Black History Month: Why Is It Needed? Extraordinary Black Contributors

Marie5656 said:
I am in process of watching Let the World See on HULU. It is the ABC documentary about the murder of Emmitt Till back in 1955. He was hinted down and killed for allegedly of whistling at a white woman in MIssissippi. The men were found not guilty. It was a sad story about racism in America. Very strong and sad story.
In an interview with Look magazine the men admitted to the killing!!!

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Did they show the condition of his face and body when they finished beating him? It was so terribly gruesome...the child was unrecognizable. But his family opted to have his casket open so people could see. :cry:😡
 

Irwin said:
I was thinking about the question of why Black History Month is needed earlier and it occurred to me that we all view history from a different perspective. As a White man, I don't look as closely at oppressed minorities' contributions to U.S. history as those minorities would. Some White men wouldn't even acknowledge that they were even oppressed. That would be from the narrow viewpoint of White history, only. It would be like taking a trip to Chicago and not venturing off the Magnificent Mile. You'd see a thriving business district with little crime, and that would be one perspective of Chicago, but head a few blocks south and it's like traveling into a different world — one in which you wouldn't want to go after the sun went down because of all the violent crime. But that's the home of Chicago Blues with the greats such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Willie Dixon, and Alligator Records, among others. That's part of Chicago's history as well as our country's history. During the '60, many rock bands visited that area for the opportunity to play with the originators of the music they loved and emulated to some extent. The Rolling Stones took their name from the Muddy Waters song Rollin' Stone.


Rollin' Stone was actually Muddy Waters' interpretation of the old Delta blues song Catfish Blues.


Muddy Waters grew up in the Mississippi Delta near Clarksdale, Miss. off Highway 61. Most of us White folk remember the Monkees' song Last Train to Clarksdale and Bob Dylan's song Highway 61 Revisited. Those songs had nothing to do with Clarksdale, Mississippi, though.

What the hell was I talking about? Oh, yeah... perspectives.

The U.S. is a country of immigrants. Most of our ancestors came to America voluntarily seeking a better life. My grandparents immigrated from Lithuania during the rise of Nazism in Europe. Many Americans have Irish, British, or Italian heritage. And Russian. They've all thrived in the U.S. for the most part.

Black history is radically different. Blacks were brought here as slaves and have only been free for a little more than 150 years. They started off poor and have remained poor. Go to the poorest neighborhoods in almost any major city and you'll find a large Black population.

So that's part of why we need Black History Month. They've contributed a lot to our country, but for various reasons, they haven't thrived. They've been ripped off by White music producers. An entire Black neighborhood was burned to the ground in Tulsa, OK. They've been held back by racism.

Not only should we look at Black people's contributions to America, we should look at how we can help poor Blacks advance in American society.
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While I appreciate your post and love your points, I want to say that there are many more Blacks in this country than just poor ones. But middle class Blacks are held back too and have to struggle to attain their successes. And they are not talked about much. Back in the day we had to read Ebony, Jet and later Black Enterprise to find out about them, and I'm not talking about just athletes and celebrities. The Cosby family wasn't an anomaly...it was patterned after my people who have obtained measures of success. And America needs to help not only poor Blacks but poor everybody! After all, this country spends billions helping other countries while people here are suffering in poverty. We always hear about Black people on welfare but there are just as many or more Whites on welfare. Yes, I know we are considered minorities so the stats are relative but my point is, the stigma is always attached to Black people and sometimes as if that's all we aspire to do....sit home and collect welfare. 🤬

You are right about perspectives in viewing history. But if history had been taught properly in the first place, maybe those perspectives would be broader and not so tunnel visioned. I was just talking with my BFF yesterday about my ancestry after she told me of the prejudice her family faced being Italians. She comes from a prominent family but at one time they were treated poorly. They couldn't live where they wanted. They didn't want her father on the police force...he eventually became chief of police. I pulled up my Ancestry DNA results to share with her and it shows that 10% is from Europe (including Iberian Peninsula, Finland-N/W Russia, Ireland and Great Britain).

Good history lesson about the origin of The Rolling Stones name and affiliated music trivia. We are aware that our music has been pilfered and used to make millions for those who have done so, often with not so much as credit for the creators of the music. Thank you for your post Irwin. @Pecos
 
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AnnieA said:
Not sure if all the inventions on the list above have been fact checked. Looked up the stethoscope because I remembered reading it was invented by a French doctor earlier than the date on the list. It was invented by French physician Rene Laennec in 1816.


