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

The Gist of Freedom Pleased to Present to you Constitutional Law Prof. Shenequa Grey Esq.  On Saturday 100 Cities held vigils pushing for Federal Charges against Zimmerman. Two petitions are circulating: For Civil Rights Violations and Suspicion of Misconduct Zimmerman's Judge failed to include "The Initial Aggressor" but was sure to include the definition for Stand Your Ground in her Jury Instructions! "A defendant in Florida cannot claim self-defense if he "initially provokes the use of force" against himself, unless he either withdraws from the conflict and conveys the withdrawal to the other party or uses reasonable escape options to avoid death or great bodily harm." A post- trail televison interview with Juror B37 reveals that she may not have been truthful during Jury Selection and that there may have been possible intimidation during the deliberation.  The failure to include the "Initial Aggressor" definition in the Judge's Jury instructions combined with the fact that when a juror asked the court to clarify this exact omitted excerpt of the law, the court told the Juror to restate her question, the jury, suspiciously instead of restating the question, they came back with a NOT GUILTY VERDICT.  

Join the Gist of Freedom with guest Renee Moore, founder of Solomon Northup Day as we discuss The Story of Anne and Solomon Northup --- In 1841 Solomon while visiting Washington D.C. was kidnapped and sold into slavery (12 years). Anne, his wife, later learned of New York's anti-kidnapping law of 1840, petitioned the Governor to enforce the law and to restore her husband's liberty. That the said Solomon Northup is a free citizen of the State of New-York, and is now wrongfully held in slavery, in or near Marksville, in the parish of Avoyelles, in the State of Louisiana, one of the United States of America, on the allegation or pretence that the said Solomon is a slave. Your excellency is entreated to employ such agent or agents as shall be deemed necessary to effect the restoration and return of said Solomon Northup, in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of the State of New-York, passed May 14th, 1840, entitled "An act more effectually to p

Zimmerman Judge's Jury Instructions-- EXCLUDED "THE INITIAL AGGRESSOR INSTRUCTION"    The Gist of Freedom is pleased to present to you a NAACP Civil Rights Attorney, Richard St.Paul and Host, Floridian Activist William Jackson. We'll discuss how the Judge was able to omit, leave out, exclude,  "the initial aggressor instruction" ------------------ A defendant in Florida cannot claim self-defense if he "initally provodes the use of force against himself unless he either withdraws from the conflict and conveys the withdrawal to the other party  or uses reasonable escape options to avoid death or great bodily harm (in other words, the initial aggressor has no right to stand his ground; he must retreat). 

NAACP Leads Push for Federal Civil Rights Charges    Stevie Boycotts Florida, won't play in any state until they Abolish  their "Stand Your Ground Law"  Listen to Stevie's Announcement and Speech at the Million Man March!    If the racially charged "Stand Your Ground Law" defense was waived, then why was it included in the jury instructions? This juror, the wife of an attorney while being interviewed by Anderson Cooper, stated during deliberations they were considering Zimmerman's "Right To STAND HIS GROUND".    Judge's instructions to the Jury:    "If George Zimmerman was not engaged in an UNLAWFUL ACTIVITY and was attacked in any place where he had a right to be, he had no duty to retreat and had the    "RIGHT TO STAND HIS GROUND"  ---------   The prosecutor argued, when Zimmerman dismissed the police's order and did not remain in his car, he became engaged in an Unlawful Activity, he willfully took off his Watchman cap and replaced it with a pattyroller hood. The prosecutors stated he began to stalk, Trayvon Benjamin Martin, a youngster with hatred. With that said, the Jury had no basis for applying the self-defense law or The Use of Deadly Force. It appears he was engaged in unlawful activity.    Now it is time for you to make sure Zimmerman doesn't get away~ Add your name to the petition for Zimmerman's rearrest!  

This verdict, finding Zimmerman Not Guilty has taken us much farther back than the 60's--it is a culmination and the resurrection of the Dred Scott Decision of 1857; "Negroes have no rights (now life) which the white man is bound to respect"  and  The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 (a law that deputized and paid ANYONE who arrested and enslaved a black person they "SUSPECTED" of being, a run-away slave). 

