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Today in Black History: Robert Hemmings

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 16:15:11 GMT

This is an artist’s rendition of Robert Hemmings, based on his known bi-racial heritage and position with Thomas Jefferson.

Issue #1050 Today In Black History Monday, July 13, 2026

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In the summer of 1776, while Thomas Jefferson sat in a rented room in Philadelphia drafting the words “all men are created equal,” a 14-year-old enslaved boy named Robert Hemmings was down the hall, tending to Jefferson’s clothes, his horses, and his grooming. Hemmings had no vote in the document being written just feet away, and no freedom of his own. Robert Hemings (sometimes spelled Hemmings) was the older brother of Sally Hemings. They shared the same mother, the enslaved matriarch Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings, and both were fathered by the wealthy planter John Wayles, who was also the father of Thomas Jefferson’s wife, Martha.

Robert and Sally Hemmings were half-siblings to Thomas Jefferson’s wife, Martha Hemmings Jefferson.

Robert Hemmings was born in 1762, the first of six children born to Elizabeth Hemings and John Wayles, the father of Jefferson’s wife, Martha. When Wayles died in 1773, Elizabeth Hemings and her children were brought to Monticello, and eleven-year-old Robert joined the plantation’s enslaved domestic staff. By age thirteen, he had become Jefferson’s personal bodyservant — a role that meant he was on call around the clock to shave, dress, and groom his enslaver, and to accompany him virtually everywhere.

When Jefferson traveled to Philadelphia in 1775 and 1776 as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Hemmings made the trip both years, present in the city while the document that would define American liberty was being written by a man who held him in bondage. For nearly a decade after, Hemmings continued in Jefferson’s service, traveling with him until Jefferson departed for France in 1784.

What set Hemmings apart was what came next. He married Dolly, an enslaved woman living near Fredericksburg and later Richmond, and the couple had two children. Rather than remain tethered to Monticello, Hemmings kept finding ways to work independently in Virginia, closer to his family, even as Jefferson kept summoning him back.

In 1794, a French émigré physician, Dr. George Frederick Stras, agreed to advance the cost of Hemmings’s freedom, with Hemmings repaying the debt through his own labor. Jefferson, by his own letters, was reluctant and felt he’d been undercompensated — but he signed the deed of manumission at Monticello on December 24, 1794. Robert Hemmings became the first person Thomas Jefferson ever legally freed.

He settled in Richmond, appeared in tax rolls by 1799, and seems to have run a livery or hauling business from a half-acre lot he owned downtown. He lost a hand in an accident later in life and died in 1819, having lived twenty-five years as a free man — a fact often lost in the shadow of his more famous relatives, including his younger sister Sally Hemings.

Today In Black History

In 1787, the Continental Congress adopted the Ordinance of 1787 (the Northwest Ordinance), which established the first organized US territory and set requirements for statehood by guaranteeing equal status with the original 13 states, outlawing slavery, and protecting civil liberties.
In 1863, the New York Draft Riots occurred, spurred by hostility toward the draft and the fear of Blacks. White mobs swept through the streets, murdering over 100 Blacks and hanging them on lamp posts. Working-class Irish immigrants also burned a provost marshal’s office and the Colored Orphan Asylum.
In 1868, the Alabama legislature met in Montgomery, with 26 Black members and 206 white members.
In 1868, Oscar J. Dunn, a former slave, was formally installed as Lieutenant Governor in Louisiana, the highest elected office held to date by an African American.
In 1919, race riots in Longview and Gregg counties in Texas were part of the twenty-six riots during the Red Summer of 1919.
In 1934, Akinwande OluwoleSoyinka, a Nigerian playwright and political activist, won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
In 1940, Black inventor Frederick McKinley Jones patented a Shock-Proof Refrigeration Device that enabled the transportation of food without using ice to keep it cool.
In 1965, Thurgood Marshall was appointed as the first Black Solicitor General, tasked with arguing cases for the U.S. government before the Supreme Court.
In 1972, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American presidential nominee, with 151 votes from the Democratic delegates polled.
In 1975, the African nation of São Tomé and Príncipe gained its independence from Portugal.
In 1976, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-TX) became the first person to give the keynote address at a national political convention, speaking at the Democratic National Convention.

You can always leave any questions in the comments or email us.

Today in Black History: Floyd Norman

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 16:06:05 GMT

Issue #1048 Today In Black History Wednesday, July 6, 2026

Independent authors and creative professionals! Please scroll to the “Shameless Plug” at the end to find out about the Pam Speaks 2 You Creative Business app for creative branding and marketing.

For nearly seventy years, Floyd Norman has been quietly shaping the look and feel of American animation. This November, at 90 years old, he’ll finally step into the spotlight the industry owes him: the Academy has announced that Norman will receive an Honorary Oscar at the 17th Governors Awards on November 15, 2026, alongside Glenn Close and Ridley Scott.

A Door That Wasn’t Opened Yet

When Floyd Norman walked into Walt Disney Studios in 1956, he became the studio’s first Black animator — at a time when the animation industry, like much of Hollywood, simply didn’t hire Black artists in creative roles. Norman didn’t just get a foot in the door; he redrew the whole entryway. His first project was “Sleeping Beauty,” and from there his pencil touched some of the most beloved animated films of the 20th century: “101 Dalmatians,” “The Sword in the Stone,” “The Jungle Book,” “Mary Poppins,” “Robin Hood,” and “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.”

Norman’s career was never confined to one lane. In the 1970s, frustrated by the lack of Black representation both on-screen and behind the scenes, he co-founded Vignette Films, one of the first Black-owned animation studios, producing educational content centered on Black children and history. He also lent his talents to Hanna-Barbera and worked on the beloved “Peanuts” television specials, helping bring Charlie Brown and the gang to life.

The Comeback Nobody Asked Him to Make

Here’s the part of Norman’s story that tends to stop people in their tracks: Disney hit him with mandatory retirement at 65. He didn’t take the hint. Norman kept working — as a freelancer, a consultant, a storyboard artist — well into his 80s and 90s, eventually returning to Disney and Pixar to contribute to films like “Mulan,” “Dinosaur,” and “Toy Story 2.” He became something of a legend on the Disney lot not just for his résumé, but for his refusal to stop creating. His story of persistence and reinvention was captured in the 2016 documentary “Floyd Norman: An Animated Life,” and Disney itself named him a Disney Legend in 2007.

The Honor, Decades in the Making

The Academy’s Honorary Oscar is reserved for extraordinary, career-spanning contributions to filmmaking, and animators rarely receive it. Before Norman, only three other animators had ever been given the honor: Walter Lantz, Chuck Jones, and Hayao Miyazaki. That short list says everything about how rare — and how deserved — this recognition is.

The statuettes will be presented at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood, with Norman receiving his honor alongside Glenn Close and Ridley Scott, and producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler accepting the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. For a man who spent decades as one of the few Black artists in rooms that didn’t always make space for him, sharing that stage is a statement in itself.

Why It Matters

Floyd Norman’s career isn’t just a footnote in Disney history — it’s a throughline. He was there when the door first cracked open for Black animators, and he’s still here, being celebrated by the industry that once told him he was done at 65. His work shaped childhoods across generations, often without audiences ever knowing his name. This Oscar doesn’t just honor a body of work; it corrects an oversight decades in the making.

Floyd Norman spent a lifetime drawing worlds for other people to see themselves in. This November, the world finally gets to see him.

Today In Black History

In 1777, Vermont introduced a new constitution that prohibited slavery.
In 1924, William DeHart Hubbard became the first Black person to win an Olympic Gold Medal when he won the broad jump (24.5 ft.) in Paris.
In 1949, the South African Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act commenced, prohibiting marriage or sexual relationships between white people and non-whites.
In 1965, the NAACP elected Roy Wilkins as its new executive director.
In 2001, Venus Williams won her second straight Wimbledon Women’s Singles Championship. This made her the first woman to win consecutive Wimbledon Championships since 1995-1996, and the first Black Woman to win Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958.
In 2022, at age 25, gymnast Simone Biles, who has won more competitions than any other gymnast, became the youngest person to receive the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President Joe Biden.

You can always leave any questions in the comments or email us.

Today in Black History: The Statue of Liberty's Forgotten Tie to Abolition

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:17:56 GMT

Issue #1047 Today In Black History July 6, 2026

Parts of this article were written in 2023.

Independent authors and creative professionals! Please scroll to the “Shameless Plug” at the end to find out about the Pam Speaks 2 You Creative Business app for creative branding and marketing.

When Lady Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor in 1886, most Americans saw her as a symbol of democracy and Franco-American friendship. Fewer knew the statue’s origins were rooted in the abolition of slavery.

The idea began in 1865, just months after the Civil War ended, when French political thinker Édouard de Laboulaye gathered a group of fellow abolitionists in Versailles. Laboulaye was no casual observer of American affairs — he was a U.S. Constitution scholar, a firm supporter of Abraham Lincoln, and cofounder and president of the French Anti-Slavery Society, founded that same year to push for abolition worldwide and raise money for newly freed people in the United States.

Laboulaye proposed a monumental gift to the United States to honor two achievements at once: the Union’s victory in the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. He hoped the tribute would also inspire the French people, then living under a repressive monarchy, to demand their own democratic freedoms.

Sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ran with the idea, and early designs had Liberty holding broken chains in her hand. American financiers backing the project balked, wary of a monument that spoke too directly to slavery. The chains were moved out of her raised hand and down to her feet, where they remain today — a broken shackle at her right foot, the chain reappearing at her left, its final link snapped. It’s a detail almost no visitor notices, since it’s hidden beneath her robes at most viewing angles.

Even so, the symbolism didn’t erase reality. The Black press was quick to point out the gap between the statue’s promise and Black Americans’ lived experience. Racism and disenfranchisement didn’t end with the Civil War, and W.E.B. Du Bois later wrote that he felt none of the hope in Liberty’s torch that immigrant arrivals described — freedom she represented was not yet freedom for him or his race.

