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How to Stall Our Movement’s Progress: Operate as the FBI

The official functions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are extensive, but one of their most notable priorities is the protection of civil rights. Ironically, however, the FBI has violated the civil rights of African-Americans on numerous occasions. Here are a few times the FBI backpedaled on its stated mission. Under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI worked to suppress dissent across various social movements including the anti-war movement, the civil rights movement, and the women’s movement. As Hoover’s largest targeted group, African-Americans neither had to exhibit violence nor be perceived as having liberal, radical, or subversive ideas to justify surveillance under Hoover’s FBI. Simply “being Black was enough.” During the height of the civil rights movement, with a fear in the rise of communism and under the guise of “national security,” FBI agents were directed to surveil African-Americans in churches, classrooms, college campuses, bookstores, places of employment, and especially within Black student organizations. And, even if Black people were not in the community in which an FBI agent was assigned, the agent would be expected to file a form communicating this or else risk being charged with failure to perform. Just being Black justified surveillance since “Hoover saw the civil rights movement…as presenting the greatest threats to the stability of the American government since the Civil War,”…”these people were enemies of the state.“ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The FBI also targeted organizational leadership to stifle the movement’s progress. COINTELPRO (or, the Counterintelligence Program) targeted Black Americans that fought against segregation and racism in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1956 to 1971, COINTELPRO was constructed to spy on and infiltrate Black organizations, with a special focus towards systematically denigrating their leaders. In 1963, the FBI ramped up its focus on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with then Assistant Director William Sullivan recommending for “increased coverage of communist influence on the Negro.” The FBI’s “goal in targeting Dr. King was clear: to find ‘avenues of approach aimed at neutralizing King as an effective Negro leader,’ [since] the FBI was concerned that he might become a ‘messiah.’” Through bugging hotel rooms as well as photographic and physical observation, the FBI used gained clues in an attempt to “blackmail him into suicide” and break up his marriage. The FBI also targeted the Black Panther Party, primarily through informants playing dual roles as party members and FBI co-conspirators. “Agents sent anonymous letters encouraging violence between street gangs and the Panthers” which resulted in “the killings of four BPP members and numerous beatings and shootings.” Working alongside local police departments, the FBI would call for raids and vehicle stops, and also had a hand in the raid and killing of Black Panter Party leader Fred Hampton. Though narrated as a shootout between Panthers and raiding police forces, “a federal investigation [later] showed that only one shot was fired by the Panthers….[and] police fired 82 to 99 shots.” This surveillance and systematic targeting continue today. An investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in California found that police departments used detailed consumer data and social media aggregators to track Black protestors. Johnetta “Netta” Elzie, co-founder of the policy platform Campaign Zero has explained that her surveillance manifested in at least two years worth of phone tapping and being followed home by police after protests. Not to mention, the Department of Homeland Security has been monitoring the Black Lives Matter movement since its inception. The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Justice Department have an entangled history with the Black community. Our quest for rights are perceived as a threat to national security; and our attempts to mobilize are threatened by co-conspirators. However, these institutions have demonstrated what their response will be to Black political mobilization. Therefore, let’s be all the more steadfast and informed in our quest towards justice, equality, and empowerment of our community. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The post How to Stall Our Movement’s Progress: Operate as the FBI appeared first on PushBlack.

