies trembled. People clutched each other in sorrow. Some collapsed in grief.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Oh god. Oh god. How could this have happened. Again? And why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">49 people killed, at least 53 people seriously wounded, and that’s just the numbers that have been reported. Will the death toll rise? Will more of the wounded appear?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2Dttkm_t8mV3XKhywOO49eUN9F0AlXs2l8slCjsYFSkiuMrUlAoEW64PPj19sdECyYt_dc5mvk5TjU6anGlVEraAeMOFi14NsBJ5D_BBW4kS0XHr61WI1ANE3wuAoRWlwFVtQ85fuDUL/s1600/Dollarphotoclub_37644294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2Dttkm_t8mV3XKhywOO49eUN9F0AlXs2l8slCjsYFSkiuMrUlAoEW64PPj19sdECyYt_dc5mvk5TjU6anGlVEraAeMOFi14NsBJ5D_BBW4kS0XHr61WI1ANE3wuAoRWlwFVtQ85fuDUL/s320/Dollarphotoclub_37644294.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">And as the world struggled to come to grips with this tragedy, controversy after controversy began to pop up. But then, what did we expect? This was both a hate crime and a terrorist attack on the LGBTQIA community in Orlando, Florida. From media outlets who refused to say “gay nightclub” or “hate crime” or “LGBT” in their broadcast whatsoever, thereby erasing the very real reason why the attack happened. Ignoring our fear, downplaying our suffering, brushing aside the agony of the families, and diminishing the lives of the fallen and the wounded. To politicians who used this tragedy to either push their agenda, or to speak hypocritical words of sympathy to a community they’d vilified, attacked, oppressed, and discriminated against, time and time again. Even to politicians who took the time to congratulate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">themselves</i> on being “right” about “Muslims” and pushing more hateful, Islamaphobic speech and rhetoric, the same kind which led to the LGBTQIA community at Pulse in Orlando in the first place, only by a different party.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXzGdo5tDzMhQLPj7fo-HAoBL-299SBN3s2Vhyv1ZdQIhO7rX60fnLawplt54r2f5FJxUGvEWHuWGna5j9c7F5OaOIKDAh5a0tytlkiXCKN0L8eydBj2H0tUsAzqS-tpWpmDsQ6eD-Ro-/s1600/Dollarphotoclub_76730060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXzGdo5tDzMhQLPj7fo-HAoBL-299SBN3s2Vhyv1ZdQIhO7rX60fnLawplt54r2f5FJxUGvEWHuWGna5j9c7F5OaOIKDAh5a0tytlkiXCKN0L8eydBj2H0tUsAzqS-tpWpmDsQ6eD-Ro-/s320/Dollarphotoclub_76730060.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">But then the love poured in. From celebrities. From countries around the world. From the Tonys. From strangers all over social media. From strangers all over the state who stood in line at blood banks for hours to donate blood and plasma, even arguing about the right for gay men to donate blood <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to</i> gay men. The Tonys handed out silver ribbons. Google put up a black ribbon on their website. There were Pulse icons made. People changed their logos. Hashtags were made for Orlando, for Pulse, for the gay community. When word came that a man had been prevented from attacking the L.A. Pride Parade, though people were shaken, the community was still even more resolved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">We would not be deterred. We would not be moved. We would <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>be driven back into the closet. Forced to live our lives in the way that those with certain extreme religious or political beliefs thinks is “acceptable.” We would not cower. We would stand strong. We would stand tall. We would have spines of steel. Our brothers and sisters had not died in vain. We would and we will carry their names in our hearts with us forever, we would carry the weight of the wounded on our shoulders as we continued the march forward towards true equality, safety, and freedom.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHH-eRPEkfjZ1RQwX7LvZcKOc3cLYLW_kUxX62C6hf1nYpAYGxfAnqix4uAStqWBdmkvc2pUYKDyPQFc5h1dRRAbMzAUx2ceo43q_Eip9tE6ZbtPfjSufhRoLeuqhM9hKXatd_p6I1UiT/s1600/153751399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsHH-eRPEkfjZ1RQwX7LvZcKOc3cLYLW_kUxX62C6hf1nYpAYGxfAnqix4uAStqWBdmkvc2pUYKDyPQFc5h1dRRAbMzAUx2ceo43q_Eip9tE6ZbtPfjSufhRoLeuqhM9hKXatd_p6I1UiT/s320/153751399.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">This horrible event, no doubt concocted in the shooter’s mind in an effort to weaken the LGBTQIA’s community, did nothing but strengthen us. We ceased any in-fighting, put a halt to any grudges, and instead of separating into cliques, we joined arms, bracing each other up, becoming stronger, becoming one cohesive unit. We did not yield. We did not fall. We did not bend, nor did we break under the assault of the attacker’s weapons. Instead, we began to breathe in sync with one another, our pulse beat as one, strong, our skin became impenetrable, our backs unbreakable. We supported each other and knew that we would continue to do so. The outpouring of love continued on through the night, from James Corden’s opening monologue at the Tony’s through Lin-Manuel Miranda’s sonnet when he won for Best Original Score to Adele’s heartbreaking dedication as she sang during her concert, and much, much more. We, members of the LGBTQIA, community, knew that while we were often the ones on the front lines of this war, there were others, allies, who stood with us, behind us, to hold us up when we grew weary, and even to stand beside us. We did not have to fight alone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">And yes, this was a hate crime. A terrorist attack. Against us. The LGBTQIA community. On Latin Night. While trans POC were on the flyer advertising for the event. We are aware of what this means. We <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know</i> what’s going on, even if the media wants to pretend that it’s not, but still we embraced our allies because their blood was welcomed at the blood banks, they donated, they offered up support, they held us as we cried, tweeted, retweeted, and marched with us. They stood on the sidelines with us when we needed them to. Pride may be for us, but we still appreciate them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">And then, the world slept again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">And as the world slept, the victims and the fallen, their families, their loved ones, friends, significant others, partners, etc. continued to suffer. When the news vans pulled away, they stayed, waiting to hear word, waiting for a glimpse of their family member, to see if they had made it, hands clutched around cell phones, tears streaming down their cheeks as fear sank deep into their bones. They waited at the hotel, pacing the floors, walking the sidewalks, smoking outside, walking the streets, checking the posted sheets of those who had been located and were in the hospital, receiving treatment, or in surgery, or waiting to be called by phone or by name by the authorities to be told that they’d lost someone that they loved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">As the world slept, 49 members of the LGBTQIA community were lost, and 1 homophobic person snuffed out their lights. 50 lives lost. Over 53 others in the hospital. As the world slept, 49 families had their world’s devastated, whether these were biological families or families by choice, their lives were changed forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">As the world slept, their tears flowed like rain, never ceasing, their grief felt like a heavy cloud in the air here in Florida. As the world slept, more names were added to the list of the deceased. As the world slept, exhausted from the bickering, from the shock, from the politicizing, from the posturing, from the fighting, from the fear, from the anger, from the hatred, from stirring up the phobia, these families, these friends, these loved ones continued to mourn, to wait, to fear, to grieve.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">And as the world awoke again, some of them returned to their lives, having brushed off the residual dust of the previous day’s explosions and returned to their regular lives. Others were once again plastered to their computers, spewing hate and vitriol at the LGBTQIA community, misquoting and mistranslating a Bible and a religion they claim to believe in. A God who represents love and forgives and hates judging, condemnation, murder, and those who misrepresent him. Others climbed online to offer support, financially, with their words, with their blood donations, or by hosting or attending candlelight vigils all over the country and the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">People cried and wept with the families, mourning with them, mourning for their loss.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">For while the LGBTQIA community had suffered an attack on a place that was considered a safe haven for us, while we had lost the innocence and belief that the hatred would not follow us into “our sanctuaries” we had to remember that there were others who lost more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Parents who lost children. Children who lost parents. Spouses and couples who were separated. Friends who lost their support system, siblings who lost their brother or sister (or both) and their grief was palpable. It could be tasted on the air. It weighed down on us all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">So, let us all take a moment to remember those who lost their lives, and to remember and have a moment of silence for those who were wounded or injured. Let us remember and thank the first responders, the hospital staff, the staff at the blood bank, and the volunteers. Let us remember that we will not be silenced, we will not be broken, and we will not allow ourselves to be driven by fear. We will be strong and we will stand up and remember those who lost their lives in a nightclub on June 12, 2016 in Pulse Nightclub, Orlando, Florida, a LGBT club in a hate crime and a terrorist attack.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Names of the Fallen:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kimberly Morris, 37 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Amanda Alvear, 25 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Cory James Connell, 21 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Frank Hernandez, 27 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz 24 years old</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Post words of condolences to the families of the fallen, their loved ones, and friends, as well as pictures of two men or two women kissing (preferably two men/women of color, since this event happened on Latin Night), or of trans women/men of color in solidarity, and to show that we will not be frightened away, and we will not give into defeat or quit, bend or break. We will not give into fear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">And don’t forget the hashtags: #WeStandWithOrlando #WeStandWithYou #OrlandoStrong #Pride2016 #Pride #PulseOrlando #Pulse #PrayForOrlando #PrayForPulse #GoneButNotForgotten #LGBT #LoveWins #LoveIsLoveIsLoveIsLove</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-Vicktor Bailey, out and proud</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">(aka. Author: Vicktor Alexander)</span></div>
<br />Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-8431104392230587482015-11-20T17:57:00.005-05:002015-11-20T17:58:27.839-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About: Transgender Day Of RemembranceThis year marks the 16th anniversary of the <a href="http://tdor.info/" target="_blank">Transgender Day of Remembrance</a>.<br />
<br />
Being a transgender, gay man of color, living in the South, I am perpetually aware of the danger my life is constantly in if the wrong person takes offense to my living my truth. While I was emotionally hurt that me living my life, and transitioning into the man I was born to be, led to me being banned from attending Thanksgiving dinner with my biological family because there are those who have a problem with it, I am aware that there are those who have to deal with the daily, hourly, weekly, and yearly fear that someone out there, that every person they meet, will see them as being an "abomination" to get rid of.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, transgender women of color are more likely to be beaten and killed than other transgender women, and more than trans* men. Many TDOR events do focus on trans* women, but there are trans* men who are beaten and sometimes killed as well. (<a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/20/transgender-day-remembrance-2015-those-weve-lost">Advocate.com Honors TDOR</a>) (<a href="http://www.advocate.com/boys-do-cry">Trans* Men Op-Ed Pieces on Violence Against Trans* Men</a>) (<a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/18/japanese-trans-man-brutally-maimed-and-murdered-tokyo">Trans* Man Murdered in Tokyo</a>)<br />
<br />
Today, let us honour and have a moment of silence for our trans* brothers and sisters who lost their lives in this past year. The following information was gathered from <a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/20/transgender-day-remembrance-2015-those-weve-lost">Advocate.com</a>:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="TDOR" class="media-element file-default" src="http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/us-tdor_2.jpg" height="640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="588" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from Advocate.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
According to Advocate.com, there have been 23 murders of transgender persons in 2015 in the U.S.:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Keyshia Blige</b> (33 years old), <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/crime/ct-abn-fatal-shooting-st-0308-20150307-story.html" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Aurora, Ill., on March 7, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Tamara Dominguez</b> (36 years old), <a href="http://www.kctv5.com/story/29806858/transgender-woman-killed-after-being-run-over-multiple-times" target="_blank">repeatedly run over by a vehicle</a> in Kansas City, Mo., on August 15, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Kandis Capri</b> (35 years old), <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/15/phoenix-woman-kandis-capri-transgender-murder" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Phoenix, on August 11, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Amber Monroe</b> (20 years old), <a href="http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/6046523-story" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Detroit, on August 8, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Ashton O’Hara</b> (25 years old), <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trans-killings-detroit-park-hate-crimes-article-1.2325078" target="_blank">stabbed to death and run over by a vehicle</a> in Detroit, on July 14, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Shade Schuler</b> (22 years old), <a href="http://www.lonestarq.com/breaking-black-trans-woman-found-dead-in-dallas-is-13th-trans-person-murdered-in-2015/" target="_blank">cause of death unknown</a>, found dead in a field in Dallas, on July 29, 2015.</li>
<li><b>K.C. Haggard</b> (66 years old), <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article28650907.html" target="_blank">stabbed multiple times</a> in Fresno, Calif., on July 24, 2015.</li>
<li><b>India Clarke</b> (22 years old), <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/india-clarke-murder-arrest_55bbf302e4b0d4f33a02f87a" target="_blank">shot multiple times</a> in Tampa, Fla., on July 21, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Mercedes Williamson</b> (17 years old), <a href="http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/07/alabama_transgender_teen_merce.html" target="_blank">beaten to death</a> in Rocky Creek, Ala., on May 30, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Penny Proud</b> (21 years old), <a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/02/fatal_shooting_ursulines_claib.html" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Tremé, New Orleans, on February 10, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Taja Gabrielle DeJesus</b> (36 years old), <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Family-mourns-transgender-woman-fatally-stabbed-6067154.php" target="_blank">stabbed multiple times</a> in San Francisco, on Feburary 8, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Bri Golec</b> (22 years old), <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2956413/Father-stabbed-death-transgender-daughter-22-calling-911-saying-killed-fellow-cult-members.html" target="_blank">stabbed to death</a> in Akron, Ohio, on February 13, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Lamia<a class="dqquthchbc" href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/20/transgender-day-remembrance-2015-those-weve-lost#2448189" title="Click to Continue > by DNSUnlocker"> Beard<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" /></a></b> (30 years old), <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2015/01/police-id-victim-early-morning-norfolk-shooting" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Norfolk, Va., on January 17, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Papi Edwards</b> (20 years old), <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/dominicholden/evidence-contradicts-police-account-of-possible-anti-transge#.qqwO56oaAX" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Louisville, Ky., on January 9, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Elisha Walker</b> (20 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/08/16/three-more-black-trans-women-reported-murdered" target="_blank">beaten to death</a> in Smithfield, N.C., on August 14, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Jasmine Collins</b> (32 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/08/24/victim-number-18-another-trans-woman-murdered-kansas-city" target="_blank">stabbed to death</a> in Kansas City, Mo., on June 23, 2015.</li>
<li><b>London Chanel</b> (21 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/crime/2015/05/20/philadelphia-man-charged-murder-trans-woman-london-chanel" target="_blank">stabbed to death</a> in North Philadelphia, on May 18, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Ty Underwood</b> (24 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/02/11/suspect-charged-murder-texas-trans-woman-ty-underwood" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in North Tyler, Texas, on January 26, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Yazmin Vash Payne</b> (33 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/02/02/suspect-la-trans-womans-murder-turns-himself" target="_blank">stabbed multiple times</a> in Los Angeles, on January 31, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Kristina Gomez Reinwald</b> (46 years old) <a href="http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/02/20/miami-seventh-trans-woman-murdered-us-2015" target="_blank">stabbed to death</a> in Miami, Fla., February 16, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Zella Ziona </b>(21 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/10/16/victim-number-21-trans-woman-murdered-maryland" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Montgomery Village, Md., October 15, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Maya Hall </b>(27 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/05/01/op-ed-violence-against-trans-women-never-takes-vacation" target="_blank">killed by police</a> in Fort Meade, Md., March 30, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Kiesha Jenkins</b> (22 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/10/06/kiesha-jenkins-becomes-20th-us-trans-woman-murdered-year" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Philadelphia, October 6, 2015.</li>
</ol>
That number increases as you venture out into the rest of the world.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/brazil-tdor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Transgender Day of Remembrance 2015" border="0" class="media-element file-default" src="http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/brazil-tdor.jpg" height="640" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from Advocate.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
In Brazil, there were 56 murders of transgender persons.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>C.N. Alves de Matos Jr.</b> (21 years old), <a href="http://boainformacao.com.br/2015/09/28/homossexual-surdo-e-mudo-e-encontrado-morto-em-sp/" target="_blank">stabbed and dismembered</a> in São Paulo, Brazil, on September 25, 2015.</li>
<li><b>L.A. de Souza</b> (22 years old), <a href="http://www.tvb.com.br/balancogeral/videos-exibe.asp?v=40777" target="_blank">found in landfill with knife in neck</a> in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, on September 30, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Waleska Rayala</b> (21 years old), <a href="http://altonoticias10.blogspot.com.br/2015/09/luto-amigos-de-washington-da-costa.html" target="_blank">stabbed 27 times</a> in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, on September 2, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Paulinha</b>, <a href="http://falandoirreverente.blogspot.com.br/2015/09/travesti-e-assassinado-tiros-na-zona.html" target="_blank">shot in head and chest</a> in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, on September 8, 2015.</li>
<li><b><a class="dqquthchbc" href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/20/transgender-day-remembrance-2015-those-weve-lost#73272261" title="Click to Continue > by DNSUnlocker"> Flower<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" /></a></b> (39 years old), <a href="http://www.ojornaldailha.com/mais-um-homossexual-e-encontrado-morto-em-parintins/" target="_blank">beaten to death</a> in Parintins, Amazonas, Brazil, on August 27, 2015.</li>
<li><b>V.H.A dos Santos</b> (25 years old), <a href="http://diarionf.com/identificado-corpo-de-travesti-executado-a-tiros-em-guarus" target="_blank">shot multiple times</a> in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 24, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Patricia</b> (29 years old), <a href="http://www.vilsonmoreno.blogspot.com.br/2015/08/jovem-travesti-ex-morador-de.html" target="_blank">cause of death unknown</a>, body thrown into a bush in Santa Terezinha, Piracicaba, Brazil, on August 3, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unidentified</b> (45 years old), <a href="http://jornaloguapore.blogspot.com.br/2015/07/travesti-e-assassinado-com-tiro-na.html" target="_blank">fatally shot in the head</a> in Alta Floresta d’Oeste, Rondônia, Brazil, on July 25, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Gabi</b> (26 years old), <a href="http://www.entornoalerta.com/2015/07/travesti-e-encontrado-morto-as-margens.html" target="_blank">beaten to death</a> in Valparaíso de Goiás, Brazil, on July 19, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Erika Aguilera</b> (25 years old), <a href="http://www.douradosagora.com.br/dourados/policia-identifica-travesti-assassinado-em-dourados" target="_blank">fatally shot in the back</a> in Dourados, Brazil, on July 16, 2015.</li>
<li><b>India Nascimento</b> (29 years old), <a href="http://acaopopular.net/jornal/travesti-agredida-a-pauladas-morre-no-hospital/" target="_blank">beaten to death</a> in Pernambuco, Brazil, on July 12, 2015.</li>
<li><b>L.R.O. Dorta</b> (26 years old), <a href="http://gcn.net.br/noticia/291352/brasil-e-mundo/2015/07/suspeitos-sao-mortos-em-acao-policial-apos-corpo-decapitado-ser-encontrado" target="_blank">decapitated</a> in Pernambuco, Brazil, on July 12, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Vanessa Calaça</b> (27 years old), <a href="http://www.revistadigitaldenoticias.com.br/blog/caminhoneiro-e-colega-sao-presos-suspeitos-de-matar-travesti-em-goias/" target="_blank">stoned to death</a> in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, on July 12, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unknown woman</b>, <a href="http://portaldozacarias.com.br/site/noticia/travesti-e-assassinado-com-tiros-nas-costas-na-estrada-dos-franceses/" target="_blank">fatally shot multiple times</a> in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil on June 30, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unknown woman</b>, <a href="http://g1.globo.com/ro/rondonia/noticia/2015/07/travesti-e-morto-com-facada-no-pescoco-em-avenida-de-cacoal-ro.html" target="_blank">stabbed in the neck</a> in Cacoal, Rondônia, Brazil, on July 5, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Bruna J. Mendes</b> (27 years old), <a href="http://www.rastro101.com.br/noticia/2051/travesti-e-morto-com-varios-tiros-em-um-bar-no-municipio-de-itapebi" target="_blank">fatally shot multiple times</a> in Itapebi, Bahia, Brazil, on June 29, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Sidney Araújo Claudino </b>(19 years old, <a href="http://www.grandefm.com.br/noticias/policial/travesti-e-assassinada-em-dourados" target="_blank">fatally shot in the chest</a> in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, on June 23, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Laura Vermont</b> (18 years old), <a href="http://noticias.r7.com/sao-paulo/laudo-confirma-tiro-dado-por-pm-em-travesti-e-causa-da-morte-como-traumatismo-craniano-26062015" target="_blank">beaten to death by police</a> in São Paulo, Brazil, on June 20, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Kauane da Silva</b> (35 years old), <a href="https://www.arazao.com.br/noticia/69336/travesti-e-assassinada-com-um-tiro-na-cabeca-na-vila-maringa/" target="_blank">fatally shot in the head</a> in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on June 13, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unknown woman</b>, <a href="http://noticias.r7.com/cidades/cachorro-encontra-corpo-de-travesti-enterrado-em-quintal-de-casa-no-es-17072015" target="_blank">unknown cause of death</a>, buried in a shallow grave in Serra, Espírito Santo, Brazil, on June 9, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Kelly Silva</b> (31 years old), stabbed in neck and arm in Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil on June 9, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Andréia Amado </b>(29 years old), <a href="http://g1.globo.com/rs/rio-grande-do-sul/noticia/2015/06/policia-investiga-homofobia-em-morte-de-travesti-tiros-em-porto-alegre.html" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on June 4, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Carol Melo</b> (30 years old), <a href="http://www.canalicara.com/noticias/travesti-e-encontrado-nu-e-morto-no-liri-28319.html" target="_blank">strangled to death</a> in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil on June 3, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Priscilla da Silva</b> (23 years old), <a href="http://sertao24horas.com.br/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10807:travesti-e-morto-a-tiros-em-dois-riacho&catid=25:agreste&Itemid=282" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Dois Riachos, Alagoas, Brazil, on May 30, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Barbara Sodre</b> (29 years old), <a href="http://clicksergipe.com.br/cotidiano/12/4252/travesti-e-morta-apos-discutir-valor-do.html" target="_blank">stabbed to death</a> in Sergipe, Brazil, on May 25, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Jean Waltrick</b> (27 years old), <a href="http://www.noticianoato.com.br/policia/1088-homossexual-e-encontrado-morto-a-tiros-na-marginal-da-br-282-em-lages.html" target="_blank">shot multiple times in the head</a> in Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil, on May 23, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Vandressa Vinnitt</b>, <a href="http://www.mancheteonline.com.br/travesti-e-morto-a-tiros-em-realengo/" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Realengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 18, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Ticiane Abravanel</b> (21 years old), <a href="http://tvjornal.ne10.uol.com.br/noticia/ultimas/2015/05/18/travesti-e-morta-com-sete-tiros-em-nova-descoberta-19321.php" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, on May 18, 2015.</li>
<li><b>La Monique de Roma </b>(43 years old), <a href="http://www.redebrasilatual.com.br/cidadania/2015/05/prefeitura-lamenta-morte-de-participante-de-programa-voltado-para-publico-lgbt-8697.html" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Butantã, São Paulo, Brazil, on May 14, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unidentified woman</b>, <a href="http://www.bandab.com.br/jornalismo/transexual-e-encontrada-assassinada-com-dois-tiros-em-bairro-de-curitiba/" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, on May 3, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Stefanny</b>, <a href="http://www.blogdofernandoribeiro.com.br/index.php/81-categorias/violencia-urbana/761-cabeleireiro-e-fuzilado-dentro-de-seu-salao-de-beleza-em-caucdo-dentro-de-seu-salao-de-b" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Caucaia, Ceará, Brazil, on April 30, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Job Rodrigues da Silva</b> (46 years old), <a href="http://newsrondonia.com.br/noticias/homossexual+e+executado+a+tiros+enquanto+negociava+programa/55691" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil, on April 17, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unidentified woman</b>, <a href="http://www.portaldoholanda.com.br/policial/travesti-e-espancado-e-estrangulado-no-jorge-teixeira" target="_blank">beaten and strangled to death</a> in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, on April 17, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Bruna</b> (47 years old), <a href="http://g1.globo.com/espirito-santo/noticia/2015/04/travesti-e-espancado-e-morto-em-terreno-baldio-na-serra-es.html" target="_blank">fatally shot </a>in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil, on April 16, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Bruna Quércia</b> (15 years old), <a href="http://diariodonordeste.verdesmares.com.br/cadernos/policia/online/travesti-e-morta-por-divida-de-drogas-no-vila-velha-1.1270113" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Vila Velha, Espírito Santo, Brazil, on April 15, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Victória Camargo</b> (29 years old), <a href="http://www.folhadomate.com/noticias/policia/morre-a-segunda-vitima-do-fim-de-semana-em-venancio-aires" target="_blank">fatally shot </a>in Venâncio Aires, Brazil, in April 13, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Bruna Michele</b> (20 years old), <a href="http://noticias.r7.com/minas-gerais/suspeito-de-matar-travesti-espancada-e-preso-em-belo-horizonte-13042015" target="_blank">beaten to death</a> in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on April 13, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Vanessa Ganzaroli </b>(18 years old), <a href="http://www.belmontediario.com.br/2015/04/imagem-forte-jovem-homossexual-de-serra.html" target="_blank">stabbed multiple times</a> in Petrolina, Pernambuc, Brazil, on April 3, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Debora</b>, <a href="http://opopularmm.com.br/corpo-e-localizado-em-terreno-baldio-no-jardim-murayama-13497" target="_blank">stoned to death </a>in Mogi Mirim, São Paulo, Brazil, on April 2, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Lotinha</b>, <a href="http://acritica.uol.com.br/manaus/Travesti-esfaqueado-regada-telhado-vizinho_0_1329467048.html" target="_blank">stabbed to death</a> in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, on March 29, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Adriana</b> (22 years old), <a href="http://g1.globo.com/mato-grosso-do-sul/noticia/2015/03/travesti-e-morta-tiros-em-bairro-de-campo-grande-diz-policia.html" target="_blank">shot multiple times</a> in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, on March 22, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Bianca Araujo</b> (21 years old), <a href="http://g1.globo.com/ceara/noticia/2015/03/travesti-e-assassinada-tiros-no-bairro-passare-em-fortaleza.html" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil on March 20, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Michael Lucas de Almeida Reginald</b> (13 years old), <a href="http://jornalconnect.com.br/montealto/cotidiano-e-politica/menino-de-13-anos-e-morto-a-facadas-em-araraquara/" target="_blank">beaten, stabbed multiple times</a> in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil, on March 18, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Natália Ferraz</b> (21 years old), <a href="http://www.diariodafranca.com.br/conteudo/noticia.php?noticia=55924&categoria=8" target="_blank">shot multiple times</a> in Caçapava, São Paulo, Brazil, on February 27, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Ygor Fernando Oliveira Santos</b> (20 years old), <a href="http://www.tribunahoje.com/noticia/133317/policia/2015/02/27/travesti-e-assassinado-a-tiros-na-praia-do-frances-em-marechal.html" target="_blank">shot multiple times</a> in Marechal Deodoro, Alagoas, Brazil, on February 27, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Keity </b>(23 years old), <a href="http://www.correio24horas.com.br/detalhe/noticia/transexual-morta-no-lobato-e-sepultada-na-baixa-de-quintas/?cHash=df6d377826d9832d902580483d27d61a" target="_blank">stabbed 10 times</a> in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on February 24, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Lara </b>(16 years old), <a href="http://varelanoticias.com.br/travesti-e-morta-com-tiros-na-cabeca-na-regiao-de-dois-leoes/" target="_blank">stoned to death</a> in Parauapebas, Pará, Brazil, on February 22, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unidentified woman</b>, <a href="http://m.ibahia.com/single-mobile/noticia/travesti-e-encontrada-morta-na-avenida-heitor-dias/" target="_blank">shot multiple times</a> in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on February 20, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Raíssa</b> (19 years old), <a href="http://g1.globo.com/pb/paraiba/noticia/2015/02/travesti-e-achada-morta-com-tiros-e-facadas-em-campina-grande-diz-pm.html" target="_blank">stabbed multiple times in neck and chest</a> in Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil, on February 16, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Capitú Santos</b> (31 years old), <a href="http://www.emtempo.com.br/travesti-desaparecido-desde-sexta-e-encontrado-morto-em-terreno-baldio-no-coroado/" target="_blank">stabbed to death</a> in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, on February 16, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Joyce Akira</b> (teen), <a href="http://www.portaldazonasul.com/2015/02/homofobia-amigos-lamentam-morte-de.html" target="_blank">shot multiple times</a> in Mangabeira, Joao Pessoa, Brazil, on February 8, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Pata</b> (35 years old), <a href="http://selesnafes.com/2015/02/cuba-de-asfalto-travesti-e-encontrado-morto-policia-procura-suposto-namorado/" target="_blank">strangled to death</a> in Macapá, Amapá, Brazil, on February 7, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Didinha </b>(18 years old), <a href="http://www.plantaovitoriape.com.br/2015/02/a-matanca-continua-em-vitoria-de-santo.html" target="_blank">shot multiple times</a> in Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco, Brazil, on February 1, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unidentified woman</b>, <a href="http://g1.globo.com/sp/vale-do-paraiba-regiao/noticia/2015/03/travesti-e-encontrado-morto-no-bairro-da-cruz-em-lorena-sp.html" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Lorena, São Paulo, Brazil, on March 17, 2015.</li>
<li><b>LÉO </b>(26 years old), <a href="http://www.blogdotarugao.com.br/v1/2015/01/26/travesti-e-encontrado-morto-na-lagoa-das-flores/" target="_blank">fatally shot </a>in Vitoria da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil, on January 26, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Piu da Silva </b>(25 years old), <a href="http://extra.globo.com/casos-de-policia/travesti-passista-da-beija-flor-encontrada-morta-apos-tortura-em-favela-15147303.html" target="_blank">beaten, shot multiple times</a> in Nilópolis, Rio de Janeiroa, Brazil, on January 22, 2015.</li>
</ol>
In the rest of the world the number of reported deaths were fewer than in the U.S. and Brazil, but even one death is one too many.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/intl-tdor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Transgender Day of Remembrance 2015" border="0" class="media-element file-default" src="http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/intl-tdor.jpg" height="640" width="377" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from Advocate.com</td></tr>
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There were 11 deaths of transgender persons in the rest of the world:<br />
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<li><b>Nephi Luthers</b> (20 years old), <a href="http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2015/07/23/male-sex-worker-shot-dead-by-angry-client/" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Georgetown, Guyana, on July 21, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Diosvany Muñoz Robaina</b> (24 years old), <a href="http://www.14ymedio.com/nacional/Muere-transexual-apedreado-Pinar-Rio_0_1775822401.html" target="_blank">stoned to death</a> in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on April 26, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unknown</b> (41 years old), <a href="http://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2015/07/21/internacional/1437502321_990929.html" target="_blank">severe head and neck trauma</a> in Alicante, Spain, on July 21, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unidentified woman</b>, <a href="http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/One-transgender-gang-raped--two-killed-in-northwest-Pakistan--police" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 6, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Unidentified woman</b>, <a href="http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/One-transgender-gang-raped--two-killed-in-northwest-Pakistan--police" target="_blank">fatally shot</a> in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 6, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Diana Sacayán</b> (39 years old), <a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/200859/iconic-trans-activist-stabbed-to-death-in-ba" target="_blank">stabbed multiple times</a> in Buenos Aires, on October 11, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Marcela Chocobar</b> (26 years old), <a href="http://telefenoticias.com.ar/actualidad/confirman-que-la-joven-transexual-marcela-chocobar-fue-asesinada-descuartizada-y-quemada/" target="_blank">dismembered and burned</a> in Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina, on September 4, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Francela Méndez</b>, <a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/200859/iconic-trans-activist-stabbed-to-death-in-ba" target="_blank">stabbed to death</a> in Las Palmeras, Sonsonate, El Salvador, on May 31, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Fernanda “Coty” Olmos</b> (59 years old), <a href="http://infojusnoticias.gov.ar/provinciales/dos-mujeres-trans-fueron-asesinadas-en-las-ultimas-dos-semanas-3158.html" target="_blank">stabbed and suffocated</a> in<a class="dqquthchbc" href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/20/transgender-day-remembrance-2015-those-weve-lost#66403445" style="z-index: 2147483647;" title="Click to Continue > by DNSUnlocker"> Santa Fe<img src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" /></a>, Argentina, on September 25t, 2015.</li>
<li><b>Yoshi Tsuchida </b>(38 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/18/japanese-trans-man-brutally-maimed-and-murdered-tokyo">found dead with face skinned off</a> inside his apartment in Fussa, Japan, on November 12, 2015. </li>
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<b>Vanessa Santillan</b> (33 years old), <a href="http://www.advocate.com/crime/2015/05/20/suspect-charged-london-murder-trans-woman-visiting-us">beaten to death in London</a>, England, on March 28, 2015.</li>
</ol>
While today is the day we all set aside to remember these people who lost their lives in this past year, let's remember them always.<br />
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-Vicktor Alexander<br />
<br />Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-13248852579628556022014-06-16T14:45:00.001-04:002014-06-18T22:56:29.810-04:00In Loving Memory... (Posted for Vic)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">In Loving Memory of</b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">:</span><br />
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<b>(Christopher) Darren F.</b></div>
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<i>October 10, 1993-June 14, 2014</i></div>
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****Vic will not be online or around for a while unless absolutely necessary while he and his family deal with this time of mourning. Please respect his grief and give him this time to process. Thank you.</div>
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-Angel****<br />
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Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-13225089758750117742014-02-27T10:53:00.001-05:002014-02-27T10:53:39.064-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Lena Horne<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>“I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.” – Lena Horne</b></i></div>
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Forgive me for missing a few days of posts or posting late. Life sort of got in the way, but I have not forgotten to still honor those who have paved the way for me in some way.<br />
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When I was younger my grandmother, great grandmother and mother spoke of one woman, a singer and actress, with such admiration that before I'd even heard her first song I was in love with her.</div>
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<a href="http://fashionbombdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lena-horne-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://fashionbombdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lena-horne-1.jpg" width="319" /></a>Then I saw her.</div>
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Lena Horne.<br />
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She was beauty, poise, class, talent, intelligence, strength, an indomitable will, perseverance, drive, and for me the very epitome of black triumph and grace.</div>
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I fell in love with her music long before I knew her story and then I fell in love with her all over again.</div>
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Her passing grieved me but her legacy inspires me.</div>
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Please help me honor Mrs. Lena Horne.<br />
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<b><i>“It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.” </i></b></div>
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<b><i>― Lena Horne</i></b></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Actress and singer Lena Horne was born June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. She left school at age 16 to help support her mother and became a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem. She later sang at Carnegie Hall and appeared in such films as <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Stormy Weather</i> and <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Wiz</i>. She was also known for her work with civil rights groups, and refused to play roles that stereotyped African-American women.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a banker and an actress. Her parents divorced when she was 3, and because her mother traveled as part of various theater troupes, Horne alternately accompanied her on the road and stayed with family and friends around the country.</span></div>
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Early Career</h3>
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<a href="http://media.economist.com/images/images-magazine/2010/21/ob/201021obp001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://media.economist.com/images/images-magazine/2010/21/ob/201021obp001.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At age 16, Horne dropped out of school and began performing at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A few years later, she joined the Noble Sissle Society Orchestra, using the name Helena Horne. Then, after appearing in the Broadway musical revue <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1939</i>, she joined a well-known white swing band, the Charlie Barnet Orchestra. Charlie Barnet was one of the first bandleaders to integrate his band, but because of racial prejudice, Horne was unable to stay or socialize at many of the venues in which the orchestra performed, and she soon left the tour. In 1941 she returned to New York to work at the Café Society nightclub, popular with both black and white artists and intellectuals.</span><img src="webkit-fake-url://BB2D2923-0566-4750-B3AF-8D13213908E5/imagejpeg" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />A long run at the Savoy-Plaza Hotel nightclub in 1943 gave Horne’s career a boost. She was featured in <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Life</i> magazine and became the highest-paid black entertainer at the time. After signing a seven-year contract with MGM Studios, she moved to Hollywood, where she filmed movies like <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Stormy Weather</i> and <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cabin in the Sky</i>. Producers quickly realized that she was a difficult woman to cast, however. She could only get limited roles in films with whites, and her light skin made it difficult to cast her alongside popular African-American actors in full-color films. Horne also refused to accept parts that stereotyped African-American women, and she was shunned by the community of black actors.</span><br />
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<b><i>“I disconnected myself to shield myself from people who would sway to my songs in the club and call me 'nigger' in the street. They were too busy seeing their own preconceived image of a Negro woman. the image that I chose to give them was of a woman who they could not reach and therefore can't hurt.” </i></b></div>
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<b><i>― Lena Horne</i></b></div>
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Activism and Blacklists</h3>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By the end of the 1940s, Horne had sued a variety of restaurants and theaters for discrimination and become an outspoken member of the leftist group Progressive Citizens of America. McCarthyism was sweeping through Hollywood, and Horne soon found herself <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/groups/blacklisted-20677295" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">blacklisted</a>. Since she was unable to work in film, television, theater or recording, she performed primarily in posh nightclubs around the country. The ban eased in the mid-1950s, and Horne returned to the screen in the 1956 comedy <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Meet Me in Las Vegas</i>.</span><img src="webkit-fake-url://E1A473D8-F0AF-4A96-8165-17CF61C208BF/imagejpeg" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In spite of having been blacklisted, Horne remained active in the civil rights movement. She performed at rallies around the country on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Council for Negro Women, and participated in the 1963 March on Washington.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 1970 and 1971, Horne’s son, father and brother all died. Though she toured with Tony Bennett in 1973 and 1974 and made some television appearances, she spent several years mourning and was less visible.</span></div>
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<a href="http://fashionista.com/uploads/2013/03/Wiz-Lena-Horne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://fashionista.com/uploads/2013/03/Wiz-Lena-Horne.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Horne made her final film appearance in the 1978 movie The Wiz. The film was a version of The Wizard of Oz that featured an entirely African-American cast including Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, and Horne played Glinda the Good Witch. </span></span></h3>
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Later Career</h3>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 1981 she made a triumphant return to Broadway with her one-woman show <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music</i>. The show ran on Broadway for 14 months, then toured in the United States and abroad, and won a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award, as well as two Grammy Awards for its soundtrack.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><i>My own people didn't see me as a performer because they were busy trying to make a living and feed themselves. Until I got to café society in the '40s, I didn't even have a black audience and then it was mixed. I was always battling the system to try to get to be with my people. Finally, I wouldn't work for places that kept us out . . . it was a damn fight everywhere I was, every place I worked, in New York, in Hollywood, all over the world.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><i>-Lena Horne</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In 1994 Horne gave one of her last concerts, at New York’s Supper Club. The performance was recorded and was released in 1995 as <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">An Evening With Lena Horne: Live at the Supper Club</i>, which won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Though she contributed occasional recordings after this, she largely retreated from public life.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Lena Horne died of heart failure on May 9, 2010, in New York City.</span></div>
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Personal Life</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RH349ptJeIWZZc6EwexKODUP40_WYpAWkIptydvyQgkec9P2rpHfuKmjPFsMBw_U6T4ft464fhakbvJIGuzbhv6OkYXEjyCPcWtcGwQNLltdxfw1NXsaPTKEMZwmRjBEJa0LUGsEhW8/s1600/Lena+Horne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RH349ptJeIWZZc6EwexKODUP40_WYpAWkIptydvyQgkec9P2rpHfuKmjPFsMBw_U6T4ft464fhakbvJIGuzbhv6OkYXEjyCPcWtcGwQNLltdxfw1NXsaPTKEMZwmRjBEJa0LUGsEhW8/s400/Lena+Horne.jpg" width="311" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Horne was married to Louis Jones from 1937 to 1944, and they had two children. She married Lennie Hayton, a white bandleader, in 1947, but they kept their marriage a secret for three years. They separated in the 1960s but never divorced.</span><img src="webkit-fake-url://2CC6AA26-A474-4B6F-BF55-4EF2DBE8F133/imagejpeg" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" /><br />
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(*Lena Horne. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 10:21, Feb 25, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086. *)<br />
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Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on June 30th, 1917. Her first big break was a chorus girl job at the Cotton Club in Harlem (New York City.) Horne would go on to tour with Noble Sissle’s orchestra (comprised of all black performers) and Charlie Barnet’s band (where she was the only black performer.) Horne catapulted to the spotlight in the 1940s and 1950s as one of Hollywood’s top African American performers. She signed a contract with MGM Studios in 1942 and starred in famous movies including the musicals Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.<br />
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During her movie career, Horne faced stereotypes and the racial discrimination that many actors of color faced during the 1940s and 1950s.<br />
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<li>In 1933 during the Great Depression, Horne took a job as a chorus girl at the Cotton Club. She was 16 years old and hired less for her singing ability than for her looks. The Cotton Club thought her light skin and “good hair” would be more appealing to white customers.</li>
<li>Lena Horne and the rest of Noble Sissle’s orchestra were often forced to sleep on the tour bus because several cities they visited only had whites-only hotels.</li>
<li>When Horne traveled with Charlie Barnet’s band (as the only person of color in the band), restaurants would refuse to serve food to the entire band when Horne was traveling with them.</li>
<li>During a tour stop in Las Vegas, a hotel Horne stayed at reportedly burned the sheets she used after she checked out–rather than reuse them for white hotel guests.</li>
<li>Horne’s contract with MGM explicitly stated that she would never have to portray a maid.</li>
<li>MGM felt Horne was too light-skinned to play opposite other black actors, but did not want to put her in films with white actors, either.</li>
<li>Even though Horne was in movies with other stars like Gene Kelly and Lucille Ball, her scenes were filmed in a way where they could be cut out when the films were shown in movie theaters in the South.</li>
<li>MGM producer Arthur Freed asked Ms. Horne to act in his show, “St. Louis Woman.” When Horne refused because she felt the role was stereotypical and offensive, Freed retaliated by blocking her from other movie roles.</li>
<li>During World War II, Horne was asked to perform for the troops. Horne saw that the audience was segregated and that black soldiers were seated in the back–even behind white enemy prisoners of war from Germany. Horne caught flak from her producers for defying this unfair practice when she walked off the stage to the first row of black troops and performed with her back facing the the Germans, straight to the black American troops.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYrCueD837NiFl_XLCEgHWwuBSk-oVJ5AteGlgZtf6HSx9ydBga-Ke5WxUTjAjp3o_S6ycTMJpPh9V6SeBSojQAhVdSGX-HMVwHOSG4LyPTiXI4WWhtqJ7gXRicpVkF1AbZ_KYLMp9SY/s1600/lenaH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYrCueD837NiFl_XLCEgHWwuBSk-oVJ5AteGlgZtf6HSx9ydBga-Ke5WxUTjAjp3o_S6ycTMJpPh9V6SeBSojQAhVdSGX-HMVwHOSG4LyPTiXI4WWhtqJ7gXRicpVkF1AbZ_KYLMp9SY/s320/lenaH.jpg" width="263" /></a>Horne also participated in the Civil Rights movement. She volunteered for the NAACP, was at the March on Washington, and worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lynching laws. After the 1950s, Horne concentrated on television work and eventually moved onto Broadway. Her 1981 show, <i>The Lady and Her Music</i>, won a special Tony award and two Grammy awards.</div>
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(*http://www.racebending.com/v4/history/the-legacy-of-lena-horne/*)</div>
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<b><i>You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Lena Horne</i></b></div>
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Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-30199824937627985122014-02-23T22:30:00.001-05:002014-02-23T22:30:05.837-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Mother HaleAnyone who knows me knows that while I am an author and a businessman, my heart and true passion lies in philanthropy and in wanting to change the world for the better. I want to affect live and make them better. I want to know that I made an impact. Well the person that I am honoring today passed from this world knowing that she did just that. Clara "Mother" Hale was an African-American humanitarian who founded the Hale House Center, an amazing center that did a lot of good work and though she endured her own hell she didn't let that stop her from making the world a better place.<br />
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Please help me honor Clara "Mother" Hale.<br />
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Clara McBride Hale (April 1, 1905 – December 18, 1992), also known as Mother Hale, was an American humanitarian who founded the Hale House Center, a home for unwanted children and children who were born addicted to drugs.<br />
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<b>Early life</b><br />
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Clara McBride was born in April 5, 1905 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<br />
<a href="http://www.womenwhochangedamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/womanwhochangedamerica-clara-hale-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.womenwhochangedamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/womanwhochangedamerica-clara-hale-1.jpg" width="261" /></a>Clara married shortly after high school and moved to New York City where she studied business administration, cleaned, and worked as a domestic. She was 27 when her husband died. She had three children, Nathan, Lorraine and adopted son Kenneth. In 1938, her husband died from cancer, and Hale struggled to support her children through the Great Depression. Her rough life made it hard to financially support and care for her three children, consequently she had to find a job. Hale cleaned houses and continued her job as a janitor, laboring day and night to make ends meet.<br />
Eventually she retired from these jobs to spend more time with her children. She stayed home with her children and be as big a part of their lives as possible, Hale opened her own home daycare, initially keeping the children while their parents worked during the day. Also children that she cared for found her home to be such a caring and loving environment they did not want to go home at the end of the day, most began to stay full-time only seeing their mothers on the weekends. She used her home as a day care for other struggling parents which later led her to become a foster parent. In the 1940s, she provided short-term and long-term care for community children in her home. She also found permanent homes for homeless children and taught the parents essential parenting skills. So she became a foster mom and got a license and took in 7-8 children at a time. By 1947-1968, she was taken care of 40 foster children.<br />
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<b>Jobs</b><br />
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Hale was living in Harlem, New York, where she retired from working as a domestic and started her work by beginning to help addicted children in 1969. Although Hale originally opened her house as a way of making a living, it eventually led her to find her life calling. She took babies addicted to heroin into her home, and within months, she was caring for 22 infants. Hale became known for the work she did and became known as a mother to those who did not have one. At the age of 65 is when Hale began to take children in who were born addicted to their mother’s drug habits during pregnancy.<br />
