#ThrowbackThursday to 2013: James Hood Dies: Defied Wallace; Integrated U of Alabama

Photo credit: The Birmingham News/Tamika Moore

Author's Note:  This is a repost of one of my pieces, then breaking news, which originally appeared elsewhere on January 18, 2013. I'm reproducing it here as part of my archive of works for Black History Month.

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A hero left us yesterday.

James Hood, one of two African American students determined to attend the whites-only University of Alabama, has died at age 70. James Hood, one of two African American students determined to attend the whites-only University of Alabama, has died at age 70.

Attribution unknown

In 1963, Mr. Hood and Vivian Malone defied Alabama's racist governor George Wallace, and a racist power structure and populace, to avail themselves of the right to a public college education.

American Horror: The Lynching of Jesse Washington

Postcard photo of the crowd at the lynching of Jesse Washington

Note: This post first appeared as a diary at Daily Kos on May 18, 2011. It was deleted without my knowledge, permission, or consent.  It was written by me, it is my intellectual property and work product, and I retain copyright. On the penultimate day of Black History Month and a day after the second anniversary of the lynching of another seventeen-year-old Black man, Trayvon Martin, It is posted here with very minor edits.

First, a warning. What follows below the fold are very blunt, very graphic depictions and descriptions of lynching in the United States. If these depictions will cause too much distress, do not read further.

Second, an admonition. The purpose of this diary is to bear witness. It is not "violence porn" offered for prurient interest. If that is your reason for reading, please move along.  I will not engage on this deadly serious topic in that manner.

Third, an apology. I have found it impossible to depersonalize this subject. What follows, then, is simply a deeply personal recording of my own attempt, now 98 years later, to remember Jesse Washington, and to accord his life and death the respect they deserve.  

Black History Month in New Mexico III: Blackdom

Photo of David Profitt House, Blackdom; image credit Museum of New Mexico.

This is the last of three posts designed to bring you a taste of the contributions African Americans have made to New Mexico history and culture.  Nothing in any of these posts is intended to be all-inclusive; it's merely a sepia-toned snapshot of three distinct points in the state's historical timeline that go too often unremarked and unremembered.  

New Mexico makes much of its triracial inclusion and harmony (which, truth be told, is not so much as an inch deep, but that's another diary).  What isn't obvious to folks from elsewhere is that the three races to which it refers are, as they are known in the polite version of local parlance, "Anglos," "Hispanics," and "Indians."  In most of the state, African Americans aren't even on the public radar screen (nor are Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders, people of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent, or those of Caribbean ancestry - but, again, that's another diary).

According to the 2010 census, African Americans constitute 12.6% of the national population.  In New Mexico, that figure drops to a scant 2.1%.  [Despite the fact that the U.S. stole this land from Mexico, which in turn had stolen it from the indigenous populations, 68.4% of New Mexico's total population comprises "Anglos," whether "Hispanic" or "non-Hispanic."]

African American history and culture are a bit of a unicorn in this state:  occasionally reported, but mostly elusive, and largely invisible to all but those who actually go looking for it.  And yet, Black Americans have a long and storied history in New Mexico, with a vibrant presence predating statehood by half a century.  It's long past time for that presence to assume its rightful place in the state's past and present.

Come with me.  I'm going to take you on a little tour of three New Mexico towns that play a role in African American history.

Black History Month in New Mexico II: The "Battles for Socorro"

Photo credit Bureau of Land Management

This is the second of three posts designed to bring you a taste of the contributions African Americans have made to New Mexico history and culture.  As I said yesterday, nothing in any of these posts is intended to be all-inclusive; it's merely a sepia-toned snapshot of three distinct points in the state's historical timeline that go too often unremarked and unremembered.  

New Mexico makes much of its triracial inclusion and harmony (which, truth be told, is not so much as an inch deep, but that's another diary).  What isn't obvious to folks from elsewhere is that the three races to which it refers are, as they are known in the polite version of local parlance, "Anglos," "Hispanics," and "Indians."  In most of the state, African Americans aren't even on the public radar screen (nor are Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders, people of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent, or those of Caribbean ancestry - but, again, that's another diary).

