Is studying black history relevant in 2012?

One could presume that since African-American innovations are more visible and greater accepted into popular culture that there is no longer a need to engage in discourse on the topic of black history.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, "Father" of Black History Month

However, had it not been for the vision of impassioned revolutionaries like Dr. Carter G. Woodson, African-American history might have gone undocumented another century.  This is a history that traces all the way back to the first Dutch and Spanish ships with Africans arriving to North America around 1624, but outside of propaganda publications that published hurtful ethnic stereotypes, black history wasn’t documented with regard until the 20^th century.

Dr. Woodson helped us see that black history is American history, not a history only for African-Americans to study. We can look at his life and see the “American Dream” manifesting the way all of us hope it to manifest in our own lives. Who wouldn’t be inspired to know that Woodson’s parents were former slaves and he worked in a Kentucky coalmine for years before he enrolled into high school at age 20, then graduated two years later and went on to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard?  As a student, Woodson observed that information written on people of African descent was either fallacious or intentionally less mentioned, which propagated the idea that blacks were an inferior race. To counter this racist ideology, Woodson began documenting facts himself, and established the Journal of Negro History. In 1926, Dr. Woodson began Negro History Week the second week in February as a way to call attention to the contributions being made by African-Americans.

Do you know these dates significant to Black History? (Courtesy of Infoplease.com)

• February 23, 1868:
  W. E. B. DuBois, important civil rights leader and co-founder of the NAACP, was born.
• February 3, 1870:
  The 15th Amendment was passed, granting blacks the right to vote.
• February 25, 1870:
  The first black U.S. senator, Hiram R. Revels (1822-1901), took his oath of office.
• February 12, 1909:
  The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a group of concerned black and white citizens in New York City.
• February 1, 1960:
  In what would become a civil-rights movement milestone, a group of black Greensboro, N.C., college students began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter.
• February 21, 1965:
  Malcolm X, the militant leader who promoted Black Nationalism, was shot to death by three Black Muslims.

In honor and celebration of Black History Month, The Freedom Center is hosting a debate regarding the value and impact of black history called Why Black History? on February 2.

This session’s panelists include Dr. Francille Rusan Wilson, Associate professor of American Studies & Ethnicity and History at the University of Southern California and Dr. Prince Brown, retired Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northern Kentucky University.

For more details on this free event, which was made possible by PNC, visit the Freedom Center’s event page here:

There is a spark within each of us. Fan the Flame.

Funding for this program was made possible in part by the Ohio Humanities Council with support by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment of the Humanities, or of the Ohio Humanities Council.

12-year-old Maia Thompson, a seventh grader at Mason Middle School, has stepped up to make a difference in her community. Hearing the December 2011 news reports that the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center has concerns for its long term financial sustainability, Maia decided to take action.

In a mere two takes, Maia produced a YouTube video explaining why she believes the Freedom Center is so important.

In her video, she asks viewers to support the Freedom Center by making donations; and, she provides the Freedom Center address. Maia is also careful to remind viewers, “It only takes a spark to start a wildfire,” and asks everyone to help the Freedom Center “Fan the Flame.”

To add to her impassioned plea, Maia also designed a t-shirt, which she and her friend Kendall Watkins plan to sell as a fundraiser for the Freedom Center. To support the efforts of these young fundraisers, the Freedom Center is providing an advance order opportunity through its website at https://www.freedomcenter.org/. The t-shirts, priced at $20 each, made of 100% organic cotton, will be ready for delivery in early February, just in time for Black History Month.

NURFC CEO Kim Robinson states,

Maia and Kendall are two outstanding examples of what the Freedom Center mission is all about, “inspiring everyone to take courageous steps for freedom today.” We are all so impressed with their understanding of the important role the Freedom Center plays in helping everyone become a modern day abolitionist. The initiative and the proactive steps these young girls have taken to ensure that our mission shows us that America’s next generation of Freedom Fighters is well on their way.Our thanks to Maia and Kendall for helping us “Fan the Flame.”

In its Sunday, December 18, feature on the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, The Cincinnati Enquirer editorial stated that the Center is “too vital to fail.” It would seem Maia feels the same way.

For more information; or, to arrange an interview with young Maia Thompson, please contact NURFC External Relations Manager Stephanie A. Creech at screech@nurfc.org or 513.333.7506.

