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Showing posts with the label free

Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731 – October 9, 1806)

  He was a  free African American   almanac   author,   surveyor ,   naturalist   and  farmer . Born in   Baltimore County, Maryland , to a free   African American   woman and a former   slave , Banneker had little formal education and was largely self-taught. He is known for being part of a group led by   Major Andrew Ellicott   that surveyed the borders of the original   District of Columbia , the federal capital district of the   United States . Banneker's knowledge of  astronomy  helped him author a commercially successful series of almanacs. He corresponded with  Thomas Jefferson ,  drafter  of the  United States Declaration of Independence , on the topics of  slavery  and  racial equality .  Abolitionists  and advocates of racial equality promoted and praised his works. Although a fire on the day of Banneker's funeral destroyed many of his...

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...

Denmark Vesey (1767 – July 2, 1822)

Denmark Vesey probably was born into slavery in St. Thomas but had been a  free black  for over 20 years before being accused and hanged in 1822 as the ringleader of "the rising," a major potential  Charleston, South Carolina  slave revolt. A skilled carpenter, Vesey had won a lottery and purchased his freedom at age 32 in 1799. He had a good business and a family, but was unable to buy his first wife Beck and their children out of slavery. Vesey became active in the Second Presbyterian Church; in 1818 he was among the founders of an  AME Church  in the city, which was supported by white clergy in the city and rapidly attracted 1,848 members, making this the second-largest AME congregation in the nation. In 1820 he was alleged to be the ringleader of a planned slave revolt. Vesey and his followers were said to be planning to kill slaveholders in Charleston, liberate the slaves, and sail to the black republic of  Haiti ...

Anna Murray-Douglass

(1813 – August 4, 1882) Anna Murray-Douglass was an American  abolitionist , member of the  Underground Railroad , and the first wife of American social reformer and statesman  Frederick Douglass , from 1838 to her death.  Anna Murray was born in  Denton, Maryland , to Bambar(r)a  and Mary Murray.  Unlike her seven older brothers and sisters, who were born in slavery, Anna Murray and her younger four siblings were born free,  her parents having been  manumitted  just a month before her birth.  A resourceful young woman, by the age of 17 she had established herself as a laundress and housekeeper.  Her laundry work took her to the docks, where she met Frederick Douglass,  who was then working as a  caulker . Murray's freedom made Douglass believe in the possibility of his own. When he decided to escape slavery in 1838, Murray encouraged and helped him by providing Douglass with some sailor's clothing her ...

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...

John S. Rock

John S. Rock was born to free black parents in Salem, New Jersey in 1825. He attended public schools in New Jersey until he was 19 and then worked as a teacher between 1844 and 1848.  During this period Rock began his medical studies with two white doctors. Although he was initially denied entry, Rock was finally accepted into the American Medical College in Philadelphia.  He graduated in 1852 with a medical degree. While in medical school Rock practiced dentistry and taught classes at a night school for African Americans.  In 1851 he received a silver medal for the creation of an improved variety of artificial teeth and another for a prize essay on temperance.    At the age of 27, Rock, a teacher, doctor and dentist, moved to Boston in 1852 to open a medical and dental office. He was commissioned by the Vigilance Committee, an organization of abolitionists, to treat fugitive slaves’ medical needs. During this period Dr. Rock increasingly identified with t...

Slave Owners Feared Baptism Would Make Slaves Free

Legislation was passed in several colonies, beginning in 1667 in Virginia, stipulating that baptism would not change slaves’ legal status.  This led to an increase in missionary activities to slaves because conversion did not imply emancipation. Short lived do to slave revolts. Slave owners regarded the substantial time required for religious instruction as uneconomical Slave owners argued that slaves were intellectually incapable of understanding the subtleties of Christian doctrine Slave owners were uncomfortable with the concept of spiritual equality between master and slave Spiritual equality would call into question the enslavement of fellow Christians Slave owners feared that conversion would make slaves more difficult to control and perhaps precipitate insurrection Some missionaries attempted to counter this fear by arguing that conversion would make slaves more docile and industrious. This was short lived after the enslaved revolts.

Let's be clear regarding Capitalism

"In principle, the notion of trade that is free and fair sounds ideal. But, across the world, the dominant ideological paradigm allows little scope for neither. Markets are rigged, commodity prices subject to manipulation and nations are coerced , destabilized or attacked in order that powerful players gain access to resources and markets." Colin Todhunter

Facts About Abraham Lincoln and his Views and Behavior regarding Africans/Blacks and Slavery

In the 1840s, the self-educated Abraham Lincoln represented slave owner Robert Matson, who wanted to once again enslave a free, mixed-race woman. Lincoln lost the case, and Jane Bryant and her children were declared officially free. They later settled in Liberia. In 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd. Her family in Kentucky enslaved Black men and women. While serving as an elected representative in the Illinois legislature, Lincoln supported Zachary Taylor, a slave owner, in Taylor’s 1848 bid for the presidency.

12 Dozen Places To Educate Yourself Online For Free

This site is an excellent resource for gaining and furthering your education and the best thing about it is that it's free. The best advice that I can give you about it is to just check it out for yourself and see if there's anything that is of interest to you.  " All education is self-education.  Period.  It doesn't matter if you’re sitting in a college classroom or a coffee shop.  We don’t learn anything we don’t want to learn." Self education is the key to learning and furthering yourself, period. Whether it takes place in a classroom setting or in life. Everyone is always continuously learning. The subjects of study:  Science and Health  Business and Money History and World Culture  Law  Computer Science and Engineering  Mathematics  English and Communication  Foreign and Sign Languages  Multiple Subjects and Miscellaneous  Free Books And Reading ...

"Black and white are legal statuses. They have nothing to do with complexion."

"Black and white are legal statuses. They have nothing to do with complexion."  Brother Taj Tarik Bey reveals a lot of hidden truths in this very revealing conversation/ mini lecture as he always does. My intention for making this blog posting is to teach everyone whom takes the time, views the video and takes notes to learn something that they did not know or or something that they did not have a complete understanding of. Comments are always welcome.