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Saturday, July 18, 2020

The First Black Female Physician in the US

An excerpt from the Boston Globe - 

Gravestone dedicated to the first Black female medical doctor in the US
By Brian MacQuarrie

A gravestone dedication ceremony was held at Fairview Cemetery for Rebecca Crumpler,
the first Black woman to become a medical doctor in the United States.
JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF


Rebecca and Arthur Crumpler lay side by side in unmarked graves in Hyde Park for more than a century, a wife and husband buried 15 years apart at the fringes of Fairview Cemetery near their home on Mother Brook.

No headstones carried their names. No plaque told of their lives and accomplishments. Nothing but the records of the city-owned cemetery could direct the curious — if any came along — to an unadorned patch of tree-shaded grass that covered their remains.

Until now.

Dedicated at a poignant ceremony Thursday, new granite tombstones use a few chiseled words to commemorate a remarkable story that has rarely been told. Here lies Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first Black female physician in the United States, and her husband, a former escaped slave who much later became the oldest pupil in the Boston schools.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/17/metro/gravestone-dedicated-first-black-female-medical-doctor-us/

Monday, July 13, 2020

Obstacle Challenge CAT vs DOG

Where Black Students Matter

An excerpt from the New York Post -

These are the colleges where black students really matter
By Dennis Richmond, Jr.

When New York’s black high school seniors return to school in the fall and start looking ahead to college admissions, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) should be at the top of their lists.

As protests over racism continue to ripple across the country, HBCUs offer a safe haven where young minds can feel truly embraced by a racially diverse faculty who will empower them for the future. According to US Department of Education statistics, 75 percent of all black people with a doctorate degree (and four fifths of all black federal judges) received their undergraduate training at HBCUs. With typically lower tuition fees and a more integrated staff than traditionally white institutions, HBCUs are a more affordable and supportive way for black kids to level the playing field.

https://nypost.com/2020/07/11/these-are-the-colleges-where-black-students-really-matter/

1st Black Female Fighter Pilot!

The Greatest Asked a Question

Friday, July 10, 2020

The story behind this iconic Olympics protest

Not Today

An excerpt from the New York Times - 

Yeah, Let’s Not Talk About Race
Unless you pay me.
By Damon Young

The people doing the least can be found in every viral video clip of a white person hysterically refusing to wear a mask at Trader Joe’s. These people are unhinged, dangerous and just plain goofy, willing to die (and kill) over Jicama Wraps and Kale Gnocchi. And the people doing the most? Well, the most happens anytime a white person encounters a Black person who writes about race — or just a Black person who just happens to be Black — and the Serious Conversation About Racism (SCAR) must ensue. This isn’t a new phenomenon. I’ve been SCARed before in the grocery store express aisle, between pickup hoop games at the gym, while getting a colonoscopy, and at least 82 percent of the unsolicited emails I get are drive-by SCARings. But now America feels like a deleted scene from “Get Out.” Or better yet, “The Sixth Sense.” But instead of seeing dead people, white people see us as walking, talking, antiracist book lists.

There’s no better example of the absolute most than the recent ABC News feature on Ernest Skelton. Mr. Skelton, an appliance technician, was just doing his job when the white woman whose house he was working on grilled him about the plight of blacks in America. He shared that racism is, um, bad. The woman, Caroline Brock, wrote a post about their conversation on Facebook, and it went viral. Local news stations called, and they eventually appeared on “Nightline” as an example of what happens when America allows itself to “heal from the heart.” But all I can think about is this man trying to fix a sink while taking a random pop quiz about redlining.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/opinion/george-floyd-racism.html?searchResultPosition=1

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

A conversation on being Black in America with @Angela Rye

Representation Matters


Saturday, July 4, 2020

The 4th of July to Me


We Tip Our Caps


A Field of Flags

An excerpt from the Boston Globe - 

A patriotic forest takes root to fight a stubborn, invisible — and deadly — enemy
More than 8,000 flags fly as emblems of resolve against a pandemic
By Thomas Farragher 

Michael Labbe stood beside the field of flags he and his family have planted in front of their home to honor all of those who have died from COVID-19 in Massachusetts.JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF
Michael Labbe stood beside the field of flags he and his family have planted
in front of their home to honor all of those
who have died from COVID-19 in Massachusetts.
JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF

GRAFTON – It happens several times a day on the gently sloping road where Michael Labbe is tending a star-spangled garden.

A car slows and pulls over. A camera is raised. A prayer is said. And then the passersby move on in a sudden and solemn silence.

Occasionally, they get out for a handshake. Or an air hug.

Just like 71-year-old Rhonda Lavallee did the other day as she stood in near disbelief to take in the forest of flags that has suddenly blossomed on Labbe’s front lawn.

There are more than 8,000 of them now, each one a red-white-and-blue emblem to a life lost to a killer pandemic that clouds America’s Independence Day, a holiday usually punctuated by kaleidoscopic fireworks and cozy backyard cookouts with family and friends.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/02/nation/patriotic-forest-takes-root-fight-stubborn-invisible-deadly-enemy/

He's Not With Us!


He Wanted Us to Know Black Lives Matter

From the Washington Post - 

Carl Reiner’s Daughter Tweets Final Dig At Donald Trump On Her Late Father’s Behalf
The late comedy legend often took the president to task on the platform.
By Lee Moran



https://www.huffpost.com/entry/carl-reiner-daughter-donald-trump-blm_n_5f007635c5b6acab2850ff03 

Friday, July 3, 2020

Priceless!

An excerpt from Bored Panda -

Tired Of Customers Ignoring Their Polite ‘Please Wear A Mask’ Sign, This Store Puts Up A New One And It Gets Dark Real Quick Interview 
ByJonas Grinevičius and Mindaugas Balčiauskas

However, wearing a mask is now a political issue in the United States. Some Americans refuse to wear them because they believe it limits their freedom. But tired of people coming in without covering their faces, vintage clothing shop Antique Sugar in Phoenix, Arizona got the world’s attention after it put up a hard-hitting sign about wearing face masks.


https://www.boredpanda.com/face-mask-sign-antique-sugar/

Artists Reflections

From the Washinton Post - 

Nine black artists reflect on the question: “Is America at a point of reckoning?”
By Washington Post Staff

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/lifestyle/black-artists-america-racial-inequality/