We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

June 16, 20225:10 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition

https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/06/16/1105224652/songs-to-believe-in-a-juneteenth-playlist

Lara Downes

This Juneteenth, I’m finding it hard to celebrate.

It’s hard to reflect on freedom in this deafening swell of discord, this crescendo of threats to our most basic human and civil rights. It’s hard to stand upright in this storm of unending violence, to find footing on ground riven by such deep and jagged divisions. It’s hard, in such darkness, to believe in the dawn of a better day.

But as we observe this holiday, I have to remember that freedom has always been hard fought and hard won. All we can ever do is believe in tomorrow and work to make it better, despite all evidence and against all odds.

At the turn of the 20th century, the sociologist, historian and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois imagined a world that defied the realities of Jim Crow America. In his poem “Credo,” he states his belief that all people deserve “the space to stretch their arms and their souls; the right to breathe and the right to vote, the freedom to choose their friends, enjoy the sunshine and ride on the railroads, uncursed by color; thinking, dreaming, working as they will.” Sixty years later, the composer Margaret Bonds took inspiration from his words to write a piece of music full of pure passion and soaring beauty, even as violence raged and fires burned across America, as the civil rights movement fought on for the promise of those same freedoms, still unattained.

This Juneteenth, I turn to Du Bois’ words and Bonds’ music — to all the lessons of our history. I offer you a collection of music that insists on the promise of freedom, however long in coming. Music that counters the shrieking dissonance of conflict with the radiant warmth of its harmonies, that offers us comfort in our sorrow and sustenance in our struggle. Songs that ground us with the steadiness of their rhythms and embrace us in the lines of their melodies. Music that brings us hope and faith and even joy, urging us to stand and fight another day, reminding us that what we are celebrating on this holiday is our freedom to believe, even in the hardest of times.

In 1964, Margaret Bonds wrote this intimate yet infinitely powerful piece of music, inspired by the words of W.E.B. Du Bois’ “Credo.” The feel of these notes under my fingers reminds me to reflect on the struggles and triumphs that came before us and also urges me to look ahead at the brightness of what can come next. I’ve put out a call to young people across the United States, asking them to share what they believe in, to create a “Credo” for our present, a design for our future. Listen to their words — confident and deep in conviction — and maybe you, too, will rest easier tonight, knowing that tomorrow is in their hands.

Samora Pinderhughes: ‘Rise Up’

Inspired by the wave of protests against police violence in 2020, this song echoes the protest music of the 1960s in intention and intensity. What grabs me is its juxtaposition of hot fire and cool resolve — the steady, persistent pulse interrupted by moments of percussive explosion. Samora puts it this way: “The first half represents the spirit of uprising and revolt, which requires imagining, courage, strength, organizing, scaffolding and fire. The second half represents our fight against all odds. Overall, I hope the song reflects this beautiful quote by the abolitionist Mariame Kaba: ‘Hope is a discipline.’ “

Carlos Simon: ‘Light’

The freedom to reimagine your reality, to dream a new life, inspires this first movement of Carlos’ string quartet Warmth from Other Suns, a musical portrait of the Great Migration. It was a defining American journey, the migration of more than six million Black Americans, following a ray of light called hope out of the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest and West. They left behind everything and everyone they knew, taking only what they could carry. But what they brought with them — their dreams, their courage, their faith in a brighter tomorrow — transformed American life and culture in every possible way.

Leontyne Price: ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free’

Leontyne Price sings this gospel-infused Civil Rights Movement anthem with the choir of Rust College, a historically Black institution in Mississippi just a few hours down the road from where she grew up. Her journey from segregated Laurel, Miss., to the greatest opera stages of the world was fueled by the freedom of music and art to demolish artificial borders and barriers of all kinds. One of my most treasured possessions is a photo taken with Ms. Price when I was a little girl in the San Francisco Opera Children’s Chorus. Her generous embrace wrapped us kids in the warmth of what a life in music could be, and I caught a radiant glimpse of my own future.

Florence Price: ‘Juba’ (from Symphony No. 3)

This recording by the Philadelphia Orchestra is evidence of our freedom to reclaim and retell our stories. The recent recovery and revival of Florence Price’s once-forgotten music is a triumphant correction of history. Price’s music itself speaks volumes about our freedom to simply be ourselves, true to our authentic voice and vision. In her time and place, a Black woman seeking entry into the community of symphonic composers was knocking at a formidable door. When Price managed to crack that door open (though not a wide as she would have liked), she brought her ancestors with her, in the melodies and rhythms that infuse her symphonic compositions — echoes of Black spirituals and dances like the Juba, brought to this country by enslaved Africans and held as an essential outlet for self-expression and celebration even within the bondage of servitude. Later this summer, I’ll play Price’s “Piano Concerto” with this same legendary orchestra. That piece, too, uses a Juba dance in its closing movement, and the composer’s indomitable spirit will lift us all up in a few moments of transcendent joy.

Jimmie Allen: ‘Freedom Was a Highway’

I’m haunted by this exuberant tribute to the full-throttle freedom of youth — the rush of the wind on your face as you lean out of the car window, the magic of your favorite song, the innocence of a childhood crush. As a parent, as a horrified witness to the unspeakable dangers to our children today, all I want is to preserve for them the freedom to experience the lazy luxury of “those days when our dreams were there for chasin’, but time was better wasted,” as this song goes. They deserve the freedom to live and laugh and grow without fear into the possibility of all their unknown tomorrows.

Billy Strayhorn: ‘Something to Live For’

At Billy Strayhorn’s funeral, his long-time collaborator and brother in music, Duke Ellington, eulogized the four freedoms by which Strayhorn lived his remarkable life: “freedom from hate, unconditionally; freedom from all self-pity (even throughout all the pain and bad news); freedom from fear of possibly doing something that might help another more than it would help himself; and freedom from the kind of pride that could make a man feel he was better than his brother or neighbor.” This summer, I’m playing a new piano concerto based on Strayhorn’s songs and I am holding his four freedoms close to my heart as I immerse myself in his music, bringing his legacy to life with some of our greatest American orchestras.

