Category Archives: History

Rev. Al Sampson: A Voice for Action

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Date:
Sun, 1938-11-27

Albert “Al” Sampson was born on this date in 1938. He is an African-American activist and minister.

Born in Everett, Massachusetts, he graduated from Everett High School in 1956, where he won the high school oratorical contest his senior year. While attending Shaw University, he was called to the ministry and received his B.A. in 1963. During that time, Sampson was president of the Shaw student body and the campus, city, and state chapters of the NAACP. He was arrested during Raleigh’s student sit-ins and was selected by his fellow students to introduce the first public accommodations bill in North Carolina history.

He became involved with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1962 and served as campaign manager for Leroy Johnson, Georgia’s first Black state senator. Sampson was ordained by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1966. He earned his master’s degree in cultural studies from Governors State University in 1973 and his master’s of divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary in 1977. He also worked with the Reverend James Bevel to help organize Resurrection City for King’s Poor People’s Campaign.

He was Martin Luther King’s National Housing Director, traveling to Europe to look at Industrial Housing Systems. He brought the first model affordable home to Chicago’s West Side in a joint venture with the Amish Community of Nappannee, Indiana.

Reverend Sampson became pastor of Fernwood United Methodist Church in Chicago in 1975, where he continues today. He played an important role in the campaign of Mayor Harold Washington as a member of the Task Force for Black Political Empowerment.

Sampson is president of the National Black Farmers Harvest and Business Trade Cooperative and serves on numerous boards and organizations that stress the economic development of the Black community. Sampson is a former board member of the largest Black-owned bank in America, and held the position of International Vice-President for Training Allied Workers International Union (the only Black independent union recognized by the US Labor Department).

He is listed in “Who’s Who Among Black Americans” (1989-1995) and was one of the spokespersons for the first Million Man March in 1995. He served as a scholar- consultant for the Black Heritage Bible and is currently the president of the Metropolitan Council of Black Churches in Chicago.

Reference: Reverend Al Sampson

Star Tribune
Associated Press
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The Role of Citizen in Our Democracy

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The role of citizen in our democracy does not end with your vote. America’s never been about what can be done for us. It’s about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That’s the principle we were founded on.

Text of President Barack Obama’s speech after his re-election victory.

 

Thought you would enjoy this email from 2008

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Good Morning My People –

After watching the final debate the other night, it dawned on me that Obama could actually win this thing.  If that happens, there will be a lot of people (some of our co-workers included) who will be afraid that an Obama presidency will usher in the end of days.  They’ll be watching us on November 5th (the day after the election) for signs of the end times.

To keep the peace and keep a lot of folks from getting nervous, I think we should develop a list of acceptable celebrations and behaviors we should probably avoid – at least for the first few days:

1.       No crying, hugging or shouting “Thank you Lord” – at least not in public

2         No high-fives – at least not unless the area is clear and there are no witnesses

3         No laughing at the McCain/Palin supporters

4         No calling in sick on November 5th. They’ll get nervous if too many of us don’t show up.

5         We’re allowed to give each other knowing winks or nods in passing.  Just try to keep from grinning too hard.

6.        No singing loudly, We’ve come this Far By Faith  (it will be acceptable to hum softly)

7.        No bringing of  barbeque ribs or fried chicken for lunch in the company lunchroom for at least a week (no chittlings at all) (this may make us seem too ethnic)

8.        No leaving kool-aid packages at the water fountain (this might be a sign that poor folks might be getting a break through)

9.        No Cupid Shuffle during breaks (this could indicate a little too much excitement)

10.      Please no Moving on Up music  (we are going to try to remain humble)

11.      No doing the George Jefferson dance (unless you’re in your office with the door closed)

12.      Please try not to yell—-BOOOO YAH!

13.      Just in case you’re wondering, Doing the Running Man, cabbage patch, or a backhand spring on the highway is 100% okay.

If I’ve missed anything feel free to add to the list. I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page when Obama brings this thing home on November 5th.

Now go get your early vote on and let’s make this thing happen=

George Washington in 1817.

