On This Day In Black History...

• 1851 ~ Sojourner Truth delivered her famous, "Ain't I A Woman?" speech to the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio


• 1973 ~ Tom Bradley was elected Mayor of Los Angeles


• 1980 - Vernon E. Jordan Jr., President of the National Urban League, critically injured in attempted assassination in Fort Wayne, IN

On This Day In Black History...

• 1854 ~ Famous “fugitive” Slave Anthony Burns, who escaped from Alexandria VA at age 19, was arrested in Boston. His "capture" tested the authority of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act that required all states to cooperate in returning escaped Slaves, even when captured in northern states were slavery had been abolished. Burns was returned to slavery but his case so outraged Bostonian Abolitionists, that his freedom was eventually purchased for $1300. Burns returned to Boston, later received an education at Oberlin College in Ohio and ultimately became a preacher before emigrating to Canada


• 1856 ~ The Pottawatomie Massacre, led by John Brown, occurred. in Franklin County, KS. A pro-slavery settlement was attacked by an anti-slavery group


• 1887 ~ Elijah McCoy patents lubricator for Safety Valves


• 1910 ~ Walter M. Hard, a young Black barber, invents and patents a device that tremendously improved trolley car service


• 1944 ~ Patricia Louise Holte, PATTI LABELLE, is born in Philadelphia, Pa. HAPPY B-DAY Ms Patti!!!!


• 1951 DC!!! ~ Racial segregation in Washington, D.C. (AKA Chocolate City) restaurants ruled illegal by Municipal Court of Appeals. 1951, no so very long ago... I'm Just Sayin'...


• 1974 ~ Duke Ellington dies at the age of 75

On This Day In Black History...

• 1743 ~ Touissant L'Ouverture, Leader of the Great Haitian Slave Revolt, was born! In 1791 a half million African Slaves set fire to plantations and killed all those in their path. General L'Ouverture took charge and trained the disorganized Black Slaves to become competent troops. His military skill and absolute brilliance outmanuevered the French, the English, the Spaniards & Napoleon's army. He played the competing European nations one against the other until he successflly drove them all from the island telling the Haitian slaves, "Here is your liberty!"


• 1861 ~ North Carolina became the last state to secede from the Union


• 1942 ~ Black recruits were allowed to serve in the U.S. Navy


• 1961 ~ Atty General Robert F. Kennedy dispatched 400 U.S. marshals to Montgomery, AL to restore order when Freedom Riders were attacked by an angry mob who attacked them with baseball bats, pipes, and sticks. One Black Rider was covered with kerosene and set on fire

On This Day In Black History...

• 1881 ~ Blanche Kelso Bruce, 1st Black to serve a full term in the US Senate, was appointed Register of Treasury by President Garfield


• 1925 ~ On this day we give SPECIAL thanks for the life and contributions of Malcolm X who was born in Omaha, NE. Happy Birthday Malcolm!!!


• 1930 ~ Lorraine Hansberry, Author & Playwright, was born in Chicago. Her play "Raisin in the Sun" was the 1st play written by a Black woman to be performed on Broadway


• 1948 ~ Grace "Pull Up To The Bumper" Jones was born in Spanishtown, Jamaica


• 1965 ~ Patricia Roberts Harris, Howard University Law Professor, became 1st Black woman named to an Ambassador position, Luxemburg


• 1968 ~ The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s Black civil rights movement, was born. Originators of the "Spoken Word"...


• 1991 ~ Willy T. Ribbs became the 1st Black driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500

Manners 101: What Ever Happened to Thank You?

As we approach graduation season, I find myself thinking about manners and pondering what we are teaching our children...

