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Posts published in “History”

Harlem Renaissance Novel By Claude McKay Is Found

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

Author Claude McKay in the 1920s.

A Columbia graduate student and his adviser have authenticated the student’s discovery of an unknown manuscript of a 1941 novel by Claude McKay, a leading Harlem Renaissance writer and author of the first novel by a black American to become a best seller.  The manuscript, “Amiable With Big Teeth: A Novel of the Love Affair Between the Communists and the Poor Black Sheep of Harlem,” was discovered in a previously untouched university archive and offers an unusual window on the ideas and events (like Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia) that animated Harlem on the cusp of World War II. The two scholars have received permission from the McKay estate to publish the novel, a satire set in 1936, with an introduction about how it was found and its provenance verified.

Cemetery Of African Slaves Honored In Brazil

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

Brazil Cemetery

In this 1996 photo released by Ana de la Merced Guimaraes, bones from African slaves sit in boxes after being recovered by Guimaraes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Ana de la Merced Guimaraes)
RIO DE JANEIRO — Wearing full-skirted white dresses and turbans, the religious leaders chanted blessings and sprinkled water on the concrete floor of a modest house near this city’s port. Beneath their feet were the remains of tens of thousands of African slaves who had died shortly after arriving from their horrific sea voyage.  The bodies had been dumped into a fetid, open-air cemetery, often chopped up and mixed with trash. With the 15-minute ceremony this week, the Afro-Brazilian priests were finally giving the slaves at least the semblance of a proper burial centuries later.

Obamas Pay Tribute To 9/11 Victims At Pentagon

By goodblacknews on September 11, 2012

Obamas 9/11 Ceremony: Obamas Pay Tribute To 9/11 Victims At Pentagon

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the U.S. is safer and its people resilient on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama laid a wreath at the Pentagon, one of several official observances marking the suicide hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

 Aided by a Marine honor guard, Obama placed a white floral wreath on a metal stand above a concrete slab that said “Sept. 11, 2001 – 9:37 am.” A moment of silence began at precisely 9:37 a.m.  In remarks at the Pentagon, Obama recalled a day “when grief crashed over us like an awful wave.”  Later Tuesday, the president was to visit wounded soldiers and their families at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Frederick Douglass Statue To Be Moved To The U.S. Capitol

By goodblacknews on September 11, 2012
Frederick Douglass (file photo)

Frederick Douglass (file photo)

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday night approved a resolution that will move the bust of Frederick Douglass to the Capitol, making him only the third African-American to be so honored. The other two: Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sojourner Truth. There are 180 busts on display at the Capitol.

Paul McCartney Helps Restore Historic Motown Piano

By goodblacknews on August 31, 2012
Sir Paul McCartney performs during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Sir Paul McCartney performs during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

DETROIT (AP) — A damaged 1877 Steinway grand piano used by Motown artists during the record label’s “Hitsville USA” heyday has been restored, thanks to a little help from Paul McCartney, and he’s set to play it when it’s unveiled next month.

GBN Quote Of The Day

By goodblacknews on August 28, 2012

GBN Quote Of The Day: “When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from his “I Have A Dream” speech

Artist Charlotta Janssen Creates Exhibit of Freedom Riders’ Mugshots and Documents

By goodblacknews on August 24, 2012

Far off from the public eye, the Brooklyn Navy Yard looms over the Brooklyn waterfront, quiet and unassuming as a warehouse.  From its outside, you’d never guess this industrial landmass serves as a safe haven for businesspeople, photographers, media, and artists alike.

On a cool August morning, someone from the latter category stands right before the entrance. Clad in a green worksuit with blue and white splotches, Charlotta Janssen looks more like a hired house painter than a creative one. That perception changes once you enter her studio on the 8thfloor and give your head the 360 degree treatment.  To your immediate left hangs pictures of a naked couple presumably after sexual intercourse, to the right, a man with a half-smile, half-scowl on his face.