One of the most under-represented on the list (and one of my personal heros) is agronomist and botanist George Washington Carver who is mostly known for researching peanut products but this Smithsonian article shows his work was so much more extensive than that one crop. In the late 19th and early 20th century he was researching and promoting sustainable farming practices that still are relevant for today's organic and permaculture farmers. It was this work that led him to promote growing peanuts (nitrogen fixers) to restore soil depleted by cotton as a mono crop. Once he had farmers growing peanuts to improved depleted soil, he then researched ways in which to use and market the peanut crop, but that was just one facet of his vast body of valuable work. Because of his work developing products from peanuts and other crops he introduced for crop rotation, he is known as the Father of Chemurgy--a branch of applied chemistry concerned with preparing industrial products from agricultural raw materials.

Born a slave in Missouri, his mother was stolen by slave raiders when he was weeks old. An older brother who raised George searched for her following emancipation but was never able to find what happened to her. As a child, George was relentless in pursuit of an education and set out alone as a young teen pushing through racial barriers along the way to get it. He began studies in 1891 as the first black student at Iowa State and received his master's degree there in 1896. In 1994--waaaaaay too late but better later than never--Iowa State awarded him posthumous doctorate. Following Iowa State, Carver moved to Alabama to take a teaching position at the Tuskegee Institute. It was in Alabama that he saw the plight of black small farmers and sharecroppers trying to make a living growing crops in nutrient depleted soil. That led to his interest, research and promotion of natural, sustainable agriculture practices which he carried to the wider South.

Carver lived a frugal life on campus at the Tuskegee Institute. At his death in 1943, he had a savings of $60,000 which he left to the George Washington Carver Foundation at the Tuskegee Institute. His epitaph reads: "He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world."

Partial list of honors:
  • 1923, Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, awarded annually for outstanding achievement.
  • 1939, the Roosevelt Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Southern Agriculture
  • 1943, Liberty ship SS George Washington Carver launched
  • 1951-1954, U.S. Mint features Carver on a 50 cents silver commemorative coin
  • 1965, Ballistic missile submarine USS George Washington Carver launched.
  • 1943, the US Congress designated January 5, the anniversary of his death, as George Washington Carver Recognition Day.
  • 2002, Iowa Award, the state's highest citizen award.
Professor Carver in his teaching lab (second from right).

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You are spot on about Dr. Rene Theophile-Hyacinthe Laennec inventing the stethoscope. Didn't know anything about such until paramedic school.

4abec46f9fdfb7478c20c2ff19ddcb68--stethoscope-brands-best-stethoscope.jpg

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Best-Stethoscope-for-EMT-1.jpg

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https://med.ucla.edu/wilkes/intro.html

www.heighpubs.org/jprr/jprr-aid1010.php

www.adctoday.com/learning-center/about-stethoscopes/history-stethoscope

www.stethoscopesreview.com/2020/2020/05/history-of-the-stethoscope/

www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/viewpoint-curious-history-first-stethoscope

https://blog.withings.com/2019/02/08/the-history-of-the-stethoscope/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stethoscope

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rene_Laennec





 

Marie5656 said:
I am in process of watching Let the World See on HULU. It is the ABC documentary about the murder of Emmitt Till back in 1955. He was hinted down and killed for allegedly of whistling at a white woman in MIssissippi. The men were found not guilty. It was a sad story about racism in America. Very strong and sad story.
In an interview with Look magazine the men admitted to the killing!!!

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60 years later the woman who accused him of impropriety recanted her testimony. This proved he had been innocent all along.
 
oldiebutgoody said:
60 years later the woman who accused him of impropriety recanted her testimony. This proved he had been innocent all along.
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Yes, but in the telling of this in the documentary, she then DENIED she ever recanted. I forget her reasoning off the top of my head. But enough evidence proves the accusations against Emmit were wrong....she also had said he reached over a counter and grabbed her around the waist. Physically impossible of you saw layout of store and counter
 