Although popular conceptions of sex trafficking are focused internationally (think the Liam Neeson film “Taken”), the brutal reality is that it’s also happening here in here in Ohio, as it across the United States. The trafficking of children into the sex trade is, in fact, just one form of modern slavery that is controlling the lives of human beings here and around the world. This report from public radio station WYSO in Dayton highlights some of the grisly details in the Freedom Center’s home state.

Dr. Celia Williamson from the University of Toledo, with whom I sit on the State Human Trafficking Commission, lays out the stark facts:

“Our problem in Toledo is no different than what’s happening in Columbus, what’s happening in Dayton, what’s happening in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit.”

Williamson is part of a statewide commission that studies child sex trafficking. They estimate about 1,000 Ohio children are trapped in the sex trade in any given year, and almost 3,000 kids are at risk of being recruited.

“And the recruiter is going to be another 14-year-old girl or a 16-year-old guy or an adult woman. It’s not going to be a big scary guy,” Williams says, “And it’s not going to be in a scary place, it’s going to be at the mall or at school, it’s going to be at the hang-out house, and that’s how it’s successful.”

Alex Kreidenweis from the University of Dayton’s New Abolitionist Movement makes the point that lies at the heart of our work at the Freedom Center: “There are a lot of corollaries between human trafficking and what you think of when you think of chattel slavery that occurred during the transatlantic slave trade.” Kreidenweis says, “Human trafficking is the modern day slave trade.”

The Freedom Center tells the stories of the abolitionist heroes of the underground railroad – both the courageous slaves who fought for their freedom and the freedom conductors who helped them – and the realities of modern slavery in order to inspire today’s people of conscience to take up the cause of modern day abolitionism.

And what can today’s abolitionist do to stop this evil? One way is to engage in the political process and advocate for the laws that are necessary to properly address the criminal enterprise of human trafficking.  State Representative Theresa Fedor from Toledo has been the legislative leader of this effort in Ohio:

Last year Representative Fedor passed legislation that made human trafficking a felony in Ohio. It took five years.  “We were the 45th state in the nation to get this law,” Fedor says, “which is just so pitiful.”

And there’s more work to do. The federal government says anyone under eighteen who is involved in prostitution is a victim of child sex trafficking. But in many states the age of consent is lower.  In Ohio, it’s sixteen. So sometimes a minor is seen as a criminal – as a prostitute – rather than a victim. Fedor is trying to change that. She’s working on legislation called the Safe Harbor Act.  It would prevent victims from being arrested and require the state to provide rehabilitation services – two things Toledo is already doing.

“We do not arrest our victims in the city of Toledo,” Fedor says, “and law enforcement, the prosecutors, the judges have been the leaders and the partners in taking a victim centered approach.”

The Freedom Center’s mission closes with the purpose of “challenging and inspiring everyone to take courageous steps for freedom today.” If you live in Ohio, consider whether you might want to “take a courageous step for freedom” by contacting your state legislator in support of the Safe Harbor Act.

There is a spark within each of us. Fan the Flame.

- Luke

Today, January 11th, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. The U.S. Senate resolved three years ago that this day would be dedicated nationally to raising awareness of and opposition to human trafficking. January is also Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

This is a cause to which we here at the Freedom Center are fully dedicated, both through our groundbreaking exhibit Invisible: Slavery Today and our programming and partnerships.  Within our walls, we celebrate those whose courage and perseverance allowed them to escape the bonds of legal slavery in this country, and the abolitionists whose own courage and cooperation ultimately helped end the evil of what our 19th Century forebears euphemistically called “our peculiar institution.” We also drive attention to those trapped in slavery today through the Invisible exhibit, and call on all people of conscience to draw on this country’s history and join together as modern day abolitionists.

Because the fact is, millions of people around the world today desperately need it. Here are the facts:

-  there are an estimated 27 Million people in some form of slavery today

- Human Trafficking is the world’s second largest criminal enterprise, behind only the trade in illict drugs, with estimated annual profits of $32 Billion

- The U.S. State Department estimates nearly 800,000 human being are trafficked across international borders annually, with 80% of those being women and children

And those are just the numbers. The stories – of real human beings forced into different forms of labor, including the sex trade, against their will and with little chance of escape – are alternatively heart-breaking and enraging. They demand our attention and our action.

