February is BLACK HISTORY MONTH - Topic Powered by The Guyanese Community

Guyana News and Information Discussion Forums

Sugar Industry of British Guiana, built up by the Negro, was saved by the East Indians

Williams, Eric Eustace, The Historical Background of British Guiana’s Problems, The Journal of Negro History Volume 30 Number 4 – October, 1945 Pages 357-381.

The myth of the laziness of the Negro is one of the most mischievous legacies of the slavery period. Its origin lies in ‘the hypothesis,’ as the Governor of Jamaica put it, ‘expressed or understood that the system of husbandry pursued during slavery was alone suited to tropical cultivation.’

Lord Russell reminded the Governor of British Guiana, “the happiness of the inhabitants of the colony you are appointed to govern is the chief object.”

Thus, in 1833, the British Guiana planter stood with his back to the wall. A formidable combination of adversaries was arrayed against him – the British Government, the capitalists, the humanitarians, and the slaves. Escape was impossible. He was doomed. He could not fight his adversaries in England and his adversaries in Guiana at one and the same time. Whilst Britain was haggling over the price of his sugar, his slaves were refusing to produce that sugar. Emancipation was not only a moral necessity, as the humanitarians emphasized; not only an economic necessity, as the capitalists insisted; it was a political necessity as the slaves demanded. If the government had not stepped in to emancipate the slaves, the slaves would have emancipated themselves.

The problems of the British West Indies, in fact of the entire Caribbean area, are basically economic. The root of these problems lies in one fact that can be simply stated: the staple of Caribbean economy, sugar, has for a hundred years been fighting desperately for survival in the world market. Competition has come from two quarters – the extension of cane cultivation in other tropical regions of the globe, and the development of beet sugar in the temperate regions.

“As to my office, it is a delusion. There is no protection for the Slave Population; and they will very shortly take the matter into their own hands, and destroy the property. The only way of saving these Countries is to give the Slaves a reasonable share in the produce of their labour. I am desperately unpopular”. Captain Elliott, in 1832, the Protector of Slaves.

In 1808 a Negro revolt was betrayed. The ringleaders were arrested. They consisted of “the drivers, tradesmen, and other most sensible slaves on the estates. The planters paid no heed. In 1823 another and more serious slave revolt broke out on the East Coast. The slaves demanded, “Unconditional emancipation”. “These things were no comfort to them, God had made them of the same flesh and blood as the whites, and they were tired of being slaves to them, that they should be free and they would not work any more.”

The sugar industry of British Guiana, built up by the Negro, was saved by the East Indians.

“None of the most inveterate opponents of our recent measures of emancipation, allege that the Negroes have turned robbers, or plunderers, or bloodthirsty insurgents. What appears from their statement is that they have become shopkeepers, and petty traders, and hucksters, and small freeholders; a blessed change…”

Economically, British Guiana today is what it was a century ago, its difficulties aggravated. It is still sparsely populated, its hinterland still unknown. Capital still steers clear of the colony, at least in quantities commensurate with the size of the area. The upkeep of the sea defenses and the drainage and irrigation system still constitutes a severe drain on slender financial resources. The defenders of the plantation economy are still challenged by the protagonists of the subsistence farm.

British Guiana’s sugar, like the sugar of the British West Indies islands, is still seeking a remunerative market, the prospect of which recedes further and further into the background. The colony is as much a victim of world economy today as it was yesterday – of the religion of free trade in 1844, of the passion for autarchy in 1944.

Ignored post by Dove posted

Show Post

Dove

Location: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Registered:: March 08, 1999

Posts: 46232

Posted

Guianese born Blacks in Science and Medicine

Notice biographical data of the following Guianese born medical professionals; James Augustus Trotman, Moses Alfred Haynes, Aubre deL Maynard, Thomas Adolphus Jones, Clifton Orin Dummett, Robert Isaac Greenidge in the book, “Blacks in Science and Medicine”, written by Vivian Ovelton Sammons, Science Librarian at the Library of Congress, 1962-1987, and published by Hemisphere Publishing Corporation in 1990.

I am thinking you would love to request permission from Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, on the behalf of the GGBS to use the copyright material on the web site.

James Augustus Trotman 1876-19??
Physician, Surgeon, Gynecologist, and Obstetrician
Born in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), March 11, 1876.
University of Vermont, 1904-07;
M.D., Temple University, 1908;
Post Graduate Work, 1920-22;
Fellowship Courses in Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal Pathological Museum, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, Scotland;
Post Graduate Courses, Faculte de Med., Universite de Paris, Surgery (Gynecology, Urology) and Obstetrics.

Memberships and Awards:
Philadelphia County Medical Society; American Medical Association; National Medical Association; Kappa Alpha Psi.

Ref:
Who’s who in Colored American, 1928-29 p 370 (p) opp. p370.
Who’s who in Colored American, 1933-37 p 526 (p) opp. P527.
Sammons, Vivian Ovelton (1990) Blacks in Science and Medicine p 234.

Moses Alfred Haynes 1921
Physician
Born in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), November 11, 1921.
US Citizen, 1955.
B.S., Columbia University, 1951;
M.D., State University of New York, 1954;
M.P.H., Harvard University, 1963;
Physician , US Public Health Service Indian Hospital, Cheyenne Agy, SD, 1955-59;
Assistant Professor, Community Medicine, University of Vermont, 1959-64;
Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins, 1966-69;
Professor, Preventive and Social Medicine and Public Health, UCLA, 1969-77;
Associate Dean, Drew Post Graduate Medical School, Los Angles, 1969-77;
Chairman, Department of Community Medicine,1969-74; Acting Dean, 1975-76; Dean, 1979 -

Memberships and Awards:
Cancer Review Committee, National Cancer Institute; President’s Commission on Health Education, 1972; Executive Director, National Association Foundation, 1968-69; Member, Advisory Committee, National Center for Health statistics, 1974-76; Fellow, American College of Preventive Medicine, President, 1983-85; AAAS; Alpha Omega Alpha; Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine.

Ref:
Who’s Who in American, 1986-87 p 1229.
Living Legends in Black, p 25.
Sammons, Vivian Ovelton (1990) Blacks in Science and Medicine p 115.