Lara Downes with Tonality: ‘I Dream A World’

Finally, on this Juneteenth holiday, let’s celebrate our ability and our responsibility to “dream a world where all will know sweet freedom’s way,” as this song reminds us with its text by that most tenacious and audacious of American dreamers, the poet Langston Hughes.

What’s the story behind these photos?

Photographer Eli Reed began his career in 1970. Initially, he was known for his work in El Salvador, Guatemala and other Central American countries.

The renowned photographer spent over 20 years documenting the African American experience; much of it as the first full time Black photographer within the Magnum Photo Agency. His book Black in America covered the 1970s until the end of the 1990s and includes the Crown Heights riots and the Million Man March.

Reed, a 1982 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, also photographed the effects of poverty on American children for the film Poorest in the Land of Plenty.

• Lara Downes

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Michael S. Regan was sworn in as the 16th Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency on March 11, 2021, becoming the first Black man and second person of color to lead the U.S. EPA.

Administrator Regan is a native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he developed a passion for the environment while hunting and fishing with his father and grandfather, and exploring the vast lands, waters, and inner Coastal Plain of North Carolina.

As the son of two public servants – his mother, a nurse for nearly 30 years, and his father, a retired Colonel with the North Carolina National Guard, Vietnam veteran, and former agricultural extension agent – Michael Regan went on to follow in his parents’ footsteps and pursue a life of public service.

Prior to his nomination as EPA Administrator, Michael Regan served as the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

As Secretary, he spearheaded the development and implementation of North Carolina’s seminal plan to address climate change and transition the state to a clean energy economy. Under his leadership, he secured the largest coal ash clean-up in United States history. He led complex negotiations regarding the clean-up of the Cape Fear River, which had been contaminated for years by the toxic chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS). In addition, he established North Carolina’s first-of-its-kind Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory board to better align social inequities, environmental protection, and community empowerment.

Previously, Administrator Regan served as Associate Vice President of U.S. Climate and Energy, and as Southeast Regional Director of the Environmental Defense Fund where he convened energy companies, business leaders, environmental and industry groups, and elected officials across the country to achieve pragmatic solutions to the climate crisis.

He began his career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, eventually becoming a national program manager responsible for designing strategic solutions with industry and corporate stakeholders to reduce air pollution, improve energy efficiency and address climate change.

Throughout his career, he has been guided by a belief in forming consensus, fostering an open dialogue rooted in respect for science and the law, and an understanding that environmental protection and economic prosperity go hand in hand.

Administrator Regan is a graduate of the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, making him the first EPA Administrator to have graduated from a Historically Black College and University. He earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from The George Washington University.

He and his wife Melvina are proud parents to their son, Matthew.

https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-administrator

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/15/1105222327/epa-drinking-water-chemicals-pfas-pfoa-pfos

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

So a South Sudanese comic put on a comedy fest in a land of ‘suffering.’ How’d it go?

Akau Jambo can find humor anywhere.

In a joke about getting picked up by the police at a protest in South Sudan, he quips, “I was saying all sorts of crazy things, like I don’t care, you can arrest me. Then when they finally arrested me I was like, ‘Oh, you guys are serious?'” he says. “You people don’t joke!”

The 25-year-old South Sudanese comedian has spurred laughter across Africa, performing in clubs in Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

He also aims to bring levity to South Sudan despite lingering ethnic tensions and armed clashes that have persisted after the country’s civil war, which officially ended in 2018.

And even though the comedy scene — especially the English-language comedy scene — is small in Juba, the capital of 440,000, he has big dreams.

Last weekend, he hosted the country’s first-ever international comedy festival.

Comics flew in from across the continent to perform – hopefully the first of many to come, Jambo says. He spoke to NPR by phone from his car on Tuesday while running errands before taking two comedians from Uganda who had missed an earlier flight to the airport.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you decide to start doing stand-up?

I started comedy in 2016, from Uganda, where I was in school [at the Makerere University]. While I was there, I used to watch a lot of comedy, I used to watch a lot of South African comedians. And one day I told my mentor [Ugandan comedy mentor Timothy Nyanzi, who hosts free writing workshops in Kampala] I want to be a touring comedian. And he told me ‘You need to start writing like a touring comedian.’ So my mind was just right there – how can I get out of this bubble? Because I was born in a refugee camp [in Kenya] as well. I was like, how can I get out of this bubble, this life that I grew up in. I need to tour, I need to move, I need to see other people’s stories.

My first trip to South Africa in 2018, I was in Johannesburg doing a few comedy clubs, and I met a few comedians. I saw the comedy culture there – so many people coming to do comedy, and others to watch comedy. And I met this comedian who asked me where I was from, and I said I was from South Sudan – and he was like ‘Dang, I never knew people were laughing in South Sudan.’ And I felt like the world doesn’t really know what we really do out here – people just think we’re out here dropping bombs. They don’t know what we really do, they don’t know we have humor, that we have fun and all that.

I was like, I think I want to do something that opens South Sudan to the rest of the world. I want people to travel to South Sudan to watch comedy, to come to South Sudan to perform. I want South Sudanese to have a full weekend of laughter – and we do it again and again, and I want bigger things than just a comedy festival.

How did the festival go?

Really well. It was the first international comedy festival in the country, which means there’s so much pressure because we have to set a standard. But it also means that it was easier for us to pass through with no standards – because no one knew what the right standard was.

The U.N. has referred to continued “suffering” in South Sudan. Yet you show that laughter is possible even under such circumstances.

Exactly. Life doesn’t stop. Life doesn’t stop – we keep living.

How important is to you to offer a different narrative about South Sudan?

