I'm Just Sayin'...

Earlier today while riding my bike I passed a woman loudly cursing and humiliating her teenage son in the presence of her other three children and the general public in the park. I shook my head but kept riding along, feeling disgusted but "minding my business". When I saw her later, her son was not with her, I asked if I could speak to her privately, not in front of the other two children who were still with her. I explained that she had been on my mind since hearing her speak so offensively to her son a 1/2 hour or so before.

Of course she used equally colorful language to tell me where to go and how to mind my business. She made it perfectly clear that she would speak to her son any way she saw fit. I responded that it is my business because when her son becomes a statistic because he has spent his entire life being so berated by her that he disrespects women or lacks self esteem and/or self confidence such that he is stifled or misdirected in his growth and the choices he makes, he become all of our business.

As I rode away explaining that she IS the problem, it occurred to me that hers is behavior that we reward. I fully expect that she will have a reality TV show any day now! I'm Just Sayin'... We are so screwed folks! I wanted to apologize to her son for her... What can I say? We have got to do better...

At the risk of getting cursed out, be a part of the solution. Take care of yours and be mindful of how you treat/talk to them. And occasionally, just occasionally, size up the situation and step out of your comfort zone to try and have an impact on others. You just might make a difference. If not now, perhaps down the road. We cannot keep looking the other way. I'm Just Sayin'...

Getting cursed out never hurt anyone... Being on a fast moving bike doesn't hurt either (smile)

Enjoy Your Evening Folks!!!

On This Day In Black History

• 1822 ~ Denmark Vesey, leader and planner of what would have been the largest Slave revolt in US history, was arrested in Charleston, SC. After purchasing his own freedom with winnings from a $1500 lottery ticket (OK, so why do I play? - smile), he stuck around to fight for the freedom of others! Imagine that. What a Concept! His name should be a household name. Google it if you don't know... Before the uprising could begin, word of the plans was leaked by, who else?, two misguided handkerchief head and obviously mentally enslaved "Black" persons. Vesey and 131 others were charged with conspiracy; 67 were convicted & 35 were hanged. Vesey went to his death with dignity and pride! A true Black American Hero!!!


• 1869 ~ Tougaloo College, one of over 100 Historically Black Colleges & Universities, was founded in Jackson, MS.


• 1889 ~ William H. Richardson receives a patent for a baby carriage whose body can be raised from its frame.


• 1909 ~ Nannie Helen Burroughs founded national training school for women in Washington, DC. At her school, in addition to teaching domestic science, secretarial skills, shoe repair, barbering, & gardening she also emphasized the importance of being proud Black women and required that all students study African-American History and Culture through a required course in the Department of Negro History! Something about those "Helens" encouraging love of self and understanding where one comes from to make you strong & confident going forward. I'm Just Sayin'... A street in DC's Deanwood section is named after her.


• 1968 ~ The US Supreme Court bans racial discrimination in the sale and rental of housing. 1968 - Not so long ago folks! I'm Just Sayin'...

On This Day In Black History; June 12th

• 1774 ~ Rhode Island becomes the 1st state to prohibit the importation of slaves. No matter, for 3 generations US Senator james dewolf's family (and others) continued to trade and prosper on the backs of Slaves. The dewolfs cut a deal with Sally Hemings' lover and father to 6 of her children, slaveholder & president thomas jefferson, allowing that despite this and other anti-slave trade laws, over the years his family kidnapped and sold over 10,000 Africans into slavery and were reportedly the nations largest abuser of human trafficking laws (Slave traders) from 1769 - 1820. At the time of his death, the senator was the 2nd richest person in the country. Imagine That! To their credit, it was members of the DeWolf family that exposed this hipocrisy...