Thomas Adolphus Jones 1873-19??
Physician, Surgeon
Born in British Guiana (now Guyana),SA, May 6, 1873.
Howard University Medical School, 1900;
M.D., Boston College of Physicians and Surgeon, Boston, MA, 1903;
MD., CM., McGill University, 1913;
Professor of Bacteriology and Chemistry, Flint Medical College, 1903-04;
Medical Examiner, Bergen Lodge no. 43, K. of P. and St. Marks Lodge, Odd Fellows;
Founded and was Medical Director of an Obstetrical School for colored students, Gonzales, TX, 1904; the school graduated the first four females and two males to pass the Texas State Board of Obstetricians.

Memberships and Awards:
President, Hudson County Physicians Association.

Ref:
Who’s Who in Colored American, 1928-29 p 219.
Who’s Who in Colored American, 1930-32 p 250.
Who’s Who in Colored American, 1933-37 p 302.
Who’s Who in Colored American, 1938-40 p 302.
Who’s Who in Colored American, 1941-44 p 299.
Who’s Who of the Colored Race, 1915 p 164.

Sammons, Vivian Ovelton (1990) Blacks in Science and Medicine p 234.

Robert Isaac Greenidge (1888-19??)
Physician
Born in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), October 27, 1888.
B.S., Battle Creek College, MI, 1910;
M.D., College of Medicine, Detroit, 1915;
Further Study Cook County Hospital, Chicago; Illinois Post Graduate Hospital, Superintendent, Fairview Sanatorium, Detroit, 1930;
Director, East Side Medical Laboratory, 1927-;
Medical Directory, Vice-President, Great Lakes Mutual Life Insurance, 1928-

Memberships and Awards:
Alpha Phi Alpha; Wayne County Medical Society; Michigan State Medical Society; American College of Radiology; American Medical Association; National Medical Association;

Ref:
The National Register, 1952 p575
Ebony Oct., 1950 p 41 (p)
Who’s Who in Colored American, 1941-44 pp 217-218..
Sammons, Vivian Ovelton (1990) Blacks in Science and Medicine p 106.

Clifton Orin Dummett (1919)
Dentist
Born in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), May 20, 1919.
B.S., Roosevelt University, 1941;
D.D.S., Northwestern University, 1941;
M.S.D., 1942;
M.P.H., 1947;
One of the first three Dentists to get a PhD in Dentistry.
Chief Dental Services, VA Hospital, Tuskegee, 1949-1965;
VA Research Hospital Chicago, 1965-66;
Dean and Director, Dental Education, Meharry Medical College, 1942-47;

Memberships and Awards:
Julius Rosenwald Fellow; American Public Health Association; American College of Dentists; International College of Dentists; Honorary Member, American Dental Association; International Association for Dental Research; National Dental Association; American Academy of Dental Medicine; Sigma X1; Delta Omega; Sigma Pi Phi; Alpha Phi Alpha.

Pub:
The Growth and Development of the Negro in Dentistry in the United States. Chicago, National Dental Association, 1952.

Ref:
Chicago Black Dental Professional, p 100.
Medico-Chirurgical Society of the District of Columbia, Inc., Bulletin, April 1949 p1, (p)
Who’s Who among Black Americans, 1985 p 239.
Sammons, Vivian Ovelton (1990) Blacks in Science and Medicine pp.79-80.

Aubre deL Maynard 1901-19??
Physician, Surgeon (Thoracic)
Born in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), 1901.
B.S., College City of New York, 1922;
M.D., New York University Medical College, 1926;
Surgical Director, Harlem Hospital New York, 1952-;
Surgeon in Charge of the removal of the knife from the chest of Dr. Martin Luther King, jr., Harlem Hospital, 1958.

Memberships and Awards:
New York Academy of Medicine; New York Thoracic Surgical; New York Surgical Society; Diplomate, American Board of Surgery.

Ref:
Crisis, June/July 1954 pp 354-356 (p)
Crisis, June/July 1956 pp 337 (p)
A Century of Black Surgeons p 171-179 (p).
Living Legends in Black, p 25.
Sammons, Vivian Ovelton (1990) Blacks in Science and Medicine p 165.

Ignored post by Dove posted

Show Post

André

Location: Rite Hay

Registered:: January 09, 2003

Posts: 17183

Posted

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2019775,00.html

The weight of colour
Frank Bowling used to lament his 'benign neglect' in Britain. Finally, in 2005, he became the first black Royal Academician, and now his work is being celebrated in a series of shows

Maya Jaggi
Saturday February 24, 2007

Guardian

It was 1953 when Frank Bowling, as a teenager doing his national service in London, "discovered art". His RAF friends were art school students, and "we'd hang out in the National Gallery, waiting for the bar to open in the Naafi", he says. "I didn't know anything about drawing or painting. But I was hooked." He graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1962, alongside David Hockney, RB Kitaj, Allen Jones and Derek Boshier, winning the silver medal to Hockney's gold. But unlike contemporaries who founded British pop art, Bowling took a singular path, from Bacon-esque figurative painting to an abstract art touched by personal memory and history.
Now 70, he has criss-crossed the Atlantic for 40 years. After leaving British Guyana for a school in London when he was 15, he moved to New York in the mid-1960s, and later set up permanent studios in south London and Brooklyn. With two Guggenheim fellowships, and dealers in Manhattan, Washington, Chicago and Philadelphia, his US reputation and sales have sustained him. Though he has always had admirers in Britain, from his early mentor Carel Weight to critic Matthew Collings and artist and film-maker Isaac Julien, he was not represented by a UK gallery until 2002.

There are other signs that Britain's art world may be catching on. Bowling was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 2005 - the first black artist so honoured in its 200-year history. "I never expected it," he says, pointing out that his name was first put forward in 1966. He has since been taken on by the gallery Rollo Contemporary Art, and the Tate - which included him in its 1960s group show - has purchased two more paintings to add to the sole Bowling in its collection since 1987. Frank's Colour, an exhibition of 22 paintings since the 1980s, is in the Sir Hugh Casson Room at the Royal Academy until March 14. A solo show begins at Peg Alston Fine Arts in New York in April, and another at the Arts Club in London in May.

Bowling's work is known for the astonishing range and vibrancy of its palette - though he mixes his acrylic paints in jam jars, whose tops occasionally find their way on to the canvas, along with mundane objects embedded in gel. His tools include decorator's brushes and plasterer's scrapers, and for a while he let chance influence his "poured paintings". Though abstract, his canvases can evoke earth and foliage, swirling depths and mist, shimmering light and tidal flats. The Guyanese artist Dennis de Caires saw them as "not landscape but land". Bowling is a "painter's painter, and a visionary", says Gilane Tawadros, curator and founding director of the Institute of International Visual Arts (inIVA) in London. "His experiments in paint in the 1960s, and since, were way ahead of their time. He paved the way for other artists for whom political and aesthetic considerations are not seen as separate."

