African-American History
The California Gold Rush, which lasted from 1848 to 1860, began on January 24, 1848, when carpenter and sawmill operator James W. Marshall discovered gold. Following Marshall’s discovery, thousands of people flocked to the goldfields in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada foothills. By 1860, at least 4,000 African Americans had arrived in California in search of … Read more
Dr. Thomas Elkins, an inventor, abolitionist, and trained medical professional, was a key supporter of the Underground Railroad in Albany, New York, during the 1840s and 1850s. During the latter part of his life, he also made significant contributions to the development of refrigeration techniques and patented several inventions for other household furniture items. Elkins, … Read more
It was difficult for an African American to patent an invention, especially in the late 1800s. On October 10, 1899, Isaac R. Johnson overcame this challenge by patenting the bicycle frame. Isaac R. Johnson was born sometime in 1812 in New York. While he was not the first to invent the bicycle frame, he was … Read more
Brown University commissioned a study of its own historical connection to the Atlantic slave trade a few years ago. According to the report, the Brown family, the wealthy Rhode Island merchants who named the university, were “not major slave traders, but they were not strangers to the business either.” So you’d think Brown — or … Read more
Between 1515 and the mid-nineteenth century, more than 12 million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic to work as slaves. On their way to the Americas, two million enslaved men, women, and children died. It was the beginning of several hours of work on large plantations with little food and never having to forget … Read more
Her parents were a free white woman and an enslaved Black man. Jenny Slew was thus raised free and lived her entire life as a free woman; however, in 1762, when she was in her forties, she was kidnapped and enslaved by John Whipple. She consulted the courts. Her birth in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts … Read more
Dr. Levi Watkins Jr., a cardiac surgeon, was the first to implant an automatic defibrillator into a human heart in 1980. He was also a cardiac surgery professor and associate dean at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Watkins was born in Parsons, Kansas, but spent his childhood in Montgomery, Alabama. He went … Read more
George Edwin Taylor, born in the pre-Civil War South to a free mother and an enslaved father, would become the first African American chosen by a political party to be its candidate for the presidency of the United States. Taylor was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on August 4, 1857, to Amanda Hines and Bryant … Read more
Jonathan Jasper Wright, the state’s first African American Supreme Court justice, was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby Susquehanna County in the state’s northeastern corner. In 1858, Wright moved to Ithaca, New York, and enrolled in the Lancasterian Academy, a school where older students assisted in the education of younger students. … Read more
Few inventors have as impressive a resume as George Edward Alcorn. Among his accomplishments are a B.A. in physics, a master’s degree in nuclear physics, and a Ph.D. in atomic and molecular physics. Alcorn also worked for Philco-Ford, Perkin-Elmer, IBM, and NASA, created over 20 different inventions, and was granted eight patents. Despite his impressive … Read more
Valerie Thomas worked with NASA from 1964 until 1995 in a number of roles, including developing real-time computer data systems, conducting large-scale experiments, and managing numerous operations, programs, and facilities. Thomas’ team led the development of “Landsat,” the first satellite to relay photographs from space while overseeing a project for NASA’s image processing systems. In … Read more
James Edward Maceo West’s work revolutionized how people around the world hear and transmit sound. In 1962, West, then a Bell Laboratories research scientist, collaborated with his colleague Dr. Gerhard M. Sessler to develop the foil electret microphone. Until then, most microphones, which convert sound into an electrical signal, required a large and expensive battery … Read more
Frederick Jones Invented the Refrigerator, Worldwide: The story of Frederick Jones is one that inspires anyone who comes across it to strive to achieve more, and also evokes pride, especially for Black people. His achievements in the field of science and technology are so outstanding, that you might be tempted to name him the Black … Read more
Alexander Miles, who contributed to the elevator industry, was a late-nineteenth-century African-American inventor who broke down racial barriers in the United States. Miles created an elevator that could open and close its own doors and the elevator shaft doors. The doors would move automatically when the elevator arrived or left a specific floor. Previously, the elevator … Read more
For over three centuries, violence and white supremacy have coexisted in the United States. This was how whites maintained economic, social, and political dominance over blacks in particular. Though emancipation resulted in the abolition of chattel slavery, blacks were no fewer victims of racism’s oppression. It could be argued that relations worsened during the early … Read more
