Amplification Of Voices

Juneteenth: The Story Behind The Celebration

16Jun

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Juneteenth: The Story Behind The Celebration

6 books that explain the history and meaning of Juneteenth After decades of being celebrated at mostly the local level, Juneteenth – the long-standing holiday that commemorates the arrival of news of emancipation and freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 – became a federal holiday in 2021. In honor of Juneteenth, The Conversation reached out to Wake Forest University humanities professor Corey D. B. Walker for a list of readings that can help people better understand the history and meaning of the observance. Here are his picks: ‘On Juneteenth’ Combining history and memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s “On Juneteenth” offers a moving history of African American life and culture through the prism of Juneteenth. The award-winning Harvard historian presents an inti...

A Black History Month Tribute: The Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr

14Nov

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Amplification Of Voices

A Black History Month Tribute: The Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr

Dr. King was originally named Michael King on his birth certificate, but his father, who was also named Michael King, had a mission in mind for him. So the elder King changed both their names to Martin Luther King - and the birth documents were appropriately switched around - so his son could be called "Junior." Some people say they were both actually named Michael Luther King, so it wasn't that much of a "stretch." When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died, his name was not held in dispute - except by white nationalist supremacists. They still are attempting to discredit him, calling him a liar, saying he was sexually ill, and that he was a communist sympathizer. However, for all intents and purposes, this cool icon of human rights turned out to be hard to track down, albeit ...

A Black History Month Tribute: Langston Hughes – The Life, Times, Works As Well As Impact Of A Versatile African-American Writer

14Nov

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Amplification Of Voices

A Black History Month Tribute: Langston Hughes – The Life, Times, Works As Well As Impact Of A Versatile African-American Writer

Langston Hughes stands as a literary and cultural translation of the political resistance and campaign of black consciousness leaders such as Martin Luther King to restore the rights of the black citizenry thus fulfilling the ethos of the American dream, which is celebrated universally every year around February to April. Hughes' overriding sense of a social and cultural purpose tied to his sense of the past, the present and the future of black America commends his life and works as having much to learn from to inspire us to move forward and to inform and guide our steps as we move forward to create a great future. Hughes is also significant since he seems to have conveniently spanned the genres: poetry, drama, novel and criticism leaving an indelible stamp on each. At 21 years of ...

A Black History Month Tribute: Alice Walker One Of The Leading Female Voices In African American Literature

14Nov

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A Black History Month Tribute: Alice Walker One Of The Leading Female Voices In African American Literature

An African American writer and activist Alice Walker began publishing her fiction and poetry during the latter years of the Black Arts movement in the 1960's. Born in 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia, to sharecropper parents, she knew racism and poverty only too well and with works expressing the need for the tackling of such issues she has become one of the best-known and most highly respected writers from the U.S. along with such writers as Toni Morrison and Gloria Naylor , commonly associated with the post-1970s surge in African American women's literature. Her activism started after being educated at Spelman College and Sarah Lawrence College, where Walker, in a commencement speech spoke out against the silence of that institution's curriculum to African-American culture and history. ...

Top 20 Quotations To Celebrate Black History Month

14Nov

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Top 20 Quotations To Celebrate Black History Month

"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." -- Muhammad Ali The Greatest (1975) "Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise." -- Maya Angelou "Still I rise," And Still I Rise (1978) "Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can." -- Arthur Ashe quoted in Sports Illustrated "Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice. " -- Ray Charles "The past is a ghost, the future a dream. All we ever have is now. " -- Bill Cosby "There is no negro problem. The problem is whether the American people have loyalty enough, honor enough, patriotism enough, to live up to the...

In Your Life Or Your Community Who Has Made Black History?

14Nov

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In Your Life Or Your Community Who Has Made Black History?

Every February, Black History Month serves as not only a time to discuss the hardships and marginalization experienced by Black people in the United States, but also a time to celebrate the contributions of Black people that have played an integral role in shaping the country. We may learn about Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm, Ruby Bridges and other history makers, but we rarely have an opportunity to bring attention to stories of family, friends and neighbors who make a difference every day. We are also living through a time when lessons about race and Black history are facing intense scrutiny and restriction in schools. The 19th staff does its best to tell stories about Black people who are trailblazing and working to make our society more equitable. Now, we want to hear from you about t...

5 Essential Reads – A Black History Primer On African Americans’ Fight For Equality

14Nov

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5 Essential Reads – A Black History Primer On African Americans’ Fight For Equality

As the father of Black history, Carter G. Woodson had a simple goal – to legitimize the study of African American history and culture. To that end, in 1912, shortly after becoming the second African American after W.E.B. Du Bois to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915. More than 100 years later, Woodson’s goal and his work detailing the struggle of Black Americans to obtain full citizenship after centuries of systemic racism is still relevant today. As dozens of GOP-controlled state legislatures across the U.S. have either considered or enacted laws restricting how race is taught in public schools, The Conversation U.S. has published numerous stories over the years exploring the rich terrain of Black history – and the n...

A Black History Month Tribute: Paul Robeson – American Singer, Actor And Civil Rights Activist Became A Hero In China

14Nov

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A Black History Month Tribute: Paul Robeson – American Singer, Actor And Civil Rights Activist Became A Hero In China

Chinese broadcasters have aired shows featuring Paul Robeson (1898-1976), one of the most popular African American singers and actors of his era and a well-known civil rights activist, several times in recent years. China National Radio and various channels of the widely influential China Central TV showcased Robeson on programs in 2021, 2012 and 2009 narrating China’s resistence to foreign military aggressions. This could seem like unusually frequent coverage related to an American who passed away decades ago. My book, Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century, unpacks the little-known yet important relationship between Paul Robeson and China, which continues to resonate powerfully today. New York City meeting Robeson is long re...

A Black History Month Tribute: Lorraine Hansberry, The First Major Black Theatrical Voice To Emerge From America

14Nov

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A Black History Month Tribute: Lorraine Hansberry, The First Major Black Theatrical Voice To Emerge From America

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry born May 19, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois as the youngest of four children of a prominent real estate broker Carl Augustus Hansberry and Nannie Louise Perry grew up on the south side of Chicago in the Woodlawn neighborhood.in a middle-class family.. The roots of her artistic vision and activism are here in Chicago. Born into a family of substantial means and parents who were intellectuals and activists, her father, Carl Augustus Hansberry, Sr. from Gloucester, Mississippi, moved to Chicago after attending Alcorn College, and became known as the "kitchenette king" after subdividing large homes vacated by whites moving to the suburbs and selling these small apartments or kitchenettes to African American migrants from the South. Carl was not only a successful real est...

Black History Month: Past Movements For Civil Rights – What America’s Voting Rights Activists Can Learn

14Nov

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Black History Month: Past Movements For Civil Rights – What America’s Voting Rights Activists Can Learn

With Congress failing to pass new voting rights legislation, it’s worth remembering that throughout U.S. history, new civil rights laws designed to end racial inequities across American life have been met by stubborn resistance. Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona joined Senate Republicans in blocking both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These bills would have combated voter suppression by creating a national automatic voter registration system, and they also would have banned partisan gerrymandering. In the wake of the vote, President Joe Biden said he was “profoundly disappointed that the United States Senate has failed to stand up for democracy.” These setbacks in Congress come on the heels of millions ...