<a href="http://www.wblsblackhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Hale_Clara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.wblsblackhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Hale_Clara.jpg" /></a>This started in 1969 when Clara Hale's biological daughter, Lorraine, brought a mother and child who were addicted to drugs to Hale's home. She later got a home license as “child care facility” in 1970 called the Hale House. In 1970, her home was licenses as a “child care facility”, and her house was then called the Hale House. A few years later Hale purchased a larger building, a "5 story home so there could be more space and more room to fit more" and in 1975 she was able to attain a license in child-care. It was officially known as Hale House. After that time, Hale devoted her life to caring for needy children. She took in children, free of charge, who were addicted to drugs and helped them through their addictive periods. She would raise the children as if they were her own and once they were healthy she would help to find families interested in adoption. She took it upon herself to make sure the families were a correct fit and even in some cases turned families down if she thought they could not provide a good enough home for the child. She eventually helped over 1,000 drug addicted babies and young children who were born addicted to drugs, children born with HIV, and children whose parents had died of AIDS. It was simple, she said; “hold them, rock them, love them and tell them how great they are.”<br />
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<b>Programs</b><br />
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Later her work with kids extended beyond just the care. Many programs were created for children and families to help them more. Some examples are Community-Based Family; which is a program for troubled youngsters; Time-Out-Moms, a program that helps the parents out by having a place for their kids when their parents needed to relax or breathe. They also had Children Help Children, which was a program for juveniles. In addition, the Hale House launched research programs about problems of drug- or alcohol-addicted mothers and their infants to help educate the problems they can face. Families also went to this home that were infected with HIV, and also the Hale house established programs for housing, educating, and supporting mothers after detoxification.<br />
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<b>Death</b><br />
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Shortly before her death in New York City, she kept at least one infant in her own room. She died of complications of a stroke. Mother Hale passed away on December 18, 1992 at the age of 87. According to Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., Senior Minister at Riverside Church where she and her family were members, “She left instructions that there be no sad funerals.” Her funeral took place on Wednesday, December 23rd and it was a service filled with music, singing and rejoicing. Over 2000 people mourned her passing and celebrated her life that day including “Mayor David Dinkins, US Senator Alfonse D’Amato, former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, US Representative Charles Rangel, Adam Clayton Powell IV, Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger, the Reverend Al Sharpton, Dr. Calvin O. Butts, Yoko Ono and her son, Sean Lennon.” *This roster shows the scope of respect this extraordinary woman had gained in the world for her work to positively influence so many children, their families and the entire Harlem community.<br />
After her death in 1992, Hale's work was continued by her daughter, Dr. Lorraine Hale. Unfortunately, the climate at Hale House clearly changed with Mother Hale's death, specifically because it was under the control of her daughter. In 2001, the Hale House was under investigation for skirting the law and misuse of money solicited from the public. An interim board found what it called credible evidence that Hale House engaged in transactions involving self-dealing and other conflicts of interest, resulting in the waste of corporate assets and the violation of its legal and contractual obligations. Dr. Hale was subsequently forced out amid reports of financial mismanagement. She and her husband were arrested, charged with using more than $1 million in donations to make home improvements, lend money to relatives and prop up an off-Broadway flop. Although the younger Dr. Hale was removed by Hale House, the house continues to operate.<br />
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<b>Hale's motivation</b><br />
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Hale’s father died when she was a baby. This left her mother alone to raise Hale and her four siblings. Her mother placed a very high importance on parenting and being available to her children during their development. She supported her children through cooking for others and also allowing boarders to stay in their home. It seems that Hale gained this same love and appreciation for parenting. Hale claimed that everything she was able to accomplish was due to her mother and the parenting that she witnessed as a child.<br />
Harlem was recognized for the amount of citizens living at poverty level, high unemployment rates, and unsanitary living conditions. It was stated in the New York Herald at the time, that is was “…the poorest, the unhealthiest, the unhappiest and the most crowded single large section of New York”. Growing up in Harlem, mid 1900’s didn’t allow for a promising future. During this time period it was exceptionally hard to receive a good education. In 1962, ninety six percent of Harlem’s students were African American. Due to the racial issues at the time there were very few teachers who were willing to teach and provide the students with sufficient enough education. According to test scores, by the end junior high level the majority of students were more than two and a half years behind the average New York City student. Hale recognized the importance that an education provided and also the need for an opportunity to receive one.<br />
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Hale also put a great deal of value into her religious upbringing. She was raised as a part of a Baptist church. It can also be suggested that her faith in God and strong moral upbringing had a lot to do with the behavior that she displayed throughout her life. It was stated by Hale herself that through her childhood she faced many hard times but it was due to her Christian upbringing that she was able to succeed. One major accomplishment in Hale’s life was being the first in her family to graduate from high school. This was not seen to be a regular occurrence during her time period but due to the morals and ethics that Hale had learned throughout her time in the church this was something she expected of herself. This advanced education may have also had part to do with the lifestyle that she would come to choose. It gave her an appreciation for ethnic and social class differences.<br />
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<b>Awards</b><br />
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In 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan honored Clara Hale as an American hero in his State of the Union Address with his daughter to Reagan’s National Drug Free America Task Force. Also in 1986 the Women's International Center had given Hale the Living Legacy Award which “honor women for their great contributions to humanity.<br />
Honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority<br />
Member of the American Commission on Drug Free Schools<br />
NAACP Image Award in the 1980s.<br />
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(*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Hale*)<br />
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<img height="640" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Clara_Hale.jpg" width="470" />Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-13129982771687965462014-02-21T22:20:00.001-05:002014-02-21T22:20:48.084-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Malcolm X<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>"Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth."</i></b></div>
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<b><i>-Malcolm X</i></b></div>
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Even though Malcolm X was a very controversial Civil Rights figure, with his beliefs leaning more towards African-Americans gaining their rights through violence rather than non-violence, he is still quite inspirational in that he achieved much for African-Americans during his life before his assassination. He is not usually honored, he is usually held up in classrooms as an example of the "<i>anti-Martin Luther King, Jr.</i>" but Dr. King held Malcolm in great esteem for his unwavering desire for blacks to obtain their rights and for his courage and intelligence, and though the two never got a chance to sit down and discuss face-to-face their differing viewpoints on the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King's wife, Coretta Scott King stated that he respected Malcolm. The two did meet for one minute in 1964 and it is my belief that historic meeting changed both men's lives and the way they approached the movement.<br />
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Please help me in honoring Malcolm X.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Malcolm_X_NYWTS_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Malcolm_X_NYWTS_4.jpg" width="233" /></a>Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the family's eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Earl's civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm's fourth birthday.<br />
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<i><b>"When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, a party of hooded Klu Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home... Brandishing their shotguns and rifles, they shouted for my father to come out."</b></i><br />
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Regardless of the Little's efforts to elude the Legion, in 1929 their Lansing, Michigan home was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl's body was found lying across the town's trolley tracks. Police ruled both incidents as accidents, but the Little's were certain that members of the Black Legion were responsible. Louise suffered emotional breakdown several years after the death of her husband and was committed to a mental institution. Her children were split up amongst various foster homes and orphanages.<br />
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<b>Growing up</b><br />
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Malcolm was a smart, focused student. He graduated from junior high at the top of his class. However, when a favorite teacher told Malcolm his dream of becoming a lawyer was "no realistic goal for a nigger," Malcolm lost interest in school. He dropped out, spent some time in Boston, Massachusetts working various odd jobs, and then traveled to Harlem, New York where he committed petty crimes. By 1942 Malcolm was coordinating various narcotics, prostitution and gambling rings.<br />
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<b><i>"...Early in life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise."</i></b><br />
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Eventually Malcolm and his buddy, Malcolm "Shorty" Jarvis, moved back to Boston. In 1946 they were arrested and convicted on burglary charges, and Malcolm was sentenced to 10 years in prison. (He was paroled after serving seven years.) Recalling his days in school, he used the time to further his education. It was during this period of self-enlightenment that Malcolm's brother Reginald would visit and discuss his recent conversion to the Muslim religion. Reginald belonged to the religious organization the Nation of Islam (NOI).<br />
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Intrigued, Malcolm began to study the teachings of NOI leader Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad taught that white society actively worked to keep African-Americans from empowering themselves and achieving political, economic and social success. Among other goals, the NOI fought for a state of their own, separate from one inhabited by white people. By the time he was paroled in 1952, Malcolm was a devoted follower with the new surname "X." (He considered "Little" a slave name and chose the "X" to signify his lost tribal name.)<br />
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<b>A born leader</b><br />
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Intelligent and articulate, Malcolm was appointed as a minister and national spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Elijah Muhammad also charged him with establishing new mosques in cities such as Detroit, Michigan and Harlem, New York. Malcolm utilized newspaper columns, as well as radio and television to communicate the NOI's message across the United States. His charisma, drive and conviction attracted an astounding number of new members. Malcolm was largely credited with increasing membership in the NOI from 500 in 1952 to 30,000 in 1963.<br />
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The crowds and controversy surrounding Malcolm made him a media magnet. He was featured in a week-long television special with Mike Wallace in 1959, called "The Hate That Hate Produced." The program explored the fundamentals of the NOI, and tracked Malcolm's emergence as one of its most important leaders. After the special, Malcolm was faced with the uncomfortable reality that his fame had eclipsed that of his mentor Elijah Muhammad.<br />
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Racial tensions ran increasingly high during the early 1960s. In addition to the media, Malcolm's vivid personality had captured the government's attention. As membership in the NOI continued to grow, FBI agents infiltrated the organization (one even acted as Malcolm's bodyguard) and secretly placed bugs, wiretaps, cameras and other surveillance equipment to monitor the group's activities.<br />
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<b>A test of faith</b><br />
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Malcolm's faith was dealt a crushing blow at the height of the civil rights movement in 1963. He learned that his mentor and leader, Elijah Muhammad, was secretly having relations with as many as six women within the Nation of Islam organization. As if that were not enough, Malcolm found out that some of these relationships had resulted in children.<br />
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<a href="http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Galleries/Malcolm%20X/malcolm-x-thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Galleries/Malcolm%20X/malcolm-x-thumb.jpg" /></a><b><i>"I am not educated, nor am I an expert in any particular field... but I am sincere and my sincerity is my credential."</i></b><br />
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Since joining the NOI, Malcolm had strictly adhered to the teachings of Muhammad - which included remaining celibate until his marriage to Betty Shabazz in 1958. Malcolm refused Muhammad's request to help cover up the affairs and subsequent children. He was deeply hurt by the deception of Muhammad, whom he had considered a living prophet. Malcolm also felt guilty about the masses he had led to join the NOI, which he now felt was a fraudulent organization built on too many lies to ignore.<br />
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Shortly after his shocking discovery, Malcolm received criticism for a comment he made regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. "[Kennedy] never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon," said Malcolm. After the statement, Elijah Muhammad "silenced" Malcolm for 90 days. Malcolm, however, suspected he was silenced for another reason. In March 1964 Malcolm terminated his relationship with the NOI. Unable to look past Muhammad's deception, Malcolm decided to found his own religious organization, the Muslim Mosque, Inc.<br />
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<b>A new awakening</b><br />
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That same year, Malcolm went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The trip proved life altering. For the first time, Malcolm shared his thoughts and beliefs with different cultures, and found the response to be overwhelmingly positive. When he returned, Malcolm said he had met "blonde-haired, blued-eyed men I could call my brothers." He returned to the United States with a new outlook on integration and a new hope for the future. This time when Malcolm spoke, instead of just preaching to African-Americans, he had a message for all races.<br />
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<b><i>"Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth."</i></b><br />
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After Malcolm resigned his position in the Nation of Islam and renounced Elijah Muhammad, relations between the two had become increasingly volatile. FBI informants working undercover in the NOI warned officials that Malcolm had been marked for assassination. (One undercover officer had even been ordered to help plant a bomb in Malcolm's car).<br />
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After repeated attempts on his life, Malcolm rarely traveled anywhere without bodyguards. On February 14, 1965 the home where Malcolm, Betty and their four daughters lived in East Elmhurst, New York was firebombed. Luckily, the family escaped physical injury.<br />
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<b>The legacy of "X"</b><br />
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One week later, however, Malcolm's enemies were successful in their ruthless attempt. At a speaking engagement in the Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965 three gunmen rushed Malcolm onstage. They shot him 15 times at close range. The 39-year-old was pronounced dead on arrival at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.<br />
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<b><i>"Power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression, because power, real power, comes from our conviction which produces action, uncompromising action."</i></b><br />
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Fifteen hundred people attended Malcolm's funeral in Harlem on February 27, 1965 at the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ (now Child's Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ). After the ceremony, friends took the shovels away from the waiting gravediggers and buried Malcolm themselves.<br />
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Later that year, Betty gave birth to their twin daughters.<br />
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Malcolm's assassins, Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson were convicted of first-degree murder in March 1966. The three men were all members of the Nation of Islam.<br />
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The legacy of Malcolm X has moved through generations as the subject of numerous documentaries, books and movies. A tremendous resurgence of interest occurred in 1992 when director Spike Lee released the acclaimed movie, Malcolm X. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Actor (Denzel Washington) and Best Costume Design.<br />
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Malcolm X is buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.<br />
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(*http://www.malcolmx.com/about/bio.html*)<br />
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<b>-From BIO</b><br />
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Born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm X was a prominent black nationalist leader who served as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam during the 1950s and '60s. Due largely to his efforts, the Nation of Islam grew from a mere 400 members at the time he was released from prison in 1952 to 40,000 members by 1960. Articulate, passionate and a naturally gifted and inspirational orator, Malcolm X exhorted blacks to cast off the shackles of racism "by any means necessary, including violence. The fiery civil rights leader broke with the group shortly before his assassination, February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, where he had been preparing to deliver a speech.<br />
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<b>Early Life</b><br />
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Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. Malcolm was the fourth of eight children born to Louise, a homemaker, and Earl Little, a preacher who was also an active member of the local chapter of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and avid supporter of black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Due to Earl Little's civil rights activism, the family faced frequent harassment from white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and one of its splinter factions, the Black Legion. In fact, Malcolm X had his first encounter with racism before he was even born.<br />
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<a href="http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/fros14fwa/files/2014/02/Revolutionary_Jewel_Malcolm-X.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="331" src="http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/fros14fwa/files/2014/02/Revolutionary_Jewel_Malcolm-X.jpg" width="400" /></a>"When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, 'a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home,'" Malcolm later remembered. "Brandishing their shotguns and rifles, they shouted for my father to come out." The harassment continued; when Malcolm X was four years old, local Klan members smashed all of the family's windows, causing Earl Little to decide to move the family from Omaha to East Lansing, Michigan.<br />
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However, the racism the family encountered in East Lansing proved even greater than in Omaha. Shortly after the Littles moved in, in 1929, a racist mob set their house on fire, and the town's all-white emergency responders refused to do anything. "The white police and firemen came and stood around watching as the house burned to the ground," Malcolm X later remembered.<br />
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Two years later, in 1931, things got much, much worse. Earl Little's dead body was discovered laid out on the municipal streetcar tracks. Although Malcolm X's father was very likely murdered by white supremacists, from whom he had received frequent death threats, the police officially ruled his death a suicide, thereby voiding the large life insurance policy he had purchased in order to provide for his family in the event of his death. Malcolm X's mother never recovered from the shock and grief of her husband's death. In 1937, she was committed to a mental institution and Malcolm X left home to live with family friends.<br />
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<b>Troubled Youth</b><br />
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Malcolm X attended West Junior High School, where he was the school's only black student. He excelled academically and was well liked by his classmates, who elected him class president. However, he later said that he felt that his classmates treated him more like the class pet than a human being. The turning point in Malcolm X's childhood came in 1939, when his English teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and he answered that he wanted to be a lawyer. His teacher responded, "One of life's first needs is for us to be realistic ... you need to think of something you can be ... why don't you plan on carpentry?" Having thus been told in no uncertain terms that there was no point in a black child pursuing education, Malcolm X dropped out of school the following year, at the age of 15.<br />
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<a href="http://www.blackvibes.com/images/bvc/75/15088-malcolm-x-quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://www.blackvibes.com/images/bvc/75/15088-malcolm-x-quote.jpg" width="400" /></a>After quitting school, Malcolm X moved to Boston to live with his older half-sister, Ella, about whom he later recalled, "She was the first really proud black woman I had ever seen in my life. She was plainly proud of her very dark skin. This was unheard of among Negroes in those days." Ella landed Malcolm a job shining shoes at the Roseland Ballroom. However, out on his own on the streets of Boston, Malcolm X became acquainted with the city's criminal underground, soon turning to selling drugs. He got another job as kitchen help on the Yankee Clipper train between New York and Boston and fell further into a life of drugs and crime. Sporting flamboyant pinstriped zoot suits, he frequented nightclubs and dance halls and turned more fully to crime to finance his lavish lifestyle. This phase of Malcolm X's life came to a screeching halt in 1946, when he was arrested on charges of larceny and sentenced to ten years in jail.<br />
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To pass the time during his incarceration, Malcolm X read constantly, devouring books from the prison library in an attempt make up for the years of education he had missed by dropping out of high school. Also while in prison, he was visited by several siblings who had joined to the Nation of Islam, a small sect of black Muslims who embraced the ideology of black nationalism—the idea that in order to secure freedom, justice and equality, black Americans needed to establish their own state entirely separate from white Americans. Malcolm X converted to the Nation of Islam while in prison, and upon his release in 1952 he abandoned his surname "Little," which he considered a relic of slavery, in favor of the surname "X"—a tribute to the unknown name of his African ancestors.<br />
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<b>Nation of Islam</b><br />
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Now a free man, Malcolm X traveled to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, to expand the movement's following among black Americans nationwide. Malcolm X became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem and Temple No. 11 in Boston, while also founding new temples in Harford and Philadelphia. In 1960, he established a national newspaper, Muhammad Speaks, in order to further promote the message of the Nation of Islam.<br />
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Articulate, passionate and a naturally gifted and inspirational orator, Malcolm X exhorted blacks to cast off the shackles of racism "by any means necessary," including violence. "You don't have a peaceful revolution," he said. "You don't have a turn-the-cheek revolution. There's no such thing as a nonviolent revolution." Such militant proposals—a violent revolution to establish an independent black nation—won Malcolm X large numbers of followers as well as many fierce critics. Due primarily to the efforts of Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam grew from a mere 400 members at the time he was released from prison in 1952, to 40,000 members by 1960.<br />
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<a href="http://favimages.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/malcolm-x-best-quotes-sayings-famous-wisdom-deep-witty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://favimages.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/malcolm-x-best-quotes-sayings-famous-wisdom-deep-witty.jpg" width="400" /></a>By the early 1960s, Malcolm X had emerged as a leading voice of a radicalized wing of the Civil Rights Movement, presenting an alternative to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a racially integrated society achieved by peaceful means. Dr. King was highly critical of what he viewed as Malcolm X's destructive demagoguery. "I feel that Malcolm has done himself and our people a great disservice," King once said.<br />
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<b>Break with Elijah Muhammad</b><br />
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Philosophical differences with King were one thing; a rupture with Elijah Muhammad proved much more traumatic. In 1963, Malcolm X became deeply disillusioned when he learned that his hero and mentor had violated many of his own teachings, most flagrantly by carrying on many extramarital affairs; Muhammad had, in fact, fathered several children out of wedlock. Malcolm's feelings of betrayal, combined with Muhammad's anger over Malcolm's insensitive comments regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, led Malcolm X to leave the Nation of Islam in 1964.<br />
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That same year, Malcolm X embarked on an extended trip through North Africa and the Middle East. The journey proved to be both a political and spiritual turning point in his life. He learned to place the American Civil Rights Movement within the context of a global anti-colonial struggle, embracing socialism and pan-Africanism. Malcolm X also made the Hajj, the traditional Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during which he converted to traditional Islam and again changed his name, this time to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.<br />
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After his epiphany at Mecca, Malcolm X returned to the United States less angry and more optimistic about the prospects for peaceful resolution to America's race problems. "The true brotherhood I had seen had influenced me to recognize that anger can blind human vision," he said. "America is the first country ... that can actually have a bloodless revolution." Tragically, just as Malcolm X appeared to be embarking on an ideological transformation with the potential to dramatically alter the course of the Civil Rights Movement, he was assassinated.<br />
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<b>Death and Legacy</b><br />
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On the evening of February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, where Malcolm X was about to deliver a speech, three gunmen rushed the stage and shot him 15 times at point blank range. Malcolm X was pronounced dead on arrival at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital shortly thereafter. He was 39 years old. The three men convicted of the assassination of Malcolm X were all members of the Nation of Islam: Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson.<br />
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In the immediate aftermath of Malcolm X's death, commentators largely ignored his recent spiritual and political transformation and criticized him as a violent rabble-rouser. However, Malcolm X's legacy as a civil rights hero was cemented by the posthumous publication in 1965 of <i>The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley. </i>At once a harrowing chronicle of American racism, an unsparing self-criticism and an inspiring spiritual journey, the book, transcribed by the acclaimed author of<i> Roots</i>, instantly recast Malcolm X as one of the great political and spiritual leaders of modern times. Named by <i>TIME</i> magazine one of 10 "required reading" non-fiction books of all-time, <i>The Autobiography of Malcolm X</i> has truly enshrined Malcolm X as a hero to subsequent generations of radicals and activists.<br />
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Perhaps Malcolm X's greatest contribution to society was underscoring the value of a truly free populace by demonstrating the great lengths to which human beings will go to secure their freedom. "Power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression," he stated. "Because power, real power, comes from our conviction which produces action, uncompromising action."<br />
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<b>Personal Life</b><br />
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In 1958, Malcolm X married Betty Sanders, a fellow member of the Nation of Islam. The couple had six children together, all daughters: Attallah (b. 1958), Qubilah (b. 1960), Ilyasah (b. 1963), Gamilah (b. 1964) and twins Malaak and Malikah (b. 1965). Sanders later became known as Betty Shabazz, and she became a prominent civil rights and human rights activist in her own right in the aftermath of her husband's death.<br />
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In May 2013, Malcolm X's grandson, Malcolm Shabazz—son of the civil rights leader's second daughter with wife Betty Shabazz, Qubilah Shabazz—was beaten to death in Mexico City, near the Plaza Garibaldi. He was 28 years old. According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, police believe Malcolm Shabazz's death was the result of a "robbery gone wrong."<br />
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(*Malcolm X. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 09:49, Feb 21, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/malcolm-x-9396195.*)Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-86391342510146877302014-02-20T15:05:00.001-05:002014-02-20T15:05:52.793-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.There is a reason I didn't blog yesterday. Today's post isn't going to be filled with facts or history about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr because during Black History Month he's one of the only black figures ever discussed. So his life, triumphs, and his untimely death by assassination are well known.<br />
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Dr. King was a man of action and nonviolence. Because of him and other notable figures that I have already mentioned this month, I have the rights I have today and while it's not all sunshine and rainbows it could be a lot worse.<br />
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Today I want to honor Dr. King in another way than with words....</div>
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So help me honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</div>
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Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-9427519539545763852014-02-18T16:24:00.000-05:002014-02-18T16:24:21.602-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About the Civil Rights Movement<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/1963_march_on_washington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/1963_march_on_washington.jpg" width="400" /></a>Though the rights of African-Americans and (by proxy) women, have been afforded to them, labeling the Civil Rights Movement over would be incorrect. For at the foundation of this movement was the hope, the belief and the requirement that <i>all men and women be treated equally and have the same rights under the law regardless of race, color, religion, education, creed, or sexuality</i>. We all know that this is not something that is a truth in our nation and so while this Civil Rights Movement, the one that historians have stated happened between 1955-1968, but the one in which African-Americans and women know had been going on for centuries before that, has ended, we must all put on our marching shoes for the Civil Rights Movement that continues even today. For members of the GLBTQI community do not have equal rights under the law and that is a civil rights issue. African-Americans in this country are still being falsely accused, unjustly incarcerated-many of whom are executed though they are later found innocent or there is unsubstantial evidence to perform said execution, ie Jordan Davis-and senselessly murdered in this country ("Stand Your Ground" and "Shoot First") and the law is making it possible and that is a civil rights issue. There are so many more issues in this country that are taking place that are civil rights issues. We, who are aware of these injustices, are given a moral duty to stand against these things and to stand up for what is right.<br />
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So as you read about the Civil Rights Movement, I urge you to think about how you can get more involved in the Civil Rights issues taking place, right now, in this country so that one day we can honestly say that civil rights issues are a thing of the past and all men and women are treated equally and have the same rights under the law <i>regardless of race, color, religion, education, creed or sexuality.</i><br />
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<i>Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice, everywhere.</i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</i></div>
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The African-American Civil Rights Movement encompasses social movements in the United States whose goal was to end racial segregation and discrimination against black Americans and enforce constitutional voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South.<br />
The movement was characterized by major campaigns of civil resistance. Between 1955 and 1968, acts of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience produced crisis situations between activists and government authorities. Federal, state, and local governments, businesses, and communities often had to respond immediately to these situations that highlighted the inequities faced by African Americans. Forms of protest and/or civil disobedience included boycotts such as the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56) in Alabama; "sit-ins" such as the influential Greensboro sit-ins (1960) in North Carolina; marches, such as the Selma to Montgomery marches (1965) in Alabama; and a wide range of other nonviolent activities.<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Selma_to_Montgomery_Marches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Selma_to_Montgomery_Marches.jpg" width="320" /></a>Noted legislative achievements during this phase of the Civil Rights Movement were passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that banned discrimination based on "race, color, religion, or national origin" in employment practices and public accommodations; the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that restored and protected voting rights; the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965, that dramatically opened entry to the U.S. to immigrants other than traditional European groups; and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, that banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. African Americans re-entered politics in the South, and across the country young people were inspired to take action.<br />
A wave of inner city riots in black communities from 1964 through 1970 undercut support from the white community. The emergence of the Black Power Movement, which lasted from about 1966 to 1975, challenged the established black leadership for its cooperative attitude and its nonviolence, and instead demanded political and economic self-sufficiency.<br />
Following the American Civil War, three constitutional amendments were passed, including the 13th Amendment that ended slavery; the 14th Amendment that gave African Americans citizenship, adding their total population of four million to the official population of southern states for Congressional apportionment; and the 15th Amendment that gave African-American males the right to vote (only males could vote in the US at the time). From 1865 to 1877, the United States underwent a turbulent Reconstruction Era trying to establish free labor and civil rights of freedmen in the South after the end of slavery. Many whites resisted the social changes, leading to insurgent movements such as the Ku Klux Klan, whose members attacked black and white Republicans to maintain white supremacy. In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant, the U.S. Army, and U.S. Attorney General Amos T. Akerman, initiated a campaign to repress the KKK under the Enforcement Acts. Some states were reluctant to enforce the federal measures of the act; by the early 1870s, other white supremacist groups arose that violently opposed African-American legal equality and suffrage.<br />
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After the disputed election of 1876 resulted in the end of Reconstruction and federal troops were withdrawn, whites in the South regained political control of the region's state legislatures by the end of the century, after having intimidated and violently attacked blacks during elections, and lost power during a biracial fusionist coalition of Populists and Republicans in the late century.<br />
From 1890 to 1908, southern states passed new constitutions and laws to disfranchise African Americans by creating barriers to voter registration; voting rolls were dramatically reduced as blacks were forced out of electoral politics. While progress was made in some areas, this status lasted in most southern states until national civil rights legislation was passed in the mid-1960s to provide federal enforcement of constitutional voting rights. For more than 60 years, blacks in the South were not able to elect anyone to represent their interests in Congress or local government. Since they could not vote, they could not serve on local juries.<br />
During this period, the white-dominated Democratic Party maintained political control of the South. Because whites controlled all the seats representing the total population of the South, they had a powerful voting block in Congress. The Republican Party—the "party of Lincoln"—which had been the party that most blacks belonged to, shrank to insignificance as black voter registration was suppressed. Until 1965, the "solid South" was a one-party system under the Democrats. Outside a few areas (usually in remote Appalachia), the Democratic Party nomination was tantamount to election for state and local office. In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House, making him the first African American to attend an official dinner there. "The invitation was roundly criticized by southern politicians and newspapers." Washington persuaded the president to appoint more blacks to federal posts in the South and to try to boost African American leadership in state Republican organizations. However, this was resisted by both white Democrats and white Republicans as an unwanted federal intrusion into state politics.<br />
<a href="http://www.uww.edu/Images/mmr/news/2012/civil-rights-march-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://www.uww.edu/Images/mmr/news/2012/civil-rights-march-web.jpg" width="400" /></a>During the same time as African Americans were being disfranchised, white Democrats imposed racial segregation by law. Violence against blacks increased, with numerous lynchings through the turn of the century. The system of de jure state-sanctioned racial discrimination and oppression that emerged from the post-Reconstruction South became known as the "Jim Crow" system. The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of those state laws that required racial segregation in public facilities in its 1896 decision Plessy v. Ferguson making segregation the law of the land. Segregation remained intact into the mid-1950s, when many states began to gradually integrate their schools following the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. The early 20th century is a period often referred to as the "nadir of American race relations". While problems and civil rights violations were most intense in the South, social discrimination and tensions affected African Americans in other regions, as well. At the national level, the Southern bloc controlled important committees in Congress, defeated passage of laws against lynching, and exercised considerable power beyond the number of whites in the South.<br />
Characteristics of the post-Reconstruction period:<br />
Racial segregation. By law, public facilities and government services such as education were divided into separate "white" and "colored" domains. Characteristically, those for colored were underfunded and of inferior quality.<br />
Disfranchisement. When white Democrats regained power, they passed laws that made voter registration more restrictive, essentially forcing black voters off the voting rolls. The number of African-American voters dropped dramatically, and they no longer were able to elect representatives. From 1890 to 1908, Southern states of the former Confederacy created constitutions with provisions that disfranchised tens of thousands of African Americans and states such as Alabama disfranchised poor whites as well.<br />
Exploitation. Increased economic oppression of blacks, Latinos, and Asians, denial of economic opportunities, and widespread employment discrimination.<br />
Violence. Individual, police, paramilitary, organizational, and mob racial violence against blacks (and Latinos in the Southwest and Asians in California).<br />
<a href="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/06/18/ap3967239957153-96c0664625d74f175a70507ec0a7c345bf3c5e4e-s6-c30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/06/18/ap3967239957153-96c0664625d74f175a70507ec0a7c345bf3c5e4e-s6-c30.jpg" width="320" /></a>African Americans and other racial minorities rejected this regime. They resisted it in numerous ways and sought better opportunities through lawsuits, new organizations, political redress, and labor organizing (see the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1896–1954)). The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909. It fought to end race discrimination through litigation, education, and lobbying efforts. Its crowning achievement was its legal victory in the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education (1954); the Court rejected separate white and colored school systems and by implication overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).<br />
Black veterans of the military after both world wars pressed for full civil rights and often led activist movements. In 1948 they gained integration in the military under President Harry Truman, who issued an Executive Order to accomplish it. The situation for blacks outside the South was somewhat better (in most states they could vote and have their children educated, though they still faced de facto discrimination in housing and jobs). From 1910 to 1970, African Americans sought better lives by migrating north and west out of the South. A total of nearly seven million blacks left the South in what was known as the Great Migration. So many migrated that the demographics of some previously black-majority states changed to white majority (in combination with other developments).<br />
<a href="http://www.vahistorical.org/sites/default/files/uploads/79_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.vahistorical.org/sites/default/files/uploads/79_full.jpg" /></a>Invigorated by the victory of Brown and frustrated by the lack of immediate practical effect, private citizens increasingly rejected gradualist, legalistic approaches as the primary tool to bring about desegregation. They were faced with "massive resistance" in the South by proponents of racial segregation and voter suppression. In defiance, African Americans adopted a combined strategy of direct action with nonviolent resistance known as civil disobedience, giving rise to the African-American Civil Rights Movement of 1955–68.<br />
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<b>Mass action replacing litigation</b><br />
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The strategy of public education, legislative lobbying, and litigation that had typified the Civil Rights Movement during the first half of the 20th century broadened after Brown to a strategy that emphasized "direct action:" primarily boycotts, sit-ins, Freedom Rides, marches and similar tactics that relied on mass mobilization, nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience. This mass action approach typified the movement from 1960 to 1968.<br />
Churches, local grassroots organizations, fraternal societies, and black-owned businesses mobilized volunteers to participate in broad-based actions. This was a more direct and potentially more rapid means of creating change than the traditional approach of mounting court challenges used by the NAACP and others.<br />
<a href="http://www.crmvet.org/crmpics/lyon/atlanta2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.crmvet.org/crmpics/lyon/atlanta2.jpg" width="266" /></a>In 1952, the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL), led by T. R. M. Howard, a black surgeon, entrepreneur, and planter, organized a successful boycott of gas stations in Mississippi that refused to provide restrooms for blacks. Through the RCNL, Howard led campaigns to expose brutality by the Mississippi state highway patrol and to encourage blacks to make deposits in the black-owned Tri-State Bank of Nashville which, in turn, gave loans to civil rights activists who were victims of a "credit squeeze" by the White Citizens' Councils.<br />
The Montgomery Improvement Association—created to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott managed to keep the boycott going for over a year until a federal court order required Montgomery to desegregate its buses. The success in Montgomery made its leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a nationally known figure. It also inspired other bus boycotts, such as the highly successful Tallahassee, Florida, boycott of 1956–57.<br />
In 1957 Dr. King and Rev. John Duffy, the leaders of the Montgomery Improvement Association, joined with other church leaders who had led similar boycott efforts, such as Rev. C. K. Steele of Tallahassee and Rev. T. J. Jemison of Baton Rouge; and other activists such as Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Ella Baker, A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and Stanley Levison, to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC, with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, did not attempt to create a network of chapters as the NAACP did. It offered training and leadership assistance for local efforts to fight segregation. The headquarters organization raised funds, mostly from Northern sources, to support such campaigns. It made non-violence both its central tenet and its primary method of confronting racism.<br />
In 1959, Septima Clarke, Bernice Robinson, and Esau Jenkins, with the help of the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, began the first Citizenship Schools in South Carolina's Sea Islands. They taught literacy to enable blacks to pass voting tests. The program was an enormous success and tripled the number of black voters on Johns Island. SCLC took over the program and duplicated its results elsewhere.<br />
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<b>Key events</b><br />
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<b>Brown v. Board of Education, 1954</b><br />
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In the Spring of 1951, black students in Virginia protested their unequal status in the state's segregated educational system. Students at Moton High School protested the overcrowded conditions and failing facility. Some local leaders of the NAACP had tried to persuade the students to back down from their protest against the Jim Crow laws of school segregation. When the students did not budge, the NAACP joined their battle against school segregation. The NAACP proceeded with five cases challenging the school systems; these were later combined under what is known today as Brown v. Board of Education.<br />
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<b><i>School integration, Barnard School, Washington, D.C., 1955.</i></b><br />
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision regarding the case called Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in which the plaintiffs charged that the education of black children in separate public schools from their white counterparts was unconstitutional. The Court stated that the<br />
"segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group."<br />
The lawyers from the NAACP had to gather some plausible evidence in order to win the case of Brown vs. Education. Their way of addressing the issue of school segregation was to enumerate several arguments. One of them pertained to having an exposure to interracial contact in a school environment. It was said that it would, in turn, help to prevent children to live with the pressures that society exerts in regards to race. Therefore, having a better chance of living in democracy. In addition, another was in reference to the emphasis of how "'education’ comprehends the entire process of developing and training the mental, physical and moral powers and capabilities of human beings”.<br />
<a href="http://centennial.journalism.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/16.-1957-The-Civil-Rights-Movement-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://centennial.journalism.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/16.-1957-The-Civil-Rights-Movement-3.jpg" /></a>Risa Goluboff wrote that the NAACP's intention was to show the Court’s that African American children were the victims of school segregation and their futures were at risk. The Court ruled that both Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which had established the "separate but equal" standard in general, and Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education (1899), which had applied that standard to schools, were unconstitutional.<br />
The following year, in the case known as Brown v. Board of Education, the Court ordered segregation to be phased out over time, "with all deliberate speed". Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) did not overturn Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Plessy v. Ferguson was segregation in transportation modes. Brown v. Board of Education dealt with segregation in education. Brown v. Board of Education did set in motion the future overturning of 'separate but equal'.<br />
On May 18, 1954 Greensboro, North Carolina became the first city in the South to publicly announce that it would abide by the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling. "It is unthinkable,’ remarked School Board Superintendent Benjamin Smith, ‘that we will try to [override] the laws of the United States." The school board voted six to one to implement integration to carry out the court’s ruling. This positive reception for Brown, together with the appointment of African American Dr. David Jones to the school board in 1953, convinced numerous white and black citizens that Greensboro was heading in a progressive direction. Integration in Greensboro occurred rather peacefully compared to the process in Southern states such as Alabama, Arkansas, and Virginia where “massive resistance” was practiced by top officials and throughout the states. In Virginia, some counties closed their public schools rather than integrate, and many white Christian private schools were founded to accommodate students who used to go to public schools.<br />
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<b><i>Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955–1956</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media//90/3390-004-A84ED8FB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media//90/3390-004-A84ED8FB.jpg" width="320" /></a>On December 1, 1955, nine months after a 15-year-old high school student, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her seat on a public bus on Montgomery, Alabama to make room for a white passenger, Rosa Parks (the "mother of the Civil Rights Movement") did the same thing. Parks was secretary of the Montgomery NAACP chapter and had recently returned from a meeting at the Highlander Center in Tennessee where nonviolent civil disobedience as a strategy had been discussed. Parks was arrested, tried, and convicted for disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. After word of this incident reached the black community, 50 African-American leaders gathered and organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott to demand a bus system in which passengers would be treated equally.<br />
After the city rejected many of their suggested reforms, the NAACP, led by E.D. Nixon, pushed for full desegregation of public buses. With the support of most of Montgomery's 50,000 African Americans, the boycott lasted for 381 days, until the local ordinance segregating African Americans and whites on public buses was repealed. Ninety percent of African Americans in Montgomery partook in the boycotts, which reduced bus revenue significantly, as they comprised the majority of the riders. In November 1956, a federal court ordered Montgomery's buses desegregated and the boycott ended.<br />
Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, was president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that directed the boycott. The lengthy protest attracted national attention for him and the city. His eloquent appeals to Christian brotherhood and American idealism created a positive impression on people both inside and outside the South.<br />
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<b><i>Desegregating Little Rock Central High School, 1957</i></b><br />
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Troops from the 327th Regiment, 101st Airborne escorting the Little Rock Nine African-American students up the steps of Central High.<br />
Little Rock, Arkansas, was in a relatively progressive Southern state. A crisis erupted, however, when Governor of Arkansas Orval Faubus called out the National Guard on September 4 to prevent entry to the nine African-American students who had sued for the right to attend an integrated school, Little Rock Central High School. The nine students had been chosen to attend Central High because of their excellent grades.<br />
On the first day of school, only one of the nine students showed up because she did not receive the phone call about the danger of going to school. She was harassed by white protesters outside the school, and the police had to take her away in a patrol car to protect her. Afterward, the nine students had to carpool to school and be escorted by military personnel in jeeps.<br />
<a href="http://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/top-3col-full/essay-images/03095u.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/top-3col-full/essay-images/03095u.jpg" /></a>Faubus was not a proclaimed segregationist. The Arkansas Democratic Party, which then controlled politics in the state, put significant pressure on Faubus after he had indicated he would investigate bringing Arkansas into compliance with the Brown decision. Faubus then took his stand against integration and against the Federal court ruling.<br />
Faubus' resistance received the attention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was determined to enforce the orders of the Federal courts. Critics had charged he was lukewarm, at best, on the goal of desegregation of public schools. But, Eisenhower federalized the National Guard in Arkansas and ordered them to return to their barracks. Eisenhower deployed elements of the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to protect the students.<br />
The students attended high school under harsh conditions. They had to pass through a gauntlet of spitting, jeering whites to arrive at school on their first day, and to put up with harassment from fellow students for the rest of the year. Although federal troops escorted the students between classes, the students were teased and even attacked by white students when the soldiers were not around. One of the Little Rock Nine, Minnijean Brown, was suspended for spilling a bowl of chili on the head of a white student who was harassing her in the school lunch line. Later, she was expelled for verbally abusing a white female student.<br />
Only Ernest Green of the Little Rock Nine graduated from Central High School. After the 1957–58 school year was over, Little Rock closed its public school system completely rather than continue to integrate. Other school systems across the South followed suit.<br />
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<b><i>Robert F. Williams and the Debate on Nonviolence, 1959-1964</i></b><br />
