February 2012
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Black History Month: Henry "Box" Brown
On March 29, 1849, Brown squeezed his 5-foot-8-inch, 200-pound frame into a wooden crate 3 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2.6 feet deep. With “three gimlet holes” opposite his face for air and fortified only with a bladder of water, he began his “battle of liberty,” as he called it, at Richmond’s express office.
He bumped and thumped for 27 hours as the box went from...
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Black History Month: 16th Street Baptist Church...
On September 15th, 1963, a bomb exploded at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The ground floor of the church collapsed. The bomber had hidden under a set of cinder blocks steps on the side of the church, tunneled under the basement and placed a bundle of dynamite under what turned out to be the girls’ restroom. A Sunday school session was in progress and four...
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Dream Deferred (Langston Hughes)
zekevaspeakspoetry:
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
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Black History Month: The Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, African Americans in many U.S. states still were subject to racist, so-called Jim Crow laws. The American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subject to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army....
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Black History Month: Walter Payton
Walter Payton was on the NFL’s greatest rushers, his aggessive style masked a playful temperament that earned him the nickname “Sweetness.” In 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears form 1975 to 1987, Payton literally rewrote the NFL record book with his ball carrying feasts. He rushed 3,838 time for 16,726 yards and 110 touchdowns- all records. Walter Payton also caught 492 passes...
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Black History Honorary: George Washington Carver
Carver’s reputation is based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes. His discoveries of various uses of peanut and sweet potato led to 300 by-products of several industries.
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Black History Honorary: Harlem Hellfighters
Harlem Hellfighters is the popular name for the 369th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 15th New York National Guard Regiment. The unit was also known as the The Black Rattlers, in addition to several other nicknames. The 369th Infantry Regiment was know for being the first African American Regiment during WWI.