considering it’s black history month, UNFRIENDLY reminder that police brutality and racism aren’t magically gone just because joe biden’s the president now. keep the energy you did for george floyd, breonna taylor, sandra bland, ahmaud arbery, atatiana jefferson, and many many more these next four years. there’s still so much work that needs to be done. we CANNOT give up.
This autographed conductor’s baton was sent to President Roosevelt on July 15, 1941 by the famous African American bandleader, jazz singer, and entertainer, Cab Calloway (1907-1994), who was celebrating his 10th anniversary as a bandleader. The baton was the one Calloway had been using since he started as an orchestra leader, and he considered it his most cherished possession. In his letter to FDR, Calloway writes that he is sending the baton “as a token of my expression of admiration for your sterling leadership in the affairs of the United States of America and your position and efforts towards the restoration of peace in Europe and Asia.”
Representation matters: all 54 characters together! Can you name them all? • by @msartsyace
I’ve posted both of these individually but I took a bit of time to digitally merge them together into one big comp! This is hands down my favorite art piece I’ve ever done.
Interesting fact: 4 of these characters were played by Samuel L Jackson and 3 of them were voiced by Phil Lamarr, something I only realized after I completed these drawings.
Reblogging this because it’s still my favorite drawing I’ve done yet
February is here, which means it’s BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
Short but sweet, growing up black history month was always one of my favorite times of the year where we can acknowledge our struggle, celebrate our history, highlight trailblazers, and plan for the future. A couple years ago I posted about some of my fave LGBTQ Black Folk and this year I wanted to post about past and present individuals who paved the way for Black Politicians, creatives, and activist to shine! Because of them, we can.
CeCe McDonald is a queer trans woman from Minneapolis, Minnesota. CeCe McDonald made national news after she accepted a 41 Month plea bargain for manslaughter. CeCe Mcdonald stabbed a man in self defense after she was struck in the head with the man’s drink and called transphobic and racial slurs. The man threw his glass at her, and as she left to exit the bar he came after her which is when she stabbed him with scissors out her purse in fear of her life. CeCe was released after serving 19 months. Today CeCe Fights for the rights of Trans Women across the nation. In 2014 CeCe Mcdonald created The Black Excellence tour, which collaborated with Joshua Allen a prison abolitionist. In August of 2014 she was awarded the Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Award by the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club. You can learn more about her horrific journey in the documentary called, Free CeCe, which was directed by Laverne Cox and Jac Gares.
Marlon Riggs was born in Texas but as a child lived all over the globe ranging from Georgia to Germany. Riggs recalled always being chastised by other children about his black identity and his queer identity. Marlon went on to go to Harvard University to study History. Studying history, Riggs became fascinated with the history of racism and homophobia and began to explore these concepts through the media of film. He later moved to Oakland, California where he got his Masters in Journalism with an emphasis in Documentary Filmmaking at UC Berkeley. Riggs was hired on as a professor at Berkeley and worked there as he was working on his own films. Marlon Riggs has many documentaries from Ethnic Notions, to Color Adjustment, but one of the most groundbreaking films Marlon Riggs is known for is his film, Tongues Untied. This film documented the complex identity of Black Queer Men and was released on PBS. The documentary was seen as controversial and made many headlines as people called it pornographic and were mad that tax paying dollars went towards his production. Shortly after the film Marlon Riggs found out he was a person living with HIV. He didn’t let this derail his life, and worked on films and documented his experience until his very last day which can be seen in the documentary, I shall not be removed. Marlon Riggs lived everyday of his life trying to “shatter the nations brutalizing silence on matters of sexual and racial difference”.
Ruby Bridges was born on September 8th, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi. At the age of four years old, her family relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana. Later, young six year old Ruby was one of six black children who were selected by the NAACP to be the first kids to integrate into white public schools. Although her father was very hesitant, and two of the fellow families decided to deny the request, The Bridges family persevered with their decision. Ruby was taught alone in a classroom by for a full academic year because of white community members disapproving of her presence. Ruby’s family suffered because of this; her father laid off, grocery stores denying their business, and the violent hate they received on the daily. Every morning there was a crowd outside the school where racist threatened to poison six year old Ruby. She never cried, all admired her as she “marched along like a little soldier”. Ruby’s mother walked her to school every morning where she stated, “I simply want the privilege of taking my child to school”. Ruby Bridges now 63 years old, is the chairwoman of The Ruby Bridges Foundation. You can learn more about Ruby’s fight in the tv movie, Ruby Bridges, and her book, Through My Eyes.
Congresswoman Chisholm had a multitude of ‘first’ racked up on her resume. She was the first black woman elected to congress, the first black candidate for a major political party (Democratic Party), and the first woman ever to run for the democratic party presidential nomination. A first generation black woman, who truly paved the way for the next generation of black advocates. After her career in congress Chisholm taught politics and sociology at various universities, was a visiting scholar at Spelman College, and fought for African American Women reproductive rights, which was an unheard narrative in the Pro-Choice movement. You can watch the documentary on Congresswoman Chisholm called, Shirley Chisholm ‘72: Unbought Unbossed, (which won a peabody award). You can also read her two auto-biographical books, as well as visiting the research center named after her at Brooklyn College which focuses on women and continuing the Shirley Chisholm legacy.