The date was April 17, 1878. A jury of 12 white men arrived in an Ohio federal courthouse to deliver the verdict in a slavery lawsuit. Formerly enslaved Henrietta Henrietta Wood had sued Zebulon Ward, a white man who had kidnapped and enslaved her some 25 years ago. She was seeking $20,000 in damages. Arthur, her … Read more
When the city of Miami was created in 1896, historians estimate that 367 individuals voted to make it a city. There were 162 Black residents among them. The first name on the municipal charter was that of a Black man named Silas Austin. In reality, Bahamians, Haitians, the Caribbean Diaspora, and African Americans all contributed … Read more
This is one of the most heartbreaking and upsetting narratives of lynchings in American history that we have had to report during our time as a platform. This is a harrowing description of how four African American sharecroppers were killed on July 25, 1946, near Moore’s Ford in northeast Georgia. The event is now known … Read more
The Watts Truce was a peace deal reached between the Blood and Crips street gangs in Los Angeles, California, mostly in the Watts district. The Watts Truce took place just a few days before the Rodney King Riots. This truce played an important role in the reduction in street violence in Los Angeles following the 1990s. … Read more
It is heartbreaking to realize that the system of secret-killing and lynching of Black people in America, which existed for over 400 years of slavery and 100 years after slavery, is still in place today. It is safe to say that there has never been a time in American history when Caucasians did not lynch … Read more
On March 21, 1981, Michael Donald, the 19-year-old son of Beulah Mae Donald, was kidnapped, assaulted, and lynched by members of the United Klans of America in Mobile, Alabama (an Alabama faction of the KKK). At the time, the United Klans of America was one of the country’s largest and most dangerous organizations. The horrific … Read more
For a long time, the black community has been marching, protesting, and demanding justice. For a long time, we have been killed by the police. The heavy question which lays on our hearts with the weight of a mountain is: When will all stop? When will the spilling of Black blood in America stop? On … Read more
Before slavery was abolished, in the 1800s, owning a barbershop was a popular economic venture for Black men looking to become wealthy. According to the Cut, one in eight Black males who were regarded as wealthy owned a barbershop with a net worth greater than $2,000 (more than $55,000 now). Some slaves acquired their barbering skills … Read more
Solitude’s final words before being put to death for her part in the Guadeloupe slave uprising in 1802 were “Live free or die.” Her mother was an African woman who was allegedly raped while traveling on the slave ship, and her father was a French sailor. Solitude was born in slavery in the plantations of … Read more
On November 19, 2011, Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., a 68-year-old former Marine with bipolar disorder and a cardiac condition, unintentionally turned on his medical alert device. The medical alert company received the alert. The operator called the White Plains, New York, authorities when Chamberlain didn’t respond. Officers were sent to his home to see how he … Read more
The Fourth of July is a celebration of kidnapping, the buying, selling, and transportation of human beings, the severing of families, torture, rape, castration, lynching, and slavery. And even then, it wasn’t that long ago. In reality, it was just contemporary history until the passing of former President Ronald Reagan in 2004—a mere 17 years … Read more
The Fourth of July is not really something I observe ~ Arielle Gray Growing up, I was never particularly moved by the beautiful fireworks display or the historical studies in school about America’s independence. The cookouts with meats sizzling on the grill and the festive atmosphere of sharing meals with relatives I haven’t seen in … Read more
Searchers have found an arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman whose accusation led to the murder of Emmett Till over 67 years ago. Donham’s relatives are requesting that she be detained for her part in the terrible crime, which stands as a symbol of racial injustice. The kidnapping warrant was discovered last week … Read more
The historic Trans-Atlantic slave trade was one of the most heinous crimes against black people, resulting in the eviction of millions of Africans. Between 12 and 15 million Africans were transported from Africa to labor on plantations in the Americas as a result of the trade. After the Portuguese began exploring the West Coast of … Read more
The Lynching Of Henry Smith took place in front of an estimated 15,000 onlookers in Paris, Texas, on February 3, 1893. His death was one of the earliest documented public lynchings. Ida B. Wells, a journalist, and anti-lynching activist was struck by the heinousness of Smith’s execution. In her groundbreaking essay The Red Record, which … Read more
The history of America is littered with some of the most atrocious humanitarian crimes ever committed against humans, with majority of the victims being African Americans and other ethnic minorities. One of such practices was the Eugenics programme, which started in America before world war II. It was basically the sterilization or removal of the … Read more
