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Before his execution in 1832, Samuel Sharpe—leader of Jamaican’s Baptist War Slave Rebellion—said: “I would rather die among yonder gallows, than live in slavery.”
The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes
I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Rest in Peace Donna Summer—the Queen of Disco!
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On May 15, 1918, the courage and bravery of African-American soldiers resounded throughout Europe and around the world, by the actions of two black soldiers. Badly wounded by enemy German guns, Privates Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, of the 369th Harlem Hellfighters Regiment, were manning a two-man outpost when a German patrol of more than 20 soldiers attached with rifles, bayonets and grenades arrived. Greatly outnumbered and out of ammo, both men used their rifles as clubs to subdue their attackers, killing or wounding 20 enemy Germans.
For their heroism, Johnson and Roberts became the first Americans to win the prestigious Croix de Guerre. An honor made more unusual since American and British military commanders rejected the African-American combat regiment. Only France would accept the African-American combat solders within its ranks. The soldiers were issued French equipment and uniforms, and given basic schooling and training in French language and military tactics.
One of the war’s most highly decorated units, the 369th Regiment spent 191 days in combat—longer than any other American unit. For their service, the French gave the 369th Regiment the honor of being the advance guard of Allied troops in the triumphal march to the Rhine on November 17, 1918. The Americans refused to allow any black soldiers to march with other Allied soldiers—including colonial African troops—in the victory parade up the Champs-Élysées on Bastille Day in 1919.
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Today in 1902, African-American thoroughbred jockey Jimmy Winkfield won his second Kentucky Derby. James “Jimmy” Winkfield was born in Chilesburg, Kentucky on April 12, 1882. In 1901, he won his first derby with Eminence and in 1902 with Alan-a-Dale. 110 years later, Winkfield is the last African American to win at the Kentucky Derby.
For more information about the Kentucky Derby’s forgotten jockeys, visit Smithsonian Magazine.
Schomburg Researcher Christopher Paul Moore will present “Wampum to Wall Street: Street Impact 1609-2012” at Should the Arts Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way on Friday, May 4 at 7 p.m.
“Repairing America” through art, signage, walking tours and memorialization is the theme of historian and preservationist Christopher Paul Moore’s powerpoint presentation, and discussion of historic global investment, impacts, influences, and impressions. His presentation also includes Manhattan’s Native American “Pearl Street,” Wall Street Slave Market, and African Burial Grounds.
The free event will take place at the CUE Art Foundation Gallery at 511 West 25th Street. For more information and to register, please visit: http://cueartfoundation.org/occupy-wall-street.html
As a young girl growing up in Jamaica — and later in Brooklyn, NY — I often heard the poetry of Louise Bennett (Jamaicans affectionately call her “Miss Lou”) permeate the air. One of my earliest recollections of Miss Lou’s lyricism was hearing the term mout amassi (big mouth). The term comes from the title of one of her most popular poems about a young lady, Liza, who loves to gossip and chat.
To be called a “mout amassi” was far from a compliment and the nickname could follow one around for a lifetime. Adults used it on adults and children alike. Children used it on each other, often eliciting uncontrollable laughter.
I have more fond memories of how Miss Lou’s poetry reverberated throughout my youth and the many phrases that I—as well as my fellow islanders—eagerly adapted to tease as well as to assert my identity.
Learn My History Multicultural Youth Empowerment Fundraiser
Saturday, April 28 at 6 p.m. at the Schomburg
Join Learn My History Foundation for a powerful, uplifting program, which combines its talented youth with Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning entertainers as well as dedicated educators. This one-of-a kind mass mentoring event will awaken and celebrate the unrealized potential of at-risk youth and raise funds to create programs that are geared toward helping them build successful lives. The families of Emmett Till, Sean Bell, Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, and Trayvon Martin will be in attendance.
Tickets:
$50.00 Dinner, Show & VIP access
$35.00 Show Only - Adults
$25.00 Students w/ valid id
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.learnmyhistory.org or call (212) 613-5787
Kent State University’s Department of Pan-African Studies is hosting the conference “Slavery, Colonialism and African Identities in the Atlantic World” on April 26 and 27, 2012 in Oscar Ritchie Hall.
The keynote speaker is Sylviane Diouf, Ph.D., author of the renowned book Dreams of Africa in Alabama, which won the 2009 James F. Sulzby Award of the Alabama Historical Association, was a 2008 Finalist Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and won the 2007 Wesley-Logan Prize of the American Historical Association. She is also author of the acclaimed book Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas. Diouf is currently Curator of Digital Collections at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Her address is titled “Deconstructing and Reconstructing Africans’ Identities During Slavery.”
Conference registration is $20. Students and faculty are eligible to have the fee waived.For more information, please visit: http://www.kent.edu/CAS/PAS/conference/schedule.cfm
Rodney King and the Violence Card
“Here’s how it works. When confronted with an instance of racially charged violence against a black person, a commentator draws attention to the fact that there is much more black-on-black violence than white-on-black violence. To play the violence card — as many criminal-justice advocates have done since the Rodney King police brutality case of the early 1990s — is to suggest that black people should worry more about the harm they do to themselves and less about how victimized they are by others.”—Khalil Gibran Muhammad, NY Times Op-Ed, “Playing The Violence Card”
Join Dr. Muhammad with Rodney King at the Schomburg Center on April 24, 2012. For free tickets, register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3370971667
Alexander McCall Smith at the Schomburg Center on April 15, 2012. McCall Smith came to the Schomburg to discuss his most recent book, The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection.
Photograph by Bob Gore
Trial of George Zimmerman Could Trigger Another Rodney King -
Join Rodney King at the Schomburg Center on April 24. For free tickets, visit: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3370971667