The Statue of Liberty’s foundation story is a reminder that monuments carry more history than their postcards suggest — and that the fight the statue’s own broken chains gestured toward was, in 1886, still very much unfinished.

Immigration is once again a very hot topic in the United States, with heavy negative promotion by Donald Trump and Stephen Miller.

Just before every election, the Republicans claim that "caravans of immigrants" are illegally invading America from the southern border. One of Trump’s first acts as president was to institute a “Muslim ban,” no matter the country of origin.

They're coming here to take your jobs, rob your homes, flood your communities with drugs, replace your white, Christian society with socialism, communism, and Islam, and eventually become Democratic voters. And...they're BROWN and don’t speak English!

After the recent end of the Trump era, the "Title 42" act that limited immigration at the southern border, supposedly due to concerns about the spread of Covid-19, the Republicans announced that there would be a huge surge of immigrants trying to enter the country. However, just the opposite happened: the number of people trying to enter the U.S. through Mexico, for example, actually went down.

In the mid-to-late 1800s, immigrants from many European countries fled to America, primarily to flee from hunger and political strife. Every new wave of immigrants was met with derision and discrimination.

Just as today, most immigrants worked the worst jobs or started their own businesses, often living in the worst housing situations while employing everyone in their families.

The reason policemen are often depicted as stereotypical Irishmen is that, during the 19th century, being a policeman on the East Coast (particularly in Boston and New York) was a low-level and dishonorable profession, and only Irishmen were hired as police officers.

Throughout American history, various laws have been passed to restrict or eliminate immigration, particularly from certain countries and regions. One of the most notable examples is the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States for 10 years and prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens.

Other laws, such as the Immigration Act of 1924, established national-origin quotas to restrict immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

In 1952, the Walter–McCarran Act finally nullified all federal anti-Asian exclusion laws and allowed for the naturalization of all Asians.

Other immigration quotas still remained in place.

Finally, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Celler Act) abolished the national origins quota system that had been in place since 1924. The new law focused on immigrants' skills and family relationships with U.S. citizens or residents rather than on their country of origin.

The act was a response to changing social attitudes and the civil rights movement, which challenged past discriminatory policies.

The 1965 law opened the doors to millions of immigrants from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, and helped shape modern-day America into a more diverse and multicultural society.

And a more diverse and multicultural society is exactly what white nationalists in America are so afraid of.

In the mid-1800s, new waves of immigration began as Europe experienced economic and political upheaval. Millions of people from Ireland, Germany, Italy, and other countries came to America in search of a better life. They faced discrimination and prejudice from those who believed that they were taking jobs away from American-born citizens.

However, several generations later, many of the descendants of those immigrants are now fighting against the immigration of people who are coming here for the same reasons but from different countries than their ancestors.

In 1886, the Statue of Liberty was unveiled on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The statue, a gift from France to America, quickly became a symbol of freedom and opportunity for immigrants. The statue's inscription, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," became a rallying cry for those seeking a better life in America.

However, women, Blacks, and other non-whites were excluded from participating in the unveiling ceremony.

The poem on the Statue of Liberty, titled "The New Colossus," was written by Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887) in 1883. The poem was not originally part of the statue, but it was added in 1903 as a tribute to Lazarus and her work on behalf of immigrants. The poem speaks to the idea of America as a nation of immigrants and a beacon of hope for those seeking a better life.

As a wealthy socialist, feminist, pro-refugee, and pluralist Jew, Emma Lazarus was exactly the kind of person today's Republicans rail against.

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows worldwide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Back in the 1980s, the 40th American President, Republican Ronald Reagan, had quite a different take on immigration. He emphasized that the United States is a nation of immigrants and that its strength comes from its capacity to welcome those from other lands.

He also acknowledged the need for an immigration policy that was both effective and orderly, yet reflected America's checkered tradition of accepting foreigners, and proposed eight principles for such a policy.

Reagan desired that America's immigration policy should include the need for legal authority to control immigration, recognize the benefits of Mexicans obtaining employment in the United States, and employ a fair distribution of the impacts of the national immigration policy.

Reagan emphasized the need for international cooperation to help reduce the motivations for illegal immigration.

Most importantly, Reagan expressed his belief in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived in the US, even though they may have entered illegally, like today's "Dreamers" who were brought here at a very young age by their parents.

Ronald Reagan would most likely not be welcome in today's Republican Party.

Today, immigration remains a contentious issue in American politics. Conservatives argue that ("Brown" and “Black”) immigrants take jobs away from American-born citizens, contribute to crime and other social problems, and contribute to the Great (White) Replacement Theory.

Liberals believe that all immigrants bring vitality and diversity to the country and that America's strength lies in its ability to welcome newcomers from around the world.

Today In Black History

In 1853, William Wells Brown published Clotel, the first novel by a Black American.
In 1868, the South Carolina General Assembly met with a Black majority, becoming the first time an American legislature had a Black majority.
In 1898, the U.S. Senate agreed to annex Hawai’i.
In 1957, Althea Gibson became the first Black woman tennis champion with her win in the women’s singles championship at Wimbledon.
In 1964, the African nation of Malawi gained its independence from Britain.
In 1967, the Nigerian Civil War erupted after Nigerian forces invaded the secessionist state of Biafra.
In 1975, the African nation of Comoros gained its independence from France.
In 1990, 4-time Olympic Gold Medal winner was commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp.
In 2016, African American man Alton Sterling was filmed while being shot to death by Baton Rouge, LA, police while being restrained on the ground.
In 2016, African American man Philando Castile was filmed while being shot to death by police in St. Paul, MN, after being pulled over for a broken rear light.

You can always leave any questions in the comments or email us.

What to the Slave is the 4th of July?

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:18:05 GMT

Issue #1,047 The Choice, Thursday, June 2, 2026

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” was a speech delivered by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, at a meeting organized by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York.

Here is James Earl Jones reciting the iconic speech in his own iconic voice.

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Our goal is to make “We Are Speaking” a best-selling publication by September 30, 2026, increasing our reach and influence! To achieve our goal, we will need 15 new paid subscribers every week, or 5 paid subscribers per day for the three days a week we publish. If you value our publication, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $5/month or $50/year. We appreciate your financial support!
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Today In Black History: The History and Legacy of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes in Canada

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:07:13 GMT

Happy Canada Day, July 1!
I am re-posting this article that details how today’s modern hockey was changed forever by BLACK Canadians.

Issue #1,045 Today in Black History, Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Issue #938 Today In Black History, Monday, October 6, 2025

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The Colored Hockey League (CHL) of the Maritimes in Canada was established in 1895 and continued until 1930. The CHL was a significant cultural movement that challenged racial barriers and contributed to the broader civil rights discourse in North America.

The CHL, the only all-Black men’s ice hockey league in Canada, was founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by a group of Black Baptists and intellectuals who sought to use hockey to promote community pride and unity while fighting racial discrimination. The League quickly expanded to Prince Edward Island and other locations in Nova Scotia. The CHL provided African Canadians a platform to showcase their talents and challenge prevailing stereotypes.

The CHL’s existence pre-dated the formation of the National Hockey League (NHL) by over two decades, and its impact on the sport remains profound. Championship matches attracted multiracial crowds, with journalists reporting on the fast-paced, rule-bending hockey games that influenced the sport's subsequent evolution.

The league is credited with several innovations that have become integral to modern hockey. For instance, Eddie Martin, a star player in the CHL, is often credited with introducing the slap shot, a technique now ubiquitous in the game.

Beyond the rink, the CHL served as a beacon of social progress and empowerment for Black communities in Canada. It provided an avenue for athletes to gain recognition and respect within teams like the Halifax Eurekas, the Africville Sea-Sides, and the Dartmouth Jubilees, which became symbols of resilience and excellence.

The league demonstrated that Black athletes could excel in what was then considered a predominantly white sport, thereby challenging the racial hierarchies of the time. The CHL also attracted diverse audiences, fostering a spirit of inclusivity and shared enthusiasm for the game.

In recent years, efforts have been made to recognize and honor the contributions of the CHL and its players. Authors like George and Darril Fosty have chronicled the league’s history in their book “Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925,” bringing the story to a wider audience.

The CHL is now celebrated as an essential part of Canadian heritage. Its players and their achievements are commemorated in museums and public discussions, ensuring that the history of the CHL is not forgotten.

Today In Black History

In 1865, barely six months after the end of the Civil War and two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Fisk School, named after General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen’s Bureau, was established. Fisk convened its first classes on January 9, 1866, with students ranging in age from seven to seventy years old.
In 1871, the Fisk Jubilee Singers began the first around-the-world tour by a musical act, which led to the city of Nashville being dubbed “Music City.”
In 1895, Black inventor W.D. Davis received a patent for an improved horse riding saddle.
In 1983, Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three Olympic Gold Medals in track and field in one year, was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Dr. Mae Carol Jemison, the first Black woman to travel in space, was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
In 2023, American artistic gymnast Simone Biles won the all-around gold at the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, becoming the most decorated gymnast in history with 34 World and Olympic medals.

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The First Amendment

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:07:06 GMT

Photo Credit: georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu

There are 27 weeks from June 30 through December 29, 2026. There are 27 Amendments to the Constitution, which are the law of this land.
Every week, I am re-publishing my posts on each amendment, one by one.
The current administration and its MAGA followers believe that the Constitution doesn’t matter.
I am here to remind them for the next 27 weeks that the Constitution DOES matter and that they WILL follow these laws, sooner or later.

Issue #84 Government July 14, 2022 (about 4 minutes reading time)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is part of the Bill of Rights, which includes the first ten amendments passed in 1791 during the first term of President George Washington, following the official ratification of the Constitution in 1787.

