African American History - Building on a Legacy

I've really been touched by all the things I've seen & read during this "Black History Month" journey. I have a greater appreciation for those who lived and died in the struggle for freedom. Black and white - I didn't get to post the info on lynchings but many may not know 'According to the Tuskegee Institute figures, between the years 1882 and 1951, 4,730 people were lynched in the United States: 3,437 Negro and 1,293 white.' Most of these people were simply dealing with the evils of their day and didn't realize that they would become the soil from which future triumphs would emerge.

With the extraordinary amount of technology available to this generation, there are vast amounts of information on the life and times of people in American History - my favorite was the PBS site. There's also a substantial effort to allow African Americans to trace back their heritage using census records and other historical archives. Here's a few of the websites.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2013/11/tracing_black_last_names_advice_for_finding_slave_roots.html

http://unknownnolonger.vahistorical.org/

http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/resources/slaves.faces

http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/index.html

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/aareligion.htm

to quote Maya Angelou

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.


Contained in the collage:
Garrett Augustus Morgan Sr., Sojourner Truth, Jesse Owens, Archie Alphonse Alexander, Marie Van Brittan Brown, Marcus Garvey, Serena Williams, Muhammad Ali, Booker T. Washington, Marvin Gaye, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Dr Bejamin Carson, Frederick Douglas, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Bill Cosby, Lewis Howard Latimer, Shirley Jackson, Madame CJ Walker, Al Green, Hattie McDaniel, Jackie Robinson, Percy L. Julian, The Tuskegee Airmen, Alexa Irene Canady, Juanita Hall, Michael Jordan, Mae Jemison, Stevie Wonder, Harriet Tubman, U.S. Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels, Denzel Washington, Dr. Patricia Bath, Wilma Rudolph, Michael Jackson, Henry O. Flipper, Guion S. Bluford, Don Cornielius, Dr. Anderson Abbott, Maurice Ashley, Martin Luther King Jr, Josephine Baker, Don Cheadle, Joseph Winters, Brig. Gen. Nadja West, Pastor Tony Evans, Aretha Franklin, Elizabeth 'Bessie' Coleman and Maya Angelou.