Black History

Why America Needs the National Memorial for Peace and Justice

Published

7 years ago

April 15, 2018

So… about the lynching museum being built in Montgomery, Alabama and featured recently during CBS’ 60 Minutes. I am just as surprised as many African Americans to learn that a memorial honoring the thousands of African Americans who were lynched will open on April 26th in Montgomery, a hotbed of racism and protests during the 1960s.

Oprah, in her role as a correspondent for the veritable newsmagazine, focused on the civil rights attorney behind the memorial, Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson and his team have helped clear more than 100 death row inmates through the Equal Justice Initiative, and he has argued successfully before the Supreme Court. After watching the interview with Oprah and Stevenson, I was torn.

On the one hand, I was proud of this man who chose to educate the community and the nation about the horrific brutality against black bodies during slavery and the Jim Crow era by building the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, largely with private donations. But, I also recognized a feeling of déjà vu. Our ongoing trauma as black people in this country is most often marginalized and seen as a horror from the past as the report created a backlash from those upset by the nature of the

The pictures shown during this report were horrific. Mobs of white faces dressed in their Sunday best, some looking onward, some smiling into the camera and others with eyes lifted upward at the black life they’d just ended. Scores of eyes witnessing the torture of another human hit me in my core.

Stevenson made a point to express that the lynching of thousands of African American men, women and children were public crimes that were witnessed and celebrated. Newspapers often advertised the lynching as “events.” And, it wasn’t just enough to kill black people, the bodies of victims were often burned, mangled, castrated and dragged through towns as examples of what would happen to blacks if dared challenge the status quo.

I believe the public needs to be educated on horrific acts like these. It is a part of American history and if we don’t discuss and learn from it, then we are toying with the possibility that history will repeat itself. Although the Jim Crow era is a time and a mindset we’d like to forget, we must remember that ideology and energy are rarely destroyed, they merely change forms.

Today’s America is still plagued by the modern-day lynching of black men, women and children. The only difference is many of these murders don’t occur only on Sunday. They are happening throughout the week during routine traffic stops, and the perpetrators are wearing blue and carrying badges. Many innocent black lives have been taken and are taken by police officers in America, only to have the video documentation of these murders circulated on social media for public consumption.

The lynch mobs haven’t gone anywhere. They’ve only changed positions and functions. I know this is a depressing concept, but as Bryan Stevenson stated in his interview, “truth and reconciliation are sequential. We cannot have the latter without the former.” Racial trauma and disparity affect the oppressed and the oppressor. We need to heal and to do that, we must address the truth of today so that we can work together for peace and reconciliation for tomorrow.

Kambrya Bailey is a native to Beaumont, CA. She’s a Mass Communications student, studying Broadcast Journalism at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Visit https://backyardinternet.com to read more of her work.

Black History

Formerly All-Black School in Arkansas Works to Restore Campus

Published

2 days ago

December 18, 2024

larissa

In Arkansas a formerly all-Black school, Ouachita County Training School, has launched a national fundraising effort to restore the campus following its designation as a site on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the first corporate donations to OCTS, located in Bearden, Arkansas, came from the Katherine Anthony Foundation.

Anthony’s nephew, Steve, and CEO of Anthony Timberlands, presented a $10,000 check to the historic committee.

“We are happy to support the work of the Greater Bradley District Association and the Ouachita County Training School committee in their efforts to maintain the infrastructure and grounds of the training school, which is such an important part of the Bearden community,” Anthony said.

The National Park Service listed OCTS on the prestigious register in 2023.

“Since we received the news, we have been excited and motivated to raise the fund necessary to preserve this part of our history!” Virginia Ashley, committee president said. “We recognize the pivotal role OCTS played in educating several generations of young people who started right here and went on to contribute greatly to the Black middle class and the world.”

The gift of education

For education advocates, December holds a special place in American history. During the Christmas Season in 1952, the Supreme Court first heard arguments to eliminate segregation in the nation’s public schools. But, it took two more years before the Court issued its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring segregation unconstitutional.

During the 1950s, OCTS educated Black students in the small southern town south of Little Rock, which became known internationally for The Little Rock Nine and their efforts to integrate Central High School. In Bearden, several Rosenwald Schools had consolidated to create the larger OCTS campus that educated students from the first through the 12^th grades.

“I have such wonderful memories of my days as a student at OCTS,” recalled Pearlie Newton, a retired educator and executive director of the OCTS historic committee. “My dad helped pour concrete at the campus, my husband and I met there and it was in one of the classrooms that my goal to become an educator took shape.”

Despite the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision eliminating “separate but equal” schools, OCTS remained segregated until 1971 when it merged with the white school district in the area. An association of Black Baptist churches known as the Greater Bradley District Association purchased the campus for use as its headquarters.

Pastor and Association Moderator, Verna Thompson, said, “We are excited about the renovation and look forward to holding our church services and meetings in a modernized facility that holds so much historic significance.”

Black History

America Heads Into the Last Mile of the 2024 Presidential Election

Published

2 months ago

October 29, 2024

LoveBlackHistory

With only a week until Election Day, Vice-President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are holding their final campaign rallies and crisscrossing the battleground states. Both candidates know the importance of every vote, and they are rallying their base in the closing days.

Vickie Newton, founder of The Village Celebration and Love Black History, traces the history of Black voters in America on the eve of the historic 2024 presidential election.

Black History

Coco Gauff Becomes the Youngest Flag Bearer in US Olympic History

Published

5 months ago

July 25, 2024

LoveBlackHistory

During the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, the female American flag bearer will be Coco Gauff, the 20-year-old tennis star. She will be the youngest flag bearer in American Olympic history. Basketball legend LeBron James has been selected as the male flag bearer.

Gauff said, “I was not expecting that.”

Delighted to be selected, Gauff admitted she has “no idea” what her assignment includes, adding, “I don’t know if there’s flag bearer-training I have to go to.”

James has been to the Olympics four times. He was part of U.S. teams that won bronze in 2004, gold at Beijing in 2008 and gold again in London in 2012.

But this will be his first time as the flag bearer.

He said, “It’s an absolute honor. I hope I continue to make my community proud and continue to make my family proud.”