An ill wind blew into Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 leaving 20 kindergarten/elementary school students dead. Six brave teachers and school administrators were also killed while trying to save the children.
That ill wind was a mentally ill young man who took the registered assault riffles of his mother after killing her.
As we find ourselves in a fight between gun control lobbyist National Riffle Association (“NRA”) and the legislatures who want to ban such weapons and the ammunition clips, a beacon of light has surfaced. This light penetrates through the ugly ads picturing the children of President Barack Obama, and the violent assault weapons app aimed at children
Last evening during the Super Bowl, the choir from Sandy Hook Elementary School joined Grammy and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson in a beautifully inspiring rendition of “America The Beautiful”.
Even Whining Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe loved it.
Take look at their performance by clicking the video above.
Gloria Reuben is probably one of the most versatitle entertainers of our time.
You may remember the Canadian born thesbian from her stint on the television drama ER. There she portrayed an HIV infected Physician Assistant named Jeanie Boulet.
After the sixth season, Reuben exited right onto to the stage as a backup singer for Tina turner’s 24/7 tour.
Since the Tina Turner tour, she has had interesting roles in television series and films.
Ms. Reuben who garnered two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for her Jeanie Boulet role also won the Lucille Lortel Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Condoleezza Rice in David Hare’s play “Stuff Happens” at New York City’s Public Theater.
As we are approaching awards season, Oscar buzz is now circulating about Gloria’s performance in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. In Lincoln, Ms. Reuben plays Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Todd Lincoln’s personal modiste and confidante.
Madam Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley
Elizabeth Keckley was a former slave who became a successful seamstress, civic activist and author in Washington, DC. She was best known as the personal modiste and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln, the First Lady. Keckley had moved to Washington in 1860 after buying her freedom and that of her son in St. Louis. She created an independent business in the capital based on clients who were the wives of the government elite. Among them were Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis; and Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee.
Gloria discusses the role above during a recent interview on the Los Angeles Fox affiliate Good Day LA.
Linclon which also stars Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln, and Sally Fields as the first lady Mary Todd Lincoln is now showing in theaters.
Navajo Indians, Latinos, Blacks, Asians might be considered minorities in this country, but there is no dispute as to the contribution made by all in defending this country.
During World War II, Asian Americans put their life on the line in defending this country while their relatives were placed in internment camps. Take a look at the video above.
The Navajo Indians helped to defeat the enemy by using the Navajo language as a code. A film entitled Windtalkers give the details of their accomplishment. See the trailer below
The unsung soldiers of WWII went over to win a double victory. They fought gallantly against the enemy abroad. However, upon returning home they were battered by the enemy at home that came in the form bigotry. It was decades before their contributions were acknowledged.
On this Memorial Day, Febone1960.net salutes all veterans regardless of race, creed, religion. sex. and sexual orientation for their sacrifice in defending this country.
We must remember injustice for one is an injustice for all.
On February 26, 1939, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt fired off a letter to Mrs. Henry Martyn Robert Jr., the President General of the DAR. Mrs. Roosevelt was resigning from the organization as a result of their refusal to permit Marian Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall, a concert hall owned and operated by the DAR.
One of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century, Marian Anderson was an African-American contralto. Anderson was born on February 27, 1897, nine months after the U.S. Supreme court handed down its’ separate but equal ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson.
The National Society of DAR The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States’ independence. It was incorporated by a congressional charter in the same year as the Plessy decision.
In response to the First Lady’ letter of resignation, Sarah Corbin Robert wrote “I am indeed sorry not to have been in Washington at this time. Perhaps I might have been able to remove some of the misunderstanding and to have presented to you personally the attitude of the Society”.
That attitude of the Society was now the law of the land thanks to the Plessy decision. How ever that attitude was not embraced by Robert’s father in law General Henry Martyn Robert Sr. General Robert, the author of Robert Rules of Parlimentary Procedure was born and raised in Robertville, S.C. a place he left because he despised slavery. It was probably not embraced by Clement Corbin, Mrs. Robert’ great great grandfather who fought with the Connecticut Rangers in the Revolutionary War in Rhode Island. Clement Corbin fought along with such black men as Lot Little, who was a slave.
And it certainly was not the attitude of Eunice Davis. A known Abolitionist who worked with William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of the anti-slavery newspaper, the Liberator, Davis was the daughter of a revolutionary war hero by the name of Prince Ames. Ames who was married to Eunice Russ a Narragansett Indian was the son of a white father and Narragansett Indian mother.
The Narragansett Indians were known as a tribe of diverse cultures which also included Africans. The tribe had a vision of themselves as “a nation rather than a race”, and it was a multiracial nation. Therefore the y did not frown on what has been termed as interracial or mixed marriages, which of course was illegal I this country until the U.S. Supreme ruled the unconstitutionality of such local laws in the historic case known as Loving v. Virginia.
Eunice Davis first marriage was to a white man. That marriage ended after his death. Together they had three children. Eunice whose second husband was black became a member of the DAR in 1896 at the age of 96.
As a result of the DAR’s refusal, Marian Anderson went on to give her Concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday. On April 9, 1939 at the invitation of Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes. Ms. Anderson sang before an integrated crowd of 75,000. That audience included Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, and New York Senator Robert Wagoner The concert was also broadcasted over the radio to millions.
This Easter marks 73 years since the Marian Anderson Lincoln Memorial concert. In these 73 years the Daughters of The American Revolution has made a lot of progressive changes. In 1943 they welcomed Marian Anderson to Constitution Hall for a benefit concert for war relief. In 1964, Ms. Anderson chose the Hall as the launching pad of her American farewell tour.
The DAR changed their policy in regards to Constitution Hall in 1957, three years after Brown v. Board of Education overruled Plessy. However, they did not accept their first acknowledged black member a until 1977.
Karen Batchelor also known as Karen Farmer sat down at the Lunch Counter with Febone1960.net. Karen is that first acknowledged black member invited and accepted into the DAR after the unfortunate Marian Anderson incident.
Also sitting with us at the lunch counter is Kim Harrison, a descendant of Lot Little. Lot Little was, a slave who fought at the Battle of Saratoga. Both women described their journey leading them to the DAR. They also discussed the surprising revelations of that journey.
Take listen to their interview by viewing the video above. Febone1960.net think you will find this interview very revealing with respect to race.
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Soledad O’Brien’s Black In America 4, Silicon Valley re-airs tonight at 8 & 11 PM on CNN.
The documentary examines Blacks participation in the tech world as producers of technology. It also explores the minuscule amount of venture capital that has flowed to black created projects in Sillicon Valley and the reasons.
Febone1960.net got the opportunity to speak with one the participants in that documentary. Tiffani Bell sat down at the Lunch Counter on Febone1960,net to discuss her experience in seeking venture capital for her project “Pencil Me In.
Take a listen to her interview, and if you haven’t seen it, please watch Black In America 4, Silicon Valley tonight on CNN at 8 & 11 PM. If you have seen it, well I think you’ll enjoy seeing it again. After all it’s Soledad O’Brien and you can’t go wrong with watching a Soledad O’Brien documentary. As always you will obtain some valuable knowledge.
Click the player which will take you to the Blog
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