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A Monumental Day in Black History: A Comprehensive Guide
Author: Dr. Evelyn Reed, PhD, Professor of African American History at Howard University, specializing in the Civil Rights Movement and Black political activism.
Publisher: The Black History Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the accurate and comprehensive study of Black history. The Institute publishes scholarly works, educational resources, and engages in community outreach programs.
Editor: Ms. Anya Sharma, MA, experienced editor with a focus on historical accuracy and accessible writing styles, particularly within the context of marginalized communities' narratives.
Keyword: a monumental day in black history
Summary: This guide explores the complexities of selecting and commemorating "a monumental day in Black history," offering best practices for respectful remembrance and avoiding historical inaccuracies and insensitive portrayals. It provides a framework for critical analysis of historical events, emphasizing the importance of diverse perspectives and acknowledging the ongoing struggle for racial justice. The guide also highlights common pitfalls to avoid when discussing such significant events.
Introduction: Navigating the Significance of "A Monumental Day in Black History"
The phrase "a monumental day in Black history" evokes powerful images and emotions. However, the very act of selecting one day risks oversimplifying a rich and multifaceted history marked by continuous struggle, resistance, and triumph. This guide aims to provide a framework for approaching the commemoration of significant events in Black history responsibly and respectfully. We'll delve into best practices, common pitfalls, and crucial considerations for ensuring accurate and respectful representation.
I. Identifying "A Monumental Day": Beyond Singular Events
Choosing "a monumental day" demands careful consideration. While specific dates like January 15th (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) are widely recognized, focusing solely on individual days neglects the ongoing nature of the Black experience. Instead, consider:
Thematic Approaches: Instead of focusing on a single event, explore a theme like "The Fight for Voting Rights," encompassing numerous key dates and pivotal figures. This approach provides a more nuanced understanding of historical processes. A monumental day can be seen as representative of a broader struggle.
Local and Regional Histories: National narratives often overshadow significant local events. Researching and celebrating regional milestones provides a richer, more inclusive understanding of "a monumental day in Black history."
Unsung Heroes and Everyday Resistance: Acknowledge the contributions of individuals whose stories might not be widely known. Highlighting acts of everyday resistance alongside major events offers a more complete picture.
II. Best Practices for Commemoration
Accurate Historical Context: Avoid simplifying complex historical events. Provide detailed background information, acknowledging multiple perspectives and the nuances of the time period.
Diverse Voices and Perspectives: Center the voices of those directly impacted by the event. Include perspectives from various backgrounds and social strata within the Black community.
Respectful Language and Imagery: Avoid language that trivializes or minimizes suffering. Choose imagery that reflects the gravity and significance of the event respectfully.
Community Engagement: Involve members of the Black community in the planning and execution of commemorative events. This participatory approach ensures authentic and meaningful remembrance.
Intersectional Considerations: Acknowledge the intersectional nature of Black identity, considering factors like gender, class, sexuality, and geographic location in the narrative.
III. Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Oversimplification and Ahistorical Narratives: Avoid reducing complex historical processes to simplistic narratives that erase nuances and contradictions.
Eurocentric Frameworks: Avoid analyzing Black history solely through the lens of dominant Western narratives. Center the Black experience and its unique agency.
Tokenism and Superficial Representation: Avoid merely including Black figures or events as tokens of inclusion without genuinely engaging with their historical context and significance.
Ignoring the Ongoing Struggle: Remember that "a monumental day in Black history" is not a point of arrival but a step in an ongoing struggle for racial justice and equality.
Sensationalism and Exploitation: Avoid using events for sensational purposes or in a way that exploits the suffering of Black communities.
IV. Developing Educational Resources for "A Monumental Day in Black History"
Creating effective educational resources requires careful planning:
Age Appropriateness: Adapt content to suit the age and understanding of the intended audience.
Multimodal Learning: Use a variety of mediums – text, images, audio, video – to engage learners effectively.
Interactive Elements: Incorporate interactive activities to enhance engagement and understanding.
Critical Thinking Prompts: Encourage critical thinking by posing questions that challenge assumptions and promote deeper understanding.
Accessibility: Ensure materials are accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Conclusion:
Commemorating "a monumental day in Black history" is a profound responsibility. By adhering to best practices, avoiding common pitfalls, and embracing an inclusive and nuanced approach, we can ensure that these commemorations serve as meaningful opportunities for learning, reflection, and continued action toward racial justice. The selection of any single day should serve as a springboard for a deeper exploration of Black history's rich tapestry, its ongoing struggles, and its enduring legacy.
FAQs
1. Why is it problematic to focus on just one "monumental day"? Focusing on a single day risks oversimplifying a complex and multifaceted history, ignoring the continuous struggle for equality.
2. How can I ensure historical accuracy in my commemoration? Consult reliable primary and secondary sources, engage with diverse perspectives, and cross-reference information from reputable institutions.
3. How can I avoid tokenism when celebrating Black history? Go beyond superficial representations. Center the experiences and perspectives of Black individuals and communities, and engage deeply with their histories.
4. What are some examples of "monumental days" beyond widely recognized ones? Research local and regional events, consider themes like the Great Migration or the Black Power Movement, and highlight lesser-known figures and accomplishments.
