More "Trauma-Free Blackness" Please

An excerpt from CNN - 

We need more 'trauma-free Blackness.' Here's a start

There are vast regions of Black life that are filled with joy, romance and beauty. Here are some favorite examples.

By John Blake

I was scrolling through Facebook one evening when I noticed an odd image that someone had posted on my page. It was a screenshot of a solitary Black man on roller skates, freeze-framed in the middle of a country road flanked by horse pastures.

As I clicked on the video I braced myself, expecting to see a Black person being brutalized by police or accosted in public by White strangers. But that's not what I saw.

The man flashed a wide smile and he started to dance. He had a gray beard, but he skated like someone 20 years younger: rolling his shoulders, shimmying his hips while Mary J. Blige sang "Not Gon' Cry" in the background. Soon I was smiling, too.

The video had no caption, but I had a name for what I was watching: It was a snapshot of what I call "trauma-free Blackness."

Here's my wish for a new year: more trauma-free Blackness.

Last year was a rough one for most Black people. We watched videos of Black men being brutalized or killed and read about Black women fatally shot in their homes by police. We've watched a pandemic devastate our community. At times I, too, have felt exhausted by what one writer calls "the relentlessness of Black grief."

But my boogie-down skater buddy reminded me of something I had almost forgotten: There is a Blackness that exists outside of trauma.

There are vast regions of Black life that have nothing to do with suffering or oppression. We lead lives that are also filled with joy, romance, laughter and astonishing beauty, but those stories don't tend to grab the headlines. It's time to change that.

What follows are my favorite examples of "trauma-free Blackness" -- striking expressions of Black life that aren't filtered through the lens of racism.

I also asked my CNN colleagues to join me in creating a list of our favorite trauma-free moments. To do so we pored through movies, TV, music, art, literature, internet memes and other slices of Black culture. It's by no means an exhaustive list -- just a good place to start.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/trauma-free-blackness-culture-queue/index.html

LaTroy Hawkins - Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2021/01/25/baseball-hall-fame-ballot-latroy-hawkins/6696285002/

The First Black Fighter Pilot

An excerpt from Mental Floss - 

Eugene Bullard, the World's First Black Fighter Pilot

BY MELANIE HAMILTON 

Eugene Bullard survived some of the deadliest battles in military history, became the world's first Black fighter pilot, and even had his own monkey sidekick—and all before the age of 30. He went on to spy on Nazis and fifth columnists, rub shoulders with Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and earn the nickname "Black Swallow of Death." More than that though, Bullard was a pioneer who laid the groundwork for Black servicemen everywhere.

FROM RUNAWAY TO PRIZEFIGHTER

Bullard was born on October 9, 1895, in Columbus, Georgia, to a former enslaved Haitian man and a Muskogee Creek woman. Slavery had been abolished in the South only 30 years prior and still cast a long, dark shadow. Bullard was no stranger to discrimination, hardship, and outright violence. At 10 years old, he witnessed his father narrowly escape a lynching; not long after, his mother died unexpectedly.

Bullard ran away from home when he was 11. By chance, he found a group of Romani in Atlanta, Georgia, known as the Stanley Clan. They took him in as one of their own. But after spending six years tending to horses and living a nomadic lifestyle, Bullard was ready for a change. He hoped to head to France—a place his father had never visited, but spoke of often.

At 17, Bullard stowed away on the Marta Russ, a German merchant ship bound for Europe. Shortly after departing the ship at port in Aberdeen, Scotland, he joined a vaudeville troupe where he performed as a boxer and quickly became one of Great Britain's most beloved prizefighters. But he still yearned for France.

Bullard would soon reach his goal. After some time with the troupe in Great Britain, he was booked for a fight in Paris in 1913. "When I got off the boat train in Paris, I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. Here I was in the place I had wanted to be and to see all my life. And it was wonderful," he wrote in his journal.

Because of his Haitian roots, Bullard was fluent in French. This, combined with Paris's liberal lifestyle, made him decide to stick around the City of Love for a while. But the start of World War I quickly changed his plans.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/640184/eugene-bullard-first-black-fighter-pilot

Swing Tables

 

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The Original King of Buffalo Wings

 An excerpt from the NY Times - 

The Story of John Young, the Original King of Buffalo Wings

His restaurants closed and his glory faded, but a historical reclamation effort is bringing new attention to the secret sauce he perfected.

Text by Rachel WhartonIllustrations by Koren Shadmi

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/dining/buffalo-wings-john-young.html?referringSource=articleShare

A Mama's Boy

An excerpt from the Chicago Sun-Times - 

I’m a mama’s boy, no apologies.  I was Mama’s joy. Manchild in the Promised Land.

By John W. Fountain

I’m a mama’s boy. This hasn’t always been easy to admit. But those late nights when I saw her sit, staring out the bedroom window, trying to hide the salty tears that fell like midnight rain for years and stained her pillow.

I could always plainly see her pain, though I was just a boy with no answers for the bitter pill called Life. Or for those ill men who are cancer. Or those men who failed her. I always felt her pain, her strain, her drain.

I’m a mama’s boy, though I bear my father’s name.