I don’t want to lie, it’s not something that I’d say I’m doing for other people only. It’s very important to me because I’m also doing it for myself. It’s also very important for my mental health.

I want Africa to look at South Sudan as a source of entertainment, as a cultural scene as well. It’s very important for me to keep on pushing, because it won’t stop with me. There will be other [South Sudanese] comedians who will be touring and trying to change the narrative, and trying to put out a better image of our country.

How did your family react when you started doing stand-up?

I lost my parents when I was very young. I kept my decision to do comedy away from my relatives, just to make sure it was the right thing – the thing that I wanted to do. Sometimes we kill our own ideas by putting them out there when we’re not yet sure if they’re ready for public review, for comments and all that.

A lot of my family members saw me when I broke through – my breakthrough was in 2018.

What happened that year?

I was featured in the Laugh Festival. It’s a big show in Nairobi, produced by a comic legend called Churchill. It was my first big show, about 5,000 people or something. The show was amazing, the video went up. After that I just blew up, I started getting gigs in different places.

So then your family knew what your were doing!

My family members would call me like, “Is this you?” And I’m like, “Yeah, it’s me.” And like, “Wait, we didn’t know you do this.” I’m like “Yeah, well now you know!”

Do you make enough money from comedy to support yourself?

I’m a full-time comedian. There’s not much money down here, I tour most of the time. So while I’m trying to create a proper scene here, I’m doing tours [in other African countries] where I get proper money to help me out.

Is there an established comedy scene in Juba?

There is a comedy scene that has been running for more than seven years. It’s an Arabic scene, they have a [weekly] comedy show. When it comes to the English scene, we have nothing. We only have [the chance] to do a few shows every now and then.

Our plan, as part of the festival, is to do a mentorship program and try to bring in new comedians, and channel them in the direction of taking on stand-up comedy as a career.

You bring serious matter into your routines. A friend of yours was hit by a car, and died afterward while in the hospital. You and others ended up protesting against the poor care she received in the hospital – which ended with you all getting arrested. You have a stand-up bit titled ‘My first time in jail in South Sudan‘ – how do you find humor in those kinds of serious situations?

She got hit by a car – she got hit around 4 p.m. and she was taken to the national hospital. I showed up at the hospital [to donate blood], our public hospital is a mess. I was only able to donate at 7-something [p.m.]. And the minute the blood was taken to her, she just died.

We don’t even know who suggested a protest. All we know is that the following morning we just woke up and just went to where she got [in] the accident. And right there we just started, like, a lot of people just crying, a lot of people just protesting and asking for reforms in the health system, asking for answers.

We spent the whole day, [being taken] from police station to police station, out getting beat up. They say humor comes from trauma. The most traumatic places is where jokes come from. People tell jokes about their abusive marriages, people tell jokes about their poverty growing up, and all that. All these experiences are not really good experiences, but when you come to terms with what happened you find light in them. I was doing jokes while in jail. People were like, “How are you doing this?” I’m like, “My guy, we are in – there’s no way you are going to get out. Either you hang out in jail and be happy or we just be miserable inside all day.”

Are there limits to what you can say as a South Sudanese comedian, either with the audience or with the authorities?

When the country is 11 years old, there are a lot of things that are being defined for the first time. So I should say limits are being defined right now. Unfortunately we are the comics who don’t know the limits when we are crashing them, and now the limits are being defined on us. It entirely depends on how you say it. Let’s say we’re making a “Comedy Constitution,” you’re up on stage, say something – the audience thinks it’s not good, that’s it, never say it again. So maybe 10 years from now I’ll have a better answer.

There’s no specific topic that it’ll be like, “Don’t talk about it.” People say “Don’t talk about politics,” but I don’t know anywhere [in the world] that people don’t talk about politics. It’s just – you talk about politics. Our whole life is politics. It’s not only a South Sudan thing.

You’ve performed all over Africa, any chance you come to the U.S. anytime soon?

Yeah, I’ll be in the States in June. The shows are not quite defined yet, but I’m going for the Mandela Washington Fellowship. And maybe I’ll have a few shows [while I’m there] but I haven’t reached out to try to see what I want to do yet.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/04/13/1092447973/so-a-south-sudanese-comic-put-on-a-comedy-fest-in-a-land-of-suffering-howd-it-go

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Nevada’s First Black Female Plumber Wants More Women in the Trades

Last year, Evelyn Pacheco founded the Nevada Women in Trades, a nonprofit dedicated to help women pass exams required to enroll in apprenticeship programs.

Last summer, we came across the hedline, “Nevada’s First Black Female Plumber Doesn’t Want to Be the Last,” and how could we not read more? In fact, if we could, we would have stolen that hedline for this story.

The article told the story of Evelyn Pacheco who became Nevada’s first black female union plumber 18 years ago.

“I didn’t even know I was the only one,” Pacheco says. And as the hedline implies, last year Pacheco launched the Nevada Women in Trades, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women enter the building trades.

Pacheco unexpectedly got into the trades herself after applying for a job at a Las Vegas casino. She just wanted a maintenance job, but the person who hired her told her they would also train her to do some plumbing repair, too. Later, a co-worker told her about the UA Local 525 training program. 

“I like the mechanical part of it,” she says, “I love the art of it. I like that you can build something that’s still there, and people are staying in hotels that I worked on on the Strip.”

Pacheco went through the five-year union program working during the day and studying most nights all while raising three children as a single mother. (We’ll also go back in time to add that she’s an Army veteran and go forward to add that she’s A grandmother, too.)

“It wasn’t just for me,” she adds, “it was for my kids so they could have things and go places and experience things.”

Pacheco says women can most definitely do the work of a plumber and pipefitter, but many just don’t know the potential.

“It’s not a ‘no’ thing,” she adds. “It’s an ‘I didn’t know that’ thing.”

