Today in Black History: February 11, 1644 Enslaved Africans protested and won their freedom establishing the first black community of freed Africans.
Recognized as the first settlement established by freed Africans on the American continent, right here in New York City, (at the time known as New Amersterdam) eleven African petitioned for their freedom after fulfilling the term of their “contracts” to a Dutch Company. This community is located in what is now known as the heart of Manhattan’s art and fashion scenes.
Sasa Juste has a message for the culture vultures, with her new track "Bad Juju".
Sasa Juste makes sure that every black woman is heard and felt. She reminds everyone of the vast and beautiful legacy while detailing the struggles of black women in a white-washed society that tells them that their hair is not good enough, their style is not good enough and they don’t deserve to be honored as founders of such styles.
Today in Black History: February 5, 1884 Willis Johnson invented the mechanical egg beater
African-American Willis Johnson of Cincinnati, Ohio, patented and improved the mechanical egg beater (U.S. pat# 292,821) on February 5, 1884. The beater was made up of a handle attached to a series of spring-like whisk wires used to help mix ingredients. Prior to his eggbeater, all mixing of ingredients was done by hand and was quite labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Today in Black History: February 3, 1964 New York City Public School Boycott, Nearly a Half Million Children skip Class
Though segregation in New York was not codified like the Jim Crow laws in the South, a de facto segregation was evident in the city’s school system.
Picketers, made up of teachers, parents, students and activists, marched at 300 of the city’s 860 schools, The New York Times reported. The protest culminated in a march across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Board of Education building on Livingston Street in downtown Brooklyn.
Directing the boycott was long-time civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who had been a chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington and had helped organize the first Freedom Ride in 1947.
Today in Black History: January 29, 1954 Oprah Gail Winfrey is Born
Renowned television talk show host Oprah Winfrey is sometimes called the most influential woman of the 20th century, and perhaps rightly so, as she has her own globally viewed talk show, television network, magazine and millions of fans. Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Missouri to unwed teenage parents. She lived in poverty, first with her mother, then grandmother and then biological father and admitted to having been sexually abused by her male relatives as a child. She enrolled at Tennessee State University in 1971 and landed a part time job as a radio show host after winning the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.
Today in Black history…
Today in Black History: Toussaint L’Ouverture was born May 20th, 1743.
François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture, also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda, was the best-known leader of the Haitian Revolution.He was a leader of the growing resistance. His military and political acumen saved the gains of the first black insurrection in November 1791.
Today in Black History: On May 9th, 1897 Physician, Orator and Musician, Rudolph Fisher was born.
Unlike Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, and W.E. B. DuBois who tried to put the stereotypes of black exoticism in Pan-African, Rudolph Fisher worked on articulating the broader struggle for black labor privilege, and women's empowerment.