sudan
B.E. Specialist
Posts: 414
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Post by sudan on Oct 24, 2006 3:32:30 GMT -5
(1820~1913) Harriet Ross was born into slavery in 1819 or 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland. Given the names of her two parents, both held in slavery, she was of purely African ancestry. She was raised under harsh conditions, and subjected to whippings even as a small child. At the age of 12 she was seriously injured by a blow to the head, inflicted by a white overseer for refusing to assist in tying up a man who had attempted escape.
At the age of 25, she married John Tubman, a free African American. Five years later, fearing she would be sold South, she made her escape.
Her Escape to Freedom in Canada Tubman was given a piece of paper by a white neighbor with two names, and told how to find the first house on her path to freedom. At the first house she was put into a wagon, covered with a sack, and driven to her next destination. Following the route to Pennsylvania, she initially settled in Philadelphia, where she met William Still, the Philadelphia Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad. With the assistance of Still, and other members of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society, she learned about the workings of the UGRR.
In 1851 she began relocating members of her family to St. Catharines, (Ontario) Canada West. North Street in St. Catharines remained her base of operations until 1857. While there she worked at various activities to save to finance her activities as a Conductor on the UGRR, and attended the Salem Chapel BME Church on Geneva Street.
Her Role in the Underground Railroad After freeing herself from slavery, Harriet Tubman returned to Maryland to rescue other members of her family. In all she is believed to have conducted approximately 300 persons to freedom in the North. The tales of her exploits reveal her highly spiritual nature, as well as a grim determination to protect her charges and those who aided them. She always expressed confidence that God would aid her efforts, and threatened to shoot any of her charges who thought to turn back.
Harriet Tubman had been their "Moses," but not in the sense that Andrew Johnson was the "Moses of the colored people." She had faithfully gone down into Egypt, and had delivered these six bondmen by her own heroism. Harriet was a woman of no pretensions, indeed, a more ordinary specimen of humanity could hardly be found among the most unfortunate-looking farm hands of the South. Yet, in point of courage, shrewdness and disinterested exertions to rescue her fellow-men, by making personal visits to Maryland among the slaves, she was without her equal.
Her success was wonderful. Time and again she made successful visits to Maryland on the Underground Rail Road, and would be absent for weeks at a time, running daily risks while making preparations for herself and her passengers. Great fears were entertained for her safety, but she seemed wholly devoid of personal fear. The idea of being captured by slave-hunters or slave-holders, seemed never to enter her mind. She was apparently proof against all adversaries. While she thus maintained utter personal indifference, she was much more watchful with regard to those she was piloting. Half of her time, she had the appearance of one asleep, and would actually sit down by the road-side and go fast asleep* when on her errands of mercy through the South, yet, she would not suffer one of her party to whimper once, about "giving out and going back," however wearied they might be by the hard travel day and night. She had a very short and pointed rule or law of her own, which implied death to any who talked of giving out and going back. Thus, in an emergency she would give all to understand that "times were very critical and therefore no foolishness would be indulged in on the road." That several who were rather weak-kneed and faint-hearted were greatly invigorated by Harriet's blunt and positive manner and threat of extreme measures, there could be no doubt.
After having once enlisted, "They had to go through ordie." Of course Harriet was supreme, and her followers generally had full faith in her, and would back up any word she might utter. So when she said to them that "a live runaway could do great harm by going back, but that a dead one could tell no secrets," she was sure to have obedience. Therefore, none had to die as traitors on the "middle passage." It is obvious enough, however, that her success in going into Maryland as she did, was attributable to her adventurous spirit and utter disregard of consequences. Her like it is probable was never known before or since.
Quotes:
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
Harriet Tubman said: "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you..." and: “I looked at my hands, to see if I was the same person now that I was free. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over de fields, and I felt like I was in heaven.”
“I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” my favorite “I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.” “I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.” “I would fight for my liberty so long as my strength lasted, and if the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me.”
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Post by lusciouslois on Oct 24, 2006 8:01:23 GMT -5
I would like to honor one of our local ministers. Rev. William Lee and his platform of AIDS/HIV awareness. He is always out and about in the community, trying to make more AA's aware of this disease as well as not being afraid to talk about it from his pulpit. He even took a test in front of everybody at his church to show that people should not be afraid to at least be tested. He "practices what he preaches."
