Category Archives: African American History
Black History Month: Famous Firsts By African-Americans
African-American Firsts: Government
- Local elected official: John Mercer Langston, 1855, town clerk of Brownhelm Township, Ohio.
- State elected official: Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1836, the Vermont legislature.
- Mayor of major city: Carl Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio, 1967–1971. The first black woman to serve as a mayor of a major U.S. city was Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly, Washington, DC, 1991–1995.
- Governor (appointed): P.B.S. Pinchback served as governor of Louisiana from Dec. 9, 1872–Jan. 13, 1873, during impeachment proceedings against the elected governor.
- Governor (elected): L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia, 1990–1994. The only other elected black governor has been Deval Patrick, Massachusetts, 2007–
- U.S. Representative: Joseph Rainey became a Congressman from South Carolina in 1870 and was reelected four more times. The first black female U.S. Representative was Shirley Chisholm, Congresswoman from New York, 1969–1983.
- U.S. Senator: Hiram Revels became Senator from Mississippi from Feb. 25, 1870, to March 4, 1871, during Reconstruction. Edward Brooke became the first African-American Senator since Reconstruction, 1966–1979. Carol Mosely Braun became the first black woman Senator serving from 1992–1998 for the state of Illinois. (There have only been a total of five black senators in U.S. history: the remaining two are Blanche K. Bruce [1875–1881] and Barack Obama (2005–2008).
- U.S. cabinet member: Robert C. Weaver, 1966–1968, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Lyndon Johnson; the first black female cabinet minister wasPatricia Harris, 1977, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Jimmy Carter.
- U.S. Secretary of State: Gen. Colin Powell, 2001–2004. The first black female Secretary of State was Condoleezza Rice, 2005–2009.
- Major Party Nominee for President: Sen. Barack Obama, 2008. The Democratic Party selected him as its presidential nominee.
- U.S. President: Sen. Barack Obama. Obama defeated Sen. John McCain in the general election on November 4, 2008, and was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009.
African-American Firsts: Science and Medicine
- First patent holder: Thomas L. Jennings, 1821, for a dry-cleaning process. Sarah E. Goode, 1885, became the first African-American woman to receive a patent, for a bed that folded up into a cabinet.
- M.D. degree: James McCune Smith, 1837, University of Glasgow; Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864.
- Inventor of the blood bank: Dr. Charles Drew, 1940.
- Heart surgery pioneer: Daniel Hale Williams, 1893.
- First astronaut: Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., 1967, was the first black astronaut, but he died in a plane crash during a training flight and never made it into space. Guion Bluford, 1983, became the first black astronaut to travel in space; Mae Jemison, 1992, became the first black female astronaut. Frederick D. Gregory, 1998, was the first African-American shuttle commander.
African-American Firsts: Scholarship
- College graduate (B.A.): Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1823, Middlebury College; first black woman to receive a B.A. degree: Mary Jane Patterson, 1862, Oberlin College.
- Ph.D.: Edward A. Bouchet, 1876, received a Ph.D. from Yale University. In 1921, three individuals became the first U.S. black women to earn Ph.D.s: Georgiana Simpson, University of Chicago; Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, University of Pennsylvania; and Eva Beatrice Dykes, Radcliffe College.
- Rhodes Scholar: Alain L. Locke, 1907.
- College president: Daniel A. Payne, 1856, Wilberforce University, Ohio.
- Ivy League president: Ruth Simmons, 2001, Brown UniversityAfrican-American Firsts: Literature
- Novelist: Harriet Wilson, Our Nig (1859).
- Poet: Lucy Terry, 1746, “Bar’s Fight.” It is her only surviving poem.
- Poet (published): Phillis Wheatley, 1773, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Considered the founder of African-American literature.
- Pulitzer Prize winner: Gwendolyn Brooks, 1950, won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.
- Pulitzer Prize winner in Drama: Charles Gordone, 1970, for his play No Place To Be Somebody.
- Nobel Prize for Literature winner: Toni Morrison, 1993.
- Poet Laureate: Robert Hayden, 1976–1978; first black woman Poet Laureate: Rita Dove, 1993–1995.
African-American Firsts: Music and Dance
- Member of the New York City Opera: Todd Duncan, 1945.
- Member of the Metropolitan Opera Company: Marian Anderson, 1955.
- Male Grammy Award winner: Count Basie, 1958.
- Female Grammy Award winner: Ella Fitzgerald, 1958.
- Principal dancer in a major dance company: Arthur Mitchell, 1959, New York City Ballet.
African-American Firsts: Film
- First Oscar: Hattie McDaniel, 1940, supporting actress, Gone with the Wind.
- Oscar, Best Actor/Actress: Sidney Poitier, 1963, Lilies of the Field; Halle Berry, 2001, Monster’s Ball.
