The Color of Heroes

Historic Markers are There to be Found, If you're Looking

                                               

Traveling around the country you might have seen markers in places that have some  historic significance. My own great grandfather, Luke Grady, was elected to the North Carolina State Assembly in 1885. The picture above shows the marker placed in his hometown. These markers are  significant, particularly in the south, where our accomplishments do not get the same attention as those of  whites.

You can find historic makers honoring a wide cross section  of African

the color of history: CLANDESTINE – The Times & Secret Life of Mariah Ot...

the color of history: CLANDESTINE – The Times & Secret Life of Mariah Ot...: CLANDESTINE – The Times & Secret Life of Mariah Otey Reddick Mariah's Story Needs To Be Told...and We Need Your Help Most Americ...

CLANDESTINE – The Times & Secret Life of Mariah Otey Reddick

CLANDESTINE – The Times & Secret Life of Mariah Otey Reddick

Mariah's Story Needs To Be Told...and We Need Your Help
Most American-born Black & Brown people have African Roots, whether they want to accept it or not. Some of us are extremely proud of our ancestors and strive to make certain that their accomplishments, as well as their suffering are honored. 
Mariah Otey Reddick is one of our "forgotten or hidden" heroes.  It is her story that her descendants want to highlight and preserve. Her story is OUR story. We should all aspire to do this within our own families, but also within our larger community. 
Here is a brief account of her story:

CLANDESTINE: THE TIMES AND SECRET LIFE OF MARIAH OTEY REDDICK is a riveting story of resistance & espionage, freedom & terror, family & dignity, blackmail & death, grief & joy, faith & love, vengeance & justice, treachery & unexpected allies, depravity & innocence as well as spirituality and devotion.
What would you do if - after years of research - you discovered that your enslaved Ancestor was a human wedding gift? Could YOU forget about it? PLEASE HELP GET THE WORD OUT!
On May 01, 2018, Ms. Reddick's descendants began a crowdfunding campaign to help defray the costs of publishing a book inspired by her life story - Clandestine: The Times and Secret Life of Mariah Otey Reddick.

The campaign ends on May 31, 2018. Please help out. NO gift is too small.

To learn more and perhaps contribute, please go to:
Igg.me/at/ClandestineBook 

Thank you.

"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

Stagville Plantation: A Crime Scene and A Mass Gravesite

If you've ever had the interest. The nerve. The bravery. Or, the respect for your deceased ancestors. Then, maybe you've visited them. If so, good for you. Their bones lie all over America. I hope you remembered to say a prayer. 

As a tour guide, I've taken many trips to Stagville Plantation. Its' located just north of Durham, NC. Stagville is now a state owned historic site. There are many such places, mostly in the South. 

Africans, were not "slaves" in Africa. They became enslaved after being brought to America. Their bodies are buried with no headstones. No markers. Nothing indicating who they were. If you are a person of color, it is possible that your ancestors are buried in such a place?

Each time I went to Stagville, I said a prayer for the dead. They deserve that much . Some of us "modern day" blacks want to act as though they never existed.

Three Letters From Our Ancestors

In my search to authenticate Black history, one thing I learned early on from museum curators, historians and educators was to seek out "primary source" materials and artifacts. These could include: pictures, utensils of everyday life, antiques, letters, ect, that have been preserved by our ancestors and their descendants. In other words, items that can be verified as original. 

My intention with this post is to introduce the reader to writings by three different Black men, from three different walks of life in the mid 1800's. Each writer demonstrates independence, devotion to family, and love of freedom.

As you read these letters, keep in mind that in many slave states it was illegal for enslaved persons to learn to read or write, punishable by death. 

The first letter is by Samuel Cabble, Civil War soldier, the second by free, Black entreprenuer Thomas Day, and the third by former slave, Jourdon Anderson. 

The following is a summary of each letter. 

Samuel Cabble, Soldier

The first letter is from Civil War soldier, Samuel Cabble, US Colored Troops 55th Massachusetts Infantry, who volunteered to fight for freedom in 1863 when President Lincoln called on Black freedmen

CW Part 6:The Civil War: Spy vs Spy

During the American Civil War(1861-1865), battlefield intelligence was critical to strategic and logistical battle plans, just as it is today. I have been intrigued by the Civil War for some time, the story of spying, a story within a story, added a new layer to the history. 

The allure of Civil War espionage first came to me as I was walking past an historic marker some years ago in downtown Wilmington, NC. The marker, placed in front of a two story home, read the name of a Confederate spy who frequently stayed at the residence during the war. Upon further research I found

Afro Caribbeans and The Panama Canal: Who Actually Built it?

I’m a history enthusiast  and one of the reasons I became interested in living in Panama was to study the history of Africans brought to the Caribbean, and Central & South America. In fact, two-thirds of those transported in the slave trade from Africa landed in places other than the United States.