I was Mama’s joy. Manchild in the Promised Land. Eating from Mama’s tender brown hands as Mama sought to devise a plan to raise a Black boy to be a decent Black man.

A mother at 17, she went back to high school to graduate. I stare at her picture in cap and gown with admiration that only punctuates: I’m a mama’s boy.

Mama’s boy on those 60’s early sun-kissed mornings, when me and Mama danced. And she held my hand. And I held hers, as we twisted and mash-potatoed. Danced the Watusi and “the bird.”

“Love” was the word.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/1/29/22257026/john-w-fountain-mothers-and-sons-chicago-west-side

Gone viral: High school football phenom Gary Haynes catches his own passes

14 Year Old Environmental Scientist and Entrepreneur!

 An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

14-YEAR-OLD EARNED A MASTER’S DEGREE AND NOW SHE’S AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST AND ENTREPRENEUR

by Charlene Rhinehart

Young environmental scientist Dorothy Jean Tillman garnered national attention when she received her master’s degree at 14-years-old.

Now, the Chicago teen is breaking into entrepreneurship by exposing more youth to opportunities in STEAM. She’s giving more Chicago youth a headstart in life by showing them what’s possible. 

“I know, one thing that I would want every kid to know is that what I did is an option and that they can do it too,” said Tillman to Rolling Out. “It doesn’t take a genius or someone who has been learning forever. I’m not perfect. I’m not the smartest person in the world. It just takes dedication.”

From Environment Scientist to Entrepreneur

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) is a growing field and Tillman wants more youth to know how they can get involved.

The 14-year-old has always had a passion for STEM, obtaining high rankings in all those subjects in school. This inspired her to pursue a master’s degree at Unity College. Tillman made history as the youngest environmental and sustainable scientist in the U.S. Her desire to expand opportunities is stronger than ever since COVID-19 has eliminated many traditional activities for youth.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/14-year-old-earned-a-masters-degree-and-now-shes-an-environmental-scientist-and-entrepreneur/

The Black Church | Extended Trailer

What Makes Food "Black?"

 An excerpt from USA Today & the Louisville Courier-Journal - 

'Is butter pecan ice cream a 'Black thing'?' Louisville podcast explores how race impacts food.

By Dahlia Ghabour - Louisville Courier-Journal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It all started with ice cream. 

After working at Louisville Cream in the hip downtown Louisville NuLu district for a year, Kelly Nusz noticed a pattern she was too shy to ask anyone about. After a Google search didn't answer her question, she finally decided to ask her friend and boss, Louisville Cream owner Darryl Goodner.

"Is butter pecan ice cream a 'Black thing'?"

Goodner laughed. "Of course, it is."

"Why?" she asked.

Well, Goodner didn't really know what to say. He'd grown up eating it and had fond memories of the cheap ice cream he'd get from the store and share with his family. It was the flavor his relatives always gravitated toward.

But was it part of his heritage as a Black man in America? 

That question launched a conversation, which led to research, which led to some answers and more questions. What made a food a "Black" food versus a "white" food? And what foods that we eat today have a racist history attached to them that people don't know about? 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/01/black-owned-louisville-cream-launches-butter-pecan-podcast/4318599001/

Josh Groban ft. Donald Lawrence + Company - 'America The Beautiful' (Bid...

‘Twas the Night Before Super Bowl | Frito-Lay 2:00

I Accidentally Went on a Gay Date - Barry Brewer

12 Year Old Headed to College

 

Mickey Guyton - Black Like Me (Live At Capitol Studios)

From Quarterback to Chaplain

An excerpt from InsideHook - 

Randall Cunningham Makes Move From Quarterback to Chaplain

He's now addressing the spiritual needs of the Las Vegas Raiders

BY TOBIAS CARROLL

Writing at The New York Times, Kalyn Kahler explored how Cunnngham’s life after his playing days had ended eludes each comparisons. Kahler writes about how Cunninghm and his wife Felicity settled in Las Vegas — where Cunningham had an outstanding collegiate career — in 2002. In 2004, he was ordained as a pastor.

The idea to bring in Cunningham as the Raiders’ chaplain came about when the team moved to Las Vegas. Raiders coach Jon Gruden — whose time as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator had overlapped with Cunningham’s time playing in Philadelphia — came up with the idea. “That guy warms my heart,” Gruden told the Times.

https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/sports/randall-cunningham-chaplain-las-vegas-raiders

Stevie Wonder Could See the Difference

From Buzzfeed - 

32 Pictures that Show The Huge Difference Between The "Protests" At The Capitol Vs. The Black Lives Matter Protests - Spot the difference.

by Matt Stopera & Dave Stopera - BuzzFeed Staff

https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/pictures-from-capitol-vs-2020

Martin Scorsese Presents | Pretend It’s A City | Official Trailer | Netflix

Destiny's Child Medley Violin Cello Ember Trio

Too Cute!

From Bored Panda -

Mom Makes Fun Of Her Model Brother By Having Her Toddler Recreate His Poses, And Result Is Hilariously Adorable (45 New Pics)

By Hidrėlėy 

https://www.boredpanda.com/baby-copies-uncle-model-poses-babyandthebody/