Just a few weeks ago I attended a scholarship brunch in support of a friend who was being honored for years of community service work. As part of the program three law students were being awarded scholarships in the amount of $4,000 each. Much to my amazement only one of the three students showed up in appreciation of this honor and to accept her award. One student, I will call "Ms Hollywood", sent a video acceptance speech because she was "too busy studying" to be bothered by some banquet in her honor, you know like important people do when they can't make it to the Grammys... The remaining student sent her Mother to accept her award. In her defense, she attends some far away school and maybe it really was a hardship for her to attend. Conversely however, Ms Hollywood was "studying" just across the bridge, less than an hour away... She couldn't break for $4,000? Really?

Call me old skool', but I have no tolerance for such behavior and I have to wonder who is to blame. At the law school level, we are dealing with young adults, so who do we hold at fault? The parents, who perhaps did not stress the importance of politeness and basic manners? Or do we blame the student who maybe has forgotten his or her manners but by now who certainly should have some sense of right and wrong and what is correct? I'm Just Askin'...

So not to single out these young ladies or this event, in all fairness, this is not the first time I have seen this happen. I am no less appalled however. A friend reminded me that we had a similar experience when I accompanied her to a scholarship luncheon for high school graduates last year. There too, very few recipients showed up. She reported this year however that NONE of the recipients showed up. I suspect that next year my lawyer friends will have a similar response. By allowing that only one of three recipients shows up to receive her scholarship, they inadvertently set the stage for none to show up in subsequent years. It will be interesting to hear...

Observance of this behavior immediately brought to mind Graduation 2010. I am certain that last year I sent at least 6 or 7 graduation cards, containing checks of varying amounts depending upon the level of graduation. I might be exaggerating to say that I got three thank you notes and two of them were from two children in the same family. Again, what are we teaching are children?

It seems to me that whenever someone is kind enough to acknowledge you, your accomplishments or gives you something, the least that one can do is show up to say thank you, send a card, give a call, DO SOMETHING! I'm Just Sayin'...

While I am no longer a member of this organization, I am a former recipient of their scholarship. I was much appreciative of the honor and recognition bestowed me. Certainly as a struggling law student, I was appreciative of the financial award. Not showing up to say thank you simply was not an option. Finals and all, I showed up...

Before leaving this otherwise very pleasant event, I made it perfectly clear to anyone who would listen, that going forward, barring really extenuating circumstances, it seems that a condition of acceptance should be that the recipient is available to attend the brunch, properly receive the award and give appropriate thanks.

Yes it is a new day and we can give this generation much more than what our parents may have been able to give us, but if we over indulge them and shower them with gifts and material things but deny them the basic gifts of manners and common courtesy, what will have we accomplished? At best we will have committed a greater sin, done them a greater injustice than if we were to deny them material things in a world where they are surrounded by riches.

Recognizing that I have become intolerant of indifference and being taken for granted in my old age, I measured my response against that of a few friends of varying ages. I was comforted to learn that they too were appalled and agreed with my position. One friend said her guiding principle is that she does not use a gift until she has properly thanked the person who gave it to her. I like that...

So as we approach graduation 2011, summer weddings, birthday celebrations, baby showers, etc., etc., please be mindful that no one owes us anything. If someone is kind enough, proud enough to acknowledge you and/or your accomplishments, take a minute to say "Thank You!" That is the least you can do...

I'm Just Sayin'...

Barry Bonds, Jack Johnson; Same Story, 100 Years Later...

Did anyone see the NY Times piece on why Barry Bonds is being prosecuted? Repeatedly I have heard reports that he is being prosecuted because he is Barry, because he is arrogant, cocky or aloof. FINALLY someone called it what it is. He is being prosecuted because he is all of that AND Black! Here is the link to the article, written by William C. Rhoden, a Morgan University graduate I might add. Following is my letter of gratitude sent to him for having the audacity to call a spade, a spade...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/sports/baseball/10rhoden.html?_r=1&ref=williamcrhoden

