#blackcommunity

The Lunchbreakers take it back to their roots, by going to lunch with their grandmas (metaphorically).  They talk about how their walk was shaped by the footsteps laid two generations above them. This one is a blast from the past, shaping our impact in future. Oh… and there’s lots of crazy stories. 

This one is for the grandmas boys. 🧃

Topics

• Cabana Boy - 4:52
• Lobster With Pops - 19:04
• I’m a Little Piss Pot - 27:30
• Grandma’s Abs - 40:46
• Tree Huggin - 48:32

Word of the day: Commodious

Intro Song: Flashlight - Parliament

Outro Song: Grandma's Hands - Bill Withers

The Lunchbreakers are in night school, taking Corporate as a Second Language (CSL) classes. This episode was recorded at the end of the work day on a Monday. Everyone hates Mondays. Imagine what it’s like to enter a Monday and know you have to tuck your culture in until Friday.

You don’t have to… we’re telling you in this Master Class. Not to be confused with Master Cleanse 🧃

In today’s class, you’ll learn how to navigate being seen in corporate America by translating your cultural skill sets into palatable work for Corporate America.

Topics

• References Available Upon Request - 8:10
• I’m Hem 23:09
• Footprints in the Sand - 31:14
• The New York Cultural Exchange (NYCE) - 36:17
• Black Math for the 87%ers - 53:13

Words of the day: Pugilistic, Pecuniary, and Pusillanimous

Intro Song: What More Can I Say? - Jay-Z

Outro Song: Square Biz - Teena Marie

Wardrobe

Zan's Shirt - https://shop.truluckcharms.com/collections/frontpage?page=1

February 5, 2023
Black Summit Interviews
Season 1, Episode #11 - Olubode Shawn Brown


In this podcast episode, Glenn Greenidge and Grace Lawrence interview OLUBODE SHAWN BROWN, one of the original drafters of the Declaration of the International Black Summit:

Olubode is hired by organizational leaders, entrepreneurs and creatives to help them as they think through the complexities of their lives, businesses and enterprises.  He is the author of two books on Well-Being, Life-Purpose and Balance: BLOOM The Essential Journey- A New Guide to Balance Growth & Well-Being and FINDING YOUR B.I.G. - Finding New Purpose In Changing Times. In them he introduces a new way of thinking and asking fundamental questions based on the five elements that grow and balance life. This body of thought is called “The Philosophy of BLOOMING.”

He is the founder of BLOOM Education Institute where he offers Coaching & Guidance, Online & In-Person Courses, Keynotes and Corporate Consulting.  
His work is focused on working with diverse leaders who are thinking collectively, working cooperatively, and acting globally in the fields of Well-Being & Mental Health, Social Justice, Economic Empowerment, Equity and Community Development. 

Olubode spends his time between Accra Ghana, New York City, Los Angeles, California and the island of Jamaica.

During the interview, we ask Olubode about his work and about how he effectively uses the Summit Tools and Distinctions in all aspects of life. 

For more information about the International Black Summit, please go to:

Website – blacksummit.org
Twitter – @blacksummit
Facebook – facebook.com/blacksummit/
IBS News Sign-Up – bit.ly/IBS-signup
IBS Annual Summit Event Registration – blacksummit.org/ase

The views and opinions expressed by the person interviewed are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the International Black Summit.

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 5.

Frederick Douglass gave his speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?".

He was an African American abolitionist, orator, newspaper publisher, and author. He became the first Black U.S. marshal.

Douglass was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Talbot County, Maryland. When he was seven years old, he was sent to his master, Captain Aaron Anthony, at a nearby plantation.

On September 3, 1838, Douglass escaped from slavery. With identification borrowed from a free Black seaman, he traveled to New York City.

He remained an avid reader throughout his adult life. In 1847, he began publishing his own abolitionist newsletter, the North Star. 

He became a powerful orator, often traveling six months out of the year to give lectures on abolition. 

When radical abolitionists, under the motto "No Union with Slaveholders", criticized Douglass's willingness to engage in dialogue with slave owners, he replied: "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong."

