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.
York was known for his skill in scouting, hunting, field medicine and manual labor in extreme weather conditions. Lewis had noted in his journal how York had saved him from certain death from a grizzly bear during the expedition.
In 1804, Clark took York when he joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition. York was a large, strong man who shared the duties & risks of the expedition, and was the only black member of the Expedition.
The Native Nations treated York with respect, and he played a key role in diplomatic relations, mainly due to his dark skin.
After the expedition returned, every member received money and land for their services, every member except York. York asked Clark for his freedom based upon his good service during the expedition, and Clark refused.
York pleaded to be reunited with his wife, who was enslaved in Louisville; he even offered to work in Louisville and send Clark all his earnings. Clark still refused, and sold York to a brutal master in 1811, where he remained enslaved at least until 1816.
A statue of York, by sculptor Ed Hamilton, with plaques commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition and his participation in it, stands at Louisville's Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere, next to the wharf on the Ohio River.
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Most people have heard or used the term UNCLE TOM when we refer to a sell-out, but did you know that the inference is totally wrong.
The real Uncle Tom was a hero, Josiah Henson, was an abolitionist who helped slaves escape among other great things.
A THREAD
Uncle Tom was a man:
—who refused to beat black women.
—who refused to tell on other slaves.
—who would put cotton in other slaves’ bags at night, so that they wouldn’t get beat!
—who helped 100 slaves get free long before the underground railroad.
Josiah Henson was born into slavery in 1789 in Charles County, Maryland. Growing up he watched his father receive beatings for standing up to his slave owner and also witnessed his father's ear being severed as part of the punishment and also his father being sold off.
On this day in 1944, Lieutenant and baseball legend, Jackie Robinson boarded an Army bus and refused to sit at the back of the bus because of his race.
This led to a court martial & he was prohibited from being deployed overseas, thus he never saw combat action.
THREAD
While waiting for hospital test results on the ankle he had injured in junior college, Robinson boarded an Army bus.
Although the Army had commissioned its own unsegregated bus line, the bus driver ordered Robinson to move to the back of the bus. Robinson refused.
The driver backed down, but after reaching the end of the line, summoned the military police, who took Robinson into custody.
When Robinson later confronted the investigating duty officer about racist questioning by the officer, the officer recommended he be court-martialed.
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
Job Maseko, a WW2 hero, sank a NAZI ship with a bomb made from a tin can with condensed milk. He was denied the highest military decoration, due to his race.
A THREAD!
Maseko was working as a delivery driver when he volunteered for service in the South African Native Military Corps during WWII (NMC). Later he was sent to the 2nd South African Infantry Division after finishing basic training in North Africa.
Due to South African race regulations at the time, they were unable to carry firearms. They were only allowed traditional weapons such as spears for guard and ceremonial duty.
Happy Birthday to Patrice Lumumba, the first legally elected prime minister of D.R Congo.
He was assassinated in 1961 following a military coup supported by U.S.A & Belgian imperialism which was admitted by the State Dept in 2013 authorized by president Eisenhower.
A THREAD
For 126 years, the US and Belgium have played key roles in shaping Congo's destiny. In April 1884, seven months before the Berlin Congress, the US became the first country in the world to recognise the claims of King Leopold II of the Belgians to the territories of the Congo.
In the few months prior to his assassination, Lumumba had been the first elected prime minister of the Republic of the Congo, newly founded on June 30, 1960.
A revolutionary nationalist, he was a major leader in the country’s fight for independence from Belgian colonialism.
During the 1940s it was rare for a black person to have control over large amounts of land.
In 1944, a group of white men brutally lynched Rev. Isaac Simmons, a Black minister & farmer, so they could steal his land in Amite County, Mississippi which was over 270 acres
A THREAD!
In the 1940s, Simmons controlled approxmately 270 acres or more of debt-free land, some of which had been owned by the family since 1887. He and other relatives farmed the property and lived on it in relative peace.
In 1941, rumors about oil spread across Southwest Mississippi, and a few white men, thinking there might be oil on it, began to make claims on the Simmons land.