5. How can I make my commemoration inclusive and intersectional? Consider the experiences of Black individuals across various identities (gender, class, sexuality, etc.) and ensure their voices are heard.
6. How can I involve the Black community in my commemoration? Partner with local organizations, invite community members to participate in planning and events, and seek their feedback.
7. What resources can I use to learn more about Black history? Consult scholarly books, journals, museums, archives, and reputable online resources.
8. How can I create educational resources that are engaging and effective? Utilize a variety of methods (text, images, video, interactive activities), tailor content to the audience, and incorporate critical thinking prompts.
9. What is the significance of remembering "a monumental day in Black history" in the present day? Remembering these events is crucial for acknowledging past injustices, celebrating achievements, and inspiring continued action toward racial equity.
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1. The Montgomery Bus Boycott: A Turning Point: Examines the pivotal role of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the Civil Rights Movement.
2. Brown v. Board of Education: Dismantling Segregation: Explores the landmark Supreme Court case that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for Black and white students to be unconstitutional.
3. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Details the significance of this iconic march and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement.
4. The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: A National Tragedy: Analyzes the impact of King's assassination and its lasting consequences.
5. The Black Panther Party: A Legacy of Resistance: Explores the history and complex legacy of the Black Panther Party.
6. The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Landmark Achievement: Discusses the monumental legislation and its lasting impact on racial equality in the United States.
7. The Voting Rights Act of 1965: Securing the Right to Vote: Explores this landmark legislation and its impact on Black political participation.
8. Black Women's Contributions to the Civil Rights Movement: Highlights the often-overlooked contributions of Black women to the fight for racial justice.
9. The Harlem Renaissance: An Explosion of Black Culture: Explores this significant cultural and artistic movement.
| a monumental day in black history: The ABCs of Black History Rio Cortez, 2020-12-08 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER B is for Beautiful, Brave, and Bright! And for a Book that takes a Bold journey through the alphabet of Black history and culture. Letter by letter, The ABCs of Black History celebrates a story that spans continents and centuries, triumph and heartbreak, creativity and joy. It’s a story of big ideas––P is for Power, S is for Science and Soul. Of significant moments––G is for Great Migration. Of iconic figures––H is for Zora Neale Hurston, X is for Malcom X. It’s an ABC book like no other, and a story of hope and love. In addition to rhyming text, the book includes back matter with information on the events, places, and people mentioned in the poem, from Mae Jemison to W. E. B. Du Bois, Fannie Lou Hamer to Sam Cooke, and the Little Rock Nine to DJ Kool Herc. |
| a monumental day in black history: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral Phillis Wheatley, 1887 |
| a monumental day in black history: White Over Black Winthrop D. Jordan, 2013-02-06 In 1968, Winthrop D. Jordan set out in encyclopedic detail the evolution of white Englishmen's and Anglo-Americans' perceptions of blacks, perceptions of difference used to justify race-based slavery, and liberty and justice for whites only. This second edition, with new forewords by historians Christopher Leslie Brown and Peter H. Wood, reminds us that Jordan's text is still the definitive work on the history of race in America in the colonial era. Every book published to this day on slavery and racism builds upon his work; all are judged in comparison to it; none has surpassed it. |
| a monumental day in black history: Monumental Brian K. Mitchell, Barrington S. Edwards, Nick Weldon, 2021-02 Depicted as a graphic history and informed by newly discovered primary sources and years of archival research, Monumental resurrects, in vivid detail, Louisiana and New Orleans after the Civil War, and an iconic American life that never should have been forgotten. The graphic history is supplemented with personal and historiographical essays as well as a map, timeline, and endnotes that explore the riveting scenes in even greater depth. Monumental is a story of determination, scandal, betrayal-and how one man's principled fight for equality and justice may have cost him everything-- |
| a monumental day in black history: Unseen Dana Canedy, Darcy Eveleigh, Damien Cave, Rachel L. Swarns, 2017-10-17 Hundreds of stunning images from Black history have been buried in the New York Times photo archives for decades. Four Times staff members unearth these overlooked photographs and investigate the stories behind them in this remarkable collection. New York Times photo editor Darcy Eveleigh made an unwitting discovery when she found dozens of never-before-published photographs from Black history in the crowded bins of the Times archives in 2016. She and three colleagues, Dana Canedy, Damien Cave, and Rachel L. Swarns, began exploring the often untold stories behind the images and chronicling them in a series entitled “Unpublished Black History” that was later published by the newspaper. Unseen showcases those photographs and digs even deeper into the Times’s archives to include 175 photographs and the stories behind them in this extraordinary collection. Among the entries is a 27-year-old Jesse Jackson leading an anti-discrimination rally in Chicago; Rosa Parks arriving at a Montgomery courthouse in Alabama; a candid shot of Aretha Franklin backstage at the Apollo Theater; Ralph Ellison on the streets of his Manhattan neighborhood; the firebombed home of Malcolm X; and a series by Don Hogan Charles, the first black photographer hired by the Times, capturing life in Harlem in the 1960s. Why were these striking photographs not published? Did the images not arrive in time to make the deadline? Were they pushed aside by the biases of editors, whether intentional or unintentional? Unseen dives deep into the Times’s archives to showcase this rare collection of photographs and stories for the very first time. |