The advancement of Black people in the field of science and technology has been hidden for decades and centuries. The curriculums used in teaching in African and African-American schools were manipulated and created in a way to make sure that the African child, man/woman, does not learn about the technological greatness of his/her ancestors, and … Read more
When the history of medicine and science is told in the world, the prowess and achievements of Black people are so numerous. Being descendants of the first humans on earth, the average Black man has the mental ability to be an inventor in many fields. In light of the above, Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz’s achievements … Read more
The use of enslaved Africans, both living and dead, as guinea pigs for extreme medical experiments is one practice that was rampant during slavery. And even till today, in America, the less privileged in the society, majorly people of African descent are used as test subjects in various experiments. African Americans were easy targets for … Read more
The story of George Stinney Jr is one that still melts the heart and causes deep anger whenever it is told. This, to me, is one of the most glaring pieces of evidence of hate for the Black man in America. Who would kill a little boy, knowing deep down he was innocent? Your guess … Read more
The contributions of Black inventors to the technological advancement of the world is one subject that must always be in the spotlight of black history all year round, and not just a topic to be discussed during black history month. In a world where African American history has become a threat to so many circles, … Read more
Dr. Gladys West Invented The GPS (Global Positioning System): The movement of people from one location to the other has been the backbone of the interaction between societies and people. Over human history, people have had to move from familiar to none familiar locations, for various reasons. The movement of people from one location to … Read more
The technological and scientific ingenuity of the Black race (and men such as Jesse Eugene Russell) has been one aspect of world history that has been hidden, under-appreciated, and belittled. Today in Africa, millions of Africans attribute the invention of the smartphone (among many other things) to the Europeans. They do not know that the … Read more
Thomas Fuller, The Virginia Calculator (LWA): In many of our articles and publications, we have strongly and boldly praised the ingenuity of the Black race, being the first humans on earth and paving the path for subsequent civilizations. Littered all over human history are pieces of evidence of our exceptionalism – a testament to our … Read more
![Black Man Who Designed Washinton DC and Invented The Clock [Benjamin Banneker]](https://libertywritersafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Black-Man-Who-Designed-Washinton-DC-and-Invented-The-Clock-Benjamin-Banneker.jpg)
It is an indisputable fact that no one contributed more to the building of America than the black man. One of such men was Benjamin Banneker. By the works of their hands, labor, ingenuity, and suffering, Black people made America great. Although the American and world educational system does little in recognizing these contributions, we … Read more
“There would have no victory at Yorktown without James Armistead…” During the battle for American independence from British rule, in the autumn of 1781, the American colonial army fought in the Battle of Yorktown. This was the final and arguably most consequential war for the American army. This war ended in the surrender of British … Read more
The sacrifices of African American Soldiers In World War II are worthy of praise whenever the history of America and that of the second world war is recounted. Despite the continuous racism and discrimination faced by African Americans, the truth remains that the black man in America has sacrificed greatly in building America to where … Read more
Till today, many Africans do not fully know the extent to which African ancestors (children and babies) were brutalized by European and white American slave dealers. The slavers were intentional about their brutality to the Black children, and it was to instill fear in the young ones, thereby making them grow into obedient slaves. This … Read more
“Lift Every Voice and Sing” which is often referred to as the Black national anthem in the United States of America is a hymn that was written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson in 1900 and music was made out of the poem by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, for the anniversary of Abraham … Read more
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of racist entertainment developed in the early part of the 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people specifically of African descent in a negative light. The poor and working-class whites whose feelings revolved around being politically … Read more
The speech with the title, “What to the slave is the fourth of July?” delivered in 1852 by Frederick Douglas has become noteworthy in recent times due to the significance of the speech in projecting the plight of the African Americans during the slavery days of America. Hence, the historical significance of the speech cannot … Read more
The History of the Black Panther Party in America is traced to the movement formed by two Black American revolutionaries in the latter part of the twentieth century known as the Black Panther Party. The activities of the black panthers were aimed at tackling the failure of the civil rights movement to improve the condition … Read more