Mr. Rhoden,

I appreciate the candor and otherwise denied truthfulness expressed in your article about Barry Bonds. I am sure the comments to follow [posted by readers] will be interesting... It is the usual elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge. So, GOOD FOR YOU!!! RACE and abuse of judicial authority is the issue, with Barry, with the relentless pursuit of "justice" for "post Nicole" OJ, with the unjust incarceration of Wesley Snipes and a whole host of other Black men. How dare they have confidence, stand straight and look their accusers in the eye and presume to think their resources or positions in life, should protect them, protect their rights... How dare they believe the system is fair and just and that it should work for them as it does for their white counterparts, who often have committed the same or much worse offenses but are guaranteed a very different, less cruel, less demeaning, less damning and certainly less public kind of "justice", if any "justice" at all.

You are correct, 100 years later, our "colorblind and racially tolerant" system continues to work against the Black man, works to remind him/us to stay in his/our place. No matter his stature in life, he should somehow expect that a prison number and doing time are somehow rites of passage and expected for Black men. Somehow he should be immune, understand, ACCEPT that he is pre-destined to do time and wear a bright orange jumpsuit with a number across his back. REALLY? Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow, got it right. Mass incarceration of our men has revitalized the ways of jim crow and has created for us a new caste system determined solely by race.

We are drowning in a sea of racial hostility where "justice" is now dispensed with a nod and a smile instead of a noose and a billy club. And sadly, still some of us think we have arrived! Forgive me, I digress... It is indifference, not necessarily racism, that prevents others from seeing the enclosure of bars on the cages around us, in and out of prison. Bars that affect, that impede Blacks and other minorities in all segments of our society. It is status quo, business as usual. They don't get it. They don't want to get it. They don't have to get it. We don't demand that they get it...

So thank you Mr. Rhoden for writing this piece. There are so few who will speak our truth. I was so sick of reading the headlines that Barry was being tried for "being Barry". I kept waiting to hear that more importantly, Barry, pompous, arrogant, aloof, rich, whatever, is being tried because he is Barry AND because he is Black. Plain and Simple... It is our silence [the Black community] on matters such as this that makes us complicit and therefore guarantees that the beat will go on. Sadly we don't become outraged until the drummer is beating at our door...

As an attorney and a community activist, I am more than aware and mostly disgusted by what we call "justice" in America. Richard Pryor got it right so many years ago. There is a certain brand of "justice" in America and it is intended for JUST US! JUST US crowding the prisons and JUST US keeping lots of folks gainfully employed from arrest to detention through release. I'm Just Sayin'... Your comparison to Jack Johnson perfectly made the point that the more things change... Good Job!

I fully expect that Barry Bonds will be convicted and sent to prison for perjury. Seemingly only those who have taken an oath to uphold justice are immune from lying, lying by omission or misrepresentation in our courts. All others, when it is convenient, will be held accountable and charged with perjury and any other convenient charges that come to mind. Didn't you know? But let's keep hope alive that Barry will be spared the orange. His legacy and standing as a superior Black athlete in baseball history, America's "apple pie" and favorite sport, has been tainted. Their job is done. Prison is icing on the cake! Thanks for writing the piece.

With MUCH Respect,

Helen L. Higginbotham

On This Day In Black History... (April 3, 2011)

• 1883 ~ H.H Reynolds patented window ventilator for railroad cars


• 1888 ~ A.B. Blackburn patented spring seats for chairs


• 1950 ~ Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History, dies


• 1961 ~ Eddie Murphy was born. Where is he???


• 1964 ~ Malcolm X delivered his historic "The Ballots or the Bullet" speech, outlining the Black nationalist political perspective, at the Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, OH


• 1968 ~ Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his "I've Been To the Mountain Top" speech in at Bishop Charles J. Mason Temple Memphis, TN "...it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now..." It was his last public appearance and final address before his assassination and the nation's tragic loss...


• 1990 ~ Sarah Vaughn, Jazz Singer, died


• 1996 ~ Ron Brown, 1st Black DNC Chair and 1st Black Secty of Dept of Commerce died in a plane crash