In July 5, 1852, he  delivered his speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York.

The speech explores the constitutional and values-based arguments against the continued existence of Slavery in the United States.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 4.

Marian Anderson and Ralph Bunche receive the first Medals of Freedom.

She was an American singer, and an important figure in the struggle for African-American artists to overcome racial prejudice.

Bunche was an American political scientist, diplomat, member of the United Nations for more than two decades, activist of the US civil rights movement, and the first African American and first person of African descent to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

In 1955, Anderson became the first African American singer to perform as a member of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Bunche was one of the leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for more than 20 years.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal are the highest civilian awards of the United States.

It was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, superseding the Medal of Freedom that was established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945 to honor civilian service during World War II.

JFK’s assassination in November meant that he was not alive to present the awards at the  ceremony that December. His successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, presented them in his place. 

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 3.

Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era.

After demonstrating exceptional athletic ability during high school and junior college, he excelled at baseball, football, basketball, and track at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

He left UCLA in 1941 and briefly played professional football before being drafted into the U.S. Army. During his service, he refused to sit at the back of a bus and was threatened with a court-martial, but the charges were dropped and he was given an honorable discharge in 1945.

Robinson made his major league debut in April 1947. The chief problem he had to overcome was controlling his fiery temper in the face of continual racial slurs from the crowds and other ballplayers, including some of his own teammates.

After retiring from baseball early in 1957, Robinson engaged in business and in civil rights activism. He was a spokesperson for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and made appearances with Martin Luther King, Jr.

Robinson's major league debut brought an end to approximately sixty years of segregation in professional baseball, known as the baseball color line.

Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation that had then marked many other aspects of American life.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 1st.

Roland Hayes named soloist with Boston Symphony Orchestra.

He was the first African American singer to achieve success on the classical concert stage.

Hayes was born in Curryville, Georgia, to Fanny and William Hayes, who were former slaves. He wanted an education, but he had to drop out of school to help support his family and worked at many jobs.

He moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where he found a job singing at a silent movie theater. He had to sing offstage so that people could hear his voice but not see his skin color.

To earn money he went on a tour of black churches and colleges in the South. In 1917 he announced his second concert, which would be held in Boston's Symphony Hall. 

In 1920 Hayes performed his first European concert in London, England. While in London he received a message from King George and Queen Mary of England, requesting that he perform for them. 

He toured Europe several more times, singing in seven different languages, and by the late 1920s he had become the highest-paid tenor in the world.

After the 1930s, Hayes stopped touring in Europe because the change in politics made it 

unfavorable to African Americans.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 29.

NAACP chairman S.G. Spottswood criticize Nixon's administration.

Stephen Gill Spottswood was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He went on to Albright College, earning a B.A. in history in 1917; Gordon Divinity School; and Yale Divinity School, where he earned his doctorate.

He joined the NAACP in 1919 and was an active voice for racial equality throughout his adult life.

He became president of the NAACP's Washington branch in 1947 and was elected to the national board of the NAACP in 1955, vice-president in 1959, and finally chairman in 1961, a post he held until 1975.

Spottswood earned a reputation as an outspoken critic of racial injustice and several times  attracted press coverage for his political censures.

His most prominent criticism was directed at Richard Nixon and his administration's treatment of African-Americans, calling it "anti-Negro".  At the following year's convention, Spottswood used his keynote address to soften the NAACP's stance on Nixon.

Newly unearthed recordings show former President Richard Nixon mentioned racist language in conversations with his close associates.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 27.

Frederick Jones invents the ticket dispensing machine.

He was an U.S. inventor credited with more than 60 patents.

After a challenging childhood, Jones taught himself mechanical and electrical engineering, inventing a range of devices relating to refrigeration, sound, and automobiles.

In the late 1920s, Jones designed a series of devices for the developing movie industry, which adapted silent movie projectors to use talking movie stock. He also developed an apparatus for the movie box office that delivers tickets and returns change to customers. 

In 1935, he invented the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks and railroad cars. This system eliminated the risk of food spoilage during long-distance shipping trips.