• 1886 ~ The Georgia State Supreme Court sustained the last testament and will of wealthy bachelor David Dickson, a former slaveholder who bequeathed more than 1/2 million dollars to his daughter Amanda Eubanks, making her the wealthiest Negro in America. Go David!!! White relatives of Dickson contested the will on the grounds that it was illegal for a White man to leave property to his Black illegitimate children. They Lost... And sometimes, just sometimes, there is "Justice For ALL" I'm Just Sayin'... (smile)



• 1893 ~ Thomas W. Stewart patents the mop



• 1963 ~ Medgar W. Evers, Civil Rights Activist & NAACP Field Secretary, was shot in the back and assassinated in front of his Jackson, Mississippi home. At his 3rd trial in 1994, a jury of 8 Blacks & 4 Whites, viewed the same evidence from the two previous trials and convicted the cowardly byron de la beckwith for 1st degree murder. On 01/21/2001 de la beckwith died much too soon of heart disease at the tender age of 80. satan undoubtedly welcomed return of his "soul" which was over nighted directly from prison. I'm Just Guessin'... May de la beckwith continue to suffer. His conviction was slow Justice, but ultimately "Justice For All", thanks to the tenacity and persistence of his wife, Myrlie Evers.



• 1967 ~ The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a VA miscegenation law establishing that no state can prohibit interracial marriage or cohabitation. (Loving v. Virgina - Google it)



• 1967 ~ President Lyndon Johnson appoints U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Thurgood Marshall to fill vacancy of retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clark. Followng a heated senate debate on August 30, Marshall’s nomination was confirmed by a vote of 69 to 11. Two days later, he was sworn in making him the 1st (and some would say the ONLY) African American in history to sit on America’s highest court



• 1989 ~ US Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing workers to file lawsuits where they felt they had been adversely affected by Affirmative Action policies intended to level the playing field and right the discriminatory ills of the past. The concept of "reverse discrimination" is born. Justice Marshall dissented. (Martin v. Wilks)



• 1991 ~ Michael Jordan leads Chicago Bulls in win over L.A. Lakers to capture his first NBA Championship. Fast Forward 20 years, LeBron will do the same! Go HEAT!!! Sorry, I just could not resist... (smile)

On This Day In Black History...

• 1889 ~ John Purdy & Daniel Sadgwar received a patent for the Folding Chair



• 1920 ~ Hazel Scott, Jazz Singer, Pianist, former wife of Adam Clayton Powell Jr and the 1st Black woman to host her own TV show, was born. The Hazel Scott Show premiered on the DuMont Television Network on July 3, 1950 and was canceled on September 29, 1950. Ms Scott was tried but not charged by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Throughout her career she remained true to herself publicly opposing mccarthyism and racial segregation. Dare I say that she just might have cracked the door, even if just a tiny bit, for Oprah? I'm Just Sayin', Thank You Ms Scott!!!



• 1930~ Congressman Charlie Rangel was born. In 1970 he secured his seat in NY's 18th Congressional district when he successfully challenged long-time incumbent Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., in the NY Democratic primary. Mr. Rangel maintains the seat today



• 1963 ~ Two Black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, escorted by Federal troops, enrolled at University of Alabama despite the opposition of governor george c. wallace who, with the aid of his dutiful state troopers, physcially blocked the entrance to the university until later in the day when the students returned accompanied by Federal National Guard troops. The cowardly bully and his troops stepped aside. The students took a gigantic step towards tearing down the walls of blatant discrimination and educational segregation... I Celebrate and Thank Them For Their Heroism!!!



• 1963 ~ President John F. Kennedy declares during a nationwide radio and television address that segregation was “morally wrong” and urged the nation and Congress that it was "time to act" [pass legislation] in the Congress, in your state and local legislature body, and in all of our daily lives, "to end all segregation of the races". Celebrate Character. Celebrate Courage! Thank You Mr. President!!!



• 1964 ~ Nelson Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly attempting to sabotage, I say rightfully dismantle, an uquestionably hate inspired apartheid system of legal and sanctioned racism, AKA South African government. Like Geronimo Pratt, he served 27 years of unjust incarceration. Unlike Mr. Pratt, his country took measures to reverse the wrong and four years following his release democratically elected him President, 1994 to 1999. He is a helluva' man! Thank You God!!! What would I give to meet him??? To emulate even a semblance of his strength and compassion??? I'm Just Sayin'...

On This Day In Black History...

