The Invisible Mentor Epic Black History Month Curated Posts
I never liked studying history in high school! Who wants to learn about a bunch of dead people? Looking back now, perhaps I didn’t like history because of the way it was taught. Although I didn’t set out to study history, it evolved naturally through the eyes of people whom I wanted to learn more about. A few years ago, I started to write profiles about people who helped to change the world, and that’s how I learned about the Refugee Slave Act. And it’s interesting how I started to see the connections among the people whom I profiled. Countries around the world, including the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, devote a month to celebrating black history.
“The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the group sponsored a national Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Since 1976, every U.S. President has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.” Source: History – Black History Month
Black History Month: Bob Marley, Singer, Songwriter and the Father of Reggae: Bob Marley sold more than 20 million record albums valued at approximately $190 million before he succumbed to cancer at age 36. When he was sixteen, Marley recorded Judge Not, his first single in the ska style a precursor to reggae, under the name Robert Marley. In 1964, Marley renamed his group to Wailing Rudeboys, which was later changed to Wailing Wailers, and subsequently Bob Marley and the Wailers. Bob Marley was a champion of human freedoms and used his music to take a stand. Interested in Bob Marley? Click through for more.
Art Tatum, Greatest Jazz Pianist, Who Ever Lived: Though Tatum played the piano for many years, the violin was the first instrument he received training for. To grow as a musician, Tatum built on his classical training by listening to pianists and other players, as well as participating in marathon playing sessions in after-hour clubs. Click through to learn more about Art Tatum.
Harriet Tubman, Led Slaves through the Underground Railroad to Freedom: Because of the Fugitive Slave Act, life in the North was dangerous for self-freed and other slaves, so Tubman traveled to St Catharines, Ontario, Canada, a small city where a large number of escaped blacks were living. Over the years, Harriet Tubman made some daring trips leading blacks to freedom. After the Civil War, Tubman ramped up her fight for women’s rights and civil rights for blacks. Want to know what true courage looks like? Read on….
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: After you have finished reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, you'll get the feeling that his story is incomplete, and that there are many gaps, and there are – he left out information to protect others. The more Douglass read The Columbian Orator, the more he understood the content of the book and the more he grew to detest his enslavers. Are you curious about what it was like to be a slave? Click through to read about Frederick Douglass. He also knew Harriet Tubman.
Mini Bio of Rosa Parks, Mother of Civil Rights Movement: A seamstress at the Montgomery Fair department store, on her way home on Thursday, December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was sitting in the 11th row on the bus with two black women and a black man. Two blocks later, quite a few whites boarded the bus, filling the front seats, so the driver asked Rosa Parks and the other three blacks to give up their seats to one white man. What did Rosa Parks do, click to read more.
Mini Biography of Thomas L Jennings, 1st Black to Receive a Patent: Thomas L Jennings, a New York abolitionist, was an African American innovator. In 1835, Thomas L Jennings was listed as the 2nd Vice President of the Phoenix Society, which was organized in New York City in 1833 because of discrimination against blacks. A century before Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, Thomas L Jennings’ daughter refused to give up her seat. According to the New York Times, on July 16, 1854, Elizabeth Jennings was on her way to the First Colored American Congregational Church on Sixth Street near the Bowery, when she got on a horse-drawn streetcar. The conductor noticed she was black and asked her to get off, which she refused. Later a police officer got on the streetcar and “thrust Jennings, her bonnet smashed and her dress soiled, to the sidewalk.” Click through if you want to read more.
Mini Biography of Martin Luther King Jr, Human Rights Activist: In this mini biography of Martin Luther King, you will learn about his life, work, accomplishments and the steps that he took to achieve success. But more importantly, you will see him living out his vision for racial harmony, and his eloquence enabled him to galvanize thousands of blacks and whites to press for social change. Click through to read more about Martin Luther King Jr.