The antifederalists, who were led by then-governor of Virginia Patrick Henry, opposed the ratification of the Constitution because they felt that it gave too much power to the federal government and lacked protection for people’s individual rights (meaning the rights of landowning white men only, of course).

Pro-constitution politicians, called Federalists, proposed a concession to the antifederalists, which led to the development of the Bill of Rights, which was ratified in 1791. These first ten amendments were written primarily by James Madison, who would later become the fourth president of the United States.

The First Amendment protects five freedoms: speech, religion, the press, assembly, and petitioning the government. This amendment is one of the most misunderstood of all of the eventual twenty-seven amendments.

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1. Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech means that Americans can express themselves without worrying about government interference or retribution. “Freedom of speech” does not apply to private companies, nor does it mean that anyone can say anything without repercussions from other private citizens or corporations.

Some of the first things authoritarian-type governments and/or politicians do are to either attempt to silence the voices of those with whom they do not agree, and/or claim that their “1st Amendment Rights” are being taken away if their opinions are not popular.

2. Freedom of the Press

An independent and constitutionally protected free press reports the facts, and journalists are usually the first people targeted by authoritarian governments and/or politicians. Just like in the general population, engaging in libel (spreading falsehoods or defamation in writing) and/or slander (verbally spreading falsehoods or defamation) is unethical and, in many instances, illegal.

But otherwise, protecting the rights of print and digital media to report the facts freely is one of the most essential rights in a democracy that answers to the people, not to a person who wishes to be a dictator.

3. Freedom of Religion

Americans are guaranteed freedom of religion, meaning they have the right to practice their religion as they wish or practice no religion at all, as well as freedom from religion, because the 1st Amendment prohibits the government from establishing a “state” religion and favoring one religion over another. This is the basis of the established “separation of church and state.”

All through American history, and especially very recently, many fundamentalist Christians have been trying to turn the United States into a theocracy, which is exactly the opposite of what the Founders wanted, having just fought a war to free themselves from a religion-based monarchy.

4. Freedom of Assembly

People in the United States are guaranteed the right to gather in public protest through marches, rallies, and other forms of assembly without fear of government retribution. Both Black Lives Matter marches and Ku Klux Klan rallies are protected by the First Amendment, but acts of sedition and insurrection are not. The operative word in this right is peaceably.

Authorities may intervene when protests turn violent, threaten public safety, or result in riots or property damage. However, people are allowed to peacefully protest in what are considered public forums: parks, public squares, and sidewalks—even the sidewalks in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices.

5. Freedom to Petition

The right to petition the government for change without fear of retribution is used more than most people realize. Every time you sign a petition for changes in social or legal policy, you are exercising your First Amendment right. Other ways that you exercise your First Amendment right to petition the government may include:

Filing a lawsuit.
Testifying at a public meeting or before a government agency at any level, including before Congress.
Submitting a written complaint to a government agency.
Contacting a government official.
Circulating a ballot initiative or referendum for others to sign.

And most importantly, by voting, you are in essence petitioning the government for a change by voting to elect or re-elect a government official, support a cause on the ballot, or accept or deny a policy proposal.

The right and power to vote is the most powerful expression of your First Amendment right to petition the government without fear of retribution.

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Today In Black History: Baker's Keyboard Lounge

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 16:16:52 GMT

Issue #1,044 Today In Black History, Monday, June 29, 2026

June is Black Music Appreciation Month. Black Music Month was initiated in 1979 by Philadelphia songwriter Kenny Gamble, pioneering radio DJ Ed Wright, and media strategist Dyana Williams. These three music icons successfully campaigned the idea to President Jimmy Carter, who held the first White House reception celebrating Black music on June 7, 1979.

This month in Today In Black History, we will highlight a few of the famous and lesser-known Black musicians.
Today, we publish the last of the 2026 Black Music Appreciation Month posts.

There’s a place on Livernois Avenue on Detroit’s west side where the music never really stops. Even when the doors are closed, the echoes of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ella Fitzgerald seem to linger in the walls — seasoned into the wood like decades of good smoke and better nights. That place is Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, located at 20510 Livernois Avenue on the “Avenue of Fashion,” and its story is as rich, layered, and enduring as the jazz it has championed since 1934.

Where It All Began

The story starts, humbly enough, with a sandwich. In 1933, Chris and Fannie Baker opened a small lunchtime restaurant on Detroit’s northwest side. Modest. Practical. Delicious, no doubt. But it was their son Clarence who heard something more in that little room — a frequency waiting to be tuned. In 1934, he began booking jazz pianists, and just like that, a legend was born.

Clarence had a gift beyond booking talent. He had presence. Working the house personally each night, he cultivated an atmosphere so warm and inviting that the world’s greatest musicians wanted to perform there. By the 1950s, Baker’s had become a magnet for jazz royalty. Art Tatum played those keys. Dave Brubeck swung through. Louis Armstrong blew the roof off. Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Wes Montgomery, Chet Baker, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller — the list reads like a who’s who of the American musical canon.

A Global Jazz Landmark

It’s no small thing to call yourself the oldest continuously operating jazz club in the world. But that’s precisely what Baker’s Keyboard Lounge is — a distinction officially recognized by the International Association of Jazz Educators. In a music scene that has seen clubs come and go across New York, Chicago, New Orleans, and beyond, Baker’s has quietly, stubbornly, beautifully kept its doors open through it all.

A few years ago, Baker’s was actually featured on the TV game show “Jeopardy.”

Answer: Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit!
Question: What is the world’s oldest continually operating jazz club?

The club’s intimate “listening room” format — the kind of space where you can see the pianist’s hands and feel the bass in your chest — was the crucible in which jazz evolved from the 1930s through the 1960s. Baker’s didn’t just witness that evolution. It was part of it.

Detroit recognized this, too. The club was designated a Michigan Historic Site in 1986, and in 2016, the city named it a protected historic landmark. The famous piano-key-shaped bar, an icon in its own right, has served drinks to music lovers for nearly a century.

New Hands on the Keys

In 2011, Eric and Jacqueline Vaughn Whitaker (affectionately known as “Jackie Vaughn”) and Hugh William Smith became co-owners of Baker’s. They understood what they were inheriting — not just a business, but a sacred cultural institution — and have worked to honor that trust while carefully breathing new life into the space.

This past spring, Baker’s temporarily closed its doors for a focused renovation. The result? Nearly $100,000 in upgrades that refreshed the venue from the inside out without touching its soul. A brand-new outdoor patio invites guests to enjoy Detroit evenings under open skies. The bar area got a fresh facelift. New lighting gives the intimate room a warm, updated glow. And the furniture — comfortable, inviting, and fitting for a room this storied — got a welcome upgrade.

The menu evolved, offering an elevated culinary experience that now includes vegan, vegetarian, and healthier fare alongside the classic offerings. Same great spirit, broader welcome.

Keith and I were honored to attend the Media Preview the day before the official reopening weekend. It was glorious and awe-inspiring.

The Music Goes On

When Baker’s reopened after renovations, it didn’t just open its doors — it opened a chapter. The jazz is still live. The piano bar still gleams. The ghosts of the greats are still in the room.

Baker’s Keyboard Lounge has survived nine decades by doing one thing brilliantly: creating a space where music and community meet. In Detroit, that’s not just history. That’s home.

Today In Black History

In 1864, Samuel Crowther, the Bishop of Niger, became the first Black bishop of the Church of England.
In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the creator of Negro History Week, which expanded into Black History Month, won the NAACP Springarn Medal for his research into Black history.
In 1956, during the Olympic trials, Charles Dumas high-jumped 7’ ½”, becoming the first person to jump over 7 feet in U.S. Olympic history.
In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment and violated the Eighth Amendment. At that time, 81% of death row convicts were Black and other minority groups.
In 1976, the African Nation of Seychelles gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
In 1982, the 1865 Voting Rights Act (VRA) was extended.
In 2023, the Republican-majority Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that college race-based admissions programs used to increase diversity are illegal under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

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Reflecting pool woes

Keith Owens — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:15:58 GMT

Issue #1,042 The Choice, Thursday, June 25, 2026

Ummm..hey guys? I think something is wrong with the reflecting pool…

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When we were kids in high school, a popular false bravado phrase was “Don’t start no shit, won’t be none.” Which meant, essentially, that as long as you leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone. But if, for some highly inadvisable reason, you decide we should fight, then fists will fly.

It’s easy to write off this teenage male chest thumping as little more than simply that. But it’s actually pretty good advice to follow long after those teen years are fading into the rear-view mirror. No need to start a problem just to be starting a problem, especially when there was no evidence that a problem was about to take shape.

Trump apparently takes a somewhat different view, which seems to be that wherever there is peace and goodwill, it is his solemn duty to replace said peace and goodwill with as much havoc as can possibly be wreaked.

It’s safe to say Iran isn’t a great place, which is to say not a place where most of us would prefer to live. Still, at this time last year, we weren’t at war with Iran because…well…why? Now we are at war (and then not at war, then back at war, then not, then maybe, then back at war) with Iran because…well…why?

Because Trump.

A couple of months ago, the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. was reflecting just fine. Same as it ever was since the pool first opened over a century ago in 1923. But then, several months ago, Trump decided to re-paint the pool. Said it would cost around $2 million. Wound up costing over $14 million. And within days of completion, green algae started sprouting in the pool, then the paint started peeling off, then people started getting arrested for daring to take a closer look at just how badly Trump had screwed up, and then ducks started dying in the pool. Because…well…why?

Yep.

Normally, it might be difficult to make any connection between a century-old pool of water and a war going on halfway around the world. But both are clear examples of how this entire country – and much of the world – has become an unwilling captive to Trump’s deranged whims and moods. He can’t negotiate an acceptable end to the war he started for absolutely no reason because he is incapable of doing so. This is the sort of negotiation that would require qualified adults to be in the room, and there are none. Meanwhile, soldiers are dying.