| a monumental day in black history: Lies Across America James W. Loewen, 2019-09-24 A fully updated and revised edition of the book USA Today called jim-dandy pop history, by the bestselling, American Book Award–winning author The most definitive and expansive work on the Lost Cause and the movement to whitewash history. —Mitch Landrieu, former mayor of New Orleans From the author of the national bestseller Lies My Teacher Told Me, a completely updated—and more timely than ever—version of the myth-busting history book that focuses on the inaccuracies, myths, and lies on monuments, statues, national landmarks, and historical sites all across America. In Lies Across America, James W. Loewen continues his mission, begun in the award-winning Lies My Teacher Told Me, of overturning the myths and misinformation that too often pass for American history. This is a one-of-a-kind examination of historic sites all over the country where history is literally written on the landscape, including historical markers, monuments, historic houses, forts, and ships. New changes and updates include: • a town in Louisiana that was the site of a major but now-forgotten enslaved persons' uprising • a totally revised tour of the memory and intentional forgetting of slavery and the Civil War in Richmond, Virginia • the hideout of a gang in Delaware that made money by kidnapping free blacks and selling them into slavery Entertaining and enlightening, Lies Across America also has a serious role to play in contemporary debates about white supremacy and Confederate memorials. |
| a monumental day in black history: The Black Cabinet Jill Watts, 2020-05-12 An in-depth history exploring the evolution, impact, and ultimate demise of what was known in the 1930s and ‘40s as FDR’s Black Cabinet. In 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidency with the help of key African American defectors from the Republican Party. At the time, most African Americans lived in poverty, denied citizenship rights and terrorized by white violence. As the New Deal began, a “black Brain Trust” joined the administration and began documenting and addressing the economic hardship and systemic inequalities African Americans faced. They became known as the Black Cabinet, but the environment they faced was reluctant, often hostile, to change. “Will the New Deal be a square deal for the Negro?” The black press wondered. The Black Cabinet set out to devise solutions to the widespread exclusion of black people from its programs, whether by inventing tools to measure discrimination or by calling attention to the administration’s failures. Led by Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator and friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, they were instrumental to Roosevelt’s continued success with black voters. Operating mostly behind the scenes, they helped push Roosevelt to sign an executive order that outlawed discrimination in the defense industry. They saw victories?jobs and collective agriculture programs that lifted many from poverty?and defeats?the bulldozing of black neighborhoods to build public housing reserved only for whites; Roosevelt’s refusal to get behind federal anti-lynching legislation. The Black Cabinet never won official recognition from the president, and with his death, it disappeared from view. But it had changed history. Eventually, one of its members would go on to be the first African American Cabinet secretary; another, the first African American federal judge and mentor to Thurgood Marshall. Masterfully researched and dramatically told, The Black Cabinet brings to life a forgotten generation of leaders who fought post-Reconstruction racial apartheid and whose work served as a bridge that Civil Rights activists traveled to achieve the victories of the 1950s and ’60s. Praise for The Black Cabinet “A dramatic piece of nonfiction that recovers the history of a generation of leaders that helped create the environment for the civil rights battles in decades that followed Roosevelt’s death.” —Library Journal “Fascinating . . . revealing the hidden figures of a ‘brain trust’ that lobbied, hectored and strong-armed President Franklin Roosevelt to cut African Americans in on the New Deal. . . . Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The Black Cabinet is sprawling and epic, and Watts deftly re-creates whole scenes from archival material.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune |
| a monumental day in black history: How the Word Is Passed Clint Smith, 2021-06-01 This “important and timely” (Drew Faust, Harvard Magazine) #1 New York Times bestseller examines the legacy of slavery in America—and how both history and memory continue to shape our everyday lives. Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves. It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation-turned-maximum-security prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers. A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view—whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods like downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women, and children has been deeply imprinted. Informed by scholarship and brought to life by the story of people living today, Smith's debut work of nonfiction is a landmark of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country and how it has come to be. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction Winner of the Stowe Prize Winner of 2022 Hillman Prize for Book Journalism A New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021 |
| a monumental day in black history: History in Black Yaacov Shavit, 2013-11-12 The development of Afrocentric historical writing is explored in this study which traces this recording of history from the Hellenistic-Roman period to the 19th century. Afrocentric writers are depicted as searching for the unique primary source of culture from one period to the next. Such passing on of cultural traits from the ancient model from the classical period to the origin of culture in Egypt and Africa is shown as being a product purely of creative history. |
| a monumental day in black history: History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880 George Washington Williams, 1882 |
| a monumental day in black history: Letters from Black America Pamela Newkirk, 2011-01-11 The first-ever narrative history of African Americans told through their own letters Letters from Black America fills a literary and historical void by presenting the spectrum of African American experience in the most intimate way possible—through the heartfelt correspondence of those who lived through monumental changes and pivotal events, from the American Revolution to the war in Iraq, from slavery to the election of Obama. |
