African and Black History ̷M̷o̷n̷t̷h̷ Daily || https://t.co/4BvesxEfyb
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Oct 17 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
On this day in 1969, the Historic ‘Wyoming Black 14’ Protests Began.
14 black football players at the University of Wyoming were kicked off the team for trying to protest against Brigham Young University because of the Mormon Church ban on Black men in the priesthood
THREAD!
The players protested playing a game with Brigham Young University (BYU) because of the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS ban on black men holding the priesthood in the church, and other racial restrictions. Mormons believe black people are cursed with the mark of Cain.
Oct 14 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
When the Zulu People of South Africa 🇿🇦 defeated the British 🇬🇧
—A THREAD—
In 1879, the British army invaded the independent & previously friendly Zulu kingdom, which had been founded by the formidable Nguni warrior Shaka Zulu in 1818.
Shaka had been the first proper king in South Africa, in that he managed to unite almost 800 Eastern Nguni–Bantu clans under his rule, displacing the rest.
Oct 11 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
In Louisiana, black women were put in cells with male prisoners and some became pregnant
All children born in the penitentiary became property of the state
At 10 years they would be auctioned off. The proceeds were used to fund schools for white kids
THREAD
Before the Civil War, most prisoners in the South were white. The punishment of enslaved African Americans was generally left up to their owners. Louisiana, however, did imprison enslaved people for "serious" crimes, generally involving acts of rebellion against the slave system.
Oct 7 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
Africa is portrayed as a continent without history before slavery and colonialism. African History isn't known by many people compared to the history of Europe, Americas, and Asia.
Some of the world's great civilisations such as Mali flourished in Africa.
A THREAD!
In the early periods(1500s), Africans participated in extensive international trading networks and intrans-oceanic travel.
"Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter" (African Proverb)
Oct 4 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
The Battle of Bamber Bridge, 1943.
Racist US military police attacked black US troops on British soil.
US military authorities demanded the town’s pubs impose a colour bar, the local landlords responded with signs that read “Black Troops Only” which pissed them off.
A THREAD
In 1943 Black American soldiers faced off with white American Military police during World War 2 on British soil. Black American soldiers had to fight their own white American soldiers, while in England, where they were fighting the world war.
Sep 30 • 22 tweets • 5 min read
American medicine has been built upon the abuse of black people with no oversight.
I'll revisit a few cases of how Black people were abused in the field of medicine.
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.
Sep 27 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Sarah Saartjie Baartman was cruelly exploited in Europe by being exhibited as a freak show attraction because of her protruding butt. After her death, her body was displayed in a Paris museum for over 100yrs.
The exploitation of Sarah Baartman.
A THREAD!
SARAH "Saarjte" Baartman of the khoikhoi people of South Africa was born in 1789 and was one of 2 women put on display as a "FREAK SHOW" act in England and then later France.
Sep 23 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
In 1862, Robert Smalls stole a Confederate Ship and sailed it to Freedom disguised as a captain, freeing his crew and their families.
A THREAD!
In 1862, Robert Smalls was serving as the pilot of a steam powered, Confederate ship, The CSS Planter. It was transporting large guns out of Charleston Harbor and deliver them to Union Navy forces on blockade duty
Sep 19 • 20 tweets • 8 min read
Some Inventions by Black Inventors.
A THREAD!
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!
Sep 13 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Did you know The real Betty Boop was inspired by a Black Harlem jazz singer named Esther Jones. Ever heard of “Baby Esther”?
She later sued the cartoonist but the court threw out the case and she was never compensated!
A THREAD
Esther Jones took Harlem’s Cotton Club by storm in the 1920s with her unique “baby” scat style. Her “boop-oop-a-doop” sounds were fresh, bold, and totally her own, making her a jazz sensation of the time.
Sep 9 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Happy 86th birthday to Claudette Colvin!
She refused to move to the back of a bus 9 months before Rosa Parks, the NAACP did not want to use her to represent them because she was 15 & pregnant.