- Oscar, Best Actress Nominee: Dorothy Dandridge, 1954, Carmen Jones.
- Film director: Oscar Micheaux, 1919, wrote, directed, and produced The Homesteader, a feature film.
- Hollywood director: Gordon Parks directed and wrote The Learning Tree for Warner Brothers in 1969.
Other African-American Firsts
- Licensed Pilot: Bessie Coleman, 1921.
- Millionaire: Madame C. J. Walker.
- Billionaire: Robert Johnson, 2001, owner of Black Entertainment Television; Oprah Winfrey, 2003.
- Portrayal on a postage stamp: Booker T. Washington, 1940 (and also 1956).
- Miss America: Vanessa Williams, 1984, representing New York. When controversial photos surfaced and Williams resigned, Suzette Charles, the runner-up and also an African American, assumed the title. She represented New Jersey. Three additional African Americans have been Miss Americas: Debbye Turner (1990), Marjorie Vincent (1991), and Kimberly Aiken (1994).
- Explorer, North Pole: Matthew A. Henson, 1909, accompanied Robert E. Peary on the first successful U.S. expedition to the North Pole.
- Explorer, South Pole: George Gibbs, 1939–1941 accompanied Richard Byrd.
- Flight around the world: Barrington Irving, 2007, from Miami Gardens, Florida, flew a Columbia 400 plane named Inspirationaround the world in 96 days, 150 hours (March 23-June 27).
Courtesy of factmonster.com
SOTU 2012…Disney Meets Washington
Disney Meets Washington
SOTU 2012 WW Style!
As I tucked my kids in for bed last night I was not the only one telling fairytales and painting dreams of a most vivid and vibrant future and a “happily ever after.” I was joined by President Obama in fantasy and fiction telling. As we lay our “kids” to bed in the hopes they are nourished in the dreams and alternate realities we lay out for them, what did we really say? NOT MUCH!! Although I was preaching from the gospel of Disney. Mr. Obama’s fairytale should have come from the Brothers Grimm!
We all knew what he would say; we just wanted to see the delivery. Something akin to watching the Olympics. We knew the routine but will it be presented in the manner in which it had been so well scripted and crafted? Yes he stuck his landing pretty good last night. He got 9’s and 10’s from the masses of those holding out for hope and change 3 years in, but for those of us living in reality we walked away questioning “where IS the beef?”
For those of us in Wisconsin who seem to have short term memory loss regarding this president, I was baffled that his message was not met with a little more pessimism. He had promised so much yet delivered nothing to those who waited in vain for the man who would supposedly lace up his sneakers and join the picket line. I watched as these same people who are so disgusted with the progress in Wisconsin and Milwaukee, give a clear pass to this man simply based on his vocal stylings. What else could it be? He has created no substantial hope or change, just more of the same. He is an average politician with above average rhetoric but we dare not call him out or lest we be cast out of this sheep society for free thought.
If you had put his record out there of job loss, dismal education progress, and his relationship with Wall Street/rich cronies, just to name a few, you could easily compare him to Scott Walker, but you would love him instead of hate him. And I make this comparison using the left’s logic. If I took left pundit talking points and used their definition (or rhetoric) of failed leadership, I could easily insert and invoke the name of Obama and be meaning Scott Walker (or vice versa). “Doesn’t care about blacks, loss of economic empowerment for blacks, hanging with the rich instead of the poor, doesn’t give his millions to charity,” etc. al.
The man who met with Hispanics and the LBGT communities but told us to stop our whining, this is your hero? The same man who left you at the altar in Wisconsin and never backed you up when you absolutely needed him, you want to give him another 4 years to do the same ignoring of you? I just do not get it. I really don’t.
He spoke about teachers and supporting good ones, while letting bad ones go. That is just what we did here in Wisconsin! You are welcome Mr. President courtesy of Governor Walker and the Republican Party. We gave back to the school districts and tax payers what the union fat cats took away. We gave communities tools like Act 10 and the right to not have to enter into affluent contracts with the likes of WEA Trust who were really only union tax stealing money pits. Instead we put in accountability and mandates to teach our 4 year olds how to read or answer to” we the people.” We chose CHOICE over forced; we opted out of unhealthy relationships and into thriving partnerships of true transparency and government of the people, by the people. We created a manageable budget and began to pay back those we owed.
The President thrust out General Motors as if it is the company we once knew it to be. It is not! The jobs are mostly gone. The company is pretty much fluent in Spanish or Asian. Sure on the books some of it is here but it is not the General Motors your parents once owned or worked for! Those jobs are gone and only administration and lobbying positions remain. We as a country do not own much at all as most of our jobs are all overseas and creation has been in stagnation. We are owned by China and have a downgraded credit rating. Mr. President close the tax loop holes already. You keep saying it but you never do it. Stand for something before you use Martin’s name. We bailed out everyone but the middle class yet you stood their last night and spun yarns of the brightest of prosperities which is neither our reality nor will it be anytime soon.