The letters "S.S.," for Slave Stealer, were branded on the hand of abolitionist Captain Walker as punishment for attempting to assist seven escaped slaves to freedom by sailing them from Florida to the WEST INDIES.  During the voyage, Captain Walker became ill. His crew was untrained in sailing and navigational procedures and, as a result, they were captured by a proslavery wrecking sloop and returned to Florida. The enslaved Africans were returned to the Slavers, and Walker was arrested. He was convicted and sentenced in a federal court, spent one year in solitary confinement, and was fined $600. It was at this time that his right palm was branded with the letters "S.S."2 ------------------- Join The Gist of Freedom tonight  at 8pm as we listen to and discuss excerpts from William Still's Underground Railroad book, (1872) and the story of Seth Conklin, the white abolitionists who was captured and murdered while trying to rescue William Still's enslaved in-laws, his newly freed brother Peter Gist-Still's family.  Tonight our guest is Darnell Brown, Underground Railroad Historian!

Join The Gist of Freedom (www.blackhistoryUniversity) with guest David Lesser, of The David M. Lesser Fine Antiquarian Bookstore. David specializes in Afro-Americana, slavery, and the Civil War.  In 1860, Nathaniel Gordon, one of the last American slave ship captains, made a voyage to West Africa and loaded his ship, the Erie, with 900 Africans, 600 of whom were children. As the Erie left Africa to begin its long homeward trek, an American warship intercepted it about 50 miles from the African coast. Captain Gordon was arrested and taken to New York for trial. The court found Gordon guilty of breaking the U.S. anti-slave trading law and sentenced him to hang. The infamous Captain Gordon remains the only American slave trader ever to be executed by the United States.

Join The Gist of Freedom host Preston Washington as we listen to Voting Rights Act Speeches by Fannie Lou Hamer, President Lyndon Johnson and Freedom Rider Congressman John Lewis:   Sojourner Truth and all other New York enslaved Blacks were emancipated on The 4th of July, 1827.   In 1799 the New York Legislature passed "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery" with only token opposition. It provided for gradual manumission. The law freed all children born to slave women after July 4, 1799, but not at once. The males became free at 28, the females at 25. Till then, they would be the property of the mother's slaver. Slaves already in servitude before July 4, 1799, remained slaves for life, though they were reclassified as "indentured servants." The law sidestepped all question of legal and civil rights, thus avoiding the objections that had blocked the earlier bill.

  Est. in 1778, within 10 years, the Free African Society had a balance of 42.416 pounds on deposit at the Bank of North America. By 1838 the number of benevolent organizations grew to 100, with membership recorded as 7,448. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones formed the Free African Society in Philadelphia, a mutual aid society designed to provide socioeconomic guidance to newly freed people. Among its main objectives were teaching thrift and saving to build wealth in the community. These mutual aid societies  served as a model for banks later formed in the black community. Romulus Hall was brought by a pitying stranger to the Vigilance Committee, in a most shocking condition. The frost had made sad havoc with his feet and legsso much so that all sense of feeling had departed therefrom.    How he ever reached this city is a marvel. On his arrival medical attention and other necessary comforts were provided by the Committee, who  hoped with himself, that he would be restored with the loss of his toes.  

The 5 ALEC Justices Gutted Voting Rights 15th Amendment Every single day since November 5, 2008, conservatives have asserted they want to “take their country back,” and yesterday the highest court in the land obliged them and sent the nation back to February 2, 1870; the day prior to ratification of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Despite the increasing level of racism infecting America, the conservative Supreme Court officially endorsed, and enforced, the GOP and transferred that power to the Koch-supported American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).   The High Court granted permission to Republican states to nullify the 15th Amendment. Join The Gist of Freedom as we discuss the 15th Amendment, Voting Rights, with Lincoln Bookshop Owner Daniel Weinberg, Chicago. Established in 1938, the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop serves the needs of collectors and scholars, professional historians and independent writers, dedicated first edition hunters and casual history enthusiasts.  

