Posts published in “History”

President Obama Recognizes 150 Anniversary Of Emancipation Proclamation

By goodblacknews on January 1, 2013

President Barack Obama views the Emancipation Proclamation with a small group of African American seniors, their grandchildren and some children from the Washington DC area, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

January 1^st, 1863, is the day that the 16th President of the United States of America, President Abraham Lincoln, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, proclaiming that all slaves in the Confederacy were “forever free” because these Southern states refused to rejoin the Union and were in “rebellion” against the United States of America.

Ironically, the Union states were allowed to maintain their slaves because President Lincoln did not want to risk friction among them. Subsequently, freedmen fled to the North to join the Union Army, and slavery became the pivotal focus of the Civil War. The initial conflict began over various other reasons regarding states’ individual rights, such as taxation, the South demanding control over their own political and socio-economic infrastructure, as well as states’ resources.

Berkeley’s First Woman Firefighter Debra Pryor Retires as First Woman Chief

By goodblacknews on December 28, 2012

Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor is retiring Dec. 28, 2012 after 27 years in the Berkeley fire department. She was the city’s first woman firefighter, the first woman chief and the second black woman to head a fire department in the nation. (Doug Oakley/Staff)

BERKELEY, CA — It’s a drizzly cold Tuesday evening and Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor is outside the city’s public safety building talking to a homeless man with two shopping carts piled high with possessions. The man loops in and out of lucidity, but Pryor doesn’t appear annoyed, pressed for time or afraid. She listens and talks to him, then politely wraps it up and approaches a second man to ask if he needs help deciphering the front desk hours of the police station.

Pryor, 51, is retiring Friday after 27 years in the fire department and 27 years of smashing race and gender barriers: she was the city’s first female firefighter, its first female fire chief and the second black female fire chief in the country behind Rosemary Cloud of East Point, Ga. (Earlier this year Oakland named Teresa Deloach Reed as its fire chief, making her the first black woman fire chief of a major metropolitan city.)

Smithsonian Exhibit Parallels Emancipation, Civil rights

By goodblacknews on December 18, 2012

Smithsonian parallels Emancipation, Civil Rights

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington for Civil Rights were 100 years apart, but both changed the nation and expanded freedoms.

Beginning Friday, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is presenting a walk back in time through two eras. A new exhibit, “Changing America,” parallels the 1863 emancipation of slaves with the 1963 March on Washington.

Jersey City Renames Street to Honor Former Tuskegee Airman and Local Entrepreneur

By goodblacknews on December 11, 2012

James 'Zimp' Smith street renaming ceremony on Dec. 8, 2012

James ‘Zimp’ Smith smiles as he greets his nephew, LeRoy Minnatee, after the street-renaming ceremony honoring Smith on Dec. 8, 2012 at the southeaster corner of Ocean and Dwight in Jersey City. (Alyssa Ki/The Jersey Journal)

A former Tuskegee Airman who became a prominent local African-American entrepreneur was honored today by town residents and local civic leaders during a street naming ceremony held in Jersey City this afternoon.

Roughly a hundred people gathered at the southeastern corner of Ocean Avenue and Dwight Street around 12 p.m. to celebrate the achievements of James “Zimp” Smith, the first successful African-American businessman to own his own franchise in Hudson County during an era when minority owned businesses were rare.

Exhibit to Explore History of African-Americans in Medicine During Civil War

By goodblacknews on December 6, 2012

Some may not know how much of a part African-Americans played in the Civil War, but the National Library of Medicine has produced a free, traveling exhibit to shed light on their work in the health field during that time. “Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries” explores black Americans’ contributions as nurses, surgeons and hospital staff during the war.

According to the National Library of Medicine, for African-Americans, the Civil War was “a fight for freedom and a chance for full participation in American society.” “Their participation challenged the prescribed notions of both race and gender and pushed the boundaries of the role of blacks in America,” the site reads.

Rare Black Images From Ebony Magazine Finally Available To Public

By goodblacknews on December 3, 2012

Eartha Kitt (left); Dizzy Gillespie (Ebony Collection)

You’ve heard the expression “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Photos have the ability to tell complex stories, convey important information and elicit emotional responses from viewers who may know nothing of the subject matter. One frame can change the world. Think of the iconic photographs that have come to symbolize a movement, a way of being or a slice of life.

