Emancipation...

There are three events associated with the conclusion of slavery in the US: The Emancipation Proclamation, Juneteenth and the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.

The Emancipation Proclamation (Jan. 1863) was issued by President Lincoln stating that slaves be freed. Most people quickly assume that this act completely freed all slaves in America, but that’s far from the truth. This proclamation came during the third year of the Civil War and only certain states were affected by this act. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be set free.” And the rebellious states basically consisted of Confederate states which weren’t under the Union’s control. There were still plenty of Union state slaves running around – most likely pissed off. The emancipation did however allow freed slaves into the military (I always wonder what thought process went through the thousands of freed slaves who decided to joined the army and fight right next to the very people who enslaved them).

On June 19, 1865, the Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas to inform inhabitants of the Civil War’ end two month earlier. 2 ½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, Granger’s General Order No. 3 finally freed the last slaves. Of course these were just the slaves in the states affected by the emancipation proclamation. June 19th quickly became know as Juneteenth and has become the African-American addendum to the US’s Independence Day, “as Juneteenth jubilees remind us, the Emancipation Proclamation did not bring about emancipation, and the prevailing portrayal of Independence Day ignores the ignominious incidence of slavery entirely” (infoplease).

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States." Formally abolishing slavery in the United States, the 13th Amendment was passed by the Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865 (Library of Congress). This amendment was specifically rejected by Delaware on Feb 8, 1865; by Kentucky on Feb 24, 1865; by New Jersey on Mar 16, 1865; and by Mississippi on Dec 4, 1865. Florida reaffirmed its ratification on Jun 9, 1868. Mississippi ratified the amendment in 1995, but because the state never officially notified the US Archivist, the ratification is not official (Ratification).

Quotes

I woke up this morning needing some inspiration, so I decided to look up some quotes made by African Americans throughout history.

You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man. ~Frederick Douglas

It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. . . . One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warrings ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. ~WEB Dubois

I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. . . . Even in the helter-skelter skirmish that is my life, I have seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation more or less. No, I do not weep at the world—I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife. ~Zora Neale Hurston

"We, the people." It is a very eloquent beginning. But when that document [the Preamble to the US Constitution] was completed on the seventeenth of September in 1787 I was not included in that "We, the people." I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court decision I have finally been included in "We, the people." ~Barbara C. Jordan

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

American means white, and Africanist people struggle to make the term applicable to themselves with ethnicity and hyphen after hyphen after hyphen. ~Toni Morrison

Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move. Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain't restful. Avoid running at all times. Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you. ~Satchel Paige

My father was a slave and my people died to build this country, and I'm going to stay right here and have a part of it, just like you. And no fascist-minded people like you will drive me from it. Is that clear? ~Paul Robeson

That . . . man . . . says women can't have as much rights as man, cause Christ wasn't a woman. Where did your Christ come from? . . . From God and a woman. Man had nothing to do with him. ~Sojourner Truth

I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me. ~Muhammad Ali

There is no negro problem. The problem is whether the American people have loyalty enough, honor enough, patriotism enough, to live up to their own constitution... ~Frederick Douglas

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better. ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them. ~Maya Angelou

There is one thing you have got to learn about our movement. Three people are better than no people. ~Fannie Lou Hamer

Prejudice is like a hair across your cheek. You can't see it, you can't find it with your fingers, but you keep brushing at it because the feel of it is irritating. ~Marian Anderson

You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way. ~Lena Horne

When we're unemployed, we're called lazy; when the whites are unemployed it's called a depression. ~Jesse Jackson

Bigotry's birthplace is the sinister back room of the mind where plots and schemes are hatched for the persecution and oppression of other human beings. ~Bayard Rustin

The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less. ~Eldridge Cleaver

For in the end, freedom is a personal and lonely battle; and one faces down fears of today so that those of tomorrow might be engaged. ~Alice Walker

We know the road to freedom has always been stalked by death. ~Angela Davis

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. ~Audre Lorde

We've got to show that blacks and whites are treated equally in the army. Otherwise, what's the point of waging war on Hitler? ~Josephine Baker

Black is beautiful when it is a slum kid studying to enter college, when it is a man learning new skills for a new job , or a slum mother battling to give her kids a chance for a better life. But white is beautiful, too, when it helps change society to make our system work for black people also. White is ugly when it oppresses blacks -- and so is black ugly when black people exploit other blacks. No race has a monopoly on vice or virtue, and the worth of an individual is not related to the color of his skin. ~Whitney Young, Jr

