#BlackHistoryFacts | Bessie Coleman

Black history fact #24

Bessie Coleman (1892 - 1926) was an American aviator. Born to sharecroppers, she became the first black to hold a pilot's license.  At early age, Coleman developed a love for flying. But, because neither blacks nor women were allowed entry into flight schools in the US, she saved money, learned French, and moved to France to achieve her goal. Within seven months, she earned her international pilot's license in 1921, specializing in stunt flying. parachuting, and barnstorming. In 1922, Coleman became the first black woman to stage a public flight in the US. She was a popular flyer at aerial shows. Speaking at schools and churches, Coleman was an advocate for blacks to become interested in flying and to become pilots. Before her death, she was raising funds to create a school for black flyers. Three years after her death in 1926, the Bessie Coleman Aero Club was established and trained many black pilots, including Tuskegee airmen. In 1995, the US Postal Service honored Bessie Coleman with a commemorative stamp.

Thank you Bessie Coleman for showing us how to soar!

#BlackHistoryFacts | Arthur Ashe

Black history fact #23

Arthur Ashe (1943 - 1993) was a professional tennis player and AIDS activist. He is the first black man to be recruited by the US Davis Cup team. Ashe won 3 Grand Slam titles over his career. In 1968, he became the first black man to win the US Open title. Two years later, he won the Australian title. In 1975, he won the singles title at Wimbledon. That same year, Ashe became the first black man to be ranked No. 1 in the tennis world. On top of his accomplishments, Ashe is the first, and remains the only, black male player to win the singles title at Wimbledon and the US Open. In 1985, he became the first black man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Ashe used his success and fame to create inner city tennis programs for youth and to found the Association of Men's Tennis Professionals. When he learned that he had contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion during heart surgery, Ashe turned his efforts to raising awareness about the disease.

Thank you Arthur Ashe for being a trailblazer! 

#BlackHistoryFacts | Althea Gibson

Black history fact #22 

Althea Gibson (1927 - 2003) was an American professional tennis player and golfer. She was the first black athlete to compete at the US National Championships in 1950, and the first black player to cross the color line of international tennis and compete at Wimbledon in 1951. At an early age, she developed a love for sports and displayed a great talent in tennis. However, in the 1940s and 1950s, most tennis tournaments were closed to nonwhites. Undeterred, she kept playing until her skills could no longer be denied.  In 1956, Gibson became the first person of color to win a Grand Slam title. The following year she won both the singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1958. Over her career, Gibson won 11 Grand Slam titles, including 6 doubles titles and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in 1957 and 1958. She also broke color barriers in professional golf and became the first black woman to compete on the pro tour. After retiring from tennis in 1971, Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. 

Thank you Althea Gibson for breaking racial barriers and dominating in the sports world!

#BlackHistoryFacts | Malcolm X

52 years ago today, Malcolm X was killed while giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.  I think it is fitting to honor him by spotlighting parts of his life. 

Black history fact #21

Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little and later known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, (1925 - 1965) was an orator, civil rights activist, and  a leader of the Nation of Islam. He challenged the mainstream civil rights movement and its nonviolent pursuit of integration championed by Martin Luther King Jr. He advocated for self-defense against white aggression and the liberation of black people "by any means necessary," including violence. A gifted and passionate orator, Malcolm was admitted by the black community across the US. Due largely to his efforts, the Nation of Islam grew from 400 members in 1952 to 40,000 members by 1960. However, he broke with the group in 1964 and then traveled through North Africa and the Middle East, most notably making a a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia,  where he experienced a turning point in his political and spiritual views. He returned to the US more optimistic about the prospects for peaceful resolution to America's race problems and founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which advocated black identity and argued that racism, not white people, was the greatest foe of the black community. Malcolm X's legacy as a civil rights leader was further cemented by the posthumous publication in 1965 of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley." 

Thank you Malcolm X for your fearlessness and leadership!

