history

In 1967, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer switched up her strategy to liberate her community from the poverty that kept them literally starving for more. 

She petitioned for grant support from organizations like Measure for Measure out of Wisconsin to found the Freedom Farm Cooperative. 

Hamer purchased over 40 acres of farmland and welcomed all who needed food to cooperatively grow, cultivate, and consume the crops and livestock it produced. 

Orphaned in 1823 at age six, Elizabeth Gloucester was taken care of by a Philadelphia preacher alongside his TEN other children.

She worked as a domestic servant - and ever observant, learned the ins and outs of financial affairs.

She moved to New York and had eight children - though two died very young.

To provide for her growing family, she used her financial knowledge to open two successful second-hand stores and a furniture store. That was the first lesson - never turn down a lucrative business opportunity!

You think you know Black history? Take this fun and quick quiz to test your knowledge and see just how much you know about the history of Black folks in the entertainment industry! 

Sidney Poitier

The legendary actor from classic films such as In The Heat Of The Night and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, and plays like A Raisin In The Sun, was born on Cat Island, Bahamas.

Lenny Kravitz

Rocker Lenny Kravitz is known for hit songs like “Fly Away” and “American Woman,” and as holder of the record for most consecutive Best Male Rock Vocal Grammys (4). His mother is Bahamian and he built a studio on Eleuthera, near his mother’s hometown.

Tia & Tamera Mowry

Content Warning: The following story contains graphic details about rape and sexual assault.

Robert Lumpkin’s Richmond, Virginia slave “jail” was a prosperous operation that did American slaveowners’ dirty work for them. 

Rather than pay handsomely for recently kidnapped and enslaved Africans, plantation owners of the 1800s turned to breeding farms for their forced labor needs. 

You were raised, at least in part, by a Black grandmama if you spent sick days and summer vacations catching up on “her stories.”

She has a special place in her daytime television heart for soap operas, and the two of you would faithfully watch and record shows like The Young And The Restless, General Hospital, and Days Of Our Lives. 

You attended church programs on Sunday mornings and weekday nights. 

Many Black nanas are deeply spiritual and want to make sure their favorite grandbaby is “blessed and highly favored” too. And speaking of the church...

“Aht Aht” was a Black mama's way of grabbing your attention before you got too close to danger. It was the fastest way to protect you when you were too young to know better.

“You got some McDonald’s money?” She never let you forget how much you depended on her generosity for your favorite treats, like Happy Meals. We also didn’t know back then how important budgeting is!

Father Divine, the charismatic leader of the International Peace Mission, couldn’t stand to see his followers suffer. 

Not only were his admirers being crushed by the abject poverty characteristic of the Great Depression era, but his Black admirers feared lynching and other forms of racial prosecution. Something had to be done. 

He pulled resources together from his many business and charitable ventures to host large banquets. 

August 18, 2020 will be the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which ended the prohibition preventing women from voting. But which women?

Seneca Falls, the first major women’s rights convention in 1848, excluded Black women entirely. Susan B. Anthony prohibited the National American Woman Suffrage Association from supporting racial justice. 

That didn’t stop Black voting activists from doing important work. But their contributions have largely been erased.

Althea Gibson was athletic from a young age. First training in boxing and paddle ball, then running away from home at age 13 in favor of street fighting, she took up tennis reluctantly. 

“I really wasn’t the tennis type,” she wrote. “I kept wanting to fight the other player.”

Regardless, she was a natural, and with her aggressive style began winning  tournaments. But she struggled to get allowed to play in whites-only competitions.

Eventually she did - she was the first Black player to compete at Wimbledon!