Bowling lives a stone's throw from Tate Britain, in Pimlico, with his partner of 18 years, Rachel Scott, a textile artist. She shows visitors around his crammed, dank studio across the Thames in Peacock's Yard. "I can't stand being in the studio while people are looking at my paintings," he says in a rather plummy English accent that can veer across the Atlantic. In Brooklyn, where he goes three times a year, he has a loft under Manhattan Bridge on the East River. "I work very long hours," he says. "The view fills me with delight. It's invigorating being right there on the edge of the water." Though dapper in red braces and a trilby, Bowling is fretful since he fell and gashed his right hand, making work difficult. "I bled profusely, being diabetic."

His White paintings, shown at ArtSway in the New Forest last year, counterpoint his colour-filled canvases. Spanning 40 years, they were inspired by intimate moments in his life. The first series, done in January 1962 before the birth of his eldest son Dan, are "landscapes of snow-laden trees, with still lifes of milk and wine bottles. I was learning how to handle paint, waiting for my son to be born." The second came 30 years later, during heavy snowfall in Brooklyn, and the third after Dan, a drummer in a band, then a novelist and screenwriter, died suddenly of a suspected brain clot in November 2001. "Even now I wake up in the middle of the night, wondering what happened," Bowling says. "On the way to the shops, he fell down in the street, was taken to hospital and never got off the slab. I was so stunned and frozen by his death that I had no way of coping. I broke down at the funeral. It seemed like such a thunderbolt." He worked on ready-made canvases given to him by a friend of his son. "I felt I owed it to Dan, as a homage to his life, a memorial," he says. "There was no way to mourn, or let go, but the show helped me come to terms with it."

His son's death came soon after September 11, when the twin towers vanished from his studio window, and "piles of contaminated cars were put on rafts and dumped outside our building". Though he shies away from linking the two events, he says, "it did seem that these shocking moments came together - I felt unhinged all the time". Yet he no longer felt drawn to reflect political upheaval on his canvas, as he had as a student. "I've had to live through so many world events - the end of colonialism, judicial murder, people hanging from trees."

He was born in 1936 in Bartica, at the confluence of three rivers in British Guyana. His father was a police district paymaster and his mother a seamstress, and they lived above Bowling's Variety Store in a colonial-style house. Traces of his mother recur in his paintings, in needles and thread fixed in gel, or canvases cut with pinking shears.

After joining an uncle in London in 1950, he studied at the Chelsea School of Art, then the Royal College - where he was temporarily expelled in 1960 for marrying a staff member. His early work was inspired by the old masters, while English painting, from Gainsborough to Turner, has "always had a hold over my imagination", he says. Spurred by "a deep urge to right wrongs", he drew on Goya "as a young artist trying to express outrage at war". Hockney was a friend ("we'd bet on cricket and go on vegetarian diets"), but Bowling's contemporary influence was Francis Bacon, whom he'd meet in pubs.

He exhibited with the London Group in 1964, but stopped being included in group shows of British art. Pressured to exhibit at the First World Festival of Negro Art in Senegal, "I freaked - I began to feel I was being isolated from my peers because I was black," he says. "I felt people had a locked-in view of what I should be doing as an artist, that my role was to represent a certain viewpoint. I resented being pre- packaged, as though put in a trick bag, and I had to fight my way out."

In New York, he found himself as an artist. As a contributing editor of Arts Magazine in the late 1960s, he took issue with the Black Arts Movement, insisting there was no such thing as "black art". Many African Americans, he says, "thought they shouldn't be practising 'white art'. They were making trivialised versions of African art, punching the air about black power." Yet for Bowling, "the black soul, if there is such a thing, belongs in modernism". He says: "The African input in modernism has never been acknowledged; we talk about 'primitivism' instead. But the Middle Passage was a cleansing of old notions: the new way of making art stems from what the same people they put in chains and dragged across the water brought to the New World."

A visit to Guyana after graduation triggered childhood memories. In New York, Bowling made his Map paintings, using a worn photographic image of his mother's store, the contours of an enlarged South America and layers of colour. As Jasper Johns and Larry Rivers deconstructed US power with maps and flags, Bowling, just after Guyana's independence in 1966, reimagined in paint a world de-centred and redrawn by the end of empire. "I didn't feel brave enough to go straight into abstraction. I dallied with the maps," he says. Encouraged by the US critic Clement Greenberg, he found a freedom in abstract art, alongside Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman.

He met hostility. "I felt they were saying black people can't make abstract art - how dare you? It sent me to the psychiatrist's couch. I was in therapy in New York for the first few years." From another quarter, the St Lucian poet and watercolourist Derek Walcott "berated me for betraying the Caribbean spirit; if you weren't painting cane-cutters and suffering, you weren't a Caribbean artist. But everything I felt attached to was London-born."

Bowling had separated from his wife, and had two more sons in Britain in the early 1960s: Benjamin, now an academic, and Sacha Jason, a filmmaker. In 1975 he "yielded to pressure to return to London to play father to my three teenage sons", and taught at art colleges ("a punishment").

According to Tawadros, his work "doesn't sit comfortably within the existing historiography of postwar British art". It has begun to be re-evaluated with greater understanding of post- colonial and diaspora artists. In the view of critic Kobena Mercer, it touches on "themes of loss, separation and survival". For Bowling, "it's the geometry and weight of colour that allow me to say a picture is complete. But I'll never be able to rule out that world events may creep in."

He has also grappled with the influence of his tropical childhood in Guyana's wetlands. "I had to face people saying, 'Frank, that colour is so ******ish.' Or they said it had a Caribbean tinge, as though it was carried in the genes. I resisted it, but it crept up on me that my leaning to a range of colour could depend on what I first saw when I opened my eyes, a certain light. I'm leary about this, but I'm willing to accept the unconscious." As for his evocation of oceans and rivers, "I'm driven to living near water - it's a fact of my life."

Though Bowling used to lament his "benign neglect", he may have suffered from others' bogus expectations. His Map paintings were in storage for three decades until they caused a stir at the 2003 Venice Biennale. In the view of Tawadros, who curated that show, "a major retrospective is long overdue".

"It's impossible to escape race, but I don't want it in my studio," Bowling says. His sole aim has been "to make some good art. I'm constantly looking for new ways to do the same thing - dipping, spilling; edging towards one recognisable thing, and backing away." After each series, "I'm dissatisfied - but I'll keep trying."