#BlackHistoryFacts | Booker T. Washington

Black history fact #20

Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915) was an educator, author, and advisor to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. Born into slavery, he became one of the most prominent black leaders in the US prior to World War I. In 1881, Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute, a college in Alabama dedicated to moral and industrial education and to training black teachers. His public advice to blacks in the South was to be patient, to accommodate to the Jim Crow system for the time being, to raise their levels of education and job skills, and to take full advantage of whatever opportunities became available. However, in private, he financed several court cases challenging segregation and preached economic self-determination and self-reliance among black Americans.

Thank you Booker T. Washington for pushing us to be self-reliant!

#MotivationMondays | Stop Playing Small

#BlackHistoryFacts | Huey P. Newton

Black history fact #19

Huey P. Newton (1942 - 1989) was a political activist and revolutionary. Along with Bobby Seale, he cofounded, in 1966, and led the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland, California. The Panthers was central to the Black Power Movement and took a more militant stance than other social movements on the plight of black communities in America. The party laid out their goals in a document called the "Ten-Point Program," which called for better housing, jobs, and education for black Americans. They actively took a stance against police brutality in urban neighborhoods by mostly white cops and would go to arrests in progress and watch for abuse. In the 1970s, Newton aimed to take the Panthers in a new direction that emphasized nonviolence, democratic socialism, and services for the poor, including free lunch programs and urban clinics. At the height of its popularity, the Black Panther Party had 2,000 members in chapters in several cities. Later in his life, Newton, who graduated high school as a functional illiterate, returned to school and earned a PhD in Social Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1980.

Thank Huey P. Newton for advocating for better treatment of our communities!

#BlackHistoryFacts | Rosa Parks

Black history fact #18 

Rosa Parks (1913 - 2005) was a civil rights activist, whom is considered the "First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement." On December 1, 1955, she famously refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, spurring the Montgomery Bus Boycott and nationwide efforts to end segregation of public facilities. The boycott, which started on December 5, 1955 (the day of Rosa Park's trial) and lasted for 381 days, successfully pushed the city of Montgomery to lift the the enforcement of segregation on public buses. Although being the symbol of the civil rights movement, Parks experienced several hardships due to actions, including both her and her husband losing their jobs. Things got so bad that they moved from Montgomery to Detroit, Michigan, where they were able to start a new life. On September 9, 1996, Parks was award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor awarded. She has received many other honors in recogintionn of her contrubuton to the Civil Rights Movement, including a commemorative US Postal Stamp, a statue in the nation's Capitol building, and a Congressional Gold Medal. 

Thank you Rosa Parks for standing your ground!

#BlackHistoryFacts | Maya Angelou

Every since I read her autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" in the 9th grade, I have felt connected to Maya Angelou and her works. I live by her famous words: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." I also have the line "Bringing the gifts my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave" from her well-known poem "Still I Rise" as part of my email signature. So, it seems appropriate that I celebrate and honor her this Black History Month. 

Black history fact #17 

Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Ann Johnson, (1928-2014) was a poet, writer, producer, director, performer,  and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and a list of plays, movies, and television shows. She is known for her critically acclaimed autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)," which she was encouraged to write by fellow black writer James Baldwin. The book is critically-accalime and taught widely in schools. Angelou also was very good friends with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and worked with him as the northern coordinator for his Souther Christian Leadership Council (SCLC).  Wanting to stretch her creative talents, Angelou made her directorial debut in 1998 with the film

Down in the Delta

, starring Alfre Woodard.  She has received several honors; Angelou was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 2000 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian honor in the US) by President Obama in 2010. 

Thank you Maya Angelou for being unapologetically you! 

#BlackHistoryFacts | Harry Belafonte

Black history fact #16

Harry Belafonte is a singer, actor, and social activist. The oldest son of Caribbean immigrants, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style among American audiences in the 1950s. He achieved fame for his take on traditional Calypso songs "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," "Jump in the Line,"and "Jamaica Farewell." A multi-talented performer, Belafonte's career took off with his role in the film

Carmen Jones

 (1954). He is also known for his humanitarian work. Belafonte met Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s and they became good friends. Always outspoken, he emerged as a strong voice of the civil rights movement. He was with King when he delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. In 1980s, Belafonte came up with the idea for the recording of the celebrity-filled song "We Are the World" to raise money to provide famine relief in Ethiopia. The song, released in 1985, became an international hit and raised millions of dollars. In 1987, he became a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Belafonte continues to be outspoken and socially active.