With that in mind, picture ships, two to three football fields long, passing through the mammoth Panama Canal locks at Miraflores, just west of Panama City. Witnessing one of the greatest engineering feats in history, I was duly impressed.

The viewing tower, about eight stories high, allows you to look down on the locks in operation as ships of all sizes pass through the Panama Canal, which was completed in 1914, and will celebrate 100 years of operation in 2014.

But, who actually built it? The Spanish tried, and so did the French. By the early 1900′s the Americans stepped in during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt. The completion of the canal in 1914 helped elevate America’s status as a world power. But at an enormous human cost.

Early on, I was surprised to discover that a large number of those who worked on the Panama Canal, in the early 1900′s, were Caribbeans of African decent.

The canal project attracted workers from around the world, China, Europe, and America. However, the largest number of those who worked on the canal were Afro-Caribbeans, mainly from Barbados. These workers were among the greatest number to

Civil War Part Five : Letter From a Soldier

For anyone who has doubts about the mindset of the Black men recruited to fight and defeat their former masters, the following letter will let you know how many of them felt.

A letter home.

Samuel Cabble, US Colored Troops 55th Massachusettes Infantry(colored) 1863

Dear wife, 

I have enlisted in the army. I am now in the state of Massachusettes but before this letter reaches you I will be in North Carolina, and though great is the present national difficulties I look forward to a brighter day when I shall have the opportunity of seeing you in the full enjoyment of freedom.

I would like to know if you are still in slavery. If you are, "it will not be long before we shall have crushed the system that now oppresses you". In the

Civil War Part Four:The US Colored Troops and the Emancipation Proclamation

The Civil War began in 1861. At that time there were approximately four million African Americans living in the US. While there were almost half a million free African Americans at that time, most were still enslaved. 

The Emancipation Proclamation, proposed by President Lincoln, promised freedom, but only after the war. 

Many Black and white abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass, and New York Times Editor Horace Greeley, had long implored the President to free the enslaved. But, while Lincoln's personal view was that all people everywhere should be free, his main objective was the preservation of the Union.

In a letter to the President, Douglass famously proclaimed:

"Once let the Black  man get upon his person the brass letters ‘US’, let him get an eagle his button, a musket upon his shoulder, and bullets in his pockets and there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned his right to citizenship in the United States".

But Lincoln would not allow Blacks to fight until it became clear

Civil War Part Three: Antietam, A Turning Point?

In 1862 the Civil War was in its second year, and victory was not a certainty for either side. Also, Britain and France were considering recognizing the Confederacy to preserve their sources of cotton from America.

President Lincoln was being urged to let Blacks fight to bolster Union Troops. But, Lincoln was said to be waiting for a major military victory, which would give him a stronger hand in freeing the slaves and allowing them to fight. His opportunity came at the Battle of Antietam later that same year, where nearly 23,000 Union Troops died in a single day. Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history.

But, Antietam was considered by Lincoln to be somewhat of a victory, albeit bittersweet because Union Army Commander, George B. McClellan failed to destroy Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army, and Lee was able to retreat. Antietam was then followed by Union losses at both Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Virginia. 

With all of this, the President seized on the moment to make his argument for freeing the slaves, which he did in 1863 by executive order under his authority as Commander of all American Military Forces. In that same year, the US Colored Troops(USCT) were established. Those Blacks willing to fight were promised freedom. Lincoln was now able to announce his Emancipation Proclamation. 
The tide of the war would now turn.

Besides, McClellan who had always refused to consider allowing Blacks to fight, further straining relations with Lincoln, was relieved of his command.

The Hidden History of Slave Revolts in the Americas

It is ridiculous to suggest that any person who is held by force of arms, and subjected to the worst treatment humanly possible could be happy. For centuries those enslaved in America, the Caribbean, and around the world tried escape, revolt, and any other means they could to gain freedom.

A few years ago, while attending a workshop for the Thomas Day Education Project on Black History, I overhead a caucasian gentleman explaining to a workshop attendee how the slaves owned by his ancestors were "happy". This lie has been told in America for centuries,

The Civil War, Part Two: Confederate General Howell Cobb, In His Own Words

Who was Howell Cobb(1815-1868)of Georgia? He was one of the founders of the Confederacy, the speaker of the Georgia House, and later governor of Georgia in the early 1850's. In 1862, the second year of the Civil War, Cobb was a Brigadier General for the rebel Confederate(South) forces in northern Virginia. And, later that year, Cobb was promoted to the rank of Major General for the district of Georgia and Florida. But, some feel that Cobb's notoriety

The Civil War, Part One: "Oh, Give Us a Flag...", Songs from the Civil War

  

During the first two years of the Civil War, the song, "Oh, Give Us a Flag", reflected the feeling of many Blacks. Below is a link to a version of the song by the late Richie Havens. The song's author is unknown. 

But, before you hear the song, here's some brief   history.

In 1863 the Civil War was in it's second year, and President Lincoln