| a monumental day in black history: Oration by Frederick Douglass. Delivered on the Occasion of the Unveiling of the Freedmen's Monument in Memory of Abraham Lincoln, in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C., April 14th, 1876, with an Appendix Frederick Douglass, 2024-06-14 Reprint of the original, first published in 1876. |
| a monumental day in black history: Monumental Moments in African American History Carole Marsh, 2005-11-15 Colossal... enormous...gargantuan...giant...gigantic...heroic...significant...substantial...MOMUNENTAL! These words describe the amazing people and significant events that have contributed to African American heritage - and the great history of the United States! Kids will learn about African American men and women who have dreamed, lived, and died for what they believed. They will learn of events that impacted and changed the way a nation embraced people of different cultures. Lessons of individuality, tolerence, and persistence abound. |
| a monumental day in black history: This Is Your Time Ruby Bridges, 2020-11-10 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • CBC KIDS’ BOOK CHOICE AWARD WINNER Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges—who, at the age of six, was the first black child to integrate into an all-white elementary school in New Orleans—inspires readers and calls for action in this moving letter. Her elegant, memorable gift book is especially uplifting in the wake of Kamala Harris making US history as the first female, first Black, and first South Asian vice president–elect. Written as a letter from civil rights activist and icon Ruby Bridges to the reader, This Is Your Time is both a recounting of Ruby’s experience as a child who had to be escorted to class by federal marshals when she was chosen to be one of the first black students to integrate into New Orleans’ all-white public school system and an appeal to generations to come to effect change. This beautifully designed volume features photographs from the 1960s and from today, as well as stunning jacket art from The Problem We All Live With, the 1964 painting by Norman Rockwell depicting Ruby’s walk to school. Ruby’s honest and impassioned words, imbued with love and grace, serve as a moving reminder that “what can inspire tomorrow often lies in our past.” This Is Your Time will electrify people of all ages as the struggle for liberty and justice for all continues and the powerful legacy of Ruby Bridges endures. |
| a monumental day in black history: Burn, Baby! Burn! Nathaniel Montague, Bob Baker, 2003 With his dynamic on-air personality and his trademark cry of ''Burn, baby! BURN!'' before spinning the hottest new records, Magnificent Montague was the charismatic voice of soul music in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. In this memoir Montague recounts his momentous radio career, which ran from the era of segregation to that of the civil rights movement. He also tells the broader story of a life spent in the passionate pursuit of knowledge. |
| a monumental day in black history: Blood Done Sign My Name Timothy B. Tyson, 2007-12-18 The “riveting”* true story of the fiery summer of 1970, which would forever transform the town of Oxford, North Carolina—a classic portrait of the fight for civil rights in the tradition of To Kill a Mockingbird *Chicago Tribune On May 11, 1970, Henry Marrow, a twenty-three-year-old black veteran, walked into a crossroads store owned by Robert Teel and came out running. Teel and two of his sons chased and beat Marrow, then killed him in public as he pleaded for his life. Like many small Southern towns, Oxford had barely been touched by the civil rights movement. But in the wake of the killing, young African Americans took to the streets. While lawyers battled in the courthouse, the Klan raged in the shadows and black Vietnam veterans torched the town’s tobacco warehouses. Tyson’s father, the pastor of Oxford’s all-white Methodist church, urged the town to come to terms with its bloody racial history. In the end, however, the Tyson family was forced to move away. Tim Tyson’s gripping narrative brings gritty blues truth and soaring gospel vision to a shocking episode of our history. FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD “If you want to read only one book to understand the uniquely American struggle for racial equality and the swirls of emotion around it, this is it.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “Blood Done Sign My Name is a most important book and one of the most powerful meditations on race in America that I have ever read.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer “Pulses with vital paradox . . . It’s a detached dissertation, a damning dark-night-of-the-white-soul, and a ripping yarn, all united by Tyson’s powerful voice, a brainy, booming Bubba profundo.”—Entertainment Weekly “Engaging and frequently stunning.”—San Diego Union-Tribune |
| a monumental day in black history: Monument Lab Paul M. Farber, Ken Lum, 2019 How to Build a Monument / Paul M. Farber -- Memorializing Philadelphia as a Place of Crisis and Boundless Hope / Ken Lum -- Public Practice / Jane Golden -- Tania Bruguera, Monument to New Immigrants -- Mel Chin, Two Me -- Kara Crombie, Sample Philly -- The Art of the Proposal: Reading the Monument Lab Open Data Set / Laurie Allen. |
| a monumental day in black history: National Monument Audit Paul M. Farber, Sue Mobley, Laurie Allen, 2021-09-29 |
| a monumental day in black history: The 1619 Project Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, 2024-06-04 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER • A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present. “[A] groundbreaking compendium . . . bracing and urgent . . . This collection is an extraordinary update to an ongoing project of vital truth-telling.”—Esquire NOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED HULU ORIGINAL DOCUSERIES • FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Esquire, Marie Claire, Electric Lit, Ms. magazine, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States. The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning 1619 Project issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This book substantially expands on that work, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself. This book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction—and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life. Featuring contributions from: Leslie Alexander • Michelle Alexander • Carol Anderson • Joshua Bennett • Reginald Dwayne Betts • Jamelle Bouie • Anthea Butler • Matthew Desmond • Rita Dove • Camille T. Dungy • Cornelius Eady • Eve L. Ewing • Nikky Finney • Vievee Francis • Yaa Gyasi • Forrest Hamer • Terrance Hayes • Kimberly Annece Henderson • Jeneen Interlandi • Honorée Fanonne Jeffers • Barry Jenkins • Tyehimba Jess • Martha S. Jones • Robert Jones, Jr. • A. Van Jordan • Ibram X. Kendi • Eddie Kendricks • Yusef Komunyakaa • Kevin M. Kruse • Kiese Laymon • Trymaine Lee • Jasmine Mans • Terry McMillan • Tiya Miles • Wesley Morris • Khalil Gibran Muhammad • Lynn Nottage • ZZ Packer • Gregory Pardlo • Darryl Pinckney • Claudia Rankine • Jason Reynolds • Dorothy Roberts • Sonia Sanchez • Tim Seibles • Evie Shockley • Clint Smith • Danez Smith • Patricia Smith • Tracy K. Smith • Bryan Stevenson • Nafissa Thompson-Spires • Natasha Trethewey • Linda Villarosa • Jesmyn Ward |
