Posts Tagged ‘Black History Month’
John Marrant: America’s First Black Preacher
TweetShareShareHe was among America’s first black preachers. A fiery Methodist who converted thousands—blacks, Indians, whites—to Christianity in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His life story–of only 35 years–has inspired millions. John Marrant was born a free black June 15, 1755 in New York City. When his father died, at four, his mother moved…
Read MoreHiram R. Revels: The Tar Heel Who Became America’s First Black U.S. Senator
TweetShareShare Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. And some people wonder what happened. And then there are people like Hiram Rhodes Revels (1827-1901). He’s a cut above. A leader’s leader. A highly-accomplished man. One of black history’s dusty and oft-forgotten heroes. Rhodes was a freeborn black in North Carolina.…
Read MoreAlex Haley: How “Roots” Seeded a Historical Racial Myth
TweetShareShare “I was just trying to give my people a MYTH to live by” (Alex Haley, author of “Roots”). On February 23, 1993 an investigative journalist broke a story that Haley’s best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning Roots: The Saga of An American Family was a “hoax.” Haley, this journalist claimed, had “invented 200 years of family history.”…
Read MoreBooker T. Washington: The Tuskegee Titan
TweetShareShareHe’s on a very short list of highly influential Black Americans. He was a prolific author, outstanding orator, influential educator and inspiring leader. He was among the last Black American generation born into slavery. His name was Booker T. Washington (1856-1915). Booker was born into slavery in Virginia, sometime in 1856. After Lincoln emancipated the…
Read MoreGeorge Washington Carver: God’s Peanut Man
TweetShareShare“When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” These weren’t just words to George Washington Carver (1864-1943). They were his legacy. Few Americans lived bigger and better lives. Carver was born a slave, but eventually became a botanist, educator, conservationist, and artist.…
Read MoreBiddy Mason: The Mormon Slave That Became a Californian Treasure
TweetShareShare“Biddy” spent nearly forty years as a slave for a Mississippi slave master. She never learned to read or write. And yet she saved her midwife salary to become a wealthy Black real estate magnate…and revered philanthropist. It’s quite the story. It’s also an inspiring tale that proves it’s not how you start life that…
Read MoreSamuel Sharpe: The Jamaican Slave Preacher That Sparked Abolition
TweetShareShare“I would rather die upon yonder gallows than live my life in slavery.” Those were the passionate words of a young Black Jamaican slave preacher. His story changed the world…and that makes this tale worth telling. His name is Samuel “Daddy” Sharpe and he was born on a plantation owned by Samuel and Jane Sharpe…
Read MoreRobert James Harlan: Ohio’s Political Powerhouse
TweetShareShareRobert James Harlan (1816-1897) may have been born a slave but he lived most of his life free as a bird. And this Ohio bird could sing…and travel…and succeed. Born in Virginia on December 12, 1816. Harlan’s mother was mulatto, and his father was white. Consequently, Robert’s light-skinned complexion often helped him. As a young…
Read MoreAntoine Dubuclet, Jr.: The Cajun Savior of Louisiana
TweetShareShareHe was one of America’s wealthiest Black businessmen. As a Republican State Treasurer he saved debt-ridden Louisiana following the Civil War. But his story runs counter to many of the popular narratives in Black history today. Consequently, it’s a tale that worth telling. His name is Antoine Dubuclet, Jr. (1810-1887). He was a sugar planter…
Read MoreRobert Gordon: The Coal Magnate of Cincinnati
TweetShareShare“I must never leave my work until I have done my best.” That was the work ethic of Robert Gordon (1812-1884), a former slave and Cincinnati Black businessman who became a millionaire dealing coal. Gordon was born into slavery sometime in 1812, near Richmond, VA. His master operated a coal yard and young Robert quickly…
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