As for the ruined reflecting pool, it is only ruined because Trump deemed it so. But now that it is not as he prophesied, he has deemed his ruined fantasy to be someone else’s fault. A fictional someone to be named later. Maybe. But the pool itself is likely ruined at least until he leaves office, because returning the pool to normal would be to concede that Trump screwed up. And he will never allow that.

This level of madness won’t disappear just by wishing it away.

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Today In Black History: The Fisk Jubilee Singers

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:21:07 GMT

Issue #1,042 Today In Black History, Wednesday, June 24, 2026

June is Black Music Appreciation Month. Black Music Month was initiated in 1979 by Philadelphia songwriter Kenny Gamble, pioneering radio DJ Ed Wright, and media strategist Dyana Williams. These three music icons successfully campaigned the idea to President Jimmy Carter, who held the first White House reception celebrating Black music on June 7, 1979.

This month in Today In Black History, we will highlight a few of the famous and lesser-known Black musicians.

There’s a moment in 1871 that changed American music forever. A small, exhausted group of young Black singers boarded a train in Nashville, Tennessee, with almost nothing to their name — no guarantee of success, no warm reception waiting for them, and certainly no idea that their voices would one day echo in the concert halls of Europe and the corridors of the White House. They were the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and what they carried with them was priceless: the sacred songs of their enslaved ancestors.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers were founded in 1871 under the direction of George Leonard White, the treasurer and music teacher at Fisk University in Nashville. The school, established in 1866 to educate formerly enslaved people, was in desperate financial trouble. Desperate to keep Fisk’s doors open, White assembled eleven students and set out on a concert tour of the Northern United States. The name “Jubilee” was a nod to the biblical Year of Jubilee — a time of liberation and freedom.

The early tour was rough. Audiences were sometimes hostile, and hotels regularly turned them away. But when the singers performed, something remarkable happened. Crowds who expected novelty were moved to tears instead. The songs the Jubilee Singers shared — “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Go Down, Moses,” “Steal Away,” “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” — were Negro spirituals, the deeply felt, often coded songs created by enslaved Black Americans. These weren’t folk curiosities. They were testimonies.

The tour slowly caught fire. The group raised enough money to save Fisk University — and then they didn’t stop. In 1872, they performed at the World Peace Jubilee in Boston before an audience of 40,000 people. President Ulysses S. Grant received them at the White House. Newspapers that had once ignored them now celebrated them.

Their international tour, beginning in 1873, was nothing short of historic. In Britain, they performed for Queen Victoria, who was so moved she commissioned a portrait of the group. They toured Germany, where composer Antonín Dvořák later credited their spirituals as a major influence on his landmark New World Symphony. They sang for heads of state, packed concert halls, and returned home with over $150,000 — an enormous sum that funded the construction of Jubilee Hall at Fisk, the first permanent building in the American South built expressly to educate Black students. That building still stands today.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers did something no institution could have planned: they took music that was in danger of fading from memory and placed it at the center of American cultural life. Before their tours, Negro spirituals were often dismissed or overlooked. The Jubilee Singers treated them as the masterworks they were — performing them with full artistic seriousness on the world’s most prestigious stages. In doing so, they forced the world to listen.

Their influence rippled outward into virtually every corner of American music. Gospel, blues, jazz, and soul all draw from the well of the spiritual tradition the Jubilee Singers championed. Artists from Mahalia Jackson to Beyoncé carry forward a legacy that runs directly through those eleven students who boarded a train in 1871.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers never stopped. The ensemble has continued performing without interruption for over 150 years, making it one of the longest-running musical groups in American history. In 2008, they were awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush. In 2022, a collection of their early recordings from 1909 was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Their story is one of survival, artistry, and profound dignity. They sang when the world tried to silence them — and the world, eventually, couldn’t help but listen.

Today In Black History

In 1884, John R. Lynch, a former congressman from Mississippi, was elected temporary chairman of the Republican convention and became the first Black person to preside over the deliberations of a national political party.
In 1885, Samuel David Ferguson, a consecrated bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was named bishop of Liberia, becoming the first Black American with full membership in the House of Bishops.
In 1896, Booker T. Washington, the founder of Tuskegee Institute, received an honorary degree from Harvard University.
In 1937, Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator and civil rights leader, became the first woman to receive a major federal appointment when she was named Director of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration.
In 1960, Patrice Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the independent nation of Congo.
In 1971, Daniels and Bell of New York became the first Black-owned securities firm admitted to the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1972, the Democratic National Convention approved the nomination of Yvonne Braithwaite Burke as co-chairperson.
In 1988, Atlanta University and Clark College, two of the nation’s oldest HBCUs, merged to create Clark Atlanta University.

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Today In Black History: Carmen de Lavallade

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:19:03 GMT

Issue #1,041 Today In Black History, Monday, June 22, 2026

June is Black Music Appreciation Month. Black Music Month was initiated in 1979 by Philadelphia songwriter Kenny Gamble, pioneering radio DJ Ed Wright, and media strategist Dyana Williams. These three music icons successfully campaigned the idea to President Jimmy Carter, who held the first White House reception celebrating Black music on June 7, 1979.

This month in Today In Black History, we will highlight a few of the famous and lesser-known Black musicians.

Born on March 6, 1931, in Los Angeles, Carmen de Lavallade grew up in a world rich with heritage. Her Creole parents had deep roots in New Orleans, and she spent much of her childhood with her aunt Adele. Adele wasn’t just family; she owned one of the first Black history bookstores on Central Avenue, a place that surely sparked Carmen’s early love for culture. It seems excellence ran in the family, too—her cousin, Janet Collins, made history as the first Black prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera, setting a path that Carmen would soon follow and expand in her own beautiful way.

Carmen’s own journey into ballet started at sixteen. After high school, she earned a scholarship to study with Lester Horton, whose Los Angeles dance company was truly ahead of its time in its inclusivity. By 1949, she was a member of the Lester Horton Dance Theater, and from 1950 to 1954, she shone as its lead dancer. It was here that she really found her voice, blending technical skill with a dramatic presence that would become her trademark.

Life changed in 1954 when she made her Broadway debut in “House of Flowers.” That show was a real turning point—not just for her career, but for her heart. It’s where she met Alvin Ailey, who had moved to New York just to be her dance partner, sparking a lifelong friendship that changed American dance. It’s also where she met the love of her life, dancer and designer Geoffrey Holder. They married the following year and shared an incredible sixty-year partnership. One of their most touching collaborations was her solo “Come Sunday,” which Geoffrey choreographed to a spiritual sung by Odetta.

What made Carmen so special was her incredible range. In 1956, she stepped onto the stage at the Metropolitan Opera as the prima ballerina in “Samson and Delilah” and “Aida,” becoming one of the first Black women to ever hold that prestigious title. She had this wonderful ability to move between worlds—ballet, modern dance, opera, and even Hollywood movies like “Carmen Jones” (1954) and “Odds Against Tomorrow” (1959). Over the years, she worked with the absolute best in the business, from Agnes de Mille to John Butler, creating a legacy that truly represents the heart of twentieth-century dance.

In 1958, she helped start the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, giving her talent to what would become a global institution. She later shared her wisdom at Yale and Harvard, serving as a choreographer and resident performer. But Carmen never really stopped dancing. In 1996, at the age of 65, she co-founded PARADIGM, a dance collective for performers over 50. It was her way of saying that dance, and the beauty of a body in motion, doesn’t have an age limit.

The beautiful story of her life with Geoffrey was captured in the 2005 documentary “Carmen and Geoffrey.” Even after Geoffrey passed away in 2014, Carmen kept going—performing, teaching, and mentoring well into her nineties. She was a living lesson in what it looks like to live a life of discipline and grace.

In 2017, the Kennedy Center awarded her its highest honor, celebrating a lifetime of improving American culture. It was a well-deserved moment for a woman who spent over seventy years showing the world that excellence and Blackness are one and the same.

Carmen de Lavallade passed away on December 29, 2025, in New Jersey at 94. She leaves behind more than just dates and awards; she leaves a trail of beauty and a generation of dancers who saw, through her, that grace can be its own powerful form of defiance. She didn’t just open doors; she made every room she entered better just by being in it.

Today In Black History

In 1884, Lane College, formerly the C.M.E. High School, was founded in Jackson, Tennessee.
In 1870, Congress created the Department of Justice primarily to arrest members of the KKK.
In 1938, boxer Joe Louis knocked out the German Boxer Max Schmeling, humiliating Adolf Hitler.
In 1963, 13-year-old Stevie Wonder released his first single, “Fingertips,” the first live, no-studio recording to go No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
In 1965, Arthur Ashe led UCLA to the NCAA tennis championship.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed a bill extending the 1965 Voting Rights Act through 1975 and lowering the voting age to 18 for all elections.
In 2015, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds after the massacre of 9 members of the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston.

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Today In Black History: Juneteenth

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 16:15:26 GMT

Issue #1,038 Today In Black History, Friday, June 19, 2026

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I republish this post every year on Juneteenth.

My dear friend Jamon Jordan is a highly respected educator in Detroit and the official historian for the City of Detroit. He offers walking tours of historical sites in Detroit and Michigan for groups from across the country and around the world. He is also the president of the Detroit Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which was founded in 1915 by my own great-granduncle, Dr. Carter C. Woodson.

Dr. Woodson also founded Negro History Week on February 7, 1926. Negro History Week is now Black History Month. The reason Black History Month is in February is that Negro History Week was celebrated in February.

As Jamon explains, Kwanzaa, Black History Month, and Juneteenth are “FUBU” (For Us By Us); none of those events was “given to us” by others.

On my previous podcast, Jamon was a guest for Kwanzaa, Black History Month, and Juneteenth every year. The depth of his knowledge and the way he presents Black American and African history in general, as well as historical figures of all races and events, for the City of Detroit are unparalleled.

If you are on Facebook and you love history, you really need to follow Jamon.