Other women who refused to give up their seats before Rosa Parks
A THREAD!
A century before Rosa Parks, there was Elizabeth Jennings
In 1854, she refused to get off of a streetcar that only allowed white passengers.
She was arrested. She sued (and won), and her case led to the eventual desegregation of NYC's public transit.
Sep 6 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
In 1969, the Black Panthers launched free breakfast programs across the US, feeding thousands of kids before school. The FBI called it a threat. In some cities, police raided kitchens, smashed food, and urinated on supplies to shut them down.
A THREAD
In January 1969, the Black Panther Party launched their Free Breakfast for Children Program, their first and most notable community effort, to feed kids who went to school hungry due to poverty. It was radical care in action. But the FBI called it a threat.
Aug 30 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Did you know Cornrows were used to help enslaved people escape slavery? They used cornrows to create maps to leave plantations. It’s most documented in Colombia where Benkos Bioho, came up with the idea to have women create maps & deliver messages through cornrows.
A THREAD.
Cornrows are ancient art. Found in 3000 B.C. Sahara paintings & on Ethiopian warriors like Tewodros II, braids showed community, age & status in African societies. In the Caribbean, “cane rows” linked to slaves planting sugar cane, tying style to survival.
Aug 28 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
On this day in 1955, Emmett Till, 14, was kidnapped and brutally murdered for whistling at a white woman.
His killers, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, allegedly saw Till whistle at a white women at a gas station.
A THREAD
On 28th August 1955, Emmett Till, 14, was kidnapped and brutally murdered for 'whistling' at a white woman.
Aug 28 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
62 years ago today, The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C.
A THREAD
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C.
Aug 26 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
On this day we celebrate #WomensEqualityDay to mark the day the U.S. Senate adopted the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.
Black women would wait nearly 50 years later to vote.
Some black women suffrages who paved the Path to the Ballot Box.
A THREAD
Racist policies often kept black women out of the suffragist movement led by white women. The headquarters of Colored Women Voters, located in Georgia, was one of many early 20th-century organizations that fought for African-American suffrage.
Aug 23 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
To combat the high rate of death among slaves, plantation owners demanded females start having children at 13.
By 20, the enslaved women would be expected to have about five children.
—THREAD—
An enslaved woman was a sex tool beneath the level of moral considerations.
She was an economic good, useful, in addition to her menial labor, for breeding more slaves. To attain that purpose, the master mated her promiscuously according to his breeding plans.
Aug 21 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
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.
Some notable cowboys!
A THREAD
Many of the enslaved african men were familiar with cattle herding from Africa.
a highlight of some famous black cowboys:
Aug 19 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Did You Know that a Black enslaved man was Responsible for Saving America from a SmallPox Epidemic
Onesimus (potrait unavailable) introduced the idea of vaccination based upon the African practice of inoculation in Libya,to help mitigate spread of smallpox
💉THREAD💉
Onesimus was an enslaved African who introduced the concept of inoculation to America and helped save hundreds of Bostonians from smallpox in 1721. But his role has hardly been told.
Aug 16 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Akua Njeri, born Deborah Johnson, was a Black Panther activist and Fred Hampton’s wife. On Dec 4, 1969, she survived the Chicago Police raid that killed her husband. 8 and a half months pregnant, her story of survival is unforgettable.
A THREAD
At 4 AM, Chicago Police broke into Akua and Fred’s apartment. Bullets hit their bed as they slept. Fred Hampton, Black Panther leader, age 21, was shot and killed beside her.
Aug 14 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
The Banyole of the ancient kingdom Of Uganda practiced and perfected C-Section long before the Europeans.
While Europeans mainly concentrated on saving the baby, the ugandans were performing the operation successfully saving both.
A THREAD
Caesarean section was considered a life-threatening procedure in England that was only to be undertaken in the direst of circumstances and facing the decision on whether to save the life of the mother or baby.