"I Have A Dream...." by MLK: Barack Hussein Obama

The dream started years ago, when ancestors of our fathers began the journey to freedom.

In 1963, during the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the sounds of  voices sang WE SHALL OVERCOME as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. prepared to deliver one of the greatest speeches ever to be delivered.

"I Have A Dream that deeply rooted in the American Dream.....".We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created EQUAL"(Constitution).....that my children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their CHARACTER..."

In January 2009, "I Have A Dream .." brings the past and the present face to face when Barack Hussein Obama is sworn in as the first Black American President of the United States.

Barack Hussein Obama, our 44th president and present president, was born on August 4, 1961, never to know that one day he would rise to deliver a part of the dream that was spoken by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963.

President Obama shaped his future by attending Columbia University and Harvard Law school, where he earned his doctrate in law. He continued the shaping of his future by working as a civil rights attorney in Chicago, and then later taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

When Barack Obama was elected President in November of 2008, voting meant so much more to me and thousands of other Black Americans. All of those signs that hung and  read "FOR WHITES ONLY" ,   suddenly became just words. For Martin Luther King, Jr., my parents, and some of your parents, our past, our present, and our future meant that the DREAM still is ALIVE and refuses to EVER die.

Let us never forget our past. Furthermore, let us never forget where we must go.

MEET WITH YOU AGAIN, IF GOD BE WILLING, NEXT FEBRUARY. KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE!---love you to the moon and back---Tammie Gipson Chin

A Women in Congress?

Shirley St. Hill Chisholm was born November 30, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York. Her father from British Guiana and her mother from Barbados.

In 1960, she started the Unity Democratic Club which was instrumental in mobilizing Black and Hispanic voters.

In 1964 Chisholm ran for State Assembly seat. She won and served in the New York Assembly from 1964 to 1968.

She later campaigned to represent New York Twelfth Congressional District. She won the election and became the first African American women elected to Congress.


You go, Lady Chisholm!

Mr. Congressman

He served more than 10 terms in Congress and was set apart buy his leadership of  the Select Committee on Assassinations and Chairmanship of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Haven't guessed, yet?

Louis Stokes was sworn in as the first Black congressman from the state of Ohio on January 3, 1969.
A native of Cleveland, he served in he Army during World War II.  Following his discharge in 1946, he attended Cleveland College of Western Reserve University and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, where he was graduated in June of 1953 and practiced law until his election to Congress from the 21st Congressional District on Nov. 6, 1968. He retired from the post of congressman in 1998.

This was a big step in the right direction. His election opened doors for Black Americans today. 
Thanks, Man!

March to Freedom

Marching for equal voting rights for African Americans, on March 25, 1965 over 25,000 marchers from all over the country concluded a four-day Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

 Africa Americans participating in the march, suffered and overcame brutal assaults while marching to their destination site, the Alabama Capitol Building.

On August 6, 1965, 5 months later, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, one of the most successful additions of the Civil Rights legislation ever adopted by the United States Congress.

March on My Brothers and My Sisters!

History In The Making. Say What?

I cannot go with out mentioning that a Florida A and M  University Administrator, who happens to be a Black American, has been nominated for the pending post of  Assistant Secretary of  Commerce in the Department of Commerce by President Obama, the first Black elected president.

Dr. Larry Robinson is a professor, a researcher, and the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Vice President for Research at FAMU (Florida A and M University).

Oh, did I mention that he was a Black American? I guess I did. Also, did I mention I attended FAMU as a student? I need to shut up.

Well, anyway, Dr. Robinson began as Vice President of FAMU's Administration in 1997. He has served many positions at this institution that serves mostly minority students. He is noted for serving as Director of the NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center, located at FAMU since 2001. He has served as Vice President of Research at FAMU since Spring of 2009 .

This is HISTORY in the making, if only a nomination,at this point! You Go, My Man ! May God go with you! You know I got yo' back!

Dance, Girl, Dance!

Many of you may not  be familiar with the name Janet Collins, but this was a "bad mamma jamma", as my momma would say.

Ms. Janet Collins was the first Black prima ballerina.  She performed Aida at  the New York Metropolitan Opera Company at the age of 34.

Ms. Collins was born in New Orleans, and grew up in Los Angeles. She wanted, desperately, to study ballet, but because she was Black was rejected by many dance classes. Determined, she refused to give up on her dream. She, eventually, found a private instructor. Although, rejected by the choreographer, Leo Massine, of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, she didn't dare stop striving. She kept up that determined spirit and headed to Los Angeles to study under Katherine Dunham.

In the mid-1950's, Ms. Janet Collins left the spotlight to teach at the St. Joseph School for the Deaf in the Bronx. She died on May 28, 2003.

That was, indeed, a "bad mamma, jamma!" Mom, did you get that from a song?  I like it!

What did he say?

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on others lives." by Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson, born in 1919 in Cairo, Georgia, and later moved to Pasadena, CA, as a young child, had all that it took to become the first black man to jump the color line and play major league baseball.  He was always calm under pressure. He carried himself with high esteem on and off of the field.

Gosh, I am thankful for men like Jackie Robinson. Soooooo much integrity, spunk, and determination!