In 2019, Jamon wrote an article about the actual significance of Juneteenth for Black people. As he beautifully explains it, Juneteenth is not “just when the slaves in Texas finally got the news…” It is much more important and meaningful than that.

With Jamon’s permission, I am reprinting his entire 2019 essay on Juneteenth. I am sure you will find it as illuminating, interesting, affirming, and educational as I did.

“Juneteenth” by Jamon Jordan, Official Historian for the City of Detroit

The significance of Juneteenth rests on a principle in African culture that prioritizes “we” over “I.”

On April 16, 1862, Congress passed, and Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act for Washington DC. This law officially ended slavery in the nation’s capital.

The slaveowners were given $300 for every enslaved person they freed. The enslaved Africans were offered $100 if they left the country and went to Haiti or Liberia.

In Washington, D.C., there is an Annual Emancipation Day celebration on April 16th.

It hasn’t caught on anywhere else.

Why not?

Some states ended slavery on their own before and during the Civil War.

Vermont ended slavery in its constitution on July 8, 1777. After doing that, the state was denied admission into the United States for over a decade.

As important as that historical fact is, we don’t have a celebration for that.

Why not?

Because it freed SOME people.

Michigan, which had slavery from the French arrival in 1701 until the 1833 uprising to free Thornton & Lucie (Rutha) Blackburn, officially ended slavery on January 26th, 1837.

There is no Freedom Celebration in Detroit on January 26th.

Some people would not be enslaved. But what about Black people in other places?

President Abraham Lincoln declared that the Emancipation Proclamation would take effect on January 1, 1863, but the Proclamation only applied to the southern areas in rebellion - the Confederate states.

Immediately, any person enslaved in the South in an area that was under Union army occupation was freed.

The Proclamation led many Africans to escape their enslavers and reach Union lines to obtain their freedom, and many of them joined the Union Army.

Word got around, and within 6 months of the Emancipation Proclamation, a million Black people escaped from plantations to Union lines.

They freed themselves.

There are numerous Emancipation Day celebrations during the first week of January. But they are not on the scale of Juneteenth.

In the Black community, churches hold watch night services on December 31 - New Year’s Eve, which originated with the Emancipation Proclamation becoming law on January 1, 1863.

But Watch Night is not a celebration.

On June 1-2, 1863, Harriet Tubman led a troop of Union soldiers into South Carolina to the Combahee River. There, they freed 750 Black people from slavery.

There is no freedom celebration on June 1st or 2nd.

On January 31, 1865, Congress approved the 13th Amendment, which made slavery unconstitutional.

There is no freedom celebration on January 31st.

The reason why Juneteenth is so significant is only a LITTLE about the Black people in Texas who were informed of their freedom on June 19, 1865, by Union General Gordon Granger, when he brought a regiment into Galveston, Texas.

The reason why Juneteenth resonates with Black people is that it is NOT the honoring of SOME Black people who got free from escaping, or from lawsuits, or from buying their freedom, or from slave revolts, or from being manumitted by their slaveowners, or by state constitutions, or by the Emancipation Proclamation.

It is the celebration of freedom AT LAST for ALL OF US.

This idea from African culture is that freedom is not really about “some” of us. But it really is about “ALL” of us. (Bold is added by me…)

This is why, when Harriet Tubman escaped in 1849, she went back over and over to help others.

This is why Second Baptist Church in Detroit was a station on the Underground Railroad.

This is why Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist, a writer, an Underground Railroad agent, and an antislavery orator.

This is why Isabella Baumfree became Sojourner Truth.

When you celebrate Juneteenth, you’re not just recognizing the people who were freed in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.

You’re honoring the total fight for freedom in Elmina, Cape Coast, and Goree Island.

On the Whydah, the Susan Constant, the Clotilda, and the Amistad.

You’re honoring David Walker, Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey, and Nat Turner.

Because it wasn’t just about THEM. It was about ALL OF US.

Juneteenth, unlike the Compensated Emancipation for Washington, D.C., or the Emancipation Proclamation, is not about SOME OF US.

It’s about ALL OF US.
And Black people created Juneteenth.
That’s why Juneteenth is important.

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Today In Black History: Charles Mingus

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:09:44 GMT

Issue #1,038 Today In Black History, Monday, June 15, 2026

June is Black Music Appreciation Month. Black Music Month was initiated in 1979 by Philadelphia songwriter Kenny Gamble, pioneering radio DJ Ed Wright, and media strategist Dyana Williams. These three music icons successfully campaigned the idea to President Jimmy Carter, who held the first White House reception celebrating Black music on June 7, 1979.

This month in Today In Black History, we will highlight a few of the famous and lesser-known Black musicians.

Charles Mingus: The Life, Times, and Influence of Jazz’s Angry Man

Unless they specifically study jazz music, younger people may not have heard of Charles Mingus or even remember that jazz is a uniquely American musical form. That is one reason why I thoroughly enjoy researching and writing about jazz legends like Charles Mingus.

I remember when, a few years ago, Madam Vice President Kamala Harris visited a record store in D.C. and said she was looking for some jazz LPs. The store owner at first recommended some of the better-known musicians, such as Duke Ellington or Louis Armstrong, but Madam VP said no; she wanted something by Charles Mingus. The store owner was shocked by her choice, but he did have those recordings to sell.

Charles Mingus was born on April 22, 1922, at an Army base in Nogales, Arizona, and raised in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. His mixed heritage—African American, Native American, Swedish, and Chinese—and the racial tensions he encountered as a child shaped a worldview that would later explode across his music.

He began on the trombone and cello before settling on the double bass as a teenager, a choice partly forced by the era’s racial politics: Mingus once said he was discouraged from pursuing classical cello because Black musicians were not welcomed into symphony orchestras. That early rejection planted a seed of defiance that never left him.

By his early twenties, Mingus was already an exceptional bassist, playing with bandleaders like Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, and Lionel Hampton, who recorded Mingus’s composition “Mingus Fingers” in 1947. In the early 1950s, he moved to New York and quickly became part of the bebop revolution, performing and recording with giants including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell.

Mingus was never content to simply play other people’s music. In 1952, he co-founded Debut Records with Max Roach, one of the first major artist-owned record labels in jazz, giving musicians more control over their work in an industry that routinely exploited Black artists. This entrepreneurial streak reflected a broader principle: Mingus believed musicians deserved ownership over their art and their livelihoods, decades before that became a common demand in the music business, when Ray Charles and Prince demanded ownership over their own music.

As a composer, Mingus defied easy categorization. He fused the structured intensity of Duke Ellington—whom he revered as a primary influence—with the freedom of gospel music, the fire of bebop, the blues, and elements of what would become free jazz. His compositions often shifted tempo and mood abruptly, mixing collective improvisation with tightly arranged passages.

That willingness to confront racism and injustice head-on set Mingus apart from many of his contemporaries. “Fables of Faubus” was so politically charged that Columbia Records initially refused to release it with its lyrics intact, fearing backlash; Mingus later recorded the full version, with its biting words, on an independent label. Throughout his career, Mingus used his music as a form of social commentary, addressing segregation, police brutality, and the everyday indignities faced by Black Americans.

Mingus was also a generous mentor and bandleader, nurturing the talents of musicians such as Eric Dolphy, Jaki Byard, Charles McPherson, and Roland Kirk. His Jazz Workshop ensembles became training grounds for some of the era’s most adventurous players, and his rehearsals—often demanding and unpredictable—pushed musicians to internalize complex compositions without relying solely on written notation, in a manner closer to an oral tradition.

In the early 1970s, declining health slowed Mingus’s pace, but his creative ambitions did not shrink. In his final years, Mingus was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which gradually robbed him of his ability to play. He continued composing until his death on January 5, 1979, in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he had traveled seeking alternative treatments.

Mingus’s influence reaches far beyond jazz. His insistence on musical and economic independence inspired generations of artists to seek control over their own work. His fusion of composition and improvisation influenced everyone from later jazz innovators to rock, funk, and hip-hop artists who have sampled his recordings. The Mingus Big Band continues to perform his music today, and “Mingus Ah Um” remains a staple of college jazz curricula. Beyond the notes, Mingus left a model of the artist as truth-teller—someone who refused to separate music from the politics and pain of the world around him, and who demanded that both his art and his humanity be taken seriously.

Today In Black History

In 1864, the U.S. Congress passed legislation equalizing pay for Black soldiers.
In 1877, Henry O. Flipper became the first Black graduate of West Point.
In 1897, Black inventor R.A. Butler patented a train alarm.
In 1921, African American female pilot Bessie Coleman became the first U.S. woman to receive a pilot’s license from the French Federation Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
In 1921, Sadie Tanner Modell Alexander became the first Black person to receive a Ph.D. In Economics, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1968, Ellen Holly became the first African American on daytime television in the role of “Carla” on “One Life to Live.
In 1971, Vernon E. Jordan was appointed executive director of the National Urban League.
In 1971, 17-year-old Cheryl White became the first Black female professional jockey.

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Will the Canadians ever forgive us for Trump? That may be a bridge too far...

Keith Owens — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:15:57 GMT

Issue #1,037 The Choice, Thursday, June 11, 2026

Trump is still holding the Gordie Howe Bridge hostage

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On Thursday, June 11, 2026, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority announced that the Friday, June 12, 2026, dedication ceremony and opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario has been postponed.
No new date has been set.