This Is The Story of Being Black And Surviving Hitler

What Happened to the Black Opera

It’s no surprise. Black musicians, entertainers, and performers dominate the music industry. But, back in the day, we were excluded from classical art forms and deemed ill-suited for the (generally) conservative culture that some classical arts promote. Insert Mary Caldwell Dawson of Pittsburgh, PA: the legendary founder of the National Negro Opera Company who refused to let racism and discrimination prevent Black people from learning classical music. Schools, water fountains, and restaurants weren’t the only segregated institutions during the Jim Crow Era. Black citizens weren’t allowed in certain musical halls and musical schools - preventing them from receiving formal classical music training. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Dawson filled the void in 1941 by starting the National Negro Opera Company (NNOC). She gave a voice to African-American composers, musicians, and singers of the classical genres. Through performances of “Aida,” “Faust, and “Ouanga, Ouanga,” across the urban metropolis scene, NNOC would soon be recognized as a beacon of Black talent. Caldwell, like many of our community’s greatest singers, began her career in her community church. However, she wanted to take it to the next level. This led her to enroll and graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music as the sole African-American in her class. With aspirations to sing opera professionally, she pursued higher-level training in voice and piano with the Chicago Musical College in New York. Caldwell cleaned dental offices in order to defray the costs of her esteemed education. Caldwell was no stranger to hard work - and likely valued those same characteristics in her partner. After marrying Walter Dawson, a master electrician who operated his own electrical service shop in Homewood, Caldwell opened her first music school - Caldwell Dawson School of Music - above his shop. She’d accept payment and barters for her services, but likely also gave some lessons free of charge given her passion for the craft and commitment to youth development. The Cardwell Dawson Choir, made up of both youth and adults from the Pittsburgh area, garnered attention nationwide. She even generated enough fanfare to perform at the 1939 World’s Fair in NYC. After serving as President of the National Organization of Negro Musicians, using personal connections with her infectious attitude for fundraising, and imputing her courageous community-driven spirit into the essence of her work, Dawson formed the National Negro Opera Company in 1941. While the NNOC was not the only African-American group to perform opera on stage, Dawson’s creation surpassed its predecessors and contemporaries in breadth, scope and longevity. The school did not skimp on production. Its performance of “Aida” cost the equivalent of $100,000 in today’s dollars. Dawson’s ability to produce such high-cost and quality productions when racial and economic discrimination ran rampant is evidence of her tenacity and unrelenting commitment to her craft. In addition to preparing the next generation, Dawson performed solo shows to fundraise in churches and community gatherings. Her classical repertoire and civic engagement helped form chapters of the opera guild across the United States. Although the organization’s development dissipated with her death, her legacy lives on in thousands of musicians and singers that she taught and mentored. In the spirit of her legacy, let’s continue to follow the careers of contemporary, Black opera singers and classical musicians like Eric Owens and Janai Bruggar. Let’s celebrate the diversity of our community’s talent and never forget to #PushBlack. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

This Prolific Black Man Was Fed Up With Whitewashed Movies

The riveting story of Oscar Micheaux’s ascent in the film industry teaches us a valuable lesson about the power of building independent businesses and taking control of our own destiny. Arguably the most prolific African-American independent filmmaker in history, Micheaux birthed an entirely new genre of films called “race films” in the early 1900s. These films starred Black actors and were intended for a Black audience. After holding several unfulfilling jobs and being displeased with what others thought of as the good life, he decided to chronicle his life experiences into novels that would eventually become the foundation for his films. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); At the time, the film industry was far from accepting of Black films so Micheaux had to get creative about getting his stories in front of the masses. Micheaux became self-sufficient and utilized his charisma and connections from previous jobs to fund and produce his own films. Although he had miserable experiences in his past jobs, those positions equipped him with the business acumen and contacts necessary for him to go into business for himself. In fact, Micheaux started his own film company after refusing to sell one of his stories to a major production firm because they would not allow him to be directly involved in its adaptation. This brave decision catalyzed all of his subsequent success and demonstrated that he knew the value of his stories and would settle for nothing less than he deserved. Micheaux’s films tackled issues of interracial romance, colorism, and white prejudice during a time when Hollywood focused narrowly on stereotyping Blacks as unsophisticated Negroes. He moved away from these images and created complex characters that more accurately depicted the realities of Black life. His philosophy was that the only way to bring African-Americans to greater heights was to elevate consciousness about racial iniquities. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Micheaux’s seminal works The Homesteader (1919) and Within Our Gates (1920) bring to light the trials and tribulations of mixed-race relationships and explore the dangers associated with them. These films questioned the value systems of both Blacks and whites and disrupted traditional narratives about race-mixing. As Black people we have a history of making a way out of no way. Micheaux had no blueprint for how to operate outside of the mainstream film industry, yet he pioneered a path and amassed immense success. His enduring legacy as the first African-American to show a film in a white theatre marks the beginning of Black people’s visibility on the big screen and a new lens to view race relations in America. He had no formal film school training or experience, just the tenacity and will to bring his vision to fruition. Click here to watch some of his films. It is always incredible to share uplifting stories of African-Americans excelling in fields that historically excluded us, but the real beauty is in the spirit of resiliency and persistence that characterize these innovators. Micheaux exemplifies the timeless quality of self-sufficiency that has been a part of the advancement of Black people for centuries. We should constantly remind ourselves of our rich cultural achievements and remember that we are a people who have and will continue to achieve no matter what obstacles we see in our way.

