Slavery

Aug 18 2011

He detested slavery

On Oct. 2, 1800, one of the most highly regarded leaders of his time, Nat Turner, was born enslaved on a plantation in Southhampton County, Va. A deeply spiritual man, he engulfed himself in study, prayer and fasting on a regular basis. His mother and grandmother were brought from Africa to America and maintained a deep-seated hatred toward slavery.

Turner was an intelligent man and in his youth he developed the same view of slavery. At an early age, his family believed he was chosen by God to lead his people out of that peculiarly brutal institution.

Jul 7 2011

Slavery is a curse whose vestiges still remain

“The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of it people”—Ashanti proverb

“To understand the Black family one must recognize the historical and socio-political environment of African Americans in this country beginning with enslavement and its devastating effect on the Black family. Current economic, political, social and health conditions continue to negatively impact the Black family.”—Faye Z. Belgrave, Ph.D.

Jun 30 2011

102nd anniversary of establishment

June 30 marks the 102nd anniversary of the establishment of the town of Allensworth.

It was founded in 1908 by Lt. Col. Allen Allensworth with the help of several other African Americans. The small town rests in an unincorporated area of Tulare County in Central California.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jun 30 2011

Practical Politics

Next week, America will celebrate its most hallowed of holidays, its July 4th Declaration of Independence. One hundred forty-five years after the ratification of the 13th amendment legislation that ended legal slavery in America, 143 years after the ratified 14th amendment made Black Americans citizens of the USA, and 141 years after the 15th amendment (with a lot of help from the civil rights-era Voting Rights Act, 1965, with amendments) enfranchised us, do the vast majority of us finally feel real about being free and independent in America and that July 4th is our favorite holiday too?

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jun 16 2011

More than just an observation

As June 19 comes closer and conversations about celebrating the day that the last Africans in America received word of their emancipation from chattel slavery drew nearer, there are those folks who might wonder or even verbalize a familiar sentiment—“slavery was way back then; it has nothing to do with me today. Why should I go to such a celebration. It’s just old timey stuff.”

According to noted psychologist Wade W. Nobles, Ph.D., there are very good reasons to go to a Juneteenth celebration.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.