Photo Credit: Windsor Star

Here is the headline from yesterday’s Crain’s Detroit Business, published Wednesday, June 10:

More talk — but also more uncertainty — on Gordie Howe Bridge opening plans

For those not familiar with this project, the Gordie Howe Bridge is a $4.6 billion infrastructure project connecting the United States and Canada via a massive bridge linking Michigan to Ontario that was all set to go until, well, Trump. Here’s what I wrote about the dilemma back in February:

You may have heard that Trump is suddenly determined to block the opening of a bridge that has now been completed between the US and Canada. The Gordie Howe Bridge, as it is named, has long been anticipated because, once it opens, it will greatly reduce the staggering amount of traffic currently shouldered by the Ambassador Bridge, located a few miles further up the Detroit River. Currently, the Ambassador Bridge is the busiest international border crossing in North America by trade volume. It serves as a critical economic link, handling over 25% of all merchandise trade between the U.S. and Canada, with goods valued at approximately $323 million crossing daily.
That bridge, the Ambassador Bridge, is privately owned by local billionaire Matthew Maroun and his family

Full stop. The Maroun family, who own the current Ambassador Bridge, are huge Trump supporters who have opposed this bridge since it was barely an idea. And that’s because a fully functional Gordie Howe Bridge means fewer billions in the bank for the Maroun family by diverting traffic from the Ambassador Bridge, which is not acceptable to the Marouns. And, since the Marouns donated millions to Trump, a fully functional Gordie Howe Bridge is therefore not acceptable to him either.

So now we have a bridge opening ceremony (maybe) for a bridge that will/might welcome traffic as soon as next Monday, June 15.

Maybe, possibly, hopefully. We’ll see. Here’s a really optimistic prediction from Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford, reported from Crain’s:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who was in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, suggested the bridge’s launch remains uncertain.
“Let’s see if it opens or not,” he said. “Hopefully it will, if they say it’s going to open. I’m just hearing two stories. But that’s all right. It’s all good.”

Yeah. It’s all good. Sure it is.

Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office hasn’t been returning calls or answering the phone from reporters trying to get a solid answer. And yet the Governor is expected to be present at the festivities (???) on Friday.

Is the bridge a better deal – by a large margin – for both Canadians and Americans? Of course it is. And the Canadians even paid for the whole thing, agreeing to recoup their money through toll collection. Because, you know, Canadians trusted us to do the right thing and hold up our end like we always have based on how the Canadian/American alliance used to work once upon a time.

That alliance has run aground on the rocky shores of Right Now.

Will the Canadians ever forgive us for Trump?

Maybe. Hopefully Possibly.

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Today In Black History: Run DMC

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:07:06 GMT

Issue #1,036 Today In Black History, Wednesday, June 10, 2026

June is Black Music Appreciation Month. Black Music Month was initiated in 1979 by Philadelphia songwriter Kenny Gamble, pioneering radio DJ Ed Wright, and media strategist Dyana Williams. These three music icons successfully campaigned the idea to President Jimmy Carter, who held the first White House reception celebrating Black music on June 7, 1979.

This month in Today In Black History, we will highlight a few of the famous and lesser-known Black musicians.

Run DMC: The Kings from Hollis Who Changed Everything

I must admit that, as a really OG Boomer, I’m not as into rap music as most of my younger friends and family members are. But I know and understand the importance of Run DMC. I enjoyed researching and writing about this group.

They walked out of Hollis, Queens, wearing black hats, black leather jackets, and unlaced Adidas shell-toe sneakers — and they walked into history. Run DMC didn’t just make music. They fundamentally transformed what hip-hop could be, what it could look like, and who it could reach.

Formed in 1981, Run DMC consisted of Joseph “DJ Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell. They were not street hustlers or gangsters. They were middle-class Black kids from Queens who chose to represent themselves exactly as they were — and in doing so, they gave an entire generation permission to do the same. Their aesthetic was deliberate: no glitter, no capes, no showmanship borrowed from funk or soul tradition.

Their 1984 debut single It’s Like That / Sucker MCs announced an entirely new era. Run DMC used the form to deliver blunt social commentary. “It’s like that, and that’s the way it is,” they rapped, cataloging unemployment, poverty, and the indifference of a system that turned its back on Black communities.

But it was their self-titled debut album, also released in 1984, that announced hip-hop as a serious album format. It became the first rap album to go gold, the first to be nominated for a Grammy, and the first to crack the pop charts in a meaningful way.

The group’s most explosive cultural moment came in 1986 when they collaborated with Aerosmith on Walk This Way — a track that didn’t just cross racial and genre lines but practically erased them. The music video, which featured Steven Tyler and Joe Perry crashing through a wall to join Run DMC on stage, was a visual metaphor for everything the collaboration represented: the forced integration of two American musical traditions that had long been kept apart by industry segregation. The song became a top-five pop hit and, crucially, reintroduced Aerosmith to a new generation while simultaneously proving that hip-hop could command the mainstream on its own terms.

Their 1986 album Raising Hell became the first rap album to reach platinum status, and the tour that followed introduced hip-hop to arenas across America. For many young people — Black, white, Latino — it was the first time they had seen the culture in that kind of space, at that scale. Run DMC didn’t bring hip-hop to the mainstream by becoming something else. They brought the mainstream to hip-hop.

Beyond music, the group reshaped fashion, media, and commerce. Their relationship with Adidas led to a groundbreaking endorsement deal — the first major corporate partnership with a hip-hop act — after the company saw thousands of fans at Madison Square Garden raise their sneakers in the air during a performance of “My Adidas.”

Tragedy struck on October 30, 2002, when Jam Master Jay was shot and killed in his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens. His murder shook the hip-hop world and left an irreplaceable void. The case remained unsolved for nearly twenty years before two men were finally indicted in 2020.

Run DMC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, the first hip-hop act to receive that honor. The recognition was long overdue, but it acknowledged that the music they made in the early 1980s had not aged into nostalgia. It had become the foundation.

Hip-hop is now the most consumed music genre in America. The artists at its helm — whether they acknowledge it or not — are standing on ground that Run DMC broke. They came out of Hollis with a beat, a message, and an unshakeable sense of themselves. That was enough to change the world.

Today In Black History

In 1794, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Philadelphia.
In 1854, James Augustine Healy, who later became the first Black American Roman Catholic Bishop, was ordained a priest at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
In 1897, the Hotel Robinson became one of the first businesses in San /diego, California, to be owned and operated by an African American, and the oldest continuously operated hotel in Southern California.
In 1899, the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was founded in Cincinnati, OH.
In 1981, hockey goalie Grant Fuhr was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League, becoming the first Black professional hockey player.

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Today In Black History: Ma Rainey

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:34:37 GMT

Issue #1,035 Today In Black History, Monday, June 8, 2026

June is Black Music Appreciation Month. Black Music Month was initiated in 1979 by Philadelphia songwriter Kenny Gamble, pioneering radio DJ Ed Wright, and media strategist Dyana Williams. These three music icons successfully campaigned the idea to President Jimmy Carter, who held the first White House reception celebrating Black music on June 7, 1979.

This month in Today In Black History, we will highlight a few of the famous and lesser-known Black musicians.

Gertrude “Ma” Rainey stands as one of the most influential and pioneering figures in early Black American music history. Born on April 26, 1886, in Columbus, Georgia, she became known as the “Mother of the Blues.”

Ma Rainey’s early years were spent in the entertainment industry, beginning her career as a performer in minstrel shows and traveling circuses during the late 1800s. She married Will Rainey in 1904, and together they formed a performing duo, traveling extensively throughout the South. It was during these formative years that Ma Rainey developed her distinctive vocal style, characterized by a rich, powerful mezzo-soprano voice and an innovative approach to phrasing and emotional expression, drawing on the experiences and sorrows of everyday Black Americans.

The turning point in Ma Rainey’s career came in the early 1920s when the recording industry began to recognize the commercial potential of blues music. In December 1923, she made her first recordings for Paramount Records, launching what would become a prolific recording career. Between 1923 and 1928, she recorded nearly 100 songs, many of which became classics. Her recordings sold remarkably well, making her one of the first African American women to achieve substantial commercial success as a recording artist. Songs like “See See Rider,” “Prove It On Me,” “Bo Weevil,” and “Moonlight Midnight” showcased her versatility and emotional depth.

Ma Rainey wrote and sang about themes that were rarely discussed in mainstream music: infidelity, poverty, racial injustice, and women’s independence. Her song “Prove It On Me” boldly addressed her lesbian relationships, making her one of the earliest artists to openly sing about queer love.

Beyond her recordings, Ma Rainey was an exceptional live performer. She toured extensively with her own revue, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” traveling to theaters across America and performing for audiences hungry for authentic blues music. Her stage presence was commanding; she wore ornate, glamorous gowns, distinctive makeup, and commanded the attention of everyone in the room. She was not merely singing; she was telling stories that resonated deeply with her audiences.

Ma Rainey mentored Bessie Smith, who would become another legendary blues singer, and influenced countless other artists who followed. Her approach to blues singing—emphasizing emotional truth over technical perfection, addressing real-world concerns, and maintaining artistic independence—became a template for generations of blues and jazz musicians. Artists from Billie Holiday to contemporary performers have acknowledged their debt to her pioneering work.

Ma Rainey was a savvy businesswoman who understood the value of her talent and negotiated favorable recording contracts. Despite the racial segregation and gender discrimination she faced throughout her life, she maintained her dignity and refused to be diminished by the systems arrayed against her.

Ma Rainey’s career began to decline in the late 1920s as musical tastes shifted and the Great Depression impacted the recording industry. She retired from performing in 1933 and returned to her hometown of Columbus, Georgia, where she lived quietly until her death on December 22, 1939, from heart disease.

Today In Black History

In 1789, James Madison introduced the proposed Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, in the House of Representatives.
In 1861, the state of Tennessee voted to secede from the Union.
In 1892, a 7/8th white shoemaker, Homer Plessy, refused to go to a segregated train car after successfully purchasing a first-class ticket.
In 1953, the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in restaurants in Washington, D.C., led by civil rights activist, journalist, educator, NAACP charter member, suffragist, and honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Mary Church Terrell.
In 1948, John Rudder became the first African American commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
In 1968, James Earl Ray, who was eventually convicted of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was arrested at a London airport and charged with the assassination.