| a monumental day in black history: Pennsylvania's Black History Charles L. Blockson, 1975 |
| a monumental day in black history: Sacred Ground Timuel D. Black, 2019-01-15 Timuel Black is an acclaimed historian, activist, and storyteller. Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black chronicles the life and times of this Chicago legend. Sacred Ground opens in 1919, during the summer of the Chicago race riot, when infant Black and his family arrive in Chicago from Birmingham, Alabama, as part of the first Great Migration. He recounts in vivid detail his childhood and education in the Black Metropolis of Bronzeville and South Side neighborhoods that make up his sacred ground. Revealing a priceless trove of experiences, memories, ideas, and opinions, Black describes how it felt to belong to this place, even when stationed in Europe during World War II. He relates how African American soldiers experienced challenges and conflicts during the war, illuminating how these struggles foreshadowed the civil rights movement. A labor organizer, educator, and activist, Black captures fascinating anecdotes and vignettes of meeting with famous figures of the times, such as Duke Ellington and Martin Luther King Jr., but also with unheralded people whose lives convey lessons about striving, uplift, and personal integrity. Rounding out this memoir, Black reflects on the legacy of his friend and mentee, Barack Obama, as well as on his public works and enduring relationships with students, community workers, and some very influential figures in Chicago and the world. |
| a monumental day in black history: Forging Freedom Gary B. Nash, 1988 This book is the first to trace the fortunes of the earliest large free black community in the U.S. Nash shows how black Philadelphians struggled to shape a family life, gain occupational competence, organize churches, establish social networks, advance cultural institutions, educate their children, and train leaders who would help abolish slavery. |
| a monumental day in black history: A Bridge CeLillianne Green, 2015-10-30 A Bridge, The Poetic Primer on African and African American Experiences is an inspired collection of poetic essays. These essays cross the Middle Passage of the Atlantic Ocean on a metaphorical DNA bridge which connects Africa with her descendants. For those descendants forced to North and South America during the European slave trade and colonization, for those who are alive, centuries-removed from it, and for those yet-conceived, there is A Bridge. |
| a monumental day in black history: The Rise of the Black Quarterback Jason Reid, 2022-08-02 A compulsively readable sports narrative by senior NFL writer for ESPN's The Undefeated (now Andscape), Jason Reid, chronicling both the history of Black players in the NFL, such as Warren Moon, and the recent careers of groundbreaking Black quarterbacks, including Colin Kaepernick. In September 2019, ESPN's The Undefeated website (now Andscape) began a season-long series of articles on the emergence of Black quarterbacks in the NFL. The first article in the series was Jason Reid's enormously popular, Welcome to the Year of the Black Quarterback. The series culminated with an hour-long television program in February 2020, hosted by Reid himself. The Rise of the Black Quarterback: What It Means for America will expand on Reid's piece—as well as the entire series—and chronicle the shameful history of the treatment of Black players in the NFL and the breakout careers of a thrilling new generation of Black quarterbacks. Intimate portraits of Colin Kaepernick, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Kyler Murray feature prominently in the book, as well as the careers and legacy of beloved NFL players such as Doug Williams and trailblazing pioneers Marlin Briscoe and Eldridge Dickey. Reid delves deeply into the culture war ignited by Kaepernick's peaceful protest that shone a light on systemic oppression and police brutality. Fascinating and timely, this page-turning account will rivet fans of sports, cultural commentary, and Black history in America. |
| a monumental day in black history: Henry's Freedom Box Ellen Levine, 2016-03-29 A stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom by a Jane Addams Peace Award-winning author and a Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist. Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his first day of freedom. |
| a monumental day in black history: The Mis-education of the Negro Carter Godwin Woodson, 1969 |
| a monumental day in black history: William Still William C. Kashatus, 2021-04-01 The first full-length biography of William Still, one of the most important leaders of the Underground Railroad. William Still: The Underground Railroad and the Angel at Philadelphia is the first major biography of the free Black abolitionist William Still, who coordinated the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad and was a pillar of the Railroad as a whole. Based in Philadelphia, Still built a reputation as a courageous leader, writer, philanthropist, and guide for fugitive enslaved people. This monumental work details Still’s life story beginning with his parents’ escape from bondage in the early nineteenth century and continuing through his youth and adulthood as one of the nation’s most important Underground Railroad agents and, later, as an early civil rights pioneer. Still worked personally with Harriet Tubman, assisted the family of John Brown, helped Brown’s associates escape from Harper’s Ferry after their famous raid, and was a rival to Frederick Douglass among nationally prominent African American abolitionists. Still’s life story is told in the broader context of the anti-slavery movement, Philadelphia Quaker and free black history, and the generational conflict that occurred between Still and a younger group of free black activists led by Octavius Catto. Unique to this book is an accessible and detailed database of the 995 fugitives Still helped escape from the South to the North and Canada between 1853 and 1861. The database contains twenty different fields—including name, age, gender, skin color, date of escape, place of origin, mode of transportation, and literacy—and serves as a valuable aid for scholars by offering the opportunity to find new information, and therefore a new perspective, on runaway enslaved people who escaped on the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad. Based on Still’s own writings and a multivariate statistical analysis of the database of the runaways he assisted on their escape to freedom, the book challenges previously accepted interpretations of the Underground Railroad. The audience for William Still is a diverse one, including scholars and general readers interested in the history of the anti-slavery movement and the operation of the Underground Railroad, as well as genealogists tracing African American ancestors. |