He said the unemployment cycle was “a maze.” You betcha it’s a maze and under whose watch did it become this ongoing forest of trees for which we cannot see the sun anymore?
He talked about the American Dream, the precious American Dream as if it was the governments to give and take away. What happened to capitalism and free enterprise? What’s mine is mine dammit! It is not the government’s to do with as it sees fit. You can have your taxed share, but you are not entitled to sustain life on the backs of the middle class and do away with the things that make people self-sufficient. Government is not supposed to be growing and all powerful. Its job is to monitor and assist, not become the provider and head of household. It is already enough that welfare, the great failed social experiment, has grown and continues to fester yet we wonder why jobs are going away, education sucks, and the onus of personal responsibility has been replaced with apathetic sheep who know nothing of economic empowerment and SAVING!!!
Mr. President you warned about shady dealings in the Congress but yet you have no answer for Solyndra or the “Fast and Furious “ programs. Did you think we would forget? How about the fact that the CBC Head, Emanuel Clever said if it where Clinton and he had done what you have done to your own, he would have been marched upon. Africa is seeing the worst of times yet you do far less than the last president. Not to mention you an African killed leader we had no impending threat from. You are one of their own sons, their own. If you could do this to them why should we African Americans expect more?
However we extended our card and gave this “brother” a great big pass and turned a sorry blind eye to our treatment. We keep worrying about the known racists yet we refuse to call out the ones WE OURSELVES keep in the dark. And if we don’t bring him and those like him to light, who are we to demand anything more from anyone else when the most powerful person on the planet is given a pass to ignore and destroy us? Sheep! Stand and defend yourselves.
We in Wisconsin have our own flock of sheep and we sheep follow loyally those with family name and privilege to the grave in hopes they may rise to the standards of their ancestors. Most of them have not and yet we say nothing or elect more of them or give them new titles and benefits without questioning one word about their lack of assistance and support to this community. We also follow those who have been our “brother” or “sister” because we are too wimpy to ask them what they have done for us, US!!!! So it is no surprise to me that the Wisconsin black will not stand now.
As an aside the potential candidates for many of our races here back home in “Wisconsinland” (which seems to be the last bastion for real hope and change) have criminal backgrounds or of misappropriation of funds that should send us screaming away if we really wanted to make a difference. Instead we line up and get their white “masas” to line up for us too! Sandy Paasch has no business in county politics! Barrett has no business in state politics! They are not our allies. Barrett has reigned over a Milwaukee that had gone from #3 in segregation to #1, staying strong in first place, and yet we clap and cheer him on. No one vets these new black potential candidates anymore in the community. We depend on Bice, Ingram, or Kane to possibly do that. One little visit to CCAP should put the fear of God into your hearts and wallets, but we only use that on potential soul mates.
Sorry went off on a little tangent, but it needed to be pointed out…
MILWAUKEE CITY AND COUNTY RESIDENTS USE CCAP and/or GOOGLE AND VOTE ACCORDINGLY!!!
Just a little friendly warning before you regret giving even more pathetic, benefit seeking, lying, cheating, living off us, smile in your face, dagger behind the back, desperate for incomes, lacking leadership, low life scum, these new jobs and then wonder why we cannot get rid of them and why our communities look tore up!!! HALLEJUAH AMEN! I hope I emphasized enough that there are some real threats to our own community from within trying to take advantage while we are putting all our resources and attention into getting rid of Scott Walker. WATCH OUT LITTLE SHEEP! Danger, danger!!!! Scott Walker is NOT our biggest threat.
As with any relationship do a little searching and ask them the questions. CCAP and Google are our best tools in deciding local elections.
I will elaborate more on this as we get closer to these elections.
Anway back to POTUS. His speech was great. I respect the man, I really do, but at the same time like any jilted lover, I cannot forget! “Let’s stay together.” Indeed Mr. President. I will meet you on Main Street but I will not be messed over twice, not if I can help it. You made promises of hope and change, gave us visions of grandeur and have delivered very little especially to US!
So as with any fairytale, I have come to the conclusion that American reality was not found in the great oratorical spectacle given last night. It is pending lore from the fairytales found in the Brothers Grimm tales. Three years of ignoring US and ignoring the platform you ran upon shan’t be rewarded but must be accounted for and we are owed an apology at the very least for invoking in America, especially Black America, visions of a real future of growth and opportunity. Very little progress was made in the great race debate and that was because it was used, used to create feelings of true change and real hope when in reality there really never was an US in your heart. Just opportunity for you and yours alone.