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The Jim Crow system employed “terror as a means of social control,” with the most organized manifestations being the Ku Klux Klan and their collaborators in local police departments. This violence played a key role in blocking the progress of the civil rights movement in the late 1950s. Some black organizations in the South began practicing armed self-defense. The first to do so openly was the Monroe, North Carolina chapter of the NAACP led by Robert F. Williams. Williams had rebuilt the chapter after its membership was terrorized out of public life by the Klan. He did so by encouraging a new, more working-class membership to arm itself thoroughly and defend against attack. When Klan nightriders attacked the home of NAACP member Dr. Albert Perry in October 1957, Williams’ militia exchanged gunfire with the stunned Klansmen, who quickly retreated. The following day, the city council held an emergency session and passed an ordinance banning KKK motorcades. One year later, Lumbee Indians in North Carolina would have a similarly successful armed stand-off with the Klan ( known as the Battle of Hayes Pond ) which resulted in KKK leader James W. "Catfish" Cole being convicted of incitement to riot.<br />
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After the acquittal of several white men charged with sexually assaulting black women in Monroe, Williams announced to United Press International reporters that he would “meet violence with violence” as a policy. Williams’ declaration was quoted on the front page of The New York Times, and The Carolina Times considered it “the biggest civil rights story of 1959.” NAACP National Chairman Roy Wilkins immediately suspended Williams from his position, but the Monroe organizer won support from numerous NAACP chapters across the country. Ultimately, Wilkins resorted to bribing influential organizer Daisy Bates to campaign against Williams at the NAACP national convention and the suspension was upheld. The convention nonetheless passed a resolution which stated: “We do not deny, but reaffirm the right of individual and collective self-defense against unlawful assaults.” Martin Luther King Jr. argued for Williams’ removal, but Ella Baker and WEB Dubois both publicly praised the Monroe leader’s position.<br />
Robert F. Williams - along with his wife, Mabel Williams - continued to play a leadership role in the Monroe movement, and to some degree, in the national movement. The Williamses published The Crusader, a nationally circulated newsletter, beginning in 1960, and the influential book Negroes With Guns in 1962. Williams did not call for full militarization in this period, but "flexibility in the freedom struggle." Williams was well-versed in legal tactics and publicity, which he had used successfully in the internationally known "Kissing Case" of 1958, as well as nonviolent methods, which he used at lunch counter sit-ins in Monroe - all with armed self-defense as a complementary tactic.<br />
<a href="http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/437/371/437371494_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/437/371/437371494_640.jpg" width="400" /></a>Williams led the Monroe movement in another armed stand-off with white supremacists during an August 1961 Freedom Ride; he had been invited to participate in the campaign by Ella Baker and James Forman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The incident (along with his campaigns for peace with Cuba) resulted in him being targeted by the FBI and prosecuted for kidnapping; he was cleared of all charges in 1976. Meanwhile, armed self-defense continued discreetly in the Southern movement with such figures as SNCC’s Amzie Moore, Hartman Turnbow, and Fannie Lou Hamer all willing to use arms to defend their lives from nightrides. Taking refuge from the FBI in Cuba, the Willamses broadcast the radio show Radio Free Dixie throughout the eastern United States via Radio Progresso beginning in 1962. In this period, Williams advocated guerilla warfare against racist institutions, and saw the large ghetto riots of the era as a manifestation of his strategy.<br />
University of North Carolina historian Walter Rucker has written that “the emergence of Robert F Williams contributed to the marked decline in anti-black racial violence in the US…After centuries of anti-black violence, African-Americans across the country began to defend their communities aggressively - employing overt force when necessary. This in turn evoked in whites real fear of black vengeance…” This opened up space for African-Americans to use nonviolent demonstration with less fear of deadly reprisal. Of the many civil rights activists who share this view, the most prominent was Rosa Parks. Parks gave the eulogy at Williams’ funeral in 1996, praising him for “his courage and for his commitment to freedom,” and concluding that “The sacrifices he made, and what he did, should go down in history and never be forgotten.”<br />
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<i><b>Sit-ins, 1958–1960</b></i><br />
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In July 1958, the NAACP Youth Council sponsored sit-ins at the lunch counter of a Dockum Drug Store in downtown Wichita, Kansas. After three weeks, the movement successfully got the store to change its policy of segregated seating, and soon afterward all Dockum stores in Kansas were desegregated. This movement was quickly followed in the same year by a student sit-in at a Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City led by Clara Luper, which also was successful.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3lyFdt5BKdtAavDyFJ0QFlf5gACMQJIf5EJyuAmfd3d9NVtwwL2fP5KLzSI7HObwKFbcrPVjp-eG2c6b2EjpLe8bias5POIbbGSY8HUzklfyFnTrszGrGSjSGzMFCUPUB4WCLwCONYWL/s1600/sitin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3lyFdt5BKdtAavDyFJ0QFlf5gACMQJIf5EJyuAmfd3d9NVtwwL2fP5KLzSI7HObwKFbcrPVjp-eG2c6b2EjpLe8bias5POIbbGSY8HUzklfyFnTrszGrGSjSGzMFCUPUB4WCLwCONYWL/s320/sitin.jpg" width="320" /></a>Mostly black students from area colleges led a sit-in at a Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina. On February 1, 1960, four students, Ezell A. Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical College, an all-black college, sat down at the segregated lunch counter to protest Woolworth's policy of excluding African Americans from being served there. The four students purchased small items in other parts of the store and kept their receipts, then sat down at the lunch counter and asked to be served. After being denied service, they produced their receipts and asked why their money was good everywhere else at the store, but not at the lunch counter.<br />
The protesters had been encouraged to dress professionally, to sit quietly, and to occupy every other stool so that potential white sympathizers could join in. The Greensboro sit-in was quickly followed by other sit-ins in Richmond, Virginia; Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia. The most immediately effective of these was in Nashville, where hundreds of well organized and highly disciplined college students conducted sit-ins in coordination with a boycott campaign. As students across the south began to "sit-in" at the lunch counters of local stores, police and other officials sometimes used brute force to physically escort the demonstrators from the lunch facilities.<br />
The "sit-in" technique was not new—as far back as 1939, African-American attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker organized a sit-in at the then-segregated Alexandria, Virginia library. In 1960 the technique succeeded in bringing national attention to the movement. On March 9, 1960 an Atlanta University Center group of students released An Appeal for Human Rights as a full page advertisement in newspapers, including the Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Journal, and Atlanta Daily World. Known as the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR), the group initiated the Atlanta Student Movement and began to lead sit-ins starting on March 15, 1960. By the end of 1960, the proces of sit-ins had spread to every southern and border state, and even to facilities in Nevada, Illinois, and Ohio that discriminated against blacks.<br />
<a href="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/03/16/page_105_p_r0234__slide-d9c92417af85355611ef851835abfc1724baa140-s6-c30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/03/16/page_105_p_r0234__slide-d9c92417af85355611ef851835abfc1724baa140-s6-c30.jpg" width="400" /></a>Demonstrators focused not only on lunch counters but also on parks, beaches, libraries, theaters, museums, and other public facilities. In April 1960 activists who had led these sit-ins were invited by SCLC activist Ella Baker to hold a conference at Shaw University, a historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. This conference led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).[48] SNCC took these tactics of nonviolent confrontation further, and organized the freedom rides. As the constitution protected interstate commerce, they decided to challenge segregation on interstate buses and in public bus facilities by putting interracial teams on them, to travel from the North through the segregated South.<br />
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<b><i>Freedom Rides, 1961</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Freedom Rides were journeys by Civil Rights activists on interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the United States Supreme Court decision Boynton v. Virginia, (1960) 364 U.S., which ruled that segregation was unconstitutional for passengers engaged in interstate travel. Organized by CORE, the first Freedom Ride of the 1960s left Washington D.C. on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17.<br />
During the first and subsequent Freedom Rides, activists traveled through the Deep South to integrate seating patterns on buses and desegregate bus terminals, including restrooms and water fountains. That proved to be a dangerous mission. In Anniston, Alabama, one bus was firebombed, forcing its passengers to flee for their lives.<br />
In Birmingham, Alabama, an FBI informant reported that Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor gave Ku Klux Klan members fifteen minutes to attack an incoming group of freedom riders before having police "protect" them. The riders were severely beaten "until it looked like a bulldog had got a hold of them." James Peck, a white activist, was beaten so badly that he required fifty stitches to his head.<br />
<a href="http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/00208r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/00208r.jpg" /></a>In a similar occurrence in Montgomery, Alabama, the Freedom Riders followed in the footsteps of Rosa Parks and rode an integrated Greyhound bus from Birmingham. Although they were protesting interstate bus segregation in peace, they were met with violence in Montgomery as a large, white mob attacked them for their activism. They caused an enormous, 2-hour long riot which resulted in 22 injuries, five of whom were hospitalized.<br />
Mob violence in Anniston and Birmingham temporarily halted the rides. SNCC activists from Nashville brought in new riders to continue the journey from Birmingham to New Orleans. In Montgomery, Alabama, at the Greyhound Bus Station, a mob charged another bus load of riders, knocking John Lewis unconscious with a crate and smashing Life photographer Don Urbrock in the face with his own camera. A dozen men surrounded James Zwerg, a white student from Fisk University, and beat him in the face with a suitcase, knocking out his teeth.<br />
On 24 May 1961, the freedom riders continued their rides into Jackson, Mississippi, where they were arrested for "breaching the peace" by using "white only" facilities. New freedom rides were organized by many different organizations and continued to flow into the South. As riders arrived in Jackson, they were arrested. By the end of summer, more than 300 had been jailed in Mississippi.<br />
<a href="http://www.crmvet.org/crmpics/fsms1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.crmvet.org/crmpics/fsms1.jpg" width="400" /></a><i>"...When the weary Riders arrive in Jackson and attempt to use 'white only' restrooms and lunch counters they are immediately arrested for Breach of Peace and Refusal to Obey an Officer."</i> Says Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett in defense of segregation:<i> 'The Negro is different because God made him different to punish him.' </i>From lockup, the Riders announce 'Jail No Bail' — they will not pay fines for unconstitutional arrests and illegal convictions — and by staying in jail they keep the issue alive. Each prisoner will remain in jail for 39 days, the maximum time they can serve without loosing [sic] their right to appeal the unconstitutionality of their arrests, trials, and convictions. After 39 days, they file an appeal and post bond..."<br />
The jailed freedom riders were treated harshly, crammed into tiny, filthy cells and sporadically beaten. In Jackson, some male prisoners were forced to do hard labor in 100-degree heat. Others were transferred to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, where they were treated to harsh conditions. Sometimes the men were suspended by "wrist breakers" from the walls. Typically, the windows of their cells were shut tight on hot days, making it hard for them to breathe.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH6B83YIiWZwq0D1fl0FOFBY0Omb9DXCN7Z_9CGPp2vZL9uCtDfIJegSvZwklxB7Seu01KNU5BrPZ-CDANnVuJVhDBHNqYB-H-GisXRs7-SUnWmLLT1xBVUoDCU61jd-n_0_RE8ZJN94I/s1600/23760181.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH6B83YIiWZwq0D1fl0FOFBY0Omb9DXCN7Z_9CGPp2vZL9uCtDfIJegSvZwklxB7Seu01KNU5BrPZ-CDANnVuJVhDBHNqYB-H-GisXRs7-SUnWmLLT1xBVUoDCU61jd-n_0_RE8ZJN94I/s400/23760181.jpeg" width="400" /></a>Public sympathy and support for the freedom riders led John F. Kennedy's administration to order the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to issue a new desegregation order. When the new ICC rule took effect on November 1, 1961, passengers were permitted to sit wherever they chose on the bus; "white" and "colored" signs came down in the terminals; separate drinking fountains, toilets, and waiting rooms were consolidated; and lunch counters began serving people regardless of skin color.<br />
The student movement involved such celebrated figures as John Lewis, a single-minded activist; James Lawson, the revered "guru" of nonviolent theory and tactics; Diane Nash, an articulate and intrepid public champion of justice; Bob Moses, pioneer of voting registration in Mississippi; and James Bevel, a fiery preacher and charismatic organizer and facilitator. Other prominent student activists included Charles McDew, Bernard Lafayette, Charles Jones, Lonnie King, Julian Bond, Hosea Williams, and Stokely Carmichael.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Voter registration organizing</i></b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://photos.state.gov/galleries/usinfo-photo/39/civil_rights_07/001-CivilRights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://photos.state.gov/galleries/usinfo-photo/39/civil_rights_07/001-CivilRights.jpg" /></a>After the Freedom Rides, local black leaders in Mississippi such as Amzie Moore, Aaron Henry, Medgar Evers, and others asked SNCC to help register black voters and to build community organizations that could win a share of political power in the state. Since Mississippi ratified its new constitution in 1890 with provisions such as poll taxes, residency requirements, and literacy tests, it made registration more complicated and stripped blacks from voter rolls and voting. In addition, violence at the time of elections had earlier suppressed black voting.<br />
By the mid-20th century, preventing blacks from voting had become an essential part of the culture of white supremacy. In the fall of 1961, SNCC organizer Robert Moses began the first voter registration project in McComb and the surrounding counties in the Southwest corner of the state. Their efforts were met with violent repression from state and local lawmen, the White Citizens' Council, and the Ku Klux Klan. Activists were beaten, there were hundreds of arrests of local citizens, and the voting activist Herbert Lee was murdered.<br />
White opposition to black voter registration was so intense in Mississippi that Freedom Movement activists concluded that all of the state's civil rights organizations had to unite in a coordinated effort to have any chance of success. In February 1962, representatives of SNCC, CORE, and the NAACP formed the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). At a subsequent meeting in August, SCLC became part of COFO.<br />
<a href="http://www.findmyowncurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/015-CivilRights1-300x186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.findmyowncurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/015-CivilRights1-300x186.jpg" /></a>In the Spring of 1962, with funds from the Voter Education Project, SNCC/COFO began voter registration organizing in the Mississippi Delta area around Greenwood, and the areas surrounding Hattiesburg, Laurel, and Holly Springs. As in McComb, their efforts were met with fierce opposition—arrests, beatings, shootings, arson, and murder. Registrars used the literacy test to keep blacks off the voting roles by creating standards that even highly educated people could not meet. In addition, employers fired blacks who tried to register, and landlords evicted them from their rental homes. Despite these actions, over the following years, the black voter registration campaign spread across the state.<br />
Similar voter registration campaigns—with similar responses—were begun by SNCC, CORE, and SCLC in Louisiana, Alabama, southwest Georgia, and South Carolina. By 1963, voter registration campaigns in the South were as integral to the Freedom Movement as desegregation efforts. After passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protecting and facilitating voter registration despite state barriers became the main effort of the movement. It resulted in passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which had provisions to enforce the constitutional right to vote for all citizens.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.calgunlawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Civil-Rights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.calgunlawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Civil-Rights.jpg" /></a><b><i>Integration of Mississippi universities, 1956–65</i></b><br />
<br />
Beginning in 1956, Clyde Kennard, a black Korean War-veteran, wanted to enroll at Mississippi Southern College (now the University of Southern Mississippi) under the GI Bill at Hattiesburg. Dr. William David McCain, the college president, used the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, in order to prevent his enrollment by appealing to local black leaders and the segregationist state political establishment.<br />
The state-funded organization tried to counter the civil rights movement by positively portraying segregationist policies. More significantly, it collected data on activists, harassed them legally, and used economic boycotts against them by threatening their jobs (or causing them to lose their jobs) to try to suppress their work.<br />
Kennard was twice arrested on trumped-up charges, and eventually convicted and sentenced to seven years in the state prison. After three years at hard labor, Kennard was paroled by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett. Journalists had investigated his case and publicized the state's mistreatment of his colon cancer.<br />
McCain’s role in Kennard's arrests and convictions is unknown. While trying to prevent Kennard's enrollment, McCain made a speech in Chicago, with his travel sponsored by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. He described the blacks' seeking to desegregate Southern schools as "imports" from the North. (Kennard was a native and resident of Hattiesburg.)<br />
<i>"We insist that educationally and socially, we maintain a segregated society. ... In all fairness, I admit that we are not encouraging Negro voting," he said. "The Negroes prefer that control of the government remain in the white man's hands."</i><br />
Note: Mississippi had passed a new constitution in 1890 that effectively disfranchised most blacks by changing electoral and voter registration requirements; although it deprived them of constitutional rights authorized under post-Civil War amendments, it survived US Supreme Court challenges at the time. It was not until after passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that most blacks in Mississippi and other southern states gained federal protection to enforce the constitutional right of citizens to vote.<br />
In September 1962, James Meredith won a lawsuit to secure admission to the previously segregated University of Mississippi. He attempted to enter campus on September 20, on September 25, and again on September 26. He was blocked by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, who said, "[N]o school will be integrated in Mississippi while I am your Governor." The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Barnett and Lieutenant Governor Paul B. Johnson, Jr. in contempt, with fines of more than $10,000 for each day they refused to allow Meredith to enroll.<br />
Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent in a force of U.S. Marshals. On September 30, 1962, Meredith entered the campus under their escort. Students and other whites began rioting that evening, throwing rocks and firing on the U.S. Marshals guarding Meredith at Lyceum Hall. Two people, including a French journalist, were killed; 28 marshals suffered gunshot wounds; and 160 others were injured. President John F. Kennedy sent regular US Army forces to the campus to quell the riot. Meredith began classes the day after the troops arrived.<br />
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Kennard and other activists continued to work on public university desegregation. In 1965 Raylawni Branch and Gwendolyn Elaine Armstrong became the first African-American students to attend the University of Southern Mississippi. By that time, McCain helped ensure they had a peaceful entry. In 2006, Judge Robert Helfrich ruled that Kennard was factually innocent of all charges for which he had been convicted in the 1950s.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>Albany Movement, 1961–62</i></b><br />
<br />
The SCLC, which had been criticized by some student activists for its failure to participate more fully in the freedom rides, committed much of its prestige and resources to a desegregation campaign in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. King, who had been criticized personally by some SNCC activists for his distance from the dangers that local organizers faced—and given the derisive nickname "De Lawd" as a result—intervened personally to assist the campaign led by both SNCC organizers and local leaders.<br />
The campaign was a failure because of the canny tactics of Laurie Pritchett, the local police chief, and divisions within the black community. The goals may not have been specific enough. Pritchett contained the marchers without violent attacks on demonstrators that inflamed national opinion. He also arranged for arrested demonstrators to be taken to jails in surrounding communities, allowing plenty of room to remain in his jail. Prichett also foresaw King's presence as a danger and forced his release to avoid King's rallying the black community. King left in 1962 without having achieved any dramatic victories. The local movement, however, continued the struggle, and it obtained significant gains in the next few years.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Birmingham Campaign, 1963–64</i></b><br />
<br />
Alabama governor George Wallace stands against desegregation at the University of Alabama and is confronted by US Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach in 1963.<br />
The Albany movement was shown to be an important education for the SCLC, however, when it undertook the Birmingham campaign in 1963. Executive Director Wyatt Tee Walker carefully planned strategy and tactics for the campaign. It focused on one goal—the desegregation of Birmingham's downtown merchants, rather than total desegregation, as in Albany.<br />
The movement's efforts were helped by the brutal response of local authorities, in particular Eugene "Bull" Connor, the Commissioner of Public Safety. He had long held much political power, but had lost a recent election for mayor to a less rabidly segregationist candidate. Refusing to accept the new mayor's authority, Connor intended to stay in office.<br />
<a href="http://www.varight.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fire_hose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://www.varight.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fire_hose.jpg" width="400" /></a>The campaign used a variety of nonviolent methods of confrontation, including sit-ins, kneel-ins at local churches, and a march to the county building to mark the beginning of a drive to register voters. The city, however, obtained an injunction barring all such protests. Convinced that the order was unconstitutional, the campaign defied it and prepared for mass arrests of its supporters. King elected to be among those arrested on April 12, 1963.<br />
While in jail, King wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" on the margins of a newspaper, since he had not been allowed any writing paper while held in solitary confinement. Supporters appealed to the Kennedy administration, which intervened to obtain King's release. King was allowed to call his wife, who was recuperating at home after the birth of their fourth child, and was released early on April 19.<br />
The campaign, however, faltered as it ran out of demonstrators willing to risk arrest. James Bevel, SCLC's Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education, then came up with a bold and controversial alternative: to train high school students to take part in the demonstrations. As a result, in what would be called the Children's Crusade, more than one thousand students skipped school on May 2 to meet at the 16th Street Baptist Church to join the demonstrations. More than six hundred marched out of the church fifty at a time in an attempt to walk to City Hall to speak to Birmingham's mayor about segregation. They were arrested and put into jail.<br />
In this first encounter the police acted with restraint. On the next day, however, another one thousand students gathered at the church. When Bevel started them marching fifty at a time, Bull Connor finally unleashed police dogs on them and then turned the city's fire hoses water streams on the children. National television networks broadcast the scenes of the dogs attacking demonstrators and the water from the fire hoses knocking down the schoolchildren.<br />
Widespread public outrage led the Kennedy administration to intervene more forcefully in negotiations between the white business community and the SCLC. On May 10, the parties announced an agreement to desegregate the lunch counters and other public accommodations downtown, to create a committee to eliminate discriminatory hiring practices, to arrange for the release of jailed protesters, and to establish regular means of communication between black and white leaders.<br />
Not everyone in the black community approved of the agreement— the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was particularly critical, since he was skeptical about the good faith of Birmingham's power structure from his experience in dealing with them. Parts of the white community reacted violently. They bombed the Gaston Motel, which housed the SCLC's unofficial headquarters, and the home of King's brother, the Reverend A. D. King. In response, thousands of blacks rioted, burning numerous buildings and stabbing a police officer.<br />
<a href="http://www.glynn.k12.ga.us/BHS/academics/junior/yonkers/chantel%2011704/MLB1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.glynn.k12.ga.us/BHS/academics/junior/yonkers/chantel%2011704/MLB1.JPG" /></a>Kennedy prepared to federalize the Alabama National Guard if the need arose. Four months later, on September 15, a conspiracy of Ku Klux Klan members bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing four young girls.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Other events of the summer of 1963:</i></b><br />
<br />
On June 11, 1963, George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, tried to block the integration of the University of Alabama. President John F. Kennedy sent a military force to make Governor Wallace step aside, allowing the enrollment of Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood. That evening, President Kennedy addressed the nation on TV and radio with his historic civil rights speech. The next day, Medgar Evers was murdered in Mississippi. The next week, as promised, on June 19, 1963, President Kennedy submitted his Civil Rights bill to Congress.<br />
<br />
<b><i>March on Washington, 1963</i></b><br />
<br />
A. Philip Randolph had planned a march on Washington, D.C. in 1941 to support demands for elimination of employment discrimination in defense industries; he called off the march when the Roosevelt administration met the demand by issuing Executive Order 8802 barring racial discrimination and creating an agency to oversee compliance with the order.<br />
Randolph and Bayard Rustin were the chief planners of the second march, which they proposed in 1962. In 1963, the Kennedy administration initially opposed the march out of concern it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, Randolph and King were firm that the march would proceed. With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. Concerned about the turnout, President Kennedy enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and the UAW union to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause.<br />
The march was held on August 28, 1963. Unlike the planned 1941 march, for which Randolph included only black-led organizations in the planning, the 1963 march was a collaborative effort of all of the major civil rights organizations, the more progressive wing of the labor movement, and other liberal organizations. <b><i>The march had six official goals:</i></b><br />
<a href="https://wikis.nyu.edu/ek6/modernamerica/uploads/Reform.TheCivilRightsMovement/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://wikis.nyu.edu/ek6/modernamerica/uploads/Reform.TheCivilRightsMovement/3.jpg" width="400" /></a><b><i>meaningful civil rights laws,</i></b><br />
<b><i>a massive federal works program,</i></b><br />
<b><i>full and fair employment,</i></b><br />
<b><i>decent housing,</i></b><br />
<b><i>the right to vote, and</i></b><br />
<b><i>adequate integrated education.</i></b><br />
Of these, the march's major focus was on passage of the civil rights law that the Kennedy administration had proposed after the upheavals in Birmingham.<br />
National media attention also greatly contributed to the march's national exposure and probable impact. In his section "The March on Washington and Television News," William Thomas notes: "Over five hundred cameramen, technicians, and correspondents from the major networks were set to cover the event. More cameras would be set up than had filmed the last presidential inauguration. One camera was positioned high in the Washington Monument, to give dramatic vistas of the marchers". By carrying the organizers' speeches and offering their own commentary, television stations literally framed the way their local audiences saw and understood the event.<br />
The march was a success, although not without controversy. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. While many speakers applauded the Kennedy administration for the efforts it had made toward obtaining new, more effective civil rights legislation protecting the right to vote and outlawing segregation, John Lewis of SNCC took the administration to task for not doing more to protect southern blacks and civil rights workers under attack in the Deep South.<br />
After the march, King and other civil rights leaders met with President Kennedy at the White House. While the Kennedy administration appeared sincerely committed to passing the bill, it was not clear that it had the votes in Congress to do it. However when President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, the new President Lyndon Johnson decided to use his influence in Congress to bring about much of Kennedy's legislative agenda.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Malcolm X Joins the Movement, 1964-1965</i></b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://media1.shmoop.com/images/teachers_editions/civil_rights_black_power.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="324" src="http://media1.shmoop.com/images/teachers_editions/civil_rights_black_power.jpg" width="400" /></a>In March 1964, Malcolm X (Malik El-Shabazz), national representative of the Nation of Islam, formally broke with that organization, and made a public offer to collaborate with any civil rights organization that accepted the right to self-defense and the philosophy of Black nationalism (which Malcolm said no longer required Black separatism). Gloria Richardson - head of the Cambridge, Maryland chapter of SNCC, leader of the Cambridge rebellion, and an honored guest at The March on Washington - immediately embraced Malcolm’s offer. Mrs. Richardson, “the nation’s most prominent woman [civil rights] leader,” told The Baltimore Afro-American that “Malcolm is being very practical…The federal government has moved into conflict situations only when matters approach the level of insurrection. Self-defense may force Washington to intervene sooner.” Earlier, in May 1963, James Baldwin had stated publicly that “the Black Muslim movement is the only one in the country we can call grassroots, I hate to say it…Malcolm articulates for Negroes, their suffering…he corroborates their reality...” On the local level, Malcolm and the NOI had been allied with the Harlem chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) since at least 1962.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNhMe1TktzsGeXczddo9nTh_P9_Ug7pbv4BrhoZv-ULD2ZhTAD_o-6jAthTyU9Ou7FYkITaajA9tIbhM0mqfXH4dIgSM0zGPrjDsFqJYIbJbGtnw9q93kUIB7g-LrwIfCtwc99pOQnxxk/s1600/Cambridge,%2BMaryland%2BMay%2B27%2B2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNhMe1TktzsGeXczddo9nTh_P9_Ug7pbv4BrhoZv-ULD2ZhTAD_o-6jAthTyU9Ou7FYkITaajA9tIbhM0mqfXH4dIgSM0zGPrjDsFqJYIbJbGtnw9q93kUIB7g-LrwIfCtwc99pOQnxxk/s320/Cambridge,%2BMaryland%2BMay%2B27%2B2013.jpg" width="320" /></a>On March 26, 1964, as the Civil Rights Act was facing stiff opposition in Congress, Malcolm had a public meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. at the Capitol building. Malcolm had attempted to begin a dialog with Dr. King as early as 1957, but King had rebuffed him. Malcolm had responded by calling King an “Uncle Tom” who turned his back on black militancy in order to appease the white power structure. However, the two men were on good terms at their face-to-face meeting. There is evidence that King was preparing to support Malcolm’s plan to formally bring the US government before the United Nations on charges of human rights violations against African-Americans. Malcolm now encouraged Black nationalists to get involved in voter registration drives and other forms of community organizing to redefine and expand the movement.<br />
Civil rights activists became increasingly combative in the 1963 to 1964 period, owing to events such as the thwarting of the Albany campaign, police repression and Ku Klux Klan terrorism in Birmingham, and the assassination of Medgar Evers. Mississippi NAACP Field Director Charles Evers–Medgar Evers’ brother–told a public NAACP conference on February 15, 1964 that “<i>non-violence won’t work in Mississippi…we made up our minds…that if a white man shoots at a Negro in Mississippi, we will shoot back.</i>” The repression of sit-ins in Jacksonville, Florida provoked a riot that saw black youth throwing Molotov cocktails at police on March 24, 1964. Malcolm X gave extensive speeches in this period warning that such militant activity would escalate further if African-Americans’ rights were not fully recognized. In his landmark April 1964 speech “The Ballot or the Bullet”, Malcolm presented an ultimatum to white America: “There's new strategy coming in. It'll be Molotov cocktails this month, hand grenades next month, and something else next month. It'll be ballots, or it'll be bullets.”<br />
<a href="http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/ddn_archive/wp-content/gallery/civil-rights-in-dayton/civil_rights_marcherswestside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/ddn_archive/wp-content/gallery/civil-rights-in-dayton/civil_rights_marcherswestside.jpg" width="400" /></a>As noted in Eyes on the Prize, "Malcolm X had a far reaching effect on the civil rights movement. In the South, there had been a long tradition of self reliance. Malcolm X's ideas now touched that tradition". Self-reliance was becoming paramount in light of the 1964 Democratic National Convention's decision to refuse seating to the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and to seat the state delegation elected in violation of the party's rules through Jim Crow law instead. SNCC moved in an increasingly militant direction and worked with Malcolm X on two Harlem MFDP fundraisers in December 1964. When Fannie Lou Hamer spoke to Harlemites about the Jim Crow violence that she'd suffered in Mississippi, she linked it directly to the Northern police brutality against blacks that Malcolm protested against; When Malcolm asserted that African-Americans should emulate the Mau Mau army of Kenya in efforts to gain their freedom, many in SNCC applauded. During the Selma campaign for voting rights in 1965, Malcolm made it known that he’d heard reports of increased threats of lynching around Selma, and responded in late January with an open telegram to George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party, stating: "if your present racist agitation against our people there in Alabama causes physical harm to Reverend King or any other black Americans…you and your KKK friends will be met with maximum physical retaliation from those of us who are not handcuffed by the disarming philosophy of nonviolence." The following month, the Selma chapter of SNCC invited Malcolm to speak to a mass meeting there. On the day of Malcolm's appearance, President Johnson made his first public statement in support of the Selma campaign. Paul Ryan Haygood, a co-director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, credits Malcolm with a role in stimulating the responsiveness of the federal government. Haygood noted that “shortly after Malcolm’s visit to Selma, a federal judge, responding to a suit brought by the Department of Justice, required Dallas County registrars to process at least 100 Black applications each day their offices were open.”<br />
<br />
<i><b>St. Augustine, Florida, 1963–64</b></i><br />
<br />
St. Augustine, on the northeast coast of Florida was famous as the "Nation's Oldest City," founded by the Spanish in 1565. It became the stage for a great drama leading up to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. A local movement, led by Dr. Robert B. Hayling, a black dentist and Air Force veteran, and affiliated with the NAACP, had been picketing segregated local institutions since 1963, as a result of which Dr. Hayling and three companions, James Jackson, Clyde Jenkins, and James Hauser, were brutally beaten at a Ku Klux Klan rally in the fall of that year.<br />
Nightriders shot into black homes, and teenagers Audrey Nell Edwards, JoeAnn Anderson, Samuel White, and Willie Carl Singleton (who came to be known as "The St. Augustine Four") spent six months in jail and reform school after sitting in at the local Woolworth's lunch counter. It took a special action of the governor and cabinet of Florida to release them after national protests by the Pittsburgh Courier, Jackie Robinson, and others.<br />
<a href="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/01/16/ap600201059_custom-bc84ebf735a0bfaf0ce92b01a2f4eca8a7b912cd-s6-c30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/01/16/ap600201059_custom-bc84ebf735a0bfaf0ce92b01a2f4eca8a7b912cd-s6-c30.jpg" width="320" /></a>In response to the repression, the St. Augustine movement practiced armed self-defense in addition to nonviolent direct action. In June 1963, Dr. Hayling publicly stated that "I and the others have armed. We will shoot first and answer questions later. We are not going to die like Medgar Evers." The comment made national headlines. When Klan nightriders terrorized black neighborhoods in St. Augustine, Hayling's NAACP members often drove them off with gunfire, and in October, a Klansman was killed.<br />
In 1964, Dr. Hayling and other activists urged the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to come to St. Augustine. The first action came during spring break, when Hayling appealed to northern college students to come to the Ancient City, not to go to the beach, but to take part in demonstrations. Four prominent Massachusetts women—Mrs. Mary Parkman Peabody, Mrs. Esther Burgess, Mrs. Hester Campbell (all of whose husbands were Episcopal bishops), and Mrs. Florence Rowe (whose husband was vice president of John Hancock Insurance Company) came to lend their support. The arrest of Mrs. Peabody, the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, for attempting to eat at the segregated Ponce de Leon Motor Lodge in an integrated group, made front page news across the country, and brought the civil rights movement in St. Augustine to the attention of the world.<br />
Widely publicized activities continued in the ensuing months, as Congress saw the longest filibuster against a civil rights bill in its history. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested at the Monson Motel in St. Augustine on June 11, 1964, the only place in Florida he was arrested. He sent a "Letter from the St. Augustine Jail" to a northern supporter, Rabbi Israel Dresner of New Jersey, urging him to recruit others to participate in the movement. This resulted, a week later, in the largest mass arrest of rabbis in American history—while conducting a pray-in at the Monson.<br />
A famous photograph taken in St. Augustine shows the manager of the Monson Motel pouring acid in the swimming pool while blacks and whites are swimming in it. The horrifying photograph was run on the front page of the Washington newspaper the day the senate went to vote on passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964</i></b><br />
<br />
In the summer of 1964, COFO brought nearly 1,000 activists to Mississippi—most of them white college students—to join with local black activists to register voters, teach in "Freedom Schools," and organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).<br />
Many of Mississippi's white residents deeply resented the outsiders and attempts to change their society. State and local governments, police, the White Citizens' Council and the Ku Klux Klan used arrests, beatings, arson, murder, spying, firing, evictions, and other forms of intimidation and harassment to oppose the project and prevent blacks from registering to vote or achieving social equality.<br />
<a href="http://unews.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/Freedom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://unews.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/Freedom.jpg" width="400" /></a>On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers disappeared. James Chaney, a young black Mississippian and plasterer's apprentice; and two Jewish activists, Andrew Goodman, a Queens College anthropology student; and Michael Schwerner, a CORE organizer from Manhattan's Lower East Side, were found weeks later, murdered by conspirators who turned out to be local members of the Klan, some of them members of the Neshoba County sheriff's department. This outraged the public, leading the U.S. Justice Department along with the FBI (the latter which had previously avoided dealing with the issue of segregation and persecution of blacks) to take action. The outrage over these murders helped lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act.<br />
From June to August, Freedom Summer activists worked in 38 local projects scattered across the state, with the largest number concentrated in the Mississippi Delta region. At least 30 Freedom Schools, with close to 3,500 students were established, and 28 community centers set up.<br />
<a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-east/CivilRightsMarchNationalGuardMemphis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-east/CivilRightsMarchNationalGuardMemphis.jpg" width="400" /></a>Over the course of the Summer Project, some 17,000 Mississippi blacks attempted to become registered voters in defiance of the red tape and forces of white supremacy arrayed against them—only 1,600 (less than 10%) succeeded. But more than 80,000 joined the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), founded as an alternative political organization, showing their desire to vote and participate in politics.<br />
Though Freedom Summer failed to register many voters, it had a significant effect on the course of the Civil Rights Movement. It helped break down the decades of people's isolation and repression that were the foundation of the Jim Crow system. Before Freedom Summer, the national news media had paid little attention to the persecution of black voters in the Deep South and the dangers endured by black civil rights workers. The progression of events throughout the South increased media attention to Mississippi.<br />
The deaths of affluent northern white students and threats to other northerners attracted the full attention of the media spotlight to the state. Many black activists became embittered, believing the media valued lives of whites and blacks differently. Perhaps the most significant effect of Freedom Summer was on the volunteers, almost all of whom—black and white—still consider it to have been one of the defining periods of their lives.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Civil Rights Act of 1964</i></b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://teenagefilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/freedom-riders-mugshots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="397" src="http://teenagefilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/freedom-riders-mugshots.jpg" width="400" /></a>Although President Kennedy had proposed civil rights legislation and it had support from Northern Congressmen and Senators of both parties, Southern Senators blocked the bill by threatening filibusters. After considerable parliamentary maneuvering and 54 days of filibuster on the floor of the United States Senate, President Johnson got a bill through the Congress.<br />
On July 2, 1964, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that banned discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex or national origin" in employment practices and public accommodations. The bill authorized the Attorney General to file lawsuits to enforce the new law. The law also nullified state and local laws that required such discrimination.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1964</i></b><br />
<br />
Blacks in Mississippi had been disfranchised by statutory and constitutional changes since the late 19th century. In 1963 COFO held a Freedom Vote in Mississippi to demonstrate the desire of black Mississippians to vote. More than 80,000 people registered and voted in the mock election, which pitted an integrated slate of candidates from the "Freedom Party" against the official state Democratic Party candidates.<br />
In 1964, organizers launched the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to challenge the all-white official party. When Mississippi voting registrars refused to recognize their candidates, they held their own primary. They selected Fannie Lou Hamer, Annie Devine, and Victoria Gray to run for Congress, and a slate of delegates to represent Mississippi at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.<br />
The presence of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was inconvenient, however, for the convention organizers. They had planned a triumphant celebration of the Johnson administration’s achievements in civil rights, rather than a fight over racism within the Democratic Party. All-white delegations from other Southern states threatened to walk out if the official slate from Mississippi was not seated. Johnson was worried about the inroads that Republican Barry Goldwater’s campaign was making in what previously had been the white Democratic stronghold of the "Solid South", as well as support that George Wallace had received in the North during the Democratic primaries.<br />
Johnson could not, however, prevent the MFDP from taking its case to the Credentials Committee. There Fannie Lou Hamer testified eloquently about the beatings that she and others endured and the threats they faced for trying to register to vote. Turning to the television cameras, Hamer asked, "Is this America?"<br />
<a href="http://www.3quarksdaily.com/.a/6a00d8341c562c53ef0111689059bd970c-600wi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="http://www.3quarksdaily.com/.a/6a00d8341c562c53ef0111689059bd970c-600wi" width="400" /></a>Johnson offered the MFDP a "compromise" under which it would receive two non-voting, at-large seats, while the white delegation sent by the official Democratic Party would retain its seats. The MFDP angrily rejected the "compromise."<br />
The MFDP kept up its agitation at the convention, after it was denied official recognition. When all but three of the "regular" Mississippi delegates left because they refused to pledge allegiance to the party, the MFDP delegates borrowed passes from sympathetic delegates and took the seats vacated by the official Mississippi delegates. National party organizers removed them. When they returned the next day, they found convention organizers had removed the empty seats that had been there the day before. They stayed and sang "freedom songs".<br />
The 1964 Democratic Party convention disillusioned many within the MFDP and the Civil Rights Movement, but it did not destroy the MFDP. The MFDP became more radical after Atlantic City. It invited Malcolm X, then a spokesman for the Nation of Islam, to speak at one of its conventions and opposed the war in Vietnam.<br />
<br />
<b><i>King Awarded Nobel Peace Prize</i></b><br />
<br />
On December 10, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest man to receive the award; he was 35 years of age.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Boycott of New Orleans by American Football League players, January 1965</i></b><br />
<br />
After the 1964 professional American Football League season, the AFL All-Star Game had been scheduled for early 1965 in New Orleans' Tulane Stadium. After numerous black players were refused service by a number of New Orleans hotels and businesses, and white cabdrivers refused to carry black passengers, black and white players alike lobbied for a boycott of New Orleans. Under the leadership of Buffalo Bills' players, including Cookie Gilchrist, the players put up a unified front. The game was moved to Jeppesen Stadium in Houston.<br />
The discriminatory practices that prompted the boycott were illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which had been signed in July 1964. This new law likely encouraged the AFL players in their cause. It was the first boycott by a professional sports event of an entire city.<br />
<br />
<b>Selma and the Voting Rights Act, 1965</b><br />
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SNCC had undertaken an ambitious voter registration program in Selma, Alabama, in 1963, but by 1965 had made little headway in the face of opposition from Selma's sheriff, Jim Clark. After local residents asked the SCLC for assistance, King came to Selma to lead several marches, at which he was arrested along with 250 other demonstrators. The marchers continued to meet violent resistance from police. Jimmie Lee Jackson, a resident of nearby Marion, was killed by police at a later march in February 17, 1965. Jackson's death prompted James Bevel, director of the Selma Movement, to initiate a plan to march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital.<br />
On March 7, 1965, acting on Bevel's plan, Hosea Williams of the SCLC and John Lewis of SNCC led a march of 600 people to walk the 54 miles (87 km) from Selma to the state capital in Montgomery. Only six blocks into the march, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, state troopers and local law enforcement, some mounted on horseback, attacked the peaceful demonstrators with billy clubs, tear gas, rubber tubes wrapped in barbed wire, and bull whips. They drove the marchers back into Selma. John Lewis was knocked unconscious and dragged to safety. At least 16 other marchers were hospitalized. Among those gassed and beaten was Amelia Boynton Robinson, who was at the center of civil rights activity at the time.<br />
The national broadcast of the news footage of lawmen attacking unresisting marchers' seeking to exercise their constitutional right to vote provoked a national response, as had scenes from Birmingham two years earlier. The marchers were able to obtain a court order permitting them to make the march without incident two weeks later.<br />
After a second march on March 9 to the site of Bloody Sunday, local whites attacked Rev. James Reeb, another voting rights supporter. He died of his injuries in a Birmingham hospital March 11. On March 25, four Klansmen shot and killed Detroit homemaker Viola Liuzzo as she drove marchers back to Selma at night after the successfully completed march to Montgomery.<br />
Eight days after the first march, President Johnson delivered a televised address to support the voting rights bill he had sent to Congress. In it he stated:<br />
But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life.<br />
Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.<br />
Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on August 6. The 1965 act suspended poll taxes, literacy tests, and other subjective voter registration tests. It authorized Federal supervision of voter registration in states and individual voting districts where such tests were being used. African Americans who had been barred from registering to vote finally had an alternative to taking suits to local or state courts, which had seldom prosecuted their cases to success. If discrimination in voter registration occurred, the 1965 act authorized the Attorney General of the United States to send Federal examiners to replace local registrars. Johnson reportedly told associates of his concern that signing the bill had lost the white South as voters for the Democratic Party for the foreseeable future.<br />
<a href="https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/5/6/1367846465761/Civil-rights-protestors-a-011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/5/6/1367846465761/Civil-rights-protestors-a-011.jpg" width="400" /></a>The act had an immediate and positive effect for African Americans. Within months of its passage, 250,000 new black voters had been registered, one third of them by federal examiners. Within four years, voter registration in the South had more than doubled. In 1965, Mississippi had the highest black voter turnout at 74% and led the nation in the number of black public officials elected. In 1969, Tennessee had a 92.1% turnout among black voters; Arkansas, 77.9%; and Texas, 73.1%.<br />
Several whites who had opposed the Voting Rights Act paid a quick price. In 1966 Sheriff Jim Clark of Alabama, infamous for using cattle prods against civil rights marchers, was up for reelection. Although he took off the notorious "Never" pin on his uniform, he was defeated. At the election, Clark lost as blacks voted to get him out of office. Clark later served a prison term for drug dealing.<br />
Blacks' regaining the power to vote changed the political landscape of the South. When Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, only about 100 African Americans held elective office, all in northern states. By 1989, there were more than 7,200 African Americans in office, including more than 4,800 in the South. Nearly every Black Belt county (where populations were majority black) in Alabama had a black sheriff. Southern blacks held top positions in city, county, and state governments.<br />
Atlanta elected a black mayor, Andrew Young, as did Jackson, Mississippi, with Harvey Johnson, Jr., and New Orleans, with Ernest Morial. Black politicians on the national level included Barbara Jordan, elected as a Representative from Texas in Congress, and President Jimmy Carter appointed Andrew Young as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Julian Bond was elected to the Georgia State Legislature in 1965, although political reaction to his public Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War prevented him from taking his seat until 1967. John Lewis represents Georgia's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, where he has served since 1987.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Memphis, King assassination and the Poor People's March, 1968</b><br />
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<br />
A 3000-person shantytown called Resurrection City was established on the National Mall.<br />
Rev. James Lawson invited King to Memphis, Tennessee, in March 1968 to support a sanitation workers' strike. These workers launched a campaign for union representation after two workers were accidentally killed on the job, and King considered their struggle to be a vital part of the Poor People's Campaign he was planning.<br />
A day after delivering his stirring "I've Been to the Mountaintop" sermon, which has become famous for his vision of American society, King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Riots broke out in black neighborhoods in more than 110 cities across the United States in the days that followed, notably in Chicago, Baltimore, and in Washington, D.C. The damage done in many cities destroyed black businesses and homes, and slowed economic development for a generation.<br />
The day before King's funeral, April 8, Coretta Scott King and three of the King children led 20,000 marchers through the streets of Memphis, holding signs that read, "Honor King: End Racism" and "Union Justice Now". Armed National Guardsmen lined the streets, sitting on M-48 tanks, to protect the marchers, and helicopters circled overhead. On April 9 Mrs. King led another 150,000 people in a funeral procession through the streets of Atlanta. Her dignity revived courage and hope in many of the Movement's members, cementing her place as the new leader in the struggle for racial equality.<br />
Coretta King said,<br />
<i>[Martin Luther King, Jr.] gave his life for the poor of the world, the garbage workers of Memphis and the peasants of Vietnam. The day that Negro people and others in bondage are truly free, on the day want is abolished, on the day wars are no more, on that day I know my husband will rest in a long-deserved peace.</i><br />
<i>—Coretta King</i><br />
Rev. Ralph Abernathy succeeded King as the head of the SCLC and attempted to carry forth King's plan for a Poor People's March. It was to unite blacks and whites to campaign for fundamental changes in American society and economic structure. The march went forward under Abernathy's plainspoken leadership but did not achieve its goals.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Other issues</b><br />
<br />
<b>Competing Ideas</b><br />
<br />
Despite the common notion that the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Black Power only conflicted with each other and were the only ideologies of the Civil Rights Movement, there were other sentiments felt by many blacks. Fearing the events during the movement were occurring too quickly, there were some blacks who felt that leaders should take their activism at a slower pace. Others had reservations on how focused blacks were on the movement and felt that such attention was better spent on reforming issues within the black community.<br />