According to the 2010 census, African Americans constitute 12.6% of the national population.  In New Mexico, that figure drops to a scant 2.1%.  [Despite the fact that the U.S. stole this land from Mexico, which in turn had stolen it from the indigenous populations, 68.4% of New Mexico's total population comprises "Anglos," whether "Hispanic" or "non-Hispanic."]

African American history and culture are a bit of a unicorn in this state:  occasionally reported, but mostly elusive, and largely invisible to all but those who actually go looking for it.  And yet, Black Americans have a long and storied history in New Mexico, with a vibrant presence predating statehood by half a century.  It's long past time for that presence to assume its rightful place in the state's past and present.

Come with me.  I'm going to take you on a little tour of three New Mexico towns that play a role in African American history.

Black History Month In New Mexico: Buffalo Soldiers

This is the first of three pieces designed to bring you a taste of the contributions African Americans have made to New Mexico history and culture.  Nothing in any of these pieces is intended to be all-inclusive; it's merely a sepia-toned snapshot of three distinct points in the state's historical timeline that go too often unremarked and unremembered. 

New Mexico makes much of its triracial inclusion and harmony (which, truth be told, is not so much as an inch deep, but that's another story).  What isn't obvious to folks from elsewhere is that the three races to which it refers are, as they are known in the polite version of local parlance, "Anglos," "Hispanics," and "Indians."  In most of the state, African Americans aren't even on the public radar screen (nor are Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders, people of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent, or those of Caribbean ancestry - but, again, that's another story). 

According to the 2010 census, African Americans constitute 12.6% of the national population.  In New Mexico, that figure drops to a scant 2.1%.  [Despite the fact that the U.S. stole this land from Mexico, which in turn had stolen it from the indigenous populations, 68.4% of New Mexico's total population comprises "Anglos," whether "Hispanic" or "non-Hispanic."] 

African American history and culture are a bit of a unicorn in this state:  occasionally reported, but mostly elusive, and largely invisible to all but those who actually go looking for it.  And yet, Black Americans have a long and storied history in New Mexico, with a vibrant presence predating statehood by half a century.  It's long past time for that presence to assume its rightful place in the state's past and present. 

Come with me.  I'm going to take you on a little tour of three New Mexico towns that play a role in African American history. 

Black Indians: Tomorrow In Portsmouth, N.H.

Video credits Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail and the Seacoast African American Cultural Center, 2014.

Speaking of Black Indians, the Discover Portsmouth Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is hosting an event tomorrow, from 2:00 pM to 4:00 PM local time, dedicated to exactly this topic.

This program, presented by the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail and the Seacoast African American Cultural Center entitled Black Indians: An American Story will feature segments of the award winning film followed by a discussion with Everett “Tall Oak” Weeden, a Mashantucket Pequot/Wampanoag Native American from Rhode Island.

The video above is narrated by the always-eloquent James Earl Jones, who is one of us. Just over 2.5 minutes in length, but it's moving all the same. If you're in the area and can go, it looks like a worthwhile investment of a Sunday afternoon.

One day, I'll write about a couple of more controversial topics related to Black Indians: Cherokee Freedmen, and "Mardi Gras Indians." But those are issues for another day.

Black Indians: Remembering Captain Paul Cuffee During Black History Month

Those of us of mixed race are often told we're "not." Not one race or another. Not "mixed race," because that's not a thing. Not a member of any group, or community, or culture, because we're not enough of anything for some, and too much of other things for the rest.

Recently, I've been hearing a revival of the trope that there are no Black Indians. That is, if you're Black, you can't also be Indian; if you're Indian, you're not Black. Never mind what your DNA is; you have to be one or the other. [And I'm hardly the only one who's been hearing this; my Spirit Sister, who has my same tri-racial make-up in different proportions, is actually the one who suggested I write this.]

As a practical matter, most people are forced to choose. We then often must construct our own identities: ones that don't fit into societally-approved categories, but rather, live in the interstices, yet encompass who we are fundamentally. Such was ultimately the case with one of this country's most famous Black Indians - and neither ethnic group can afford to forget his contributions to our collective history.

Below the jump, a Black History Month reminder of the man who was Captain Paul Cuffee.