Joe Rosenthal’s “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima“; Moneta Sleet Jr.’s “Deep Sorrow,” featuring Coretta Scott King at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.; James Van Der Zee’s photo of black nationalist and pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey; Elizabeth “Tex” Williams’ war photographs; Art Kane’s “A Great Day in Harlem“; Gordon Parks’ “American Gothic“; Carrie Mae Weems’ “Kitchen Table Series“; and Jean Moutoussamy-Ashe’s photo book, Daddy and Me, featuring images of her late husband, tennis legend and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe, with their daughter, Camera.

Photos offer us a peek into unknown worlds and, in some cases, worlds we know all too well. Chronicling our lives and society, they capture history and the profound experiences of a complex world. The Johnson Publishing Co.’s Ebony Collection, now available to the public for the first time, does just that. This historic photo archive offers 2,000 photos taken over the last 70 years, documenting the rich and layered black experience in the United States.

R.I.P. Charles V. Bush, the First Black Page in the U.S. Supreme Court

By goodblacknews on December 1, 2012

According to UPI.com, Charles V. Bush, the first African-American to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court page, and one of the first black Air Force Academy graduates, has died in Montana. He was 72. Bush’s wife, Bettina Bush, told The Washington Post he died from colon cancer Nov. 5 at his home in Lolo.

Bush, who grew up in segregated Washington, was fourteen years old when he was named a Supreme Court page in July 1954. Bush worked primarily in the anteroom of Chief Justice Earl Warren, who sought the appointment of an African-American. Bush was a member of the debate and rugby teams and a squadron commander at the Air Force Academy, before graduating in 1963.

Bush also served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968, overseeing intelligence teams during the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Khe Sanh, the Post said. He left the Air Force in 1970 with the rank of captain. His son, Chip Bush, said the elder Bush left in part because he thought he was overlooked for a promotion due to his race.

Besides his work in the corporate sector, Bush was a diversity consultant to the Air Force and the Air Force Academy, the Post said. His corporate career included work in executive-level positions for companies, including Max Factor and Hughes Electronics. Survivors include his wife, three children, his mother, a sister, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. To learn more about Bush’s life and career, click here.

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

African-American Judges Head Up Oklahoma’s Two Highest Courts For First Time in History

By goodblacknews on November 26, 2012

In Oklahoma, two judges have made history by becoming the first African-Americans to head up two of the state’s highest courts.

Tom Colbert is set to become chief justice of the nine-member Oklahoma Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Colbert’s law school classmate, David B. Lewis, is poised to become presiding judge of the five-member Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

The Tulsa World describes what both men have in common:

Both men were raised by single mothers, are former prosecutors and worked in private practice.

Both are runners – Colbert is a sprinter, while Lewis runs for distance.

And former Gov. Brad Henry appointed both as the first blacks to hold a post on their respective appeals courts.

Colbert says he owes his success to those who came before him and paved the way for him.

The chief justice will be in charge of overseeing district courts in Oklahoma’s 77 counties. But as far as Colbert is concerned, his job doesn’t stop there. He’s looking forward to mentoring kids so that he can pass on some of what he’s learned on his road to success.

Colbert also offered a bit of advice, saying, ”There are great opportunities out there if you believe in yourself and try to stay on the right path,” he said. Lewis said that he happy with his achievements, but went on to say that it is important for people to understand that success doesn’t happen overnight.

article via yourblackworld.net

PBS Unveils Black Culture Connection Website

By goodblacknews on November 24, 2012

PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, is expanding its digital platform. The nonprofit television network has announced the launch of Black Culture Connection, an online guide to films, stories and other resources about the black experience in the realms of history and culture. The website, currently in its beginning stages, will evolve into a larger digital resource over the course of the year:

“We’re committed to bringing you the best of PBS and helping you explore Black history and culture around the world through our award-winning programs, special online events, chats … and more!”

“We are in beta and continuing to grow, but invite you to join our journey over the next year. You will be able to connect with award-winning documentaries like Freedom Riders andThe Interrupters, new web original productions like Black Folk Don’t, live chats with your favorite filmmakers, and PBS member stations to help you explore black history and culture locally in your community.”

