12 year old enslaved boy, Edmond Albius, invented the technique that made the vanilla industry possible. He revolutionized the cultivation of vanilla.
He made it possible for us to enjoy treats like Vanilla Ice Cream!
George Crum invented the Potato chips. Thanks to him, our mindless television watching became a bit more delicious!
Lonnie Johnson, NASA engineer, invented the Super Soaker. He made your childhood hot summers fun!
George Washington Carver overcame slavery to achieve fame as a scientist, botanist, and educator. He invented over 300 uses for peanuts and he’s responsible for much more. He's credited for the idea of crop rotation to improve soil health.
Unlike other agricultural researchers of his time, Dr. Carver saw the need to devise practical farming methods. He wanted to coax farmers away from cotton to soil-enhancing, protein-rich crops as soybeans and peanuts.
Dr. Patricia Era Bath, 1981. Inventor of the Laserphaco Probe, used worldwide in eye surgery to remove cataracts. Bath founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness.
She restored sight to millions of people suffering from cataracts.
For all those who love baking, but want the task to be made easy as possible. Anna M. Mangin foresaw your needs. She invented the pastry fork in 1891!
Mary Beatrice Kenner changed the world of feminine care with the invention of the sanitary belt, the forerunner of sanitary pads.
Her creation was considered to be the first form of modern menstruation protection.
Joseph H. Smith invented the Lawn sprinkler.
Through his invention he saved ya'll many hours dragging long hoses across enormous lawns.
Garrett T Morgan invented the Gas Mask. His invention saved countless lives.
He also invented the improved traffic lights, sewing machine and, hair-straightening product.
Richard Spikes patented the improved automatic gear shift and the automatic brake system and the turn signal for you all to Drive Safely!
He also patented a beer-tapper thats used on keg barrels.
Thomas Edison lightbulb was too hot and had a short lifespan and wasn’t efficient for homes and businesses. Lewis Latimer invented the brighter and efficient lightbulb.
Factually, a black man took the world out of darkness. Your perception of reality is white deception.
John Albert Burr invented the modified lawnmower as we know today. Though he did not invent the very first lawnmower.
In 1899, he patented an improved rotary blade lawn mower. He designed a lawn mower with traction wheels and a rotary blade that was designed to not easily get…
…plugged up from lawn clippings. John Albert Burr also improved the design of lawn mowers by making it possible to mow closer to building and wall edges. He was issued U.S. patent 624,749.
The first home security system and CCTV was invented by a black nurse, Marie Van Brittan Brown.
Thanks to her, we can all feel safer in our homes.
Thomas Jennings becomes the first black to receive a patent for his invention. He invented a dry-cleaning process called 'dry scouring', a forerunner of today’s dry-cleaning process.
Otis Frank Boykin invented many devices. One being the control unit for the heart pacemaker. Responsible for saving millions of lives daily. #BlackHistoryMonth
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In 1781, over 100 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard and drowned so that the slavers could cash in on the insurance of those enslaved.
The Zong Massacre,
THREAD
On September 6, 1781, the slave ship Zong sailed from Africa with around 442 enslaved Africans. Back then, slaves were a valuable ‘commodity’ so they often captured more than the ship could handle to maximize profits.
Ten weeks later, around November 1781, the Zong arrived at Tobago, then proceeded toward St. Elizabeth, but deviated from its route near Haiti. At that stage, water shortages, illness, and fatalities among the crew, combined with poor leadership decisions, caused chaos.
On this day in 1865, the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery.
This picture is 25 years after the end of slavery.
How Slavery continued after the 13th amendment ‘abolished slavery’
A THREAD
In 1866, a year after the amendment was ratified, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor.
This made the business of arresting black people very lucrative, thus hundreds of white men were hired by these states as police officers.
Their primary responsibility being to search out and arrest black peoples who were in violation of ‘Black Codes’
Did you know that the Oompa-Loompas In Roald Dahl's 1964 Charlie and the Chocolate were originally Black pygmies from "deepest, darkest part of the African jungle where no white man had been before" but was Revised in 1973 after the NAACP complained?
A THREAD
Dahl described Oompa-Loompas as a tribe of 3,000 "amiable Black pygmies" starving on green caterpillars in Africa. Wonka lured them with cocoa beans, smuggled them in crates, and housed them in his factory. The text framed them as enslaved.
Joseph Schindelman’s 1964 illustrations showed Oompa-Loompas as African pygmies in grass skirts, reinforcing racist imagery. Wonka treated them as property, even experimenting on them. This mirrored pro-slavery "positive good" narratives.
Did you know that James Hemings, is the reason macaroni and cheese made it to America.
The Chef de cuisine was the first American to train as a chef in France. He was enslaved by Thomas Jefferson at 8.
A THREAD!
James Hemings was born in 1765 into slavery and lived much of his life enslaved. He was among the many enslaved people who came into Thomas Jefferson's possession through his wife's inheritance.
In May 1784, Hemings received a summons to join Jefferson in Philadelphia. From there they travelled to Paris where he was trained in the art of French cooking. At a time when illiteracy was imposed on all African people, he was not only literate but fluent in English and French.
One in every four cowboys was believed to be a Black man released from slavery despite the stories told in popular books and movies although the most famous cowboys of the old west were white.
THREAD
Many of the enslaved african men were familiar with cattle herding from Africa.
a highlight of some famous black cowboys:
Bill Pickett (1871-1932), rodeo performer.
World famous black cowboy Bill Pickett "Dusky Demon" invented the rodeo sport, bulldogging (steer wrestling). In 1989 was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
141 years ago today, the Berlin Conference opened.
It was a conference where European nations established the 'legal' claim that all of Africa could be occupied by whomever could take it.
They set out murdering africans and taking their wealth to make Europe wealthier.
THREAD
After slavery, Berlin conference was the second declaration of war against Africa.
At the Berlin Conference, Congo was handed to a charity run by King Leopold under the pretext of “stopping slavery” and he named it the “Congo Free State.”
"I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake." —Leopold II of Belgium
Before Hitler killed 6 million Jews.…. Leopold Il of Belgium killed over 10 million Africans in Congo and amputated the arms of countless others.