| a monumental day in black history: Frederick Douglass David W. Blight, 2020-01-07 * Selected as One of the Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times * Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History * “Extraordinary…a great American biography” (The New Yorker) of the most important African American of the 19th century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era. As a young man Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the brutality of slavery. Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass spoke widely, using his own story to condemn slavery. By the Civil War, Douglass had become the most famed and widely travelled orator in the nation. In his unique and eloquent voice, written and spoken, Douglass was a fierce critic of the United States as well as a radical patriot. After the war he sometimes argued politically with younger African Americans, but he never forsook either the Republican party or the cause of black civil and political rights. In this “cinematic and deeply engaging” (The New York Times Book Review) biography, David Blight has drawn on new information held in a private collection that few other historian have consulted, as well as recently discovered issues of Douglass’s newspapers. “Absorbing and even moving…a brilliant book that speaks to our own time as well as Douglass’s” (The Wall Street Journal), Blight’s biography tells the fascinating story of Douglass’s two marriages and his complex extended family. “David Blight has written the definitive biography of Frederick Douglass…a powerful portrait of one of the most important American voices of the nineteenth century” (The Boston Globe). In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Frederick Douglass won the Bancroft, Parkman, Los Angeles Times (biography), Lincoln, Plutarch, and Christopher awards and was named one of the Best Books of 2018 by The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Time. |
| a monumental day in black history: Home To Harlem Claude McKay, 2024-06-18 Home to Harlem is a groundbreaking novel written by Claude McKay, a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Published in 1928, it is considered as one of the earliest works of the Harlem Renaissance movement, which sought to celebrate African American culture and identity through literature, art, and music. McKay's novel is a powerful and thought-provoking depiction of the lives of African Americans living in the urban city of Harlem during the 1920s. The novel follows the story of Jake Brown, a young black man who returns to Harlem after serving in World War I. Through Jake's eyes, McKay portrays the vibrant and complex world of Harlem, with its jazz clubs, speakeasies, and bustling streets. The city is a melting pot of different cultures, with people from all walks of life coexisting and struggling to survive in a society that is hostile towards them. One of the main themes of the novel is the search for identity and belonging. Jake, like many other African Americans, is torn between his rural Southern roots and the urban lifestyle of Harlem. He is constantly trying to find his place in a city that is both alluring and rejecting, facing the dilemma of whether to conform to societal expectations or embrace his true self. This struggle is further highlighted through the character of Ray, Jake's friend, who is trying to pass as white to gain acceptance and privilege in society. McKay's writing is raw and unapologetic, as he fearlessly addresses issues of race, class, and gender. He exposes the harsh realities of racism and discrimination faced by African Americans, both in the North and the South. The novel also delves into the complexities of relationships, particularly between men and women, and the impact of societal expectations on them. Moreover, Home to Harlem is a celebration of African American culture and traditions. McKay effortlessly weaves in elements of jazz, blues, and folklore into the narrative, giving readers a glimpse into the rich and vibrant culture of Harlem. He also highlights the resilience and strength of the African American community, who despite facing numerous challenges, continue to thrive and create their own spaces of freedom and joy. In addition to its literary significance, Home to Harlem is also a social commentary on the limitations and restrictions placed on African Americans during the 1920s. McKay's novel is a call for social and political change, urging readers to challenge the status quo and fight for equality and justice. Home to Harlem is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that provides a unique and authentic perspective on the African American experience during the Harlem Renaissance. It is a timeless classic that continues to inspire and educate readers about the struggles and triumphs of a community that fought for their place in American society. |
| a monumental day in black history: Nannie Helen Burroughs Nannie Helen Burroughs, 2019-05-31 This volume brings together the writings of Nannie Helen Burroughs, an educator, civil rights activist, and leading voice in the African American community during the first half of the twentieth century. Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879–1961) is just one of the many African American intellectuals whose work has long been excluded from the literary canon. In her time, Burroughs was a celebrated African American (or, in her era, a race woman) female activist, educator, and intellectual. This book represents a landmark contribution to the African American intellectual historical project by allowing readers to experience Burroughs in her own words. This anthology of her works written between 1900 and 1959 encapsulates Burroughs's work as a theologian, philosopher, activist, educator, intellectual, and evangelist, as well as the myriad of ways that her career resisted definition. Burroughs rubbed elbows with such African American historical icons as W. E. B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Anna Julia Cooper, Mary Church Terrell, and Mary McLeod Bethune, and these interactions represent much of the existing, easily available literature on Burroughs's life. This book aims to spark a conversation surrounding Burroughs's life and work by making available her own tracts on God, sin, the intersections of church and society, black womanhood, education, and social justice. Moreover, the volume is an important piece of the growing movement toward excavating African American intellectual and philosophical thought and reformulating the literary canon to bring a diverse array of voices to the table. |