Those who blatantly rejected integration usually had a legitimate rationale for doing so, such as fearing a change in the status quo they had been used to for so long, or fearing for their safety if they found themselves in environments where whites were much more present. However, there were also those who defended segregation for the sake of keeping ties with the white power structure from which many relied on for social and economic mobility above other blacks. Based on her interpretation of a 1966 study made by Donald Matthews and James Prothro detailing the relative percentage of blacks for integration, against it or feeling something else, Lauren Winner asserts that:<br />
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"Black defenders of segregation look, at first blush, very much like black nationalists, especially in their preference for all-black institutions; but black defenders of segregation differ from nationalists in two key ways. First, while both groups criticize NAACP-style integration, nationalists articulate a third alternative to integration and Jim Crow, while segregationists preferred to stick with the status quo. Second, absent from black defenders of segregation's political vocabulary was the demand for self-determination. They called for all-black institutions, but not autonomous all-black institutions; indeed, some defenders of segregation asserted that black people needed white paternalism and oversight in order to thrive."<br />
Often times, African-American community leaders would be staunch defenders of segregation. Church ministers, businessmen and educators were among those who wished to keep segregation and segregationist ideals in order to retain the privileges they gained from patronage from whites, such as monetary gains. In addition, they relied on segregation to keep their jobs and economies in their communities thriving. It was feared that if integration became widespread in the South, black-owned businesses and other establishments would lose a large chunk of their customer base to white-owned businesses, and many blacks would lose opportunities for jobs that were presently exclusive to their interests. On the other hand, there were the everyday, average black people who criticized integration as well. For them, they took issue with different parts of the Civil Rights Movement and the potential for blacks to exercise consumerism and economic liberty without hindrance from whites.<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4a_XrcZpZmI8_l7FBx6zbe317-H2w7mvAkcWXg12Lwfv5Te-O-w" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4a_XrcZpZmI8_l7FBx6zbe317-H2w7mvAkcWXg12Lwfv5Te-O-w" width="400" /></a>For Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and other leading activists and groups during the movement, these opposing viewpoints acted as an obstacle against their ideas. These different views made such leaders' work much harder to accomplish, but they were nonetheless important in the overall scope of the movement. For the most part, the black individuals who had reservations on various aspects of the movement and ideologies of the activists were not able to make a game-changing dent in their efforts, but the existence of these alternate ideas gave some blacks an outlet to express their concerns about the changing social structure.<br />
<br />
<b>Avoiding the "Communist" label</b><br />
<br />
<br />
On 17 December 1951, the Communist Party–affiliated Civil Rights Congress delivered the petition We Charge Genocide: "The Crime of Government Against the Negro People", often shortened to We Charge Genocide, to the United Nations in 1951, arguing that the U.S. federal government, by its failure to act against lynching in the United States, was guilty of genocide under Article II of the UN Genocide Convention. The petition was presented to the United Nations at two separate venues: Paul Robeson, concert singer and activist, to a UN official in New York City, while William L. Patterson, executive director of the CRC, delivered copies of the drafted petition to a UN delegation in Paris.<br />
Patterson, the editor of the petition, was a leader in the Communist Party USA and head of the International Labor Defense, a group that offered legal representation to communists, trade unionists, and African-Americans in cases involving issues of political or racial persecution. As earlier Civil Rights figures like Robeson, Dubois and Patterson became more politically radical (and therefore targets of Cold War anti-Communism by the US. Government) they lost favor with both mainstream Black America and the NAACP.<br />
In order to secure a place in the mainstream and gain the broadest base, it was a matter of survival for the new generation of civil rights activists to openly distance themselves from anything and anyone Communist associated. Even with this distinction however, many civil rights leaders and organizations were still investigated by the FBI under J Edgar Hoover and labeled "Communist" or "subversive." In the early 1960s, the practice of distancing the Civil Rights Movement from "Reds" was challenged by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who adopted a policy of accepting assistance and participation by anyone, regardless of political affiliation, who supported the SNCC program and was willing to "put their body on the line." At times this political openness put SNCC at odds with the NAACP.<br />
<br />
<b>Kennedy administration, 1961–63</b><br />
<br />
Robert F. Kennedy speaking to a Civil Rights crowd in front of the Justice Department building, June 1963.<br />
During the years preceding his election to the presidency, John F. Kennedy's record of voting on issues of racial discrimination had been scant. Kennedy openly confessed to his closest advisors that during the first months of his presidency, his knowledge of the civil rights movement was "lacking".<br />
<a href="http://curationsoft.com/ckeditor/userfiles/women%20arrested.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://curationsoft.com/ckeditor/userfiles/women%20arrested.jpg" width="400" /></a>For the first two years of the Kennedy administration, civil rights activists had mixed opinions of both the president and attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy. Many viewed the administration with suspicion. A well of historical cynicism toward white liberal politics had left African Americans with a sense of uneasy disdain for any white politician who claimed to share their concerns for freedom. Still, many had a strong sense that the Kennedys represented a new age of political dialogue.<br />
Although observers frequently assert the phrases "The Kennedy administration" or "President Kennedy" when discussing the executive and legislative support of the Civil Rights movement between 1960 and 1963, many of the initiatives resulted from Robert Kennedy's passion. Through his rapid education in the realities of racism[citation needed], Robert Kennedy underwent a thorough conversion of purpose as Attorney-General. Asked in an interview in May 1962, "What do you see as the big problem ahead for you, is it Crime or Internal Security?" Robert Kennedy replied, "Civil Rights." The President came to share his brother's sense of urgency on the matters; the Attorney-General succeeded in urging the president to address the issue in a speech to the nation.<br />
When a white mob attacked and burned the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where King was holding out with protesters, the Attorney-General telephoned King to ask him to stay in the building until the U.S. Marshals and National Guard could secure the area. King proceeded to berate Kennedy for "allowing the situation to continue". King later publicly thanked Robert Kennedy's commanding the force to break up an attack, which might otherwise have ended King's life.<br />
The relationship between the two men underwent change from mutual suspicion to one of shared aspirations. For Dr King, Robert Kennedy initially represented the 'softly softly' approach that in former years had disabled the movement of blacks against oppression in the U.S. For Robert Kennedy, King initially represented what he then considered an unrealistic militancy. Some white liberals regarded the militancy as the cause of so little governmental progress.<br />
King initially thought the Kennedys were trying to control the movement and siphon off its energies. Yet he came to find the efforts of the brothers to be crucial. It was at Robert Kennedy's constant insistence, through conversations with King and others, that King came to recognize the fundamental issue of electoral reform and suffrage, as well as the need for black Americans to actively engage not only in protest but political dialogue at the highest levels. In time the president gained King's respect and trust, via the frank dialogue and efforts of the Attorney-General. Robert Kennedy became very much his brother's key advisor on matters of racial equality. The president regarded the issue of civil rights to be a function of the Attorney-General's office.<br />
With a very small majority in Congress, the president's ability to press ahead with legislation relied considerably on a balancing game with the Senators and Congressmen of the South. Without the support of Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, a former Senator who had years of experience in Congress and longstanding relations there, many of the Attorney-General's programs would not have progressed.<br />
By late 1962, frustration at the slow pace of political change was balanced by the movement's strong support for legislative initiatives: housing rights, administrative representation across all US Government departments, safe conditions at the ballot box, pressure on the courts to prosecute racist criminals. King remarked by the end of the year,<br />
<a href="http://wikis.nyu.edu/ek6/modernamerica/uploads/Reform.TheCivilRightsMovement/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://wikis.nyu.edu/ek6/modernamerica/uploads/Reform.TheCivilRightsMovement/16.jpg" width="400" /></a>"This administration has reached out more creatively than its predecessors to blaze new trails, [notably in voting rights and government appointments]. Its vigorous young men [had launched] imaginative and bold forays [and displayed] a certain élan in the attention they give to civil-rights issues."<br />
From squaring off against Governor George Wallace, to "tearing into" Vice-President Johnson (for failing to desegregate areas of the administration), to threatening corrupt white Southern judges with disbarment, to desegregating interstate transport, Robert Kennedy came to be consumed by the Civil Rights movement. He continued to work on these social justice issues in his bid for the presidency in 1968.<br />
On the night of Governor Wallace's capitulation to African-American enrollment at the University of Alabama, President Kennedy gave an address to the nation, which marked the changing tide, an address that was to become a landmark for the ensuing change in political policy as to civil rights. In it President Kennedy spoke of the need to act decisively and to act now:<br />
<i>"We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is the land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or caste system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes? Now the time has come for this Nation to fulfill its promise. The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased the cries for equality that no city or State or legislative body can prudently choose to ignore them."</i><br />
<i>—President Kennedy</i><br />
.<br />
Assassination cut short the life and careers of both the Kennedy brothers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The essential groundwork of the Civil Rights Act 1964 had been initiated before John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The dire need for political and administrative reform was driven home on Capitol Hill by the combined efforts of the Kennedy brothers, Dr. King (and other leaders,) and President Lyndon Johnson.<br />
<a href="http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/news/allrise/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Untitled-181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/news/allrise/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Untitled-181.jpg" width="400" /></a>In 1966, Robert Kennedy undertook a tour of South Africa in which he championed the cause of the anti-apartheid movement. His tour gained international praise at a time when few politicians dared to entangle themselves in the politics of South Africa. Kennedy spoke out against the oppression of the native population. He was welcomed by the black population as though a visiting head of state. In an interview with LOOK Magazine he said:<br />
<i>At the University of Natal in Durban, I was told the church to which most of the white population belongs teaches apartheid as a moral necessity. A questioner declared that few churches allow black Africans to pray with the white because the Bible says that is the way it should be, because God created Negroes to serve. "But suppose God is black", I replied. "What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?" There was no answer. Only silence.</i><br />
<i>—Robert Kennedy , LOOK Magazine</i><br />
<br />
<b>American Jewish community and the Civil Rights movement</b><br />
<br />
Jewish civil rights activist Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. marching with Martin Luther King in 1963.<br />
Many in the Jewish community supported the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, statistically Jews were one of the most actively involved non-black groups in the Movement. Many Jewish students worked in concert with African Americans for CORE, SCLC, and SNCC as full-time organizers and summer volunteers during the Civil Rights era. Jews made up roughly half of the white northern volunteers involved in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer project and approximately half of the civil rights attorneys active in the South during the 1960s.<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTVXBDC3MetYDUlpqRsjMotlqUjs5w1QsjEpsTRfaw3mwPnScnAaw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTVXBDC3MetYDUlpqRsjMotlqUjs5w1QsjEpsTRfaw3mwPnScnAaw" width="400" /></a>Jewish leaders were arrested while heeding a call from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in St. Augustine, Florida, in June 1964, where the largest mass arrest of rabbis in American history took place at the Monson Motor Lodge—a nationally important civil rights landmark that was demolished in 2003 so that a Hilton Hotel could be built on the site. Abraham Joshua Heschel, a writer, rabbi and professor of theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York was outspoken on the subject of civil rights. He marched arm-in-arm with Dr. King in the 1965 March on Selma. In the Mississippi Burning murders of 1964, the two white activists killed, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were both Jewish.<br />
Brandeis University, the only nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored college university in the world, created the Transitional Year Program (TYP)in 1968, in part response to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. The faculty created it to renew the University's commitment to social justice. Recognizing Brandeis as a university with a commitment to academic excellence, these faculty members created a chance to disadvantaged students to participate in an empowering educational experience.<br />
The program began by admitting 20 black males. As it developed, two groups have been given chances. The first group consists of students whose secondary schooling experiences and/or home communities may have lacked the resources to foster adequate preparation for success at elite colleges like Brandeis. For example, their high schools do not offer AP or honors courses nor high quality laboratory experiences.<br />
<a href="http://teacherintherye.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/civil-rights-movement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="269" src="http://teacherintherye.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/civil-rights-movement.jpg" width="400" /></a>Students selected had to have excelled in the curricula offered by their schools. The second group of students includes those whose life circumstances have created formidable challenges that required focus, energy, and skills that otherwise would have been devoted to academic pursuits. Some have served as heads of their households, others have worked full-time while attending high school full-time, and others have shown leadership in other ways.<br />
The American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, and Anti-Defamation League actively promoted civil rights.<br />
While Jews were very active in the civil rights movement in the South, in the North, many had experienced a more strained relationship with African Americans. In communities experiencing white flight, racial rioting, and urban decay, Jewish Americans were more often the last remaining whites in the communities most affected. With Black militancy and the Black Power movements on the rise, Black Anti-Semitism increased leading to strained relations between Blacks and Jews in Northern communities. In New York City, most notably, there was a major socio-economic class difference in the perception of African Americans by Jews. Jews from better educated Upper Middle Class backgrounds were often very supportive of African American civil rights activities while the Jews in poorer urban communities that became increasingly minority were often less supportive largely in part due to more negative and violent interactions between the two groups.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://biteintheapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Epiphany-3-Civil-Rights-Movement-e1358656384383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://biteintheapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Epiphany-3-Civil-Rights-Movement-e1358656384383.jpg" /></a><b>Fraying of alliances</b><br />
<br />
King reached the height of popular acclaim during his life in 1964, when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His career after that point was filled with frustrating challenges. The liberal coalition that had gained passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 began to fray.<br />
King was becoming more estranged from the Johnson administration. In 1965 he broke with it by calling for peace negotiations and a halt to the bombing of Vietnam. He moved further left in the following years, speaking of the need for economic justice and thoroughgoing changes in American society. He believed change was needed beyond the civil rights gained by the movement.<br />
King's attempts to broaden the scope of the Civil Rights Movement were halting and largely unsuccessful, however. King made several efforts in 1965 to take the Movement north to address issues of employment and housing discrimination. SCLC's campaign in Chicago publicly failed, as Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley marginalized SCLC's campaign by promising to "study" the city's problems. In 1966, white demonstrators holding "white power" signs in notoriously racist Cicero, a suburb of Chicago, threw stones at marchers demonstrating against housing segregation.<br />
<br />
<b>Race riots, 1963–70</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
By the end of World War II, more than half of the country's black population lived in Northern and Western industrial cities rather than Southern rural areas.[citation needed] Migrating to those cities for better job opportunities, education and to escape legal segregation, African Americans often found segregation that existed in fact rather than in law.<br />
While after the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was not prevalent, by the 1960s other problems prevailed in northern cities. Beginning in the 1950s, deindustrialization and restructuring of major industries: railroads and meatpacking, steel industry and car industry, markedly reduced working-class jobs, which had earlier provided middle-class incomes. As the last population to enter the industrial job market, blacks were disadvantaged by its collapse. At the same time, investment in highways and private development of suburbs in the postwar years had drawn many ethnic whites out of the cities to newer housing in expanding suburbs. Urban blacks who did not follow the middle class out of the cities became concentrated in the older housing of inner-city neighborhoods, among the poorest in most major cities.<br />
<a href="http://reclaiminglostvoicesdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/women-and-civil-rights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://reclaiminglostvoicesdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/women-and-civil-rights.jpg" /></a>Because jobs in new service areas and parts of the economy were being created in suburbs, unemployment was much higher in many black than in white neighborhoods, and crime was frequent. African Americans rarely owned the stores or businesses where they lived. Many were limited to menial or blue-collar jobs, although union organizing in the 1930s and 1940s had opened up good working environments for some. African Americans often made only enough money to live in dilapidated tenements that were privately owned, or poorly maintained public housing. They also attended schools that were often the worst academically in the city and that had fewer white students than in the decades before WWII.<br />
The racial makeup of most major city police departments, largely ethnic white (especially Irish), was a major factor in adding to racial tensions. Even a black neighborhood such as Harlem had a ratio of one black officer for every six white officers. The majority-black city of Newark, New Jersey had only 145 blacks among its 1322 police officers. Police forces in Northern cities were largely composed of white ethnics, descendants of 19th-century immigrants: mainly Irish, Italian, and Eastern European officers. They had established their own power bases in the police departments and in territories in cities. Some would routinely harass blacks with or without provocation.<br />
<br />
<b>Harlem Riot of 1964</b><br />
<br />
One of the first major race riots took place in Harlem, New York, in the summer of 1964. A white Irish-American police officer, Thomas Gilligan, shot 15-year-old James Powell, who was black, for allegedly charging him armed with a knife. It was found that Powell was unarmed. A group of black citizens demanded Gilligan's suspension. Hundreds of young demonstrators marched peacefully to the 67th Street police station on July 17, 1964, the day after Powell's death.<br />
The police department did not suspend Gilligan. Although the precinct had promoted the NYPD's first black station commander, neighborhood residents were frustrated with racial inequalities. They looted and burned anything that was not black-owned in the neighborhood.[citation needed] Bedford-Stuyvesant, a major black neighborhood in Brooklyn erupted next. That summer, rioting also broke out in Philadelphia, for similar reasons.<br />
In the aftermath of the riots of July 1964, the federal government funded a pilot program called Project Uplift. Thousands of young people in Harlem were given jobs during the summer of 1965. The project was inspired by a report generated by HARYOU called Youth in the Ghetto.[120] HARYOU was given a major role in organizing the project, together with the National Urban League and nearly 100 smaller community organizations. Permanent jobs at living wages were still out of reach of many young black men.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.newsrealblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/martin-luther-kind-charles-manson-aclu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.newsrealblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/martin-luther-kind-charles-manson-aclu.jpg" /></a><br />
<b>Watts riot (1965)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, but the new law had no immediate effect on living conditions for blacks. A few days after the act became law, a riot broke out in the South Central Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. Like Harlem, Watts was an impoverished neighborhood with very high unemployment. Its residents were supervised by a largely white police department that had a history of abuse against blacks.<br />
While arresting a young man for drunk driving, police officers argued with the suspect's mother before onlookers. The conflict triggered a massive destruction of property through six days of rioting. Thirty-four people were killed and property valued at about $30 million was destroyed, making the Watts Riots among the most expensive in American history.<br />
With black militancy on the rise, ghetto residents directed acts of anger at the police. Black residents growing tired of police brutality continued to riot. Some young people joined groups such as the Black Panthers, whose popularity was based in part on their reputation for confronting police officers. Riots among blacks occurred in 1966 and 1967 in cities such as Atlanta, San Francisco, Oakland, Baltimore, Seattle, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Newark, Chicago, New York City (specifically in Brooklyn, Harlem and the Bronx), and worst of all in Detroit.<br />
In Detroit, a comfortable black middle class had begun to develop among families of blacks who worked at good-paying jobs in the automotive industry. Blacks who had not moved upward were living in much worse conditions, subject to the same problems as blacks in Watts and Harlem. When white police officers shut down an illegal bar on a liquor raid and arrested a large group of patrons during the hot summer, furious residents rioted.<br />
<a href="http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/236x/53/d0/44/53d044f1e5fbb1de2abfd801c7979628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/236x/53/d0/44/53d044f1e5fbb1de2abfd801c7979628.jpg" /></a>One significant effect of the Detroit riot was the acceleration of "white flight", an ethnic succession by which ethnic white residents, who had become better established economically, moved out of inner-city neighborhoods to newer housing in the suburbs, which were first settled by European Americans, or whites. Poorer migrants and immigrants had the older housing in the city. Demonstrating the economic basis of the suburban migration, Detroit lost some of its black middle class as well, as did cities such as Washington, DC and Chicago during the next decades.<br />
As a result of suburbanization, the riots, and migration of jobs to the suburbs, formerly prosperous industrial cities, such as Detroit, Newark, and Baltimore, now have less than 40% white population. Newark is close enough to New York to attract new immigrants from Asia and the Middle East as well. Changes in industry caused continued job losses, depopulation of middle classes, and concentrated poverty in such cities in the late 20th century.<br />
President Johnson created the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders in 1967. The commission's final report called for major reforms in employment and public assistance for black communities. It warned that the United States was moving toward separate white and black societies.<br />
<br />
<b>King riots (1968)</b><br />
<br />
In April 1968 after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, rioting broke out in cities across the country from frustration and despair. These included Cleveland, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York City and Louisville, Kentucky. As in previous riots, most of the damage was done in black neighborhoods. In some cities, it has taken more than a quarter of a century for these areas to recover from the damage of the riots; in others, little recovery has been achieved.<br />
<a href="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18k1jh22jae64jpg/ku-xlarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18k1jh22jae64jpg/ku-xlarge.jpg" width="400" /></a>Programs in affirmative action resulted in the hiring of more black police officers in every major city. Today blacks make up a proportional majority of the police departments in cities such as Baltimore, Washington, New Orleans, Atlanta, Newark, and Detroit. Civil rights laws have reduced employment discrimination.<br />
The conditions that led to frequent rioting in the late 1960s have receded, but not all the problems have been solved. With industrial and economic restructuring, hundreds of thousands of industrial jobs disappeared since the later 1950s from the old industrial cities. Some moved South, as has much population following new jobs, and others out of the U.S. altogether. Civil unrest broke out in Miami in 1980, in Los Angeles in 1992, and in Cincinnati in 2001.<br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b>Black power, 1966</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://civilrightsteaching.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/header-image-movement-book4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://civilrightsteaching.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/header-image-movement-book4.jpg" width="400" /></a>At the same time King was finding himself at odds with factions of the Democratic Party, he was facing challenges from within the Civil Rights Movement to the two key tenets upon which the movement had been based: integration and non-violence. Stokely Carmichael, who became the leader of SNCC in 1966, was one of the earliest and most articulate spokespersons for what became known as the "Black Power" movement after he used that slogan, coined by activist and organizer Willie Ricks, in Greenwood, Mississippi on June 17, 1966.<br />
In 1966 SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael began urging African American communities to confront the Ku Klux Klan armed and ready for battle. He felt it was the only way to ever rid the communities of the terror caused by the Klan.<br />
Several people engaging in the Black Power movement started to gain more of a sense in black pride and identity as well. In gaining more of a sense of a cultural identity, several blacks demanded that whites no longer refer to them as "Negroes" but as "Afro-Americans." Up until the mid-1960s, blacks had dressed similarly to whites and straightened their hair. As a part of gaining a unique identity, blacks started to wear loosely fit dashikis and had started to grow their hair out as a natural afro. The afro, sometimes nicknamed the "'fro," remained a popular black hairstyle until the late 1970s.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmucCg1CC40W9YHtl6Pg2z8Cb_4TzDkVyIIxc5Ct_vwTd5FJJmP2uWJlcZlOYGp8YjLGI-kXBgUN81-5248QuLEs5vWph-ExTGYd59fDKYYtZsat4qWvtEoJcVHURopijT5Wae9cwC2kar/s1600/panthers.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmucCg1CC40W9YHtl6Pg2z8Cb_4TzDkVyIIxc5Ct_vwTd5FJJmP2uWJlcZlOYGp8YjLGI-kXBgUN81-5248QuLEs5vWph-ExTGYd59fDKYYtZsat4qWvtEoJcVHURopijT5Wae9cwC2kar/s1600/panthers.jpeg" /></a>Black Power was made most public, however, by the Black Panther Party, which was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California, in 1966. This group followed the ideology of Malcolm X, a former member of the Nation of Islam, using a "by-any-means necessary" approach to stopping inequality. They sought to rid African American neighborhoods of police brutality and created a ten-point plan amongst other things.<br />
Their dress code consisted of black leather jackets, berets, slacks, and light blue shirts. They wore an afro hairstyle. They are best remembered for setting up free breakfast programs, referring to police officers as "pigs", displaying shotguns and a raised fist, and often using the statement of "Power to the people".<br />
Black Power was taken to another level inside prison walls. In 1966, George Jackson formed the Black Guerrilla Family in the California San Quentin State Prison. The goal of this group was to overthrow the white-run government in America and the prison system. In 1970, this group displayed their dedication after a white prison guard was found not guilty of shooting and killing three black prisoners from the prison tower. They retaliated by killing a white prison guard.<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRmRgEVql80CAeQms3QRbVYkeBrtFoXtnXuJkASIQVYZcirxHns" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRmRgEVql80CAeQms3QRbVYkeBrtFoXtnXuJkASIQVYZcirxHns" /></a>Released in August 1968, the number one Rhythm & Blues single for the Billboard Year-End list was James Brown's "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". In October 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, while being awarded the gold and bronze medals, respectively, at the 1968 Summer Olympics, donned human rights badges and each raised a black-gloved Black Power salute during their podium ceremony.<br />
Incidentally, it was the suggestion of white silver medalist, Peter Norman of Australia, for Smith and Carlos to each wear one black glove. Smith and Carlos were immediately ejected from the games by the United States Olympic Committee, and later the International Olympic Committee issued a permanent lifetime ban for the two. However, the Black Power movement had been given a stage on live, international television.<br />
King was not comfortable with the "Black Power" slogan, which sounded too much like black nationalism to him. SNCC activists, in the meantime, began embracing the "right to self-defense" in response to attacks from white authorities, and booed King for continuing to advocate non-violence. When King was murdered in 1968, Stokely Carmichael stated that whites murdered the one person who would prevent rampant rioting and that blacks would burn every major city to the ground.<br />
In every major city from Boston to San Francisco, racial riots broke out in the black community following King's death and as a result, "White Flight" occurred from several cities leaving Blacks in a dilapidated and nearly unrepairable city.<br />
<br />
<b>Prison reform</b><br />
<br />
<i><b>Gates v. Collier</b></i><br />
<i><b>Mississippi State Penitentiary.</b></i><br />
Conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, then known as Parchman Farm, became part of the public discussion of civil rights after activists were imprisoned there. In the spring of 1961, Freedom Riders came to the South to test the desegregation of public facilities. By the end of June 1963, Freedom Riders had been convicted in Jackson, Mississippi. Many were jailed in Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Mississippi employed the trusty system, a hierarchical order of inmates that used some inmates to control and enforce punishment of other inmates.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_fD2G3a8htAEGEof5jjrLKfJmSd1Idh1BsksORLIFnpet-3AV_k0EgbZpYCRUqiGn5BGcU0o6aBodkbYng30YjBhPtr6UBdqP1t30iQ_hEYXajlwMWmZEMhyphenhyphenThsYnixD01IXYHHWhIo/s1600/610520xmont_AP610520043_t300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_fD2G3a8htAEGEof5jjrLKfJmSd1Idh1BsksORLIFnpet-3AV_k0EgbZpYCRUqiGn5BGcU0o6aBodkbYng30YjBhPtr6UBdqP1t30iQ_hEYXajlwMWmZEMhyphenhyphenThsYnixD01IXYHHWhIo/s400/610520xmont_AP610520043_t300.jpg" /></a>In 1970 the civil rights lawyer Roy Haber began taking statements from inmates. He collected 50 pages of details of murders, rapes, beatings and other abuses suffered by the inmates from 1969 to 1971 at Mississippi State Penitentiary. In a landmark case known as Gates v. Collier (1972), four inmates represented by Haber sued the superintendent of Parchman Farm for violating their rights under the United States Constitution.<br />
Federal Judge William C. Keady found in favor of the inmates, writing that Parchman Farm violated the civil rights of the inmates by inflicting cruel and unusual punishment. He ordered an immediate end to all unconstitutional conditions and practices. Racial segregation of inmates was abolished. And the trustee system, which allow certain inmates to have power and control over others, was also abolished.<br />
The prison was renovated in 1972 after the scathing ruling by Judge Keady; he wrote that the prison was an affront to "modern standards of decency." Among other reforms, the accommodations were made fit for human habitation. The system of "trusties" was abolished. (The prison had armed lifers with rifles and given them authority to oversee and guard other inmates, which led to many abuses and murders.)<br />
In integrated correctional facilities in northern and western states, blacks represented a disproportionate number of the prisoners, in excess of their proportion of the general population. They were often treated as second-class citizens by white correctional officers. Blacks also represented a disproportionately high number of death row inmates. Eldridge Cleaver's book Soul on Ice was written from his experiences in the California correctional system; it contributed to black militancy.<br />
<br />
<b>Cold War</b><br />
<br />
There was an international context for the actions of the U.S. Federal government during these years. It had stature to maintain in Europe and a need to appeal to the people in the Third World. In Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy, the historian Mary L. Dudziak argued that Communists critical of the United States criticized the nation for its hypocrisy in portraying itself as the "leader of the free world," when so many of its citizens were subjected to severe racial discrimination and violence. She argued that this was a major factor in the government moving to support civil rights legislation.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTllAABgWsahYW5kMsMEmNytQMLoYza1oVAkncPOnW5K-NuZ6hURQ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTllAABgWsahYW5kMsMEmNytQMLoYza1oVAkncPOnW5K-NuZ6hURQ" /></a></div>
<b>Activist organizations</b><br />
National/regional civil rights organizations<br />
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)<br />
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)<br />
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)<br />
Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)<br />
Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF)<br />
National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)<br />
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR)<br />
Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR)<br />
Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC)<br />
Common Ground Relief<br />
National economic empowerment organizations<br />
Urban League<br />
Operation Breadbasket<br />
Local civil rights organizations<br />
Regional Council of Negro Leadership (Mississippi)<br />
Council of Federated Organizations (Mississippi)<br />
Women's Political Council (Montgomery, AL)<br />
Montgomery Improvement Association (Montgomery, AL)<br />
Albany Movement (Albany, GA)<br />
Virginia Students Civil Rights Committee<br />
<br />
<b>Individual activists</b><br />
Ralph Abernathy<br />
Victoria Gray Adams<br />
Ella Baker<br />
James Baldwin<br />
<a href="http://minorjive.typepad.com/hungryblues/articles/BaldwinBaezForman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://minorjive.typepad.com/hungryblues/articles/BaldwinBaezForman.jpg" width="292" /></a>Marion Barry<br />
Daisy Bates<br />
Fay Bellamy Powell<br />
James Bevel<br />
Claude Black<br />
Unita Blackwell<br />
Julian Bond<br />
Amelia Boynton<br />
Anne Braden<br />
Carl Braden<br />
Mary Fair Burks<br />
Stokely Carmichael<br />
Septima Clark<br />
Dorothy Cotton<br />
Claudette Colvin<br />
Jonathan Daniels<br />
Annie Devine<br />
Doris Derby<br />
Marian Wright Edelman<br />
Medgar Evers<br />
Myrlie Evers-Williams<br />
James L. Farmer, Jr.<br />
Karl Fleming<br />
James Forman<br />
Frankie Muse Freeman<br />
Dick Gregory<br />
Prathia Hall<br />
Fannie Lou Hamer<br />
Lorraine Hansberry<br />
Lola Hendricks<br />
Aaron Henry<br />
Myles Horton<br />
T. R. M. Howard<br />
Winson Hudson<br />
Jesse Jackson<br />
<a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/6/11/1370974839972/Medgar-Evers-Mississippi--008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/6/11/1370974839972/Medgar-Evers-Mississippi--008.jpg" /></a>Jimmie Lee Jackson<br />
Esau Jenkins<br />
Gloria Johnson-Powell<br />
Clyde Kennard<br />
Coretta Scott King<br />
Martin Luther King, Jr.<br />
Bernard Lafayette<br />
W. W. Law<br />
James Lawson<br />
John Lewis<br />
Viola Liuzzo<br />
Joseph Lowery<br />
Autherine Lucy<br />
Clara Luper<br />
Thurgood Marshall<br />
James Meredith<br />
Loren Miller<br />
Jack Minnis<br />
Anne Moody<br />
Harry T. Moore<br />
Robert Parris Moses<br />
Bill Moyer<br />
Diane Nash<br />
Denise Nicholas<br />
E. D. Nixon<br />
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS5m0MCgDVMfItsEUdHODzuixK83SxnHxAGAviNJb2Sqt1H2e2Q" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS5m0MCgDVMfItsEUdHODzuixK83SxnHxAGAviNJb2Sqt1H2e2Q" /></a>David Nolan<br />
James Orange<br />
Nan Grogan Orrock<br />
Rosa Parks<br />
Rutledge Pearson<br />
George Raymond Jr.<br />
James Reeb<br />
Gloria Richardson<br />
Amelia Boynton Robinson<br />
Jo Ann Robinson<br />
Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson<br />
Bayard Rustin<br />
Cleveland Sellers<br />
Charles Sherrod<br />
Fred Shuttlesworth<br />
Modjeska Monteith Simkins<br />
Rev. Charles Kenzie Steele<br />
Dempsey Travis<br />
<a href="http://interactioninstitute.org/blog/wp-content/import/2011/11/id-b-wells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://interactioninstitute.org/blog/wp-content/import/2011/11/id-b-wells.jpg" width="251" /></a>C. T. Vivian<br />
Wyatt Tee Walker<br />
Hosea Williams<br />
Malcolm X<br />
Andrew Young<br />
<br />
<b>Related activists and artists</b><br />
Maya Angelou<br />
Joan Baez<br />
James Baldwin<br />
Harry Belafonte<br />
Ralph Bunche<br />
Guy Carawan<br />
Robert Carter<br />
William Sloane Coffin<br />
Ossie Davis<br />
Ruby Dee<br />
James Dombrowski<br />
W. E. B. Du Bois<br />
Virginia Durr<br />
Bob Dylan<br />
John Hope Franklin<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jWkQBU3OQis/UWdVkdfNY8I/AAAAAAAAAGw/-jKZzzfz_JQ/s1600/RDActivist3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jWkQBU3OQis/UWdVkdfNY8I/AAAAAAAAAGw/-jKZzzfz_JQ/s400/RDActivist3.jpg" width="400" /></a>Jack Greenberg<br />
Dick Gregory<br />
Anna Arnold Hedgeman<br />
Dorothy Height<br />
Charlton Heston<br />
Mahalia Jackson<br />
Clarence Jordan<br />
Stetson Kennedy<br />
Arthur Kinoy<br />
William Kunstler<br />
Staughton Lynd<br />
<a 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QPO44GvhPpUjg7juJuWzan7JZGM+dtmA99QWF4QmFxF+1IzJdnX2mtETaIB1YZCokc1PcalbvElQaso8zHwNAayENDc/ZPf8A6142m8+6o5OkNu7I6wNJ9sSwz8u1tPhPOpJ74KgjunyoGwknypbLNKAApt3hZ91A9gjJQd+dz5bCR5CvcbbUWBAAznLpp7Im4fcPjQgu6NG5ARfM6CPj7jRXFAAQhPYtWoaIiN3M+YVR39rxqpVa/hUMltCSTGUcyY+FdViwHRa/dtrc6hiHlgSyLIJJGjmQI2nlFdRGbYLotNlz1CstshSyXGS8hyNcLEuTafsKOyVH8xQCKiHwwR+y/WIYKOBGYMJgrrBHP5FT2HwyYlrbOAoCXGAecgu5EtkPI7Lo1vLB5G2wMTAvFMMLZFsgB0WLpEEPcksXUgkFSGEQSI7jIqNF4K5qN9tN/Dn6Ua2GxdzS0rMDpqwRdNtYn3d2tQ+Cu5WE7fDzq6YfjK5YInTSI9NtqCpcaBtK63nsZ1GiW+slyT7JZ0EnTfN6RrTnRfoYt4ZrzsJHsbQTJ9octtPE61OthGuubtzRV9lYGviTrRvDuIZgQFcwcqhASWYakKBuFESe8xyoM64zwxLL3FurdBzKAVy5VSR1k5hmzZZiNNRX0DhcKqW0toSURFVDoJQKMnsgD2YOgG5rMOmWFRrYuG4rNHaU6Fe6Y+M7VoPRNT/AYP8A+2s/9taA826Q1rSicutcwEGqiPAr008LVJ6s0DYr2nv4YwSSAFEsxMAAbkk6AeNUziX0p4G0xVDevkGJtpCzMaM5Ejx2oLWWqI4mq3MQIVc1pMjv9om5Di35IsNrzveFV3/5u4cyosXbbEEI7lGRXI7JcAyUBgmOVPpxzD2+y18LcDFme8SQ7tMkuBlzEyYGw7hpUVC9JuCJnVrVnKzAqXtFUuI2ZWVwWgEwpXQiAxo/h3CytzNJBcLmBYuSRoWdtmY7kxMzqRABDutwkAyp7Snw8DzG+viKNsjqxyPjQPuoFQXGsFnUw5We6Tr7/SaNxWKk6UKVmfnePn3UAFrgFmza67EI9+4+oQljbz/dCWxLgE7kHYmJqU/8NnCqRetvbd1RVw62lw/aHaXqhObtZgWcljr7J0Dh+ua2WhLar2DswcmGMEjMmVViDqZ20rzpHxNcMpvFQWZlYD2S9y2D1fZG/ayFjyW3EkmKDNuNYYWr922CcqXCB5DlO5iY1JJjWdqvP0LcOJu4nEFeyiCyrE/bch3AAP3QJJ9Kzoq9xwBL3bjQORe458SBqxr6H6LdFreAwy2E1ac1159u6QAx30GgAHd50Fe+kLg9rrLWKurdZCow9wWyy9sFjZLFCOyQzJvvlHdUfwh8MDNjChWIjM1vtR3Fnk8u/lV/4pw3+Iw16wDHW22QHuaCUPmGAPpVF4Fiw1tG5MgcctCAaCaFyR2tfA7DyG1CGywgA6fpRIuiNKFuYoTv8/pQO3LkfPz+VM4m/mgDv+Joe7iZOY+n+vcKZt3C7QpILaAj7Cn7Xn3D1oJbh/tm4fYtaLH2rmxMeHsjxJqycG6M9Zle8Abc5yup61/szP8AyUGw+2dTp7TPRfo/1pV2EYe3/LT/ABWH2z3oOX3jrsBMl036WDB2gtvKcRdkWlOyge1dYfdWdvtGBImQRNXuK2UYq960rDcM6gjzBMiurE8JbzLmcG45ZizuAWZizZiTG8zoNBsNK6qDumnDBZX+MtWgVUhsUiaFpYFcSPs9YrnWR2gQT7MikY3idu84a3mIVcrMy5JJJIGXmRqSecjurZr+BF61cstqLtt7R/zqwG3iQfSsFwbwin7wB9YFRRpWDUhg7pHpUZau99EdfQWlMVmTKN/kn9KYx2A7CoLz2SoMshgw0Zh+sjb1ionD8TFsFtTHIbnwpVnGuxzXcTZwzOZGdHdlB2A1CTG8SRQQ/HuDC2pyC4tsQxB2cajMTzbv862/o1by4HCKd1w9kEjacgP61jdzhDYm4LC4pLl264RFVDJ73JZiQqjMT+GtvxWIt4e32jlt21VB5KAq+pjage60d/nUdd6SWADL6DSYMTVI4n0ofHObNpLnUqZcKFBeNsxYjszyHdz2rv8AwjEKVNtVAClcjkZNSCD2eY1H+bwqou2A47YvGLd62zD7IMN/7TB+FSCuDWcX+HOcrXra5kIINpifyAIqa6E9I819sNeckiLltn+6TDITzgxB/qE0VEfS9xJXa1gkuOCB1t8KYENpaVu87troNNKrGD6NWgABaDnvbXf4CkHNicVibzE5nvtqY5NlQDwAAHpVjwhbLpkA13Inz/0qCrYjhFthqgWJ0Agj3b1KdF8dasp1fWOGGrZvZE8lWTCagCOczrTXF7sP3c/DWm+j2IsyXuNDhypBcouQqAFOVgWDEzvuo7ooLOMUlwyjK0c1MjuPkREQdadduVB2sDbU57dpLRMA5FCBgBAkL4666799Fi7AmgQbGutC4loME/n+tOYricTFQGKxpdoSSe/kPjQEvi8RbP8Aw98oDqVZVuLPMqHBKk+Gk6xqar2Lw917nWXna450LN3dwGyjwFWXD2IXWg8ZboIPo+blnE9fbyZrJzJ1i51zHaRI2AMGdNO6te6IfSCMY/U3kW1icuYBZ6u9HtFJJIYTOQ+hMGs34Tw/OmLYSGsWlxB7jbBKup7iPaBG8Ed1Q9/iJtuty2e3aYOh/qXWPEHYjuMUH0bbukEEctaonSLordsk3cK9o2mcfVXWKdUXMQrgEG2WOkxlmJIiLlhsYt22l1fZuotwd0OAfdJ+FEYYywBAIOhBEgg6EEcxVRkxw3ERd6rJZU5ip+ukae0ZynQd8c6K4jw3GWkbIcPdvBc3V22uMzWxGe4gKqbhQmCiwdjrmApNtHwpt/wlq0XclXWAgAXMZlRsDm0jnU4vD7l8IuIVZQh1u2mZN1iU7WdG3Bg8t+6KqPCcN1pV7lw3ZExMW/RV035tJ8a0Do10cOIYsZWwDBOxuEbqsbCd27hA12peH6HXXvWyjHqrt0sXEZralmdwZ0YFQQp1gtrtNbdwbDBbYgZRyA2AGgFB5xfitrB4Zrr9m3bXRRueSIo5kmFA7yKxTG425fvXL96OtubgaqqiQltZ+yoPhJJbmasf0lcc6/FiwrfV4Uyw+9fdZHnktt77vKKrER3Hwjnp+/zvVSisEextzb+4zXte8NB6sandv7m7hXUIvWHx6LiLFkuovXO0ie02UBibhA2QZTqYBIisSXhbWg1hxD2ibbjudND6aSNpBB5irF9EvHOu4tduYk5r+JssEck6MCrm2q7AFFgdwtwNzWn9IuglrHDOG6nEgZRdXUOoEBbqz2xrvoe48iGEHD5famO8a+VPrZO4hh4b+7lVj430dxGDYjE28o1i4Jaywn/EgZfwuAe6d6r3EMOohhKsNmUwfDbRvWopVm0rbn9NvXxqRv4eyUhmJHcYP5fr8aiOBrfxN1raWRfyiXcnqwgOxcqCJPIRJ7qseH6Ih2K3Ee3y7Lk6k6bjSg8+irAIeK5rS9m3ZvMTyWYRTPIkk/Gpjp1x03LqYa00Z9ZjRU1m4ZO5ggCs0GLv4PEv1Vx7LqWWVJEpJEEHRhvvOo9xmH6Sub3W3lDnQHKAhgAAQPZ5eG52oNJ4VhVtqFQdkc+Z8T3k1MIoiqlw3pbh3U/XJZIG14EEnuH2T6NVkwGOJBggjLIYbHfagViVmdKqnF2Fp0vARkYTA3X7Q936VNYjFhBnudcwOVQEAgM2gEDtMT56VFcVAu2XZAWEEgMIOZdY1jWNNaAPpT0dDML9olWV0zhQTnUsIaBoN9TGwoAcGs2cR1twt1WqhihuFbn2SZByoddYq2cCYPh7LnVWt5T4gSv6VD4e8yPcTtOiwCWQqIJMZSdGGo1FBC4zhl+4S7lChMjQo0DbskbTOum2wmmOjdhDcuFgCwKATBgfWGR57elS/SfiZCBV9/Pb5HpVO4bcHW9pyggkkbmBooA3J2G9Bpj4q2F3mofGcW+7z0qy9Hvo1D2EbHNiOtaSbSuqZFPsKSqTnjU686ivpBwfDsBbWxZtk4q6QpLXrrmwjEAuwZ4Dx7KkePLUK7nzHU+gqQweEB22/eoxcLcw93q769o6o4Jy3V2zLO+u45HTzl8LfHl7qAy9bAFQ2MI1LEADUk6AVLLba4wt20a452RBLGeZ5Af1MQPGrX0d6FpbYXcSUvXlIKWkOe1ZI2ZjH1lwHXXsrAgSJIB9FeiXVYd2vJL4pQroZGTCiW6sxsz6se4EDlVW4t0QewLme4L2FudmznnrBBJg+KqYzgiZFadjrheQTAJ988yaqfTQQ1pf6S2XuUtlX1OUt60B3QTpBZexZwklL1m2qKrkDrgv2rZ+1HNdx3RVws2yGHKDz02rFXwykQwDDxE+W/Oj+G9JMXh9LWIcqNkujrrf/WcwjaFYUEhxFnTFXFFxkFu66sLYtl+0ZUMbhyhcrCQNTIirBw1Hy/z5QAszXFVXVACWg2+yYWYkchrVVTjge+92/bBe5GY2wAJAiShPcPH1pzpJ0yw7WWw+HU3Ll1Rbe4cy27auYcARNx8sjSAJOsiKCV+i/pI2NvYoP2ezafDWp0SwGuKQF5t2kLPuSwnQAVpnF+MLhMLdvOP5a6L95tkUTpLMQo86+e7PGHwGKs4tQIttFxVYnPafR1ywAJGok7gVpP0oceF57GHQygUYh/EsCLI1Gsdp/AhDQUiwpjtNmckszd9xyWdvCSSfCnCdNv2pst/vSGV2JAYKg+6O22gOrNoo1I7InTcUE3w20OrE97f3NXV3B8OFtACIDPz/AK2nczM99dVGW8MxT2XtXbft22S4n4kIIHhMQfOvqjhOPW9ZtYhP5d5FuDvAYAwfKY9K+V7S6KfAH4DvrafoM6RTbu4J2nq/rbIJ/wCW5h1H4X1//KKI1WAywQCDuDqCKyT6TOj3D8M1sJavJdu5m6uwypaIXU5usVltyT9gZtCYMVrKiBrsPyrO/pDtf+X3bl0Drf4my6T9gG6tsKG2/llgTt2moAvov45Yupdwy4RcKLbjVWLrdZlB7TsAzXI5ka7CNqtmM4COstxrmaT6An58qr30P4a1cwV8FZc4l2cHkJHVlTvGVRBHNa0LMAdSdNZO3dqaD53+lDhPV48QIzWQ22hPW3wY+HvFVZLFaZ9NDD+NtDmuHBP+a48f2n3VngWopvJTuDxd2wZsXHtH+k6HvlTKn1FIyxt8zXtBYMB0+dYXEWVuL9+39W8eKk5G961ZMH0isYhG6lj2IJR1yMAToYmCNNwTFZxcFdgcR1N5LkwATm8UIhh6j4gUGi8IcWsMVJ3zuvgLhJgeAJj3VB38bcVV0BWNdRI7tJmJkbd1SqXhi8N1tm2yAOciMRmKAAMDGgM6iPCoLpI6W1llaSFUATyzNBjQD99aCG41i5MeHuqPwFly6lEzlGVyPsgKwaGbZQR31L8P6PtdOe/KruLYJDt+I7oPDfyqwJhFC5QAoHsqoAXfu7+c+FBO9IPpLu3iVwiHDoSfrWyteI55RqttfHtN4A1UuGcDF+8C4LAIzkscwBJ0ZpMu5liJ3Jk7URcw5AgwTtIGXQ7aEmND+flV36IcNBFxjsGRPUCYg/i+IoJLhHDrbWRZxCpctjtHOJCnm4MyhGvaB5VS+H43hV3FqiXsQmHZsoJiNYCTcPbtIxmC8sZGorS8FgHe6sHLZRlaBo13UbzqFGhC/a18KxzHWrb4zqSRas4vHX5uwDNo3mQZVB2JhczREjQig3DDcGw+GTIloqu5AmG8WI1c+Lk05cxJjKlsqu0BY/KhMHYuYRcgLXrCQAJm7bAMQCx+tQRsTmGsE7UYMb1n8t9PtMJ7I+7Dey53MjQctqqA0wpLGREQCBrryU8u4kd2nOs86UYg3MVdJ+y5tr4C32eXeQT5sa0u9cFm09w+zaUvHeVk+ZJPf31k2Ik76k6nzOp+JNCAitMmyqy2pPixPoJMDloIotrdD3RJA9T6be86/wCWoqO4ziiqLbHtvuQYyrzjmCdp7pqPtW4yaRLgDyAb59KdxJz33PIQonwkfv76TiwAbP4v0O3pHvoJPGWQ9t1P2wR79PfUnir5uO7tu5k6cgAqjTuUAelR+E1P4d9vnb9KNbb5+SKBsnWut3wSYjQkE76jePI6eYNM4rEFcqrPWOSF/pAHaud3ZHvYqKewyZRAHZG3PQeXzNBM8IQ9UPNv72r2u4VPVDXm3P8AqbxrqqM3t2ZRfwjTnsKP4Bxd8JftYi2Jay2Yr99DIuJ4ysx4gd1NYa39Wu0ZRHuHdSjbgzr/AL1B9OYbGriLVu5aOa3cUOrfeVhI8qp30tuww1lBMNiLUn+lczH3kR5kVC/Qv0lgvgLh772Hn7unW2h3ZWOceDn7tTP0upNvDgz7ZO5AMFNCfHaKoq30T8fFnF3rFwQuJYBT924g7In7jLseTR97TZCvbB8CPyr5uuqUxBYGHMEHmj6GQe+VU+lfQ3AuIjE4ezf++gYjuJHaHoZHpQYv9Lt7PxO7/RatW/UZ7h/7gqkJVk6eYrrOIYxtwb2Qa/4aW7Z/6kaq7aSTUUm6dvf+g/WkmvTrryJ+A2/f1pLHSgS+1D4hZX4U+21Nv7I9fgfCgvfR3iOTCWLi+ywhpns3V7LAg7BoPworiOPNxsoAUDfTUnz5CoLoVjh/DXLTCctwjyzgMJ8M2apl1hh5n9P1mgS9uF9f1ia8QdoeAPz40/cGg8x+YpiNe7l7/wDagYvrLDz+fnwq/dDrU2LkyZvECO8Lbj58KoxTUVoHQYzYYd14N/2/3oJzpFimw+Gxd4aEWHcRrDW1MHz1Hur55xGBFqzYF0N/D5e1GpQuVhxprrG3577508b/AMtxTb/8LcPdsATqNqxrBXQlq1bva2nUFWgnITyMDVdpHcJ22qNg6JcTa9h7TMwdikFwdGa2crMI5N2X/wA/hUyB31QPowt9V/EWwSUW4l5TuMtxWtPDbETbU+vv0Y2taJVa6b4rLhxb53XA/wAidpviFHrVAuLJqx9Msb1mLZRJFperAAJM6NcIAE7kD/LUApBAIIIOxHMelRoJd01O3OhlWNTuTJ/b3ae+jbqSY3G5/QfPdQuNHZPlQV/A2pGbWWM+U15xMDrrCsSoZjJGpAAnTkdJo3D2soA7h/pQzoxxyESBatlifxBkA8zPwoJHB2sqAGJ3aNifD8qfvXVRSzGAokny5ba93iSKSi8hQRudfcB/5VonT/EuDn+FT8Z7hQeYS2WJuuId9h9y2PZTz1k+JqRUafGmbevf5/PzpTpPz8KCY4O8Wh5t/c1e13CVHVDQ7tsf62rqqKHhDKLO8A6QM2kkgHmOY9RTxSmMOk20/CvntoR4ztRFsnY6sdj9/wAhsG022MSO6opeExT2blu9a0u2mDp5jQqfBlJU/irWunPEkxvDMNi7JlOtRo5jPNsoe5g5CR31ksevxqe6NcWAw+KwNzVLoGJsidr1lkd7Y/EEDgAbq+80DHEsPLzrII9kEmdN+cQJ1jQeNat9F/EAcAwJH1Ny4p10UH6wD3OKzvEIRqQ0TyjXXTUHsqTHoBUrwri/8Pw7igUw/Voyk7F74NlCB5qF9KDOsRiesHWf4jNd13+tZrn/APVNR2fFuyO8Dcn3fpT2IXWBy0HptTAaTPIdkeMHtH1PfyAoOuCmXqe6MYGxcuX2xSXHsWMK95hbZlfMrWwsFWWTlLwCcvM1YeJfRha6wpYxbI0E9VeVbmneGtlXC8pKNQZ3cbs15yHlUt0o6KYjA5BiFtxdnI1tsytljNoyqy+0NxUPcJ9KCV6Gsf4ooCYZCWG4ITaZ5yw18++rhf3Hu/P9RVT6DLOJdvu2T6FmSP7TVtxDaev7f60Cri6eo/OmLq9o0TOlM3F189Pz/wBPnWgTl2+fzq5dC7wC3Qfvj4i2R/aapwOs+NWPoox6x18EePwMQ3wagunSazm4fihz6i+uvgH/AGrFExii2yXBCjP1TRplDsAhA5LoA3LTzre8RbFxL9k/aBB/C6kfvXzzwEi7Ys4Z9yRczE+2jDMN/ZbNmWO5T5URavo2VsNj1w7a2sRaYAH7N3S5APcwVjoN1nQzOvNcyWi7bICxPgsn9KxHgnEDhsTY63VVvoEbmoZhbKmfsw505eURrPTXFdXhGUb3WFv0Orbf0giqKPwjiS2zc6w3rb3mV0v2rdy8yuGLm29u2CzIxPdBkgxC0LxHEi7fvXQjW1e4SqMIYABVJZfsMzBmKnUZtYMivCfTy018D30ze10113Ou3Mz3+PjUUyBpPf8AI+fGo7iLaa86lmqI4ke0B4E/oP1oAkEkfpt3bTXWV1dubtPeQFGUCfef81KVa8xF8W0Z2kxyG7E6KgHMk6UCb7Fvq10JHaYHVEMidNQzagd2p5RT2QKFVRAjQDQADlvXtmyVUZjLHVmjQtA28B7IHcBXbyfdtQKApXrSQaWg2+dBQTvBbQ6kT3vz/raupfAx9SJmcz8/62r2qjM+DOTaWSdh+Qo/E7H8JPqASPjrXV1RRDnXzyz/AO2m3USun21P/UtdXUF1xCDNsNbjT4wGie+ojHsf4fGjl/wP/wCzerq6grVwwrnmEYg92hplB2F9B6RtXldQP2eI3bDM1m5ctFgAxtsyEgHQEqRIoXGdJ8X/AA5b+KxGYOWnrbkznImc28aTXV1BDYLiN24rdZcuPlMjMzNBclnIk6Fm1PedTRzCa8rqCe6B+3if/TT83qxYtj2tfu/ma8rqAw7ev702Bt6frXV1A0p0Hp+VWLoaf+KX/wBM/wByV1dQaRZP11z8S/2V87Ea3vC5eA8ALt6AO4DlXV1BN8QM4UE6nIrTzmV1nv8AGtH+kI6Yfzc+uVdfiffXV1BTzTK7nyH611dQevUJjz9afL9q9rqAcj9KjuNmXwo5G6THKQEg+Yk++urqCaxI0Pn+hoVToPP9DXV1A7y91eptXV1BYuAfyF83/vaurq6qy//Z" 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" width="400" /></a>Constance Baker Motley<br />
Nichelle Nichols<br />
Phil Ochs<br />
Odetta<br />
Sidney Poitier<br />
A. Philip Randolph<br />
Paul Robeson<br />
Jackie Robinson<br />
Pete Seeger<br />
Nina Simone<br />
Norman Thomas<br />
Roy Wilkins<br />
Whitney Young<br />
Howard Zinn<br />
<br />
(*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_(1955%E2%80%9368)*)<br />
<br />
<img height="200" src="http://www.tennessean.com/civil-rights/images/bYou_header.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-48582240263555229572014-02-17T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-17T08:00:03.044-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Harriet Ann Jacobs<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>There is something akin to freedom in having a lover who has no control over you, except that which he gains by kindness and attachment.</b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>Harriet Ann Jacobs</b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QviBi6SmwTbjw9-flcx5ouZFKDEe_pmxVMfkfvSnfih8B1Vh9_1-I8gHhd17BwYD7yx6ZYyOgv44f6RinfVimQLt0JnscphgEVie9psNmc1R75hmGvpj4w5c8nmTZ1VwvlWTns6k3l__/s1600/jacobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QviBi6SmwTbjw9-flcx5ouZFKDEe_pmxVMfkfvSnfih8B1Vh9_1-I8gHhd17BwYD7yx6ZYyOgv44f6RinfVimQLt0JnscphgEVie9psNmc1R75hmGvpj4w5c8nmTZ1VwvlWTns6k3l__/s320/jacobs.jpg" width="240" /></a>I discovered Ms Harriet Ann Jacobs while I was looking up Harriet Tubman one year. I read the website dedicated to her (where the biography information displayed below comes from: http://www.harrietjacobs.org/bio.html) and I was amazed and touched by this woman's story. So much so that I completely forgot about doing my paper on Harriet Tubman for school that year and instead did it on Harriet Ann Jacobs.<br />
<br />
I wish I still had my paper from school so that I could fill in all of the information that I'd gathered from her, especially since it came directly from her mouth in her book: <b><i>Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself,</i></b> by Harriet Jacobs and edited by Jean Fagan Yellin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987), but I don't have it, but the information that I've gathered, from a website dedicated to her memory and her life of achievement, is just as good, if not better, than my college paper.<br />
<br />
Please help me in honoring Ms. Harriet Ann Jacobs<br />
<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“I was born a slave; but I never knew till six years of happy childhood had passed away.”</i></div>
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Born into slavery to Elijah and Delilah Jacobs in 1813, Harriet Ann Jacobs grew up in Edenton, N.C., the daughter of slaves owned by different families. Her father was a skilled carpenter, whose earnings allowed Harriet and her brother, John, to live with their parents in a comfortable home. Her grandmother, Molly Horniblow, was a beloved adult in young Harriet’s life – a confidant who doled out encouraging advice along with bits of crackers and sweets for her grandchildren.<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Harrietjacobsreward.jpg/220px-Harrietjacobsreward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Harrietjacobsreward.jpg/220px-Harrietjacobsreward.jpg" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“…though we were all slaves,” Harriet wrote, “I was so fondly shielded that I never dreamed I was a piece of merchandise, trusted to them (slave owners) for safe keeping, and liable to be demanded of them at any moment.”</i></div>
<br />
When Harriet was six, her mother died and she was sent to live with her mother’s owner and mistress, Margaret Horniblow. Welcomed into the family, Harriet was taught to read, write and sew – and remained there happily until the woman’s death in 1825.<br />
<br />
Harriet had hopes she would be emancipated. Instead, she was bequeathed to the mistress’ three-year-old niece, Mary Matilda, daughter of Dr. James Norcom.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>No pen can give an adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery.</b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>Harriet Ann Jacobs</b></i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Adolescence</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“The degradation, the wrongs, the vices that grow out of slavery, are more than I can describe.”</i></div>
<br />
At age 11, Harriet and her brother John, who had been purchased by Dr. Norcom, moved into the physician’s household.<br />
<br />
“When we entered our new home we encountered cold looks, cold words, and cold treatment," Harriet recalled.<br />
<br />
Harriet was deeply unhappy, and after her father’s death, the Norcom’s residence “seemed more dreary than ever.”<br />
<br />
Over the years, Dr. Norcom’s unwanted sexual advances and his wife’s vindictive jealousy tormented Harriet.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“The secrets of slavery are concealed like those of the Inquisition,” she wrote. “My master was, to my knowledge, the father of 11 slaves. But did the mothers dare to tell who was the father of their children? Did the other slaves dare to allude to it, except in whispers among themselves? No indeed? They knew too well the terrible consequences.”</i></div>
<br />
When Dr. Norcom forbade her from marrying a free black carpenter, Harriet entered into a liaison with Samuel Tredwell Sawyer, an unmarried white lawyer and future U.S. Congressman. Their union produced a son, Joseph, in 1829, and a daughter, Louisa Matilda, in 1833.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>There is a great difference between Christianity and religion at the south. If a man goes to the communion table, and pays money into the treasury of the church, no matter if it be the price of blood, he is called religious.</b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>Harriet Ann Jacobs</b></i></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Before the birth of her first child, Harriet moved to her grandmother’s home – where Dr. Norcom continued to pursue her throughout the years. When Harriet again refused to become his mistress, she was banished to Dr. Norcom’s son’s plantation to work in the home.<br />
<br />
When she learned her young children would soon join her, to be brought up as plantation slaves, Harriet quickly plotted her escape. If she were to leave, the children would remain with her grandmother, avoiding the brutalities of slavery.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“Whatever slavery might do to me,” she wrote, “it could not shackle my children. If I fell a sacrifice, my little ones were saved.”</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>In Hiding</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“At times, I was stupefied and listless; at other times I became very impatient to know when these dark years would end, and I should again be allowed to feel the sunshine, and breathe the pure air.”</i></div>
<br />
Harriet went into hiding, first at the homes of friends, and later in the home of her grandmother. There, above a storeroom, she hid in a small garrett, measuring about nine feet long and seven feet wide. The highest point was just three feet.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bowdoin.edu/~prael/projects/gsonnen/child%20on%20lap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bowdoin.edu/~prael/projects/gsonnen/child%20on%20lap.jpg" /></a>“To this hole I was conveyed as soon as I entered the home," she wrote.<br />
<br />
Under stifling conditions, with no room to stand or exercise, Harriet remained for nearly seven years in her self-contained “prison” until opportunity presented an escape.<br />
<br />
Although the children were unaware of her presence, Harriet was able to hear and observe Joseph and Louisa Matilda as they grew.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“Season after season, year after year, I peeped at my children’s faces, and heard their sweet voices, with a heart yearning all the while to say,‘Your mother is here.’ ”</i></div>
<br />
While Harriet was in hiding, the children’s father, Samuel Tredwell Sawyer, purchased the children and Harriet’s brother John, with a promise they would be freed. When Louisa Matilda was 7 years old, he made arrangements for her to move north and stay with a family in New York City.<br />
<br />
Before Louisa Matilda left Edenton, Harriet revealed herself to her daughter, swearing her to secrecy. Harriet had a similar reunion with Joseph, just before she escaped.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Escape</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“For the last time I went up to my nook. Its desolate appearance no longer chilled me, for the light of hope had risen in my soul.”</i></div>
<br />
In 1842, with the help of a trusted friend, Harriet secretly boarded a boat in Edenton harbor bound for Philadelphia. After disembarking, she traveled by railway to New York, where she was soon reunited with her daughter and her brother John, who had previously moved north. A year later, her son, Joseph, joined the family in Boston.<br />