Ignored post by André posted

Show Post

DaFreak

CEO GGG

Location: SugaRi diL

Registered:: October 07, 2004

Posts: 54544

Posted

Martin Wylde Carter

Martin Wylde Carter was born in 1927 in Georgetown, British Guiana. His family, of mixed African, Indian and European ancestry, was part of the coloured middle class. His father was a civil servant, a reader and discusser of philosophy and mother also a lover of books and reciting verse. Martin Carter attended the prestigious Queen’s College between 1939 and 1945. In that year he got a job in the civil service, first in the Post Office, then as secretary to the superintendent of prisons. By 1945, it seems likely that he had come into contact with the Marxist ideas of the Political Affairs Committee (the Jagans, Cheddi and Janet, and HJM Hubbard). A friendship with the Jagans began, with access to their extensive, radical library.

His first poems began to appear in Thunder in 1950 and in Kyk-over-Al in the following year. He was also writing political pieces in Thunder under the pseudonym of M. Black (to protect his civil service post). In 1951, his first short collection, The Hill of Fire Glows Red, appeared in A.J. Seymour’s Miniature Poet Series, followed by The Kind Eagle (Poems of Prison), 1952 and The Hidden Man (Other Poems of Prison) - at this stage the prison was still metaphorical. In 1954 came the collection that established Carter’s international reputation, Poems of Resistance from British Guiana, published in London by the Communist publishers Lawrence and Wishart.

By this time, the constitution had been suspended after 133 days of PPP government and Carter was one of those who were detained. The prison became actual. By 1955, the beginnings of Martin Carter’s breach with the PPP was evident. He had been criticised by Cheddi Jagan as an ultra-leftist, and he was dismayed by the way in which race had become the chief recruiter to the Jagan/Burnham divide. He wrote the deeply pessimistic ‘Poems of Shape and Motion’ in this year.

From 1954-1959 Carter worked as a school teacher and published no poems until 1961. In 1959 he joined the multinational firm of Bookers (then owner of Guyana’s sugar estates as information officer, editing Bookers News between 1965 and 1966. The riots of 1962 brought him onto the streets on the side of the strikers against the Jagan government. The sequence of poems, ‘Jail Me Quickly’ come from this period. In 1967 he served under the Burnham government as a delegate to the UN, and in 1968 joined that government as Minister of Information, a post he held until 1970, when he resigned, publishing the poem, ‘...the mouth is muzzled/by the food it eats to live’. By this stage the incipient corruption, authoritarianism and racism of the Burnham government was more than a man of integrity could stand.

During the 1970s, Carter’s poems took on a more personal and reflective cast. His Poems of Succession was published by New Beacon in 1978. In that same year, Carter re-entered the political struggle as the Working Peoples Alliance, under the leadership of Walter Rodney began a political and physical struggle against the attempts of Burnham and the PNC to install their corrupt clique in permanent political power. Carter, beloved national poet, was beaten up by PNC thugs in 1978 in protests against the PNC’s refusal to hold elections; he was present at the 1979 demonstration when a Fr Darke, photographer for the Catholic Herald, was murdered in broad daylight (see Carter’s ‘Bastille Day - Georgetown’). His ‘Open Letter to the people of Guyana’ was a brave public attempt to draw attention to the depraved depths to which the PNC was taking Guyanese society - brave because of the killing at this time of a number of WPA activists, including of course Walter Rodney. Carter’s poetic response came in the brief, gnomic, densely multi-layered poems in Poems of Affinity 1978-80 (Release Publishers, 1980) which will provide an eloquent statement of how the artist can anatomise the dark heart of bleak times, which will be remembered long after the misdeeds of the Burnham regime are forgotten.

Whilst essays by critics such as Kamau Brathwaite and Gordon Rohlehr had made it very clear that Carter was to be regarded as in the very front rank of Caribbean poets, with the exception of other poets, his reputation did not extend much beyond Guyana, and there was a tendency to see him merely as a poet of protest. A number of publications have begun to change that situation. The publication of Rupert Roopnaraine’s brilliant essay Web of October: Rereading Martin Carter (Peepal Tree, 1987) showed how completely the personal and philosophical interpenetrated the political, and vice-versa, in his poetry. His Selected Poems came out in 1989 (Demerara Publishers) and again, enlarged and corrected, in 1997 (Red Thread Press) and it became possible for the first time to see just how considerable a body there was of Carter’s poetry, of the highest quality; while Poesias Escogidas (Peepal Tree, 1999), a dual English/Spanish translation of selected poems, reminded readers that Carter was a world poet who had to be seen in the highest company of the great Latin American poets, Neruda, Guillen and Cesar Vallejo.

In 2000, Peepal Tree published All Are Involved: The Art of Martin Carter, ed. Stewart Brown, which with essays from virtually all significant Caribbean critics, Carter’s contemporaries, including Lamming and Walcott, and younger writers who recorded their debt to Carter’s poetic and human example, provided all the means that were needed to make sense of Carter’s giant achievement.

Carter himself was suffering from failing health in the 1990s, and it is sad but symptomatic that much of this recognition came at the end, or indeed, after his death in 1997. He never sought fame, was never a self-promoter of his work. He had to write the poems that he did. All Are Involved demonstrates the immense regard with which he was held by his fellow writers. Beyond them were the countless numbers of Guyanese people who carry Carter’s poetry in their hearts.

Source

Ignored post by DaFreak posted

Show Post

Posted

African American Soldiers in the Army

William H. Carney

First African American Medal of Honor Recipient

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry. In July of that same year, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner. After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering the flag back to his regiment, he shouted "The Old Flag never touched the ground!" For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor.

----

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay

First African American Female to Enlist in the U.S. Army.

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a 22-year-old cook. He described her as 5' 9", with black eyes, black hair and black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first documented African American woman to enlist in the Army even though U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women. She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the exact medical reasons.

----

Henry Ossian Flipper

First African American Graduate of the U.S. Military Academy

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from the U.S Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit. Although Flipper became the first African American Army officer, his military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen" following questionable charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President William Jefferson Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

----

Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr.

First African American Army General Officer

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted, this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first African American General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of brigadier general. General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as a special investigator for the Secretary of War's Advisory Committee on Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.