Thank you Harry Belafonte for being one of our voices!

#BlackHistoryFacts | Lorraine Hansberry

Black history fact #15

Lorraine Hansberry (1930 - 1965) was a playwright. She was the first black woman to write a play performed on Broadway. Hansberry was also the first black playwright and youngest American to win a New York Critic's Circle award. Her best know work, the play "A Raisin in the Sun,"which  focuses on the struggles of a black family living in a racially segregated Chicago, was staged in 1959. The title of the play was taken from the Langston Hughes poem "Harlem:" "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up  like a raisin in the sun?" The film version of the play was completed in 1961, starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, and received an award at the Cannes Film Festival. nto a film. It was also developed into a musical in 1973, which ran for three years and won a Tony award. "A Raisin in the Sun" continues to reach new audiences, as it has been revived on Broadway in 2004 and 2014 (winning Tony Awards both years) and has been produced on television in 1989 and 2008.  

Thank you Lorraine Hansberry for your beautifully honest portrayal of black American lives!

#BlackHistoryFacts | Carter G. Woodson

Black history fact #14

Carter G. Woodson (1875 - 1950) was a historian and writer, and he is also considered the "Father of Black History Month." He earned a doctorate from Harvard University in 1912, becoming the second black person to earn a doctorate from the institution (after W. E. B. DuBois). Woodson dedicated himself to the study of black American history and lobbied to have the subject taught in schools and studied by scholars. In 1915, he cofounded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and established  The Journal of Negro History. He wrote over a dozen books, including his most noted work "The Mis-eduaiton of the Negro" (1933),  which focused on black self-empowerment. In February 1926, Woodson launched the celebration "Negro History Week," a special program in collaboration with schools and organizations to highlight black contributions to civilization. He created the "Negro History Bulletin" in 1937 and developed literature to help teachers with black studies. This program was later expanded and renamed Black History Month.

Thank you Carter G. Woodson for making sure we celebrate our history! 

#BlackHistoryFacts | W. E. B. DuBois

Black history fact #13

William Edward Burghardt Dubois, best known as W. E. B. DuBois, (1868 - 1963) was an American sociologist, educator, writer, and civil rights activist. In 1895, he became the first black American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University. Not long after, in 1899, DuBois published the first case study of the black American community, "The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study." He fought for equality for black Americans and publicly criticized those who asserted black people accept less than full and equal rights, as granted by the 14th Amendment. In 1903, he published his most famous work "The Souls of Black Folk," a poignant collection of 14 essays in which he defined some of the key themes of the black experience in the US. He was one of the cofounders of the NAACP in 1909 and for a time edited its monthly magazine, the

Crisis

. Interspersed with this writing and activism, Dubois taught at Wilberforce University and Atlanta University. A proponent of Pan-Africanism, he helped organize several Pan-African Congresses to free African colonies from European powers. Shortly before his death in 1963, DuBois was living in Accra, Ghana working on an encyclopedia of the African Diaspora.

Thank you W. E. B. DuBois for your vision and hard work!

#MotivationMonday | Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

#BlackHistoryFacts | Toni Morrison

Black history fact #12

Toni Morrison (born Chloe Anthony Wofford) is a Nobel-Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, playwright, and professor. She made her debut as a novelist in 1970 with

The Bluest Eye

. Soon Morrison gained attention from both critics and wider audiences for her exploration of the black American experience in different eras, rich dialogue, and vividly detailed characters in her works. Among her best known novels are 

Beloved

,

Sula

, and

Song of Solomon

 (my personal favorite book of hers). Morrison became a professor at Princeton University in 1989, while continuing to write and publish her works. In recognition of her works, she has received numerous literary accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature, which made her the first black American woman to be selected for the award. In 2012, Morrison received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Now in her 80s, Toni Morrison continues to write, publishing

God Help the Child

 in 2015.

Thank you Toni Morrison for sharing our stories!