| a monumental day in black history: Partners of the Heart Vivien T. Thomas, 1998-01-29 Visitors to the Blalock Building at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center are greeted by portraits of two great men. One, of renowned heart surgeon Alfred Blalock, speaks for itself. The other, of highschool graduate Vivien Thomas, is testimony to the incredible genius and determination of the first black man to hold a professional position at one of America's premier medical institutions. Thomas's dreams of attending medical school were dashed when the Depression hit. After spending some time as a carpenter's apprentice, Thomas took what he expected to be a temporary job as a technician in Blalock's lab. The two men soon became partners and together invented the field of cardiac surgery. Partners of the Heart is Thomas's extraordinary autobiography. Trained in laboratory techniques by Alfred Blalock and Joseph W. Beard, Thomas remained Blalock's principal technician and laboratory chief for the rest of Blalock's distinguished career. Thomas very rapidly learned to perform surgery, to do chemical determinations, and to carry out physiologic studies. He became a phenomenal technician and was able to carry out complicated experimental cardiac operations totally unassisted and to devise new ones. In addition to telling Thomas's life story, Partners of the Heart traces the beginnings of modern cardiac surgery, crucial investigations into the nature of shock, and Blalock's methods of training surgeons. |
| a monumental day in black history: The Autobiography of Malcolm X Malcolm X, Alex Haley, 1965 Malcolm X's blazing, legendary autobiography, completed shortly before his assassination in 1965, depicts a remarkable life: a child born into rage and despair, who turned to street-hustling and cocaine in the Harlem ghetto, followed by prison, where he converted to the Black Muslims and honed the energy and brilliance that made him one of the most important political figures of his time - and an icon in ours. It also charts the spiritual journey that took him beyond militancy, and led to his murder, a powerful story of transformation, redemption and betrayal. Vilified by his critics as an anti-white demagogue, Malcolm X gave a voice to unheard African-Americans, bringing them pride, hope and fearlessness, and remains an inspirational and controversial figure today. |
| a monumental day in black history: Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America's Public Monuments Erin L. Thompson, 2022-02-08 A leading expert on the past, present, and future of public monuments in America. An urgent and fractious national debate over public monuments has erupted in America. Some people risk imprisonment to tear down long-ignored hunks of marble; others form armed patrols to defend them. Why do we care so much about statues? Which ones should stay up and which should come down? Who should make these decisions, and how? Erin L. Thompson, the country’s leading expert in the tangled aesthetic, legal, political, and social issues involved in such battles, brings much-needed clarity in Smashing Statues. She lays bare the turbulent history of American monuments and its abundant ironies, from the enslaved man who helped make the statue of Freedom that tops the United States Capitol, to the fervent Klansman fired from sculpting the world’s largest Confederate monument—who went on to carve Mount Rushmore. And she explores the surprising motivations behind contemporary flashpoints, including the toppling of a statue of Columbus at the Minnesota State Capitol, the question of who should be represented on the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park, and the decision by a museum of African American culture to display a Confederate monument removed from a public park. Written with great verve and informed by a keen sense of American history, Smashing Statues gives readers the context they need to consider the fundamental questions for rebuilding not only our public landscape but our nation as a whole: Whose voices must be heard, and whose pain must remain private? |
| a monumental day in black history: Mining the Museum Fred Wilson, Lisa G. Corrin, 1994 |
| a monumental day in black history: Monumental Harm Roger C. Hartley, 2021-01-12 A road map for addressing and resolving the debate surrounding Confederate monuments in the United States In recent years, the debate over the future of Confederate monuments has taken center stage and caused bitter clashes in communities throughout the American South. At the heart of the debate is the question of what these monuments represent. The arguments and counterarguments are formulated around sets of assumptions grounded in Southern history, politics, culture, and race relations. Comprehending and evaluating accurately the associated claims and counterclaims calls for a careful examination of facts and legal considerations relevant to each side's assertations. In Monumental Harm, Roger C. Hartley offers a road map to addressing and resolving this acrimonious debate. Although history and popular memory play a vital role in the discussion, there have been distortions of both parts. Monumental Harm reviews the fact-based history of the initial raising of these monuments and distinguishes it from the popular memory held by many Confederate-monument supporters. Hartley also addresses concerns regarding the potential erasure of history and the harm these monuments have caused the African American community over the years, as well as the role they continue to play in politics and power. The recent rise in White nationalism and the video-recorded murders of Black citizens at the hands of White police officers have led to nationwide demonstrations and increased scrutiny of Confederate monuments on public land. As injustice is laid bare and tempers flare, the need for a peaceful resolution becomes ever-more necessary. Monumental Harm offers a way to break the rhetorical deadlock, urging that we evaluate the issue through the lens of the U.S. Constitution while employing the overarching democratic principle that no right is absolute. Through constructive discourse and good-faith compromise, a more perfect union is within reach. |