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Today In Black History: Peabo Bryson

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:44:17 GMT

Issue #1,034 Today In Black History, Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Peabo Bryson: A Voice of Soul and Sophistication

Peabo Bryson was one of the most acclaimed and commercially successful R&B/soul singers of the 1980s and 1990s. Born Robert Peabo Bryson on June 13, 1951, in Greenville, South Carolina, he exemplifies the transformative power of dedication, talent, and artistic integrity.

Bryson developed his craft performing in local churches and community venues, where his exceptional vocal talents were quickly recognized. His classical training, combined with his natural instinct for rhythm and melody, created a unique artistic signature that would later distinguish him from his contemporaries.

The pivotal moment in Bryson’s career came in 1976 when he signed with Capitol Records. However, it was his collaboration with Roberta Flack on the 1978 single “Don’t Make Me Wait for Love” that introduced his voice to a broader audience. Flack and Bryson became one of the most celebrated duet pairings in music. Throughout the 1980s, Bryson’s solo career flourished with albums like “Straight from the Heart” (1984) and “Take No Prisoners” (1987).

Among his most significant contributions to popular music are his celebrated collaborations on major film soundtracks. Bryson lent his voice to the “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” film, performing the iconic duet “Tale as Old as Time” with Angela Lansbury. Additionally, his work on the “A Whole New World” theme showcased his ability to elevate animated film music to sophisticated artistry. These contributions expanded his reach beyond traditional R&B audiences and introduced his voice to millions of families worldwide.

Peabo Bryson’s contribution to music extends beyond commercial success. He helped establish a template for how soul and R&B could achieve mainstream acceptance without sacrificing artistic integrity or cultural authenticity. His vocal technique—characterized by impeccable breath control, precise intonation, and a remarkable ability to convey genuine emotion—has been studied and admired by musicians across genres.

Over his career, Peabo Bryson earned multiple Grammy nominations, NAACP Image Awards, and numerous other accolades recognizing his contributions to music and entertainment. His albums have been certified gold and platinum, reflecting both critical acclaim and popular success.

Robert Peabo Bryson passed away on June 2, 2026, at the age of 75, following a stroke.

One of my favorite Peabo Bryson songs!

Today In Black History

In 1884, Black inventor Granville T. Woods received a patent for a steam boiler furnace.
In 1884, John Roy Lynch was elected temporary Chairman of the Republican Party, becoming the first Black person to lead the deliberations of a major national party.
In 1906, Belgian King Leopold II claimed the Congo as his private possession.
In 1919, the Liberty Life Insurance Company of Chicago, the first legal reserve company organized by Blacks in the North, was incorporated.
In 1946, the Supreme Court banned segregation in interstate bus travel after Irene Morgan was fined $10.00 for refusing to move to the back of the bus.
In 1949, Wesley A. Brown became the first Black graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy.
In 1999, Time Magazine named the studio album “Exodus” by Bob Marley as the best album of the century.
In 2008, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) became the first Black person to win the Democratic Party presidential primary.
In 2019, Jay-Z was named the world’s first billionaire rapper by Forbes Magazine.

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Today In Black History: 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:10:55 GMT

Issue #1,033 Today In Black History, Monday, June 1, 2026

The Tulsa Massacre

The Origins of Greenwood

During the official “Indian Removal” that took place in much of the 19th century, free Blacks and the slaves and relatives of the “Five Civilized Tribes” (the Cherokee, Muskogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations) ended up settling (voluntarily or involuntarily) in the Oklahoma Territory, which was also set up as “Indian Territory” until Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The then-majority-Black population hoped to escape the slavery and Jim Crow laws of their previous residences.

In the early 20th century, hundreds of Black people established their own highly successful businesses, churches, schools, and other institutions in a 4,000-acre area on the edge of the Tulsa community. As recommended by Booker T. Washington and supervised by C.W. Greene, the area was called “Greenwood” and formally organized in 1901. By 1921, there were about 10,000 Black residents of Greenwood.

Black Wall Street

The Greenwood district was one of the most commercially successful and affluent majority African-American communities in the United States. In addition to the businesses, schools, and churches, Greenwood also had African-American attorneys, entrepreneurs, doctors, and other professionals. It was known across America as “Black Wall Street.”

As the population grew and the land expansion started touching on the boundaries of the segregated white areas of Tulsa, white residents became increasingly resentful and jealous of the wealth of the Greenwood community.

One day, a Black shoe shiner was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman on an elevator, and the Tulsa Race Massacre started.

For decades, “mainstream historians” called this event the “Tulsa Race Riot,” implying that the Blacks were the perpetrators and the source of the problem. It is only relatively recently that this is now called the…

Tulsa Race MASSACRE

There are many conflicting reports about the initial incident that sparked the white mob attacks, but most people agree that a 19-year-old Black shoe shiner who worked in a building in Tulsa near Greenwood was getting on the elevator run by a 17-year-old white girl to get to the top floor where the colored bathroom was located, and apparently touched her in some way.

The Black young man was arrested, and there were rumors that he might be lynched. That brought many Blacks to the courthouse to attempt to defend him, and several altercations between armed Blacks and whites ensued.

The smaller incidents escalated on Memorial Day, Tuesday, May 31, and by Wednesday, June 1, the white mobs, armed with rifles and machine guns, were looting homes and businesses in Greenwood and taking Black residents to detention or shooting them in the streets. The Tulsa police chief deputized many white men and authorized them to go into Greenwood to stop the “Negro uprising.”

Early in the morning of June 1, according to several eyewitness reports, at least 12 private planes began circling Greenwood and dropping burning turpentine balls onto multiple buildings in the neighborhood. This was the first time that an American city was attacked with bombs from airplanes.

Finally, later on Wednesday, June 1, the Oklahoma National Guard was deployed, martial law was declared, and the massacre and related activities ended.

Although exact numbers are not available, it is estimated that between 100 and 300 people died, and the entire commercial area of Greenwood, including 191 businesses, a junior high school, several churches, and the only Black hospital, was destroyed. About 1,500 homes were burned or looted. The estimated property damage totaled more than $33 million (in 2020 dollars).

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Tulsa was not the first nor the last…

Although the Tulsa Massacre was the first time an American city was bombed from the air with official government approval, the event was not the first nor the last of similar incidents where white mobs destroyed Black areas in the United States.

The activist and entertainer Common devised a map of many of the areas of devastation over the last 150 years or so. Common urges people to do their own research into these events so that we never forget and never let such massacres happen again in America.

Today In Black History

In 1835, the 6th National Black Convention met in Philadelphia with 35 delegates from six states and the District of Columbia.
In 1843, Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumfree), a preacher, abolitionist, public speaker, and women’s rights advocate, left New York and began her 1st journey to help escaped Blacks find housing and work in the North.
In 1855, U.S. adventurer William Walker conquered Nicaragua and reestablished slavery in that country.
In 1862, the African Slave Trade Treaty ADT was passed as a bilateral treaty between the U.S. and the UK, abolishing the slave trade in all U.S. possessions.
In 1864, the Florida General Assembly, composed of 19 Black and 57 white members, met in Tallahassee.
In 1868, the Texas constitutional convention, composed of 9 Black and 81 white delegates, met in Austin.
In 1941, the 85th Tank Battalion, the first Black tank battalion, was activated.
In 1963, Jomo Kenyatta was sworn in as the first prime minister of the Dominion of Kenya.
In 1973, WGPR of Detroit, Michigan, became the 1st Black-owned television station permitted to operate.
In 1977, the American Heritage magazine published the oldest identifiable photographs of African slaves.
In 1995, Andrew F. Brimmer became the first Black governor of the Federal Reserve.
In 1995, Esther Silver-Parker became the first Black president of the AT&T Foundation.

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Jocelyn Benson could be Michigan’s 2nd female Governor in a row

Keith Owens — Thu, 28 May 2026 16:10:43 GMT

Issue #1,032 The Choice, Thursday, May 28, 2026

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As former President Joe Biden once whispered to President Barack Obama when he was serving as Obama’s Vice President, “This is a big fucking deal.”

If Michigan’s current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is successful in her bid to become Michigan’s next Governor, which now appears increasingly likely given her wide lead in the polls and former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s decision to exit the race, Michigan will become one of the very few states that will have elected two women governors back-to-back. This is not an insignificant distinction, especially considering that current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is extremely popular and is finishing out her second term, serves alongside two other top elected women officials, Benson and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

I couldn’t help but be curious, so I had to look up the history behind all this. I’m well aware of the understandable controversy surrounding AI, but I do have to admit that ChatGPT is pretty amazing when it comes to research. I still won’t let it touch anything I write, not even to edit it, but it has become invaluable as a research tool.

Anyway, you have that disclaimer now. So here is what my friendly AI research assistant turned up.

Arizona currently holds the record for the most consecutive female governors, with three in a row, and its current Governor, Katie Hobbs, is female.

The only other state besides Arizona that has had back-to-back female governors is New Mexico:

· Susana Martinez (Republican, 2011–2019)

· Michelle Lujan Grisham (Democrat, 2019–present)

But Arizona was the first state to do it, with Jane Dee Hull followed by Janet Napolitano, and then Jan Brewer, giving Arizona three consecutive female governors. Until 2019, Arizona was the only state with consecutive female governors, when New Mexico joined the list after Lujan Grisham succeeded Martinez.

So if Benson steps in behind Whitmer, then she steps into some very significant history, taking Michigan along with her.

But that’s not all. Remember, I said Whitmer serves with an elected female Attorney General and Secretary of State. So, naturally, I had to once again ask my assistant how many other states had seen their way clear to elect three women to serve in top positions at the same time. The answer?

Besides Michigan, Oregon has also had all three offices held by women simultaneously.

In early 2023, Oregon simultaneously had:

Governor: Tina Kotek
Secretary of State: Shemia Fagan
Attorney General: Ellen Rosenblum

Tina Kotek became governor in January 2023, while Shemia Fagan was already serving as secretary of state and Ellen Rosenblum was serving as attorney general.