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sudan
B.E. Specialist
Posts: 414
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Post by sudan on Nov 2, 2006 18:15:54 GMT -5
1867 ~ 1919Madam C.J. Walker was one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire. An astute businesswoman, she built a hair care empire from the ground up, starting with $1.50 worth of ingredients she mixed herself in a washtub. Sarah Breedlove Walker was born on December 23, 1867, in Louisiana. Her father was a sharecropper who died when she was only six. An older sister raised her, but she received little formal education. When she was fourteen she married Moses McWilliams, and they had a daughter they named A'Lelia. Two years later McWilliams died, and Walker moved with the baby to St. Louis, Missouri, where some of her relatives lived. She worked as a laundress in a hotel for the next 18 years. In her late thirties she began to suffer from a scalp condition that caused her to begin losing her hair. She tried various hair products to treat the condition but was not satisfied with them and began to create her own. She mixed the ingredients in her washtub and began to sell mixtures, such as her, "Wonderful Hair Grower", door to door. By 1905 she employed fifty people in her factory. In 1906 she moved to Denver, Colorado, and married Charles Joseph Walker, a sales agent for an African American newspaper. She adopted the name "Madam C. J. Walker" for business purposes. Her husband used his marketing skills to assist her in the expansion of her company. Her line of hair care products grew rapidly after she developed the "Walker Hair Care Method" and thousands of women were trained in this method at Madam Walker's beauty school, Lelia College, and throughout the country. Many women were trained to be "Walker Agents" to sell the hair products and other cosmetics door to door. Madam Walker eventually added a mail order department to the business, and at one time she had about 20,000 sales agents throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Central America. By 1915 the "Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company" was the largest African American-owned business in the U.S. Madam C. J. Walker was well-known as a philanthropist. She was a major financial contributor to the NAACP. When she died, her mansion on the Hudson River in New York, (designed by New York's first African American architect, Vertner Tandy) was bequeathed to her daughter who, at her mother's request, left it to the NAACP. (The mansion, Villa Lewaro, is now a National Historic Landmark.) In addition to her support of the NAACP, Madam Walker contributed to African American chapters of the YWCA and various local charities and orphanages. She established scholarships for women at the Tuskegee Institute and other African American colleges. Madam C. J. Walker was outspoken in her realization that her fortune had come from the African American community, and she made it a point to give something back to benefit African American people. Madam Walker's daughter and granddaughter continued to run her hair care empire after her death in 1919. The business was finally sold in 1985. A'Lelia, Madam Walker's daughter, held a famous "salon" for artists and intellectuals during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and early 1930s. Madam Walker once said: "If I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I have been willing to work hard. I never yet started anything doubtingly, and I have always believed in keeping at things with a vim. There is no royal flower-strewn road to success, and if there is, I have not found it, for what success I have obtained is the result of many sleepless nights and real hard work."
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sudan
B.E. Specialist
Posts: 414
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Post by sudan on Nov 2, 2006 18:25:57 GMT -5
Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to become a published poet. She was also the first slave and the third woman in the United States to do so.
Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped from Senegal, West Africa at a young age and taken to Boston, Massachusetts at about the age of seven. The only thing she remembered about her life as a young child in Africa was that her mother "poured out water before the sun at his rising."
She was sold at a slave auction to John and Susannah Wheatley of Boston, who were looking for a child to bring up as a servant for Mrs. Wheatley. The Wheatleys and their two children, Mary and Nathaniel, became fond of the frail, intelligent little girl and changed their minds about training her as a servant. Mary Wheatley, who was fifteen and entertained some thoughts of someday becoming a teacher, taught Phillis to speak English and then tutored her in reading and writing. She learned extremely quickly, and Nathaniel went on to teach her Latin. By the age of twelve, she could read the Bible and was studying the Greek and Latin classics. She began writing poetry at the age of thirteen.
