Carter Woodson (b Dec 1875-Apr 1950) Journalist, historian, author and father of Black History Month I've maintained a blog for years, despite not always having something to say. When Black History Month approaches, I feel a responsibility to write-- for sentence exercise, if nothing else. As I've gotten older and more comfortable with being a …
BHM #16: FIRST TIME WITH ROBERTA FLACK
ROBERTA FLACK b. Feb 1937 - Feb 2025 Roberta legendarily could play anything on piano and finally she played me. I knew her, heard her, but had not sat and really listened to her. She was a musical auntie I'd rarely visit; ubiquitous on radio and tv throughout my childhood, hers was music that sounded …
BHM #14 : RASHID JOHNSON
Rashid Johnson, Self Portrait as the Professor of Astronomy, Miscegenation and Critical Theory at the New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club Center for Graduate Studies, 2008. I am strongly attracted to visual art. I'm a poet with visual art dreams who can take an okay photo but can't draw or paint any better than …
BHM # 12: I AM SOMEBODY
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesse Jackson, photo: Bob Fitch Jesse Jackson left us today. He was a longtime civil rights activist beginning his career adjacent to Martin Luther King, Jr. He was an politician and Baptist Minister. He was born in Greenville, South Carolina in October 1941 and died this morning in Chicago. He …
BHM #11: “I’M JUST GONNA LEAVE THIS HERE…”
44th President Barack Obama's portrait by artist Kehinde Wiley Happy Holiday. No writing on weekends, or holidays apparently. Just to note President #44 Barack Obama was born August 1961 and was president from 2009-2017. This gorgeous official portrait was painted by one of my favorite artists, Kehinde Wiley in 2018. Kehinde is from Los Angeles …
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BHM #10 POEM FOR BLACK INVENTORS
George Washington Carver (b Jan 1864 - Jan 1943) Black men have long had to see the world through metaphor— Convert what is observed into something different- easier, better This is the science of othering –making a way out of no way – To be given nothing and still expected to finish to breathe life …
BHM #9: AMBROSIA WYSINGER JONES of CHARM BEAUTY COLLEGE
Ambrosia Wysinger Jones (b Aug 1905 - Sep 1999) Business owner who established Charm Beauty College in Oakland My mother's currency was hair. Juanita Cagney remodeled elder's naps and sweat flattened loops into bread, milk, cigarettes. On weekends, our kitchen was a revolving door of women getting press and curls, perms, cuts. Sparrows couldn't match …
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BHM #8: SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD
Jazz Vocalist Par Excellence Jimmy Scott (b. July 1925-June 2014) Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child has always been with us. When I looked up its origin, there was none. One day, it stood up on his hind legs in the distance and wailed. Its origin is America itself. Its an old, traditional spiritual …
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BHM #4: BOB MARLEY MANIFESTS LIGHTNING AT THE ONE LOVE FESTIVAL, 1978
One of the choir girls in my childhood church caught the Holy Spirit during service for the first time. "It was burning," she said surprised to be chosen and touched by hot fire stubbornly invisible and eternally curious. The Holy Spirit moves like a minister of smoke through the congregation, the church, touching people for …
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BHM #3: MAYA ANGELOU ON THE RICHARD PRYOR SPECIAL
Television was infected with TV Specials in the 70's. Any comic or singer worth a mic, who could fill a nightclub on a weekend night, would eventually be tossed an hour long TV Variety Show. Richard Pryor was becoming a huge presence on the standup circuit in the 70's and in May 1977, two years …
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The Dirty Rat 