So here are some good resources:

• A tremendous all-around resource is End Slavery Now, whose “purpose is to support the work of grassroots activists and anti-slavery organizations, and to grow and advance the anti-slavery movement, by consolidating and sharing resources, best practices, and events; and by promoting their work through various social media channels and free listings in the New Underground Railroad”
• We are very proud of our friendship with the innovators at slavery footprint, which has developed a profound and engaging way for you to learn what slave labor went into the goods you use everyday. And they give you a way to do something about it, through their online action center and their innovative Free the World App.
• The Polaris Project, one of our partners in the creation of Invisible is an organization, is at the forefront of anti-slavery activity in the United States

We’d also like to highlight two new friends of ours at the Freedom Center who are similarly engaged in using history to inspire abolitionism today.

• Please check out the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, who are engaged in “abolition through education“; and specifically their service-learning projects, which seek to protect, engage, enlighten, and empower students.
• Historians Against Slavery is a network of history professors around this country who ” insist that the histories of struggles against earlier systems of slavery provide crucial perspective, insight and inspiration when combating slavery. Knowledge of the histories of slave resistance and abolitionist struggle are critical to combating slavery today.” With this firm belief, HAS is organizing college chapters around the country and providing students and professors the tools to do the same.

these are just a few of the many organizations that are fighting to eradicate the scourge of slavery every day. On this particular day, please take a moment to learn more and think about the role you may want to play in bringing freedom to those who so desperately need and deserve it.

Think about how you will Fan the Flame.

Luke

Cincinnati’s role in the American Civil War was significant on many levels. Guns were manufactured here. Several training camps were established around the city to prepare Union troops for battle. And, for one month in 1862, Cincinnati was threatened by invasion from the South, which would have made it the first Norhtern city to fall under Confederate control. The Siege of Cincinnati was perhaps the most significant event regarding Cincinnati’s role in the war. And, within that story is the story of the Black Brigade of Cincinnati; a story of courage, cooperation, and perseverance. You can learn more about this story by watching the video below:

There is a spark within each of us, Fan the Flame!

Funding for this program was made possible in part by the Ohio Humanities Council with support by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment of the Humanities, or of the Ohio Humanities Council.

Author and Yale American History professor, David Blight

Author David Blight will lecture at the Freedom Center on December 8 at 6:30 pm on two of his books, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory and Beyond the Battlefield: Race, Memory and the American Civil War. Blight is a professor of American History at Yale University, is Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale and is working on a full biography of Frederick Douglass that will be published in 2013.

Writing responses to questions about his scholarly essay, American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era, Blight candidly explains his intent behind writing Race and Reunion.

“The book is in many ways a conversation between the era of the Centennial and that of our own time,” says Blight. “A great deal has changed in scholarship, schooling, and public memory, and some things have not. So much of the planning, events, and publication of the official Civil War Centennial, at state and national levels, never managed to liberate itself—most whites never wanted it to—from the hold that the Lost Cause tradition had on American culture.  The ideas that the South had never really fought for slavery, but only or home hearth and sovereignty, that the Confederacy was a bulwark trying to hold back the ravages of the Industrial age, and that the Confederacy was the last stand of an orderly racial system of contented natural laborer and benevolent landowners and managers still had a firm grip on the national imagination. The evidence is overwhelming, and I try to show this in the book.”

Due to limited seating we ask that you RSVP for this event by calling 513.333.7586 or via our online RSVP form.

Funding for this program was made possible in part by the Ohio Humanities Council with support by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment of the Humanities, or of the Ohio Humanities Council.

One of the many misconceptions around modern slavery is that it doesn’t happen here in the United States. As so many of our friends in the modern-day abolitionist movement are showing daily, though, slavery is happening in this country and, like any crime, we need strong, clear and enforceable laws in place to end it.

That is why the report released today by the abolitionists at  Shared Hope International is so important. The Protected Innocence Initiative provides a comprehensive analysis of the sex trafficking laws of each state, with a particular emphasis on their application to protecting children. The report also provides recommendations for how such laws can be improved, and finally provides a grade to each state on the effectiveness of their laws in addressing child sex slavery.

The combined effect of Shared Hope International’s analysis, recommendations, and grading is, in their words,  “a comprehensive strategy to promote zero tolerance for child sex trafficking.” Deep and detailed analysis like this is the first step in changing laws to better address child sex slavery. The next is convincing lawmakers to strengthen these laws.

That is where we all come in. Look at your state’s report card. If you don’t like what you see, consider contacting your state legislators and referring them to this report.

There is a spark within each of us. Fan the Flame.

Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church, in Pike County, Kentucky has voted to not accept interracial couples into membership or allow them to “take part” in worship activities. The vote took place on Monday.

While the church says everyone is welcome to come worship, they do not condone interracial marriage.

The proposal said “parties of such marriages will not be received as members, nor will they be used in worship services” or other church functions, with the exception of funerals.  The recommendation “is not intended to judge the salvation of anyone, but is intended to promote greater unity among the church body and the community we serve,” the copy supplied to the Herald-Leader read. To read more, click here.

This story struck a chord with me (my step-dad is Puerto Rican) and immediately I thought of Loving Day. Have you heard of it?

Mildred & Richard Loving

Loving Day is an annual celebration held on June 12, the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia which struck down all anti-miscegenation laws.

What were the anti-miscegenation laws? They were laws that enforced racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage.

Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested in Richmond, Virginia for “cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth.” Mildred was African American; Richard was white. The Lovings avoided jail time by agreeing to leave Virginia; they moved to Washington DC where Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy referred their case to the American Civil Liberties Union. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the young couple and they were able to move back to their home state of Virginia. To read more about the Loving’s legal battle click here.

Fast forward to today…

The number of interracial marriages in the U.S. has risen 20 percent since 2000 to about 4.5 million, according to the latest census figures. While still growing, that number is a marked drop-off from the 65 percent increase between 1990 and 2000. About 8 percent of U.S. marriages are mixed-race, up from 7 percent in 2000 [figures are from a June 2010 article]

Stories like this remind us that prejudice still exists, in our churches, schools and communities. Together we can fan the flame for equality.

I want to leave you with the following statement issued by Mildred Loving on the 40th anniversary of Loving Day (2007):

My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone, they have a right to marry.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the ‘wrong kind of person’ for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

There is a spark within each of us, Fan the Flame.

This month, the Freedom Center’s book club enjoyed the pleasure of hearing Pulitzer-nominated author, Lester Horwitz discuss his best-selling book, The Longest Raid of the Civil War, which developed after Horwitz learned his home was raided by Confederate General John Hunt-Morgan in 1863.

“I love history, so when I heard there was some historic information about this house, I wanted to find out more about the people who raided our home,” says Horwitz. “I went to the Cincinnati Historical Society, and they had a book that listed everybody in the state of Ohio who put in a claim after the raid. In the book were 4375 names, and one of the names on that list was Nathaniel Humphrey, and I knew that Nathaniel Humphrey lived in my house. It said that Morgan’s rebels took two of his horses; and the State of Ohio reimbursed him $175 for those horses. So that’s why I started inquiring about the raid, because we bought that house.”

According to Horwitz’s research, Governor David Tod paid reimbursements because so many civilians lodged complaints that their homes and fields were pillaged by Morgan and his men.  Largely, this was able to happen because Ohio’s militia was in the south fighting, and southern counties weren’t protected, so to appease his future voting constituents, Governor Tod summoned a three-man commission to gather and verify the claims, which in Horwitz’s estimation totaled up to $500,000 worth of reimbursements.

Literally, Horwitz says he began connecting the dots after he found a map of Clermont County drawn in 1869 by county engineers.

“Back then, they put the people’s names who owned each piece of property. They even put a black dot where the home was,” Horwitz explains. “I had a list of people who put in claims, and I got a map with their names on it. When I found a name that was in the book (that I found at Cincinnati Historical Society) and I found it on the map, I put a red dot on it. Eight months later, I had hundreds and hundreds of red dots. I could see which streets in Hamilton County and Clermont County the rebels actually went down, and that’s how I knew exactly where they went. When I had that finished, my wife says, ‘Now you know everything!’ I said, ‘No, I’m just beginning!’”

As he later learned, the raid did not start in Harrison, Ohio where he thought, but in McMinnville, TN. Morgan’s men moved through Kentucky and trekked northward 70 miles south of Cleveland and conquered 1000 miles of Union territory, which is why Horwitz titled his book, The Longest Raid of the Civil War.

And, if 15 years of research isn’t enough labor, Horwitz is working on a follow-up book to The Longest Raid of the Civil War called After the Raid.

For more information about Lester Horwitz and The Longest Raid of the Civil War, visit: http://www.monday-morning-writers-group.com/lester-horwitz.html.

There’s a spark in each of us. Fan the Flame.

I’m having another of those YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME moments. Earlier today, a friend shared a link  to a news story – a story about a group of six girls at Southern Mississippi University who decided to attend a 1980s-themed party as the Huxtable family from The Cosby Show. Problem, you ask? These young white girls went in blackface.