OneEyedDiva said:
While I appreciate your post and love your points, I want to say that there are many more Blacks in this country than just poor ones. But middle class Blacks are held back too and have to struggle to attain their successes. And they are not talked about much. Back in the day we had to read Ebony, Jet and later Black Enterprise to find out about them, and I'm not talking about just athletes and celebrities. The Cosby family wasn't an anomaly...it was patterned after my people who have obtained measures of success. And America needs to help not only poor Blacks but poor everybody! After all, this country spends billions) helping other countries while people here are suffering in poverty. We always hear about Black people on welfare but there are just as many or more Whites on welfare. Yes, I know we are considered minorities so the stats are relative but my point is, the stigma is always attached to Black people and sometimes as if that's all we aspire to do....sit home and collect welfare. 🤬
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This is so true and so misrepresented by the media...esp the middle and upper middle class black people in smaller towns in the South. People outside the South think blacks who remain here are backwards or they would've left. That's so not accurate.

Most of my black friends in this group and I see issues (like education problems in the poverty stricken Delta that I posted about in another thread) similarly. One black friend--the opera road trip buddy, talk-for-hours-on-end-kind and never get everything talked about kind--sees the problems and is still judgmental about black poverty in the Delta. She occasionally has to preceptor nursing students there and sees hardworking people who have pursued education against a lot of obstacles still take things like the drug use associated with poverty for granted in their families. Sylvia says it takes everything she's got some days not to stand up and make blistering speeches in breakrooms. She knows things can be different...she's a college nursing instructor, her brother is a thoracic surgeon, sister is an attorney with the DOJ.

Outside the Delta, she and her family aren't a rarity here.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I find "The History of Blacks in White Society" to be offensive. Why? First of all...the title itself signifies a racist mentality. Because we had a history before we were forced to be in "White society". Did Africans have a society? The title also suggests we didn't. There were Africans who descended from royalty and those who were fierce warriors. "White society" loved to portray Africans as savages with loin cloths thereby not worthy of being considered human beings.
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Some of my direct ancestors are in that category.
 
Don M. said:
The way I see it, the more that "race" is emphasized, the more likely that divisiveness will continue.
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Yes, I can't help feeling that you are correct. All this talk of racism, anti-semitism, etc is bound to create more resentment and even more hostility towards those who are different from us in any way. I also feel that black people (in Britain anyway) are being encouraged to feel that white people are their enemies, and this will also result in more physical attacks.
While I'm here, I would like to add that there have been Chinese people in America for a very long time....so why single out one racial group. Why not Chinese history month?
 
Lavinia said:
Why not Chinese history month?
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We kind of have one, the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month https://asianpacificheritage.gov/about/

But it gets a lot less attention. I won't defend the way Chinese were treated historically here, but it was not the same as the Black slavery thing. And Chinese today, on average, do better economically here than Blacks. Some of the reasons I believe Black History month gets more attention.
 
Alligatorob said:
We kind of have one, the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month https://asianpacificheritage.gov/about/

But it gets a lot less attention. I won't defend the way Chinese were treated historically here, but it was not the same as the Black slavery thing. And Chinese today, on average, do better economically here than Blacks. Some of the reasons I believe Black History month gets more attention.
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Thank you for responding. This whole subject is one which causes people to get emotional and it can be difficult to keep things rational and calm.
 
oldiebutgoody said:
60 years later the woman who accused him of impropriety recanted her testimony. This proved he had been innocent all along.
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Having a problem with the word "innocent" used here. Even if this child did whistle he was still innocent. A white boy whistling at a grown woman would have been laughed at and made a joke of like "What's up boy? Biting off more than you can chew?" But Emmit, being a black child, was given the death penalty. Whether he did or not, he was still innocent of any "crime."
 
oldiebutgoody said:
60 years later the woman who accused him of impropriety recanted her testimony. This proved he had been innocent all along.
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I wonder how she felt seeing that child after his brutal murder. I hope it haunted her (haunts her) for the rest of her life. I hope she loses sleep every night.
 
AnnieA said:
This is so true and so misrepresented by the media...esp the middle and upper middle class black people in smaller towns in the South. People outside the South think blacks who remain here are backwards or they would've left. That's so not accurate.