He Wanted Black Power, But They Gave Him Blackface

Now Is The Perfect Time To Recommit To Saving Our Communities

This article is part three of PushBlack’s seven-day Kwanzaa series. If you missed yesterday’s article, click here to check it out. Today is the third day of Kwanzaa! The principle we recognize on this day is Ujima, or collective work and responsibility. The purpose of this principle is to build and maintain our community together, to make our sister’s and brother's problems our own problems, and to solve those problems together. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1512094833018-0"); }); Ujima teaches us that being Black is not only an identity, it is a responsibility. We are responsible for each other. Our neighborhoods are struggling, our businesses don’t have the support they need, and the schools we send our children to are failing them. Since we are not the dominant group in America, none of these challenges are our fault. Traditionally, we have been encouraged to look outside of our communities for solutions to these problems. But, history has taught us how we can easily lose the progress we’ve made depending on who is elected to public office. For example, the land granted to Blacks then taken away during after the Civil War, threats to repeal Obamacare, the constant threat to our voting rights, and the destruction of Black Wall Street. Although we can appeal to the government to fix certain issues (mass incarceration, police brutality, workplace discrimination, etc.), it is important that we look to the wealth of talent in our own communities to create long lasting solutions to other issues. If the schools we send our children to are failing them, then we must build schools that work. If the stores we shop at discriminate against us, then we must support businesses who have an interest in our community. Yes, some solutions are easier said than done. For example, it is quite difficult to start a new neighborhood school. However, it is not as difficult to open up our homes to host an afterschool program for kids in the neighborhood, then seek funding within our community to expand that program. Ujima teaches us that individual gains mean nothing if the rest of the community is struggling. For those in the community with college degrees, we must ask how those degrees are being used to lift our family up. For those of us who own businesses, how are those businesses providing jobs to the Black community? In 2017, the mainstream media finally covered the rise of slavery in Libya that resulted from the U.S.’s intervention in 2011. For those of us in America, who were only recently acknowledged as free people, this event should be a call to arms. We shouldn’t wait for a non-Black “human rights” organization to solve this problem. “As long as any African anywhere is oppressed, exploited, enslaved, or wounded in any way in her or his humanity, all African people are.” - Maulana Karenga, creator of Kwanzaa. On day one, Umoja taught us to unite. On day two, Kujichagulia taught us to practice self determination. Now, on day 3, we must utilize our unity and determination to identify common interests and develop solutions. We must all engage in struggle until every one of us is free. Ujima! For more info about Kwanzaa, check out “The African American Holiday of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture.”

How do you really feel about Becky with the Good Hair? A Legal Perspective.

Interracial marriage in the United States is nothing new. Despite widespread narratives concerning racial “purity” and the taboos of racial mixing, couples historically defied social norms and laws in the pursuit of love. Laws targeting the mixing of races date back to the 1600s. The first laws to criminalize marriage (or sex) between whites and African Americans were enacted during the colonial era in Virginia and Maryland. These regulations pertained specifically to whites marrying enslaved Africans or indentured servants and threatened exile for white perpetrators. In 1691, Virginia expanded upon these sanctions by forbidding whites from marrying free Blacks and set the precedent as the first law that relied solely on race rather than class or status of servitude to dictate who one could marry. “Anti-miscegenation laws,” as they would later be deemed, were explicit intended to bar interracial marriage and interracial sex. While anti-miscegenation laws prohibited whites from marrying any person who was non-white, they were really targeted at preventing whites from marrying anyone of African descent. As colonies gained their independence, anti-miscegenation laws were enforced through the state and the punishment for breaking one of these laws became even more severe. Individuals could be charged with felony adultery and fornication with a minimum sentence of one year in prison. Additionally, the law’s advocates made several attempts to introduce U.S. constitutional amendments to make interracial marriage illegal on a national level. Though more than two-thirds of the states possessed anti-miscegenation laws, no attempt for a nationwide ban was ever successful. medianet_width = "728"; medianet_height = "90"; medianet_crid = "176368458"; medianet_versionId = "111299"; (function() { var isSSL = 'https:' == document.location.protocol; var mnSrc = (isSSL ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//contextual.media.net/nmedianet.js?cid=8CU946134' + (isSSL ? '&https=1' : ''); document.write(''); })(); It was not until 1967 that anti-miscegenation laws were considered unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. In Loving vs. Virginia, the Court found that the laws violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a Black woman, had traveled to Washington D.C. to legally marry. Upon returning to Virginia, Richard and Mildred were arrested for defying the state’s anti-miscegenation laws and sentenced to one year in jail. According to the trial judge, “Almighty God created the races…and he placed them on different continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.” In spite of his opinion, the Lovings avoided jail time and set a new standard for the legality of interracial marriage in the U.S. In 2016, Loving, the cinematic depiction of this love story and case was nominated for an Oscar, two Golden Globes, and either nominated for or women over eighty other awards. According to the Pew Research Center, more than 12% of people marry outside of their race. For Blacks in particular, nearly 19% have a spouse from another race. These statistics likely understate the shifting norms towards interracial marriage in the U.S., even despite current racial tensions. While ideas of racial purity still exist today, the sentiments have not found their way into restrictive marital laws as seen in the past. From stories of Emmett Till’s beaten for reason of looking at a white woman, to the contemporary prevalence of interracial marriages, we have clearly come a long way but still have progress to make. The post How do you really feel about Becky with the Good Hair? A Legal Perspective. appeared first on PushBlack.