Pauses to glance at calendar.  Yep, it’s really 2011.

Just how, exactly, does a citizen of the 21st century, even an adolescent citizen, fail to realize that, as my teenage children would say, “Seriously – that’s so not cool!”

Lots of unflattering terms come to mind in considering what these girls have done. But I’ve decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and refer to their actions as “culturally insensitive” or “unconsciously incompetent.” Since the goal of diversity and inclusion, however, is for all of us to become “unconsciously competent,” I’d say the university and the sorority involved both have considerable work to do with this little group.

I am also carefully reminding myself here that it was not an entire university who did this. Nor was it an entire sorority. It was six woefully unenlightened members of a sorority, whose sorority has more than taken them to task.  But I digress.

The goal of my blog is to remind young people, and perhaps also a few parents who may have missed the memo, that blackface really hasn’t been “in” for a while now. Of course, it reflects very poorly on our society that it ever was. Perhaps you’ll join me in sharing this message.

Let’s review just a bit. Having begun with the white man’s portrayal of plantation slaves and free African Americans during the era of minstrel shows (1830-1890), the blackfaced minstrels played an historically significant role in perpetuating – on a global level - some pretty heinous images, attidues and stereotypes of African Americans. While virtually every group of immigrants fell prey to the insensitivity of America’s 19th century music halls, none felt the impact of these portrayals with quite the same intensity of ignorance, prejudice and hostility as did the African Americans.

"Come listen all you galls and boys, I'm going to sing a little song, Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow."

White America’s perceptions of African American entertainers were heavily influenced by these hyperbolized minstrels. For more than one hundred years,  these caricatures perpetuatead the myth that African Americans were racially and socially inferior. Ultimately, the American imagination began to assume that any person with dark skin, no matter what their background, should rightfully conform to one of a number of stereotypical caricatures such as “Jim Crow” and “Zip Coon;” or, “Mammy” and little “Pickaninnies.” Offended by these names? Well, I should think so.

So you see, while these girls may have acted in ignorance – or unconscious incompetence – their actions were no less offensive. Those around them, that world at large that they have seemingly tuned out, are insulted by their insensitivity and lack of awareness. It is to the credit of their sorority sisters who decided to make the girls painfully aware of their mistakes. I whole-heartedly applaud them and the  university for insisting that the girls embark upon a journey of      
                                                                                                                understanding so that they can truly know better in future.

I have to assume these aren’t bad kids, but rather thoughtless and unlightened, as adolescents often are. Am I excusing their behavior? Of course not. But I refuse to beat them up on this blog too harshly. After all, but for the grace of God, there go mine. I merely hope, on the off-chance that someone may actually be listening, that we can spread the word that blackface is officially out of favor.

James W. Stallworth, I have information for you but I could not get you email to go through.  I hope you see this and get in touch through the Freedom Center.

In every war, there are men who commit horrendous acts of violence and cruelty. Both the Union and Confederacy kept prisoners under deplorable conditions. However, Henry Wirz is especially worthy of mention here. A Swiss immigrant, Wirz lived in Louisiana before the Civil War broke out. He joined the Fourth Louisiana Battalion, and, after guarding prisoners captured at the First Battle of Bull Run, came to the attention of Inspector General John Winder, who had Wirz transferred to work under him. Wirz spent the rest of the war working with prisoners.

For several years, he ran Andersonville Prison, which was, by all accounts, atrociously foul, dirty, diseased, and violent. The stream mean to provide water was full of waste and quickly became a swamp. Violence, disease, and misery abounded. Thirty thousand inmates occupied a space meant for ten thousand. There were no barracks for the prisoners. Thousand of inmates died. Wirz showed no remorse at his post-war trial.

On November 10, 1865, he was hanged as a war criminal.

There is much debate concerning his trial. Some 160 witnesses testified. Much evidence was produced. Some of it was simply fabricated. Was his trial a miscarriage of justice? Did he deserve capital punishment for his crimes against the Union prisoners? What should have been done instead? Was Hirz a war criminal or a scapegoat? All of these are questions that, though moot now, still affect the justice system today. Many are wrongly convicted and sentenced. More and more cases are revealed to have incarcerated innocent people. How can the justice system be more just?

I leave it up to you, dear readers, to decide for me.

There is a spark in each of us, so Fan the Flame!