Madam C J Walker, Operated the Largest Black-Owned Business in the Early Twentieth Century: Born Sarah Breedlove to freed slaves on a cotton plantation, Madam CJ Walker was orphaned at age seven. She and her older sister survived by working in the cotton fields of Delta and Vicksburg, Mississippi. To supplement her income, Madam Walker registered as a sales agent for Annie M. A Turbo Malone’s Poro Company, which sold hair mixes door-to-door. From 1906 to 1916, Madam Walker traveled throughout the United States, West Indies and Central America to promote her business. Madam C.J. Walker, America’s First Female Millionaire. She took $1.50 in savings and turned it into an $117,000 business in eight short years. To learn more, click through!
Black History Month – Booker T Washington, Principal, Tuskegee Institute And Author of Up From Slavery: Born into slavery, Booker T Washington was one of the leading African American figures in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Booker T. Washington advocated for moral development and economic self-sufficiency for African Americans who now had to take care of themselves after being freed from slavery. Booker T Washington and Madame C J Walker knew each other. Click through for more!
Maggie Lena Walker, First Female Bank, President of the United States: Maggie Lena Walker was the first female bank president in the United States. Walker became the president of St Luke’s Penny Savings Bank, the first woman to hold such a position. Walker stayed with the Independent Order of St. Luke for 35 years growing the bank from 3,000 members to 100,000, a large percentage of them being women. Learn more about Maggie Lena Walker.
Charles R Drew, Pioneer in Blood Plasma Research, First African American to Earn Doctor of Medical Science: Charles Drew lived for only 45 years, but he made those years count, despite the barriers and challenges he faced because of his race. Drew developed a method to process and preserve blood plasma, which meant that patients could now receive plasma for any blood type. In 1941, he was appointed director of the American Red Cross Blood Bank at NY’s Presbyterian Hospital, and became an assistant for the National Research Council’s blood procurement program, where he was in charge of blood for use by the U.S. Army and Navy. In 1941, Drew was appointed director of the first American Red Cross Bank and assistant director of blood procurement for the National Research Council, in charge of blood for use by the U.S. Army and Navy. For more on Charles Drew, read on.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abolitionist and Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin: A highlight in young Charles Stowe’s life was when he accompanied his mother, Harriet Beecher Stowe to the White House to meet President Lincoln in November 1862. According to Charles, Lincoln said to his mother, “So this is the little woman who wrote the book that made this big war.” The book President Lincoln was referring to is Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the war was the American Civil War which broke out in 1861 between pro slavery Southern states and antislavery Northern states and lasted until 1865. Though Beecher Stowe was a prolific writer, penning about 30 novels, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was her most widely acclaimed.
Mini Biography of Abraham Lincoln – Your Invisible Mentor: Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky in the early 19th century during the time when much of America was still wilderness. Lincoln’s opposition against the Mexican War, coupled with his cry to abolish slavery brought sharp criticisms from people in Illinois. Abraham Lincoln lived through 3 major American wars: the War of 1812, the War with Mexico and the Civil War. Lincoln fought the Civil War to keep the Union together, not to end slavery, even though he was against it. However, the pressures of the war forced him to move toward the emancipation of slaves. Lincoln had limited military experience, but as the president, he was expected to organize an army and devise a winning military strategy, so he did what he has always done well, and that was to self-educate.
Elijah McCoy – The Real McCoy: Elijah McCoy was denied jobs he was qualified for because of his color. Up until 1915, Elijah McCoy’s engine lubricator cup was standard equipment on trains and steamships. What makes Elijah McCoy so memorable is that the lubricator cup revolutionized the locomotive industry, and the device was also adaptable to other types of steam engines, which were used in factories and on steam ships.
Eleanor Roosevelt, American First Lady, International Diplomat, Writer and Philanthropist: Eleanor Roosevelt was the first politically active First Lady in the history of American democracy. Eleanor returned to NY in 1902 on her family’s insistence because they wanted her to participate in the NY social scene and make her debut at the Assembly Ball. In 1939 Eleanor resigned her membership from the Daughters of the American Revolution after they denied African American singer Marian Anderson from performing at Constitution Hall.
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