----

Colin L. Powell

First African American Appointed to Secretary of State

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the Army, achieving the rank of General and serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of New York and received his commission upon graduation in June 1958. Currently, Secretary Powell uses both his military and diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global War on Terrorism. The Secretary has also led the State Department in major efforts to solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world, especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

----

CSM Michelle S. Jones

First Female Command Sergeant Major of the Army Reserve

Command Sergeant Major Jones enlisted in the Army in 1982. She is the first woman to serve as class president at the United States Sergeants Major Academy, as a division Command Sergeant Major, and as Command Sergeant Major of the Army Reserve. Throughout her military career, CSM Jones has dedicated herself to the issues of the enlisted Soldier. This is especially true with her current position. She dedicates the majority of her time traveling throughout the United States and overseas visiting and listening to Soldiers and their families. She represents their concerns and issues at all levels within the Army, Department of Defense and Congress. She believes in going to the Soldiers and not waiting for them to come to her.

----

CSM Evelyn Hollis

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

CSM Evelyn Hollis entered the Army in 1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative Specialist. In the 1990s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery. Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female command sergeant major of a combat arms unit by assuming command of the 1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

----

BG Vincent K. Brooks

Known as the “Face of the Military”

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school's history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his class in 1980. Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar during Operation Enduring Freedom. During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, Brooks handled the daily press conferences for the command and was widely referred to as "the face of the U.S. military."

Posted

MAKEDA

QUEEN OF SHEBA (The symbol of Beauty) (960 B.C.)

"I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon, Look not upon me because I am black Because the sun hath scorched me." (Song of Solomon)

Although most of Black history is suppressed, distorted or ignored by an ungrateful modern world, some African traditions are so persistent that all of the power and deception of the Western academic establishment have failed to stamp them out. One such story is that of Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of Israel. Black women of antiquity were legendary for their beauty and power. Especially great were the Queens of Ethiopia. This nation was also known as Nubia, Kush, Axum and Sheba. One thousand years before Christ, Ethiopia was ruled by a line of virgin queens. The one whose story has survived into our time was known as Makeda, "the Queen of Sheba." Her remarkable tradition was recorded in the Kebar Nagast, or the Glory of Kings, and the Bible. The Bible tells us that, during his reign, King Solomon of Israel decided to build a magnificent temple. To announce this endeavor, the king sent forth messengers to various foreign countries to invite merchants from abroad to come to Jerusalem with their caravans so that they might engage in trade there. At this time, Ethiopia was second only to Egypt in power and fame. Hence, King Solomon was enthralled by Ethiopia's beautiful people, rich history, deep spiritual tradition and wealth. He was especially interested in engaging in commerce with one of Queen Makeda's subjects, an important merchant by the name of Tamrin.1 Solomon sent for Tamrin who "packed up stores of valuables including ebony, sapphires and red gold, which he took to Jerusalem to sell to the king."2 It turns out that Tamrin's visit was momentous. Although accustomed to the grandeur and luxury of Egypt and Ethiopia, Tamrin was still impressed by King Solomon and his young nation. During a prolonged stay in Israel, Tamrin observed the magnificent buildings and was intrigued by the Jewish people and their culture. But above all else, he was deeply moved by Solomon's wisdom and compassion for his subjects. Upon returning to his country, Tamrin poured forth elaborate details about his trip to Queen Makeda. She was so impressed by the exciting story that the great queen decided to visit King Solomon herself.3 To understand the significance of state visits in antiquity in contrast to those of today, we must completely remove ourselves from the present place and time. In ancient times, royal visits were very significant ceremonial affairs. The visiting regent was expected to favor the host with elaborate gifts and the state visit might well last for weeks or even months. Even by ancient standards, however, Queen Makeda's visit to King Solomon was extraordinary. In I Kings 10:1-2, the Bible tells us: "1. And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. "2. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bear spices and very much gold, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon she communed with him of all that was in her heart." I Kings 10:10 adds: "She gave the king 120 talents of gold, and of spices very great store and precious stones; there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon." We should pause to consider the staggering sight of this beautiful Black woman and her vast array of resplendent attendants travelling over the Sahara desert into Israel with more than 797 camels plus donkeys and mules too numerous to count. The value of the gold alone, which she gave to King Solomon, would be $3,690,000 today and was of much greater worth in antiquity. King Solomon, and undoubtedly the Jewish people, were flabbergasted by this great woman and her people. He took great pains to accommodate her every need. A special apartment was built for her lodging while she remained in his country. She was also provided with the best of food and eleven changes of garments daily. As so many African leaders before her, this young maiden, though impressed with the beauty of Solomon's temple and his thriving domain, had come to Israel seeking wisdom and the truth about the God of the Jewish people. Responding to her quest for knowledge, Solomon had a throne set up for the queen beside his. "It was covered with silken carpets, adorned with fringes of gold and silver, and studded with diamonds and pearls. From this she listened while he delivered judgments."4 Queen Makeda also accompanied Solomon throughout his kingdom. She observed the wise, compassionate and spiritual ruler as he interacted with his subjects in everyday affairs. Speaking of the value of her visit with the King and her administration for him, Queen Makeda stated: "My Lord, how happy I am. Would that I could remain here always, if but as the humblest of your workers, so that I could always hear your words and obey you.

"How happy I am when I interrogate you! How happy when you answer me. My whole being is moved with pleasure; my soul is filled; my feet no longer stumble; I thrill with delight.

"Your wisdom and goodness," she continued, "are beyond all measure. They are excellence itself. Under your influence I am placing new values on life. I see light in the darkness; the firefly in the garden reveals itself in newer beauty. I discover added lustre in the pearl; a greater radiance in the morning star, and a softer harmony in the moonlight. Blessed be the God that brought me here; blessed be He who permitted your majestic mind to be revealed to me; blessed be the One who brought me into your house to hear your voice.