| a monumental day in black history: The Dred Scott Case Roger Brooke Taney, Israel Washburn, Horace Gray, 2022-10-27 The Washington University Libraries presents an online exhibit of documents regarding the Dred Scott case. American slave Dred Scott (1795?-1858) and his wife Harriet filed suit for their freedom in the Saint Louis Circuit Court in 1846. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1857 that the Scotts must remain slaves. |
| a monumental day in black history: Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops Susie King Taylor, 1902 |
| a monumental day in black history: All Different Now Angela Johnson, 2014-05-06 In 1865, members of a family start their day as slaves, working in a Texas cotton field, and end it celebrating their freedom on what came to be known as Juneteenth. |
| a monumental day in black history: The Black Russian Vladimir Alexandrov, 2013-03-05 The “altogether astonishing” true story of a black American finding fame and fortune in Moscow and Constantinople at the turn of the 20th century (Booklist, starred review). The Black Russian tells the true story of Frederick Bruce Thomas, a man born in 1872 to former slaves who became prosperous farmers in Mississippi. But when his father was murdered, Frederick left the South to work as a waiter in Chicago and Brooklyn. Seeking greater freedom, he traveled to London, then crisscrossed Europe, and—in a highly unusual choice for a black American at the time—went to Russia. Because he found no color line there, Frederick settled in Moscow, becoming a rich and famous owner of variety theaters and restaurants. When the Bolshevik Revolution ruined him, he barely escaped to Constantinople, where he made another fortune by opening celebrated nightclubs as the “Sultan of Jazz.” Though Frederick reached extraordinary heights, the long arm of American racism, the xenophobia of the new Turkish Republic, and Frederick’s own extravagance brought his life to a sad close, landing him in debtor’s prison, where he died a forgotten man in 1928. “In his assiduously researched, prodigiously descriptive, fluently analytical” narrative (Booklist, starred review), Alexandrov delivers “a tale . . . so colourful and improbable that it reads more like a novel than a work of historical biography.” (The Literary Review). “[An] extraordinary story . . . [interpreted] with great sensitivity.” —The New York Review of Books |
| a monumental day in black history: The Black Presidency Michael Eric Dyson, 2016-02-02 A provocative and lively examination of the meaning of America's first black presidency, by the New York Times-bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop. Michael Eric Dyson explores the powerful, surprising way the politics of race have shaped Barack Obama’s identity and groundbreaking presidency. How has President Obama dealt publicly with race—as the national traumas of Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and Walter Scott have played out during his tenure? What can we learn from Obama's major race speeches about his approach to racial conflict and the black criticism it provokes? Dyson explores whether Obama’s use of his own biracialism as a radiant symbol has been driven by the president’s desire to avoid a painful moral reckoning on race. And he sheds light on identity issues within the black power structure, telling the fascinating story of how Obama has spurned traditional black power brokers, significantly reducing their leverage. President Obama’s own voice—from an Oval Office interview granted to Dyson for this book—along with those of Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, and Maxine Waters, among others, add unique depth to this profound tour of the nation’s first black presidency. “Dyson proves…that he is without peer when it comes to contextualizing race in twenty-first-century America… A must-read for anyone who wants to better understand America’s racial past, present, and future.”—Gilbert King, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Devil in the Grove “No one understands the American dilemma of race—and Barack Obama’s confounding and yet wondrous grappling with it—better than [Dyson.]”—Douglas Blackmon, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Slavery by Another Name |
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MONUMENTAL Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
resembling a monument; massive or imposing. a monumental work. a monumental victory. Fine Arts. having the quality of being larger than life; of heroic scale. of or relating to a monument or …
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MONUMENTAL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of MONUMENTAL is serving as or resembling a monument : massive; also : highly significant : outstanding. How to use monumental in a sentence.
MONUMENTAL | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
Rebuilding the bridge proved to be a monumental job. We have also undertaken very intensive excavation in many of the monumental buildings and complexes that make up the site's …
Monumental Labs
By driving down the cost of stone fabrication with robots and AI, we’ll unleash the creative possibilities of artists and architects everywhere—and sustain a new generation of sculptors …
MONUMENTAL Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
resembling a monument; massive or imposing. a monumental work. a monumental victory. Fine Arts. having the quality of being larger than life; of heroic scale. of or relating to a monument or …
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Delivery & Pickup Options - 27 reviews and 22 photos of EMPANADAS MONUMENTAL "Oh damn. Empanadas Monumental has just become the most dangerous place for me to pass on …
15 Famous New York Monuments And Statues In NYC To Visit
Mar 19, 2024 · Regardless, you will encounter a treasure trove of awe-inspiring monuments of New York City that will surely captivate you. In addition to all the incredible landmarks in New …
Monumental New York!: A Guide to 30 Iconic Memorials in ...
Jul 1, 2011 · Monumental New York! highlights thirty of the most fascinating statues and memorials found throughout Upstate New York. D’Imperio leads readers through the state’s …
Monumental - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
Whether it's a monumental effort requiring vast amounts of strength or a monumental cruise ship with eleven floors and five sets of elevators, the word monumental describes something …
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Welcome to Empanadas Monumental, a Latin American gem located in the vibrant city of New York! This quaint restaurant specializes in delicious empanadas and Caribbean cuisine, …
