Enlightened Free Thinking Nubian Kings And Queens

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was, in 1925, the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). In the 1920s and 1930s the Pullman Company was one of the largest single employers of blacks and had created an image for itself of enlightened benevolence via financial support for black churches, newspapers and other organizations. It also paid many porters well enough to enjoy the advantages of a middle-class lifestyle and prominence within their own communities. Working for the Pullman Company was, however, less glamorous in practice than it appeared. Porters depended on tips for much of their income and thus on the generosity of white passengers who often referred to all porters as "George", the first name of George Pullman, the company's founder.  Porters spent roughly ten percent of their time in unpaid "preparatory" and "terminal" set-up and clean-up duties, paid fo...

Black and Tan Republicans were African Americans in the Reconstruction-era South who were loyal to the Republican Party.  When the Republican Party was founded in 1854, few African Americans joined.  By the time of the election of Abraham Lincoln, the Party began to attract support from Northern blacks. That support continued to grow into the late 1860's as many Southern blacks, now voting, cast ballots for the Republicans. After the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed in 1870, allowing most of the black males in the former Confederate states to vote,  the Republican Party (also known as the Grand Old Party or GOP) commanded the loyalty of an overwhelming majority of African Americans. Many of the newly enfranchised Southern black men now formed "Black and Tan" clubs, which along with similar organizations like the Union League, helped to institutionally tie these voters to the Republican Party.  Black Republican votes were also driven b...

The Enforcement Act of 1870, also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1870 or First Ku Klux Klan Act, or Force Act was a federal United States  l aw written to empower the President with the legal authority to enforce the first section of the Fifteenth Amendment throughout the United States. The act was the first of three Enforcement Acts passed by the United States Congress from 1870 to 1871 during the Reconstruction Era to combat attacks on the suffrage rights of African Americans from state officials or violent groups like the Ku Klux Klan. The bill H.R. 1293 was first introduced into the House by Republican John Bingham from Ohio on February 21, 1870, but not discussed until May 16, 1870. Unlike the House bill, the Senate bill S. 810 grew from several different bills from various Senators. The first proposed bill was submitted to the Senate in February 1870 by Sen. George F. Edmunds from Vermont followed by Sen. Oliver P. Morton from Indiana, Sen.Charles Sumner from Massachus...

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men  who signed the Declaration of Independence?  Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,  and tortured before they died.  Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.  Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;  another had two sons captured.  Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or  hardships of the Revolutionary War.  They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,  and their sacred honor.  What kind of men were they?  Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.  Eleven were merchants,  nine were farmers and large plantation owners;  men of means, well educated,  but they signed the Declaration of Independence  knowing full well that the penalty would be death if  they were captured.  Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and  trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the  Bri...

The Black Star Line and its successor, the Black Cross Navigation and Trading Company, was founded by Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.).  The Black Star Line was incorporated in Delaware on June 23, 1919, and operated between 1919 and 1922. The company was capitalized at a maximum of $500,000. Shares were valued at five dollars each, and individuals could purchase a maximum of two hundred shares. Black Star Line stock was sold at U.N.I.A. meetings and conventions, by traveling agents, by mailed circulars, and through advertisements in the Negro newspaper. The Black Star Line was envisioned to be the U.N.I.A.'s vehicle for promoting worldwide commerce among black communities. Black Star Line ships would transport manufactured goods, raw materials, and produce among black businesses in North America, the Caribbean, and Africa, and become the linchpin in a global black economy.  To the surprise of the critics, just three months after...

The first African American U.S. Marines were trained at Camp Montford Point, in Jacksonville, North Carolina.  African Americans, from all states, were not sent to the traditional boot camps of Parris Island, South Carolina or San Diego, California. Instead, African American Marines were segregated - experiencing basic training at Montford Point - a facility at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Approximately twenty thousand (20,000) African American Marines received basic training at Montford Point between 1942 and 1949. On June 25, 1941,  President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which barred government agencies and federal contractors from refusing employment in industries engaged in defense production on the basis of race, creed, color, or national origin. The order required the armed services, including the Marine Corps, to recruit and enlist African Americans. With the beginning of World War II African Americans would get their chance to serve in the previou...