The Gist of Freedom Preserving American History through Black Literature . . .

It would take a massive, multinational effort to defeat Hitler, Mussolini, and Imperial Japan, and cost tens of millions of lives. Mussolini, seeking an "Italian Empire" in Africa, threw his army and air force against Ethiopia in October 1935. Fascist planes bombed and dropped poison gas on villages. Emperor Haile Selassie turned to the League of Nations and speaking in his native Amharic described fascist air and chemical attacks on a people "without arms, without resources." In the United States some 2,800 young men and women of different races and backgrounds formed the "Abraham Lincoln Brigade." Seamen and students, farmers and professors, they hoped that their bravery could turn the tide, or at last alert the world to the fascist drive for world domination. Most made their way to Spain illegally as "tourists" visiting France. William Loren Katz is the author of Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage, The Lincoln Brigade: A Picture History (with Marc Crawford), and 40 other books on African American history, including many for young adults. His website is www.williamlkatz.com. This article is part of the Zinn Education Project If We Knew Our History series.

"Escaped Africans today referred to as Maroons, are said to have hunted the wild boar common to the region, then preserved it for days in a spice-heavy marinade. When it came time to cook the meat, the Maroons dug holes in the ground, filled them with charcoal, and buried the meat in the holes, which they then covered so as not to produce smoke and attract the attention of those that would bring them back into slavery." Tonight, Join The Gist of Freedom as we welcome historian T. Rasul Murray! Although suffering from jet lag from his trip to Africa, Rasul has agreed to lecture on the African Diaspora and it's international impact of the African Burial Ground, in New York. Rasul a licensed New York City Tour Guide serves as an a volunteer historical interpreter and griot at the African Burial Ground National Monument. He conducts interpretive tours of the monument and walking tours of the old city and its African pass. He  also conducts private tours of his city, including a tour of Old Manhattan and Its African Past, Harlem, and an introduction to New York for the first time visitor. A life-long cultural and political activist, Rasul served as a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, staffed the 1963 March on Washington and has been a community organizer and manager and administrator of a variety of community programs in New York City. His work has appeared in African Voices, Black World, The Journal of Black Poetry, Expressions, Esprit, Black Creations, McCalls Magazine, and other magazines and journals both here and abroad. Topic of discussion: Jerk Chicken and The underground Railroad Ashesi, university in Africa Kwame Nkrumah tomb, Accra, Ghana African Renaissance Monument, Dakar, Senegal Gorée Island,  Senegal Elmina Castle, Elmina Ghana W.E.B. Du Bois

Artist Frank Morrison, talks about his Maya Angelou Still I Rise Artwork One need take only a cursory view/examination of his portfolio or his work ‘en gallery’ to find that his power and inspiration are products of his deeply religious grounding and his loving commitment to his family. Notable collections of Morrison’s art are owned by Queen Latifah,  "Earth Wind and Fire" Ralph Johnson,ED Gordan, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Pittsburgh Steelers Casey Hampton, Verizon, Russel Simmons "Phat Farm", WBGO,  NY Jets D' Brickashaw Ferguson, former New York City School Chancellor Rudy Crew, New Orleans Senator Gregory Tarver, renown actor/philanthropist Bill Cosby who prides himself on nurturing the talents of emerging African American artists, and Dr. Lorraine Hale among others. His initiatives include publication of over 20 illustrated children’s books “Star in the Shadows” by Charles R Smith, “The Hat that Wore Clara B” , “Shoe Box Sam” , “Queen of the Scene” by Queen Latifah, NYT Best selling “Out of the Ballpark” by NY Yankees Alex Rodriguez,  NAACP Image Award winning “Our Children can Soar” ,“Long Shot” by NBA all-star point guard Chris Paul, “Keena Ford” series,  “For the Love of Soccer” by Pele,  “Children of God” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “Quacky Baseball” by Peter Abrahams,   Texas Bluebonnet Award 2012-2013 Master list winning “Play Louis Play”  "Coretta Scott award winning "Jazzy Miz Mozetta" and "Sweet Music in Harlem". To name a few.     

Toni Morrison said, "The Empire of Necessity is scholarship at it's best. Greg Grandin's deft penetration into the marrow of the slave industry is compelling, brilliant, and necessary." Join The Gist of Freedom Tonight www.blackHistoryBLOG.com as we discuss the book  "The Empire of Necessity" with author Greg Grandin! Tryal was the ship whose human “cargo” had rebelled, murdered their owner along with a score of other whites and demanded that Cerreño sail them back to Africa. Fifty years later, Melville made Delano’s story the basis of a short novel that he called “Benito Cereno.” Grandin writes  about the unknowable inner lives of the Revolters, a reticence that elevates the novella far above the antislavery manifestoes of  the slavery era in which the enslaved appear in one form of caricature or another. He conveyed the horror of slavery while looking unblinkingly at the reciprocal fury of self-liberated slaves toward those who had enslaved them. Grandin …. reconstructing the world through which the revolters moved toward their strike at freedom, he has done more than any previous scholar — and there have been many — to illuminate the context of the work in which Melville confronted slavery without presuming to comprehend its vast ramifications. “The Empire of Necessity” is also a significant contribution to the largely impossible yet imperative effort to retrieve some trace of the countless lives that slavery consumed.