"The Enslavement HIRE TAG.. a passage to freedom? Successful escapees, mainly former house Negroes wore this tag and used it as their pass to freedom. The tag hung from the neck of an, industrious and trusted enslaved person, trusted enough to be leased out by a slaver. ~ In talking with James Hambleton Christian, relative to his enslaved life, he said very promptly,  "I have always been treated well; (About fifty per cent. of Anglo-Saxon blood was visible in his features and his hair) if I only have half as good times in the North as I have had in the South, I shall be perfectly satisfied. Any time I desired spending money, five or ten dollars were no object." -------- Please Join The Gist of Freedom, as we continue our reading; William Still's book The Underground Railroad" www.blackhistoryUNIVERSITY.com Read and Share our Newsletter  

The Gist of Freedom is pleased to present to you excerpts from The Frederick Douglass Capitol Statue Unveiling Ceremony  with songtress Lori Williams and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and the great great grand-daughter of Frederick Douglass, Nettie Washington-Douglass..   “On this statue – there are many things that are on this beautiful – isn’t it beautiful statue.  It says on the side that: ‘The soul that is in me, no man can degrade.’  ‘The soul that is in me, no man can degrade.’  How perfect, how beautiful.     Each understood the truth of Douglass’ statement: ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand.  It never did and it never will,’ he said. Frederick Douglass demanded freedom.  He demanded a nation that stayed true to its ideals.  He demanded and helped achieve a ‘more perfect union.’  And we still have work to do. Read The Gist of Freedom's Newsletter “Good morning everyone.  Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Leader Reid, Leader McConnell, Senator Schumer – the Senate sponsor of the bill that brings us here today – and of course, our colleague, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton, who has been a relentless champion.  Congratulations.  This is your day.

  Click to Listen To The Gist of Freedom is pleased to present to you "The Bold Strike For Freedom" an excerpt from William Still's Book, The Underground Railroad with guest Erik Estep! On Christmas Eve 1855, Barnaby Grigsby and his wife Mary Elizabeth, took the slaver's best team of horses and his carriage, packed it with knives and guns, and fled slavery. Grigsby and Elizabeth were married.  William Still was the Black abolitionist from Philadelphia who was described by the New York Times as "The Father of the Underground Railroad". He commissioned Harriet Tubman's rescue missions. This famous abolitionist literally wrote the Underground Railroad book. The book which explained the story, narratives often in the words of the participants in the effort to escape slavery.   

Courageous Freedom Seekers were said to have contracted a disease... Drapetomania! The Gist of Freedom is pleased to present author Dr. William Katz! According to Cartwright, the illness resulted from masters who “made themselves too familiar with [slaves], treating them as equals” and prescribed “whipping the devil out of them” as a “preventative measure.” In his work, Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race, Cartwright’s justification for drapetomania is primarily Biblical, citing the idea that slaves must obey their masters  

Join The Gist of Freedom as we welcome Furquan Stafford an expert on the history of blood banks "Inmate blood donors are offered minimal incentives of eighteen (18) days credit per a blood donation every eight (8) weeks, which is the time needed for an individual to fully recover between blood donations. - ---during the 1980s, while President Clinton was still governor, inmates would regularly cross the prison hospital's threshold to give blood, lured by the prospect of receiving $7 a pint Dr. Charles Richard Drew, The Inventor Of Today's Blood Bank!  broke barriers in a racially divided America to become one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. His pioneering research and systematic developments in the use and preservation of blood plasma during World War II not only saved thousands of lives, but innovated the nation’s blood banking process and standardized procedures for long-term blood preservation and storage techniques adapted by the American Red Cross. Ironically, the Red Cross excluded African Americans from donating blood, making Drew himself ineligible to participate in the very program he established. That policy was later modified to accept donations from blacks, however the institution upheld racial segregation of blood, which throughout the wa&