SOUTH FULTON, GA
Living Black History
During the Post WWII-era the United States government subsidized the expansion of the middle class through making it easier Americans to build wealth through home ownership. These programs, from Federal Housing Authority (FHA) home loans to the GI Bill, remains the largest government-subsidized expansion of middle class wealth in the history of the world. To date, Americans still have some of the highest rates of home ownership in the industrialized world; and the majority of America's middle is found in the value of their homes.
But African American families were systematically-blocked from participating in these programs; and African American neighborhoods were systematically excluded from home loans — first by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) — and then private lenders, who used federal maps to deny home and business loans to African American families and entrepreneurs. The process of excluding African American neighborhoods from these programs is called "redlining." Because of this and other government practices that "institutionalized" racism, the average white family in America has ten times the wealth of the average Black family. The history of this government-sanctioned racism is chronicled in Richard Rothstein's book, Color of Law. Click the link below to hear a one-hour interview with Rothstein about the book. View a national collection of "redlining" maps at the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Library. More charts about income inequality and the racial wealth gap can be found to in charts from the Urban Institute here.
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May 31, 1921: white rioters destroyed the #Greenwood neighborhood of #Tulsa, Oklahoma — a community built by freed slaves so prosperous it was known as #BlackWallStreet. Black store owners were shot. 300 died & everything burned to the ground. #TulsaRaceMassacre #AmericanHistory White mobs have destroyed prosperous communities of color over 20 times, including:
Seattle, 1866 New York, 1900 Atlanta, 1906 Philadelphia, 1917 & 1985 Chicago, 1919 Rosewood, FL 1923 Los Angeles, 1943 and more. 
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Tracking Ancestors Through the U.S.Census
Councilman khalid's Grandmother (center) with his Great Grandparents, ca. 1925
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The U.S. Census, taken every 10 years, is designed to count every American in the United States. One purpose of the U.S. Census, from the beginning, is to decide how many seats each state gets in the U.S. Congress and the Electoral College.
The United States was built on an economy of American slavery, which was legal in this country for 346 years. During those years, in order to ensure a balance of political power between Southern states with more slaves than Northern states, America's founders decided each African-American would only be counted in the census as three-fifths of a whole person in the Census. The U.S. Census of 1870 was the first Census conducted after the end of slavery in 1865. And Black people were the first in line to fill out Census questionnaires. Many freed slaves would spend the rest of their lives reviewing Census and other government records, searching for family members who had been "sold down river" — forcibly separated by American slavery. |
Since slaves were considered personal property, and property-ownership is critical to American capitalism, most slaveowners kept meticulous records of the people they "owned." These records, known as Slave Schedules, were updated every 10 years along with the Census. Many private foundations and educational institutions are digitizing these records and making them available online, as seen in the image above from the University of Texas, Austin.
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The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (commonly known as the Freedman's Bureau) was a government agency created by President Abraham Lincoln after the Civil War. From 1865 to 1872, the Freedman's Bureau served as a place for former slaves to report abusive slave masters, reconnect with lost family members and have their marriages officiated. For a time, the Bureau also processed former slaves claims to land under Union General William T. Sherman's Special Field Order 15 — which promised every freed slave male "40 acres and a mule."
For African Americans who wish to continue digging up the roots of their family tree beyond the 1870 Census, the Freedman's Bureau Project has digitized hundreds of handwritten records gathered by the Freedman’s Bureau. They are available online, for free, at the link below. |
1860 Slave Schedule (from Texas Beyond History) for Hays County, Texas lists 3 slaves on the J.W. Bunton plantation. Prior to Emancipation, most such schedules did not include names of the enslaved people — only their age, gender, coloration, and the name of their "owner."
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Those desiring to go back further can search for ancestors in Slave Voyages — a digitized directory of every slave ship that crossed the Atlantic Ocean. And where the trail grows cold or confusing, DNA Testing can now help those looking for the family's origins complete the journey "home."
So many of our troubled youth feel lost and abandoned in America, with no connection to a history they can be proud of. Being #BlackOnPurpose means taking the Census, and leaving a record for future generations to find their way back to you — and all the stories of success and survival that have come before.
The New York Times 1619 ProjectAmerican history began not in 1776, but in 1619 when the first settlers arrived — with slaves. Conceived by New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones as a special issue of The New York Times Magazine, The 1619 Project covers the entire, brutal history of how "the richest country in the world" was founded on Slavery. The 1619 Project includes a special section in the paper, a live event series, podcasts (available on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes, and more), books and curriculum materials for students of all ages.
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Councilman khalid's
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"Hair Love" Wins Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film"Hair Love," a cartoon made by, for and about Black people won an Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Animated Short this Black History Month. It was videos of black fathers lovingly styling their daughters' hair that inspired former NFL-player Matthew Cherry to launch a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 fund the short film, the producer told CNN. The film illustrates the special relationship Black women & girls have with their hair.
In his acceptance speech last night, he urged people to help pass the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act — federal legislation that would protect African Americans from discrimination in education, employment and other spaces for wearing their hair in its natural state. |
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Hair Love’s win and CROWN Act legislation comes on the heels of highly publicized stories of discrimination like that of DeAndre Arnold — the Mont Belview, Texas senior given in-school suspension and barred from participating in his high school graduation because of the length of his dreadlocks. His story has drawn national media attention, with celebrities like Gabrielle Union & Dwayne Wayde making videos supporting the student whose family is from Trinidad. Deandre was the guest of "Hair Love" producers Cherry & Karen Rupert Toliver for the 62nd annual Academy Awards, showing off his locks on the red carpet before the show.
