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John T. Gayton (1866-1954)

John T. Gayton, one of Seattle’s earliest black residents, a community leader, and patriarch of one of the city’s most outstanding black families, came to Seattle in 1889.  He was born in Benton, Mississippi to former slaves.  With little formal education, he moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, and made the fortuitous decision to work for a physician, Dr. Henry Yandell, as servant and coachman.  It brought him to Seattle when Dr. Yandell joined the movement to the new state of Washington.    Soon after his arrival in Seattle, he tried his hand as a painter, painting contractor, barber, and bellboy.  He worked as a waiter at the Arctic Club and later at the Rainier Club, where he was promoted to head waiter.  In 1901 he became the first black steward at the Rainier Club, overseeing the servants and the preparation of food.   Before long, he was called upon to cater large parties and banquets.  He also catered every day for a downtow...

Morris Brown (1770-1849)

Morris Brown was born in Charleston, South Carolina on February 13, 1770. His family belonged to a sizable African American population in the city who were mostly enslaved.  Brown’s parents, however, were part the city’s tiny free black community.  In the year of Brown’s birth, more than 5,800 enslaved blacks and 24 free blacks resided in the city, compared to a total of 5,030 whites.  Within this city where African Americans were the majority, Brown’s family circulated within an elite black society, whose members were often so closely related to aristocratic whites in the city that they were exempt from the racist restrictions imposed on the majority of enslaved people. A prosperous shoemaker by trade and charismatic religious leader, Brown travelled to Philadelphia to collaborate with the Rev. Richard Allen in the founding of the country’s first African Methodist Episcopal Church (Bethel AME) in 1816.  Brown worked tirelessly to forge an independent African M...

Thomas L. Jennings

(1791–1856) was an  African-American   tradesman  and  abolitionist  in in  New York City ,  New York . He was a  free black  who operated a tailoring and  dry-cleaning  business, and in 1821 was the  first African American  to be granted a  patent . Jennings became active in working for his race and civil rights for the black community. In 1831, he was selected as assistant secretary to the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in  Philadelphia ,  Pennsylvania , which met in June 1831. He helped arrange legal defense for his daughter,  Elizabeth Jennings , in 1854 when she challenged a private streetcar company's segregation of seating and was arrested. She was defended by the young  Chester Arthur , and won her case the next year. With two other prominent black leaders, Jennings organized the  Legal Rights Association  in 1855 in New York, which raised challenges to discr...

The Black community

One of the Black community's biggest problems is that it has been inbred into us during slavery that upward mobility means distancing ourselves from everything Black. Other cultures don't suffer from that disability. Black people are the products of the very same racist environment as White people, so some of us are just as racist toward other Black people as any racist Hillbilly. So we've got to educate ourselves out of that mind-set just to get up to speed to where other cultures walk through the door. So yes, other cultures have issues that they need to overcome too, but Black people have a whole lot more issues to deal with than others. That makes it imperative that Black people begin a crash course in education NOW, because the way things are going, there's not much time left. .  I live in California, and as I'm sure you know, California is an entrance point for illegal immigrants from South of the border. So one would think that these people who come he...

Contractor And "Sportin' Man"

Then Not much is known about T. C. Windham prior to his arrival in Birmingham, Alabama in 1910's: only that he came from Arkansas, where he had substantial business interests. it is known that he was already a man of considerable wealth who had great skills as a builder and contractor. At the time of his arrival, many of the city's prominent black professional and white-collar workers lived in Smithfield, a community just to the west of the Birmingham, Alabama city center. Windham soon bought a block of real estate in Smithfield and built a two-story brick mansion that reflected not only his wealth, but also his business abilities. Located on Eighth Avenue North, it featured the best contemporary craftsmanship, including elaborately carved woodwork, stained glass, and fine furnishings. Working with his brother, R. L. Windham, Windham went on to build many other residences in the area. But it is the churches and commercial projects that now highlight the Windham const...

Black Wall Street

                                              In 1921 a group of whites burnt the community in Tulsa, Oklahoma to the ground. It was the wealthiest Black community in United States. It was known as “Black Wall Street.” Fire bombs were dropped from airplanes. And hundreds of people were killed.  This knowledge was not acknowledged in state history records until 1996.  There has been more affluent "Black" communities where the homes of the residents were burned down, the residents were raped and killed all out of envy, drunken jealousy and blatant racism.   Greenwood is a neighborhood in Tulsa , Oklahoma . As one of the most successful and wealthiest African American communities in the United States during the early 20th...

David Banner Spotlight

David Banner is an inspiration to me. For he's one of the few rappers, producers, beat makers, etc who is in the spotlight and still speaks out  against violence in the "Black" community, on national news shows such as CNN, etc and he's talked about it in several of his interviews. He brings truth to light. I thank him, appreciate him and I salute him. I ask that you tell me what you think about David Banner, his activism and his music. I share with you but, a few YouTube vids and an article about him. http://allhiphop.com/2007/08/16/david-banner-stop-attacking-the-kids/