Prep program

Last June, she launched the NWIT to pass on her experience and skills to other women to follow her path. Think of the NVWIT as a preparatory program for women who have the desire to enter into a trade apprenticeship and need additional training and preparation opportunities prior to completing a trade apprenticeship application.

A first step in the process of preparing for jobs in the trades is often the skills and aptitude test required for apprenticeship programs. The NVWIT team prepares women with a 150-hour Pipeline Comprehensive Course with the math, science, safety readiness and test-taking skills required to pass trade apprenticeship exams and give them a competitive edge when securing a seat in a trade apprenticeship of their choice.

Pacheco’s PCC includes demonstrations and hands-on classroom learning covering math and science skills, OSHA requirements, fork-lift training, and more to prepare them for the next step.

Not surprisingly, women are a minority in trade jobs. For example, a Nevada public radio report we heard in researching the is story said the plumbing and pipefitters union has 1,900 members in Las Vegas and only 34 are women. As for other building trades, Las Vegas has 607 electricians and only two are women; out of 67 ironworkers, just one is a woman.

Of course, the building trades are having a difficult time attracting the next generation men or women to fill the industry’s labor shortage. Last January, however, Pacheco did her part by holding a graduation ceremony for the first three students to go through the PCC.

“With the construction industry on the upswing, and now in need of more skilled workers, we’re proud to be training women for a range of construction jobs available right here in Nevada,” Pacheco says.

We’ll let Pacheco describe the program more in the interview that follows, but she is searching for sponsors, volunteers and community partners to improve the program. More information can be found at http://nevadawit.org.

PHC News: How did you get started with your career in the trades?

Pacheco: I was working at Fitzgerald’s Casino in the engineering department in 2002. A friend in the housekeeping department shared that her husband was in a five-year apprenticeship program at UA Local 525. 

She said the union was accepting applications for its apprenticeship program and encouraged me to apply. I did and was accepted.

Someone gave me a chance at a better life, now I want to do the same for others.

I like to think that I made history as Nevada’s first black female to be licensed as a plumber, and I can make history again through my Pipelines Program graduates who will carry on my legacy in Nevada, which will change the lives of the women and their children for many generations.

PHC News: What other type of work had you done before?

Pacheco: My college background is in business. I’ve had other jobs, but I never had a career until I got into the apprenticeship program.

PHC News: I know you are trying to change this attitude, but let’s face it: There aren’t a lot of women becoming plumbers. What motivated you to go into this as your career? Did anything hold you back at least initially?

Pacheco: There weren’t many women in the plumbing trade when I got in, but my focus was taking care of my family and making sure I could pay my rent, clothe my kids and put food on the table. So, my drive to be economically independent to take care of my family made all the obstacles seem small and unimportant.

I didn’t see anything holding me back at the time.

PHC News: Did any family members get you involved in the trades?

Pacheco: My grandfather had a maintenance business in Chicago when I was little, but I am the first in my family to get into the trades and become a journeyman.

PHC News: Tell us about your training.

Pacheco: The training was not easy. I was in a five-year apprenticeship program, so, my first year was math, second year was plumbing, third year was welding, fourth year was HVAC, and fifth year was preparing to take the plumbers license exam. I was the only female in the class, which was also hard, but I was determined to succeed.

PHC News: Any mentors who have helped you either before or since entering the trades, and have helped you with Nevada Women In Trades?

Pacheco: Don Johnson (L.U 525 Plumbers, Pipefitters and HVAC Apprenticeship Instructor), Dumas Martin, Sharon Latson (Chicago Women In Trades), Susie J. Suafai (Tradeswomen Inc.), Emily Higby (Asian Community Resource Center), Pamela Goynes-Brown (NLV Council Woman), Sgt. Dixie(Women Veterans of Nevada), Gersam Lopez (IT Specialist), Sondra Cosgrove (President, League of Women Voters of Nevada, Professor of CSN), Nancy Aldredge Foster(Abacus Marketing Partners International Inc.) and Ashlyn Algee(M.S.-System Engineering, B.S.-Computer Science)

PHC News: Tell us about Nevada Women in the Trades. What are the goals of the organization?

Pacheco: We are preparing women in Nevada for successful careers in high skilled trade occupations. Our goals are:

• Assist students with contacting our local unions.
• Prepare students for the apprenticeship exams.
• Improve outreach and recruitment in the trades.
• Increase community exposure to the numerous Nevada trade occupations and experts in the field.
• Offer four Pipeline Comprehensive Courses each year.

PHC News: Tell us about the women who went through the first PCC.

Pacheco: My outreach is with women who are re-entry, ex-prisoner, veterans, unrepresented, underprivileged, unemployed, homeless, aging out, and in minority populations. I’ve gone to career fairs, re-entry meetings, and any other place where I could hand out my business cards. I’ve engaged in a lot of networking, and leveraged word of mouth recommendations into interviews with local media. While it was not planned, my first pilot class was all minority women.

PHC News: So, what’s the next step for your PCC grads?

Pacheco: Our graduates went on several field trips to different union facilities and have had exposure to various local union representatives who participated as speakers So, now that they have information about the different trades, they can go and apply for the apprenticeships of their choice. Nevada Women In Trades will follow up with our graduates in the future to assess their success.

PHC News: Beyond the Nevada Women in the Trades group, how else are you promoting that more women get into the trades?

Pacheco: Nevada Women In Trades is involved in the Clark County School District’s Apprenticeship Early Exposure Program. We are starting a pilot to bring trades back into the elementary, middle, and high schools. I have my flyers in Florence McClure Women’s Correctional facility, and I am speaking with women’s organizations, such as the League of Women Voters of Nevada. The league is focused on addressing domestic violence and understands that women need economic independence to see a path out of violent relationships. Women who think they can’t afford rent often to do not leave harmful circumstances, so I want every woman to feel empowered to earn her own paycheck and make enough money to afford independence.

https://www.phcppros.com/articles/10976-nevadas-first-black-female-plumber-wants-more-women-in-the-trades

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Sarah Smith Tompkins Garnet was the first African American female principal in the New York public schools.  The eldest of eleven children, she was born Minsarah Smith in Brooklyn in 1831.  Her parents, Sylvanus and Ann Smith, were prosperous farmers of African, European, and Native American ancestry.  Sarah S.T. Smith was the older sister of Susan Smith McKinney Steward (1847-1918), the first African American female in New York state to graduate with a medical doctorate (M.D.).