Most of my black friends in this group and I see issues (like education problems in the poverty stricken Delta that I posted about in another thread) similarly. One black friend--the opera road trip buddy, talk-for-hours-on-end-kind and never get everything talked about kind--sees the problems and is still judgmental about black poverty in the Delta. She occasionally has to preceptor nursing students there and sees hardworking people who have pursued education against a lot of obstacles still take things like the drug use associated with poverty for granted in their families. Sylvia says it takes everything she's got some days not to stand up and make blistering speeches in breakrooms. She knows things can be different...she's a college nursing instructor, her brother is a thoracic surgeon, sister is an attorney with the DOJ.

Outside the Delta, she and her family aren't a rarity here.
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Thank you for sharing this Annie. In my family there are three physicians, two dentists, one psychologist, one attorney that I know of, there was one principal as well several educators, school administrators and business administrators. When you're poor to begin with, it's hard to pick up and leave, to improve your lot. i've even seen stories of people who couldn't evacuate when advised to because they didn't have the means, unless transportation and a place to stay was provided for them. People who are judgmental of the poor need to take heed to the saying "there but by the grace of God go I". It could happen and has happened to those who never dreamed they'd be in that position.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I wonder how she felt seeing that child after his brutal murder. I hope it haunted her (haunts her) for the rest of her life.
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I hope so too.

However, she was pretty young, and did not do all of this herself. I suspect there were some older people who pressured her into sticking to the story and maybe helped make it up. And the prosecutor, law enforcement people and judge(s) who went along. They are at least as guilty as she was, but probably all dead.
 
Alligatorob said:
I hope so too.

However, she was pretty young, and did not do all of this herself. I suspect there were some older people who pressured her into sticking to the story and maybe helped make it up. And the prosecutor, law enforcement people and judge(s) who went along. They are at least as guilty as she was, but probably all dead.
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I don't doubt that's how it all went down. And yes, they are likely all dead, so may their souls forever burn in a special kind of hell. 👿
 
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor.

"Your country? How came it yours? Before the Pilgrims landed we were here. Here we have brought our three gifts and mingled them with yours: a gift of story and song - soft, stirring melody in and ill-harmonized and unmelodious land; [Second] the gift of sweat and brawn to beat back the wilderness, conquer the soil, and lay the foundations of this vast economic empire two hundred years earlier than your weak hands could have done it; the third, a gift of spirit. Around us the history of the land has centered thrice a hundred years; ..."
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Thank you for sharing this Annie. In my family there are three physicians, two dentists, one psychologist, one attorney that I know of, there was one principal as well several educators, school administrators and business administrators. When you're poor to begin with, it's hard to pick up and leave, to improve your lot. i've even seen stories of people who couldn't evacuate when advised to because they didn't have the means, unless transportation and a place to stay was provided for them. People who are judgmental of the poor need to take heed to the saying "there but by the grace of God go I". It could happen and has happened to those who never dreamed they'd be in that position.
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Sylvia (who is herself black) isn't judging the poor so much as she's judging other black health care workers from poor backgrounds who beat the odds to get their education and jobs but are continuing to enable family who aren't making good choices. She gets upset about it after carrying her students to impoverished Delta areas where the problems are so concentrated.
 
Pepper said:
Having a problem with the word "innocent" used here. Even if this child did whistle he was still innocent. A white boy whistling at a grown woman would have been laughed at and made a joke of like "What's up boy? Biting off more than you can chew?" But Emmit, being a black child, was given the death penalty. Whether he did or not, he was still innocent of any "crime."
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Well actually, that's my point.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
may their souls forever burn in a special kind of hell.
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I feel the same, but can't help but wonder what I might have done and thought had I been born 100 years earlier... It is easy to be self-righteous in hindsight...

Easy to think we would have been the Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. I fear its more likely many of us would been the more realistic Atticus in Go Set a Watchman.

Anyway, I am glad those times are past...
 
Alligatorob said:
Yep, recently watched a documentary about Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, an African Prince who was captured and spent 40 years as a slave. I did not realize until then. Its a good show to watch.

https://www.history.com/news/african-prince-slavery-abdulrahman-ibrahim-ibn-sori
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Interesting and informative. I'd never heard of him. This brings up another point. Many of the Africans brought here as slaves were Muslims. I learned this from watching a PBS show decades ago, which was actually about Christianity, called We've Come This Far By Faith. His name is a Islamic name. The Ibn means son of.

I had posted the following last year...don't know if you saw it. I first learned about the kings and queens of Africa when Budweiser published a poster that was featured in Ebony magazine. I was so glad to find a video about this:

 

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