His invention radically altered American consumer's eating habits; now people could eat fresh produce across the United States during the middle of summer or winter. 

Over the course of his career, Jones received more than 60 patents. While the majority pertained to refrigeration technologies, others related to X-ray machines, engines and sound equipment.

He became the first African American elected to the American Society of Refrigeration Engineers. 

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 25.

Sonia Sotomayor was born.

She is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,  the first woman of color, first Hispanic, and first Latina member of the Court.

Sotomayor was raised in a housing project in the Bronx.

After the death of her father, her mother worked long hours as a nurse to support the family.

She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University before attending Yale Law School on a scholarship. In 1979, Sotomayor was awarded a Juris Doctor. She was admitted to the New York Bar the following year.

When President Bill Clinton nominated Sotomayor to be a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1997, Republican senators delayed her appointment for more than a year because of their concerns that the position might lead to a Supreme Court nomination. 

In May 2009 Pres. Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to the Supreme Court in order to fill the vacancy left by departing justice David Souter.

Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2009 went smoothly, and the following month she was confirmed (68–31) by the Senate.

During her tenure on the Supreme Court, Sotomayor has been identified with concern for the rights of defendants, calls for reform of the criminal justice system, and making impassioned dissents on issues of race, gender and ethnic identity.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 23.

Wilma Rudolph was born.

She was an American sprinter, the first American woman to win three track-and-field gold medals in a single Olympics.

Physically disabled for much of her early life, Rudolph wore a leg brace until she was twelve years old.

Because there was little medical care available to African American residents of Clarksville in the 1940s, Rudolph's parents sought treatment for her at the historically black Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, about 50 miles away.

She attended Tennessee State University from 1957 to 1961. At age 16 she competed in the 1956 Olympic Games at Melbourne, Australia, winning a bronze medal in the 4 × 100-metre relay race. 

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, Rudolph competed in three events on a cinder track in Rome's Stadio Olimpico: the 100- and 200-meter sprints, as well as the 4 × 100-meter relays. She won a gold medal in each of these events.

These games launched Rudolph into the public spotlight and the media cast her as America's athletic "leading lady" and a "queen," with praises of her athletic accomplishments.

Her strikingly fluid style made Rudolph a particular favorite with spectators and journalists. 

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

JUNETEENTH - A Celebration of Freedom.

Juneteenth (a portmanteau of June and nineteenth) is also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day.

It is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. It is now celebrated annually on the 19th of June throughout the United States.

HISTORY

During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. It became effective on January 1, 1863.

This Proclamation declared that all enslaved persons in the Confederate States of America in rebellion and not in Union hands were freed.

More isolated geographically, planters and other slaveholders had migrated into Texas from eastern states to escape the fighting, and many brought enslaved people with them.

Although most lived in rural areas, more than 1,000 resided in both Galveston and Houston by 1860. By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.

Despite the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, the western Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not surrender until June 2.

On Monday, June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived to Galveston, Texas, to enforce the emancipation of its slaves and oversee a peaceful transition of power.

The Texas Historical Commission and Galveston Historical Foundation report that Granger’s men marched

Throughout Galveston reading General Order No 3:

              “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute... 

              ...equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes...

              ...that between employer and hired labour. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not...

              ...be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

It was from that moment that Juneteenth would be born.

EARLY CELEBRATIONS

Formerly enslaved people in Galveston celebrated after the announcement. The following year, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of "Jubilee Day."

On January 2, 1866, a Galveston newspaper, reported on an Emancipation Celebration:

“The colored people of Galveston celebrated their emancipation from slavery yesterday by a procession.

Notwithstanding the storm some eight hundred or a thousand men, women and children took part in the demonstration.”

Flake’s Bulletin, 2 January 1866.

Early celebrations were used as political rallies to give voting instructions to newly freed slaves. Early independence celebrations often occurred on January 1 or 4.

OFFICIAL RECOGNITION

In the late 1970s the Texas Legislature declared Juneteenth a “holiday of significance, particularly to the blacks of Texas", becoming the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday.