Sarah Smith led a long and distinguished career in the New York public schools.  She began as a teacher’s assistant in 1845 when she was fourteen years old and retired as a principal in 1900. Garnet had two short-lived marriages.  Her first husband, Samuel Tompkins, died circa 1852. Her two children from that marriage also died prematurely.  In 1879, she married abolitionist and minister Henry Highland Garnet.  She was widowed again when her husband died in 1882, two months into his post as United States minister (ambassador) to Liberia.

In 1854, Smith Tompkins taught at the African Free School of Williamsburg, which is now part of Brooklyn.  On April 30, 1863, she was appointed principal of Grammar School Number Four (later named Public School Number Eighty-One) and Public School Number Eighty. She remained in that dual position until she retired in 1900, the year New York repealed a law allowing separate schools for African Americans and whites.

An active supporter of woman suffrage and African American civil rights, Garnet was also a businesswoman.  She owned a seamstress shop in Brooklyn from 1883 to 1911.  In the late 1880s, Garnet helped found the Equal Suffrage Club, a Brooklyn-based club for black women.  Sarah Garnet also served as superintendent of the Suffrage Department of the National Association of Colored Women.  As a member of the Equal Suffrage Club, Garnet supported the Niagara Movement, a predecessor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.).  In 1911, Garnet accompanied her sister, Susan Smith McKinney Steward, to London, England, for the first Universal Races Congress.  Just weeks after she returned from Europe, Garnet died peacefully at home, at the age of 88.

Sarah J. Smith Tompkins Garnet (1831-1911)

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

ROME, Ga. — The request for a campaign contribution came in an email. Or was it a text? Gerald Luongo gets so many he can’t remember.

Luongo does recall that he was eager to give $25 to the Democrat — he struggles to recall his name — who’s running to unseat Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman whose recent outrages include calling Democrats the “party of pedophiles” and speaking at a white nationalist’s political conference.

“What she’s saying and doing is annoying the hell out of me,” says Luongo, 83. “A disgrace.”

A few weeks after his contribution, an automated text popped up on Luongo’s phone from the same Democratic candidate. “Hey, it’s Marcus Flowers,” the text began, explaining that a donation “before midnight” would maintain the momentum needed to “end” Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “tenure of terror.” This time, Luongo gave $50.

Then another, “Hey, it’s Marcus” text arrived a few days after that. So he sent another $50.

It didn’t matter that Luongo doesn’t live in Georgia,let alone the district where Flowers is running. Nor does it seem to matter that Flowers — or any Democrat, for that matter — is viewed as having littlechance of unseating Greene,who won in 2020 with nearly 75 percent of the vote in one of Georgia’s most pro-Trump areas (although his name appeared on the ballot, the Democrat running against Greene that year dropped out early, citing personal reasons).

“It’s important that we tell Marjorie Taylor Greene that not everyone likes her,” Luongo says by phone from Boca Raton, Fla., where he owns a language school. “I get to make a statement.”Could Marjorie Taylor Greene lose in the primary? Her Republican challenger thinks so.

For Marcus Flowers, 46, an Army veteran who only recently discovered an interest in politics, the right opponent is Greene, who in the past has made comments that even fellow Republicans called “appalling,” “disgusting” and “bigoted,” and who has energetically echoed former president Donald Trump’s false claim that he won the 2020 election. Flowers, among three Democrats competing for thechance to face Greene, rarely utters more than a few words without mentioningher. “I’m Marcus Flowers,” he likes to say, in an easy-on-the-ears baritone, “Army veteran and Democrat running to unseat Marjorie Taylor Greene.”

This strategy helped him raise more than $8.1 million by early May, according to his most recent campaign finance report.As of Monday, according to the Federal Election Commission’s website,he had raised more money than any congressional challenger in the country,despite the fact that experts doubt a Democrat can win Georgia’s 14th District, even with a recent redistricting making it ever so slightly less red.

“This district is solidly Republican,” said Andra Gillespie, an Emory University political science professor. “If the goal is to unseat Marjorie Taylor Greene, I would not hold my breath.”

Yet some Democrats are hopingGreene’s incendiary words and antics make her vulnerable — even to a Democratic challenger. “There’s a sense of people being tired of her shtick,” said Vinny Olsziewski, an adviser to Wendy Davis, another Democrat in the race (not to be confused with the former Texas state senator).

Jen Jordan, a Georgia state senator supporting Flowers, said victories aren’t the only way to measure a long shot’s political value. Especially in a state like Georgia, where an uptick in turnout can have broader consequences. “It’s about losing less,” said Jordan, who is running for attorney general.

If Flowers can drive up turnout, Jordan says, he can help Democrats in tighter races — Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, say, or gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. “That’s why you need good Democrats running,” she says. “It adds up.”

A Greene spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Long-shot candidates raising heaps of cash havedrawn notice in the past. In one especially memorable Democratic cash bonfire, retired Marine fighter pilotAmy McGrath lost by nearly 20 points to Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell in Kentucky despite outspending McConnellby $25million.In New York, Republican John Cummings raised $11 millionrunning against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) and lost by 44 percentage points.

Lauren Harper, a co-founder oftheWelcome PAC, an organization that promotes a “big-tent” Democratic Party, said Democrats should train resources on competitive races. “We can’t just focus our energy on the people who are driving us bananas,” she said. “It’s a matter of us not using our money as wisely as we could.”

