Primary Sources, Black History

Tonight at 8pm,ET. Documentary, ossie davis, ruby dee, grandson, Muta'Ali Muhammad, the gist of freedom, black history blog, black history podcast, Shelie Shellie Gaines

~ Love Life and Activism - Documentary Join Ruby Dee's and Ossie Davis' grandson Muta'Ali Muhammad on The Gist of Freedom as he talks with Shellie Gaines about his heartfelt documentary, based on his grandparents' Love, Life & Activism.

WWW.BlogTalkRadio.com/TheGISTofFREEDOM

listen then Subscribe to

The Gist of Freedom Black History Podcast http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gist-freedom-preserving-american/id491950048

Crispus Attucks~ 4th of July Independence Day Tribute!

The Gist of Freedom is pleased to present

Another Side Of The Story by Eugene Gordon, 1920. 

Please feel free to download the script and share it! 

Crispus Attucks, a black man, was the first person killed in Boston. When tensions between British soldiers and an angry crowd resulted in the death of five people. March 5, 1770 was initially called the day of the Boston Massacre but the name was soon changed to Crispus Attucks Day. Crispus Attucks Day remained the chief American anniversary until independence was won and it was replaced by July 4. John Adams, our second president, called March 5, 1770 the most important event in American history. On October 13, 1888 a monument was erected on Boston Common called the Crispus Attucks Memorial. 

Listen to the Reading of a vintage Script ~ Crispus Attucks (1723? - March 5, 1770) was the first American to die for the Revolutionary cause: "The first to defy, the first to die." Attucks was shot in the "Boston Massacre," the first fight leading up to the Revolutionary War.

 

The Gist of Freedom would like to thank, Actor Fredric Michaels, NYC, - Crispus Attucks;  Actor Derrick Mcqueen, NYC ~ Gray;  Host, Dave Romeo, NYC- Paul Revere;  Host and Filmmaker, Gary Jenkins, Kansas City, MO~ Jake, Soldiers, Officers, Redcoat; Black Inventor, Granville T. Woods Archivists and Reenactor, David Head Detroit MI- Sam, Tom,& Henry;

Join historian Steve Strimer on The Gist of Freedom as he lectures on abolitionists Sojourner Truth and David Ruggles! 

David Ruggles opened the first black-owned bookstore in America, although it was burned too. He was an editor and printer and started a reading room and a circulating library. He published the first magazine by an African American in this country. All amazing accomplishments! But wait, there's more!

David helped found the New York Committee of Vigilance (A cross between The Black Panthers and N.A.A.C.P), a group dedicated to preventing blacks from being sold into the South. David wrote fiery pamphlets, daringly publishing the bounty hunters' names. He helped hundreds of fugitive slaves, traveled extensively as an anti-slavery agent, and became one of the chief conductors of the Underground Railroad. He helped a runaway slave from Maryland survive to become Frederick Douglas. 

Ruggles home, 36 Lispenard St., will be included The New York "Freedom Trail" the house where David Ruggles, a leading abolitionist, sheltered hundreds of runaway slaves as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Enjoy The Gist of Freedom's Special Michael Jackson Memorial Show with Siedah Garret, "The Woman Behind The Man In The Mirror!" Siedah is and, first and foremost, the singer composer of the internationally recognized, self -reflective anthem "Man In The Mirror," Immortalized by Michael Jackson (and her) on 1987's 'Bad" album. On that same project, Garrett also sang the chart-topping first single, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," a duet with Jackson. Watch the Interview YOUTUBE.com/TheGISTofFREEDOM

A Tribute to Langston Hughes~ Harlem Artists, Derrick McQueen and Nora Cole unearthed a few wonderful poems written by Langston, Listen as they bring Langston's love for Harlem Alive!

Nora Cole ~ Veteran performing artist, writer, director and adjunct. Has performed on Broadway, off- Broadway, nationally and internationally. Tours two solo shows, Voices of the Spirits in my Soul, based on family slave history in Kentucky and Olivia’s Opus, An Autobiographical Ode to Adolescence. Most recently revived the role she originated in Rinde Eckert’s Obie Award winning and Drama League nominated, And God Created Great Whales off-Broadway.

Derrick McQueen is presently a Ph. D. Candidate he completed M. Div. with a focus on Theology and the Arts at Union. He earned his B.A. in Theatre Arts at Drew University in 1987. Derrick has performed in the Cape May Jazz Festival and tours the country for East Lynne Theatre Company in “Paul Robeson Through His Words and Music”. Derrick is also on the path for ordination in the Presbyterian Church.

