Tag: civil rights

• February 2, 2015

  BHM 2015: Findings in the Geraldine Wilson Papers Collection

  Today marks the beginning of Black History Month for 2015. As this day approached, I was thinking of ways to honor BHM; however, it hit me–I always and, at this point in my life, only write about black history. Then I thought perhaps I could focus on the Flowers family and their role in black…
• January 31, 2015

  Victims of Hate, Part II

  Image Source Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn, July 1964 People commit crimes like this because they are ignorant. They need to be educated. Georgia Penn, wife of Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn In the summer of 1964, Lt. Col. John D Howard, Major Charles E. Brown, and Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn travelled from Washington, D.C. to Fort…
• January 27, 2015

  Victims of Hate: Geraldine’s Newspaper Collection During the 1960s

  Read Geraldine’s biography here. Image taken from the Geraldine Wilson Papers Collection at the Schomburg Center During her time with Freedom Summer, Geraldine kept record of the events occurring in the South involving missing and murdered blacks and civil rights activists. Most of the newspaper articles within her private archival collection were from The Student Voice,…
• January 25, 2015

  The Family Poet: Mrs. Geraldine Wilson

  The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture holds the largest archival holding of information regarding the Flowers family, particularly letters between Rachel and her niece, Geraldine, and documents and artifacts Geraldine collected throughout her lifetime. This includes her academic writings, personal collection of newspapers, personal writing, and even her poetry collection. The next few…
• January 21, 2015

  Reintroducing the Flowers Family

  If you are new to this blog, you might be wondering, Who are the Flowers?. Since 2012, I have been conducting research on this family’s history beginning with Rachel Helen Flowers, the first African American student to attend my alma mater. Uncovering her biography led to an even greater story of her family’s vast and…
• January 9, 2015

  Personal Thoughts: Selma

  I do not believe there are any spoilers I could give in this post for we already know what happens. History is essentially history. I am a fan of David Oyelowo and his portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was outstanding. He gained weight and studied the man he played from Dr. King’s diction…
• December 16, 2014

  Musings of a Young Protester

  On Saturday morning, I woke up, brushed my teeth, ate breakfast, and prepared for the protest. Photo credit: Boston Globe I been to protests and marches before, but this was the first one I decided to attend alone. Naturally, I got lost, but my intuition told me to follow the large group of police officers. I did…
• February 1, 2013

  For Evers Part II: For Whom I am Named

    NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2013 as National African American History Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the…
• January 29, 2013

  For Evers: Myrlie Evers-WIlliams

  I was in the grocery store, ear phones in my head jamming to Stevie Wonder. Old school I know. I was anxious to get out of the store, same story too many stares and I rush to the shortest line fumbling to grab a bag. Here, in Lithuania, you grab a plastic bag before check…