Tarell Alvin McCraney is a playwright from Liberty City, Florida who has a long impressive resume in the theatre world but is most known for being the brains behind the pivotal movie, Moonlight. Moonlight (Directed by Barry Jenkins) which dominated the industry last year is based on McCraney’s play, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. A play he wrote for his Graduate school applications, it was collecting dust on the shelves until him and Barry Jenkins began to collaborate. A Yale School of Drama MFA Alum, Tarell’s work focuses a lot on the intersections between black identity and queerness. His work often challenging the typical narratives we are used to digesting about black queer people in society. His words, and ideas have changed the way we view certain bodies as well as the way our art is received. Moonlight won academy awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and was considered “The best Film in the 21st century” by The New York Times. Moonlight also is the first film with an all black cast, as well as the first LGBT film in general, to win the oscar for Best Picture.
Over 100 years before RuPaul was telling us to “sashay away”, William Dorsey Swann, who had been born into slavery in 19th Century America, was making a name for himself as the world’s first self-described “drag queen”.
LGBTQ+ historian Channing Joseph, author of House of Swann, explains how he discovered this forgotten history of one of the earliest efforts at queer resistance and liberation in America.
Founded in 1896, the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs merged multiple organizations, large and small, into one association whose common goals were to support racial and gender equality.
The NACWC continued their work well into JFK’s administration, including advocating that Frederick Douglass’s home be made into a National Park. The organization’s president Dr. Rosa Gragg wrote to Ken O’Donnell, Special Assistant to the President in early 1962 with their request.
JFKWHSFHW-005-005-p0008 Letter from Dr. Rosa Gragg to Kenneth O’Donnell
In 1962, JFK signed a bill doing just that, and members of the club, including their president Dr. Rosa Gragg, were present at the singing.
AR7448-C. President John F. Kennedy Designates Frederick Douglass Home Part of National Park System
A page from Hosea Williams’ newspaper, The Crusader: an announcement to join The March for the Ballot on March 1, 1964, to be led by a group of high school students called the Youth Crusaders. See more on protests in Georgia in the 1960s.
Dianne Durham was born in 1968 in Gary, Indiana. She started gymnastics at the age of 4 and had a natural talent for the sport. In 1981, she won the junior all-around title, afterwards moving to Texas to train with Bela and Marta Karolyi as their first U.S. elite. She won the junior all-around title again in 1982. She turned senior in 1983 and tied Kathy Johnson for the all-around title at her first international competition. That year she became the first Black U.S. national champion, winning the vault, uneven bars, and floor titles as well. She was not able to compete in the 1983 world championships due to injury, but she kept training to try to make the 1984 Olympic team. Though she was in position to succeed, she unfortunately injured her ankle on vault during the trials and withdrew from the competition. USA Gymnastics did not allow her to petition onto the Olympic team because she had not competed at the previous world championships, a rule she was unaware of when she withdrew. She retired soon after and started a coaching career, owning her own gym in Chicago for 17 years and judging competitions at the national level. She passed away February 4th, 2021 at the age of 52, but her legacy lives on.
She was born into slavery and “given” as a wedding gift to a Mormon couple in Mississippi named Robert and Rebecca Smith. In 1847 at age 32, Biddy Mason was forced to walk from Mississippi to Utah tending to the cattle behind her master’s 300-wagon caravan. She “walked” from Mississippi to Utah. That’s 1, 618.9 miles!
After four years in Salt Lake City, Smith took the group to a new Mormon settlement in San Bernardino, California in search of gold. Biddy Mason soon discovered that the California State Constitution made slavery illegal, and that her master’s had a plan to move them all to Texas to avoid freeing them.
With the help of some freed Blacks she had befriended, she and the other Slaves attempted to run away to Los Angeles, but they were intercepted by Smith and brought back. However, when he tried to leave the state with his family and Slaves, a local posse prevented them from leaving.
Biddy had Robert Smith brought into court on a writ of habeas corpus. She, her daughters, and the ten other Slaves were held in jail for their own safety to protect them from an angry and violent pro-slavery mob until the Judge heard the case and granted their freedom.
Now free, Mason and her three daughters moved to Los Angeles where they worked and saved enough money to buy a house at 331 Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. Biddy was employed as a Nurse, Midwife, and Domestic Servant. She was one of the first Black women to own land in the city of Los Angeles.
She had the intelligence and boldness to use part of her land as a temporary resting place for horses and carriages, and people visiting town paid money in exchange for the space. That particular area was considered the first “parking lot” in Los Angeles.
Knowing what it meant to be oppressed and friendless, Biddy Mason immediately began a philanthropic career by opening her home to the poor, hungry, and homeless. Through hard work, saving, and investing carefully, she was able to purchase large amounts of real estate including a commercial building, which provided her with enough income to help build schools, hospitals, and churches.
Her financial fortunes continued to increase until she accumulated a fortune of almost $300,000. In today’s money, that would be $6M. Her most noted accomplishment is the founding of the First AME Church in California. In her tireless work she was known for saying “If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in. The open hand gives in abundance; even as it receives.”
Biddy Bridget Mason died on January 15, 1891 at the age of 76. On March 27, 1988, ninety one years after her death, a special occasion event was given in her honor by members of the church she helped founded. Mayor Tom Bradley was among the dignitaries in attendance. Black women are legendary.
Elizabeth Freeman (c.1744 – December 28, 1829), also known as Bet, Mum Bett, or MumBet, was the first enslaved African American to file and win a freedom suit in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling, in Freeman’s favor, found slavery to be inconsistent with the 1780 Massachusetts State Constitution. Her suit, Brom and Bett v. Ashley (1781), was cited in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court appellate review of Quock Walker’s freedom suit. When the court upheld Walker’s freedom under the state’s constitution, the ruling was considered to have implicitly ended slavery in Massachusetts.