Freedwoman, spy Mary Elizabeth Bowser VS.  Confederate Spies  ~    Author Francis Hamit to be interviewed on The Gist of Freedom, June 3rd, by Michael Coard   Francis Hamit, author of the Civil War spy thrillers, "The Queen of Washington" and "The Shenandoah Spy" will be interviewed oby guest host Michael Coard, Francis Hamit, author of the Civil War spy thrillers, "The Queen of Washington" (ISBN 9781595951717) and "The Shenandoah Spy"  (ISBN 9781595959027)  Mr. Hamit's books are about the Confederate Secret Service and the women who were its most effective agents.  So far he has written about Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow.  The books are part of a larger fact based narrative that is a fictional treatment of the Confederate Secret Service and its role in the larger conflict.  It is an attempt to reframe the accepted myths that have grown up around that conflict.    Mr. Coard is a frequent guest host on the Gist of Freedom, and the co-creator of the "Avenging The Ancestors" web site.   Mr. Hamit's books are available at fine bookstores everywhere and on Amazon.com.  The program will last between 30 and 45 minutes and will be on Blog Talk Radio, which can be found on the Internet and the World Wide Web.  A lively discussion is anticipated.       http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thegistoffreedom   For further information, contact Francis Hamit at (661) 242-1686 or by e-mail at [email protected].

A Real Memorial Day Treat on The Gist of Freedom! Listen to actress, Eileen Miller, as she reenacts the story of Mary Elizabeth Bowser, a freed slave who courageously posed as a slave and stole the Confederates' War plans while working in the Confederate White House. 

Black abolitionist female spy, Mary Elizabeth Bowser. When it comes to espionage, Mary Elizabeth Bowser has to be considered one of the best spies our country has ever had. Her activities during the Civil War helped the Union Army and was a key reason for the fall of Richmond. In 1995 she was inducted into the National Military Intellegence Hall of Fame. Noting Mary went to a Quaker school for Negros in Philedelphia for schooling.

Having the same abolistionist leanings as Van Lew, with her help, Mary was able to secure a position in the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. There, she took on the persona of Ellen Bond, an ignorant, somewhat slow-witted servant to Varina Davis, the wife of Davis. In her position as an illiterate house servant, she had access to pertinent troops movements, prisoner lists, strategies and treasury deposits. This information she passed to 'spymaster' Van Lew, who in turn got the information to the Union lines.

"Enslaved Africans and free blacks exhibited enormous self-agency in colonial America. James H. Johnston has captured this through the life of Yarrow Mamout and his descendants. This exceptional man was a Muslim and a slave for forty- four years, who earned enough money, to buy a house in 1800 in Georgetown, then as now a very rich place. Mamout’s story is of Islam, in early America, of slavery in Washington, D.C the nation’s capital and of the role free Blacks played to free their sisters and brothers."—Maurice Jackson, author of Let This Voice be Heard: Anthony Benezet, Father of Atlantic Abolitionism

The most comprehensive account of Mamout's life (and that of his descendants) is in James H. Johnston, From Slave Ship to Harvard: Yarrow Mamout and the history of an African American Family (Fordham University Press, 2012); see also Johnston's "Every Picture Tells a Story: A Narrative Portrait of Yarrow Mamout" (Maryland Historical Magazine, Winter 2008, pp. 416-431).

Celebrate Malcolm X's 87th Birthday with his daughter, author ILyasah Shabazz, Growing Up X with The Gist of Freedom host Dr. Weldon McWilliams.  

Then join the Shabazz family with Harlem's Tristate communities and celebrate Brother Malcolm X at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem on Fri., May 18, 5 to 9 p.m.

The Shabazz family and the recently revived Malcolm X Foundation will host a daytime block party on Sat., May 19 to both honor and celebrate El-Haj Malik El Shabazz’s 87th birthday, declaring “May 19 as Malcolm X Day!” The event will be held at West 165th Street, between Broadway (Dr. Betty Shabazz Way) and St. Nicholas Avenue, commencing at noon and ending at 5 p.m.

The annual program immediately continues at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, located at 3940 Broadway (between West 165th and West 166th streets).Vendors will be offering books, merchandising, food, music and education-based products. The event will celebrate Malcolm X with poetry, speeches and celebrations. Local elected officials, community and educational leaders and others shall participate

Langston Hughes

...See More

Listen to Langston Hughes in his own words 

and "Simple" Read by Ossie Davis On The Gist of Freedom Blog Talk Radio Podcast produced by Lesley Gist

Langston Hughes

SIMPLE

read by OSSIE DAVIS

I cannot truthfully state, as some novelists do at the beginning of their books, that these storeis are about "nobody living or dead." The facts are that these tales are about a great many people- although they are stories about no specific persons as such. But it is impossible to live in Harlem and not know at least a hundred Simples.

Fifty Joyces, twenty-five Zaritas... or reasonable facsimiles thereof....Usually over a glass of beer, [Simple] tells me his tales, mostly in high humor, but sometimes with a pain in his soul as sharp as the occassional hurt of that bunion oh his right foot. Sometimes, as the old blues says, Simple might be laughing to keep you laughing, too...Langston Hughes 

Margaret Danner is also an outstanding Black Poet, From Chicago. Margaret was an assistant editor of Poetry Magazine and a winner of a John Hay Whitney Fellowship.