The main part of the room, however, is where your eyes stay focused: A picture of young Black children at a 1920s Harlem pool lines the upper right (in tribute to Harlem Renaissance man James Van Der Zee). A side painting of Trinidadian activist  Stokely Carmichael lies mere feet away. Civil rights staples Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks sit nearby with stern looks at the camera.

These three paintings make up part of Jennsen’s “Freedom Riders” exhibit. Currently on display at Philadelphia’s African-American Museum through September 30th, the collection of oil canvas mugshots of those who participated in the 20th century Freedom Bus Rides for integrated public transit is juxtaposed with ID cards, secretly handwritten notes, and any other written documents Janssen could find.

Artist Charlotta Janssen Creates Exhibit of Freedom Riders' Mugshots and Documents

By goodblacknews on August 24, 2012


Far off from the public eye, the Brooklyn Navy Yard looms over the Brooklyn waterfront, quiet and unassuming as a warehouse.  From its outside, you’d never guess this industrial landmass serves as a safe haven for businesspeople, photographers, media, and artists alike.
On a cool August morning, someone from the latter category stands right before the entrance. Clad in a green worksuit with blue and white splotches, Charlotta Janssen looks more like a hired house painter than a creative one. That perception changes once you enter her studio on the 8thfloor and give your head the 360 degree treatment.  To your immediate left hangs pictures of a naked couple presumably after sexual intercourse, to the right, a man with a half-smile, half-scowl on his face.
The main part of the room, however, is where your eyes stay focused: A picture of young Black children at a 1920s Harlem pool lines the upper right (in tribute to Harlem Renaissance man James Van Der Zee). A side painting of Trinidadian activist  Stokely Carmichael lies mere feet away. Civil rights staples Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks sit nearby with stern looks at the camera.
These three paintings make up part of Jennsen’s “Freedom Riders” exhibit. Currently on display at Philadelphia’s African-American Museum through September 30th, the collection of oil canvas mugshots of those who participated in the 20th century Freedom Bus Rides for integrated public transit is juxtaposed with ID cards, secretly handwritten notes, and any other written documents Janssen could find.

New Martin Luther King, Jr. Audio Found

By goodblacknews on August 22, 2012

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — A U.S. man says he has discovered the audio tape of a forgotten interview with civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that was never published.
Stephon Tull says he recently found the nearly pristine reel-to-reel recording in his father’s attic in Tennessee. His father interviewed King in 1960 for a never-written memoir.
The tape captures King talking about the civil rights movement and relations with Africa. New York collector Keya Morgan authenticated the tape and is arranging a private sale.
Raymond Winbush of the Institute for Urban Research says there are few recordings of King speaking about the civil rights movement’s global impact.
On tape, King says of the struggle, “… historians will have to record this movement as one of the greatest epics of our heritage.”
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
via New Martin Luther King Jr audio found | theGrio.

Reflections in Black: Celebrating African Americans in Photography

By goodblacknews on August 21, 2012


Augustus Washington (1820–1875)
Unidentified woman, probably a member of the Urias McGill family, daguerreotype, sixth plate, 1855, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LZ-USZC4-3937.
article via blog.charlesguice.com
Twelve years ago, Reflections in Black became the largest exhibition ever conceived to explore the breadth and history of work by black photographers.
It is unlikely that many people would be familiar with the name Jules Lion. A free man of color, Lion established the first daguerrean studio in New Orleans and, in doing so, became somewhat of a local celebrity. Alone, his accomplishments might have been of little interest. But the fact that he did this in the early spring of 1840, soon after the announcement of the daguerreotype process, is worthy of special attention. Moreover, there is evidence that Lion may have immigrated from France with knowledge of the process. For historian Deborah Willis, Lion’s achievements mark not only the beginning of photography in the U.S., but the pioneering involvement of blacks in the medium. As a result, Lion is included in the landmark exhibition,Reflections in Black: Smithsonian African American Photography.