African and Black History ̷M̷o̷n̷t̷h̷ Daily || https://t.co/4BvesxEfyb
64 subscribers
Mar 13 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Inventions that wouldnt exist without Black Women. #WomensHistoryMonth
—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)
Mar 8 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
“fuck it, i’ll do it!” —black women
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
Mar 5 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
On this day 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.
Mar 4 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
In 1979, Revolutionary Assata Shakur, escaped from U.S prison later received asylum in Cuba.
“I saw this as a necessary step, not only because I was innocent..but because I knew that in the racist legal system, I would receive no justice”
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.
Feb 27 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
When the Zulu People of South Africa 🇿🇦 defeated the British🇬🇧 despite their guns.
—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.
Feb 26 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
In 1921 Bessie Coleman received her pilot's license becoming the first black licensed pilot.
Women & people of color had no training opportunities in the US so she learnt French and moved to Paris to earn her license #BlackHistoryMonth
Black Pilots Who Broke Barriers:
THREAD
Willa Brown was the first black woman to earn both a pilot's license and a commercial license. (Bessie got hers in France)
Feb 25 • 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
Feb 22 • 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. #BlackHistoryMonth
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.
Feb 20 • 18 tweets • 8 min read
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.
Successful Black Communities and Towns.
A THREAD! #blackhistorymonth
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!
Feb 18 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
In 1862, congress allowed the enlistment of African Americans into the U.S. military. Those who served and loved the country that did not love them back.
Military History of African Americans. #BlackHistoryMonth
A THREAD
Black Americans participated in every American war from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the Civil War, the Spanish–American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.
Feb 15 • 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.
Feb 13 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
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 #BlackHistoryMonth
A THREAD!
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.
Feb 11 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
George Stinney Jr., was the youngest person executed in the US in the 20th century. He was so small they had to stack books on the electric chair.
Due to no evidence, his conviction was vacated 70 years after his execution! #BlackHistoryMonth
A THREAD!
George was accused of killing two white missing girls, 11-Year-old Betty and 7-year-old Mary, their bodies were found near the house where he lived with his parents in Alcolu, South Carolina march 1944.
Feb 9 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Did you know Martin Luther King Jr's Mother and his Brother were also murdered? #BlackHistoryMonth
Martin Luther King’s mother, Alberta King, was assassinated while in church. 6 years after her son was gunned down in Memphis.
Alfred Daniel King, brother to MLK, mysteriously died in a swimming pool, 15 months after his brother’s assassination.
On June 30, 1974, Alberta King had just finished playing "The Lord's Prayer" on the organ at Ebenezer Baptist when a man shouted, "I'm taking over here!" A young black man bolted to the pulpit and pulled out a gun. The man, later identified as Marcus Wayne Chenault Jr. of Ohio, fired his gun, hitting Alberta King, church deacon Edward Boykin and congregation member Jimmie Mitchell. Mrs. King and Boykin were taken to the hospital where they pronounced dead. Mrs. King was 69-years-old. The attack occurred less than 100 yards from where her son was buried. Chenault said he was on a mission to kill all Christians and his original target was MLK Sr., considering black pastors a threat to black people. He claimed insanity in his trial but was convicted and sentenced to death in the electric chair. His sentence was later changed to life in prison, due in part to the wishes of the surviving members of the King family, who opposed capital punishment. Chenault died in prison in 1995 at age 44.
Feb 8 • 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.
Feb 6 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
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.
Feb 4 • 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 #BlackHistoryMonth
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.
Feb 1 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
In 1790, Jean Baptist Pointe Desable founded the city of Chicago. #BlackHistoryMonth
A THREAD
Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable was born in Saint-Domingue, Haiti (French colony at the time) during the Haitian Revolution. At some point he settled in the part of North America that is now known as the city of Chicago and was described in historical documents as "a handsome negro"
Jan 25 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
In memory of those who chose the sea.. —The "Igbo Landing" story —
In an act of mass resistance against slavery, a group of slaves revolted, took control of the slave ship grounded it on an island & rather than submit to slavery, proceeded to march into water & drown.
THREAD!
Igbo Landing is the location of a mass suicide of Igbo slaves that occurred in 1803 on St. Simons Island, GA.
Jan 19 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
In May of 1946, The Fultz Sisters or Fultz Quads, became the first identical Black-American quadruplets on record. The Doctor named them and also put them on display for curious onlookers.
The Fascinating and Tragic story of the quadruplets,
A THREAD
The Fultz Quadruplets were born May 23, 1946 at 3 pounds each. Dr. Klenner took the responsibility of naming the children upon himself since the parents could not read. He decided to name them all Mary followed by the names of the women in the Klenner family.
Jan 11 • 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