"The Worst White Man...?" Is That What You're Sayin'

That's right. There is a feeling in America, held by some, that "...the worst white man is better than the best black man". For example, James Earl Ray, is a better man than Dr. Martin Luther King. 

Someone is obviously crazy.

You may have seen a recent news report about the firing of a white Ohio school teacher who was dismissed for his disparaging comments to one of his young African American students.

The young student expressed aspirations to someday become President

America's National Parks and The Buffalo Soldiers

Celebrating
African Americans in 
the National Parks Day

                        The Presidio in San Francisco 2014            

A recent news report focused on the lack of African Ameican visitors to America's National Parks. The TV report reminded me of a PBS documentary I viewed recently that proved that African Americans have every reason to visit the parks, and to be proud of their ancestors.

The documentary tells the story of the deployment of the US Calvary's 9th Regiment, the fierce Buffalo Soldiers, under the command of Captain Charles Young(1864-1922).Young was only the 3rd African American to graduate from the West Point Military Academy at that time. He was also the first African American to be put in charge of a national park. The year was 1903.

To understand how these facts came about we need to realize that the park rangers we see today had not yet been formed. Since the country was not at war, army units were sent to safeguard the parks.They were, in fact, America's first park rangers. 

In 1903 Captain Young and his regiment was sent to Sequoia National Park, in California. The army units were deployed to protect the parks from, livestock grazing in the parks natural habitats, poaching, and dangerous forest fires, like we see every year in California. 

For more info go to: outdoorafro.com, facebook.com/pages/African-American-Nature, and pbs.org

Historic Karamu House Celebrates 100 Years

The Karamu House Theater in Cleveland, Ohio is the oldest Black theater company in America, founded in 1915. 

This is the 100th year celebration of the The Karamu House. 

The word Karamu comes from a Swahili word meaning "a place of feasting and enjoyment." Today, Karamu continues to offer experiences in the visual and performing arts for all ages. The mission of it's founders, Russell & Rowena Jellife was eloquently stated by John Selby in his 1966 book, Beyond Civil Rights. Selby wrote, "...the concept of the Jellife's purpose was simply the belief that the bridge to racial understanding lay most immediately in the active fellowship in the arts".

Famous playwrights associated with the Karamu Theater include Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Lorraine Hansberry. Among Karamu Alumni are, James Pickens and Ron O'neal.  As a teen I was priviedged to see Dizzy Gillespie and Ruby Dee, among others at Karamu. 
During my childhood my mother was an actress, and a member of the Karamu Dancers for 25 years.  

Karamu House is an institution that needs your support. Please help keep the legacy alive for another century and beyond.

For more info go to: karamuhouse.org

Tell The Truth

                            Black Confederate Soldier

During the latter phases of the Civil War the Union, and the Confederacy, considered allowing blacks to fight. Both sides had suffered massive troop loses, and a Union victory was not a certainty. Consequently, In 1863 the Union(North) recruited, enlisted, trained, and deployed over 200,000 United States Colored  Troops(USCT), and over 12,000 Latino soldiers.

As for the Confederacy, Gen. Robert E. Lee proposed enlisting southern slaves into the rebel army. His proposal was met with strong resistance. But, Lee got his way. Ultimately, over 65,000 blacks joined the Confederate rebel forces to fight against the Union.

At the end of the conflict in 1865, President Lincoln declared that the war against the rebels would have been lost without the help of the "colored" volunteers.

The Civil War Part Seven: John Wilkes Booth, a Disillusioned Coward, and a Hypocrite

The infamous presidential assassin, John Wilkes Booth, succeeded in killing President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Booth was captured and killed in Virginia that same year. We have known that for a long time. Little is known, however, about Booth's warped inner motivation, cowardice, and racial hypocrisy. 

Booth was a disillusioned romantic coward, claiming that he would, heroically, "...live in history" for killing Lincoln. That might have been the case had Booth's crime been perpetrated 1863 when neither the Union nor the Confederacy had the upper hand in the war. But, the assassination took place in 1865, at the end of the war while the nation was in the process of trying to heal. In his warped mind Booth saw

The Teaching of Black History Outlawed in America. Again!

Several years ago I worked as an actor portraying famous African American figures from19th century North Carolina. One such figure was a freed African American named Thomas Day, who in the 1850's was the largest and most succesful furniture designer and manufacturer in the state of North Carolina. These re-enactments were produced by the Thomas Day Education Project. After one such presentation a caucasion gentleman from the audience approached me and, appearing quite disturbed, asked me "...why didn't I learn about this guy in school?"

The answer to that question is as old as America itself, and is something that educators, textbook publishers, and yes, politicians are continuing to shape to fit their own idealogical agendas.

In his new book, "The Half That Has Never Been Told: Slavery And The Making of American Capitalism", Edward Baptist uses economic data to