Michigan later joined that short list with:

Gretchen Whitmer
Jocelyn Benson
Dana Nessel

As far as historical records show, Oregon and Michigan are the only states known to have had women serving simultaneously in all three of those offices.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Personally, I think making this kind of history in a time like this is something to be proud of. But equally notable is the fact that the gender of Michigan’s top elected officials is something that rarely even gets mentioned anymore around here. Because we’re used to powerful women taking charge. Because that’s the way it should be.

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Today In Black History: Sonny Rollins

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Wed, 27 May 2026 16:10:37 GMT

Issue #1,031 Today In Black History, Wednesday, May 27, 2026

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Sonny Rollins: The Saxophone Colossus Who Revolutionized Jazz

I love most genres of music, and jazz is one of my favorites, although I wish I knew more about the jazz greats, such as Sonny Rollins, one of the greatest jazz saxophonists ever. I really enjoyed researching his life and influence before his recent death.

Theodore Walter “Sonny” Rollins stands as one of the most influential and innovative saxophonists in the history of jazz. Born on September 7, 1930, in New York City, Rollins would spend decades reshaping the boundaries of his instrument and transforming the entire landscape of jazz music.

Rollins’ early life in Harlem, where he began his musical journey on piano before switching to the saxophone at age nine. By his teenage years, he was already studying the work of Coleman Hawkins and absorbing the bebop revolution that was reshaping jazz.

His recording career began in earnest in the early 1950s, and by the mid-1950s, Rollins had established himself as a major force in jazz. Albums like “Saxophone Colossus” (1956) became definitive works that showcased his emerging style. The album featured the now-iconic recording of “St. Thomas,” a calypso-inflected tune that demonstrated Rollins’ ability to bring fresh energy to musical material.

What set Rollins apart from his contemporaries was his approach to improvisation. Rather than relying primarily on harmonic sophistication, Rollins was a master of thematic development. He could take a simple melodic idea and spin it into elaborate variations, creating solos that were both intellectually rigorous and emotionally moving, which influenced generations of musicians who came after him.

Sonny Rollins was the last person alive in this iconic Harlem photo, “A Great Day In Harlem,” by Art Kane.

Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Rollins created a remarkable body of work with collaborators including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Duke Ellington. His tenor saxophone voice was distinctive—full-bodied, assertive, and undeniably soulful. He recorded numerous landmark albums, including “Freedom Suite” (1958), a response to racial injustice in America, and “The Bridge” (1962), which marked his triumphant return to recording after a self-imposed sabbatical. This break from the music industry, during which he famously practiced on the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, demonstrated his commitment to artistic growth and his refusal to compromise his musical vision.

Rollins experimented with modal jazz, embraced world music influences, and remained engaged with the avant-garde developments in jazz even as he maintained his deep connection to the swing tradition. This balance between tradition and innovation, between accessibility and artistic challenge, made him a bridge figure in jazz history.

Beyond his instrumental prowess, Rollins earned respect for his integrity and his commitment to using his art for social commentary. His “Freedom Suite,” performed with drummer Max Roach, directly addressed the civil rights struggles of Black Americans.

Recognition of Rollins’ genius came through numerous accolades, including Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and induction into the DownBeat Hall of Fame. Universities honored him as a visiting artist and scholar. Yet perhaps his greatest achievement was his influence on fellow musicians. Virtually every saxophonist who came after him had to grapple with his innovations and find their own path in relation to his legacy.

Sonny Rollins’ career proved that jazz was a serious art form capable of profound expression, and that a musician dedicated to continual growth and experimentation could remain vital and relevant for an entire lifetime. Sonny Rollins stands as a monumental figure whose contributions to music and to human expression remain immeasurable.

Sonny Rollins died at his home in Woodstock, NY, on May 25, 2026, at the age of 95, after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis.

Today In Black History

In 1863, Andrew Cailloux, a Black captain, led the First and Third Native Guard’s assaults on Rebel positions during a Civil War battle at Port Hudson, LA, helping the Union gain control of the Mississippi River. This was the longest military siege in American history.
In 1873, Elijah McCoy patented his improved lubricating cup that lubricated the train engine when it ran out of steam.
In 1890, Black inventor F.J. Ferrell patented a snow-melting apparatus.
In 1963, Jomo Kenyatta was elected as the first Prime Minister and Founding Father of Kenya.
In 1942, U.S.sailor and mess attendant Dorrie Miller became the first Black recipient of the Navy Cross for manning an anti-aircraft gun and, with no previous training in gunnery, shot down a number of Japanese planes during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1958, Ernest Green became the 1st African American to graduate from Central High School in Little Rock, AK.
In 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris became the 1st woman to deliver the commencement address at the U.S.Military Academy graduation ceremony in West Point, New York.

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Today In Black History: Memorial Day

Pamela Hilliard Owens — Mon, 25 May 2026 14:03:25 GMT

Issue #1,030 Today In Black History, Monday, May 25, 2026

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Formerly Enslaved Americans Create and Celebrate “Decoration Day”

This is an edited re-posting of an article we published on Memorial Day in 2022.

Memorial Day in the United States is observed on the last Monday of May. The sole purpose of Memorial Day is to honor those who died while serving in any branch of the military.

Many people mistakenly use this day to remember those family members, friends, and colleagues who are veterans but died after their service was completed.

While those remembrances are nice, probably healing, and well-meaning, those people are not the ones we honor on Memorial Day.

I have many family members who served, including my father, my uncles, and several cousins. But they died after their service, often decades later. Veterans Day, observed every year on November 11, honors them and all veterans.

The Origins of Memorial Day

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was observed immediately after the Civil War. People decorated the graves of those who died while in service with flags and flowers.

The Civil War claimed more lives than any other conflict in United States history and established the country’s first national cemeteries.

One of the earliest Decoration Day ceremonies was organized by a group of formerly enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1865, less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered.

At the time, the Washington Race Course and Jockey Club was transformed into a makeshift prison for Union soldiers captured by the Confederate Army. More than 260 Union soldiers died from disease and exposure, and their bodies were quickly buried in a mass grave behind the grandstands.

Almost immediately after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Virginia, former enslaved men and women exhumed the bodies from the mass grave in Charleston and reinterred them in a new cemetery.

On May 1, 1865, more than 10,000 people, including the formerly enslaved and white missionaries, staged a parade around the race track. The procession was led by 3,000 black schoolchildren carrying armloads of roses and singing the Union marching song “John Brown’s Body.”

The all-Black 54th Massachusetts regiment members were in attendance and performed double-time marches.

This was the earliest recorded observation of Decoration Day in Charleston, South Carolina, the city where the Civil War began in April 1861 with the attack on Fort Sumter.

However, in 1996, the United States officially named Waterloo, New York, the “birthplace” of Memorial Day because, on May 5, 1866, Waterloo hosted a community-wide event during which businesses were closed, and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

The Evolution of Memorial Day

On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, then the leader of Northern Civil War veterans, called for a national day of remembrance for Civil War veterans. He chose May 30th as the official date because that date was not associated with any particular battle. By 1890, every state had declared May 30 a state holiday.

Today, nine southern states also officially recognize a Confederate Memorial Day, with events held on the birthday of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.

Although initially meant to commemorate those soldiers lost in the Civil War, after the United States had many other wars, Memorial Day evolved to honor all military losses during all conflicts and wars, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Memorial Day was not officially recognized nationally until the 1970s, when so many Americans died in Vietnam.

For over one hundred years, Memorial Day was observed on May 30, no matter the day of the week on which the date fell. However, in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, establishing Memorial Day as a federal holiday to be observed on the last Monday in May so that federal employees could have a 3-day weekend.

The change went into effect in 1971 and included Presidents’ Day, observed on the 3rd Monday in February, and Columbus Day, observed on the 2nd Monday in October. This is also the official Thanksgiving Day in Canada.

Later, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day was added as a remembrance on the 3rd Monday in January. In October 2021, President Joe Biden declared that the 2nd Monday in October would now be known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day while keeping Columbus Day as the name of the official federal holiday.

Columbus Day has been rightly renamed “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” by many states, and by President Joe Biden, to honor the original inhabitants of this land. Donald Trump tried to bring back “Columbus Day,” supposedly honoring a man who never set foot on the North American continent and is a known murderer, sexual abuser, and pedophile—just Trump’s kind of person.

Other official federal holidays, including New Year’s Day (January 1), Juneteenth (June 19), Independence Day (July 4), Thanksgiving (the last Thursday of November), and Christmas Day (December 25), are still observed on their original dates, no matter the day of the week on which they fall.

For over twenty years, the late Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), a decorated World War II veteran, unsuccessfully lobbied for Memorial Day to return to its original date of May 30.

How Memorial Day is Observed Today

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Since World War I, wearing a poppy on Memorial Day has been a tradition inspired by a poem written at the time.
Most Memorial Day celebrations include parades by veterans and speeches by politicians, visits to cemeteries to “decorate” the graves of those lost in battle, and thousands of veterans making an annual pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
The official time for remembrance on Memorial Day is 3 pm.
The President of the United States annually lays a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Since 1937, members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment have guarded the Tomb, taking exactly 21 steps in each direction. The “Old Guard,” as the soldiers are known, guards the Tomb 24/7, no matter the weather.
The American Flag should be hung at half-staff until noon, when it is raised back to the top.
The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1922. The son and only surviving child of President Abraham Lincoln, 78-year-old Robert Todd Lincoln, attended the dedication ceremony.
Memorial Day is also celebrated as the unofficial start of summer, with people having barbecues and picnics. It is the only warm-weather three-day weekend until Labor Day in September.

No matter how you feel about war overall, it is still a fact that over 1.3 million Americans have died while in service, and today is the day to honor them. The United States flag represents all of us, not just the vocal right-wing minority who try to declare only themselves as true patriots.

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