Solomon had a harem of over 700 wives and concubines, yet, he was enamored by the young Black virgin from Ethiopia. Although he held elaborate banquets in her honor and wined, dined and otherwise entertained her during the length of her visit, they both knew that, according to Ethiopian tradition, the Queen must remain chaste. Nevertheless, the Jewish monarch wished to plant his seed in Makeda, so that he might have a son from her regal African lineage. To this end the shrewd king conspired to conquer the affection of this young queen with whom he had fallen in love. When, after six months in Israel, Queen Makeda announced to King Solomon that she was ready to return to Ethiopia, he invited her to a magnificent farewell dinner at his palace. The meal lasted for several hours and featured hot, spicy foods that were certain to make all who ate thirsty and sleepy (as King Solomon had planned.) Since the meal ended very late, the king invited Queen Makeda to stay overnight in the palace in his quarters. She agreed as long as they would sleep in separate beds and the king would not seek to take advantage of her. He vowed to honor her chastity, but also requested that she not take anything in the palace. Outraged by such a suggestion, the Queen protested that she was not a thief and then promised as requested. Not long after the encounter, the Queen, dying of thirst, searched the palace for water. Once she found a large water jar and proceeded to drink, the King startled her by stating: "You have broken your oath that you would not take anything by force that is in my palace. The Queen protested, of course, that surely the promise did not cover something so insignificant and plentiful as water, but Solomon argued that there was nothing in the world more valuable than water, for without it nothing could live. Makeda reluctantly admitted the truth of this and apologized for her mistake, begging for water for her parched throat. Solomon, now released from his promise, assuaged her thirst and his own, immediately taking the Queen as his lover."6 The following day as the Queen and her entourage prepared to leave Israel, the King placed a ring on her hand and stated, "If you have a son, give this to him and send him to me." After returning to the land of Sheba, Queen Makeda did indeed have a son, whom she named Son-of-the-wise-man, and reared as a prince and her heir apparent to the throne. Upon reaching adulthood, the young man wished to visit his father, so the Queen prepared another entourage, this time headed by Tamrin. She sent a message to Solomon to anoint their son as king of Ethiopia and to mandate that thenceforth only the males descended from their son should rule Sheba. Solomon and the Jewish people rejoiced when his son arrived in Israel. The king anointed him as the Queen had requested and renamed him Menelik, meaning "how handsome he is." Though Solomon had many wives, only one had produced a son, Rehoboam, a boy of seven. So the king begged Menelik to remain, but the young prince would not. Solomon therefore called his leaders and nobles and announced that, since he was sending his first born son back to Ethiopia, he wanted all of them to send their firstborn sons "to be his counselors and officers." And they agreed to do so. Menelik asked his father for a relic of the Ark of the Covenant to take back with him to the land of Sheba. It is said that while Solomon intended to provide his son with a relic, the sons of the counselors, angry at having to leave their homes and go to Sheba with Menelik, actually stole the real Ark and took it to Ethiopia. Menelik returned to Sheba and, according to tradition, ruled wisely and well. And his famous line has continued down to the 20th century when, even now, the ruler of Ethiopia is the "conquering lion of Judah" descended directly from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Written by Legrand H. Clegg II

Posted

Other Great African Queens

NZINGHA - AMAZON QUEEN OF MATAMBA WEST AFRICA (1582-1663)

A very good military leader who waged war against the savage slave-hunting Europeans. This war lasted for more than thirty years. Nzingha was of Angoloan descent and is known as a symbol of inspiration for people everywhere. Queen Nzingha is also known by some as Jinga by others as Ginga. She was a member of the ethnic Jagas a militant group that formed a human shield against the Portuguese slave traders. As a visionary political leader, competent, and self sacrificing she was completely devoted to the resistance movement. She formed alliances with other foreign powers pitting them against one another to free Angola of European influence. She possessed both masculine hardness and feminine charm and used them both depending on the situation. She even used religion as a political tool when it suited her. Her death on December 17, 1663 helped open the door for the massive Portuguese slave trade. Yet her struggle helped awaken others that followed her and forced them to mount offensives against the invaders. These include Madame Tinubu of Nigeria; Nandi, the mother of the great Zulu warrior Chaka; Kaipkire of the Herero people of South West Africa; and the female army that followed the Dahomian King, Behanzin Bowelle.

----

AMINA - Queen of Zaria (1588 - 1589)

This queen of Zazzua, a province of Nigeria now known as Zaria, was born around 1533 during the reign of Sarkin (king) Zazzau Nohir. She was probably his granddaughter. Zazzua was one of a number of Hausa city-states which dominated the trans-Saharan trade after the collapse of the Songhai empire to the west. Its wealth was due to trade of mainly leather goods, cloth, kola, salt, horses and imported metals. At the age of sixteen, Amina became the heir apparent (Magajiya) to her mother, Bakwa of Turunku, the ruling queen of Zazzua. With the title came the responsibility for a ward in the city and daily councils with other officials. Although her mother's reign was known for peace and prosperity, Amina also chose to learn military skills from the warriors. Queen Bakwa died around 1566 and the reign of Zazzua passed to her younger brother Karama. At this time Amina emerged as the leading warrior of Zazzua cavalry. Her military achievements brought her great wealth and power. When Karama died after a ten-year rule, Amina became queen of Zazzua. She set off on her first military expedition three months after coming to power and continued fighting until her death. In her thirty-four year reign, she expanded the domain of Zazzua to its largest size ever. Her main focus, however, was not on annexation of neighboring lands, but on forcing local rulers to accept vassal status and permit Hausa traders safe passage. She is credited with popularizing the earthen city wall fortifications, which became characteristic of Hausa city-states since then. She ordered building of a defensive wall around each military camp that she established. Later, towns grew within these protective walls, many of which are still in existence. They're known as "ganuwar Amina", or Amina's walls. She is mostly remembered as "Amina, Yar Bakwa ta san rana," meaning "Amina, daughter of Nikatau, a woman as capable as a man.

----

CLEOPATRA VII - QUEEN OF KEMET (Ancient Egypt the land of the blacks) (69-30 B.C)

Although known to be of African descent she is still deliberately portrayed as being white. She came to power at the tender age of seventeen and the most popular of seven queens to have had this name. She was also known to be a great linguist and was instumental in making Kemet(Egypt) into the world number one super power at that time.

----

HATSHEPSUT - QUEEN OF KEMET (Ancient Egypt the land of the blacks) (1503-1482 B.C.)

One of the greatest queens of ancient Kemet was Queen Hatshepsut. While she was known as a "warrior" queen, her battles were engaged with her own rivals for the position of power in Kemetic hierarchy. A born dynast in her own right, Hatshepsut proved to be an aggressive and overpowering force. However, it was not in war, but in her aspiration to ascend to the "Heru (Horus) consciousness," she displayed the strength that has given her a place in history. She adopted the Truth of Maat and became involved in the elimination of undesirable people and elements from Kemet. Determined to be revered in times yet to come, Hatshepsut depicted herself in as many masculine attributes as possible, i.e. male attire, king’s beard, etc. Although she ascended to the throne upon the death of her king-brother Thutmose II, she exerted her rightful claim to the throne. In exercising her power, she involved herself in foreign campaigns, a concentration on domestic affairs, extensive building and commercial ventures. The most famous of her commercial ventures was the Punt expedition in which goods and produce were acquired from the rich market there to be brought back to Kemet. While it would appear that her opponents were not antagonistic regarding her sex, they were so regarding her non-aggressive philosophy.
Even before becoming legal ruler, Hatshepsut, was actively pushing things dearest to the hearts of all Africans leaders: the expansion of foreign trade, international diplomatic relations, perfection of national defense, vast public building programs, securing the South and the North through either peace or war and, one of her "pet projects", building a great navy for both commerce and war. Her success on most of these fronts made her one of the giants of the race.

