National Geographic Museum Blog

From the album Hip-Hop History Master P and Romeo (collectively known as the Miller Boyz) present a powerful video for their track “Black History.”

This video was directed by Alex LeMay who also produced and directed the documentary Desert Bayou about Hurricane Katrina victims who were relocated to Salt Lake City, UT.

This video draws parallels between modern day America and the era of Civil Rights while also acknowledging the impact of historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Master P pledged in June of 2007 that he would only produce clean, street music by way of his new label, Take A Stand Records. The label’s first release, Hip-Hop History went on sale in September exclusively at Wal-Mart and digital retailers such as iTunes.

Today (127 years ago), the Medic-Chirurgical Society is formed in Washington, D.C., and today is the world’s oldest African American Medical Society. For years, black physicians requested admission to the American Medical Association, but were denied. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts advocated on behalf of the physicians, stressing the need to “secure for medical practitioners in the District of Columbia equal right and opportunities, without distinction of color.” Dr. Robert Reyburn of Howard University’s medical school also campaigned for black doctors’ admission to the AMA, but his efforts too were unsuccessful. In response, the Medic-Chirurgical Society was formed to provide a professional network for black physicians, hold regular meetings for medical improvement, and to serve the public health.

What African American Am I?

I lived from 1797 to 1883.
I was a missionary among slaves in New York.
I used my talent of speaker for the slavery movement.
My name was changed by a Quaker family to Van Wagener.
What African American Am I?

____________________________
Answer: Soujourer Truth

Today (161 years ago), Harriet Tubman begins her work with the Underground Railroad, a network of antislavery activists who worked to help slaves escape to freedom. Tubman herself escaped slavery and on her first trip as a “conductor” returned to Maryland to bring her sister and her sister’s two children to freedom. Soon after, she rescued her brother and her parents. Over the course of ten years, Tubman returned to the South an estimated 19 times to escort over 300 slaves to safety.

Today (236 years ago), free blacks and slaves join the American patriots who fought the British at Lexington and Concord, the first battle of the American Revolution. Prince Estabrook was a slave who was wounded in the shoulder during the encounter. Another black minuteman at the battle of Lexington and Concord, Peter Salem, was granted his freedom when he enlisted in the Massachusetts militia.

Today (28 years ago), Alice Walker is awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for The Color Purple. The novel also won the National Book Award and was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1985 the film The Color Purple, based on Walker’s book, was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.

Today (148 years ago), Charlotte Brown, an African American woman living in San Francisco, refuses to leave the whites-only streetcar. As a member of an activist family, Brown filed a complaint arguing for the illegality of ejecting her from the streetcar. Ultimately, the court ruled in her favor declaring segregation to be illegal.

Today (149 years ago), President Lincoln signs a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. The bill provided immediate emancipation to slaves and compensation to owners who were loyal to the Union. Over the next nine months, 2,989 former slaves became free. In 2005, Emancipation Day became an official holiday in the District of Columbia.

Today (64 years ago), Jackie Robinson makes his first appearance with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African American to play major league baseball in an integrated league. He was named the National League’s most valuable player in 1949. After he retired from professional baseball in 1956, he worked with the NAACP and Martin Luther King to continue to advance African American civil rights. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1984.