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GBN’s Daily Drop: Learn About Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the 1st African American Graduate of West Point (LISTEN)

GBN’s Daily Drop: Learn About Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the 1st African American Graduate of West Point (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on February 24, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast is based on the Thursday, February 24 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 about Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the first African American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point:

You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Thursday, February 24th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.

Justice came slowly to Henry O. Flipper, the first African American West Point Academy graduate, but come it did. After graduating in 1877, Flipper became the first non-white US Army officer to lead the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry.

During the Apache Wars and the Victorio Campaign though, Flipper was court-martialed for alleged improprieties, but in 1994 his descendants pushed to get Flipper’s case reviewed, and President Bill Clinton pardoned Flipper after it was concluded that his conviction was unjust.

West Point now bestows an annual Henry O. Flipper Award to graduates who exhibit, quote, “leadership, self-discipline, and perseverance in the face of unusual difficulties.”

To learn more about Henry O. Flipper, read his autobiography, The Colored Cadet at West Point: Autobiography of Lieut. Henry Ossian Flipper, U. S. A., First Graduate of Color from the U. S. Military Academy, the 2015 biography Henry Ossian Flipper: West Point’s First Black Graduate by Jane Eppinga, or Black Frontiersman: The Memoirs of Henry O. Flipper, First Black Graduate of West Point complied and edited by Theodore D. Harris.You can also check out the West Point Military Academy and US Army videos on his legacy that are on YouTube, and links to other sources provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

Sources:

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing, and available at workman.com, Amazon,Bookshop and other online retailers.

Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.

If you like GBN’s Daily Drops, please consider following us wherever you get your podcasts, give us a positive rating or review, share your favorites on social media or go old school and tell a friend.

For more Good Black News, you can check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

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After 114 Years, Buffalo Soldiers Honored with Statue at U.S. Military Academy at West Point

After 114 Years, Buffalo Soldiers Honored with Statue at U.S. Military Academy at West Point

By goodblacknews on September 1, 2021

Yesterday, 114 years after coming to then-segregated West Point to teach horsemanship to White cadets, the U.S. Military Academy honored the contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers by raising its first statue of a Black man.

Created by sculptor Eddie Dixon, the statue is of Staff Sgt. Sanders H. Matthews Sr., who is believed to be the last known Buffalo Soldier to serve at West Point.

The words etched into the granite say: “In Memory of the Buffalo Soldiers who served with the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments as part of the United States Military Academy Cavalry Detachment at West Point.”

“Everybody has a right to have their story told,” said Dr. Aundrea Matthews, West Point’s cultural arts director and Matthew’s granddaughter. “Because it’s a powerful story. Just what [the Buffalo Soldiers] endured, their determination and their commitment to prove to the world that African American men can contribute and are viable citizens of this country.”

To quote washingtonpost.com:

Dixon pored over old photographs of Sanders Matthews to get the facial image right.

A model was built on an inner structure of carved foam, over which Dixon spread a layer of light-brown clay. Molds were made from the model, and the statue was cast with molten bronze at Schaefer Art Bronze Casting, in Arlington, Tex.

It was transported by truck and arrived Monday morning, escorted by eight motorcycles from the National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club.

The sculpture, which features an image of Matthews carrying a swallow-tailed cavalry flag that reads “USMA Detachment,” is the culmination of a project that was started by him before he died at age 95 in 2016.

Matthews hoped for the day when a monument honoring the Buffalo Soldiers of West Point would come to fruition, not knowing he would be the image for the tribute, his granddaughter said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/08/31/west-point-buffalo-soldiers-statue/

[Photo: Jackie Molloy for The Washington Post]

Lt. General Darryl A. Williams Becomes 1st African American Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy

By goodblacknews on July 12, 2018
Lt. General Darryl A. Williams (photo via armytimes.com)

via jbhe.com

Darryl A. Williams is the 60th superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He is the first African American to serve in this role in the 216-year history of the academy.

A native of Alexandria, Virginia, and a veteran of the first Gulf War, Lieutenant General Williams most recently served as the Commander of Allied Land Command for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Turkey. Previously he held command posts with the Second Infantry Division in South Korea and was deputy chief of staff for the U.S. Army in Europe. In 2014, President Obama appointed General Williams to lead U.S Army Africa, where he led the Defense Department’s program to combat the ebola virus.

General Williams is a 1983 graduate of West Point. He holds master’s degrees in leadership development, military art and science, and national security and strategic studies.

Source: https://www.jbhe.com/2018/07/the-first-african-american-superintendent-of-the-u-s-military-academy/

10 African Americans Win 2018 Rhodes Scholarships, Most Ever in Rhodes History

By goodblacknews on November 20, 2017
Cadet Simone Askew, of Fairfax, Va., is one of 32 Americans awarded Rhodes scholarships to study at Oxford University in England. (Richard Drew, File/Associated Press)

by Gene Johnson, AP via washingtonpost.com

The latest group of U.S. Rhodes scholars includes 10 African Americans — the most ever in a single Rhodes class — as well as a transgender man and four students from colleges that had never had received the honor before.