This is only the first phase of a larger online experience coming to PBS.org. We’ll continue to add new features over the next several months.

Read more about Black Culture Connection here.

article by Stacy-Ann Ellis via theroot.com

Documentary “The Forgotten Cowboys” Explores Lives and History of America’s Black Cowboys

By goodblacknews on November 21, 2012

Jason Griffin (center) is one of the stars of “The Forgotten Cowboys,” a documentary film by John Ferguson and Gregg MacDonald which follows the lives of black cowboys in the U.S.

(CNN) — Jason Griffin straps his right arm in bandages, preparing himself to grip the reins a wildly bucking bronco. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a rough beard, he steps into his cowboy boots, fits a Stetson hat and heads out to meet his mount in the rodeo arena. Griffin is a four-time world champion bareback bucking horse rider — competing in a sport that began in the 19th century heyday of the Wild West. With each victory — he has also won three all-round rodeo championships — the Texan raises awareness of a strong tradition which is rarely seen in the many novels, films and television series dedicated to the tales of the old West: The historic story of America’s black cowboys.

On cinema screens and paperback covers, the cowboys of old were heroic, hard-bitten and — almost always — white. In reality, the American West of the 1800s was traversed by an assortment of black, white, Mexican and Native American cattle hands. Contemporary records are rare but historians now estimate that up to one in four Texan cowboys was African American, while the number of Mexican cowboys was even greater.

John Ferguson and Gregg MacDonald’s documentary film — and multimedia project — “The Forgotten Cowboys” follows Griffin and other contemporary black cowboys as they gain a following competing at rodeos and go about their working lives.

Watch online: the video trailer for the documentary “The Forgotten Cowboys”

Posts published in “History”

President Obama Recognizes 150 Anniversary Of Emancipation Proclamation

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Berkeley’s First Woman Firefighter Debra Pryor Retires as First Woman Chief

Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor is retiring Dec. 28, 2012 after 27 years in the Berkeley fire department. She was the city’s first woman firefighter, the first woman chief and the second black woman to head a fire department in the nation. (Doug Oakley/Staff)

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Smithsonian Exhibit Parallels Emancipation, Civil rights

Smithsonian parallels Emancipation, Civil Rights

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Jersey City Renames Street to Honor Former Tuskegee Airman and Local Entrepreneur

James ‘Zimp’ Smith smiles as he greets his nephew, LeRoy Minnatee, after the street-renaming ceremony honoring Smith on Dec. 8, 2012 at the southeaster corner of Ocean and Dwight in Jersey City. (Alyssa Ki/The Jersey Journal)

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Exhibit to Explore History of African-Americans in Medicine During Civil War

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Rare Black Images From Ebony Magazine Finally Available To Public

Eartha Kitt (left); Dizzy Gillespie (Ebony Collection)

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R.I.P. Charles V. Bush, the First Black Page in the U.S. Supreme Court

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African-American Judges Head Up Oklahoma’s Two Highest Courts For First Time in History

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PBS Unveils Black Culture Connection Website

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Documentary “The Forgotten Cowboys” Explores Lives and History of America’s Black Cowboys

Jason Griffin (center) is one of the stars of “The Forgotten Cowboys,” a documentary film by John Ferguson and Gregg MacDonald which follows the lives of black cowboys in the U.S.

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Posts published in “History”

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Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor is retiring Dec. 28, 2012 after 27 years in the Berkeley fire department. She was the city’s first woman firefighter, the first woman chief and the second black woman to head a fire department in the nation. (Doug Oakley/Staff)

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Smithsonian parallels Emancipation, Civil Rights

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James ‘Zimp’ Smith smiles as he greets his nephew, LeRoy Minnatee, after the street-renaming ceremony honoring Smith on Dec. 8, 2012 at the southeaster corner of Ocean and Dwight in Jersey City. (Alyssa Ki/The Jersey Journal)

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Eartha Kitt (left); Dizzy Gillespie (Ebony Collection)

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Jason Griffin (center) is one of the stars of “The Forgotten Cowboys,” a documentary film by John Ferguson and Gregg MacDonald which follows the lives of black cowboys in the U.S.

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