Flowers has built a fundraising powerhouse that uses emails and texts, as well as posts andads on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter,to cash in on how many people around the country wish Greene were not in Congress. His donors include Patricia Arquette, Felicity Huffman, Kyra Sedgwick and also lots of fired-up liberals who aren’t famous actresses. In a black cowboy hat that has become his signature campaign accessory, Flowers asks for small donations — $5, $10, or $25 — but he is happy to take more.

“I probably get an email a day from his campaign,” said Pete DeSimone, the manager of a National Audubon Society sanctuary in California who gave Flowers $1,000. “I don’t know much about him. But I know enough about her that I’d like to see her beaten. I just wanted to do something.”

Martinus Nickerson, a retired traffic engineer in Bellingham, Wash.,gave Flowers $2,900. Reached by phone, hepauses when asked about the candidate. “He’s running for Congress, is that right?” After being reminded that Greene holds the seat Flowers hopes to win, Nickerson says he doesn’tneed to know anything more to justify his contribution.

“Democrats are irrationally throwing money into the campaign,” says Brian Robinson, a Republican strategist who advised the candidate who lost to Greene in the 2020 primary. “It’s scratching an itch. They hate Marjorie Taylor Greene so much, they want to do something to manifest their hatred in a tangible way.”

“I hear it every day: ‘You can’t win.’ That means zero to me.”

Marcus Flowers is sitting in his campaign headquarters, a cavernousstorefrontinRome, about 70 miles northwest of Atlanta. On the campaign trail he often looks as if he walked off the set of a contemporary western, in his cowboy hat, silver belt buckle, blue jeans and square-toed boots. As a younger man, he wore the uniform of the U.S. Army, where he attained the rank of sergeant and later worked as a military contractor. He talks in the tough-guy languageof a soldier, with references to his “mission” and pleas to voters like, “I can’t take this hill alone.”

Flowers, who is Black, often says his decision to enter politics was heavily influenced by the 2020 killing of George Floyd, and he has described the Jan. 6, 2021, attack as the moment running for Congress “became mission-critical for me.” He frames his candidacy as a virtuous expression of underdog resolve.“Do you just say, ‘You’re a Democrat,’ you don’t run at all, you don’t put up a fight, you just sit back and say, ‘It’s an unwinnable race’?” he says. “That ain’t me.”

Flowers has raised far more money than his Democratic opponents.Holly McCormack, a small-business owner, has raised more than$1.8 million, according to campaign finance records. Davis, a local elected official and longtime party organizer, has raised $485,000.

Davis said in an interview that she rejected strategists who “pitched to me that you spend a lot of money to buy a lot of donor lists and you email the list constantly and call Marjorie Taylor Greene the devil and people will send you money.”

She acknowledgedthat Flowers’s fundraising advantage may help him win the primary. But in a general election, “I don’t see how he takes his messaging and wins Republican voters over,” Davis says. “It creates an us-vs.-them environment, Republicans are the enemy. It doesn’t benefit me to say my neighbors are kooks.”

Steven Sherry, a former adviser to McCormack, also expressed uneasiness about the approach, which he said has beenin vogue since Democrats across the country made a point of rejecting corporate donations.“The issue is we’re taking $25 from our grandmother because we’re sending her an email that says if she doesn’t, the insurrection is just the beginning,” he said. “They freak people out. It’s a race to the bottom in how we can trick you into giving us money.”

Flowers says nobody’s tricking anybody here.

“I’m sounding the alarm,” he says, adding that “2022 is a dry run for an authoritarian takeover in 2024.”

Flowers knows how to get attention. A month before entering the race, he tweeted a video of himself using a razor blade to peel a Confederate flag sticker off what appears to be a public utility box. “I’m Marcus Flowers, and I’m here to say, ‘No more,’” he said, crumpling the sticker.

The video caught the eye of an Atlanta-based digital advertising and fundraising strategist named Bobby Kaple, whose firm, Blue Chip Strategies, produced Flowers’s first campaign video, in which the candidate talks about his military background amid images of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and references to some of Greene’s most outlandish statements.

“Her twisted conspiracy theories may have helped make her famous, but they haven’t done a damn thing for the people here in the district,” Flowers says in the video.

After entering the race,Flowers tried to get into a rally that Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz(R-Fla.) held in Georgia and turned the outing intomore social mediacontent. “Just got kicked out of the ‘America First’ rally with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz because they said I was a threat,” Flowers says in avideo his campaign posted on Facebook.

“I’m not a threat to her,” he later says. “Perhaps to her job if you help me out. So, please, chip in five, 10 dollars — whatever you can — and let’s end this national nightmare.”

As of early May the Flowers campaign had spent $7.4 million of the $8.1 million it had raised, according to campaign finance records.

He had paid Blue Chip Strategies over $2.5 million. He alsohad spent more than $1 million on another firm, Run the World Digital — which, as its website advertises, “uses proven customized programs and data-driven strategies to engage your supporters, generate contributions, and boost your bottom line.” Consultants often spend a portion of their earnings on media buys and placing digital ads, among other costs. Kaple, the chief executive of Blue Chip, declined to comment on the record, as did the chief executive of Run the World.

Since March 30 Flowers has given about $1 million to Buying Time LLC, a media strategist, to target and purchase advertising space for his message, the records show. A Buying Time executive did not respond to messages seeking comment.

His current Facebook tab is more than $2.5 million.

“Your picture just keeps showing up,” Jeff Tate, 50, a mutual fund salesman, tells Flowers.

It’s a Saturday morning in late April. Marcus Flowers was ambling through a BBQ, Boogieand Blues festival in Calhoun, Ga., when Tate recognized him from the four or five mailers that have arrived at his house. The mailers feature photos of Flowers in a cowboy hat that looks like the one the candidate is now wearing.