Whites cannot say it, nor will they address it openly or honestly. They are scared and have their own agenda which is not ours at all. Instead they created Occupy movements that mask their criticisms and racism. They do not intend to give you more rope, nor do they intend to ever” Occupy” us with money or time. They simply do not have need for us and use us as a means to an end. This, this was another failed experiment in social justice gone horribly wrong. I hope we at least can see that this man is not MLK or Malcolm. He does not intend to change the path of the African American or make a significant dent in Black history, other than being the first biracial president with a hype swag and flare. This man is a smooth-talking object of affection sent from the left, designed to tide us over until they get their power and move on sans us.
Peace Family,
WW
“We Are The Drum – A Rhythm In Wisconsin” 2012
CAPITA (City At Peace In The Arts)
Productions Presents…
“We Are The Drum – A Rhythm In Wisconsin” 2012
Inspired by a distinctive movement for racial justice in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin.
http://capitaproductions.org/
Since 1990, CAPITA Productions (City At Peace In The Arts) has been presenting a Black History Program yearly for thousands in the Greater Milwaukee Area.
This year we are adding a very special and overdue segment which will celebrate those brave marchers and demonstrators, from all backgrounds, who risked their lives for the cause of civil rights, especially in Milwaukee. It will be a dramatic reenactment of the Underground Railroad, prominent in the Waukesha area; the escaped slave Joshua Grover, and Fr. Jim Groppi’s “March on Milwaukee”.
For 200 consecutive nights hundreds marched for open housing through rain, snow and fear of physical attacks. These heroes have not been properly honored until now. Their stories should be known by our youth as well as everyone in Milwaukee and across the nation.
We will celebrate those who lived this experience, sharing the stories of those who participated in the demonstrations, served on the NAACP Youth Council, Commandos, and all organizations that led or joined in some way, the historic Milwaukee’s Civil Rights Movement.
Public Shows:
Tickets are $10 (balcony) $15 (floor)per person
• Friday, February 24, 2012 @ 7:30pm
• Saturday, February 25, 2012 @ 7:30pm
• Friday, March 2, 2012 @ 7:30pm
• Saturday, March 3, 2012 @ 7:30pm
PUBLIC SHOW TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE
Buy Now Online http://www.capitaproductions.org/tickets.html
Student Shows:
Tickets are $4 per child.
For more info on the student shows,
Call Liz Coleman- 414-807-7322
• Tuesday, February, 21, 2012 @ 10:00am & 12:00pm
• Wednesday, February, 22, 2012 @ 10:00am & 12:00pm
• Monday, February, 27, 2012 @ 10:00am & 12:00pm
• Wednesday, February. 29, 2012 @ 10:00am & 12:00pm
All shows will once again take place at:
North Division High School Campus
Auditorium
1011 West Center Street
Milwaukee, WI 53206
Black revolution must start now even without total Black Unity.
PRESS RELEASE*****PRESS RELEASE*****PRESS RELEASE*****PRESS RELEASE…PRESS
PLEASE STOP WAITING ON ‘BLACK UNITY’ TO START THE REVOLUTION.”
You hear it every day. ”Man, if Black people would just come together we could” or “All we need is unity among Black folks and everything….” Most Black people have/had some romantic notions of ALL Black people, with afros and dashikis marching towards New Africa, with the Isley Brothers, “Caravan of Love” playing in the background. Reality is probably going to look more like what were seeing with the Occupy movements and Arab Spring, different groups of Black folk doing different things at different times in different places for similar outcomes. That is just fine. No people in history have ever been totally united on anything. Egypt was not totally united, Rome or Greece were not totally united. All South African Blacks didn’t support Nelson Mandela and all Negroes didn’t support Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Black people come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. They have different DNA, life experiences and want different things. The common thread is the history of suffering and oppression along with a destiny to resurrect the community and homeland. This reality is being created now. Yes, The revolution has started. Its going on now and its personal. You are the revolution. You and the person(s) you are with are the army. Start today with whomever you are with, wherever you are. Get involved, you are whats missing.. No one can do everything yet everyone can do something. If you sit in front of the t.v. or computer with the young people at your home and explain to them whats going on in the world….That is Black revolution. The Black problem now is not lack of unity but ignorance and fear..
While we are here, does anyone remember the “Good ole days”? Well, thats a lie that old heads use to dump this current crop of bs on the laps of young people. The history books have no record of a time in Black American history that can be sanely called the “Good ole Days.” Black people have always caught and continue to catch pure d hell in America. Blacks never all got alone or all worked together. Even during segregation there was backstabbing and boot-lickin going on then as now, Black Wall Street and Rosewood notwithstanding. There are wealthy Black towns and neighborhoods today yet they hardly represent the state of Black America. Every generation has had victories and failures in the struggle for Black liberation
The time for action is now. We are the continuation of the struggles of our ancestors.
He who waits for the perfect time to plant, never plants…The Bible
Power to the people. Peace.