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Harriet traveled between New York and Boston, working as a nursemaid for the family of Nathanial Parker Willis. Even though Harriet was miles away from Edenton, the Norcom family continued to seek her out in an effort to re-enslave her.<br />
<br />
In 1852, Harriet’s employer Mrs. Cornelia Willis, an anti-slavery sympathizer, arranged for Harriet’s purchase and freed her.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“My heart was exceedingly full,” wrote Harriet. “I remembered how my poor father had tried to buy me, when I was a small child, and how he had been disappointed. I hoped his spirit was rejoicing over me now. I remembered how my good old grandmother had laid up her earnings to purchase me in later years, and how often her plans had been frustrated.”</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Author</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“It is painful for me, in many ways, to recall the dreary years I passed in bondage. I would gladly forget them if I could.”</i></div>
<br />
For a short time Harriet and her brother worked in Rochester, N.Y. in the Anti-Slavery Office and Reading Room, where they became acquainted with Frederick Douglass, Amy Post and other abolitionists.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Harriet_Ann_Jacobs1894.png/220px-Harriet_Ann_Jacobs1894.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Harriet_Ann_Jacobs1894.png/220px-Harriet_Ann_Jacobs1894.png" /></a>With Amy’s encouragement, Harriet began writing <b><u>Incidents</u></b> in 1853. When attempts to have the book published failed, she had it “printed for the author” in 1861. The British edition, <b><u>The Deeper Wrong</u></b>, was published the following year.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>But to the slave mother New Year's day comes laden with peculiar sorrows. She sits on her cold cabin floor, watching the children who may all be torn from her the next morning; and often does she wish that she and they might die before the day dawns.</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>Harriet Ann Jacobs</i></b></div>
<br />
<br />
During most of the 1860s, Harriet performed relief work, first nursing black troops and teaching, and later, assisted by Louisa Matilda, aiding freedmen in Washington, D.C., Savannah, Ga., and Edenton. For a time, she ran a boarding house in Cambridge, Mass.<br />
<br />
Later, Harriet and her daughter lived in Washington, D.C., where Louisa Matilda participated in organizing meetings of the National Association of Colored Women.<br />
<br />
<br />
Harriet died in Washington on March 7, 1897, and was buried next to her brother in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/HarrietJacobsGrave.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/HarrietJacobsGrave.jpg" width="300" /></a>Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-64286869904916878112014-02-16T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-16T08:00:01.039-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Josiah Henson<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> I began to pray with them, and exhort them, and to impart to the poor slaves those little glimmerings of light from another world.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>-Josiah Henson</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Josiah_Henson_bw.jpg/220px-Josiah_Henson_bw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Josiah_Henson_bw.jpg/220px-Josiah_Henson_bw.jpg" /></a>I can remember reading <u style="font-weight: bold;">Uncle Tom's Cabin</u> for fun when I was younger because it was never required reading for any school that I went to here in Florida (that's an entirely different subject) and wanting to know more about the author and the characters in the story. When I found out that the character of Uncle Tom was based on a real person, I did some research and found out that it was based on Josiah Henson, a black man who was born into slavery and who didn't take the many opportunities he had to gain his freedom because he'd given his word to his master, until he finally escaped with his wife and kids and headed to Canada, but who then helped over 200 slaves gain their freedom on the Underground Railroad.<br />
<br />
Please join with me in honoring "Uncle Tom," truly a man worth honoring, Josiah Henson.<br />
<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
<br />
Josiah Henson was born into slavery June 15, 1789, in Port Tobacco, Maryland. In 1828, Henson became a preacher for the Methodist Episcopal Church and was able to earn money to buy his freedom. His master took the money, but then raised the price to $1,000. In 1830 Henson fled to Canada with his family where he became involved in the Underground Railroad, leading over 200 slaves to freedom.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I was delighted with the conviction that my children would have advantages I had never enjoyed, but it was no slight mortification to think of being instructed by a child of twelve years old. Yet ambition, and a true desire to learn, for the good it would do my own mind, conquered the shame.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>-Josiah Henson</i></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.montgomeryparks.org/PPSD/Cultural_Resources_Stewardship/heritage/images/fred-douglass-death-henson-sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.montgomeryparks.org/PPSD/Cultural_Resources_Stewardship/heritage/images/fred-douglass-death-henson-sketch.jpg" /></a>Abolitionist, minister. Born into slavery June 15, 1789, in Port Tobacco, Maryland, Henson witnessed frequent abuses to his family. Henson's father received a severe beating for striking a white man who was trying to sexually assault Henson's mother. Henson's father never recovered from the incident, and was sold to an owner in Alabama. Henson's brother and sisters were also sold off one by one, as was his mother. Through several business exchanges made with various owners, Henson eventually landed in the hands of owner Isaac Riley in Maryland.<br />
<br />
Riley saw Henson's potential, and moved him from laborer to market man. In this position, proved his morality and obedience to Riley, who allowed Henson to begin attending Christian sermons. During one particular sermon, Henson came into contact with an anti-slavery preacher, and was exposed to the abolitionist movement. In 1811, Henson was allowed to marry another slave, Charlotte.<br />
<br />
In 1825, Riley went bankrupt and had to sell his farm. Henson and 22 other slaves were sold to Riley's brother, Amos, in Kentucky. Riley made Henson promise to deliver himself and the other slaves safely to Kentucky. Henson kept his word and all were delivered, even though they traveled through the free state of Ohio. In 1828, Henson became a preacher for the Methodist Episcopal Church and was able to earn money to buy his freedom. His master took the money, but then raised the price to $1,000.<br />
<br />
As Henson tried to raise the money, his new master sold him to a new planter in New Orleans. While traveling to New Orleans with his owner to finish the transaction, the master's son got seriously ill. Henson was charged with bringing his master's son back home, and could have made a run for his freedom. Instead, Henson brought him safely home, with no reward or appreciation. This was the last straw for Henson, and in 1830 he decided to flee to Canada with his wife and children.<br />
<a href="http://janicehuse.com/images/JosiahHenson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://janicehuse.com/images/JosiahHenson.jpg" width="293" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I will conclude my narrative by simply recording my gratitude, heartfelt and inexpressible, to God, and to many of my fellow-men, for the vast improvement in my condition, both physical and mental; for the great degree of comfort with which I am surrounded; for the good I have been enabled to effect; for the light which has risen upon me; for the religious privileges I enjoy, and the religious hopes I am permitted to cherish; for the prospects opening to my children, so different from what they might have been; and, finally, for the cheering expectation of benefiting not only the present, but many future generations of my race.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>-Josiah Henson</i></div>
<br />
<br />
On October 28, 1830, Henson and his family settled in Dresden, Ontario. For the next four years, Henson worked as a farm laborer and preacher in the area, and had his oldest son teach him how to read and write. He also became involved in the Underground Railroad, leading over 200 slaves to freedom. In 1842, he developed his own Afro-Canadian community that taught practical skills to his fugitives. In 1849, Henson published his autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself.<br />
<br />
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin, a fictional portrayal of slavery in America. Beecher later revealed that one of the novel's main characters, Uncle Tom, was based on Josiah Henson. This made Henson famous, and for a few years afterward he made the lecture circuit as the "real Uncle Tom."<br />
<br />
Henson died on May 5, 1883.<br />
<br />
(*Josiah Henson. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:06, Feb 16, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/josiah-henson-541392.*)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ap/s/s000941k.jpg" />Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-63054944801701099472014-02-15T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-15T11:40:07.071-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Emmett Till<i>Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, on August 24, 1955, when he <b>reportedly</b> flirted with a white cashier at a grocery store. Four days later, two white men kidnapped Till, beat him and shot him in the head. The men were tried for murder, but an all-white, male jury acquitted them. Till's murder and open casket funeral galvanized the emerging Civil Rights Movement.</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/Emmett_Till.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/Emmett_Till.jpg" /></a>I heard about Emmett Till as a young boy myself and I was scared and horrified that something like that could happen in this country but as I learned more and more about the human history I realized that fear and hatred turned men into animals. A life, a young, innocent life was snuffed out because of the color of his skin. Emmett Till didn't have the chance to grow up and become a scholar, a great leader, or a physician. He didn't have the opportunity to see what his life would one day become because hatred ended his life so abruptly and yet he still deserves to be honored. His life and his death sparked the burning embers of the Civil Rights Movement and even now in the year 2014, he is remembered.<br />
<br />
Please help me in honoring Emmett Till so that we can help to stop things like this from happening ever again.<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Emmett Louis Till was born on July 25, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois, the only child of Louis and Mamie Till. Till never knew his father, a private in the United States Army during World War II. Mamie and Louis Till separated in 1942, and three years later, the family received word from the Army that the soldier had been executed for "willful misconduct" while serving in Italy.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/T/Emmett-Till-507515-1-402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/T/Emmett-Till-507515-1-402.jpg" /></a>Emmett Till's mother was, by all accounts, an extraordinary woman. Defying the social constraints and discrimination she faced as an African-American woman growing up in the 1920s and '30s, Mamie Till excelled both academically and professionally. She was only the fourth black student to graduate from suburban Chicago's predominantly white Argo Community High School, and the first black student to make the school's "A" Honor Roll. While raising Emmett Till as a single mother, she worked long hours for the Air Force as a clerk in charge of confidential files.<br />
<br />
Emmett Till, who went by the nickname Bobo, grew up in a thriving, middle-class black neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. The neighborhood was a haven for black-owned businesses, and the streets he roamed as a child were lined with black-owned insurance companies, pharmacies and beauty salons as well as nightclubs that drew the likes of Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughan. Those who knew Till best described him as a responsible, funny, and infectiously high-spirited child. He was stricken with polio at the age of 5, but managed to make a full recovery, save a slight stutter that remained with him for the rest of his life.<br />
<br />
With his mother often working more than 12-hour days, Till took on his full share of domestic responsibilities from a very young age. "Emmett had all the house responsibility," His mother later recalled. "I mean everything was really on his shoulders, and Emmett took it upon himself. He told me if I would work, and make the money, he would take care of everything else. He cleaned, and he cooked quite a bit. And he even took over the laundry."<br />
<br />
Till attended the all-black McCosh Grammar School. His classmate and childhood pal, Richard Heard, later recalled, "Emmett was a funny guy all the time. He had a suitcase of jokes that he liked to tell. He loved to make people laugh. He was a chubby kid; most of the guys were skinny, but he didn't let that stand in his way. He made a lot of friends at McCosh."<br />
<br />
In August 1955, Till's great uncle, Moses Wright, came up from Mississippi to visit the family in Chicago. At the end of his stay, Wright was planning to take Till's cousin, Wheeler Parker, back to Mississippi with him to visit relatives down South, and when Till, who was just 14 years old at the time, learned of these plans, he begged his mother to let him go along.<br />
<br />
Initially, Till's mother was opposed to the idea. She wanted to take a road trip to Omaha, Nebraska, and tried to convince her son to join her with the promise of open-road driving lessons. But Till desperately wanted to spend time with his cousins in Mississippi, and in a fateful decision that would have grave impact on their lives and the course of American history, Till's mother relented and let him go.<br />
<br />
<b>Emmett Till Murder</b><br />
<br />
On August 19, 1955—the day before Till left with his uncle and cousin for Mississippi—Mamie Till gave her son his late father's signet ring, engraved with the initials "L.T." The next day she drove her son to the 63rd Street station in Chicago. They kissed goodbye, and Till boarded a southbound train headed for Mississippi. It was the last time they ever saw each other.<br />
<br />
Three days after arriving in Money, Mississippi—on August 24, 1955—Emmett Till and a group of teenagers entered Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market to buy refreshments after a long day picking cotton in the hot afternoon sun. What exactly transpired inside the grocery store that afternoon will never be known. Till purchased bubble gum, and some of the kids with him would later report that he either whistled at, flirted with, or touched the hand of the store's white female clerk—and wife of the owner—Carolyn Bryant.<br />
<br />
Four days later, at approximately 2:30 a.m. on August 28, 1955, Roy Bryant, Carolyn's husband, and his half brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Till from Moses Wright's home. They then beat the teenager brutally, dragged him to the bank of the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, tied him with barbed wire to a large metal fan and shoved his mutilated body into the water. Moses Wright reported Till's disappearance to the local authorities, and three days later, his corpse was pulled out of the river. Till's face was mutilated beyond recognition, and Wright only managed to positively identify him by the ring on his finger, engraved with his father's initials—"L.T."<br />
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<br />
<b>Trial</b><br />
<br />
Till's body was shipped to Chicago, where his mother opted to have an open-casket funeral with Till's body on display for five days. Thousands of people came to the Roberts Temple Church of God to see the evidence of this brutal hate crime. Till's mother said that, despite the enormous pain it caused her to see her son's dead body on display, she opted for an open-casket funeral in an effort to "let the world see what has happened, because there is no way I could describe this. And I needed somebody to help me tell what it was like."<br />
<br />
In the weeks that passed between Till's burial and the murder and kidnapping trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, two black publications, Jet magazine and the Chicago Defender, published graphic images of Till's corpse. By the time the trial commenced—on September 19, 1955—Emmett Till's murder had become a source of outrage and indignation throughout the country. Because blacks and women were barred from serving jury duty, Bryant and Milam were tried before an all-white, all-male jury.<br />
<br />
In an act of extraordinary bravery, Moses Wright took the stand and identified Bryant and Milam as Till's kidnappers and killers. At the time, it was almost unheard of for blacks to openly accuse whites in court, and by doing so, Wright put his own life in grave danger.<br />
<a href="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/till/casketscene.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/till/casketscene.JPG" /></a><br />
Despite the overwhelming evidence of the defendants' guilt and widespread pleas for justice from outside Mississippi, on September 23, the panel of white male jurors acquitted Bryant and Milam of all charges. Their deliberations lasted a mere 67 minutes. Only a few months later, in January 1956, Bryant and Milam admitted to committing the crime. Protected by double jeopardy laws, they told the whole story of how they kidnapped and killed Emmett Till to Look magazine for $4,000.<br />
<br />
"J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant died with Emmett Till's blood on their hands," Simeon Wright, Emmett Till's cousin and an eyewitness to his kidnapping (he was in the store with Emmett the day he was kidnapped by Milam and Bryant), later stated. "And it looks like everyone else who was involved is going to do the same. They had a chance to come clean. They will die with Emmett Till's blood on their hands."<br />
<br />
<b>Impact on Civil Rights</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amistadresource.org/LBimages/image_08_02_010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://www.amistadresource.org/LBimages/image_08_02_010.jpg" width="320" /></a>Coming only one year after the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education mandated the end of racial segregation in public schools, Emmett Till's death provided an important catalyst for the American Civil Rights Movement. One hundred days after Till's murder, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama city bus, sparking the yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott. Nine years later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing many forms of racial discrimination and segregation. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act, outlawing discriminatory voting practices, was passed.<br />
<br />
Though she never stopped feeling the pain of her son's death, Mamie Till (who died of heart failure in 2003) also recognized that what happened to her son helped open Americans' eyes to the racial hatred plaguing the country, and in doing so helped spark a massive protest movement for racial equality and justice.<br />
<br />
"People really didn't know that things this horrible could take place," Mamie Till said in an interview with Devery S. Anderson in December 1996. "And the fact that it happened to a child, that make all the difference in the world."<br />
<br />
(Emmett Till. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:31, Feb 15, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/emmett-till-507515.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2013/08/emmett%20till%20headstone-thumb-640xauto-9006.jpg" />Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-65398931451317577832014-02-14T18:42:00.000-05:002014-02-14T18:42:34.317-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Richard Allen<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“If you love your children, if you love your country, if you love the God of love, clear your hands from slaves, burden not your children or country with them.”</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>-Richard Allen</i></div>
<br />
<br />
Not all of the firsts blazed by blacks in the United States dealt with civil rights in the medical, scientific, military or educational field. Some of them were civil rights in the area of religion but those were just as amazing as the others and those men and women should be honored just as much.<br />
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Richard Allen (February 14, 1760 – March 26, 1831) was a minister, educator, and writer, and <b>the founder in 1794 of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first independent black denomination in the United States</b>. He opened his first AME church in 1794 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. <b>He was elected the first bishop of the AME Church in 1816. Allen was one of America's most active and influential black leaders. He focused on organizing a denomination where free blacks could worship without racial oppression and where slaves could find a measure of dignity. He worked to upgrade the social status of the black community, organizing Sabbath schools to teach literacy, and promoting national organizations to develop political strategies.</b><br />
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Born into slavery, Allen had no formal education. As a young man, he worked to buy his freedom from his master in Delaware. He went to Philadelphia in 1786, licensed as a Methodist preacher. He belonged for a time to St. George's Methodist Church, but he and his supporters resented its segregation and decided to leave the church. In 1787 he and Absalom Jones founded the Free African Society (FAS), a non-denominational, mutual aid society for blacks in Philadelphia, which particularly helped widows and children. Eventually they each founded independent black congregations in 1794.<br />
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Please join with me in honoring Pastor Richard Allen.<br />
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<b>Early life and freedom</b><br />
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Richard Allen was born into slavery on February 14, 1760, to Benjamin Chew, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia. When he was a child, he and his family were sold to Stokeley Sturgis, who had a plantation in Delaware. When Sturgis had financial problems, he sold Richard's mother and three of his five siblings. Allen had an older brother and sister left with him, and the three began to attend meetings of the local Methodist Society, which was welcoming to slaves and free blacks. They were encouraged by their master Sturgis, although he was unconverted. Richard had taught himself to read and write. He joined the Methodists at age 17. He began evangelizing and attracted criticism from local slave owners. Allen and his brother redoubled their efforts for Sturgis so no one could say his slaves did not do well because of religion.<br />
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Reverend Freeborn Garrettson, who had freed his own slaves in 1775, began to preach in Delaware; he was among many Methodist and Baptist ministers after the American Revolutionary War who encouraged slaveholders to emancipate their people. When Garrettson visited the Sturgis plantation to preach, "Allen's master was touched by this declaration... began to give consideration to the thought that holding slaves was sinful..." Sturgis soon was convinced that slavery was wrong, and offered his slaves an opportunity to buy their freedom. Allen performed extra work to earn the money and bought his freedom in 1780, after which changing his name from "Negro Richard" to "Richard Allen".<br />
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<b>Marriage and family</b><br />
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After moving to Philadelphia, Allen met and married Sarah Bass, a freed slave from Virginia. She moved to Philadelphia as a child and the couple met around 1800. She was Allen's second wife. The couple had six children. Bass was highly active in what would become the AME Church, and is called the "Founding Mother". Allen's first wife was named Flora. He and Flora married on October 19,1790. She worked very closely with him during the his early years of establishing the church from 1787 to 1799. They attended church school and worked together purchasing land, which was eventually donated to the church or rented out to families. Flora Allen died on March 11, 1801, after a long illness. The couple bore no children.<br />
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Allen was qualified as a preacher in 1784 at the Christmas Conference, the founding of the Methodist Church in North America at Baltimore, Maryland. He was one of the two black attendees of the conference along with Harry Hosier, but neither were permitted a vote during deliberations. Allen was subsequently allowed to lead services at 5 AM, which were attended mostly by blacks. Eschewing Asbury and Hosier's circuit riding practices, he moved to Philadelphia, a center of free blacks.<br />
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In 1786, Allen became a preacher at St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but was restricted to early morning services. As he attracted more black congregants, the church vestry ordered them to be in a separate area for worship. Allen also regularly preached on the commons near the church, slowly gaining a congregation of nearly 50, and supporting himself with a variety of odd jobs.<br />
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Allen and Absalom Jones, also a Methodist preacher, resented the white congregants' segregating the blacks for worship and prayer. They decided to leave St. George's to create independent worship for African Americans. This brought some opposition from the white church as well as the more established blacks of the community.<br />
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In 1787, Allen and Jones led the black members out of St. George's Methodist Church. They formed the Free African Society (FAS), a non-denominational mutual aid society, which assisted fugitive slaves and new migrants to the city. Allen, along with Absalom Jones, William Gray and William Wilcher, found an available lot on Sixth Street near Lombard. Allen negotiated a price and purchased this lot in 1787 to build a church, but it was years before they had a building. Now occupied by Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, this is the oldest parcel of real estate in the United States owned continuously by African Americans.<br />
Over time, most of the FAS members chose to affiliate with the Episcopal Church, as many blacks in Philadelphia had been Anglicans since the 1740s. They founded the African Church with Absalom Jones. It was accepted as a parish congregation and opened its doors on July 17, 1794 as the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. In 1795, Absalom Jones was ordained as a deacon, and in 1804 as a priest, becoming the first black ordained in the United States as an Episcopal priest.<br />
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Allen and others wanted to continue in the Methodist practice. Allen called their congregation the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). Converting a blacksmith shop on Sixth Street, the leaders opened the doors of Bethel AME Church on July 29, 1794. At first affiliated with the larger Methodist Episcopal Church, they had to rely on visiting white ministers for communion. In recognition of his leadership and preaching, in 1799, Allen was ordained as the first black Methodist minister by Bishop Francis Asbury. He and the congregation still had to continue to negotiate white oversight and deal with white elders of the denomination. A decade after its founding, the AME Church had 457 members and in 1813, it had 1,272.<br />
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In 1816, Allen united four African-American congregations of the Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Salem, New Jersey; Delaware, and Maryland. Together they founded the independent denomination of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first fully independent black denomination in the United States. On April 10, 1816, the other ministers elected Allen as their first bishop. The African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest and largest formal institution in black America.<br />
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<i><b>From 1797 until his death in 1831, Allen and Sara operated a station on the Underground Railroad for fugitive slaves.</b></i><br />
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In September 1830, black representatives from seven states convened in Philadelphia at the Bethel AME church for the first Negro Convention. A civic meeting, it was the first on such a scale organized by African-American leaders. Allen presided over the meeting, which addressed both regional and national topics. The convention occurred after the 1826 and 1829 riots in Cincinnati, when whites had attacked blacks and destroyed their businesses. After the 1829 rioting, 1200 blacks left the city to go to Canada. As a result, the Negro Convention addressed organizing aid to such settlements in Canada, among other issues. The 1830 meeting was the beginning of an organizational effort known as the Negro Convention Movement, part of 19th-century institution building in the black community. Conventions were held regularly on a national level.<br />
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<b>Death and burial</b><br />
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Allen died at home on Spruce Street on March 26, 1831. He was buried at the church he founded. His grave remains on the lower level.<br />
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<b>Legacy and honors</b><br />
<a href="http://www.fedpartnership.gov/minority-banking-timeline/images/RichardAllen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fedpartnership.gov/minority-banking-timeline/images/RichardAllen.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>Allen is honored with a feast day, March 26, on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on March 26.</i><br />
<i>2001, the Richard Allen Preparatory School, a charter school, was opened in his name in SW Philadelphia.</i><br />
<i>In 2002, Molefi Kete Asante named Richard Allen as one of the 100 Greatest African Americans.</i><br />
<i>2010, a park in Radnor Township was named for him. Radnor is situated approximately 15 miles west of Philadelphia.</i><br />
<i>The Richard Allen Homes, a public housing project in Philadelphia, were named for him.</i><br />
<i>A street in Cambridge, Massachusetts is named after him.</i><br />
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(*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Allen_(bishop)*)Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-14121862853057439612014-02-13T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-13T08:00:01.446-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About The Selma to Montgomery Marches (Bloody Sunday)<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>They told us we wouldn’t get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies, but all the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying, "We ain’t goin’ let nobody turn us around."</i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March"</i></div>
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When I first learned about "Bloody Sunday" and the Selma to Montgomery Marches I was 10 years old, just finding out about my black heritage and being overwhelmed with images of slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement. I was horrified by the videos and the photos but encouraged and uplifted when I realized that no matter how much oppression and violence they suffered these people, these fighters for justice, these nonviolent protesters for civil rights, never gave up. They marched on. They kept singing. And they kept pushing forward towards justice.</div>
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While "Bloody Sunday" was heart-wrenching, the march that followed it was one of triumph.</div>
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Join with me in honoring those who marched, were attacked, and yet returned to march again from Selma to Montgomery.</div>
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On 25 March 1965, Martin Luther King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, where local African Americans, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had been campaigning for voting rights. King told the assembled crowd: ‘‘There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes’’ (King, ‘‘Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March,’’ 121).<br />
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On 2 January 1965 King and SCLC joined the SNCC, the Dallas County Voters League, and other local African American activists in a voting rights campaign in Selma where, in spite of repeated registration attempts by local blacks, only two percent were on the voting rolls. SCLC had chosen to focus its efforts in Selma because they anticipated that the notorious brutality of local law enforcement under Sheriff Jim Clark would attract national attention and pressure President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress to enact new national voting rights legislation.<br />
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<i>Now it is not an accident that one of the great marches of American history should terminate in Montgomery, Alabama. Just ten years ago, in this very city, a new philosophy was born of the Negro struggle. Montgomery was the first city in the South in which the entire Negro community united and squarely faced its age-old oppressors. Out of this struggle, more than bus [de]segregation was won; a new idea, more powerful than guns or clubs was born. Negroes took it and carried it across the South in epic battles that electrified the nation and the world.</i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery Marches"</i></div>
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The campaign in Selma and nearby Marion, Alabama, progressed with mass arrests but little violence for the first month. That changed in February, however, when police attacks against nonviolent demonstrators increased. On the night of 18 February, Alabama state troopers joined local police breaking up an evening march in Marion. In the ensuing melee, a state trooper shot Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 26-year-old church deacon from Marion, as he attempted to protect his mother from the trooper’s nightstick. Jackson died eight days later in a Selma hospital.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amistadresource.org/LBimages/image_08_09_060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="http://www.amistadresource.org/LBimages/image_08_09_060.jpg" width="400" /></a>In response to Jackson’s death, activists in Selma and Marion set out on 7 March, to march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery. While King was in Atlanta, his SCLC colleague Hosea Williams, and SNCC leader John Lewis led the march. The marchers made their way through Selma across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where they faced a blockade of state troopers and local lawmen commanded by Clark and Major John Cloud who ordered the marchers to disperse. When they did not, Cloud ordered his men to advance. Cheered on by white onlookers, the troopers attacked the crowd with clubs and tear gas. Mounted police chased retreating marchers and continued to beat them.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Bloody_Sunday-Alabama_police_attack.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Bloody_Sunday-Alabama_police_attack.jpeg" /></a>Television coverage of ‘‘Bloody Sunday,’’ as the event became known, triggered national outrage. Lewis, who was severely beaten on the head, said: ‘‘I don’t see how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam—I don’t see how he can send troops to the Congo—I don’t see how he can send troops to Africa and can’t send troops to Selma,’’ (Reed, ‘‘Alabama Police Use Gas’’).<br />
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<i>On our part we must pay our profound respects to the white Americans who cherish their democratic traditions over the ugly customs and privileges of generations and come forth boldly to join hands with us. From Montgomery to Birmingham, (Yes, sir) from Birmingham to Selma, from Selma back to Montgomery, a trail wound in a circle long and often bloody, yet it has become a highway up from darkness. Alabama has tried to nurture and defend evil, but evil is choking to death in the dusty roads and streets of this state. So I stand before you this afternoon with the conviction that segregation is on its deathbed in Alabama, and the only thing uncertain about it is how costly the segregationists and Wallace will make the funeral.</i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery Marches"</i></div>
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That evening King began a blitz of telegrams and public statements, ‘‘calling on religious leaders from all over the nation to join us on Tuesday in our peaceful, nonviolent march for freedom’’ (King, 7 March 1965). While King and Selma activists made plans to retry the march again two days later, Federal District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. notified the movement attorney Fred Gray that he intended to issue a restraining order prohibiting the march until at least 11 March, and President Johnson pressured King to call off the march until the federal court order could provide protection to the marchers.<br />
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<a href="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/03/05/learning/Mar07LN/Mar07LN-blog480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/03/05/learning/Mar07LN/Mar07LN-blog480.jpg" /></a>Forced to consider whether to disobey the pending court order, after consulting late into the night and early morning with other civil rights leaders and John Doar, the deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, King proceeded to the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the afternoon of 9 March. He led more than 2,000 marchers, including hundreds of clergy who had answered King’s call on short notice, to the site of Sunday’s attack, then stopped and asked them to kneel and pray. After prayers they rose and turned the march back to Selma, avoiding another confrontation with state troopers and skirting the issue of whether to obey Judge Johnson’s court order. Many marchers were critical of King’s unexpected decision not to push on to Montgomery, but the restraint gained support from President Johnson, who issued a public statement: ‘‘Americans everywhere join in deploring the brutality with which a number of Negro citizens of Alabama were treated when they sought to dramatize their deep and sincere interest in attaining the precious right to vote’’ (Johnson, ‘‘Statement by the President,’’ 272). Johnson promised to introduce a voting rights bill to Congress within a few days.<br />
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That evening, several local whites attacked James Reeb, a white Unitarian minister who had come from Massachusetts to join the protest. His death two days later contributed to the rising national concern over the situation in Alabama. Johnson personally telephoned his condolences to Reeb’s widow and met with Alabama Governor George Wallace, pressuring him to protect marchers and support universal suffrage.<br />
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<a href="http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/resources/uploads/selmatomontgomerymarch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/resources/uploads/selmatomontgomerymarch.jpg" /></a>On 15 March Johnson addressed the Congress, identifying himself with the demonstrators in Selma in a televised address: ‘‘Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome’’ (Johnson, ‘‘Special Message’’). The following day Selma demonstrators submitted a detailed march plan to federal Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., who approved the demonstration and enjoined Governor Wallace and local law enforcement from harassing or threatening marchers. On 17 March President Johnson submitted voting rights legislation to Congress.<br />
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The federally sanctioned march left Selma on 21 March. Protected by hundreds of federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, the demonstrators covered between 7 to 17 miles per day. Camping at night in supporters’ yards, they were entertained by celebrities such as Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne. Limited by Judge Johnson’s order to 300 marchers over a stretch of two-lane highway, the number of demonstrators swelled on the last day to 25,000, accompanied by Assistant Attorneys General John Doar and Ramsey Clark, and former Assistant Attorney General Burke Marshall, among others.<br />
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<i>Today I want to tell the city of Selma, today I want to say to the state of Alabama, today I want to say to the people of America and the nations of the world, that we are not about to turn around. We are on the move now.</i></div>
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<i>Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. We are on the move now. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. The wanton release of their known murderers would not discourage us. We are on the move now. Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom.</i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery Marches"</i></div>
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During the final rally, held on the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, King proclaimed: ‘‘The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man’’ (King, ‘‘Address,’’ 130). Afterward a delegation of march leaders attempted to deliver a petition to Governor Wallace, but were rebuffed. That night, while ferrying Selma demonstrators back home from Montgomery, Viola Liuzzo, a housewife from Michigan who had come to Alabama to volunteer, was shot and killed by four members of the Ku Klux Klan. Doar later prosecuted three Klansmen conspiring to violate her civil rights.<br />
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On 6 August, in the presence of King and other civil rights leaders, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Recalling ‘‘the outrage of Selma,’’ Johnson<br />
called the right to vote ‘‘the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men’’ (Johnson, ‘‘Remarks’’). In his annual address to SCLC a few days later, King noted that ‘‘Montgomery led to the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and 1960; Birmingham inspired the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Selma produced the voting rights legislation of 1965’’ (King, 11 August 1965).<br />
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<i>I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?" Somebody’s asking, "How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?" Somebody’s asking, "When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?" Somebody’s asking, "When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, and truth bear it?"</i></div>
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<i>I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because "truth crushed to earth will rise again." </i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr "Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery Marches</i></div>
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<b>SOURCES </b><br />
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Garrow, Protest at Selma, 1978.<br />
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Johnson, ‘‘Remarks in the Capitol Rotunda at the Signing of the Voting Rights Act,’’ 6 August 1966, in Public Papers of the Presidents: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965, bk.2, 1966.<br />
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Johnson, ‘‘Special Remarks to the Congress: The American Promise,’’ 15 March 1965, in Public Papers of the Presidents: Lyndon B. Johnson, bk. 1, 1966.<br />
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Johnson, ‘‘Statement by the President on the Situation in Selma, Alabama,’’ 9 March 1965, in Public Papers of the Presidents: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965, bk. 1, 1966.<br />
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King, ‘‘Address at Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March,’’ in A Call to Conscience, Carson and Shepard, eds., 2001.<br />
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King, Annual report at SCLC convention, 11 August 1965, MLKJP-GAMK.<br />
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King, Statement on violence committed by state troopers in Selma, Alabama, 7 March 1965, MLKJP-GAMK.<br />
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King to Elder G. Hawkins, 8 March 1965, NCCP-PPPrHi.<br />
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Lewis, Walking with the Wind, 1998.<br />
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Roy Reed, ‘‘Alabama Police Use Gas and Clubs to Rout Negroes,’’ New York Times, 8 March 1965.<br />
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(*http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_selma_to_montgomery_march/*)Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-26313002596744759142014-02-12T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-12T08:00:13.354-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Alexander Thomas Augusta<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>“I would like to be in a position where I can be of use to my race.” - Letter from Alexander Thomas Augusta to President Abraham Lincoln</i></div>
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What an inspiration Alexander Thomas Augusta was. He is a man of many "firsts" and when I found out about him a few years ago I found myself smiling because I could see much of Alexander Augusta in me (and not just because of the whole "Alexander" thing either). Besides of our connection to Virginia, we were both men who served our country in the United States Army. We both were born free, though in my case this was not something that is so amazing, in Mr. Augusta's case it was definitely something noteworthy. We both love to read and are driven toward our goals. We have both written to the president in our quest to make the world a better place for those whom we feel are being oppressed.</div>
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Alexander Thomas Augusta wanted to be in a position to be of use to his race. I do as well. But not just to the African-American people exclusively, but to the world as a whole.</div>
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Mr. Augusta's story is inspirational in that he refused to sit back and watch others be oppressed. Alexander was born free, he had more freedom and rights than other blacks. He could have lived his life without sparing them another thought. Without getting involved and contributing anything. He could have faded into the page of history without being a chapter heading at all, but he didn't want that to be his legacy. He didn't want that to be his impact upon the world. He refused to sit back and do nothing. He got involved and he made a difference. A BIG one.</div>
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Please join with me in honoring Alexander Thomas Augusta.</div>
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Augusta was born to free African-American parents in Norfolk, Virginia. At that time he began to learn to read while working as a barber although it was illegal to do so in Virginia at that time. He moved to Baltimore while still in his youth. He also began pursuing an education in the field of medicine at that time. He married Baltimore native Mary O. Burgoin on January 12, 1847.<div>
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Augusta applied to study medicine at the University of Pennsylvania but was refused admission. Although he faced institutionalized racism in his career, inadequate preparation was cited. Nevertheless, he took private instruction from someone on the faculty. As he was determined to become a physician, Augusta travelled to California and earned the funds necessary to pursue his goal of becoming a doctor. Concerned that he would not be allowed to enroll in medical school in the U.S., he enrolled at Trinity College of the University of Toronto in 1850. He also conducted business as a druggist and chemist. Six years later he received a degree in medicine.<div>
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Alexander_Thomas_Augusta.jpg/220px-Alexander_Thomas_Augusta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Alexander_Thomas_Augusta.jpg/220px-Alexander_Thomas_Augusta.jpg" /></a><br />Augusta remained in Toronto, Canada West, establishing his medical practice. The City of Toronto placed him in charge of an industrial school. He supported local antislavery activities. He also founded the Provincial Association for the Education and Elevation of the Coloured People of Canada, a literary society that donated books and other school supplies to black children, as a way of giving back to the community. Augusta left Canada for the West Indies in about 1860, returning to Baltimore at the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861.</div>
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Augusta went to Washington, D.C., wrote Abraham Lincoln offering his services as a surgeon and was given a Presidential commission in the Union Army in October 1862. On April 4, 1863, he received a major's commission as surgeon for African-American troops. This made him the United States Army's first African-American physician out of eight in the Union Army and its highest-ranking African-American officer at the time. Some whites disapproved of him having such a high rank and as such he was mobbed in Baltimore during May 1863 (where three people were arrested for assault) and in Washington for publicly wearing his officer's uniform. On October 2, 1863 he was commissioned Regimental Surgeon of the Seventh U.S. Colored Troops.<div>
<br /><i>On February 1, 1864, Augusta wrote to Judge Advocate Captain C. W. Clippington about discrimination against African-American passengers on the streetcars (most likely horse-drawn) of Washington, D.C.:<br />Sir: I have the honor to report that I have been obstructed in getting to the court this morning by the conductor of car No. 32, of the Fourteenth Street line of the city railway.</i></div>
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<i>I started from my lodgings to go to the hospital I formerly had charge of to get some notes of the case I was to give evidence in, and hailed the car at the corner of Fourteenth and I streets. It was stopped for me and when I attempted to enter the conductor pulled me back, and informed me that I must ride on the front with the driver as it was against the rules for colored persons to ride inside. I told him, I would not ride on the front, and he said I should not ride at all. He then ejected me from the platform, and at the same time gave orders to the driver to go on. I have therefore been compelled to walk the distance in the mud and rain, and have also been delayed in my attendance upon the court. I therefore most respectfully request that the offender may be arrested and brought to punishment.</i></div>
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<br />His letter was printed in New York and Washington newspapers. On February 10, 1864, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner introduced a resolution in Congress:</div>
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<br /><i>Resolved, That the Committee on the District of Columbia be directed to consider the expediency of further providing by law against the exclusion of colored persons from the equal enjoyment of all railroad privileges in the District of Columbia.</i></div>
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<br />To support his resolution, Sumner read to the assemblage Dr. Augusta's letter.</div>
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<br />Edward Bates, the Attorney General in President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, belittled the incident and senators who supported Sumner.</div>
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<br />Augusta wrote a letter of protest against the unfair treatment put upon African Americans who ride trains to Major General Lewis Wallace. That letter preceded Plessy vs Ferguson in attempting to eliminate racial segregation on transportation in the U.S. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.</div>
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<br />On February 26, 1868, Augusta testified before the United States congressional Committee on the District of Columbia with regard to Mrs. Kate Brown. Mrs. Brown, an employee of Congress, had been injured when an employee of the Alexandria, Washington, and Georgetown Railroad forcibly ejected her from a passenger car. The railroad was prohibited by its charter from discrimination against passenger because of race.</div>
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<a href="http://cantonasylumforinsaneindians.com/history_blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Dr.-Alexander-Thomas-Augusta.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cantonasylumforinsaneindians.com/history_blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Dr.-Alexander-Thomas-Augusta.gif" /></a></div>
Mustering out of the service in October 1866, Augusta accepted an assignment with the Freedmen's Bureau, heading the agency's Lincoln Hospital in Savannah, Georgia. While there, he encouraged African-American self-help, urged the freedmen to support independent institutions, and gained respect from the city's white physicians.<div>
<br />Augusta returned to private practice in Washington, D.C. He was attending surgeon to the Smallpox Hospital in Washington in 1870. He also served on the staff of the local Freedmen's Hospital and was placed in charge of the hospital in 1863, becoming the first black hospital administrator in U.S. history. Augusta taught anatomy in the recently organized medical department at Howard University from November 8, 1868, to July 1877, becoming the first African American appointed faculty of the school and also of any medical college in the U.S. He had received honorary degrees of M.D. in 1869 and A.M. in 1871 from Howard.</div>
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<br />Despite his accomplishments, Dr Augusta was repeatedly refused entry to the local society of physicians, an affront that he feared would impede the progress of younger African-American physicians in the city. He died in Washington on December 21, 1890, interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery he is buried in Section 1, Lot 124A, map grid G/33.</div>
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<br />Augusta's headstone reads as follows: "Commissioned surgeon of colored volunteers,April 4, 1863, with the rank ofMajor. Commissioned regimental surgeon ofthe 7th Regiment of US. Colored Troops, October 2, 1863. Brevet Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers, March 13, 1865, forfaithful and meritorious services-mustered out October 13, 1866."</div>
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(*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Thomas_Augusta*)</div>
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Determined to become a medical doctor, Alexander T. Augusta moved to various cities in search of employment to support his dream, finally graduating from medical school in Toronto. He distinguished himself in all of his appointments. He was the first black commissioned and the highest black officer in the segregated U.S. Army, serving with the U.S. Colored Troops. He headed the old Freedmen’s Hospital at Camp Barker, where he was the first black in the country to direct a hospital. One of the original faculty members of the nearly all-white Howard University Medical Department, Alexander Augusta became the first African American faculty member of any medical school.</div>
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Alexander Thomas Augusta was born free in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 8, 1825. Although by Virginia law blacks were forbidden to read, Daniel Payne, later a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, taught Alexander the little reading that he knew early on. The young Augusta served as an apprentice with a local barber, where his reading was developed further, and then he moved to Baltimore where he worked as a journeyman barber. At the same time he studied medicine under private tutors. He relocated to Philadelphia, where he hoped to study medicine formally at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school. His inadequate preparation led the school to refuse Augusta admission. Then William Gibson, a professor in the school, took an interest in him and arranged to have the young man study in his office. Augusta’s interest in formal medical study never waned.</div>
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1825 Born in Norfolk, Virginia on March 8</div>
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1847 Marries Mary O. Burgoin</div>
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1856 Receives Bachelor of Medicine degree from University of Toronto</div>
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1863 Commissioned major in the U.S. Colored Troops, 7th U.S. Colored Infantry, U.S. Army; heads Freedmen’s Hospital, becoming first black to head a hospital</div>
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1865 Assigned to Department of the South; brevetted a lieutenant colonel, U.S. Volunteers, the first black to hold that rank</div>
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1866 Musters out of army; opens private practice in Washington, D.C.</div>
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1868 Becomes first black teacher at any medical school in the United States</div>
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<a href="http://img.xooimage.com/files69/d/c/2/augustaob571-31fdf3c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="http://img.xooimage.com/files69/d/c/2/augustaob571-31fdf3c.jpg" width="320" /></a>1871 Receives honorary M.A. degree from Howard University</div>
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1877 Reenters private practice</div>
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1890 Dies in Washington, D.C. on December 21</div>
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1896 Receives honorary degree of Medicinal Doctor from Howard University</div>
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Early Work in Toronto City Hospital</div>
