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Discussion » Questions » History » Got a piece of history to share for Black History Month?

Got a piece of history to share for Black History Month?

Right now I am watching a documentary called - Black In Space Breaking The Color Barrier. It is about how the cold war space race included being the first to put a black man in space. It seems pretty interesting so far. Cheers!

Posted - February 7, 2023

Responses


  • 1919
    1936 Jesse Owens wins 4 Olympic gold medals
    1963 Martin Luther King gives his I had a dream speech
    1955 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white man
    2008 Barack Obama becomes the first black president of the United States. This post was edited by Echooos at February 12, 2023 7:41 AM MST
      February 7, 2023 4:07 PM MST
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  • 22853

    My answer is weird strange but I find it pretty cool and admirable and it relates to your question in some way, I would think.



    My favorite movie is director George Romero's original 1968 "Night of the Living Dead."

    Over the years, much has been said, and  written, about having actor Duane Jones, who was black, in the lead role of "Ben."
    The movie was made in 1968, came out in 1969. 
    Many found it so admirable of Romero to have cast him, and that the role of Ben, and the movie itself, made powerful statements about race relations in the USA.

    However, at some point, Romero said that the script was already written when auditions took place. Simply -- Jones got the role of "Ben" because they liked Jones' audition the best. No racial statements were being made with his character nor the movie's plot.
    The script stayed the same.
    And the movie was made.
    And Jones simply got the part because they wanted him for the part. To me, that maybe says all that needs to be said.  And he's very damn good in the movie.

    PLOT SPOILER!! "Night of the  Living Dead"

    And when I first saw the movie at age 13, I thought nothing of Jones being black. I just saw seven people in a farmhouse trying to figure out what is going on and how to survive the night. And all seven were real people - - individuals with strengths and weaknesses.



    :)




    This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at February 12, 2023 7:42 AM MST
      February 7, 2023 5:40 PM MST
    6

  • 32534
      February 8, 2023 6:21 PM MST
    6

  • 10037
    Harriet Tubman used barred owl calls to communicate with those seeking freedom on the Underground Railroad. She was a gifted naturalist! 
      February 11, 2023 3:23 PM MST
    7

  • 22853
    She remains my Number One Human Hero. I've known this since I was about 12 years old when I read about her in my school classroom and started crying as I read.
      February 11, 2023 5:18 PM MST
    7

  • 10451
    The PBS channel has been running documentaries about black history. The one that is coming up next is about Harriet Tubman and I will be watching it. The one I am watching now is about Fredric Douglas and it is very interesting. I have been watching a lot of documentaries about black history this month and I have been wondering how much of that history has been removed from American class rooms because of that cancel culture thing (or what ever they call it). Cheers and happy weekend!
      February 11, 2023 5:22 PM MST
    3

  • 52905

     

      Frederick Douglass

      February 11, 2023 7:54 PM MST
    1

  • 10451
    Don't care and I am sure people got the general idea. And if they goggled it the way I spelled it they would still get the same person. This post was edited by Nanoose at February 11, 2023 8:06 PM MST
      February 11, 2023 7:59 PM MST
    0

  • 52905

     

     

     

     

      Yes, you’re right. No sense in showing the man the respect of getting his name right, that’s not much to care about. .

    This post was edited by my2cents at February 12, 2023 4:30 AM MST
      February 11, 2023 8:44 PM MST
    1

  • 10451
    It has nothing to do with not showing the man respect - it was because pretty much the only time you answer any of my posts is to get a grammar correction in. This post was edited by my2cents at February 12, 2023 7:45 AM MST
      February 11, 2023 8:53 PM MST
    1

  • 52905

      Sojourner Truth
      Benjamin Banneker
      (I was going to mention Robert Smalls, but my2cents already did. I learned about him when I was about ten years old)
      Henry O. Flipper
      Mary McLeod Bethune
      The Port Chicago Incident 
      Marion Anderson 
      Medgar Evers
      Dorothy Dandridge 






      February 11, 2023 6:32 PM MST
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  • 32534
    There is supposed to be a movie coming out about Smalls soon. This post was edited by my2cents at February 12, 2023 7:45 AM MST
      February 11, 2023 6:41 PM MST
    2

  • 52905
      February 11, 2023 6:42 PM MST
    3

  • 1633
    As an avid traveler, who has had the pleasure of visiting Romania twice, this one strikes a chord with me...

      February 11, 2023 7:18 PM MST
    3

  • 13251
    I submit a less famous but no less important name: George Washington Fields.

    He was born into enslavement on a Virginia plantation in 1854. During the Civil War, his mother led her children on a dramatic escape to Union-held Hampton, VA. Fields worked to support his family while pursuing an education. He enrolled in law school at Cornell in 1887, and in 1890 became the only formerly enslaved person to graduate from the university.

    After graduating, he returned to Hampton, where he became a leading attorney despite being blinded in an accident. He fought for civil rights throughout his life until his death in 1932.
      February 11, 2023 10:50 PM MST
    4

  • 44175
    In 1899, a black dentist from Boston, Dr. George Grant, invented the wooden golf tee.
      February 12, 2023 7:47 AM MST
    2

  • 16202
    In 1971, Neville Bonner became the first Indigenous Australian to be elected to Parliament.
    The same year, Evonne Goolagong became the first Indigenous Australian to win a Grand Slam singles crown, doing it twice (French Open and Wimbledon). In 1980 (as Mrs Cawley) she became the first mother to win Wimbledon in 66 years.
    Indigenous Australians are just as black as Africans.
      February 12, 2023 11:59 PM MST
    2