Black History Month 2011

See Ex-slave narratives

A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History & Culture

Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas 

traces the graphic art made by Emory Douglas while he worked as minister of culture for the Black Panther Party from 1967 until its discontinuation in the early 1980s. Douglas's powerful visuals helped define the trademark visual style of the group's newspapers, posters, and pamphlets.

Click on each individual poster for an enlarged view and commentary.

Marion Anderson
 In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall. Their race-driven refusal placed Anderson into the spotlight of the international community on a level usually only found by high profile celebrities and politicians. With the aid of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, in 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions.

Click here to see A short film about the life and career of singer Marian Anderson up through 1950.

Freeway Ricky Ross is "out and talking"

"Ricky Donnell Ross (born April 30, 1960^[1]), also known as "Freeway" Ricky Ross , is a convicted drug trafficker best known for the "drug empire" that he presided over in Los Angeles, in the early 1980s.^[2] The nickname "Freeway" came from Ross's ownership of several properties along the Harbor Freeway. His old house he grew up in is where a freeway now stands.^[3] During the height of his drug dealing, Ross claims to have made "$2 millions in one day."
In 1996, Ross was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of trying to purchase more than 100 kilograms of cocaine from a federal agent. Ross became the subject of controversy later that year when a series of articles by journalist Gary Webb in the San Jose Mercury News brought to light a connection between one of Ross's cocaine sources, Danilo Blandon, and the CIA as part of the Iran-Contra scandal.^[4] The decision in Ross's case was brought to a federal court of appeals where his sentence was reduced to 20 years. His sentence has since been reduced further for being a model prisoner and he was moved to a halfway house in California in March 2009, and was released on September 29, 2009.^{[5]" wikipedia}





Bush, Reagan let drugs flow free to US from Nicaragua' - says Ross.  Here he discusses his CIA connections,  he talks about why the government allowed a hard drug pipeline into the Black community. He also talks about the Taliban and Heroin from Afghanistan. Ross says our government is out of control.  Click here to go to Freeway Rick's Blog   also see http://www.freewayenterprise.com/

MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail - "A Call for Unity" (1963)

This video is over an hour long but don't let that deter you from watching it. Please take the time to view this video. Take the time to share it with with our young people, who may not be aware of its contents or the valor of those who struggled during those trying times. The struggle is not over and they will need the examples of doctor King and those of us who worked with him to hold themselves and the country accountable for the injustices that are still occuring.

"Freedom must be demanded by the oppressed."




"Justice too long delayed is justice denyed"

Do a good deed every day... John Hope Franklin

Storycorps is a great source of Americana.
Listen as John Hope Franklin, the late scholar of African American history, tells his son, John, about being a Boy Scout during the 1920s.

Black Folks in Mississippi Suspicious of "Suicide" Hanging

Family seeks expert second opinion in hanging case

Frederick Jermaine Carter hanging (Lynching) in Mississippi, NO
Suicide according to the NAACP
Posted on December 15, 2010 by EOTM Press Room 7

By: Carla Barnes
26 year old African American Frederick Jermaine Carter was
found hanging in a Mississippi tree in a white suburb on Friday,
December 3, 2010. The USA Today first reported it as a suicide,
however, the NAACP just recently contests the findings, they feel
it may actually be a lynching.