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Augusta returned to Baltimore and on January 12, 1847, married Mary O. Burgoin, a woman of Huguenot descent, and the couple left for California. He worked in hopes of earning enough money to support his medical training but returned to Philadelphia three years later. A medical degree remained uppermost in his mind. Still later he moved to Canada, and in 1850 he was accepted into the Medical College of the University of Toronto. Six years later (1856), he received a B.M. degree from the university. The city took an immediate interest in him and acknowledged his expertise by placing him in charge of Toronto City Hospital and later in charge of an industrial school. In the meantime, Augusta set up private practice in Toronto. Sometime before 1860 he went to the West Indies and in 1861 returned to Baltimore and made a brief return to Toronto. Meanwhile, Augusta had become interested in the Union forces, the army’s volunteer medical service, and in October 1862 he sought a post in that service.</div>
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When he was given a medical commission and appointed surgeon of the U.S. Colored Troops, U.S. Army, on April 14, 1863, Augusta had the rank of major. He was the first of eight black physicians commissioned and the highest ranking black officer in the segregated U.S. Army. Augusta was sent to the 7th U.S. Colored Infantry and joined them in garrison at Camp Stanton, near Bryantown, Maryland. White officers, who were also surgeons, complained because they were subordinate to a black officer, causing him to be transferred to what became known as Freedmen’s Hospital, at the site of Camp Barker near Washington, D.C. There he became the first black to head any hospital in the United States. (This location was a different site from the Freedmen’s Hospital of later times.)</div>
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During the Civil War, thousands of escaped slaves settled in Washington, D.C, and lived in overcrowded, filthy quarters. Disease was rampant. Although the federal government built new hospitals and enlarged others, sick freedmen were treated at Camp Barker in the fall of 1863, where Alexander was in charge. The War Department continued to direct the hospital until 1865, when it came under the auspices of the newly created Freedmen’s Bureau. Later on, the Freedmen’s Hospital was established on a permanent basis and erected on the campus of Howard University. Alexander remained at Freedmen’s from autumn 1863 to spring 1864. In that time he examined black recruits at Benedict and Baltimore, Maryland. Yet racism followed him. For example, the army paymaster initially paid him at the same rate that was provided for enlisted men after their clothing deduction: $7 a month. However, Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts heard Augusta’s complaint, wrote to the secretary of war about the matter, and two days later the paymaster general was ordered to compensate the surgeon according to his rank.</div>
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<a href="http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ataugusta-100302-mrp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ataugusta-100302-mrp.jpg" width="213" /></a>In 1865 and 1866, Augusta was assigned to the Department of the South. For his meritorious service, in March 1865 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Volunteers, becoming the first black to hold that rank. While on a lengthy tour of duty, he headed a hospital in Savannah, Georgia. Many black casualties of the Civil War resulted from the hesitancy of the U.S. Army to arm these soldiers in the first place. The excessive casualty rate of the colored troops was also due to the lack of medical care that they received. White surgeons resisted serving with black troops and were reluctant to treat ailing black soldiers. Of the eight black physicians who were appointed surgeons in the army, seven were attached to hospitals in the Washington, D.C. area. These included Charles B. Purvis and John Rapier. John V. De Grasse had only a brief stint with the 35th U.S. Colored Infantry, as assistant surgeon. In The History of the Negro in Medicine, Herbert M. Morais writes: “Of this small band of doctors in blue, the most illustrious was Alexander T. Augusta.” Augusta mustered out of service on October 13, 1866, and returned to Washington, D.C, where he opened private practice.</div>
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Augusta’s prominence in the field of medicine was acknowledged in 1868, when the newly organized Medical Department at Howard University elected him demonstrator of anatomy, making him the first black to be offered a teaching position at any medical school in the United States. In what was called the Panic of 1893, a time of severe financial difficulties at the medical school, the medical faculty faced the dilemma of resigning or having their salaries cut in half. Some resigned, but Augusta, Purvis, and Gideon Stimson Palmer remained. Augusta continued on the faculty until September 14, 1877, holding a succession of professorships in anatomy while serving on the staff of Freedmen’s Hospital. The school reorganized and wanted to move Augusta from the head of the Anatomy Department to chair of Materia Medica. Augusta declined the new appointment and was terminated. He reentered private practice in 1877.</div>
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<b>Honors Come Slowly</b></div>
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On June 9, 1879, Augusta and Purvis were proposed for membership in the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, an affiliate of the American Medical Association. On June 23, Dr. A. W. Tucker’s name was added to the list. All of the men were rejected. On February 8, 1870, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to repeal the charter of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia because it worked against black practitioners and was guilty of discriminatory practices. The bill was unsuccessful, and the fight continued. Blacks, however, on January 15, 1870, formed their own National Medical Society of the District of Columbia and accepted whites into membership. The fight to integrate the local white medical society continued for many years; eventually the local society revised its regulations and allowed consultations with black physicians.</div>
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<a href="http://cantonasylumforinsaneindians.com/history_blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/From-Howard-Universitys-Graduating-Class-of-1900-courtesy-Howard-University1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cantonasylumforinsaneindians.com/history_blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/From-Howard-Universitys-Graduating-Class-of-1900-courtesy-Howard-University1.jpg" /></a>Howard University recognized its star medical school faculty on June 27, 1871, when it awarded honorary M.A. degrees to Augusta, Purvis, and Robert Reyburn. Augusta also received an honorary degree of Medicinal Doctor on June 30, 1896. In honor of the noted surgeon and educator, in 1913 doctors Simeon L. Carson, B. Price Hurst, Peter M. Murray, and E. A. Robinson formed the Alexander T. Augusta Medical Reading Club; it grew to a maximum of twelve but ceased to exist around 1940 due to the deaths of several members.</div>
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Augusta, a quiet, slender, and handsome man, died at his home, 1319 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C., on December 21, 1890. After the funeral at St. John’s Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square, held on December 24, his body was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Augusta is remembered as a pioneer black surgeon, medical school professor, and practicing physician who persevered against odds early on and obtained a medical school degree and broke racial barriers in the military, in hospital administration, and in medical education.</div>
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<a href="http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/4107/Augusta-Alexander-T-1825-1890.html">Augusta, Alexander T.(1825–1890) - Surgeon, physician, educator, Chronology, Early Work in Toronto City Hospital</a></div>
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Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-32622407816197105882014-02-11T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-11T08:00:08.765-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Daniel Hale Williams<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminshes fear." -Rosa Parks</i></div>
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Unfortunately I could find no quotes by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, perhaps because of the time in which he lived, perhaps because he was a black man in the mid-19th century doing something extraordinary and anything he said was not seen as being worth written down, but whatever the reason, I have no quotes to share from him. And yet, I feel as though Mrs. Parks's quote so beautifully describes what Dr. Hale Williams accomplished in his life that I knew it was the perfect thing to share and start off this post about his inspirational life.</div>
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Perhaps it is because of my family's genetic predisposition to health problems, but whatever the reason at a young age I found myself studying and fascinated with Dr. Hale Williams (often referred to as just Dr. Daniel Hale). He transcended the restrictions that society placed on him, scoffed at those who told him he couldn't do something just because he was black and refused to let anyone make him feel inferior just because of the color of his skin.</div>
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Join with me in honoring Dr. Daniel Hale Williams.</div>
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Daniel Hale Williams III was born on January 18, 1856, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, to Sarah Price Williams and Daniel Hale Williams II. The couple had several children, with the elder Daniel H. Williams inheriting a barber business. He also worked with the Equal Rights League, a black civil rights organization active during the Reconstruction era.<br />
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<a href="http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/W/Daniel-Hale-Williams-WC-9532269-1-402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/W/Daniel-Hale-Williams-WC-9532269-1-402.jpg" width="320" /></a>After the elder Williams died, a 10-year-old Daniel was sent to live in Baltimore, Maryland, with family friends. He became a shoemaker’s apprentice but disliked the work and decided to return to his family, who had moved to Illinois. Like his father, he took up barbering, but ultimately decided he wanted to pursue his education. He worked as an apprentice with Dr. Henry Palmer, a highly accomplished surgeon, and then completed further training at Chicago Medical College.<br />
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<b>Opens the First Interracial Hospital</b><br />
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Williams set up his own practice in Chicago’s Southside and taught anatomy at his alma mater, also becoming the first African-American physician to work for the city’s street railway system. Williams—who was called Dr. Dan by patients—also adopted sterilization procedures for his office informed by the recent findings on germ transmission and prevention from Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister.<br />
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Due to the discrimination of the day, African-American citizens were still barred from being admitted to hospitals and black doctors were refused staff positions. Firmly believing this needed to change, in May 1891, Williams opened Provident Hospital and Training School for Nurses, the nation’s first hospital with a nursing and intern program that had a racially integrated staff. The facility, where Williams worked as a surgeon, was publicly championed by famed abolitionist and writer <a href="http://imstillvic.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-one-where-vic-blogs-about-frederick.html" target="_blank">Frederick Douglass</a>.<br />
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<i>"The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself--the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us--that's where it's at." </i></div>
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<i>-Jesse Owens</i></div>
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<a href="http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dhwilliams.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dhwilliams.gif" width="224" /></a>In 1893, Williams continued to make history when he operated on James Cornish, a man with a severe stab wound to his chest who was brought to Provident. Without the benefits of a blood transfusion or modern surgical procedures, Williams successfully sutured Cornish’s pericardium (the membranous sac enclosing the heart), becoming the first person to perform open-heart surgery. Cornish lived for many years after the operation.<br />
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In 1894, Williams moved to Washington, D.C., where he was appointed the chief surgeon of the Freedmen’s Hospital, which provided care for formerly enslaved African Americans. The facility had fallen into deep neglect and had a high mortality rate. Williams worked diligently on revitalization, improving surgical procedures, increasing institutional specialization, allowing public viewing of surgeries, launching ambulance services and adding a multiracial staff, continuing to provide opportunities for black physicians and nursing students. And in 1895, he co-founded the National Medical Association, a professional organization for black medical practitioners, as an alternative to the American Medical Association, which didn’t allow African-American membership.<br />
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Williams left Freedmen’s Hospital in 1898. He married Alice Johnson, and the newlyweds moved to Chicago, where Williams returned to his work at Provident. Soon after the turn of the century, he worked at Cook County Hospital and later at St. Luke’s, a large medical institution with ample resources.<br />
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Beginning in 1899, Williams also made annual trips to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was a voluntary visiting clinical professor at Meharry Medical College for more than two decades. He became a charter member of the American College of Surgeons in 1913.<br />
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<i>"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." </i></div>
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<i>-Booker T. Washington</i></div>
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<a href="http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/daniel-hale-williams-emmanuel-baliyanga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/daniel-hale-williams-emmanuel-baliyanga.jpg" width="232" /></a>Daniel Hale Williams experienced a debilitating stroke in 1926 and died five years later, on August 4, 1931, in Idlewild, Michigan.<br />
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Today, Williams's work as a pioneering physician and advocate for an African-American presence in medicine continues to be honored by educational institutions worldwide.<br />
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(*Daniel Hale Williams. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:49, Feb 10, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/daniel-hale-williams-9532269.*)Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-25592620075503043822014-02-10T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-10T08:00:10.826-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Charles Drew<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"The blood of individual human beings may differ by blood groupings, but there is absolutely no scientific basis to indicate any difference in human blood from race to race."</i></div>
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<i>-Charles Richard Drew</i></div>
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I can remember how shocked I was when I found out about this next notable figure. I'd thought that the creator of the blood banks was a white man and to find out that it was in fact a black man was amazing to me, especially when that man's own blood would be segregated because of a ruling during his time.<br />
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This is the amazing story of African-American physician, Dr. Charles Drew.<br />
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Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904, in Washington, D.C. He was an African-American physician who developed ways to process and store blood plasma in "blood banks." He directed the blood plasma programs of the United States and Great Britain in World War II, but resigned after a ruling that the blood of African-Americans would be segregated. He died in 1950.<br />
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A pioneering African-American medical researcher, Dr. Charles R. Drew made some groundbreaking discoveries in the storage and processing of blood for transfusions. He also managed two of the largest blood banks during World War II. Drew grew up in Washington, D.C., as the oldest son of a carpet layer.<br />
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<a href="http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/75/09751001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/75/09751001.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a>In his youth, Drew showed great athletic talent. He won several medals for swimming in his elementary years, and later branched out to football, basketball and other sports. After graduating from Dunbar High School in 1922, Drew went to Amherst College on a sports scholarship. There, he distinguished himself on the track and football teams.<br />
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Drew completed his bachelor's degree at Amherst in 1926, but didn't have enough money to pursue his dream of attending medical school. He worked as a biology instructor and a coach for Morgan College, now Morgan State University, in Baltimore for two years. In 1928, he applied to medical schools and enrolled at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.<br />
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At McGill University, Drew quickly proved to be a top student. He won a prize in neuroanatomy and was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. Graduating in 1933, Drew was second in his class and earned both Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degrees. He did his internship and residency at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal General Hospital. During this time, Drew studied with Dr. John Beattie, and they examined problems and issues regarding blood transfusions.<br />
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After his father's death, Drew returned to the United States. He became an instructor at Howard University's medical school in 1935. The following year, he did a surgery residence at Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C., in addition to his work at the university.<br />
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<b>Father of Blood Banks</b><br />
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In 1938, Drew received a Rockefeller Fellowship to study at Columbia University and train at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. There, he continued his exploration of blood-related matters with John Scudder. Drew developed a method for processing and preserving blood plasma, or blood without cells. Plasma lasts much longer than whole blood, making it possible to be stored or "banked" for longer periods of time. He discovered that the plasma could be dried and then reconstituted when needed. His research served as the basis of his doctorate thesis, "Banked Blood," and he received his doctorate degree in 1940. Drew became the first African-American to earn this degree from Columbia.<br />
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As World War II raged in Europe, Drew was asked to head up a special medical effort known as "Blood for Britain." He organized the collection and processing of blood plasma from several New York hospitals, and the shipments of these life-saving materials overseas to treat causalities in the war.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Dr_Charles_Richard_Drew_by_Charles_Alston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Dr_Charles_Richard_Drew_by_Charles_Alston.jpg" height="320" width="296" /></a>According to one report, Drew helped collect roughly 14,500 pints of plasma.<br />
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In 1941, Drew worked on another blood bank effort, this time for the American Red Cross. He worked on developing a blood bank to be used for U.S. military personnel. But not long into his tenure there, Drew became frustrated with the military's request for segregating the blood donated by African-Americans. At first, the military did not want to use blood from African-Americans, but they later said it could only be used for African-American soldiers. Drew was outraged by this racist policy, and resigned his post after only a few months.<br />
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<b>Death and Legacy</b><br />
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After creating two of the first blood banks, Drew returned to Howard University in 1941. He served as a professor there, heading up the university's department of surgery. He also became the chief surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital. Later that year, he became the first African-American examiner for the American Board of Surgery.<br />
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In 1944, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People honored Drew with its 1943 Spingarn Medal for "the highest and noblest achievement" by an African-American "during the preceding year or years." The award was given in recognition of Drew's blood plasma collection and distribution efforts.<br />
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For the final years of his life, Drew remained an active and highly regarded medical professional. He continued to serve as the chief surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital and a professor at Howard University. On April 1, 1950, Drew and three other physicians attended a medical conference at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Drew was behind the wheel when his vehicle crashed near Burlington, North Carolina. His passengers survived, but Drew later succumbed to his injuries. He left behind his wife, Minnie, and their four children.<br />
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Drew was only 45 years old at the time of his death, and it is remarkable how much he was able to accomplish in such a limited amount of time. As the Reverend Jerry Moore said at Drew's funeral, Drew had "a life which crowds into a handful of years' significance, so great, men will never be able to forget it."<br />
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Since his passing, Drew has received countless posthumous honors. He was featured in the United States Postal Service's Great Americans stamp series in 1981, and his name appears on educational institutions across the country.<br />
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(*Charles Richard Drew. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:54, Feb 09, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/charles-drew-9279094.*)<br />
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<b>Charles Drew</b> was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C., the son of Richard and Nora Drew and eldest of five children. Charles was one of those rare individuals who seemed to excel at everything he did and on every level and would go on to become of pioneer in the field of medicine.<br />
Charles' early interests were in education, particularly in medicine, but he was also an outstanding athlete. As a youngster he was an award winning swimmer and starred Dunbar High School in football, baseball, basketball and track and field, winning the James E. Walker Memorial medal as his school's best all around athlete. After graduation from Dunbar in 1922, he went on to attend Amherst College in Massachusetts where he captained the track team and starred as a halfback on the school's football team, winning the Thomas W. Ashley Memorial trophy in his junior year as the team most valuable player and being named to the All-American team. Drew had a rich assortment of graduation announcements and convocations since his education was extensive through his life. Upon graduation from Amherst in 1926 he was awarded the Howard Hill Mossman trophy as the man who contributed the most to Amherst athletics during his four years in school.<br />
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After graduation from Amherst, Drew took on a position as a biology teacher at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland and also served as the school's Athletic Director. During his two years at Morgan State, he helped to turn the school's basketball and football programs into collegiate champions.<br />
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In 1928, Charles decided to pursue his interest in medicine and enrolled at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He was received as a member of the Medical Honorary Society and graduated in 1933 with Master of Surgery and Doctor of Medicine degrees, finishing second in his class of 127 students. He stayed in Montreal for a while as an intern at Montreal General Hospital and at the Royal Victoria Hospital. In 1935, he returned to the United States and began working as an instructor of pathology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He was also a resident at Freedmen's Hospital (the teaching hospital for Howard University) and was awarded the Rockefeller Foundation Research Fellowship.<br />
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He spent two years at Columbia University in New York attending classes and working as a resident at the Columbia University Presbyterian Hospital. During this time he became involved in research on blood and blood transfusions.<br />
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Years back, while a student at McGill, he had saved a man by giving him a blood transfusion and had studied under Dr. John Beattie, an instructor of anatomy who was intensely interested in blood transfusions. Now at Columbia, he wrote a dissertation on "Banked Blood" in which he described a technique he developed for the long-term preservation of blood plasma. Prior to his discovery, blood could not be stored for more than two days because of the rapid breakdown of red blood cells. Drew had discovered that by separating the plasma (the liquid part of blood) from the whole blood (in which the red blood cells exist) and then refrigerating them separately, they could be combined up to a week later for a blood transfusion. He also discovered that while everyone has a certain type of blood (A, B, AB, or O) and thus are prevented from receiving a full blood transfusion from someone with different blood, everyone has the same type of plasma. Thus, in certain cases where a whole blood transfusion is not necessary, it was sufficient to give a plasma transfusion which could be administered to anyone, regardless of their blood type. He convinced Columbia University to establish a blood bank and soon was asked to go to England to help set up that country's first blood bank. Drew became the first Black to receive a Doctor of Medical Science degree from Columbia and was now gaining a reputation worldwide.<br />
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<a href="http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/access/BGBBGP_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/access/BGBBGP_.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a>On September 29, 1939, Charles married Lenore Robbins, with whom he would have four children. At the same time, however, World War II was breaking out in Europe. Drew was named the Supervisor of the Blood Transfusion Association for New York City and oversaw its efforts towards providing plasma to the British Blood Bank. He was later named a project director for the American Red Cross but soon resigned his post after the United States War Department issued a directive that blood taken from White donors should be segregated from that of Black donors.<br />
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Dr. Charles Drew attending to a patient.In 1942, Drew returned to Howard University to head its Department of Surgery, as well as the Chief of Surgery at Freedmen's Hospital. Later he was named Chief of Staff and Medical Director for the Hospital. In 1948 he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for his work on blood plasma. He was also presented with the E. S. Jones Award for Research in Medical Science and became the first Black to be appointed an examiner by the American Board of Surgery. In 1945 he was presented honorary degrees of Doctor of Science from Virginia State College as well as Amherst College where he attended as an undergraduate student. In 1946 he was elected Fellow of the International College of Surgeons and in 1949 appointed Surgical Consultant for the United States Army's European Theater of Operations.<br />
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Dr. Charles Drew died on April 1, 1950 when the automobile he was driving went out of control and turned over. Drew suffered extensive massive injuries but contrary to popular legend was not denied a blood transfusion by an all-White hospital - he indeed received a transfusion but was beyond the help of the experienced physicians attending to him. His family later wrote letters to those physicians thanking them for the care they provided. Over the years, Drew has been considered one of the most honored and respected figures in the medical field and his development of the blood plasma bank has given a second chance of live to millions.<br />
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(*http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/charles-drew.html*)<br />
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<img src="http://84d1f3.medialib.glogster.com/media/05/052f938d2d38330b179eec0dbf6dee3d54db34c087b5fae46a2c7b03bc8c2618/charlesdrew.jpg" />Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-50214158631869415552014-02-09T16:02:00.000-05:002014-02-09T20:39:20.316-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Bayard Rustin<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>An obituary in the New York Times reported, "Looking back at his career, Mr. Rustin, a Quaker, once wrote: 'The principal factors which influenced my life are 1) nonviolent tactics; 2) constitutional means; 3) democratic procedures; 4) respect for human personality; 5) a belief that all people are one.'"</i></div>
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A man who has been mostly overlooked by history, Bayard Rustin was an activist and strategist and is widely regarded as one of the most influential men behind Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s image as a man of peace and nonviolence. Bayard was also one of the chief organizers behind the 1963 March on Washington. And even as he raised his voice against segregation and racial injustices, Bayard Rustin also spoke against injustices against women and gays, the latter was especially important since Bayard himself had been arrested for the charge of sodomy, since he himself was a gay man, an openly, black gay man, at a time when such a thing was illegal and unheard of.<br />
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Bayard is inspirational to me on many fronts. Not only because of what he stood for, not only because he lifted up the arms of Dr. King, Jr. when he inspired much of Dr. King's thoughts on nonviolence, but because he never lost sight of his truth, and he lived it openly and without shame.<br />
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Please help me honor Bayard Rustin.<br />
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A master strategist and tireless activist, Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States. He brought Gandhi’s protest techniques to the American civil rights movement, and helped mold Martin Luther King, Jr. into an international symbol of peace and nonviolence.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/BayardRustinAug1963-LibraryOfCongress_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/BayardRustinAug1963-LibraryOfCongress_crop.jpg" width="271" /></a>Despite these achievements, Rustin was silenced, threatened, arrested, beaten, imprisoned and fired from important leadership positions, largely because he was an openly gay man in a fiercely homophobic era.<br />
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<i>To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true.</i></div>
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<i>Bayard Rustin</i></div>
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Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.<br />
Rustin was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He was raised by his maternal grandparents, Janifer and Julia Rustin. Julia Rustin was a Quaker, although she attended her husband's African Methodist Episcopal Church. She was also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). NAACP leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson were frequent guests in the Rustin home. With these influences in his early life, in his youth Rustin campaigned against racially discriminatory Jim Crow laws.<br />
In 1932, Rustin entered Wilberforce University, a historically black college (HBCU) in Ohio operated by the AME Church. As a student at Wilberforce, Rustin was active in a number of campus organizations, including the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He left Wilberforce in 1936 before taking his final exams, and later attended Cheyney State Teachers College (now Cheyney University of Pennsylvania). <br />
<a href="http://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/images/Rustin_interior_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/images/Rustin_interior_1.jpg" /></a>After completing an activist training program conducted by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Rustin moved to Harlem in 1937 and began studying at City College of New York. There he became involved in efforts to defend and free the Scottsboro Boys, nine young black men in Alabama who were accused of raping two white women. He joined the Young Communist League in 1936. Soon after coming to New York City, he became a member of Fifteenth Street Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).<br />
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<i>When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.</i></div>
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<i>Bayard Rustin</i></div>
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Rustin was an accomplished tenor vocalist, an asset which earned him admissions to both Wilberforce University and Cheyney State Teachers College with music scholarships. In 1939, he was in the chorus of a short-lived musical that starred Paul Robeson. Blues singer Josh White was also a cast member, and later invited Rustin to join his band, "Josh White and the Carolinians". This gave Rustin the opportunity to become a regular performer at the Café Society nightclub in Greenwich Village, widening his social and intellectual contacts. A few albums on Fellowship Records featuring his singing were produced from the 1950s through the 1970s. He earned a living as a nightclub and stage singer, and continued activism for civil rights.<br />
In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), Rustin practiced nonviolence. He was a leading activist of the early 1947–1955 civil-rights movement, helping to initiate a 1947 Freedom Ride to challenge with civil disobedience racial segregation on interstate busing.<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogcitylights.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/withMLK2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://www.blogcitylights.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/withMLK2.jpg" width="320" /></a>Rustin and George Houser organized the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947. This was the first of the Freedom Rides to test the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States that banned racial discrimination in interstate travel (Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia). Rustin and CORE executive secretary Houser recruited a team of fourteen men, divided equally by race, to ride in pairs through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The NAACP opposed CORE's Gandhian tactics as too meek. Participants in the Journey of Reconciliation were arrested several times. Arrested with Jewish activist Igal Roodenko, Rustin served twenty-two days on a chain gang in North Carolina for violating Jim Crow laws regarding segregated seating on public transportation.<br />
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<i>Surely, I must at all times attempt to obey the law of the state. But when the will of God and the will of the state conflict, I am compelled to follow the will of God.</i></div>
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<i>Bayard Rustin</i></div>
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In 1948, Rustin traveled to India to learn techniques of nonviolent civil resistance directly from the leaders of the Gandhian movement. The conference had been organized before Gandhi's assassination earlier that year. Between 1947 and 1952, Rustin met with leaders of Ghana's and Nigeria's independence movements.<br />
In 1951, he formed the Committee to Support South African Resistance, which later became the American Committee on Africa.<br />
Rustin was arrested in Pasadena, California, in 1953 for homosexual activity with two other men in a parked car. Originally charged with vagrancy and lewd conduct, he pleaded guilty to a single, lesser charge of "sex perversion" (as consensual sodomy was officially referred to in California then) and served 60 days in jail. This was the first time that his homosexuality had come to public attention. He had been and remained candid about his sexuality, although homosexuality was still criminalized throughout the United States. After his conviction, he was fired from FOR. He became the executive secretary of the War Resisters League.<br />
<a href="http://diabeticradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bayard-Rustin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://diabeticradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bayard-Rustin.jpg" width="320" /></a>Rustin served as an unidentified member of the American Friends Service Committee's task force to write "Speak Truth to Power: A Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence," published in 1955. This was one of the most influential and widely commented upon pacifist essays in the United States. Rustin had wanted to keep his participation quiet, as he believed that his known sexual orientation would be used by critics as an excuse to compromise the 71-page pamphlet when it was published. It analyzed the Cold War and the American response to it, and recommended non-violent solutions.<br />
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<i>If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.</i></div>
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<i>Bayard Rustin</i></div>
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Rustin took leave from the War Resisters League in 1956 to advise Martin Luther King Jr. on Gandhian tactics. King was organizing the public transportation boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. According to Rustin, "I think it's fair to say that Dr. King's view of non-violent tactics was almost non-existent when the boycott began. In other words, Dr. King was permitting himself and his children and his home to be protected by guns." Rustin convinced King to abandon the armed protection, including a personal handgun.<br />
The following year, Rustin and King began organizing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Many African-American leaders were concerned that Rustin's sexual orientation and past Communist membership would undermine support for the civil rights movement. U.S. Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who was a member of the SCLC's board, forced Rustin's resignation from the SCLC in 1960 by threatening to discuss Rustin's morals charge in Congress. Although Rustin was open about his sexual orientation and his conviction was a matter of public record, the events had not been discussed widely outside the civil rights leadership.<br />
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<a href="http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/459/034/45903410_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/459/034/45903410_640.jpg" width="320" /></a>He recognized Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership, and helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to strengthen King's leadership; Rustin promoted the philosophy of nonviolence and the practices of nonviolent resistance, which he had observed while working with Gandhi's movement in India. Rustin became a leading strategist of the civil rights movement from 1955 to 1968. He was the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which was headed by A. Philip Randolph, the leading African-American labor-union president and socialist. Rustin also influenced young activists, such as Tom Kahn and Stokely Carmichael, in organizations like the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).<br />
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<i>The barometer for judging the character of people, in regard human rights, is now those who consider themselves gay, homosexual, lesbian. The judgment as to whether you can trust the future, the social advancement - depending on people - will be judged on where they come out on that question.</i></div>
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<i>Bayard Rustin</i></div>
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Despite shunning from some civil rights leaders,<br />
[w]hen the moment came for an unprecedented mass gathering in Washington, Randolph pushed Rustin forward as the logical choice to organize it.<br />
A few weeks before the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963, Senator Strom Thurmond railed against Rustin as a "Communist, draft-dodger, and homosexual," and had the entire Pasadena arrest file entered in the record. Thurmond also produced a Federal Bureau of Investigation photograph of Rustin talking to King while King was bathing, to imply that there was a same-sex relationship between the two. Both men denied the allegation of an affair.<br />
<a href="http://www.newmillgay.com/walter%20naegle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://www.newmillgay.com/walter%20naegle.jpg" width="320" /></a>Rustin was instrumental in organizing the march. He drilled off-duty police officers as marshals, bus captains to direct traffic, and scheduled the podium speakers. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rachelle Horowitz were aides.<br />
Despite King's support, NAACP chairman Roy Wilkins did not want Rustin to receive any public credit for his role in planning the march. Nevertheless, he did become well known. On September 6, 1963, Rustin and Randolph appeared on the cover of Life magazine as "the leaders" of the March.<br />
After the March on Washington, Rustin organized the New York City School Boycott. When Rustin was invited to speak at the University of Virginia in 1964, school administrators tried to ban him, out of fear that he would organize another school boycott there.<br />
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<a href="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/521d0b94ecad044c3c3a6bd3-1200-924/bayard-rustin-abernathy-and-king.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/521d0b94ecad044c3c3a6bd3-1200-924/bayard-rustin-abernathy-and-king.jpg" width="320" /></a>After the passage of the civil-rights legislation of 1964–65, Rustin focused attention on the economic problems of working-class and unemployed African Americans, suggesting that the civil-rights movement had left its period of "protest" and had entered an era of "politics", in which the Black community had to ally with the labor movement. Rustin became the head of the AFL–CIO's A. Philip Randolph Institute, which promoted the integration of formerly all-white unions and promoted the unionization of African Americans. Rustin became an honorary chairperson of the Socialist Party of America in 1972, before it changed its name to Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA); Rustin acted as national chairman of SDUSA during the 1970s. During the 1970s and 1980s, Rustin served on many humanitarian missions, such as aiding refugees from Communist Vietnam and Cambodia. He was on a humanitarian mission in Haiti when he died in 1987.<br />
<a href="http://media.commercialappeal.com/media/img/photos/2013/08/22/62795_t607_appcrop_t607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://media.commercialappeal.com/media/img/photos/2013/08/22/62795_t607_appcrop_t607.JPG" width="320" /></a>Rustin was a gay man who had been arrested for a homosexual act in 1953. Homosexuality was criminalized in parts of the United States until 2003. Rustin's sexuality, or at least his embarrassingly public criminal charge, was criticized by some fellow pacifists and civil-rights leaders. Rustin was attacked as a "pervert" or "immoral influence" by political opponents from segregationists to Black power militants, and from the 1950s through the 1970s. In addition, his pre-1941 Communist Party affiliation when he was a young man was controversial. To avoid such attacks, Rustin served only rarely as a public spokesperson. He usually acted as an influential adviser to civil-rights leaders. In the 1970s, he became a public advocate on behalf of gay and lesbian causes.<br />
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Mr. Rustin was survived by Walter Naegle, his partner of ten years.<br />
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<i>“We need in every bay and community a group of angelic troublemakers.” </i></div>
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<i>― Bayard Rustin</i></div>
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On November 20, 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom.<br />
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(*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard_Rustin*)<br />
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<img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/icon_watcher/More%20Thumbnails/Bayard_Rustin.jpg" />Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-79381103085404013532014-02-08T14:04:00.001-05:002014-02-08T14:04:27.166-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About George Washington Carver<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>"Where there is no vision, there is no hope." – George Washington Carver</i></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Growing up one of the first and most taled about black inventors I heard about was George Washington Carver. I didn't really understand at first that he'd invented many ways to use the peanut. I'd actually thought he'd invented the peanut, LOL. But his story is inspiring because though he experienced tragedy, he went on to accomplish greatness and make the world a better place. Not just for blacks but for everyone.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The following biography about Mr. Carver is cited below.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(*</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">George Washington Carver. (2014).</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Biography Channel website</em><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">. Retrieved 01:15, Feb 08, 2014, from</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><a href="http://www.biography.com/people/george-washington-carver-9240299" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.biography.com/people/george-washington-carver-9240299</a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">.*)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Botanist and inventor George Washington Carver was one of many children born to Mary and Giles, an enslaved couple owned by Moses Carver. He was born during the Civil War years, most likely in 1864. A week after his birth, George was kidnapped along with his sister and mother from the Carver farm by raiders from the neighboring state of Arkansas. The three were sold in Kentucky, and among them only the infant George was located by an agent of Moses Carver and returned to Missouri.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 brought the end of slavery in Missouri. Moses Carver and his wife, Susan, decided to keep George and his brother James at their home after that time, raising and educating the two boys. Susan Carver taught George to read and write, since no local school would accept black students at the time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The search for knowledge would remain a driving force for the rest of George's life. As a young man, he left the Carver home to travel to a school for black children 10 miles away. It was at this point that the boy, who had always identified himself as "Carver's George" first came to be known as "George Carver." Carver attended a series of schools before receiving his diploma at Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas.</span></div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">"When our thoughts—which bring actions—are filled with hate against anyone, Negro or white, we are in a living hell. That is as real as hell will ever be."</em></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">– George Washington Carver</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Accepted to Highland College in Highland, Kansas, Carver was denied admittance once college administrators learned of his race. Instead of attending classes, he homesteaded a claim, where he conducted biological experiments and compiled a geological collection. While interested in science, Carver was also interested in the arts. In 1890, he began studying art and music at Simpson College in Iowa, developing his painting and drawing skills through sketches of botanical samples. His obvious aptitude for drawing the natural world prompted a teacher to suggest that Carver enroll in the botany program at the Iowa State Agricultural College.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carver moved to Ames and began his botanical studies the following year as the first black student at Iowa State. Carver excelled in his studies. Upon completion of his Bachelor of Science degree, Carver's professors Joseph Budd and Louis Pammel persuaded him to stay on for a master's degree. His graduate studies included intensive work in plant pathology at the Iowa Experiment Station. In these years, Carver established his reputation as a brilliant botanist and began the work that he would pursue for the remainder of his career.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After graduating from Iowa State, Carver embarked on a career of teaching and research. <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Booker T. Washington</a>, the principal of the African-American Tuskegee Institute, hired Carver to run the school's agricultural department in 1896. Washington lured the promising young botanist to the institute with a hefty salary and the promise of two rooms on campus, while most faculty members lived with a roommate. Carver's special status stemmed from his accomplishments and reputation, as well as his degree from a prominent institution not normally open to black students. </span><br />
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<i>Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.</i></div>
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<i>-George Washington Carver</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Tuskegee's agricultural department achieved national renown under Carver's leadership, with a curriculum and a faculty that he helped to shape. Areas of research and training included methods of crop rotation and the development of alternative cash crops for farmers in areas heavily planted with cotton. This work helped struggling sharecroppers in the South, many of them former slaves now faced with necessary cultivation under harsh conditions, including the devastation of the boll weevil in 1892. The development of new crops and diversification of crop use helped to stabilize the livelihoods of these people who had backgrounds not unlike Carver's own.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The education of African-American students at Tuskegee contributed directly to the effort of economic stabilization among blacks. In addition to formal education in a traditional classroom setting, Carver pioneered a mobile classroom to bring his lessons to farmers. The classroom was known as a "Jesup wagon," after New York financier and Tuskegee donor Morris Ketchum Jesup.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7890913381472307616" name="rise-to-prominence" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rise to Prominence</span></a></h3>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carver's work at Tuskegee included groundbreaking research on plant biology that brought him to national prominence. Many of these early experiments focused on the development of new uses for crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans and pecans. The hundreds of products he invented included plastics, paints, dyes and even a kind of gasoline. In 1920, Carver delivered a speech before the Peanut Growers Association, attesting to the wide potential of peanuts. The following year, he testified before Congress in support of a tariff on imported peanuts. With the help of Carver's testimony, the proponents of the tariff were able to institute it in 1922.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.gq.com/style/blogs/the-gq-eye/2012/02/16/A-GEORGE_CARVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.gq.com/style/blogs/the-gq-eye/2012/02/16/A-GEORGE_CARVER.jpg" width="232" /></a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carver's prominence as a scientific expert made him one of the most famous African-Americans of his time, and one of the best-known African-American intellectuals up to that point. By the time of his testimony, however, Carver had already achieved international fame in political and professional circles. President <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/theodore-roosevelt-9463424" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Theodore Roosevelt</a> admired his work and sought his advice on agricultural matters in the United States. Carver was also recognized abroad for his scientific expertise. In 1916, he was made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts—a rare honor for an American. Carver also advised Indian leader <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Mahatma Gandhi</a> on matters of agriculture and nutrition.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carver used his celebrity to promote scientific causes for the remainder of his life. He wrote a syndicated newspaper column and toured the nation, speaking on the importance of agricultural innovation, the achievements and example of Tuskegee, and the possibilities for racial harmony in the United States. From 1923 to 1933, Carver toured white Southern colleges for the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The politics of accommodation championed by both George Washington Carver and <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Booker T. Washington</a> were anathema to activists who sought more radical change.</span><br />
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<i>How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.</i></div>
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<i>-George Washington Carver</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Despite his involvement with government-funded scientific research and programs, Carver largely remained outside of the political sphere, and declined to criticize prevailing social norms outright. Nonetheless, Carver's scholarship and research contributed to improved quality of life for many farming families, and made Carver an icon for African-Americans and Anglo-Americans alike.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">George Washington Carver died on January 5, 1943, at the age of 78 after falling down the stairs at his home. He was buried next to <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Booker T. Washington</a> on the Tuskegee grounds. Carver's epitaph reads: "He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world."</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blackiowa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/C.2.9-Carver-as-a-faculty-member-of-Iowa-State-College-circa-1895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.blackiowa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/C.2.9-Carver-as-a-faculty-member-of-Iowa-State-College-circa-1895.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7890913381472307616" name="legacy" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Legacy</span></a></h3>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carver's iconic status remained after his death, in part due to steps that Carver and others took during his lifetime to establish his legacy. Carver, who had lived a frugal life, used his savings to establish a museum devoted to his work, including some of his own paintings and drawings. In December 1947, a fire broke out in the museum, destroying much of the collection. One of the surviving works by Carver is a painting of a yucca and a cactus, displayed at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. In addition to the museum, Carver also established the George Washington Carver Foundation at Tuskegee, with the aim of supporting future agricultural research.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A project to erect a national monument in Carver's honor also began before his death. <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/harry-s-truman-9511121" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Harry S. Truman</a>, then a senator from Missouri, sponsored a bill in favor of a monument during World War II. Supporters of the bill argued that the wartime expenditure was warranted because the monument would promote patriotic fervor among African-Americans and encourage them to enlist in the military. The bill passed unanimously in both houses.</span><br />
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<i>Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.</i></div>
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<i>-George Washington Carver</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 1943, President <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/franklin-d-roosevelt-9463381" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Franklin D. Roosevelt</a> dedicated $30,000 for the monument west of Diamond, Missouri—the site of the plantation where Carver lived as a child. This was the first national monument dedicated to an African-American. The 210-acre complex includes a statue of Carver as well as a nature trail, museum and cemetery.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carver appeared on U.S. commemorative postal stamps in 1948 and 1998, as well as a commemorative half dollar coin minted between 1951 and 1954. Numerous schools bear his name, as do two United States military vessels. In 2005, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis opened a George Washington Carver garden, which includes a life-size statue of the garden's famous namesake. These honors attest to George Washington Carver's enduring legacy as an icon of African-American achievement, and of American ingenuity more broadly. Carver's life has come to symbolize the transformative potential of education, even for those born into the most unfortunate and difficult of circumstances.</span></div>
