National Geographic Museum Blog

Today (19 years ago), the last episode of The Cosby Show airs. The series began in 1984 and was a television comedy about an upper-middle class black family. The Cosby Show was a departure from the typically negative portrayal of blacks on television. The series was popular among audiences of a variety of cultures and races.

Today (19 years ago), riots begin in Los Angeles after the acquittal of four white police officers accused of beating Rodney King, an African American. On March 3, 1991, King was stopped after a high-speed chase and beaten by police. The violence was video-taped by a witness and was replayed in the national media. The incident raised questions about race and police brutality and led to days of rioting, leaving 53 dead, over 2,000 injured, and about $1 billion in property damages.

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Today (70 years ago), the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Mitchell v. United States, that black passengers had the right to equal accommodations as whites. Arthur Mitchell was the only black congressman in the House of Representatives between 1935 and 1943. Shortly after his election, Mitchell stated, “I am not going into Congress as a Negro with a chip on my shoulder thinking I am of an inferior race and that every man’s hand is against me….I am going in as an American citizen, entitled to my rights, no more, no less, and I shall insist on them. I’m going as the representative of all the people of my district.” In 1937, Mitchell paid for first-class fare on a train, but was forced to ride in cars designated for black passengers. He described the separate accommodations as “filthy and foul smelling.” After his complaint against the Interstate Commerce Commission was dismissed, Mitchell appealed and his case was argued before the Supreme Court on March 13, 1941. The Court declared that the Interstate Commerce Act “requires that colored persons who buy first class tickets shall be furnished with accommodations equal in comforts and conveniences to those afforded to first class white passengers. Mitchell proclaimed the ruling a “step in the destruction of Mr. Jim Crow himself.”

What African American Am I ?

I am an inventor .

I invented air conditioning for cars.

I also invented a box office device that distributed tickets automatically.

I also invented the portable x-ray machine.

What African American am I ?

____________________________

Answer: Frederick McKinley Jones

Today (119 years ago), Sarah Boone is granted a patent for her invention of the ironing board. She was the first African American woman to receive a patent. Her device consisted of a narrow wooden board, with collapsible legs and a padded cover. Her invention made it much easier for women in the 1890s to iron their clothes.

America We Are

Unsung

Refers to more than a song

Lost along the windpipes

Of our most esteemed artist

It calls attention to the many fighters

Of the most gruesome of wars

Risking their lives for a result

Of no favor to them

Who did so in the most unworldly of conditions

Without so much as a mention of their names

Heroes who fought in battles

Started before they set foot on this earth

For a struggle

That lasted years past their final breath

America,

We were your adopted children

Sailed here on a sea of tears

Uprooted and dethroned

For Mommy Dearest’s Dream

[the unofficial prequel to Dr. King’s]

Tobacco made your first presidents

Defined your first slaves

Tilling much more than 40 acres

With much less than a mule

Empty promises left us

Wading in the water

Whispering well wishes

To help quiet the footsteps of fugitive chasers

And the pounding hearts

Of the brave Harriets reaching from Under Ground

For the North Star

Vesey purchased Death

Disguised as Freedom

While Douglass earned his Free Pass

But Lincoln couldn’t sign nearly enough letters

Or untie enough nooses

Before they slipped tight and snapped necks

Like whips

After Nat Turner’ed everything out

And scared the Masters

The leaders of the Home of the Brave

America,

You tried your compromises

But MissOUri and LOUisiana

Pointed out that the Land of the Free

Didn’t “OU” anything

And after constant toeing

Of the Mason-Dixon Line

Popular sovereignty created a war

[And the Republican Party]

Emancipation was proclaimed for the Right states

Setting the dogs free

Just in time to fight The Union’s battles

When Black and White mixed

To make Confederate Gray the enemy

Focus on the uniforms numbed the fact that

Just a year prior

All of the surrounding faces

Would have looked like Slavery

But when the war ended

The colors became their own again

And little did we know

The choking coffles

That we donned as we marched

Off the boats

Onto the trading blocks

And over state borders

Would, in the form of our skin

Keep us chained

For generations to come

Decades after we foraged food from troughs

Like the domesticated animals

You bought us as

Reconstruction proved to be

A much due process

And even though equal protection

Was penciled into the Constitution

We still had to Dred Scott and question our citizenship

Because Jim Crow made the codes into laws

And segregation

Became the sequel to Slavery

America,

You assigned us fountains and toilets

But we built our own churches

Where we prayed for strength

And civil rights

And for the Scotsboro Boys to be acquitted

For an alleged crime

That wasn’t a crime

When you were busy creating your own Mulatto population

Behind closed doors and in open fields

Too far for the overseers to catch sight of

We preached nonviolence

But our sit-ins and marches

Were met with dogs and fire hoses

Making our clothes heavy with doused dreams

Leaving puddles of blood and tears in the streets

As a reminder of being gassed

And the stifling blow of Billy’s club

MLK’s Bombingham

Gave a different definition to Bloody Sunday

When the churches blew

But still a Million Men Marched

Little Rock became known for its Nine

And Rosa

Too tired to stand

Gave the freedom riders something to stand for

All while hiding our necks

And crosses

From the Katch’em Kill’em Krew

America,

We waited on the color line

To get a chance at equality

But you affirmed that we needed to take action

Malcolm X was Little before

The Nation of Islam

And the People’s Champ

Didn’t fight his rounds for the Cassius

He did it to remind you to call him by his chosen name

Muhammad Ali

Which meant he was worthy of praise

Marcus Garvey urged the redemption of Africa

And to make the world our own

So the Panthers threw their fists skyward

Clenching the notions of power and pride

Because our lives depended on it

W.E. we B DuBois’

Niagara Movement towards an education

And creating a community

Of more than just a Talented Tenth

By writing books and participating

In the social change we wished to see

Because we all learned that screaming

“Get your hand outta my pocket”

And making noise

Only leads to premature death

From cotton gins

Now sipping gin

In jazz and blues bars

Drinking culture from our glasses

As we read literature and consume art

Depicting heroes

Both spoken of and unsung

Descendants of your adopted children

Sailed here on a sea of tears

Who left a lasting imprint

America we are

~ Sabrina Labossiere

Today (224 years ago), the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage — known as Philadelphia Abolition Society (PAS)- is established with a new constitution. The Society petitioned Congress to ban the international slave trade. Benjamin Franklin was the president of the organization and under his leadership, in 1789, the Society determined to create black schools and help free blacks find employment. In 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society was founded in Philadelphia, and absorbed most of the organization that was the PAS.

This weekend spend some time with you children learning about African American greats. We’d like to suggest a look into the vivid history of Thelonious Monk. Read an interview, listen to a composition and then color in the above drawing!

Today (143 years ago), Oscar James Dunn, the first African American lieutenant governor in United States history, is elected in Louisiana. After becoming a strong force in Louisiana’s Republican party, Dunn received a strong backing and was nominated for lieutenant governor on the 1868 Republican ticket. Dunn was a Louisiana native, born in the state capital of New Orleans. His family was able to scrounge together the tuition to pay for Dunn’s education, so he attended a school for free African American children. When the Civil War broke out, Dunn was one of the first African Americans to enlist in the Union Army when they occupied New Orleans in 1862. After resigning from the Union Army when a promotion was not awarded to him, he created an employment agency for former slaves to establish fair contracts for plantation work. Through his agency, Dunn was highly regarded among African Americans in New Orleans and was appointed to the Board of Alderman. He became a driving force for change in postwar New Orleans, pushing for universal public education and the improvement of basic services. Through his accomplishments, Dunn established himself in the New Orleans community and was awarded the nomination for lieutenant governor.