Tate says his household is split when it comes to the primary. While he says his wife is leaning toward Wendy Davis, he thinks Flowers’s military background could help him appeal to conservative voters and take on Greene. “I’m glad you’re here,”he tellsFlowers.

They’re standing atthe Gordon County Democrats’table, among rows of vendors offering servings of barbecue.Some people aren’t as happy that a Democrat is here.The man selling Farmers Insurance at the neighboring table hung a “Trump 2020” banner to block his viewof the Democrats’ booth.His setup also features a Marjorie Taylor Greene campaign sign.

At the Republican table nearby, Harry Russell, 84, a retiree wearing a shirt designed as an American flag, laughs at the idea that any Democrat can beat Greene. “The more they lie about her, the more popular she gets,” he says.

The Greene campaign may even see Flowers’s fundraising success as an opportunity to generate moredonations from Republicans.Flowers’s adviser, Chase Goodwin, shared a screenshot of what appears to be a recent fundraising email from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s campaign, which has raised more than $10 million.

“HELP MTG BEFORE TONIGHT’s DEADLINE, DONATE TODAY!” the plea begins. “I’m afraid of what will happen if I fall short. The Communist Democrat running against me raked in over $8,000,000 to defeat me…”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/05/17/marcus-flowers-marjorie-taylor-greene-fundraising/

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Festus Claudius “Claude” McKay OJ (September 15, 1890^[1] – May 22, 1948) was a Jamaican-American writer and poet. He was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

Born in Jamaica, McKay first traveled to the United States to attend college, and encountered W. E. B. Du Bois‘s The Souls of Black Folk which stimulated McKay’s interest in political involvement. He moved to New York City in 1914 and in 1919 wrote “If We Must Die“, one of his best known works, a widely reprinted sonnet responding to the wave of white-on-black race riots and lynchings following the conclusion of the First World War.

A poet from the first, he also wrote five novels and a novella: Home to Harlem (1928), a best-seller that won the Harmon Gold Award for Literature; Banjo (1929); Banana Bottom (1933); Romance in Marseille (written in 1933, published in 2020), a novella, Harlem Glory (written in 1938-1940, published in 1990), and in 1941 a novel, Amiable With Big Teeth: A Novel of the Love Affair Between the Communists and the Poor Black Sheep of Harlem, which remained unpublished until 2017.^[2]

Besides these novels and four published collections of poetry, McKay also authored a collection of short stories, Gingertown (1932); two autobiographical books, A Long Way from Home (1937) and My Green Hills of Jamaica (published posthumously in 1979); and Harlem: Negro Metropolis (1940), consisting of eleven essays on the contemporary social and political history of Harlem and Manhattan, concerned especially with political, social and labor organizing. His 1922 poetry collection, Harlem Shadows, was among the first books published during the Harlem Renaissance and his novel Home To Harlem was a watershed contribution to its fiction. His Selected Poems was published posthumously, in 1953. His Complete Poems (2004) includes almost ninety pages of poetry written between 1923 and the late 1940s, most of it previously unpublished, a crucial addition to his poetic oeuvre.

McKay was introduced to British Fabian socialism in his teens by his schoolteacher elder brother and tutor and after moving to the United States in his early 20s encountered the American socialist left in the work of W. E. B. Du Bois and through his membership in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) — the only American left-labor organization of the era that was totally open to Negro members (as he comments), continuing the tradition of the populist People’s Party of the previous generation. In the course of the teens he became acquainted with the writings of Marx and the programs of a variety of activists. As a co-editor of The Liberator magazine, he came into conflict with its hard-line Leninist doctrinaire editor Mike Gold, a contention which contributed to his leaving the magazine. In 1922–1923 he traveled to the Soviet Union to attend a Congress of the International, there encountering his friend Liberator publisher Max Eastman, a delegate to the Congress. In Russia, McKay was widely feted by the Communist Party. While there, he worked with a Russian writer to produce two books which were published in Russian, The Negroes of America (1923), a critical examination of American black-white racism from a Marxist class-conflict perspective, and Trial By Lynching (1925); translations of these books back into English appeared in 1979 and 1977 respectively; McKay’s original English texts are apparently lost. In the Soviet Union McKay eventually concluded that, as he says of a character in Harlem Glory, he “saw what he was shown.” Realizing that he was being manipulated and used by the Party apparatus, and responding critically to the authoritarian bent of the Soviet regime, he left for Western Europe in 1923, first for Hamburg, then Paris, then the South of France, Barcelona and Morocco.

After his return to Harlem in 1934 he found himself in frequent contention with the Stalinist New York City Communist Party which sought to dominate the left politics and writing community of the decade.^{[citation needed]} His prose masterpiece, A Long Way From Home, was attacked in the New York City press on doctrinaire Stalinist grounds.^{[citation needed]} This conflict is reflected in Harlem: Negro Metropolis and satirized in Amiable With Big Teeth. His sonnet seqence, “The Cycle,” published posthumously in the Complete Poems, deals at length with McKay’s confrontation with the left political machine of the time. Increasingly ill in the mid-40s,he was rescued from extremely impoverished circumstances by a Catholic Worker friend and installed in a communal living situation; later in the decade he converted to Catholicism.^[3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_McKay

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

As First Lady of New York City, Chirlane McCray has redefined the role of First Lady, managing a robust portfolio to advance an ambitious agenda in support of all New Yorkers.

Nationally recognized as a powerful champion for mental health reform and dubbed one of TIME Magazine’s 50 Most Influential People in Health Care for 2018, Ms. McCray created ThriveNYC, the most comprehensive mental health plan of any city or state in the nation. She also spearheads the Cities Thrive Coalition, with more than 200 mayors, county officials and thought leaders from all 50 states, advocating for a more integrated and better-funded behavioral health system.

As Chair of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, Ms. McCray brings together government, philanthropy and the private sector to work on some of the most pressing issues of our time, including mental health, youth employment and immigration.