The Rhodes Trust on Sunday announced the 32 men and women chosen for post-graduate studies at Oxford University in England. Among them: the first black woman to lead the Corps of Cadets at West Point; a wrestler at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who’s helping develop a prosthetic knee for use in the developing world; and a Portland, Oregon, man who has studied gaps in his hometown’s “sanctuary city” policy protecting immigrants in the country illegally from deportation.
“This year’s selections — independently elected by 16 committees around the country meeting simultaneously — reflects the rich diversity of America,” Elliot F. Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said in a news release announcing the winners Sunday. “They plan to study a wide range of fields across the social sciences, biological and medical sciences, physical sciences and mathematics, and the humanities.”The scholarships, considered by many to be the most prestigious available to American students, cover all expenses for two or three years of study starting next October. In some cases, the scholarships may allow funding for four years. The winners came from a group of 866 applicants who were endorsed by 299 colleges and universities. Four of the institutions had winners for the first time: Hunter College at the City University of New York; Temple University in Philadelphia; the University of Alaska in Anchorage; and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
The 10 African Americans in the class include Simone Askew, of Fairfax, Virginia, who made headlines in August when she became the first black woman to serve as first captain of the 4,400-member Corps of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy — the highest position in the cadet chain of command at West Point. Askew, a senior, is majoring in international history, focused her undergraduate thesis on the use of rape as a tool of genocide and plans to study evidence-based social intervention at Oxford.
Her mother told reporters over the summer: “That leadership is something I’ve seen throughout her life — wanting to be first, wanting to be the best, wanting to win, in sports, in academics, in every aspect of her life. … And to serve others, as well.”

Simone Askew Selected 1st Captain of Corps of Cadets at West Point

By goodblacknews on August 3, 2017

U.S. Military Academy Class of 2018 Cadet Simone Askew was selected First Captain of the Corps of Cadets, the highest position in the cadet chain of command. (Photo Credit: 2nd Lt. Austin LaChance)

via army.mil
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Cadet Simone Askew of Fairfax, Virginia, has been selected First Captain of the U.S. Military Academy’s Corps of Cadets for the 2017-2018 academic year, achieving the highest position in the cadet chain of command. She will assume her duties on Aug. 14.
Askew, an International History major, currently leads 1,502 cadets as the Regimental Commander of Cadet Basic Training II. As First Captain she is responsible for the overall performance of the approximately 4,400-member Corps of Cadets. Her duties also include implementing a class agenda and acting as a liaison between the Corps and the administration.
Askew is the first African-American woman to hold this esteemed position.
“Simone truly exemplifies our values of Duty, Honor, Country. Her selection is a direct result of her hard work, dedication and commitment to the Corps over the last three years,” said Brig. Gen. Steven W. Gilland, commandant of cadets. “I know Simone and the rest of our incredibly talented leaders within the Class of 2018 will provide exceptional leadership to the Corps of Cadets in the upcoming academic year.”
Outside of the curriculum, Askew is a member of the Army West Point Crew team and developing leaders as the Cadet-in-Charge of the Elevation Initiative. She is a graduate of Air Assault School, an EXCEL Scholar, a member of the Phi Alpha Theta Honorary National History Society, a recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Military Leadership, and holds the highest female Recondo score during Combat Field Training II for the class of 2018.
To see a video feature story on Askew, click here: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Fairfax-County-Woman-Makes-History-at-West-Point_Washington-DC-438421463.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_DCBrand
Source: Simone Askew Selected First Captain | Article | The United States Army

Lt. Gen. Nadja West Confirmed by Senate as First Black Army Surgeon General

By goodblacknews on December 18, 2015

naja west (lt general)
Lt. General Naja West is the Army’s first black Surgeon General (Photo: John G. Martinez, Photojournalist to the Secretary of the Army)

Falls Church, VA  – The Senate confirmed Thursday Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West to serve as the new Army Surgeon General and Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM).  This makes West the Army’s first black Surgeon General.
Additionally, with the appointment as the 44th Army Surgeon General, West picks up a third star to become the Army’s first black female to hold the rank of lieutenant general.  West was sworn in as the Army Surgeon general on Friday by Acting Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning. She most recently served as the Joint Staff Surgeon at the Pentagon.
The Army Surgeon General provides advice and assistance to the Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff on all health care matters pertaining to the U.S. Army and its military health care system.  West will be responsible for development, policy direction, organization and overall management of an integrated Army-wide health service system and is the medical material developer for the Army. These duties include formulating policy regulations on health service support, health hazard assessment and the establishment of health standards.
Dual-hatted as the MEDCOM commanding general, West oversees more than 48 medical treatment facilities providing care to nearly 4 million active duty members of all services, retirees and their Family members. MEDCOM is composed of three regional health commands, the Medical Research and Materiel Command, and Army Medical Department Center & School.
West holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Doctorate of Medicine from George Washington University School of Medicine. She has held previous assignments as Commanding General, Europe Regional Medical Command; Commander of Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, N.C.; and Division Surgeon, 1st Armored Division, Army Europe and Seventh Army, Germany.
West hails from the District of Columbia, and she finished high school at the Academy of the Holy Names in Silver Spring, Md.
While West’s promotion to lieutenant general is already effective, she will “pin” on the rank in a formal ceremony in early 2015.
article via eurweb.com

Words and War: Toni Morrison at West Point

By goodblacknews on March 22, 2013

Students at West Point attending a reading by Toni Morrison on Friday. She read from her novel “Home,” which focuses on a Korean War veteran. (Kirsten Luce for The New York Times)

WEST POINT, N.Y. — As thousands of hungry West Point cadets streamed into the mess hall for their 20-minute lunch break here on Friday, they paused from the rush to the tables to give a rousing group cheer to a guest who has received hundreds of accolades, but perhaps none this thunderous.

“I can’t believe this — it’s like a movie,” said Toni Morrison, who sat at one of the 420 wooden tables in the flag-bedecked Washington Hall, a majestic Romanesque structure at the United States Military Academy.

Seated with members of the African-American Arts Forum at West Point, Ms. Morrison ate her Army-issue ravioli and prepared to read from her most recent novel, “Home,” to the freshman cadets, who studied the book in English class this semester.

The novel is the story of Frank Money, a black Georgia native and Korean War veteran struggling to reintegrate into civilian life in a segregated America, while struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.