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<i>No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.</i></div>
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<i>-George Washington Carver</i></div>
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Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-64746979585246764372014-02-07T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-07T08:00:08.193-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>These children-unoffending, innocent and beautiful-were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity. And, yet, they died nobly. They are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity.</i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</i></div>
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Not everything in black history is all about those men and women who have made such wonderful strides for a race of people oppressed and long ago enslaved. Much of it is very tragic. There is black "present" that is just as tragic to a totally different degree because where there used to not be laws in place to fight against the murders, the harassment, and oppression of African-Americans, now there are laws that are supposed to prevent these things from going un-prosecuted. Unfortunately, a lot of murders and hate crimes go without being prosecuted or fairly prosecuted where the one who was murdered was not put on trial, but was instead seen as the victim.<br />
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In the case of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing it took decades before those responsible, all of those responsible were either prosecuted, brought to justice, or passed away without ever being brought to task for their horrendous crimes.<br />
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I wasn't alive when the bombing took place, of course, but my bio grandmother, great-grandmother and other members of my family were and they have shared stories with me about how the death of the four little girls who were in the church affected so many people. And though I wasn't there I know that just hearing about the bombing shook me to my core.<br />
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I want to take today to honor those four little girls: <b>Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson </b>and<b> Denise McNair.</b><br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_1884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_1884.jpg" width="320" /></a>In the early morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Herman Frank Cash, and Robert Chambliss, members of United Klans of America, a Ku Klux Klan group, planted a box of dynamite with a time delay under the steps of the church, near the basement. At about 10:22 a.m., twenty-six children were walking into the basement assembly room to prepare for the sermon entitled “The Love That Forgives,” when the bomb exploded. Four girls, Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14), were killed in the attack, and 22 additional people were injured, one of whom was Addie Mae Collins' younger sister, Sarah. The explosion blew a hole in the church's rear wall, destroyed the back steps and all but one stained-glass window, which showed Christ leading a group of little children.<br />
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Civil rights activists blamed George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, for the killings. Birmingham was a violent city and was nicknamed “Bombingham”, because the city had experienced more than 50 bombings in black institutions and homes since World War I. Only a week before the bombing Wallace had told The New York Times that to stop integration Alabama needed a "few first-class funerals."<br />
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<a href="http://www.oxfordsd.org/cms/lib/MS01001032/Centricity/Domain/54/1963_birmingham_church_bomb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.oxfordsd.org/cms/lib/MS01001032/Centricity/Domain/54/1963_birmingham_church_bomb.jpg" /></a>A witness identified Robert Edward Chambliss, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, as the man who placed the bomb under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. He was arrested but only charged with possessing a box of 122 sticks of dynamite without a permit. On October 8, 1963, Chambliss received a hundred-dollar fine and a six-month jail sentence for having the dynamite. At the time, no federal charges were filed on Chambliss.<br />
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The case was unsolved until Bill Baxley was elected Attorney General of Alabama. He requested the original Federal Bureau of Investigation files on the case and discovered that the FBI had accumulated evidence against the named suspects that had not been revealed to the prosecutors by order of J. Edgar Hoover. The files were used to reopen the case in 1971.<br />
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In November 1977, the seemingly forgotten case of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing was brought to Court, where Chambliss, now aged 73, was tried once again and was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Chambliss died in Lloyd Noland Hospital and Health Center on October 29, 1985.<br />
On May 18, 2000, the FBI announced that the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing had been carried out by the Ku Klux Klan splinter group the Cahaba Boys. It was claimed that four men, the afore-mentioned Robert Edward Chambliss, Herman Frank Cash, Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry had been responsible for the crime. Cash was dead but Blanton and Cherry were arrested, and both have since been tried and convicted.<br />
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<a href="http://e08595.medialib.glogster.com/media/a6/a6ee657b2e400a22b671c12b5a3f7447dd827e4e007592f7dbafc7ae9340f4d5/4-jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://e08595.medialib.glogster.com/media/a6/a6ee657b2e400a22b671c12b5a3f7447dd827e4e007592f7dbafc7ae9340f4d5/4-jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a>The explosions increased anger and tension, which were already high in Birmingham. Birmingham’s Mayor Albert Boutwell wept and said, “It is just sickening that a few individuals could commit such a horrible atrocity.” Two more black people were shot to death approximately seven hours following the Sunday morning bombing, 16-year-old Johnny Robinson and 13-year-old Virgil Ware. Robinson was shot by police, reportedly after they caught him throwing rocks at cars and he ignored orders to halt as he fled down an alley. Ware was "shot from ambush" as he and his brother rode their bicycles in a residential suburb, 15 miles north of the city; UPI reported: "Two white youths seen riding a motorcycle in the area were sought by police."<br />
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<i>They say to each of us, black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream.</i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</i></div>
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In spite of everything, the newly integrated schools continued to meet. Schools had been integrated the previous Tuesday with black and white children in the same classrooms for the first time in that city.<br />
As the news story about the four girls reached the national and international press, many felt that they had not taken the Civil Rights struggle seriously enough. A Milwaukee Sentinel editorial opined, “For the rest of the nation, the Birmingham church bombing should serve to goad the conscience. The deaths…in a sense are on the hands of each of us.”<br />
<a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/files/2013/08/Church-Bombing-Birmingham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/files/2013/08/Church-Bombing-Birmingham.jpg" /></a><br />
The city of Birmingham initially offered a $52,000 reward for the arrest of the bombers. Governor George Wallace, an outspoken segregationalist, offered an additional $5,000. However, civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wired Wallace that "the blood of four little children ... is on your hands. Your irresponsible and misguided actions have created in Birmingham and Alabama the atmosphere that has induced continued violence and now murder."<br />
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Following the tragic event, white strangers visited the grieving families to express their sorrow. At the funeral for three of the girls (one family preferred a separate, private funeral), Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke about life being "as hard as crucible steel." More than 8,000 mourners, including 800 clergymen of all races, attended the service. No city officials attended. The bombing continued to increase worldwide sympathy for the civil rights cause. On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ensuring equal rights of African Americans before the law.<br />
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FBI investigations gathered evidence pointing to four suspects: Robert Chambliss, Thomas E. Blanton Jr, Herman Cash, and Bobby Frank Cherry. According to a later report from the Bureau, “By 1965, we had serious suspects—namely, Robert E. Chambliss, Bobby Frank Cherry, Herman Frank Cash, and Thomas E. Blanton, Jr., all KKK members—but witnesses were reluctant to talk and physical evidence was lacking. Also, at that time, information from our surveillances was not admissible in court. As a result, no federal charges were filed in the ’60s.” Although Chambliss was convicted on an explosives charge, no convictions were obtained in the 1960s for the killings.<br />
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<a href="http://ioneblackamericaweb.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/16th-st-baptist-church-ap.jpg%3Fw%3D630" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://ioneblackamericaweb.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/16th-st-baptist-church-ap.jpg%3Fw%3D630" width="400" /></a>Alabama Attorney General William Baxley reopened the investigation after he took office in 1971, requesting evidence from the FBI and building trust with key witnesses who had been reluctant to testify in the first trial. The prosecutor had been a student at the University of Alabama when he heard about the bombing in 1963. “I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what.”<br />
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In 1977 former Ku Klux Klansman Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss was indicted in the murder of all four girls, tried and convicted of the first-degree murder of Denise McNair, and sentenced to life in prison. He died eight years later in prison.<br />
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Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr. was tried in 2001 and found guilty at age 62 of four counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.<br />
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Herman Frank Cash died in 1994 without having been charged. Bobby Frank Cherry, also a former Klansman, was indicted in 2001 along with Blanton. Judge James Garrett of Jefferson County Circuit Court ruled "that Mr. Cherry's trial would be delayed indefinitely because a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation concluded that he was mentally incompetent.” He was later convicted in 2002, sentenced to life in prison, and died in 2004.<br />
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<b><u>About Addie, Denise, Carole, and Cynthia</u></b><br />
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Addie Mae Collins was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 18, 1949. She attended the 16th Street Baptist Church with her parents, Julius and Alice, as well as her six siblings. On the morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, 14-year-old Collins was in the church basement room with a group of other children.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing_girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing_girls.jpg" /></a>Cynthia Dionne Wesley was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 30, 1949. She attended the 16th Street Baptist Church with her adoptive parents, Claude and Gertrude Wesley. On the morning of Sunday, September 15, 1963, a 14-year-old Wesley was in the church basement room with a group of other children.<br />
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Carole Denise McNair was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 17, 1951. She attended the 16th Street Baptist Church with her parents, Chris and Maxine McNair. On the morning of Sunday, September 15, 1962, 11-year-old Denise McNair was scheduled to participate in the morning sermon. She filed into a basement room with 25 other children who were also preparing for the sermon, entitled "The Love That Forgives."<br />
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Born on April 24, 1949, Carole Rosamond Robertson grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where her family had deep roots. With her father, Alvin, her mother, Alpha, an older sister, Dianne, and an older brother, Alvin Jr., Carole lived in Birmingham's Smithfield neighborhood, an African-American section of the city.<br />
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Alvin was an educator with an interest in music, and Carole was a musical child herself. She sang in the chorus at Wilkerson Elementary School, played the clarinet and was a member of Parker High School's marching band. In addition to reading and studying—Carole was a high-achieving student—she participated in Saturday dance lessons, the science club, Girl Scouts and Jack and Jill of America, a civically minded youth and family organization (in addition to working as a school librarian, Alpha Robertson served as a regional director for the group).<br />
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<b>Bombing in Birmingham</b><br />
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Having seen 50 racially targeted bombings since 1945, Carole Robertson's hometown was sometimes called "Bombingham." Though her parents wanted to protect their daughter, not allowing her to go out alone at night, the family also continued to lead a regular existence. One part of their routine was attending services at the 16th Street Baptist Church, a nerve center for the city's African-American community that had also served as a gathering place for leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.<br />
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<a href="http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/hoses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/hoses.jpg" /></a>On September 15, 1963, a Sunday, Carole went to church and attended a Sunday school class. While she was preparing for a "Youth Day" service, a bomb went off at 10:22 a.m., killing the 14-year-old. Three other young girls were killed in the blast—14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley, and 11-year-old Denise McNair—and more than 20 other people were injured. Horrified by the attack, protests followed in Birmingham, during which two African-American boys were killed, one by a police officer.<br />
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After identifying his daughter's body, Alvin Robertson came home and broke a porch door in his grief. Though the three other victims had a funeral service together, Carole's family chose to hold a private service on the Tuesday after the attack—as her sister, Dianne, later explained, "The world was upset and hurt, but it was our family's grief." The bombing had shocked the entire country, and in its aftermath support grew for the Civil Rights Act, which became law in 1964.<br />
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At 10:22 a.m., a bomb exploded under the steps of the church. Collins was killed in the blast along with Denise McNair, 11, and Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, both 14. In addition to the four fatalities, more than 20 people were injured. One of these was Addie Mae's younger sister, Sarah Collins, who lost an eye and sustained other serious injuries.<br />
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<b>Political Context</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/images/churches/lfirethr.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/images/churches/lfirethr.gif" width="400" /></a>The bombing at killed Collins and her friends was a racially motivated hate crime. It occurred in the context of social upheaval in the city of Birmingham, which earned the moniker "Bombingham" after a spate of terrorist activities.<br />
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In the months leading up to the church bombing, the Civil Rights Movement had made strides in the city of Birmingham. In May 1963, city and civil rights leaders negotiated the integration of public spaces, sparking widespread violence. The 16th Street Church, frequently used as a meeting place for leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph D. Abernathy, was an obvious target for this activity.<br />
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<b>Prosecutions</b><br />
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Collins's murder remained officially unsolved until the 1970s. Robert Chambliss, a member of a Ku Klux Klan group seen placing the dynamite under the church steps, was arrested in 1963, but tried only for illegal possession of explosives. The case remained dormant until 1971, when Attorney General William Baxley reopened it. Baxley obtained FBI files containing substantive information, including the names of suspects, which had been withheld by J. Edgar Hoover in the '60s. In a later statement, the FBI stated that their investigation had been impeded by the lack of witness cooperation in Birmingham.<br />
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In 1977, a 73-year-old Chambliss was convicted of the murder of Addie Mae Collins and sentenced to life in prison. Two other perpetrators—Thomas Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry—were convicted in 2001 and 2002, respectively. A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died in 1994, before he could be charged.<br />
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<b>Legacy and Mystery After Death</b><br />
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Collins and her fellow victims became symbols of racial violence, styled as martyrs in the struggle for civil rights. In 2013, the United States Congress awarded each girl the Congressional Gold Medal.<br />
<a href="http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kwmu/files/201303/Congress_of_Racial_Equality_and_members_of_the_All_Souls_Church,_Unitarian_march_in_memory_of_the_16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing_victims.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kwmu/files/201303/Congress_of_Racial_Equality_and_members_of_the_All_Souls_Church,_Unitarian_march_in_memory_of_the_16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing_victims.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The Collins family appears in the 1997 Spike Lee film 4 Little Girls, a documentary on the bombing and its political significance. In 1998, the Collins family requested that Addie Mae's body be exhumed and moved to another cemetery. Her body was not in the spot where it was presumed to be. After decades of neglect, the cemetery records were found to be incomplete and the location of the body had been lost.<br />
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Chris and Maxine McNair had two daughters following Denise's death. The family appears in the Spike Lee film 4 Little Girls, a documentary on the bombing and its aftermath. McNair and her fellow victims became symbols of racial violence, styled as martyrs in the struggle for civil rights. In 2013, the United States Congress awarded each girl the Congressional Gold Medal.<br />
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<i>These tragic deaths may lead our nation to substitute an aristocracy of character for an aristocracy of color. The spilled blood of these innocent girls may cause the whole citizenry...to transform the negative extremes of a dark past into the positive extremes of a bright future.</i></div>
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<i>-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</i></div>
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(*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing)</div>
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(*Addie Mae Collins. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:38, Feb 07, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/addie-mae-collins-21396619.*)</div>
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(*Denise McNair. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:38, Feb 07, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/denise-mcnair-21396581.*)</div>
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(*Carole Robertson. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:39, Feb 07, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/carole-robertson-21402433.*)</div>
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(*Cynthia Wesley. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:40, Feb 07, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/cynthia-wesley-21402019.*)</div>
Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-84880817026022999682014-02-06T14:36:00.002-05:002014-02-06T14:36:54.506-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Frederick Douglass<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>"I have observed this in my experience of slavery, that whenever my condition was improved, instead of increasing my contentment; it only increased my desire to be free, and set me thinking of plans to gain my freedom." - Frederick Douglass</i></span></div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Unidentified_Artist_-_Frederick_Douglass_-_Google_Art_Project-restore.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Unidentified_Artist_-_Frederick_Douglass_-_Google_Art_Project-restore.png" width="251" /></a>Growing up, during Black History Month whenever my classmates were writing reports on Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks at the end of the month (because that was when the reports were due and those seemed to be the only three Af-Am people worth mentioning in our schools) I spent a lot of time doing research and finding other black people who I could write papers on. One of the most amazing men that I found out about was Frederick Douglass. He was an author, an orator, and an abolitionist. A slave who escaped to freedom and then made sure he did what he could to help others achieve the same thing. I knew that if I'd ever had to live in the time of slavery, I would have been like Frederick Douglass, and that's just knowing my own personality. I'm very happy to honor him.<br />
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Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland, around 1818. The exact year and date of Douglass' birth are unknown, though later in life he chose to celebrate it on February 14. Douglass lived with his maternal grandmother, Betty Bailey. At a young age, Douglass was selected in live in the home of the plantation owners, one of whom may have been his father. His mother, an intermittent presence in his life, died when he was around 10.<br />
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Frederick Douglass was given to Lucretia Auld, the wife of Thomas Auld, following the death of his master. Lucretia sent Frederick to serve her brother-in-law, Hugh Auld, at his Baltimore home. It was at the Auld home that Frederick Douglass first acquired the skills that would vault him to national celebrity. Defying a ban on teaching slaves to read and write, Hugh Auld’s wife Sophia taught Douglass the alphabet when he was around 12. When Hugh Auld forbade his wife’s lessons, Douglass continued to learn from white children and others in the neighborhood.<br />
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<i>"If there is no struggle there is no progress. . . . Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."</i></div>
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<i>– Frederick Douglass</i></div>
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<a href="http://percaritatem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Frederick-Douglass-Speaking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://percaritatem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Frederick-Douglass-Speaking.jpg" width="259" /></a>It was through reading that Douglass’ ideological opposition to slavery began to take shape. He read newspapers avidly, and sought out political writing and literature as much as possible. In later years, Douglass credited The Columbian Orator with clarifying and defining his views on human rights. Douglass shared his newfound knowledge with other enslaved people. Hired out to William Freeland, he taught other slaves on the plantation to read the New Testament at a weekly church service. Interest was so great that in any week, more than 40 slaves would attend lessons. Although Freeland did not interfere with the lessons, other local slave owners were less understanding. Armed with clubs and stones, they dispersed the congregation permanently.<br />
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In 1833, Thomas Auld took Douglass back from his son Hugh following a dispute. Thomas Auld sent Douglass to work for Edward Covey, who had a reputation as a "slave-breaker.” Covey’s constant abuse did nearly break the 16-year-old Douglass psychologically. Eventually, however, Douglass fought back, in a scene rendered powerfully in his first autobiography. After losing a physical confrontation with Douglass, Covey never beat him again.<br />
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<b>Freedom and Abolitionism</b><br />
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Frederick Douglass tried to escape from slavery twice before he succeeded. He was assisted in his final attempt by Anna Murray, a free black woman in Baltimore with whom Douglass had fallen in love. On September 3, 1838, Douglass boarded a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland.<br />
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Anna Murray had provided him with some of her savings and a sailor's uniform. He carried identification papers obtained from a free black seaman. Douglass made his way to the safe house of abolitionist David Ruggles in New York in less than 24 hours.<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Sketch_of_Douglass,_1845-crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Sketch_of_Douglass,_1845-crop.jpg" width="254" /></a>Once he had arrived, Douglass sent for Murray to meet him in New York. They married on September 15, 1838, adopting the married name of Johnson to disguise Douglass’ identity. Anna and Frederick settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, which had a thriving free black community. There, they adopted Douglass as their married name. Frederick Douglass joined a black church and regularly attended abolitionist meetings. He also subscribed to William Lloyd Garrison's weekly journal The Liberator.<br />
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<i> "What was possible for me is possible for you. Do not think because you are colored you cannot accomplish anything. Strive earnestly to add to your knowledge. So long as you remain in ignorance, so long will you fail to command the respect of your fellow men."</i></div>
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<i>-Frederick Douglass</i></div>
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Eventually Douglass was asked to tell his story at abolitionist meetings, after which he became a regular anti-slavery lecturer. William Lloyd Garrison was impressed with Douglass’ strength and rhetorical skill, and wrote of him in The Liberator. Several days after the story ran, Douglass delivered his first speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society's annual convention in Nantucket. Crowds were not always hospitable to Douglass. While participating in an 1843 lecture tour through the Midwest, Douglass was chased and beaten by an angry mob before being rescued by a local Quaker family.<br />
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At the urging of William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass wrote and published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, in 1845. The book was a bestseller in the United States and was translated into several European languages. Although the book garnered Douglass many fans, some critics expressed doubt that a former slave with no formal education could have produced such elegant prose. Douglass published three versions of his autobiography during his lifetime, revising and expanding on his work each time. My Bondage and My Freedom appeared in 1855. In 1881, Douglass published Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, which he revised in 1892.<br />
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Fame had its drawbacks for a runaway slave. Following the publication of his autobiography, Douglass departed for Ireland to evade recapture. Douglass set sail for Liverpool on August 16, 1845, arriving in Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine was beginning. He remained in Ireland and Britain for two years, speaking to large crowds on the evils of slavery. During this time, Douglass’ British supporters gathered funds to purchase his legal freedom. In 1847, Douglass returned to the United States a free man.<br />
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<a href="http://ioneelev8.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/frederick-douglass1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://ioneelev8.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/frederick-douglass1.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<i>“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” </i></div>
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<i>― Frederick Douglass</i></div>
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Upon his return, Douglass produced some abolitionist newspapers: The North Star, Frederick Douglass Weekly, Frederick Douglass' Paper, Douglass' Monthly and New National Era. The motto of The North Star was "Right is of no Sex – Truth is of no Color – God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren."<br />
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In addition to abolition, Douglass became an outspoken supporter of women’s rights. In 1848, he was the only African American to attend the first women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York.<br />
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<i>“I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom. I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceased to be a man.” </i></div>
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<i>― Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</i></div>
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton asked the assembly to pass a resolution stating the goal of women's suffrage. Many attendees opposed the idea. Douglass stood and spoke eloquently in favor, arguing that he could not accept the right to vote as a black man if women could not also claim that right. The resolution passed. Douglass would later come into conflict with women’s rights activists for supporting the Fifteenth Amendment, which banned suffrage discrimination based on race while upholding sex-based restrictions.<br />
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<b>Civil War and Reconstruction</b><br />
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By the time of the Civil War, Douglass was one of the most famous black men in the country. He used his status to influence the role of African Americans in the war and their status in the country. In 1863, Douglass conferred with President Abraham Lincoln regarding the treatment of black soldiers, and with President Andrew Johnson on the subject of black suffrage.<br />
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<a href="http://liberalarts.iupui.edu/douglass/uploads/images/McElrath_Douglass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://liberalarts.iupui.edu/douglass/uploads/images/McElrath_Douglass.jpg" width="320" /></a>President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, declared the freedom of all slaves in Confederate territory. Despite this victory, Douglass supported John C. Frémont over Lincoln in the 1864 election, citing his disappointment that Lincoln did not publicly endorse suffrage for black freedmen. Slavery everywhere in the United States was subsequently outlawed by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.<br />
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<i>“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” </i></div>
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<i>― Frederick Douglass</i></div>
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Frederick Douglass was appointed to several political positions following the war. He served as president of the Freedman's Savings Bank and as chargé d'affaires for the Dominican Republic. After two years, he resigned from his ambassadorship over objections to the particulars of U.S. government policy. He was later appointed minister-resident and consul-general to the Republic of Haiti, a post he held between 1889 and 1891.<br />
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Douglass became the first African American nominated for vice president of the United States, as Victoria Woodhull's running mate on the Equal Rights Party ticket in 1872. Nominated without his knowledge or consent, Douglass never campaigned. Nonetheless, his nomination marked the first time that an African American appeared on a presidential ballot.<br />
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In 1877, Douglass visited his former owner, Thomas Auld. Douglass had met with Auld's daughter, Amanda Auld Sears, years before. The visit held personal significance for Douglass, although some criticized him for reconciling with Auld.<br />
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<b>Family Life and Death</b><br />
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Frederick and Anna Douglass had five children: Rosetta, Lewis Henry, Frederick Jr., Charles Redmond, and Annie. Annie died at the age of 10. Charles and Rosetta assisted their father in the production of his newspaper The North Star. Anna Douglass remained a loyal supporter of Frederick's public work, despite marital strife caused by his relationships with several other women.<br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Frederick_Douglass_c1860s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Frederick_Douglass_c1860s.jpg" width="269" /></a><br />
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<i>“Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” </i></div>
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<i>― Frederick Douglass</i></div>
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After Anna’s death, Douglass married Helen Pitts, a white feminist from Honeoye, New York. Pitts was the daughter of Gideon Pitts Jr., an abolitionist colleague. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Helen Pitts worked on a radical feminist publication and shared many of Douglass’ moral principles. Their marriage caused considerable controversy, since Pitts was both white and nearly 20 years younger than Douglass. Douglass’ children were especially displeased with the relationship.<br />
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<i>“The marriage institution cannot exist among slaves, and one sixth of the population of democratic America is denied it's privileges by the law of the land. What is to be thought of a nation boasting of its liberty, boasting of it's humanity, boasting of its Christianity, boasting of its love of justice and purity, and yet having within its own borders three millions of persons denied by law the right of marriage?” </i></div>
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<i>― Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom</i></div>
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Frederick Douglass and Helen Pitts remained married until Douglass’ death, 11 years later. On February 20, 1895, Douglass attended a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C. Shortly after returning home, Frederick Douglass died of a massive heart attack or stroke. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York.<br />
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(*Frederick Douglass. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:05, Feb 06, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324.*)<br />
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<i>“I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of the land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels. Never was there a clearer case of 'stealing the livery of the court of heaven to serve the devil in.' I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which every where surround me. We have men-stealers for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members. The man who wields the blood-clotted cowskin during the week fills the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus. . . . The slave auctioneer’s bell and the church-going bell chime in with each other, and the bitter cries of the heart-broken slave are drowned in the religious shouts of his pious master. Revivals of religion and revivals in the slave-trade go hand in hand together. The slave prison and the church stand near each other. The clanking of fetters and the rattling of chains in the prison, and the pious psalm and solemn prayer in the church, may be heard at the same time. The dealers in the bodies and souls of men erect their stand in the presence of the pulpit, and they mutually help each other. The dealer gives his blood-stained gold to support the pulpit, and the pulpit, in return, covers his infernal business with the garb of Christianity. Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other—devils dressed in angels’ robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise.” </i></div>
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<i>― Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</i></div>
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Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-69356436163530782782014-02-05T19:40:00.001-05:002014-02-05T19:40:25.485-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Marian Wright Edelman<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>"You really can change the world if you care enough." – Marian Wright Edelman</i></span></div>
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I can't say that I agree with everything Mrs Edelman has ever said or stands for, which is true for everyone I've honored or will honor, but as the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi bar and the creator of the Children's Defense Fund, she deserves to be honored.</div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Marian_Wright_Edelman_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Marian_Wright_Edelman_01.jpg" height="320" width="218" /></a><a href="http://www.findingdulcinea.com/docroot/dulcinea/fd_images/features/profiles/e/marian-wright-edelman/features/0/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.findingdulcinea.com/docroot/dulcinea/fd_images/features/profiles/e/marian-wright-edelman/features/0/image.jpg" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Marian Wright Edelman was born in 1939 in Bennetsville, South Carolina. She briefly <a href="http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marianwrightedelman/p/m_w_edelman.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">attended</a> Spelman College, then studied abroad on a Merrill <a href="http://mith.umd.edu/crge/ird/entry_display.php?id=25" style="text-decoration: none;">scholarship</a>, and eventually traveled to the Soviet Union on a Lisle <a href="http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1686.html" style="text-decoration: none;">fellowship</a>. In 1959 she returned to the U.S., took an active role in the civil-rights movement, and graduated from <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6638" style="text-decoration: none;">Yale</a> Law School in 1963, becoming the first African-American woman ever admitted to the Mississippi bar. Edelman launched her post-academic career by <a href="http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marianwrightedelman/p/m_w_edelman.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">working</a> on a voter-registration project targeting Mississippi blacks, and later found employment with the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6160" style="text-decoration: none;">NAACP</a> Legal Defense Fund. In 1968 she married civil-rights attorney <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1786" style="text-decoration: none;">Peter Edelman</a>.<br /><br />Also in l968, Marian Wright Edelman moved to Washington, DC to serve as <a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/leadership-staff/marian-wright-edelman/" style="text-decoration: none;">counsel</a> for the Poor People's Campaign that Martin Luther King, Jr. had recently established. She subsequently <a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/leadership-staff/marian-wright-edelman/" style="text-decoration: none;">founded</a> the Washington Research Project, a public-interest law firm, and then spent two years as <a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/leadership-staff/marian-wright-edelman/" style="text-decoration: none;">director</a> of <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6678" style="text-decoration: none;">Harvard University</a>'s Center for Law and Education.<br /><br />In 1972 Edelman, who <a href="http://www.rense.com/general80/fon.htm" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">served</a> a stint on the trustees' board of the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7493" style="text-decoration: none;">Industrial Areas Foundation</a>, delivered a eulogy at the funeral of its founder, the famed community organizer <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2314" style="text-decoration: none;">Saul Alinsky</a>. Edelman <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032401152_pf.html" style="text-decoration: none;">viewed</a> Alinsky as a “brilliant” man who “was working for underdogs” and “trying to empower communities.”<br /><br />In 1973 Edelman established the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6398" style="text-decoration: none;">Children's Defense Fund</a> (CDF), in an effort to inject new energy into the civil-rights movement by emphasizing child welfare rather than racial justice. “When you talked about poor people or black people you faced a shrinking audience,” Edelman <a href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_3_the_childrens.html" style="text-decoration: none;">explains</a>. “I got the idea that children might be a very effective way to broaden the base for change.”<a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=18" style="text-decoration: none;">Hillary Rodham [Clinton]</a> interned with the nascent CDF after graduating from law school in 1973, and Edelman became her trusted friend and mentor.<br /><br />Lamenting that child poverty, teen pregnancy, academic failure, and criminal involvement afflict African-Americans at disproportionately high rates, Edelman, in her writings and speeches, <a href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_3_the_childrens.html" style="text-decoration: none;">rarely</a> alludes to the fact that these problems are correlated much more highly with fatherlessness than with race. By Edelman's calculus, they are largely the result of America's intransigent racism. As she <a href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_3_the_childrens.html" style="text-decoration: none;">wrote</a> in her 1987 book <em>Families in Peril</em>: “Children are poor because we have lost our moral bearings.”<br /><br />A key barometer of those “moral bearings,” as Edelman defines them, is federal welfare spending. During the months prior to the August 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)—a measure designed to move large numbers of people off the welfare rolls and into jobs—Edelman persistently <a href="http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/Politics/edelman_open_letter.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_new">warned</a> that the bill, if enacted, would “codify a policy of national child abandonment” by “push[ing] millions of already poor children and families deeper into poverty.” She </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">declared, further, that PRWORA represented the “biggest betrayal of children” she had ever witnessed. In an effort to spark public opposition to the bill, Edelman </span><a href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_3_the_childrens.html" style="text-decoration: none;">organized</a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> a June 1, 1996 "Stand for Children" March on Washington, which drew 300,000 people. Also in 1996, Edelman </span><a href="http://archive.mrc.org/mediawatch/1996/watch19961001.asp" style="text-decoration: none;">proposed</a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">, as an alternative to welfare reform, a government guarantee of full employment, socialized medicine, and federally funded babysitters: “Let's guarantee a job. Let's guarantee health care and children care [</span><em>sic</em><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">]. Let's turn this welfare repeal into real welfare reform.”</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />When President <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=644" style="text-decoration: none;">Bill Clinton</a> ultimately signed PRWORA into law, Edelman called it a "moment of shame." But none of Edelman's alarmist predictions about the consequences of welfare reform came to pass.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>"Never let us confuse what is legal with what is right," Edelman <a href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_3_the_childrens.html" style="text-decoration: none;">said</a>. "Everything Hitler did in Nazi Germany was legal, but it was not right."</i></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhR7aBS1ktaYaiCRthmFcWAFvJXjuGb5Kos2A5h8qyxXgPeESQeEbDiw_ud3OuopJocxuOnugTQVHwzBAJ0LYn0RpIL7eCX8xLiqiIqhyv4TacB7Sp3Ml1Dd_Cpkh6Z2-HHqzJHxylfEQR-OdzZG75D5NWeT_As_9WTEStpFLt9MOxQYZAilOxUdCX4Xg=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://journalofseeing.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/marian-wright-edelman.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /><br />A strong critic of what she considers America's inherent and pervasive bigotry, Edelman blames white racism and white neglect for the decline of the nation's inner-city schools during the decades since the Supreme Court's 1954 <em>Brown v. Board of Education</em> ruling. “The strong black traditions of family and hunger for education,” she <a href="http://www.democracyforamerica.com/headlines/16-we-must-build-a-movement" style="text-decoration: none;">said</a> in 2004, “have been undermined by white resistance to <em>Brown</em>, and [by] our nation's choices not to invest adequately in quality public schools for all children.”<br /><br />In June 2004 Edelman was a guest speaker at an <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6399" style="text-decoration: none;">International Socialist Organization</a> event, along with such <a href="http://www.internationalsocialist.org/calendar.shtml" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_new">notables</a> as <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=939" style="text-decoration: none;">Howard Zinn</a>, <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1232" style="text-decoration: none;">Noam Chomsky</a>, Daniel Ellsberg, <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1334" style="text-decoration: none;">Tom Hayden</a>, and <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2001" style="text-decoration: none;">Alice Walker</a>.<br /><br />In her 2005 book <em>Social Injustice and Public Health</em>, Edelman emphasizes her desire to "address the root causes of social injustice," which she <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=peY5Thw1H-IC&pg=PR8&lpg=PR8&dq=edelman+and+%22widening+gaps+between+rich+and+poor,+the+unequal+distribution+of+resources+within+our+society%22&source=bl&ots=TaE5H3-ObG&sig=2b5zqo-_U7O0mnM5ROc3s_kFKyo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dZwiUNrYL_HF0AGXjIBo&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=edelman%20and%20%22widening%20gaps%20between%20rich%20and%20poor%2C%20the%20unequal%20distribution%20of%20resources%20within%20our%20society%22&f=false" style="text-decoration: none;">identifies</a> as: "widening gaps between rich and poor, the unequal distribution of resources within our society, discrimination, and the disenfranchisement of individuals and groups from the political process."<br /><br />Edelman today <a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/leadership-staff/marian-wright-edelman/" style="text-decoration: none;">is</a> a board member of the Robin Hood Foundation and the Association to Benefit Children; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences; and a <a href="http://keywiki.org/index.php/Marian_Wright_Edelman" style="text-decoration: none;">founding sponsor</a> of <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7074" style="text-decoration: none;"><em>The American Prospect</em></a>. She has <a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/leadership-staff/marian-wright-edelman/" style="text-decoration: none;">received</a> more than 100 honorary degrees, along with a host of awards including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award (administered by the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderprofile.asp?fndid=5309&category=79" style="text-decoration: none;">Heinz Family Foundation</a>), the <a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderProfile.asp?fndid=5223" style="text-decoration: none;">MacArthur Foundation</a> Prize Fellowship, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>“If you don’t like the way the world is, you have an obligation to change it. Just do it one step at a time.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i> "In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute." - Thurgood Marshall</i></span></div>
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When I was younger and wanted to be a lawyer, it was Thurgood Marshall who inspired me, especially when I found out that the reason I could go to an integrated school was because he had chosen to fight the case of segregation. I wasn't restricted to a third-rate education because someone was tossing down the old, broken, tattered, remains of textbooks to the "Negro schools" as they once had. I went to school with children of all races, used the same textbooks they did, and received the same education as them. I learned more and more about him as I got older but even as a child he inspired me to take on causes greater than myself, to fight against injustice using the law, and that sometimes the law is just wrong and so it's up to us to see it changed.</div>
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<tr><td width="400"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;"><b>B</b>orn in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. His father, William Marshall, instilled in him from youth an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law. After completing high school in 1925, Thurgood followed his brother, William Aubrey Marshall, at the historically black Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His classmates at Lincoln included a distinguished group of future Black leaders such as the poet and author Langston Hughes, the future President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and musician Cab Calloway. Just before graduation, he married his first wife, Vivian "Buster" Burey. Their twenty-five year marriage ended with her death from cancer in 1955.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;"><i>A child born to a Black mother in a state like Mississippi... has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It's not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 17px;"><i>Thurgood Marshall </i></span></div>
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<tr><td width="18"></td><td width="400"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">In 1930, he applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but was denied admission because he was Black. This was an event that was to haunt him and direct his future professional life. Thurgood sought admission and was accepted at the Howard University Law School that same year and came under the immediate influence of the dynamic new dean, Charles Hamilton Houston, who instilled in all of his students the desire to apply the tenets of the Constitution to all Americans. Paramount in Houston's outlook was the need to overturn the 1898 Supreme Court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson which established the legal doctrine called, "separate but equal." Marshall's first major court case came in 1933 when he successfully sued the University of Maryland to admit a young African American Amherst University graduate named Donald Gaines Murray. Applauding Marshall's victory, author H.L. Mencken wrote that the decision of denial by the University of Maryland Law School was "brutal and absurd," and they should not object to the "presence among them of a self-respecting and ambitious young Afro-American well prepared for his studies by four years of hard work in a class A college."</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Thurgood Marshall followed his Howard University mentor, Charles Hamilton Houston to New York and later became Chief Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). During this period, Mr. Marshall was asked by the United Nations and the United Kingdom to help draft the constitutions of the emerging African nations of Ghana and what is now Tanzania. It was felt that the person who so successfully fought for the rights of America's oppressed minority would be the perfect person to ensure the rights of the White citizens in these two former European colonies. After amassing an impressive record of Supreme Court challenges to state-sponsored discrimination, including the landmark Brown v. Board decision in 1954, President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In this capacity, he wrote over 150 decisions including support for the rights of immigrants, limiting government intrusion in cases involving illegal search and seizure, double jeopardy, and right to privacy issues. Biographers Michael Davis and Hunter Clark note that, "none of his (Marshall's) 98 majority decisions was ever reversed by the Supreme Court." In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson appointed Judge Marshall to the office of U.S. Solicitor General. Before his subsequent nomination to the United States Supreme Court in 1967, Thurgood Marshall won 14 of the 19 cases he argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of the government. Indeed, Thurgood Marshall represented and won more cases before the United States Supreme Court than any other American.</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Until his retirement from the highest court in the land, Justice Marshall established a record for supporting the voiceless American. Having honed his skills since the case against the University of Maryland, he developed a profound sensitivity to injustice by way of the crucible of racial discrimination in this country. As an Associate Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall leaves a legacy that expands that early sensitivity to include all of America's voiceless. Justice Marshall died on January 24, 1993.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;"><b>A Thurgood Marshall timeline: </b>provided by<a href="http://www.ai.mit.edu/~isbell/hfh/black/" target="_parent"> </a><a href="http://www.ai.mit.edu/~isbell/hfh/black/" target="_blank">A Deeper Shade of Black</a><a href="http://www.ai.mit.edu/~isbell/hfh/black/" target="_parent"> </a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1930</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Mr. Marshall graduates with honors from Lincoln U. (cum laude)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1933</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Receives law degree from Howard U. (magna cum laude); begins private practice in Baltimore</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Receives law degree from Howard U. (magna cum laude); begins private practice in Baltimore</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1934</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Begins to work for Baltimore branch of NAACP</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1935</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">With Charles Houston, wins first major civil rights case, Murray v. Pearson</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1936</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Becomes assistant special counsel for NAACP in New York</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1940</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Wins first of 29 Supreme Court victories (Chambers v. Florida)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1944</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Successfully argues Smith v. Allwright, overthrowing the South's "white primary"</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1948</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Wins Shelley v. Kraemer, in which Supreme Court strikes down legality of racially restrictive covenants</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1950</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Wins Supreme Court victories in two graduate-school integration cases, Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1951</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Visits South Korea and Japan to investigate charges of racism in U.S. armed forces. He reported that the general practice was one of "rigid segregation".</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1954</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Wins Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, landmark case that demolishes legal basis for segregation in America</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1961</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Defends civil rights demonstrators, winning Supreme Circuit Court victory in Garner v. Louisiana; nominated to Second Court of Appeals by President J.F. Kennedy</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1961</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Appointed circuit judge, makes 112 rulings, all of them later upheld by Supreme Court (1961-1965)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">965</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Appointed U.S. solicitor general by President Lyndon Johnson; wins 14 of the 19 cases he argues for the government (1965-1967)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1967</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Becomes first African American elevated to U.S. Supreme Court (1967-1991)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1991</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Retires from the Supreme Court</span></td></tr>