The bill passed through the Texas Legislature in 1979 and was officially made a state holiday on January 1, 1980.

Recognition of Juneteenth varies across the United States. It is not officially recognized by the federal government, although the Senate unanimously passed...

...a simple resolution in 2018 in honour of the day, and legislation has been introduced in Congress to make it either a "national day of observance" or a full-scale federal holiday.

The only three states yet to legally recognize Juneteenth as either a state or ceremonial holiday are Hawaii, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

In 2020, Juneteenth was formally recognized by New York City (as an annual official city holiday and public school holiday, starting in 2021)

CELEBRATIONS

The holiday is considered the "longest-running African-American holiday" and has been called "America’s second Independence Day".

Juneteenth is usually celebrated on the third Saturday in June. It was common for former slaves and their descendants to make a pilgrimage to Galveston.

Observance today is primarily in local celebrations. In many places Juneteenth has become a multicultural holiday, Including lectures and exhibitions on African-American culture.

Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs and reading of works by noted African-American writers.

Celebrations include picnics, rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, blues festivals and Miss Juneteenth contests.

Historian Mitch Kachun considers that celebrations of the end of slavery have three goals: "to Celebrate, to Educate, and to Agitate."

To learn more about black history visit www.blackfacts.com.

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 20.

Harry Belafonte became the first African American to win an Emmy award.

As one of the most successful African-American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the “King of Calypso” for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. 

He was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and one of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s confidants. 

He financed the 1961 Freedom Rides, supported voter registration drives, and helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington.

Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the anti-apartheid movement and USA for Africa. Since 1987, he has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

He was awarded an Emmy for his television special, Tonight Show with Harry Belafonte.

In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 18.

W.H. Richardson patents Baby Buggy.

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and he made a huge improvement to the baby carriage.

Richardson decided to create a stroller  to be shaped more like a symmetrical basket, rather than a shell, as it was back then.

This new design made it easier for parents and nannies to move the carriage around 360 degrees, compared to only 90 degrees before.

The big part of Richardson’s change to the baby carriage is that it was now reversible, making it possible to have anyone pushing the baby face them instead of facing in the opposite direction.

The use of prams became widespread among all economic classes by the 1900s.

Many of Richardson's design modification are still in use today.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 16.

Kenneth A. Gibson became the first African American mayor of Newark.

He entered politics in the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, by joining the National Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).

Gibson ran for mayor in 1966. He joined the mayoral race only six weeks before the election. Mayor Hugh J. Addonizio was reelected, but Gibson got more votes than expected. Gibson would spend the next four years preparing for the 1970 mayoral campaign.

In July of 1967, African Americans in Newark rebelled when a black taxi driver was arrested and beaten by white police officers. Over five days, 26 people died, but the violence sent a message that Newark’s African Americans were no longer willing to be treated as second-class citizens.

In 1970, Gibson ran for office again and won. He became the first African American mayor of a Northeastern city. 

He inspired other African Americans to enter politics. Following his term in office, other Northeastern cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York have elected black mayors.

Since leaving city government, Gibson has headed Gibson Associates, a consulting firm that advises building developers and investment bankers on public financing and other construction management issues. 

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 15.

Henry Ossian Flipper became the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

He was born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, the eldest of five brothers. His mother, Isabelle Flipper, and his father, Festus Flipper, a shoemaker, and carriage-trimmer were owned by Ephraim G. Ponder, a wealthy slave dealer.

Flipper attended Atlanta University during Reconstruction. There, as a freshman, Representative James C. Freeman appointed him to attend West Point, where four other black cadets were already attending. The small group had a difficult time at the academy, where they were rejected by white students.

Nevertheless, Flipper persevered, and in 1877, became the first of the group to graduate, earning a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army cavalry.

He was assigned to the 10th Cavalry Regiment, one of the four all-black "buffalo soldier" regiments in the Army, and became the first black officer to command regular troops in the U.S. Army.

In 1881, while serving at Fort Davis, Flipper's commanding officer accused him of embezzling $3,791.77 from commissary funds.. A court-martial found him not guilty of embezzlement but convicted him of conduct unbecoming an officer and ordered him dismissed from the Army.