• 
  1898 ~ Hattie McDaniel, 1st Black person to win Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Gone With The Wind (1940) was born


• 1899 The Black Elks, the historic African-American fraternal organization, was formed


• 1794 ~ Richard Allen founded the AME Church in Philadelphia


• 1904 ~ Granville T. Woods received a patent for the automatic air brake


• 1910 ~ Howlin' Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett), rhythm & blues singer, is born. Director Darnell Martin recently reminded us of his talent in his 2008 movie starring Beyonce, "Cadillac Records"


• 1940 ~ Marcus Garvey, Black Nationalist, Pan Africanist, and Founder of United Negro Improvement Association and the "Back To Africa" Movement, dies in London, England


• 1940 ~ The Cotton Club, famous night club in Harlem, NY that operated during prohibition and featured jazz music and many legendary Black entertainers (i.e. Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday), officially closed its doors. Note that Jack Johnson (see below) was the original owner of the night club that would later become the Cotton Club. He sold it to Owney Madden who renamed the club.


• 1946 ~ Jack Johnson, 1st Black heavyweight champion, dies. Currently Senator John McCain and others are leading an effort to secure a Presidential pardon posthumously for Mr. Johnson. He was persecuted and sent to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary for one year and one day because of his flagrant arrogance in and out of the ring (aka confidence, a very dangerous trait for a Black man in the early 1900s) and his very public flaunting of his affection for caucasian women, another dangerous stance during the 1920s. He married three. He was convicted for violating the Mann Act, which did not even exist at the time of his alleged crime. Some say he should be exonerated as he committed no crime for which to be pardoned. He died following a car crash in NC after angrily speeding off from a diner that refused to serve him. He was taken to the nearest hospital that would treat Blacks.


• 1964 ~ US Senate imposed cloture for the 1st time on a civil rights bill ending a southern filibuster by a vote of 71-29. On July 2 President Johnson signed the bill into law containing sections on public accommodation and fair employment


• 1997 ~ Geronimo Platt, former Black Panther and one of the MANY victims of the madness of j. edgar hoover and his COINTELPRO program, was released from prison when his murder conviction was overturned. Does anyone else resent that there is a federal building bearing the name of this horrible man? I sure do! Mr. Pratt, who lost 27 years of life for an unjust incarceration, died last Thursday, June 3, 2011, at the tender age of 63


• 2001 ~ Natasha "Sasha" Obama, the youngest of our beautiful First Daughters, was born

On This Day In Black History...

• 1886 ~ 1st Civil Rights Act is passed


• 1953 ~ Martin Sr. marries Martin Jr & Coretta Scott in Marion, AL on MY BIRTHDAY!!!


• 1953 ~ US Supreme Court rules discrimination in Washington, DC restaurants is illegal. No longer can Black patrons be refused service. Sets tone for rest of country.


• 1968 ~ james earl ray, cowardly assassin of Martin Luther King, is captured at London Heathrow airport.


• 1982 ~ Satchel Paige, baseball legend, is 1st Negro League player to be elected to baseball hall of fame, dies in Kansas City, MO.

On This Day In Black History...

• 1892 ~ Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting in the "white" car of the East Louisiana Railroad Plessy was 1/8 Black and under Louisiana law, the infamous one drop rule, he was considered Black and therefore required to sit in the "colored" car initiating Plessy v Ferguson



• 1892 ~ G.J. Sampsons received a patent for the Clothes Dryer



• 1893 ~ Mahatma Gandhi refused to comply with racial segregation rules on a South African train and was forcibly ejected



• 1917 ~ Gwendolyn Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winning Poet, was born



• 1930 ~ New York Times agrees to respect Negro demands, that the "N" in the word "Negro" would be henceforth capitalized in its pages



• 1943 ~ Nikki Giovanni, Poet, Educator & Publisher was born



• 1953 ~ Mary Church Terrell, Political Activist, wins struggle to end segregation in Washington DC restaurants



• 1958 ~ His Purple Majesty & Premier Entertainer, Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, MN



• 1998 ~ James Byrd, Jr., a Black hitchiker, was beaten, chained to the back of a pickup truck and dragged three miles to his death in Jasper, TX. The three cowardly "white supremacists" dumped his body in a Black cemetery. All were convicted. One is scheduled for execution on 09/21/2011 (keep hope alive!), death for another has not been scheduled and the remaining defendant received life imprisonment

On This Day In Black History...