----

NANDI - QUEEN OF ZULULAND (Symbol of a woman of high esteem) (1778-1826)

The year was 1786. The King of Zululand was overjoyed. His wife, Nandi, had given birth to a son, his first son, whom they named Shaka. But the King's other wives, jealous and bitter, pressured him to banish Nandi and the young boy into exile. Steadfast and proud, she raised her son with the kind of training and guidance a royal heir should have. For her many sacrifices, Nandi was finally rewarded when her son, Shaka, later returned to become the greatest of all Zulu kings.

To this day, the Zulu people use her name, "Nandi," to refer to a woman of high esteem.

----

NEFERTARI - QUEEN OF KEMET (the land of the blacks) (1292-1225 B.C)

Her marriage to the great Rameses II of lower Ancient Egypt is known as one of the greatest royal love affair ever. This marriage also brought an end to the hundred year war between upper and lower ancient Kemet (Egypt), which in essence unified both sections into one great Kemet which was the world leading country. Monuments of this love affair still remains today in the temples that Rameses built for his wife at Abu Simbel.
The immense structures known as the two temples of Abu Simbel are among the most magnificent monuments in the world. Built during the New Kingdom nearly 3,000 years ago, it was hewn from the mountain which contains it as an everlasting dedication to King Ramses and his wife Nefertari. Superb reliefs on the temple detail the Battle of Kadesh, and Ramses and Nefertari consorting with the deities and performing religous rituals. The rays of the sun still penetrate to the Holy of Holies in the rock of the main temple on the same two days of the year: the 20th of October and the 20th of Febuary. This timing is probably connected to the symbolic unification, via the rays of the sun, of the statue of Ra-Herakhty and the statue of Ramses II. Up to today these structures remains as the largest, most majestic structures ever built to honor a wife.

----

NEHANDA - MBUYA(Grandmother) OF ZIMBABWE

When the English invaded Zimbabwe in 1896 and began confiscating land and cattle, Nehanda and other leaders declared war. Nehanda also displayed remarkable leadership and organizational skills at a young age. Though dead for nearly a hundred years, Nehanda remains what she was when alive, the single most important person in the modern history of Zimbabwe. She is still referred to as Mbuya (Grandmother) Nehanda by Zimbabwean patriots.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <gtsweet>,

Posted

Yaa Asantewa - QUEEN Mother of Ejisu

"In Africa the woman's `place' was not only with her family; she often ruled nations with unquestionable authority. Many African women were great militarists and on occasion led their armies in battle. Long before they knew of the existence of Europe the Africans had produced a way of life where men were secure enough to let women advance as far as their talent would take them."
--John Henrik Clarke

Near the end of the nineteenth century, the British exiled King Prempeh from the hinterlands of the Gold Coast (present day Ghana), in an attempt to assume power. By 1900, still not gaining dominance, the British sent a governor to the city of Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti, to demand the Golden Stool, described as "the Ark of the Covenant of the Ashanti people." The Golden Stool was the supreme symbol of the sovereignty and independence of the Ashantis--an aggressive and warlike people who inhabit the dense rain forests of what is now the central portion of Ghana, West Africa.

Yaa Asantewa (1850-1921) was present at the meeting with the British governor, Lord Hodgson, and the Ashanti leaders. When the Ashanti kings made no reply to Hodgson's demands she chastised them and vilified them for their cowardice. Her speech found an African audience and stirred up the men when she said, "If you men of Ashanti will not go forward, then we will. We the women will. I will call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men until the last of us falls on the battlefields."

The Ashantis, led by Yaa Asantewa, fought bravely and gallantly. The British sent 1400 soldiers with guns to Kumasi, eventually capturing Yaa Asantewa and other leaders and sent them into exile. The war with the British started in 1805 and ended a century later. Yaa Asantewa's War was the last major war led by an African woman.

Yaa Asantewa's name and bravery will always be remembered. According to Dr. John Henrik Clarke, "Because her agitation for the return of Prempeh was converted into stirring demands for independence, it is safe to say that she helped to create part of the theoretical basis for the political emergence of modern Africa."

SOURCES:
African Warrior Queens, by John Henrik Clarke
Ghana: A History for Primary Schools, by E.A. Addy

Posted

Great African Kings

Shaka - 1818-1828 AD, King of the Zulus

A strong leader and military innovator, Shaka is noted for revolutionizing 19th century Bantu warfare by first grouping regiments by age, and training his men to use standardized weapons and special tactics. He developed the "assegai," a short stabbing spear, and marched his regiments in tight formation, using large shields to fend off the enemies throwing spears. Over the years, Shaka's troops earned such a reputation that many enemies would flee at the sight of them.

With cunning and confidence as his tools, Shaka built a small Zulu tribe into a powerful nation of more than one million people, and united all tribes in South Africa against Colonial rule.

----

Ja Ja - 1821-1891, King of the Opobo

Jubo Jubogha, the son of an unknown member of the Ibo people, was forced into slavery at age 12, but gained his freedom while still young and prospered as an independent trader (known as Ja Ja by the Europeans). He became chief of his people and the head of his Eastern Nigerian City State of Bonny. He later established and became king of his own territory, Opobo, an area near the Eastern Nigeria River more favorable for trading.

As years passed, European governments, mainly British, attempted to gain control of Nigerian trade. Ja Ja's fierce resistance to any outside influence led to his exile at age 70 to the West Indies by the British. The greatest Ibo chief of the nineteenth century never saw his kingdom again.

----

Samory Toure - 1830-1900 AD, The Black Napoleon of the Sudan

The ascendance of Samory Toure began when his native Bissandugu was attacked and his mother taken captive. After a persuasive appeal, Samory was allowed to take her place, but later escaped and joined the army of King Bitike Souane of Torona. Following a quick rise through the ranks of Bitike's army, Samory returned to Bissandugu where he was soon installed as king and defied French expansionism in Africa by launching a conquest to unify West Africa into a single state.