We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice. ~Carter Woodson: Founder of Negro History Week, which has developed into what is now known as Black History Month

Black Comedy

Last week I purchased tickets to my first comedy show (Chris Rock) and I thought, mmm…I wonder what the history is for Black comedians? My first thoughts were that early comedians went through a lot of struggles as did most Blacks throughout various occupations. How Black people weren’t allowed to perform in certain establishments and how this most likely created an industry of its own for Blacks to support other Blacks. And how many years it probably took before people such as Richard Pryor and many unknown comedians could ever image having more than a handful of mainstream America knew who they were. But in my search to learn about such struggles, I stumbled upon two books that focus on this subject and by random luck these books brought about some insight into the matter that I never would have considered. The first book is Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us to Laugh by Darryl Littleton and the second African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today by Dick Gregory and Mel Watkins.

When I first thought of looking into this, I was mostly thinking of the early 1900s - present. But these books start off with exposing the historical significance of the Black comedian at the time of indentured servants. I found the books on Amazon and I honestly appreciate the fact that the site allows you to read the first few pages of the publications they sale. Those first eight or nine pages of both gave me such a different and broader perspective on comedy in the Black community that I never tried to really think about, however I’m sure it has subconsciously always been there. Learning about this truly brought me back to my Black World History and Sociology classes.

Anyways, these pages go into how humor helped many slaves cope with their situation or to better it by being in a good standing with the plantation owner. “Many a slave was treated with favor for putting a smile on a mater’s face. Master’s would in turn send that slave off to a neighboring plantation to amuse another family” (Littleton, p. 4). Slaves would make fun of their master because he thought of the slave as stupid. “[Slaves] viewed their masters as self-important, pompous and none-too-bright. Thus their humor centered on making fun of their captors without being detected and they incorporated the many comedy traditions commonly used in Africa” (p.7).

It’s amazing how I never picked up on this, but I think I’m so used to hearing it in comedy, that I never looked at the root of this. I’ve been listening to slave based jokes as long as I can remember. About the master or mistress sleeping with a slave or how the lighter complexioned slaves were the house slaves compared to the darker skinned slaves who were in the fields. After he had got up and left I would’ve told her to wake up and I’d have been like, ‘Check this out. I see this is a pattern going on and since it’s going to keep happening we’re gonna blackmail this muthaf*cha for chitlin’s and shit.’ – Dean Cole.

I think that humor is definitely a stress reliever and being a slave was all about being in a stressful situation. Just as the slaves used music to express how they felt or relay some message they didn’t want their owners to know, comedy was just another outlet. Just because they couldn’t go to the Apollo and rub the log doesn’t mean that the momma joke they told didn’t affect us today. “…The importance of having a sense of humor became crucial in such a mind-boggling situation. This is especially true for the early slaves whose connection to their native land was vivid. Their memories weren’t based on a passed-down story or some small preserved trinket that had managed to be hidden and shared. No, theirs was a full shock of going from building a life in the land of their birth to toiling for people who call you out of your name and expected a negative reaction” (p. 8)

Needless to say these books sparked a must needed food for thought.

Black History Month

Today marks the first day of what has become known as Black History Month in the U.S. Now I usually don’t celebrate this month in anyway. I remember being in school and teachers focusing on the history of my ancestors during this month but said very little during the rest of the year. I find it odd that we can only celebrate the achievements and history of African Americans during one month…but it’s also very sad that no other subculture in America gets any real recognition of their contributions to our society except for on Cinco de Mayo and perhaps St. Patrick’s Day. I feel Black history, as well as every other race, culture, etc. is American history, because without it, our country wouldn’t be where it is today.

This year I’ve decided that I want to use this month to educate others on the subject. My goal is to post as much information as I can this month about the history, etc of African Americans. Starting out, here’s a song that I grew up learning. I think I know this song better than the National Anthem. I can’t remember who, but someone bought me the book with the lyrics and I’ve always cherished it. And I can bet there are view people outside the Black community that know this song even exist.

LIFT EV'RY VOICE AND SING

also known as

"The Black National Anthem"

by James Weldon Johnson

Lift ev'ry voice and sing,

Till earth and heaven ring.

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise,

High as the list'ning skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won.


Stony the road we trod,

Bitter the chast'ning rod,

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;

Yet with a steady beat,

Have not our weary feet,

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,

Till now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.


God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears,

Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;

Thou who has by Thy might,

Led us into the light,

Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet, stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,

Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee,

Shadowed beneath thy hand,

May we forever stand,

True to our God,

True to our native land.