She also launched and leads the NYC Unity Project, an unprecedented citywide effort to make sure LGBTQ young people in New York City are safe, supported and healthy.

Ms. McCray’s other responsibilities are extensive. As co-chair of the Commission on Gender Equity, she is a persistent voice for creating a 50-50 city and world. In partnership with NYC’s Police Chief, she leads the Domestic Violence Task Force. And in 2015, with her signature, New York City became the first city in the country to join the United Nations Women’s Safe Cities Global Initiative.

The First Lady is a graduate of Wellesley College. She and Mayor Bill de Blasio live in Gracie Mansion, the official residence, and are proud parents of Chiara and Dante.

Chrilane McCray’s bio: City of New York

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

NPR names Juana Summers co-host of ‘All Things Considered’

NPR has named its veteran reporter Juana Summers as the newest host for its flagship afternoon news program All Things Considered.

Summers is now a correspondent covering race, justice and politics for the network. Starting June 27, she will fill the hosting position left vacant by Audie Cornish, who departed NPR for CNN in January.

In an interview, Summers, who is Black, said she hopes to further expand All Things Considered‘s reach to new and diverse audiences. She aims to reach more people whose experiences are not typically represented in the media and empower them to tell their stories on air. She also said she hopes to do more in digital spaces to reach younger audiences.

“One of the things that I’m the most excited about is that every day I get to sit in that seat and be a stand-in for a smart, curious listener who cares deeply about issues and the world around them,” Summers said.

Summers said she knew she wanted to be a reporter since high school, where she started writing for her school newspaper in Kansas City, Mo. She began working in public radio at KBIA in Columbia, Mo. Since 2010, she has covered politics for outlets including CNN, Politico and The Associated Press. Summers covered Congress for NPR in 2014-15 and rejoined in 2019.

“I was so eager to return to NPR because I believe in the public service mission that is at the heart of everything we do,” she said. “Serving the public is an incredible responsibility.”

“She is a first-rate journalist with an enviable track record,” said Sarah Gilbert, the NPR vice president who oversees its news magazines. “She’s a natural leader and connects with people in a way that makes them feel heard, and she has an instinct for creative storytelling that is second to none.”

Summers will join All Things Considered co-hosts Ailsa Chang, Mary Louise Kelly, Ari Shapiro and Michel Martin at a time when questions about diversity, equity and retention have sparked intense discussion inside NPR’s newsroom and in public.

Female hosts of color, in particular, have raised questions of pay disparities and whether they have institutional support to pursue the stories they seek to tell.

Within several months spanning from last fall to this spring, show hosts Cornish, Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Noel King — all women of color — left the network. They cited fresh opportunities and, with the exception of King, frustrations with the network.

The network has hired a notably diverse cadre of hosts since, including A Martínez, Leila Fadel, Ayesha Rascoe and now Summers.

Summers said she hopes to attract new audiences to NPR by sharing the voices of people whose perspectives may be missing on the air. She pointed to her reporting on Gen Z Republicans grappling with the future of their party, patriotism among Black Americans and the spotlight the Biden-Harris administration put on blended families.

“It’s important for all of us to be thinking really critically about how we create space and opportunity for women and people of color and others from marginalized backgrounds to grow and to feel valued and to be their authentic selves at work,” Summers said. “I think that the fact that ATC selected someone like me is a testament to the fact that NPR and NPR’s leadership takes that incredibly seriously.”

She also sees digital spaces, such as social media, as key to expanding All Things Considered‘s reach to new audiences.

“I really see this as an opportunity for a person who maybe has to bring the voices of people who perhaps have never heard of NPR or think that NPR is not a place for them, to convince them that they’re wrong and that this can be a news home for them,” Summers said.

All Things Considered debuted in 1971. Since then, it has won many journalism awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the Overseas Press Club Award.

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Intern Jacqueline GaNun and edited by NPR Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp. NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik contributed to this story. Under NPR’s protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was published.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/08/1103554795/npr-names-juana-summers-co-host-of-all-things-considered

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Justine Lindsay is the first openly trans cheerleader in the NFL

The NFL season doesn’t start until September, but Justine Lindsay is making history in the off-season as the league’s first openly transgender cheerleader.

Lindsay, 29, announced that she had made the Carolina Panthers TopCats team earlier this year in an Instagram post.

“Cats Out the Bag you are looking at the newest member of the Carolina Panthers TopCats Cheerleader’s @topcats as the first Transgender female,” Lindsay wrote. “I would like to thank the beautiful and talented dancers who supported me along the way … This is a moment I will never forget and I cannot wait to show you all what this girl has to bring. Thank you @topcats a dream come true.”

Lindsay told BuzzFeed News that she was “so scared” to share the Instagram post in which she publicly came out.

“I just felt like when I posted it, whatever reaction I get from everyone, it does not matter,” Lindsay told BuzzFeed. “And then my phone started blowing up.”

Fans have sent messages of support to Lindsay on her Instagram posts, including telling her to block out any messages of hate or those questioning her spot on the squad.

TopCats director Chandalae Lanouette and the Panthers have both said Lindsay’s skills are what secured her spot on the team.

“Members of the TopCats are hired based on their qualifications and abilities,” the Panthers said in a statement to NPR. “Our organization is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate because of age, race, religion, color, disability, sex, sexual orientation, or national origin. We wish all the TopCats, including Justine Lindsay, an incredible season.”

Lindsay said she knows that her making the team as a Black trans woman is a big deal and is already speaking out against those who are trying to bring her down.

“Thank you to all my haters who think I’m bringing the organization down, clearly I don’t,” Lindsay said in an Instagram post on Monday. “The carolina panthers Organization is an excellent one, one that supports all people white, black , yellow trans, straight etc. at the end of the day myself and the other 29 members @topcats made the squad fair and square.”

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/07/1103426872/justine-lindsay-first-openly-trans-nfl-cheerleader