During the eighteen-year conflict with France, Samory continually frustrated the Europeans with his military strategy and tactics. This astute military prowess prompted some of France's greatest commanders to entitle the African monarch, "the Black Napoleon of the Sudan."

----

Behanzin Hossu Bowelle - 1841-1906 AD, The King Shark

Behanzin was the most powerful ruler in West Africa during the end of the nineteenth century. He was determined to prevent European intervention into his country, but readily welcomed European visitors, taking precautionary measures to prevent their spread of influence. To defend his nations sovereignty, he maintained a physically fit army, which included a division of five thousand female warriors.

The people of Dahomey often referred to their monarch, Behanzin, as the "King Shark", a Dahomeyan surname which symbolized strength and wisdom. He was a fond lover of the humanities, and is credited with the creation of some of the finest song and poetry ever produced in Dahomey.

----

Menelek II - 1844-1913 AD, King of Kings of Abyssinia

Proclaimed to be a descendant of the legendary Queen of Sheba and King Soloman, Menelek was the overshadowing figure of his time in Africa. He converted a group of independent kingdoms into the strong, stable empire known as the United States of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

His feat of pulling together several kingdoms which often fiercely opposed each other earned him a place as one of the great statesmen of African history. His further accomplishments in dealing on the international scene with the world powers, coupled with his stunning victory over Italy in the 1896 Battle of Adwa, an attempt to invade his country, placed him among the great leaders of world history and maintained his country's independence until 1935.

Gtman1

Elite Member

Location: Wherever I may be.

Registered:: October 15, 1999

Posts: 24593

Posted

Before the NHL, there was a Black Hockey League

http://www.blackathlete.net/Hockey/hockey020802.html

Ignored post by Gtman1 posted

Show Post

<Nuff>

Posted

Charles Drew
AKA Charles Richard Drew

Born: 3-Jun-1904
Birthplace: Washington, DC
Died: 1-Apr-1950
Location of death: Burlington, NC
Cause of death: Accident - Automobile

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: Black
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Doctor

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: First to separate blood plasma

Charles Drew was a medical doctor and surgeon remembered as the inventor of the blood bank. He also established, and was the first director of, the blood bank of the American Red Cross. Although of African-American heritage in an age of rampant racial discrimination, Drew managed to achieve an extremely high level of education (BA from Amherst in 1926, MD and Master of Surgery from McGill University in Montreal 1933, and a Doctor of Science in Medicine from Columbia University in 1940) and to become a well-respected surgeon and professor.

While still at McGill University, Drew studied under anatomy instructor Dr. John Beattie who was interested in blood transfusion. Drew also had occasion, as an intern, to save a patient's life via blood transfusion. But the technology of blood transfusions was vastly limited in that up to that point, blood could only be stored for two days, because of the rapid breakdown of red blood cells.

During his residency at Columbia University's Presbyterian Hospital, Drew conducted research on blood transfusions and developed a technique for the long-term preservation of blood plasma. He found that if he separated the plasma (the liquid part of blood) from the whole blood (containing the red blood cells) and then refrigerated the two separately, he could combine them up to a week later for transfusion.

He also determined that while each person has a certain type of blood (A, B, AB, or O) and is therefore prevented from receiving a full blood transfusion from someone with a different blood type, everyone has the same type of plasma. Thus in certain cases it was possible to give a plasma transfusion which could be administered from anyone to anyone, regardless of blood types.

Drew's discoveries, and his work in organizing and administering blood banks in Europe and the Pacific during World War II (including during the "Blood for Britain" program) saved countless lives. Furthermore, his insistence on ignoring the racial background of donors and transfusion receivers meant that non-white soldiers no longer bled to death waiting for a same-race donor to contribute blood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Nuff Addendum)

Ironically Drew was involved in a car accident and was denied admittance to a white hospital for a blood transfusion (something he had invented "blood transfusion"). By the time he arrived at the more distant hospital for blacks he had lost so much blood that a transfusion was of no avail.

Gtman1

Elite Member

Location: Wherever I may be.

Registered:: October 15, 1999

Posts: 24593

Posted

Then & Now: Bernard Shaw

(CNN) -- As an original anchor for CNN, Bernard Shaw was a witness to the birth of the 24-hour news network. Today, Shaw is retired from broadcasting and is working on a book and other writing projects.

After signing with CNN on June 1, 1980, Shaw covered some of the biggest stories of the past decades, providing live coverage of the student demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the 1994 earthquake in Los Angeles, the funeral of Princess Diana, President Clinton's impeachment trial and the 2000 U.S. election.

The former U.S. Marine may be best known, however, for making television history as one of the "Boys of Baghdad."

In January 1991, Shaw stayed behind -- with Peter Arnett and the late John Holliman -- after other Western reporters had deserted the city. As bombs rained down on the city outside their hotel window, the three, reporting by phone, coolly brought those images into living rooms across the world during the first attacks of the Persian Gulf War.

"All kinds of ordnance was being dropped, all kinds of bombs, and I made my peace with myself that I could die at any moment," Shaw told CNN recently. "We knew the dangers around us. I always believed that two major forces -- one of them supreme -- saved us that night: God and some extremely well trained and well disciplined American pilots."

But Shaw says the most important story he covered was not the Gulf War, but the 1985 Geneva summit between President Reagan and the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev.

"When these two leaders met in Geneva, they began the process that led to so many important treaties and the beginning of disarmament (which we don't have now)," he explained. "But these two men meeting as they did at that summit was, in my judgment, the most important story I ever covered; important to the human race, important to all the occupants of this planet."

Throughout his career, Shaw -- a history major in college -- was often an eyewitness to some of the biggest events of the last quarter-century, a position he did not take lightly.

"Whenever I found myself with a box seat on a historic story, the one thing I always strove to do was realize I had a responsibility ... It made me focus even more on the disciplines of journalism -- being fair, being accurate."

"[You also need to have] regard for viewers, listeners and readers," he continued. "If people are depending on you, if you are the only source of accurate information, you have a dreadful responsibility. I say dreadful because it's so awesome."

In 2001, at the age of 60, Bernard Shaw decided to retire from CNN. He now spends time with his wife, Linda, and two children.

"We've been enjoying doing the things we couldn't do when I was chasing around the country and around the world covering news."

The many historic events he witnessed firsthand during his career would fill a book -- and that is exactly what Shaw is now working on. Besides an autobiography, Shaw has sai

Personal Zone	»
Member Directory
Guyana News and Information Discussion Forums	»