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Date:  Thu, 1872-11-07
On this date we recall the birth of George Washington in 1817. He was an African-American farmer, businessman and the founder of the town of Centralia, Washington.
Born a slave in Virginia, George Washington escaped and was raised by a white family in Missouri. Unable to attend school, he was tutored and eventually ran a sawmill in St. Joseph, MO. He struggled under the racial restrictions of that slave-holding state, and in 1850 joined a wagon train on the Oregon Trail. After reaching the northwest, George Washington again entered the lumber business and established a homestead on the Chehalis River. But his farm lay in the path of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
He and the company came to terms and with the settlement he received, Washington planned a new town in 1872. He called it Centerville, and he laid out 2,000 lots, setting aside sites for parks and churches. The town thrived, though the name was changed to Centralia.
George Washington spent the rest of his life there as an honored citizen. When he died in 1905, the town, 30 miles south of Olympia, shut down for a day of mourning. George Washington Park (named after him) is in the heart of Centralia, at Pearl St. and Harrison St.
Reference:
The Encyclopedia of African-American Heritage
by Susan Altman
Copyright 1997, Facts on File, Inc. New York
ISBN 0-8160-3289-0

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Farrakhan Speaks on Hate of Our President

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THIS IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE TRUTH.. THIS COMING NOVEMBER 2012

PEOPLE BETTER WAKE UP (TURN OFF THEIR IPOD,IPAD, MAC, IPHONE

AND TUNE IN TO REALITY. DON’T FOCUS ON THE MESSENGER, BUT THE MESSAGE

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: Gonzaga University graduates deserve the honor of hearing him.

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Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Nelson Mandela. Both men were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

A powerful network of right-wing Catholics is trying to ban Archbishop Desmond Tutu from speaking at Gonzaga University next month.

Archbishop Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his courageous opposition to South African apartheid, is beloved around the world as a powerful voice for peace and justice. But that doesn’t matter to the extremists who’ve been waging a McCarthyist campaign of fear and intimidation on Catholic college campuses across the country.

The Cardinal Newman Society, which led the opposition to President Obama’s commencement speech at Notre Dame three years ago, is circulating a petition demanding that the President of Gonzaga University disinvite Archbishop Tutu—but so far this time they only have a few hundred signatures. Let’s make sure Gonzaga doesn’t give in to the Religious Right!

That’s why I created a petition to Thayne McCulloh, President, Gonzaga Univeresity on SignOn.org, which says:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a powerful voice for peace and justice, and Gonzaga University graduates deserve the honor of hearing him speak at commencement this year. Don’t give in to the Religious Right extremists who are trying to silence him.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=274584&id=39706-8463490-3keIT6x&t=2 <http://www.moveon.org/r?r=274584&amp;id=39706-8463490-3keIT6x&amp;t=2>

Thanks!

–Michael Sherrard, Faithful America

The text above was written by Michael Sherrard, not by MoveOn staff, and MoveOn is not responsible for the content.

Rudolph Bowman Scott: Spokane Black Pioneer

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Pat Bayonne-Johnson is photographed here visiting the gravesite of a Spokane Black pioneer – Rudolph Bowman Scott. He and his wife are buried at Fairmont Memorial Park. Read her article about all of this man’s accomplishments beginning with serving with the Union Army in the Civil War and including being the first Black man to hold a federal position in the northwest.

Pat is 4comculture’s in-house historian. She works with the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society and serves at the Spokane Public Library downtown on Tuesdays  helping people find their roots.

Greetings From Pacific Lutheran University

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Hello!
We are excited to offer this Chamber Music Theatre Work free to the public in celebration of African American Women in Women’s History Month.  Please, will you spread the word through your network!
Thank you!
Melannie Denise Cunningham
Director of  Multicultural Recruitment
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA  98447
253-535-8716 or 1-800-274-6758
Go on our Virtual Tour:
http://video.realviewtv.com/education/plu/

 

Barbara Jordan born this day

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Barbara Jordan stampBarbara Jordan, born February 21 1936, was one of the most   respected and influential American politicians of the 20th century.  She captured the attention and admiration of the nation with her intelligence and integrity, eloquent oratory, ardent defense of the Constitution, and staunch advocacy of equal rights for all American citizens.

This stamp was released as the 34th in the Black Heritage stamp series in September 2011.

In 1976 Barbara Jordan, a congressional representative from Texas, was the first African American and the first woman to be chosen to deliver the keynote speech to the Democratic Party National Convention. The Democratic Party today would do well to listen to this speech and reaffirm the principles that are the foundation of the party.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMX58A6vII