Black women are routinely erased from public memory and historical narratives of resistance.
Black women powered the civil rights movement, but rarely became its stars. #InternationalWomensDay
A THREAD!
Aunt Polly Jackson, was an escaped slave who worked as an agent on the Underground Railroad helping others escape.
She was known for fighting off slave catchers with a butcher knife and a kettle of boiling water
Harriet Tubman, the woman who escaped slavery then fought and freed hundreds of slaves.
She reminded us that bravery and refusal to accept injustice can change history.
Sojourner Truth was an evangelist, abolitionist, women’s rights activist and author who was born into slavery before escaping to freedom in 1826. After gaining her freedom, Truth preached about abolitionism and equal rights for all
A statue of La Mûlatresse Solitude, who in 1802, helpled lead a slave revolt while EIGHT Months pregnant in Guadeloupe.
She became a martyr and symbol for all women and mothers who against all odds defended the ideals of freedom and equality.
Queen Nanny Of The Maroons: Ashanti Woman who Fought And Freed Over 1,000 Enslaved Africans In Jamaica.
By the early 70s, women made up the majority of members in the US Black Panther Party.
Mae Mallory was an activist during the Civil Rights Movement and a leader in the Black Power movement. Mallory was most-known as an advocate of following desegregation and Black armed self-defense.
Claudia Jones; Journalist and activist. Author of the seminal piece 'Ending the Neglect of Black Women' and original founder of Notting Hill Carnival. Founder of Britain's first major newsletter, the West Indian Gazette
Daisy Bates, civil rights activist and newspaper publisher. Through her newspaper, Bates documented the battle to end segregation in Arkansas
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Everyone knows Lewis & Clark, but did you know that there was a black man who was also part of the expedition?
As he was enslaved by William Clark, he participated as a full member of the expedition & was present when the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean.
A THREAD
What’s the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
It was an expedition, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark, during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, to explore the American Northwest, newly purchased from France. (Louisiana Purchase).
His name was York and thus he became the first black man to cross the North American continent.
On this day in 1972, Reporters exposed the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment — a secret study to examine the effects of untreated syphilis in Black men.
American medicine has been built upon the abuse of black people with no oversight.
A THREAD!
The Tuskegee syphilis Experiment: It began in 1932. In the syphilis study, doctors were trying to find out more about syphilis test subjects (impoverished African American men), and didn't treat them for syphilis even after they knew penicillin could cure the infection.
The infected men involved in the study were never made aware of their condition upon diagnosis and believed they were being treated for "bad blood".
On this day in 1899, 19 year old Frank Embree was tortured, castrated, skinned and then lynched in front of a cheering crowd, for a crime he didn’t commit in 1899. Though published photographs clearly depicted the faces of his assailants, no one was ever arrested.
A THREAD!
On the morning of July 22, 1899, a white mob abducted Frank from officers transporting him to stand trial. He had been arrested roughly a month earlier, accused of assaulting a young white girl.
Though he was scheduled to stand trial on July 22, he was lynched instead when the town’s residents grew impatient and decided to take “justice” into their own hands.
In 1841, Madison Washington led The Creole Rebellion: One of the Most Successful Slave Revolts in History.
A THREAD
When it comes to how the United States of America portrays slavery it depicts that slaves were very docile and didn’t fight back. However, this was not the case and there were numerous slave rebellions, but they are not usually taught in school or displayed on TV/movies.
Madison Washington an American slave who started a slave revolt in 1841 on board the brig Creole. The ship was transporting over 130 slaves from Virginia to New Orleans to sell.
The British almost eliminated the entire Tasmanian Population of Australia in the 1800s by kidnapping, enslaving, torturing and murdering them.
A THREAD!
Tasmania is an island located about 200 miles off the southeast coast of Australia. Archaeologists estimate that Black indigenous people crossed into the island on an ancient bridge which connected Tasmania to the continent of Australia.
The peace and harmony that they enjoyed for years was disrupted in 1642 when the first Europeans arrived on the Island. A Dutch navigator, named Abel Jansen, was the one who led the expedition
In 1959, 69 black boys were padlocked in their dormitory at school and it was then set on fire.
21 burnt to death while 48 managed to escape.
A THREAD.
On March 5th, 1959, 69 African American boys, ages 13 to 17, were padlocked in their dormitory for the night at the Negro Boys Industrial School in Wrightsville. Around 4 a.m., a fire mysteriously ignited, forcing the boys to fight and claw their way out of the burning building.
The old, run-down, & low-funded facility, just 15 minutes south of Little Rock, housed 69 teens from ages 13-17. Most were either homeless or incarcerated for petty crimes such as doing pranks. 48 boys managed to escape the fire.