• 1716 ~ The 1st group of 500 Slaves arrived in Louisiana from the French colonies of the Caribbean


• 1790 ~ Jean Baptist Pointe Desable, trader and fur trapper, becomes 1st permanent resident and founder of Chicago


• 1831 ~ Convention of Free Persons of Color was held in Phila, PA


• 1863 ~ The Battle of Milken’s Bend - A Negro soldier takes his former "master" prisoner. Poetic Justice!!!, I'm Just Sayin'...


• 1869 ~ Dillard University was chartered in New Orleans, LA


• 1939 ~ Marian Wright Edelman, Children's Rights Advocate, founder of Childen's Defense Fund & 1st woman to be admitted to Mississippi bar was born


• 1942 ~ Congess on Racial Equality, CORE, was founded in Chicago


• 1966 ~ James Meredith, 1st Black graduate of University of Mississippi , is wounded after being shot by an angry and cowardly White sniper, as he marched along US Highway 51 on the 2nd day of a 220 mile voter registration walk from Memphis, TN to Jackson, MI. Have you voted lately? I'm Just Askin'...


• 1966 ~ Stokely "Kwame Toure" Carmichael, Civil Rights Activists, launched the Black Power Movement. Toure defended use of the term as not anti-white, but instead a phrase to denote a political strategy. Specifically, "a call for Black people in America to unite, define their own goals, lead their own organizations, recognize their heritage and build a sense of community..."


• 2004 ~ Phylicia Rashad made theatrical history when she received a Tony for her portrayal of Lena Younger, the tough-minded matriarch, in a revival of “A Raisin in the Sun”

On This Day In Black History...

• 1857 ~ Harriet Tubman rescued her parents from slavery. Alrightee Now!!!


• 1895 ~ Joseph Lee, caterer, restaurant and hotel owner, received a patent for his Bread Crumbing Machine. Disturbed by the wastefulness of discarding day old bread which he used in a variety of recipes, he invented a bread crumb machine which automated the tearing, crumbling and grinding of stale bread into bread crumbs faster than could 5 to 6 men. He sold his rights to his bread crumbling machine, which is still in use today, to Royal Worcester Bread Crumb Company.


• 1946 ~ Mississippi Valley State University is founded in Itta Bena, Miss.


• 1967 ~ Bill Cosby receives an Emmy Award for "I Spy". His achievment is noted because he is the 1st Black actor to find success in a non-traditional television series that did not deal directly with racial themes.


• 1972 ~ After two years of incarceration for commission of a crime at which she was not present, Angela Davis, political activist, scholar, and author is acquitted of murder, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy charges by a jury of 11 whites and one Mexican American. The charges were brought in connection with a 1970 courthouse shoot-out in San Rafael, CA. Today, Ms. Davis is a professor at UC, Santa Cruz and continues to be an activist. She teaches courses on the history of consciousness, advocates for prison reform and has authored several books.


• 2008 ~ Senator Barack Obama defeats Hillary Clinton and wins the Democratic Presidential nomination. He is the 1st Black American candidate to win a major U.S. party nomination

On This Day In Black History...

• 1854 ~ Anthony Burns, a "fugitive" Slave, was returned to VA from Boston. A Black church raised $1300 to secure his freedom. He was back in Boston within a year. Of note, he was the last fugitive Slave to be sent back to the south from Boston or any of the New England states.


• 1863 ~ Harriet Tubman led union soldiers into South Carolina where they burned plantations, carried off thousands of dollars worth of crops and livestock, and freed nearly 800 Slaves, the Combahee River Raid. She was the 1st woman in US history to lead an armed expedition in war.


• 1899 ~ Black Americans observed day of fasting called by National Afro-American Council to protest lynching and racial massacres. Have we lost this ember of our spirit? I'm Just Askin'...


• 1967 ~ Three days of rioting & looting began in the Roxbury section of Boston. Nearly 100 people were arrested after 30 Black welfare Mothers chained the doors of the welfare office and committed to remain there until their demands for job training, representation on welfare boards, and respectful treatment were met. Good For Them!!!