Tune in to The Gist of Freedom, www.BlackHistoryBlog.com,  as we talk with Dr. William Seraile Professor Emeritus of African and African American studies at Lehman College (CUNY)  Dr. Seraile served in Ethiopia as a Peace Corps volunteer.  He  will  discuss opportunities that exist for African Americans and others who may wish to serve.   His service in Ethiopia had a profound impact on his life and future career choice.  Today, the Peace Corps is trying to recruit more volunteers of color to serve.  He earned his master's from Teachers College and a doctorate degree from the City University of New York.New York's Black Regiments During the Civil War was his doctoral dissertation which later became the third of his five books. A superb teacher, he was named Lehman College's 1991 teacher of the year.  Dr, Seraile is also the  chair of the advisory committee for the Emmett Till Museum in Glendora, Mississippi  The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the federal government. The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand American culture, and helping Americans to understand the cultures of other countries. .The program was established by Executive Order 10924, issued by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961.Between 1961 and 2013, over 210,000 Americans joined the Peace Corps and served in 139 countries.      

The Schomburg Collection, Harlem USA Maya Angelou discusses The Schomburg, Quilts & Slavery- Lesley Gist, the producer of The Gist of Freedom was blessed with the opportunity to call in on the Rolanda Watts Blog Talk Radio Show and talk with Maya Angelou. Maya explained why she decided to donate her work to the Schomburg Library. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is showing off a collection of papers, manuscripts and letters penned by literary giant Maya Angelou, who died this week. The exhibit, curated in response to her death, will be on display beginning at 10 a.m. Friday at the Harlem repository. Click here to Listen to Dr. Maya Angelou! http://bit.ly/MAYA_Schomburg_The_GIST Read The article http://bit.ly/The_GIST The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is showing off a collection of papers, manuscripts and letters penned by literary giant Maya Angelou, who died this week. The exhibit, curated in response to her death, will be on display beginning at 10 a.m. Friday at the Harlem repository.” The exhibition, titled “Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou 1928-2014” will be shown through June 30.

Anna May Manigault-Hurley  Female Funeral Home Director and Embalmer In 1940, Anna went to New York to study embalming at the famous Renouard School of Embalming. After her graduation, she returned to Columbia as one of the few women in South Carolina to become a licensed embalmer. Embalming school changed her life and she went on to direct the family's business. Mrs. Manigault-Hurley also helped to operate the Congaree Casket Company, founded by her father. After her father, William Manigault, died in 1940, Anna Manigault made a career choice that was uncommon for women. Her mother, Annie Rivers Manigault, along with her father, owned and operated Manigault's Funeral Home at 714 Main Street in.Columbia, South Carolina. Their funeral home was one of the few African American businesses located on Main Street. As a young person, Miss Manigault assisted her parents at the funeral home. It was known to employ more African Americans than any other black owned business in South Carolina!   The printed funeral programs of her mortuary were known to be the first use of printed programs in South Carolina for funeral services. Among its many services, the casket company and the mortuary provided free meals for its employees and others in need. In 1959, she relocated the funeral home to 2229 Two Notch Road, Columbia, S.C. and it became the Manigault-Hurley Funeral Home, Inc. Mrs. Manigault-Hurley remained active in many civic organizations, and in her church, the Union Baptist Church, until her death on April 15, 1976.  The legacy of Anna May Manigault-Hurley continues. The funeral home is currently under the management and directorship of her son, Anthony Manigault-Hurley; her granddaughter, Michelle Manigault-Hurley; and Mr. Hurley's wife, Alice Wyche Hurley."  

Join The Gist of Freedom as we welcome and congratulate one of Maryland's  TOP 25 WOMEN PROFESSORS author Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead !  In Notes from a Colored Girl Dr. Whitehead examines the life and experiences of Emilie Frances Davis, a freeborn twenty-one-year-old black woman, through a close reading of three pocket diaries she kept from 1863 to 1865. Since there are few primary sources written by black women during this time in history, Davis's diary--though ordinary in its content--is rendered extraordinary simply because it has survived to be included in this very small class of resources.  Whitehead's extensive analysis illuminates the lives of many through the simple words of one. Whitehead explores Philadelphia's free black community in the nineteenth century. Although Davis's daily entries are sparse, brief snapshots of her life, Whitehead interprets them in ways that situate Davis in historical and literary contexts that illuminate nineteenth-century black American women's experiences. Whitehead's contribution of edited text and original narrative fills a void in scholarly documentation of women who dwelled in spaces between white elites, black entrepreneurs, and urban dwellers of every race and class.  Since there are few primary sources written by black women during this time in history, Davis's diary--though ordinary in its content--is rendered extraordinary simply because it has survived to be included in this very small class of resources. Whitehead's extensive analysis illuminates the lives of many through the simple words of one.