In 1976, the Army granted him an honorable discharge, and in 1999, President Bill Clinton issued him a full pardon.

After his discharge was changed, a bust of Flipper was unveiled at West Point. Since then, an annual Henry O. Flipper Award has been granted to graduating cadets at the academy who exhibit "leadership, self-discipline, and perseverance in the face of unusual difficulties.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 12.

Michael Jordan leads Chicago to 1st NBA Title.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-101 at the Great Western Forum to capture the NBA Finals in five games. It was the Bulls’ first-ever NBA title in their 25th anniversary season in the league.

Jordan scored 30 points and teammate Scottie Pippen hit for 32. 

This was no easy task for the Bulls going up against the Lakers Big Three in Magic Johnson, Vlade Divac and James Worthy.

This was just the beginning for Jordan and the Bulls dynasty. The Bulls would eventually win again in 1992 and 1993, marking the first such “three-peat” since the Celtics won eight straight from 1959-66.

After Jordan retired in 1993 to join the White Sox, he came back in 1995. And beginning in the 1995-96 season another three-peat was cemented into the history books, with Jordan leading the Bulls to three consecutive championships from 1996-98.

His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 10.

Howlin' Wolf was born.

Born as Chester Arthur Burnett, he was an American blues singer and composer who was one of the principal exponents of the urban blues style of Chicago.

He was brought up on a cotton plantation, and the music he heard was the traditional tunes of the region. He started singing professionally when quite young and in the 1920s and ’30s performed throughout Mississippi, playing in small clubs.

He accompanied himself on guitar and harmonica, but his main instrument was his guttural and emotionally suggestive voice, which gave his songs power and authenticity. 

After his first record, “Moanin’ at Midnight” (1951), became a hit, he moved to Chicago, where he, along with Muddy Waters, made the city a center for the transformation of the (acoustic) Mississippi Delta blues style into an electrically amplified style for urban audiences. 

Wolf traveled to Europe as part of the Chess blues revival series. His intense, energetic performances of brought him a new generation of blues-influenced rock ‘n’ roll fans.

His work was known only to blues audiences until the Rolling Stones and other British and American rock stars of the 1960s and ’70s acknowledged his influence.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 8.

James Earl Ray, the suspect in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, was captured.

On April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Martin Luther King Jr, was fatally wounded by a sniper’s bullet while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Motel Lorraine.  

During the next several weeks, the rifle, eyewitness reports, and fingerprints on the weapon all implicated a single suspect: escaped convict James Earl Ray.

In May 1968, a massive manhunt for Ray began. The FBI eventually determined that he had obtained a Canadian passport under a false identity, which at the time was relatively easy.

On June 8, Scotland Yard investigators arrested Ray at a London airport. He was trying to fly to Belgium, with the eventual goal, he later admitted, of reaching Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).  

Extradited to the United States, Ray stood before a Memphis judge in March 1969 and pleaded guilty to King’s murder in order to avoid the electric chair. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

During the 1990s, the widow and children of Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke publicly in support of Ray and his claims, calling him innocent and speculating about an assassination conspiracy involving the U.S. government and military.

According to his family and friends, he was an outspoken racist who told them of his intent to kill King. Ray died in 1998.

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for June 6.

Marian Wright Edelman was born.

She is an American attorney and civil rights activist who founded the Children’s Defense Fund in 1973.

After work registering African American voters in Mississippi, she moved to New York City as a staff attorney for the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Edelman was the first African American woman admitted to The Mississippi Bar in 1964, and the first Black woman elected on the Yale board of trustees in 1971.

In 1973, she founded the Children's Defense Fund as a voice for poor children, children of color, and children with disabilities.  

The organization has served as an advocacy and research center for children's issues, documenting the problems and possible solutions to children in need.

She also worked to persuade United States Congress to overhaul foster care, support adoption, improve child care and protect children who are disabled, homeless, abused or neglected.  

Learn black history, teach black history at blackfacts.com