Wednesday, April 12, 2017

In 1968 Eartha Kitt "Stood", for the Hood'.

Eartha Mae Kitt (January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008)


She was the whole package -
Talented  singer, actress, dancer, activist, voice actress and comedian

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

The Truth About Jamaica and Jamaicans (something to think about)

Ask questions about your history and do your own research, don't just take any, so-called information, told to you at face value.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Mary Lou Williams (1919 - 1981)

Mary Lou Williams (1910 – 1981) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for such bandleaders as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Dizzy Gillespie, and many others. 
Mary Lou Williams
An interview with Mary Lou


Born Mary Elfreida Scruggs in Atlanta, Georgia on May 8, 1910.



Listen Here Mary Lou Williams (1927-1940)

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

A Great and Mighty Walk

Dr John Henrik Clarke

















"Powerful people cannot afford to educate the people that they oppress, because once you are truly educated, you will not ask for power. You will take it."
Dr John Henrik Clarke

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Songs of Protest and Inspiration performed by Nina Simone.

 The High Priestess of Soul was one talented Lady. I haven't seen many artists that can capture an audience and move them in any direction they desire from one second to the next.
I believe she did this not by design but by allowing those sharing the moment with her, into her innermost intimate place and just being herself, which is why she always seemed so vulnerable. This condition of vulnerability coupled with the nature of these following pieces make for some spectacularly moving performances. Hang on to your hearts.
W.P.


Nina Simone - Revolution & Strange Fruit


Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam


Nina Simone - Blackbird


Nina Simone: Go To Hell


Nina Simone - I Shall Be Released


Nina Simone: Four Women


Nina Simone: Take Me To The Water


Nina Simone: To Be Young, Gifted and Black

Monday, February 20, 2017

Americans consider Frederick Douglass's words

The following recording is an example of the kind of effort that will be necessary for Americans to begin racial healing. It's good to see that some folks are making the attempt and we can all follow their example.
Frederick Douglass


VHC, Reading: Frederick Douglass, The 4th of July
by KATV

Frederick Douglass the Orator - a biography

by Gregory, James M. (James Monroe), 1849-1915



Thursday, February 16, 2017

Historian Gerald Horne's POV on #BlackLivesMatter

 Historian Gerald Horne is interviewed by  ImportantCool (a worker-owned digital magazine).
Horne gives us examples of the historical state of race relations, class and colonialism to describe the vulnerable condition of the #BlackLivesMatter movement today.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Trump watch and more. The war on Black on Black Violence.

This is to remind all to be careful around this guy.







Do we really want this character fiddling in our neighborhoods?

Scientist Tyrone Hayes on Being Targeted By Herbicide Firm Syngenta

Tyrone B. Hayes (born July 29, 1967) is an American biologist and professor of Integrative Biology at University of California, Berkeley known for his research findings concluding that the herbicide atrazine is an endocrine disruptor that demasculinizes and feminizes male frogs. He is also an advocate for critical review and regulation of pesticides and other chemicals that may cause adverse health effects. He has presented hundreds of papers, talks, and seminars on his conclusions that environmental chemical contaminants have played a role in global amphibian declines and in the health disparities that occur in minority and low income populations. His work has been contested by Syngenta, the Swiss manufacturer of atrazine and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. It was used as the basis for the settlement of a multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit against Syngenta.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

"Twasinta's Seminoles; or, Rape of Florida"

Oh ! sing it in the light of freedom's morn, 
Tho' tyrant wars have made the earth a grave ; 
The good, the great, and true, are, if so, born. 
And so with slaves, chains do not make the slave! 
If high-souled birth be what the mother gave, — 
If manly birth, and manly to the core, — 
Whate'er the test, the man will he behave! 
Crush him to earth and crush him o'er and o'er, 
A man he'll rise at last and meet you as before.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Mathieu da Costa interpreter

Mathieu da Costa was an interpreter and translator from the Benin Empire during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The Benin Empire was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa, dating perhaps to the Eleventh century." The original people and founders of the Benin Empire were the Edo people. The first European travelers to reach Benin were Portuguese explorers in about 1485. A strong mercantile relationship developed, with the Edo trading tropical products such as ivory, pepper and palm oil with the Portuguese for European goods such as manila and guns.

There is little documentation about da Costa, but he is known to have been a freeman favoured by explorers for his multilingual talents. His portfolio of languages is thought to include Dutch, English, French, Portuguese and pidgin Basque, the dialect many Aboriginals used for trading purposes.

In Canada, he likely travelled up the St. Lawrence River and worked at various locations along the Canadian Atlantic Coast. There is controversy as to how he had learned to communicate with the Aboriginals, with one answer being that the North American cultural context was very similar to the African one

Monday, January 23, 2017

"Africa Today" Is A Reliable Knowledge Base


A weekly news program providing information and analysis about Africa and the African Diaspora, hosted by Walter Turner.

Information is abundant in today’s world but it’s not easy to find reliable information.
If you’re interested in hearing first hand from those involved in the life of present day Africa then this is an excellent starting point. Professor Turner is continually introducing conscious Africans, from the continent and around the world, who are steeped in the knowledge, usually first hand, about the circumstances and conditions of today’s Africa and her people on the continent and throughout the African diaspora. I recommend listening to the program and following-up these people as a possible continual source of reliable data. The program is very well recorded for easy listening and it is archived so it’s possible to go back and find even more of this wonderful resource.
https://kpfa.org/program/africa-today/




Saturday, January 21, 2017

A Love Song From The Hood. What it is?



Thanks to Paul Porter at RapRehab.com for pointing this out

Obama Departs - No. It's Not the End. It's the Beginning

For Americans 16 and under, a Black president is nothing unusual. Don't forget this. 




For Americans 16 and under, a Black president is nothing unusual. Don't forget this.