learn your history!✊🏿 || IG; https://t.co/AC9LLjusJd || Support us on https://t.co/HHs3SgCItN
64 subscribers
Nov 16 • 18 tweets • 7 min read
140 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.”
Nov 15 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Inventions that wouldnt exist without Black Women.
—THREAD—
Valerie Thomas, NASA physicist, invented 3D Movies
In 1977, she developed the illusion transmitter, the 1st mechanism that allowed images to be viewed in 3D using concave mirrors & light rays.
Dr. Shirley Jackson research paved the way for numerous developments in telecommunication including the Touch-Tone Telephone, the Portable Fax, Caller ID & Call Waiting.
She was the first black woman to ever earn a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Nov 9 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
A sundown or sunset town was a town, city, or neighborhood in the US that excluded non-whites after dark.
The term sundown came from the signs that were posted stating that people of color had to leave the town by sundown.
A THREAD!
In most cases, signs were placed at the town's borders which read: “Stranger/Negro, Don't Let the Sun Set On You Here." The exclusion was official town policy or through restrictive covenants agreed to by the real estate agents of the community.
Nov 7 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
On this day 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.
Nov 6 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
A formerly enslaved woman, Mary Lumpkin, liberated a slave jail known as ‘The Devil’s Half Acre’ and turned it into an HBCU.
A THREAD
Mary was sold to a man named Robert Lumpkin at the age of around 13 and was forced to bear children for him & help him run a slave jail in Richmond, Virginia. It was known as Lumpkin’s jail.
Nov 2 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
On this day In 1979, the Revolutionary Assata Shakur escaped from U.S prison and later received asylum in Cuba.
A THREAD
Who is Assata Shakur?
Assata Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, was a black activist, a member of the Black Liberation Army & the Black Panthers. She is the godmother of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur.
Oct 26 • 18 tweets • 8 min read
Successful black communities and towns. A THREAD!
Did you know that an entire Manhattan village owned by black people was destroyed to build Central Park.
The community was called Seneca Village. It spanned from 82nd Street to 89th Street.
Blackdom, New Mexico
It was founded by Frank Boyer and Ella Louise McGruder and it was the first black town in New Mexico. It was a safe haven for our people. It had a population of 300 residents by 1908.
In 1919, the town struck oil!
Oct 22 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
In 1847, Missouri banned education for black people.
John Berry Meachum went ahead and equipped a steamboat with a library, desks, chairs and opened a 'Floating Freedom School'.
A THREAD!
John Berry Meachum was born into slavery in Virginia in 1789 but by the age of 21 he had earned enough money doing carpentry work to purchase his own freedom and then his father’s.
Oct 15 • 18 tweets • 5 min read
On this day In 1966, The Black Panther Party for Self Defence was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
Originally founded to fight police racism, they were dedicated to liberating people from white supremacism and also fed the hungry and mentored youth.
A THREAD
In the wake of the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, Merritt Junior College students Huey and Bobby founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense on October 15, 1966, in West Oakland, California. Shortening its name to the Black Panther Party.
Oct 13 • 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 11 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
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.
A THREAD!
Aunt Polly Jackson, a former enslaved person, was fed up with the harsh and inhumane treatment that was meted out to her even in her old age and decided to escape to freedom.
Oct 1 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
James Hemings, brother to Sally Hemings was the first American to train as a chef in France. He was enslaved by Thomas Jefferson at 8.
The Chef de cuisine is the reason macaroni and cheese made it to America.
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.
Sep 28 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
Enslaved Black people are mostly depicted as very docile and didn't fight back. However, this was not the case and there were numerous slaves rebellion.
A THREAD!
The Stono Rebellion, the largest slave rebellion in South Carolina, on September, 1739.
Sep 24 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
How did enslaved Africans learn how to read and write while education was banned for them?
The most forbidden weapon for them was knowledge. They were legally allowed in 1863 and only the Bible.
A THREAD
South Carolina became the first place to prohibit slave education in 1740, specifically banned from learning how to write after the Stono rebellion (one of the largest slave uprisings in colonial America) led by a Literate Enslaved African Man.
Sep 12 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
On this day in 1992, Dr. Mae Jemison became the first Black American woman to travel to space aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992, working on experiments including bone cell research.
A highlight of black people who have helped make space exploration possible.
A THREAD
Guion “Guy” Bluford was the first Black man in space as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle 'Challenger' in 1983. Of 10,000 applicants to the NASA space program, Guion S. Bluford was one of 35 chosen to join the new space shuttle team in January 1978.
Sep 6 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Happy 85th 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 5 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
Did you know Sesame Street was originally created for black and brown inner city kids?
A THREAD
Children usually spend a lot of time watching a lot tv and technically it was sort of a babysitter. It was even worse for inner city children whose parents spent endless hours at work, thus their kids were usually exposed to long hours of mindless programs.
Aug 31 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
Happy birthday to activist and chairman of the Black Panther Party Fred Hampton.
He was assassinated by Chicago police and the FBI at just 21 years old.
William O'Neal, an FBI informant, infiltrated the Black Panthers and set up Fred Hampton for $300.
A THREAD
In Illinois, where Fred Hampton was born, the police constantly harassed black people. Access to social goods too was made difficult, if not curtailed, in the areas with heavy black populations.
Aug 28 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
61 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 22 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
The sad and racist history behind the Aunt Jemima Brand.
A THREAD
Aunt Jemima was a brand of pancake mix, syrup & other breakfast foods owned by the Quaker Oats Company. It was one of the earliest products to be marketed through personal appearances and advertisements.
Aunt Jemima was first introduced as a character in a minstrel show – a show that consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performed by white people in blackface for the purpose of playing the roles of black people. loc.gov/collections/so…
Aug 15 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
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.
A THREAD!
It is believed that Solitude was born as a result of her mother being raped by a white sailor while she was being transported on a slave ship from Africa. She was sold into slavery in Guadeloupe.