Join The Gist of Freedom as we talk with historian Stephanie James Wilson, M.A. Stephanie is the Executive Director of the New Jersey Amistad Commission, a division of the Department of Education. The Amistad Commission – NJ Dept. of Education would like to extend to you an invitation to join us at the 2nd free preview screening of the major motion picture“BELLE”.  LIMITED SEATING YOU MUST RSVP Tuesday, May 20, 2014 AMC Clifton Commons 16 405 Route 3 Clifton, New Jersey 07014 Doors open at 6:30 pm Showtime begins at 7:00 pm Dido Belle, the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy officer, is brought to England by her father and left in the care of his uncle, Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, at his estate of Kenwood House. Though the social mores of the time make her an outsider, Dido is raised by Mansfield as an aristocrat alongside her cousin Elizabeth. Dido's burgeoning relationship with a young lawyer, John Davinier, meets with the disapproval of Mansfield who considers the match beneath her. At the same time Mansfield is deliberating on a slavery case (Somerset v Stewart) which will advance the cause of the abolitionists.

Join The Gist of Freedom as we speak with two Gist family genealogists, Dr. Natalie Pierce and Mr. James E. Gist.  Peter Gist Still the long lost enslaved brother of the Father of The Underground Railroad,  William Still. After 40 years Peter is reunited with his mother Charity Still! Samuel Gist was a resident of Great Britain and Virginia. In his will, Gist insisted his daughter free all the slaves she owned on the Gould Hill Plantation in Virginia. She complied and establish 6 free Gist Settlements throughout Ohio. Many of the descendants of the enslaved Gist settlers still live on the settlement. Samuel Gist was orphaned.  In 1739,  he was shipped to Virginia where he was indentured.  Sequoyah (George Gist) created the Cherokee alphabet, the syllabary. Secessionist South Carolina Governor – William Henry Gist, 1858-1860 The first to secede

‘SNL’ Rape Jokes ~ "I’d just keep popping them out.” Celia, an enslaved 19 year old, duly sworn, enslaved by Robert Newsom says that she killed her rapist slaver on the night of the 23rd day of June 1855-- about two hours after dark by striking him twice on the head with a stick, and then put his body on the fire and burnt it nearly up, then took up the ashes on the morning after daylight. After breakfast, the bones were not entirely burnt up. I took up the ashes and bones out of the fireplace in my cabin where I burnt the body and emptied them on the right hand side of the path leading from my cabin to the stable. Sworn to + attested before us on this 25th day of June 1855 D. M. Whyte J.P. her Celia X mark ----------- Comedian Leslie Jones "I’d just keep popping them out.” Responds to Backlash Over Slave Rape Jokes on ‘SNL’ ~ http://bit.ly/1iko0nb

12 Years A Slave, Mrs. Northup & Justice, a discussion with author David Fiske! David will share Anne Northup's love story, how her undying love for her husband and unshaken faith in God sustained her during her successful quest in the liberation and rescue her husband from bondage!  We will also discuss the lawsuit Solomon brought against his captors.      

Malcolm X's and Dr. Betty Shabazz's middle daughter Ilyasah Shabazz graciously delivered her donated books, "Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X" to the school that banned her father from a list of notable African American Heroes. After searching her roots for the truth about her father's upbringing, influences and inspirations ilyasah penned the children's illustrated book with A.G. Ford. ilyasah spoke about her book and gave an inspirational talk to an assembly of little children, encouraging them to let their roots, their parents' life lessons guide them throughout their lives. Meet ilyasah at  The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz  Memorial and Educational Center 3940 Broadway  New York City, NY 10032 The Shabazz Center, formerly known as the Audubon Ballroom, is the place where Malcolm X's life was taken. The historic tourist attraction has now been transformed into a space where Malcolm X, el-Hajj Malik Shabazz's life is being celebrated daily by his daughters, family, community, scholars, artisans, supporters and  tourists.          

 Join @ilyasahshabazz as she talks with Dr. John Christian Suggs about the new Black History Map App  More Than a Mapp is a free iPhone and iPod app that allows users to discover and contribute to the African American history that exists all around us. The location-enabled application can reveal sites of significance to black history in your city, and allows you to upload map points of your own. The crowd-sourced and moderated data will grow to reveal that history doesn’t just live in books; it has a presence in the everyday places we find ourselves.

Tonight Emmy award winning comic book  writer Dawud Anyabwile!