<tr><td width="22"></td><td width="49"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">1993</span></td><td><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: 17px;">Dies at 84</span></td></tr>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Source: This biography is provided by <a href="http://provost.ucsd.edu/marshall/" target="_blank">Thurgood Marshall College</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(*</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/marshall.htm*)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, William Marshall, the grandson of a slave, worked as a steward at an exclusive club. His mother, Norma, was a kindergarten teacher. One of William Marshall's favorite pastimes was to listen to cases at the local courthouse before returning home to rehash the lawyers' arguments with his sons. Thurgood Marshall later recalled, "Now you want to know how I got involved in law? I don't know. The nearest I can get is that my dad, my brother, and I had the most violent arguments you ever heard about anything. I guess we argued five out of seven nights at the dinner table."</span></div>
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<a href="http://rhapsodyinbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/marshall-boy-l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://rhapsodyinbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/marshall-boy-l.jpg" width="229" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Marshall attended Baltimore's Colored High and Training School (later renamed <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Frederick Douglass</a> High School), where he was an above-average student and put his finely honed skills of argument to use as a star member of the debate team. The teenaged Marshall was also something of a mischievous troublemaker. His greatest high school accomplishment, memorizing the entire United States Constitution, was actually a teacher's punishment for misbehaving in class.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After graduating from high school in 1926, Marshall attended Lincoln University, a historically black college in Pennsylvania. There, he joined a remarkably distinguished student body that included <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/kwame-nkrumah-9424127" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Kwame Nkrumah</a>, the future president of Ghana; <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/langston-hughes-9346313" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Langston Hughes</a>, the great poet; and <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/cab-calloway-9235609" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Cab Calloway</a>, the famous jazz singer.</span></div>
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<i>“I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.” </i></div>
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<i>― Thurgood Marshall</i></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After graduating from Lincoln with honors in 1930, Marshall applied to the University of Maryland Law School. Despite being overqualified academically, Marshall was rejected because of his race. This firsthand experience with discrimination in education made a lasting impression on Marshall and helped determine the future course of his career. Instead of Maryland, Marshall attended law school in Washington, D.C. at Howard University, another historically black school. The dean of Howard Law School at the time was the pioneering civil rights lawyer Charles Houston. Marshall quickly fell under the tutelage of Houston, a notorious disciplinarian and extraordinarily demanding professor. Marshall recalled of Houston, "He would not be satisfied until he went to a dance on the campus and found all of his students sitting around the wall reading law books instead of partying." Marshall graduated magna cum laude from Howard in 1933.</span></div>
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<a href="" name="murray-v.-pearson" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Murray v. Pearson</a></h3>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After graduating from law school, Marshall briefly attempted to establish his own practice in Baltimore, but without experience he failed to land any significant cases.</span></div>
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<a href="http://primarysourcenexus.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ThurgoodMarshall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://primarysourcenexus.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ThurgoodMarshall.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 1934, he began working for the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In one of Marshall's first cases—which he argued alongside his mentor, Charles Houston—he defended another well-qualified undergraduate, Donald Murray, who like himself had been denied entrance to the University of Maryland Law School. Marshall and Houston won <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Murray v. Pearson</i> in January 1936, </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">the first in a long string of cases designed to undermine the legal basis for de jure racial segregation in the United States.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">“What is the quality of your intent? </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Certain people have a way of saying things that shake us at the core. Even when the words do not seem harsh or offensive, the impact is shattering. What we could be experiencing is the intent behind the words. When we intend to do good, we do. When we intend to do harm, it happens. What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">My intent will be evident in the results."</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><i>-Thurgood Marshall</i></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Later in 1936, Marshall moved to New York City to work full time as legal counsel for the NAACP. Over the following decades, Marshall argued and won a variety of cases to strike down many forms of legalized racism, helping to inspire the American Civil Rights Movement. Marshall's first victory before the Supreme Court came in <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Chambers v. Florida </i>(1940), in which he successfully defended four black men who had been convicted of murder on the basis of confessions coerced from them by police. Another crucial Supreme Court victory came in the 1944 case of <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Smith v. Allwright</i>, in which the Court struck down the Democratic Party's use of whites-only primary elections in various Southern states.</span></div>
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<a href="" name="brown-v.-board-of-education" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Brown v. Board of Education</a></h3>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, the great achievement of Marshall's career as a civil-rights lawyer was his victory in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka</i>. The class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of a group of black parents in Topeka, Kansas on behalf of their children forced to attend all-black segregated schools. Through <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Brown v. Board</i>, one of the most important cases of the 20th century, Marshall challenged head-on the legal underpinning of racial segregation, the doctrine of "separate but equal" established by the 1896 Supreme Court case <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Plessy v. Ferguson</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," and therefore racial segregation of public schools violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. While enforcement of the Court's ruling proved to be uneven and painfully slow, <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Brown v. Board</i> provided the legal foundation, and much of the inspiration, for the American Civil Rights Movement that unfolded over the next decade. At the same time, the case established Marshall as one of the most successful and prominent lawyers in America.</span></div>
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<a href="" name="circuit-court-judge-&-solicitor-general" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Circuit Court Judge & Solicitor General</a></h3>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 1961, then-newly elected President <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/john-f-kennedy-9362930" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">John F. Kennedy</a> appointed Thurgood Marshall as a judge for the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Serving as a circuit court judge over the next four years, Marshall issued more than 100 decisions, none of which was overturned by the Supreme Court. Then, in 1965, Kennedy's successor, <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/lyndon-b-johnson-9356122" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Lyndon B. Johnson</a>, appointed Marshall to serve as the first black U.S. solicitor general, the attorney designated to argue on behalf of the federal government before the Supreme Court.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">During his two years as solicitor general, Marshall won 14 of the 19 cases that he argued before the Supreme Court.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Finally, in 1967, President Johnson nominated Marshall to serve on the bench before which he had successfully argued so many times before—the United States Supreme Court. On October 2, 1967, Marshall was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, becoming the first African American to serve on the nation's highest court.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Marshall joined a liberal Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/earl-warren-9524239" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Earl Warren</a>, which aligned with Marshall's views on politics and the Constitution. As a Supreme Court justice, Marshall consistently supported rulings upholding a strong protection of individual rights and liberal interpretations of controversial social issues. He was part of the majority that ruled in favor of the right to abortion in the landmark 1973 case <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Roe v. Wade</i>, among several other cases. In the 1972 case <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Furman v. Georgia</i>, which led to a de facto moratorium on the death penalty, Marshall articulated his opinion that the death penalty was unconstitutional in all circumstances.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>"change the way I see the world."</i></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>-Thurgood Marshall</i></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.chimesfreedom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/11.1_Marshall.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.chimesfreedom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/11.1_Marshall.jpg.jpg" width="251" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Throughout Marshall's 24-year tenure on the Court, Republican presidents appointed eight consecutive justices, and Marshall gradually became an isolated liberal member of an increasingly conservative Court. For the latter part of his time on the bench, Marshall was largely relegated to issuing strongly worded dissents, as the Court reinstated the death penalty and limited affirmative action measures and abortion rights. Marshall retired from the Supreme Court in 1991; Justice <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/clarence-thomas-9505658" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Clarence Thomas</a> replaced him.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Thurgood Marshall died on January 24, 1993, at the age of 84.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Thurgood Marshall stands alongside <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Martin Luther King Jr.</a> and Malcolm X as one of the greatest and most important figures of the American Civil Rights Movement. And although he may be the least popularly celebrated of the three, Marshall was arguably the most instrumental in the movement's achievements toward racial equality. Marshall's strategy of attacking racial inequality through the courts represented a third way of pursuing racial equality, more pragmatic than King's soaring rhetoric and less polemical than <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/malcolm-x-9396195" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Malcolm X</a>'s strident separatism. In the aftermath of Marshall's death, an obituary read: "We make movies about Malcolm X, we get a holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, but every day we live with the legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall."</span></div>
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<a href="" name="personal-life" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Personal Life</a></h3>
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<a href="http://www.marchofdimes.com/images/body/Marshall_Thurgood_57-680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://www.marchofdimes.com/images/body/Marshall_Thurgood_57-680.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Marshall married Vivian "Buster" Burey in 1929, and the couple remained married until her death in 1955. Shortly thereafter, Marshall married Cecilia Suyat, his secretary at the NAACP; they had two sons, Thurgood Jr. and John Marshall.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(*</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Thurgood Marshall</i>. [Internet]. 2014. The Biography Channel website. Available from:<a href="http://www.biography.com/people/thurgood-marshall-9400241" style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.biography.com/people/thurgood-marshall-9400241</a> [Accessed 04 Feb 2014].</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">*)</span></div>
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<i>Be aware of that myth, that everything is going to be all right. Don't give in. I add that, because it seems to me, that what we need to do today is to refocus. Back in the 30's and 40's, we could go no place but to court. We knew then, the court was not the final solution. Many of us knew the final solution would have to be politics, if for no other reason, politics is cheaper than lawsuits. So now we have both. We have our legal arm, and we have our political arm. Let's use them both. And don't listen to this myth that it can be solved by either or that it has already been solved. Take it from me, it has not been solved.</i></div>
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<i>-Thurgood Marshall</i></div>
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<i>(*</i><a href="http://www.thurgoodmarshall.com/speeches/equality_speech.htm">http://www.thurgoodmarshall.com/speeches/equality_speech.htm</a>*)</div>
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fchnm.gmu.edu%2Fcourses%2F122%2Fimages%2Fmarshall2.gif&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgZWrhcax9AErBKM7ba9B7-etRNQv7IjrqbiMNwWqDSgE2qgc3OW_nTjadeOQckWM4Mt_IJcNxzeaGxT3W4NkLsxioZq2HXWq7GisK1pOv_ouAjZcLg9Rs0T2fb_1e6q5cAMeKPV3a70OCyJBWpeMw5IdtsCw=" -->Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-76078011280450241902014-02-03T08:00:00.000-05:002014-02-03T08:00:01.162-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Mary McLeod Bethune<i>If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves. We should, therefore, protest openly everything ... that smacks of discrimination or slander.</i><br />
<i>-Mary McLeod Bethune</i><br />
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A lot of people don't know but I attended Bethune Cookman College for a while. It was there I realized that I really DID want to serve in the United States Army and it was there I saw the evidence and result of Maya Angelou's "I Rise" poem. It was at BCC I began to feel pride in a people that went beyond those whom I knew personally and I began to cast away my own prejudices and discrimination against my own people (yes, I had them). It would take me a long time to deal with the self-hatred that I held within me because of the color of my skin that came about because of the racism that surrounded (and still surrounds) me on a daily basis in both blatant and subtle manners but it was at BCC that self-hatred began to crack and fall away. I want to honor the woman for whom the school was named on this third day of Black History Month.<br />
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<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38783/38783-h/images/illus05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38783/38783-h/images/illus05.jpg" /></a>Born near Mayesville, S.C. on July 10, 1875, on a rice and cotton farm, Mary Jane McLeod was the fifteenth of seventeen children, some of whom had been sold into enslavement. In order to do their best by their children, her parents sacrificed so they could buy land to farm. Mary had the same determination. From childhood on, she took advantage of opportunities that were presented to her. Her parents, who had been born into enslavement, wanted their children to have an education. When Mary was about eleven, the Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church opened a school for African-American children. It was about four miles from her home, and the children had to walk back and forth to school, but Mary wanted to go. Her mother commented that some of the children had to be forced to attend, but not Mary, who was well aware of her family's relative poverty. Mary saw education as the key to improving the lives of African-Americans. An incident that occurred when she was quite young may explain this. Mary picked up a book while she was playing with a white child whose parents employed Mary's mother. The white child grabbed the book and told Mary she couldn't have it because African-Americans couldn't read. For Mary, education became the answer to the question, how can African-Americans move up the ladder in American society?<br />
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<i>Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough.</i></div>
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<i>Mary McLeod Bethune </i></div>
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A few years later, Mary had the chance to further her education when a woman in Detroit offered to pay for the expenses of one child at Scotia Seminary in North Carolina. Mary was selected by her teacher because she was an excellent student. After attending Scotia Seminary, she received a scholarship to the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, where she continued to be a high achiever. Mary was the only African-American student there, and one of only a few non-whites.<br />
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As a child of twelve, Mary had been inspired by the words of a preacher who spoke of the need for missionaries in Africa. Mary completed the two year program, planning to go to Africa as a missionary, but was told that there were no open positions available at that time for African-Americans. Although disappointed, she returned to Mayesville and taught there for a year at the mission school she had once attended before requesting a new position from the Presbyterian Board of Education. She accepted a position as a teacher in Augusta, Georgia at Haines Institute, where she worked under the educator Lucy Laney. She gained a reputation as an "enthusiastic" teacher who held "Mission School" classes for children gathered off the streets on Sunday afternoons. She taught there for a year.<br />
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<i>The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.</i></div>
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<i>Mary McLeod Bethune </i></div>
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Mary was sent next to Sumter, S.C. where she taught for two years at Kendall Institute before marrying Albertus Bethune in 1898. The couple moved to Savannah, Georgia, where Albertus had a new job. Mary did a little social work, but mainly she concentrated on raising her son, Albert, who was born in 1899. The marriage was not a success, although the couple remained together until 1907 and on good terms thereafter. Mary was restless, and she felt called to public service. A visiting minister from Palatka, Florida urged her to move there and manage the new mission school he was starting. So in 1899 she moved to Florida with her son, followed by her husband. In Palatka she taught at the Mission School and visited prisoners in the county jail, reading and singing to them. She tried to help the prisoners in any way she could, and worked to free those who were not guilty. Because money was tight, Mary supplemented the family income by selling life insurance.<br />
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<a href="http://www.cookman.edu/images/mmbGray2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.cookman.edu/images/mmbGray2.jpg" /></a>The school grew, but Mary was not content. She wanted to provide opportunities for African-American girls, and to do this she would found a school. She hoped to build the school in a new area, and a minister suggested Daytona. Five years after arriving in Palatka, she moved to Daytona, Florida. Almost penniless, she was sheltered by a local woman recommended by the minister, who helped her find the house that she would use to open a school for African-American girls. This was her dream, and she worked to make it come true. The house was bare, and Bethune was forced to repair furniture and use discarded carpets. She went to local stores to beg for boxes, which she used for chairs, and packing crates, which became her desks. In October of 1904, she opened the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School with a student body of five. Each child paid fifty cents a week in tuition. In line with beliefs of the day, Bethune's primary focus was on training girls to take care of the home, so cooking and sewing were offered as well as the three "r"s. Before long, she also had several boarders. Bethune worked hard to keep her little school going, baking sweet potato pies to sell, and soon involving the community in her efforts. The school was a success, despite its difficult beginning. Within three years Bethune was able to relocate it to a permanent facility. Over the years, the one small house was replaced by a thirty-two acre campus with fourteen buildings and 400 students. A farm was purchased with the goal of making the school more self-sufficient. In 1923 the school became coeducational when it merged with Cookman Institute of Jacksonville, Florida, and became Bethune-Cookman College. Her house on the campus is maintained as a National Historic Landmark.<br />
<a href="http://wpcontent.answcdn.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Daytona_Normal_School_in_1919.jpg/250px-Daytona_Normal_School_in_1919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://wpcontent.answcdn.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Daytona_Normal_School_in_1919.jpg/250px-Daytona_Normal_School_in_1919.jpg" /></a><br />
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<i>I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity.</i></div>
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<i>-Mary McLeod Bethune</i></div>
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Bethune understood the importance of political participation. In the early 1900s, the battle for women's suffrage was underway, but there was little role for African-American women, especially in the South. In 1912 Bethune joined the Equal Suffrage League, an offshoot of the National Association of Colored Women. In an era when even African-American men couldn't vote, a frustrated Mary had to sit back and watch as white-dominated organizations marched and protested nationwide. But in 1920, after passage of the 19th amendment, the time for action had come. Bethune believed that if African-American women were to vote, they could bring about change. Riding a bicycle she had used when she was raising money for her school, she went door to door raising money to pay the poll tax. Her night classes provided a means for African-Americans to learn to read well enough to pass the literacy test. Soon one hundred potential voters had qualified. The night before the election, eighty members of the KKK confronted Bethune, warning her against preparing African-Americans to vote. Bethune did not back down, and the men left without causing any harm. The following day, Bethune led a procession of one hundred African-Americans to the polls, all voting for the first time.<br />
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<i>For I am my mother's daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there is a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth.</i></div>
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<i>-Mary McLeod Bethune</i></div>
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The story of her defiance of the Klan spread, and soon she was in demand as a speaker for the rights of African-Americans. Meeting many prominent people was in some ways an eye-opener for her. She met the African-American leader and scholar W.E.B. Dubois, and after hearing him comment that because of his race he couldn't even check out one of his own books from a southern library, she made her own school library available to the general public. This was the only free source of reading material for African-Americans in Florida at that time.<br />
<a href="http://www.nps.gov/history/images/places5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.nps.gov/history/images/places5.jpg" /></a><br />
Bethune continued her career in public service as the years went by. She was elected to the National Urban League's Executive Board in 1920, the only Southern woman of any race. She helped to establish a home for delinquent African-American girls, she was president of the Southeastern Federation of Women's Clubs, and she was elected as president of the 200,000 member National Association of Colored Women twice in the 1920s. She used her position in the latter organization to speak out in favor of education for African-Americans, making speeches. She also served as president of the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools and on the Interracial Council of America. She was a founder and the first president of the National Council of Negro Women in the 1930s. In 1932 Bethune was featured in a newspaper story by a well-known journalist, Ida Tarbell, as one of the fifty greatest American women. She was number ten on the list.<br />
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<i>If we have the courage and tenacity of our forebears, who stood firmly like a rock against the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do for our day what they did for theirs.</i></div>
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<i>-Mary McLeod Bethune</i></div>
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<a href="http://www.coinandstampgallery.com/Scott2100/Scott2137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.coinandstampgallery.com/Scott2100/Scott2137.jpg" /></a>The quality of Bethune's work was recognized by national politicians as well. Presidents from Coolidge to Roosevelt appointed her to government positions. President Coolidge invited her to attend his Child Welfare Conference in 1928. President Hoover appointed her to the White House Conference on Child Health in 1930. Her experience in the education field and her knowledge of the state of African-American education made her a valuable asset to both Presidents. She was also President Roosevelt's Special Advisor on Minority Affairs from 1935 to 1944. Her home in Washington, D.C., the Council House, where she did much of her work, is maintained by the National Park Service.<br />
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From 1936 to 1944 she held the position of Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration, making her the first African-American woman to become a federal agency head. Black advisors had been appointed for each federal agency, and their power was minimal. Bethune, however, had an agenda. She wanted to see African-Americans fully integrated into American life. She gathered a group of prominent men at her apartment in Washington for the first of many informal discussions. Because she had access to the president, she was able to take the suggestions made by this group to him, and see more blacks appointed to advisory positions. Her group became the Federal Council on Negro Affairs, and became known as the "Black Cabinet". As a member and a leader of this group, Bethune served as an unofficial advisor to President Roosevelt.<br />
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After World War II, she was one of three African-American consultants to the U.S. delegation involved in developing the United Nations charter. Bethune served as the personal representative of President Truman at the inauguration ceremonies in Liberia in 1952.<br />
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<i>Cease to be a drudge, seek to be an artist.</i></div>
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<i>-Mary McLeod Bethune</i></div>
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Always opposed to segregation, Bethune networked with influential whites to gain more opportunities for blacks. She was first introduced to Eleanor Roosevelt at a luncheon held by Roosevelt's mother-in-law in the 1920s. The only African-American present, she had to face the horrified stares of several Southern white ladies who were present. Mrs. Roosevelt, senior, Bethune's hostess, led her into the dining room, seated her in the place of the guest of honor, and introduced her to her daughter-in-law, Eleanor.<br />
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As the years went by, the two younger women learned to know each other better. Bethune developed very close ties with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s and 1940s. Bethune understood how to use the power structure. She spoke out vehemently when African-American women were not permitted to participate in the national advisory council of the War Department's Women's Interest Section in 1941, going public as well as complaining to the Secretary of War. She also worked behind the scenes with Mrs. Roosevelt, and eventually won that battle. Participation in the advisory council put her in a position to see that African-American women became officers in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps established a year later.<br />
<a href="http://cjlatimore.com/shop/wp-content/uploads/products_img/mary%20mcleod%20bethune2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="http://cjlatimore.com/shop/wp-content/uploads/products_img/mary%20mcleod%20bethune2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
Bethune was recognized for her hard work during her lifetime and received many honors. She was a recipient of the Spingarn Medal in 1935, the Frances Drexel Award for Distinguished Service in 1937, and the Thomas Jefferson Award for leadership in 1942. She received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Rollins College in 1949, the first African-American to receive an honorary degree from a white southern college. She received the Medal of Honor and Merit from the Republic of Haiti in 1949 and the Star of Africa from the Republic of Liberia in 1952.After a lifetime of achievements, Mary Bethune died on May 18, 1955. On July 10, 1974, ninety-nine years to the day after Bethune's birth, she became the first woman and the first African-American to be honored with a statue in a public park in Washington, D.C. The statue, in Lincoln Park, is a reminder of her achievements. South Carolina has honored its native daughter as well, hanging her portrait in the state capitol in Columbia.<br />
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(*<a href="http://www.usca.edu/aasc/bethune.htm">http://www.usca.edu/aasc/bethune.htm</a>*)<br />
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<i>From the first, I made my learning, what little it was, useful every way I could.</i></div>
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<i>-Mary McLeod Bethune</i></div>
Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-67441455132776159332014-02-02T11:56:00.001-05:002014-02-02T11:57:09.630-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Booker T. Washington<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." - Booker T. Washington</span></div>
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For Day two of Black History Month, I want to honor Booker T. Washington, a teacher and one of the founders of the Tuskegee Institute.<br />
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<a href="http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/W/Booker-T.-Washington-9524663-1-402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/W/Booker-T.-Washington-9524663-1-402.jpg" /></a>Born April 5, 1856, in Franklin County, Virginia, Booker Taliaferro was the son of an unknown White man and Jane, an enslaved cook of James Burroughs, a small planter.<br />
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Jane named her son Booker Taliaferro but later dropped the second name. Booker gave himself the surname "Washington" when he first enrolled in school. Sometime after Booker's birth, his mother was married to Washington Ferguson, a slave. A daughter, Amanda, was born to this marriage. James, Booker's younger half-brother, was adopted. Booker's elder brother, John, was also the son of a White man.<br />
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Booker spent his first nine years as a slave on the Burroughs farm. In 1865, his mother took her children to Malden, West Virginia, to join her husband, who had gone there earlier and found work in the salt mines. At age nine, Booker was put to work packing salt. Between the ages of ten and twelve, he worked in a coal mine. He attended school while continuing to work in the mines. In 1871, he went to work as a houseboy for the wife of Gen. Lewis Ruffner, owner of the mines.<br />
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In 1872, at age sixteen, Booker T. Washington entered Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. The dominant personality at the school, which had opened in 1868 under the auspices of the American Missionary Association, was the principal, Samuel Chapman Armstrong, the son of American missionaries in Hawaii.<br />
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Armstrong, who had commanded Black troops in the Civil War, believed that the progress of freedmen and their descendants depended on education of a special sort, which would be practical and utilitarian and would at the same time inculcate character and morality.<br />
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Washington traveled most of the distance from Malden to Hampton on foot, arriving penniless. His entrance examination to Hampton was to clean a room. The teacher inspected his work with a spotless, white handkerchief. Booker was admitted. He was given work as a janitor to pay the cost of his room and board, and Armstrong arranged for a White benefactor to pay his tuition.<br />
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At Hampton, Washington studied academic subjects and agriculture, which included work in the fields and pigsties. He also learned lessons in personal cleanliness and good manners. His special interest was public speaking and debate. He was jubilant when he was chosen to speak at his commencement.<br />
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<a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/sayitplain/images/btwashington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/sayitplain/images/btwashington.jpg" /></a>The most important part of his experience at Hampton was his association with Armstrong, who he described in his autobiography as "a great man - the noblest, rarest human being it has ever been my privilege to meet." From Armstrong, Washington derived much of his educational philosophy.<br />
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After graduating from Hampton with honors in 1875, Washington returned to Malden to teach. For eight months he was a student at Wayland Seminary, an institution with a curriculum that was entirely academic. This experience reinforced his belief in an educational system that emphasized practical skills and self-help. In 1879, Washington returned to Hampton to teach in a program for American Indians.<br />
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In 1880, a bill that included a yearly appropriation of $2,000 was passed by the Alabama State Legislature to establish a school for Blacks in Macon County. This action was generated by two men - Lewis Adams, a former slave, and George W. Campbell, a former slave owner. On February 12, 1881, Governor Rufus Willis Cobb signed the bill into law, establishing the Tuskegee Normal School for the training of Black teachers.<br />
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Armstrong was invited to recommend a White teacher as principal of the school. Instead, he suggested Washington, who was accepted. When Washington arrived at Tuskegee, he found that no land or buildings had been acquired for the projected school, nor was there any money for these purposes since the appropriation was for salaries only. Undaunted, Washington began selling the idea of the school, recruiting students and seeking support of local Whites.<br />
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The school opened July 4, 1881, in a shanty loaned by a Black church, Butler A.M.E. Zion. With money borrowed from Hampton Institute's treasurer, Washington purchased an abandoned 100-acre plantation on the outskirts of Tuskegee. Students built a kiln, made bricks for buildings and sold bricks to raise money. Within a few years, they built a classroom building, a dining hall, a girl’s dormitory and a chapel.<br />
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By 1888, the 540-acre school had an enrollment of more than 400 and offered training in such skilled trades as carpentry, cabinetmaking, printing, shoemaking and tinsmithing. Boys also studied farming and dairying, while girls learned such domestic skills as cooking and sewing.<br />
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<a href="http://coacheshotseat.com/coacheshotseatblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/BookerT4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://coacheshotseat.com/coacheshotseatblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/BookerT4.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Through their own labor, students supplied a large part of the needs of the school. In the academic departments, Washington insisted that efforts be made to relate the subject matter to the actual experiences of the students. Strong emphasis was placed on personal hygiene, manners and character building.<br />
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Students followed a rigid schedule of study and work, arising at five in the morning and retiring at nine-thirty at night. Although Tuskegee was non-denominational, all students were required to attend chapel daily and a series of religious services on Sunday. Washington himself usually spoke to the students on Sunday evening.<br />
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Olivia Davidson, a graduate of Hampton and Framingham State Normal School in Massachusetts, became teacher and assistant principal at Tuskegee in 1881. In 1885, Washington's older brother John, also a Hampton graduate, came to Tuskegee to direct the vocational training program.<br />
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Other notable additions to the staff were acclaimed scientist Dr. George Washington Carver, who became director of the agriculture program in 1896; Emmett J. Scott, who became Washington 's private secretary in 1897; and Monroe Nathan Work, who became head of the Records and Research Department in 1908.<br />
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(*<a href="http://www.tuskegee.edu/about_us/legacy_of_leadership/booker_t_washington.aspx">http://www.tuskegee.edu/about_us/legacy_of_leadership/booker_t_washington.aspx</a>*)<br />
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<a href="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1178732859l/827685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1178732859l/827685.jpg" /></a>Washington was of the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and became the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants, who were newly oppressed by disfranchisement and the Jim Crow discriminatory laws enacted in the post-Reconstruction Southern states in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1895 his Atlanta compromise called for avoiding confrontation over segregation and instead putting more reliance on long-term educational and economic advancement in the black community.<br />
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His base was the Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college in Alabama. As lynchings in the South reached a peak in 1895, Washington gave a speech in Atlanta that made him nationally famous. The speech called for black progress through education and entrepreneurship. His message was that it was not the time to challenge Jim Crow segregation and the disfranchisement of black voters in the South. Washington mobilized a nationwide coalition of middle-class blacks, church leaders, and white philanthropists and politicians, with a long-term goal of building the community's economic strength and pride by a focus on self-help and schooling. Secretly, he supported court challenges to segregation. Black militants in the North, led by W.E.B. DuBois, at first supported the Atlanta Compromise but after 1909 set up the NAACP and tried to challenge Washington's political machine for leadership in the black community. Decades after Washington's death in 1915, the Civil Rights movement generally moved away from his policies to take the more militant NAACP approach.<br />
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Booker T. Washington mastered the nuances of the political arena in the late 19th century which enabled him to manipulate the media, raise money, strategize, network, pressure, reward friends and distribute funds while punishing those who opposed his plans for uplifting blacks. His long-term goal was to end the disfranchisement of the vast majority of African Americans living in southern states, where most of the millions of black Americans still lived.<br />
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(*<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington</a>*)<br />
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Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890913381472307616.post-90425689877625322562014-02-01T10:58:00.002-05:002014-02-01T10:58:50.083-05:00The One Where Vic Blogs About Ella Fitzgerald<b>In honor of Black History Month, something that is very important to me, for my first post this month to celebrate notable African-Americans I am paying tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.</b><br />
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<b>I grew up listening to Ella Fitzgerald and LOVE her. She was and still is an amazing singer, even posthumously. Her music has made an impact on my life and I hope it does the same for you as you take a moment to honor African-Americans as well this month.</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>Biography</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">Dubbed "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. (Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats had the pleasure of working with Ella.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">She performed at top venues all over the world, and packed them to the hilt. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. They were rich and poor, made up of all races, all religions and all nationalities. In fact, many of them had just one binding factor in common - they all loved her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>Humble but happy beginnings</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.oassf.com/en/media/images/ella-fitzgerald-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.oassf.com/en/media/images/ella-fitzgerald-image.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: 17px;">Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Va. on April 25, 1917. Her father, William, and mother, Temperance (Tempie), parted ways shortly after her birth. Together, Tempie and Ella went to Yonkers, N.Y, where they eventually moved in with Tempie's longtime boyfriend Joseph Da Silva. Ella's half-sister, Frances, was born in 1923 and soon she began referring to Joe as her stepfather.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">To support the family, Joe dug ditches and was a part-time chauffeur, while Tempie worked at a laundromat and did some catering. Occasionally, Ella took on small jobs to contribute money as well. Perhaps naïve to the circumstances, Ella worked as a runner for local gamblers, picking up their bets and dropping off money.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">Their apartment was in a mixed neighborhood, where Ella made friends easily. She considered herself more of a tomboy, and often joined in the neighborhood games of baseball. Sports aside, she enjoyed dancing and singing with her friends, and some evenings they would take the train into Harlem and watch various acts at the Apollo Theater.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>A rough patch</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">In 1932, Tempie died from serious injuries that she received in a car accident. Ella took the loss very hard. After staying with Joe for a short time, Tempie's sister Virginia took Ella home. Shortly afterward Joe suffered a heart attack and died, and her little sister Frances joined them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">Unable to adjust to the new circumstances, Ella became increasingly unhappy and entered into a difficult period of her life. Her grades dropped dramatically, and she frequently skipped school. After getting into trouble with the police, she was taken into custody and sent to a reform school. Living there was even more unbearable, as she suffered beatings at the hands of her caretakers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Eventually Ella escaped from the reformatory. The 15-year-old found herself broke and alone during the Great Depression, and strove to endure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Never one to complain, Ella later reflected on her most difficult years with an appreciation for how they helped her to mature. She used the memories from these times to help gather emotions for performances, and felt she was more grateful for her success because she knew what it was like to struggle in life.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>"What's she going to do?"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">In 1934 Ella's name was pulled in a weekly drawing at the Apollo and she won the opportunity to compete in Amateur Night. Ella went to the theater that night planning to dance, but when the frenzied Edwards Sisters closed the main show, Ella changed her mind. "They were the dancingest sisters around," Ella said, and she felt her act would not compare.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Once on stage, faced with boos and murmurs of "What's she going to do?" from the rowdy crowd, a scared and disheveled Ella made the last minute decision to sing. She asked the band to play Hoagy Carmichael's "Judy," a song she knew well because Connee Boswell's rendition of it was among Tempie's favorites. Ella quickly quieted the audience, and by the song's end they were demanding an encore. She obliged and sang the flip side of the Boswell Sister's record, "The Object of My Affections."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Off stage, and away from people she knew well, Ella was shy and reserved. She was self-conscious about her appearance, and for a while even doubted the extent of her abilities. On stage, however, Ella was surprised to find she had no fear. She felt at home in the spotlight.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">"Once up there, I felt the acceptance and love from my audience," Ella said. "I knew I wanted to sing before people the rest of my life."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/8387729/Ella%2BFitzgerald%2B%2BDuke%2BEllington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/8387729/Ella%2BFitzgerald%2B%2BDuke%2BEllington.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: 17px;">In the band that night was saxophonist and arranger Benny Carter. Impressed with her natural talent, he began introducing Ella to people who could help launch her career. In the process he and Ella became lifelong friends, often working together.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Fueled by enthusiastic supporters, Ella began entering - and winning - every talent show she could find. In January 1935 she won the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House. It was there that Ella first met drummer and bandleader Chick Webb. Although her voice impressed him, Chick had already hired male singer Charlie Linton for the band. He offered Ella the opportunity to test with his band when they played a dance at Yale University.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">"If the kids like her," Chick said, "she stays."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Despite the tough crowd, Ella was a major success, and Chick hired her to travel with the band for $12.50 a week.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>Jazzing things up</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">In mid 1936, Ella made her first recording. "Love and Kisses" was released under the Decca label, with moderate success. By this time she was performing with Chick's band at the prestigious Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, often referred to as "The World's Most Famous Ballroom."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Shortly afterward, Ella began singing a rendition of the song, "(If You Can't Sing It) You Have to Swing It." During this time, the era of big swing bands was shifting, and the focus was turning more toward bebop. Ella played with the new style, often using her voice to take on the role of another horn in the band. "You Have to Swing It" was one of the first times she began experimenting with scat singing, and her improvisation and vocalization thrilled fans. Throughout her career, Ella would master scat singing, turning it into a form of art.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">In 1938, at the age of 21, Ella recorded a playful version of the nursery rhyme, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket." The album sold 1 million copies, hit number one, and stayed on the pop charts for 17 weeks. Suddenly, Ella Fitzgerald was famous.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>Coming into her own</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">On June 16, 1939, Ella mourned the loss of her mentor Chick Webb. In his absence the band was renamed "Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Band," and she took on the overwhelming task of bandleader.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Perhaps in search of stability and protection, Ella married Benny Kornegay, a local dockworker who had been pursuing her. Upon learning that Kornegay had a criminal history, Ella realized that the relationship was a mistake and had the marriage annulled.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">While on tour with Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1946, Ella fell in love with bassist Ray Brown. The two were married and eventually adopted a son, whom they named Ray, Jr.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">At the time, Ray was working for producer and manager Norman Granz on the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" tour. Norman saw that Ella had what it took to be an international star, and he convinced Ella to sign with him. It was the beginning of a lifelong business relationship and friendship.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://virtualcampus.fortefoundation.org/images/girltalk/Ella-Fitzgerald.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://virtualcampus.fortefoundation.org/images/girltalk/Ella-Fitzgerald.jpg" height="289" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 17px;">Under Norman's management, Ella joined the Philharmonic tour, worked with Louis Armstrong on several albums and began producing her infamous songbook series. From 1956-1964, she recorded covers of other musicians' albums, including those by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, the Gershwins, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, and Rodgers and Hart. The series was wildly popular, both with Ella's fans and the artists she covered.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">"I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them," Ira Gershwin once remarked.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Ella also began appearing on television variety shows. She quickly became a favorite and frequent guest on numerous programs, including "The Bing Crosby Show," "The Dinah Shore Show," "The Frank Sinatra Show," "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Tonight Show," "The Nat King Cole Show," "The Andy Willams Show" and "The Dean Martin Show."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Due to a busy touring schedule, Ella and Ray were often away from home, straining the bond with their son. Ultimately, Ray Jr. and Ella reconnected and mended their relationship.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">"All I can say is that she gave to me as much as she could," Ray, Jr. later said, "and she loved me as much as she could."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Unfortunately, busy work schedules also hurt Ray and Ella's marriage. The two divorced in 1952, but remained good friends for the rest of their lives.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://blackhistorynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/uewb_04_img0273.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://blackhistorynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/uewb_04_img0273.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>Overcoming discrimination</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;">On the touring circuit it was well-known that Ella's manager felt very strongly about civil rights and required equal treatment for his musicians, regardless of their color. Norman refused to accept any type of discrimination at hotels, restaurants or concert halls, even when they traveled to the Deep South.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Once, while in Dallas touring for the Philharmonic, a police squad irritated by Norman's principles barged backstage to hassle the performers. They came into Ella's dressing room, where band members Dizzy Gillespie and Illinois Jacquet were shooting dice, and arrested everyone.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">"They took us down," Ella later recalled, "and then when we got there, they had the nerve to ask for an autograph."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Norman wasn't the only one willing to stand up for Ella. She received support from numerous celebrity fans, including a zealous Marilyn Monroe.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">"I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt," Ella later said. "It was because of her that I played the Mocambo, a very popular nightclub in the '50s. She personally called the owner of the Mocambo, and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him - and it was true, due to Marilyn's superstar status - that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman - a little ahead of her times. And she didn't know it."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>Worldwide recognition</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Ella continued to work as hard as she had early on in her career, despite the ill effects on her health. She toured all over the world, sometimes performing two shows a day in cities hundreds of miles apart. In 1974, Ella spent a legendary two weeks performing in New York with Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Still going strong five years later, she was inducted into the Down Beat magazine Hall of Fame, and received Kennedy Center Honors for her continuing contributions to the arts.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">Outside of the arts, Ella had a deep concern for child welfare. Though this aspect of her life was rarely publicized, she frequently made generous donations to organizations for disadvantaged youths, and the continuation of these contributions was part of the driving force that prevented her from slowing down. Additionally, when Frances died, Ella felt she had the additional responsibilities of taking care of her sister's family.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">In 1987, United States President Ronald Reagan awarded Ella the National Medal of Arts. It was one of her most prized moments. France followed suit several years later, presenting her with their Commander of Arts and Letters award, while Yale, Dartmouth and several other universities bestowed Ella with honorary doctorates.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b>End of an era</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">In September of 1986, Ella underwent quintuple coronary bypass surgery. Doctors also replaced a valve in her heart and diagnosed her with diabetes, which they blamed for her failing eyesight. The press carried rumors that she would never be able to sing again, but Ella proved them wrong. Despite protests by family and friends, including Norman, Ella returned to the stage and pushed on with an exhaustive schedule.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">By the 1990s, Ella had recorded over 200 albums. In 1991, she gave her final concert at New York's renowned Carnegie Hall. It was the 26th time she performed there.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">As the effects from her diabetes worsened, 76-year-old Ella experienced severe circulatory problems and was forced to have both of her legs amputated below the knees. She never fully recovered from the surgery, and afterward, was rarely able to perform. During this time, Ella enjoyed sitting outside in her backyard, and spending time with Ray, Jr. and her granddaughter Alice.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">"I just want to smell the air, listen to the birds and hear Alice laugh," she said.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 17px;">On June 15, 1996, Ella Fitzgerald died in her Beverly Hills home. Hours later, signs of remembrance began to appear all over the world. A wreath of white flowers stood next to her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a marquee outside the Hollywood Bowl theater read, "Ella, we will miss you."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 17px;">After a private memorial service, traffic on the freeway was stopped to let her funeral procession pass through. She was laid to rest in the "Sanctuary of the Bells" section of the Sunset Mission Mausoleum at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, Calif.</span><br />
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Vicktor Alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01335249239525296297noreply@blogger.com0