Her poems appeared in various publications, and she became well known around Boston. She was often asked to write a poem when someone died (elegies). At one point, she wrote a poem to George Washington, and he responded by writing her a letter. Both were published in Pennsylvania Magazine. Her poems reflect her Christian beliefs and sheltered upbringing, and she was influenced by popular British poets of the day. In 1773, thirty-nine of her poems were published in London in a volume called "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" She was acclaimed internationally as a talented poet.
Phillis Wheatley's health was poor throughout her short life. She is believed to have been asthmatic. In 1773 a doctor recommended a sea voyage to improve her health; she traveled to London to promote her book. She went as the guest of a British countess, and continued to write poetry while there. She was to be presented to the king, but received word that Mrs. Wheatley's health was failing, so she returned to Boston right away. Mrs. Wheatley died soon after, followed by Mr. Wheatley and then the daughter Mary. The son, Nathaniel, was living in England, so Phillis was left without a family. She had been emancipated, but it was now necessary to support herself as a seamstress since in those years surrounding the Revolutionary War the economy was not stable enough for her to make a living as a poet.
In 1778 Miss Wheatley married John Peters, a free African American man who owned a grocery store. The next few years were rough for the Peters. They had three children together, but none were strong. In the post-war economy, the business failed and her husband ended up in debtor's prison. Phillis Wheatley had to move to a squalid boarding house with her children, where all three of them fell ill and died. Her own health was adversely affected as well. She was trying to find a publisher for thirty- three more poems and thirteen letters when she died also, at the age of thirty-one. Her husband obtained the manuscripts, but they were lost with him and have never been found.
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sudan
B.E. Specialist
Posts: 414
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Post by sudan on Nov 26, 2006 14:10:14 GMT -5
Iyanla VanzantWith more than 8 million books in print, Iyanla Vanzant has truly established a dedicated fan base.
Iyanla's path to success took her through a multitude of life-changing experiences that shaped the profound insights she eagerly shares with others. A neglected, overweight, sexually abused child who was shuttled from one family to another, she became a teenage mother on welfare living in the projects of a major urban city. Vanzant took control of her life when she walked out of her second abusive marriage and entered Medgar Evers College in New York and then the City University of New York Law School. She moved to Philadelphia with her children and became a public defender for three years. Then she eventually became an ordained minister, who was committed to a message based on the principles of divine power and self-determination.
Iyanla combined her professional skills with her life's lessons and embarked on a writing and speaking career. Her mass appeal is evident in her overwhelming success as an author. In the Meantime was a #1 New York Times bestseller, where it spent 20 weeks on the list, and she has had numerous other major bestsellers. As a nationally recognized speaker she has sold out such prestigious venues as New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, Atlanta's Civic Center, and the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. Vanzant is also familiar to the daytime TV audience from her role as a regular contributor on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Acclaimed journalist and producer Barbara Walters recognized Vanzant's extraordinary appeal, seeing in her a "breakaway talent" with the potential for huge success in daytime television. With Walters and partner Bill Geddie on board to executive produce, Buena Vista Productions to develop the show, and Buena Vista Television as distributor, the road to Iyanla was forged.
Vanzant has received numerous accolades for her work. In 1992 Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley named October 21st "Tapping the Power Within Day" in honor of a workshop she presented in that city for African-American women. In 1994, the National Association of Equal Opportunity in Education, an organization comprised of the presidents and administrators of the 117 predominantly Black colleges in the United States named her Alumni of the Year. She also was awarded an "Oni" by the International Congress of Black Women as one of the nation's unsung heroes, and she served as the national spokesperson for Literacy Volunteers of America in 1998.
In 1999 she was listed among the 100 Most Influential African-Americans by Ebony magazine. Later that year, she was awarded the 31st NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Literary Work, Non-Fiction" for Yesterday I Cried. She also earned her first Honorary Doctorate degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from the City University of New York, Medgar Evars College. In 2000, she earned her second honorary degree, Doctor of Divinity, from the Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, Ebony has named her one of their "55 Most Intriguing People," Vibe magazine tabbed her one of "100 Leaders of the New Millennium" and Newsweek recently included her as one of the "Women of the New Century."
The mother of three and grandmother of four, Vanzant lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband Adeyemi and Mr. Coco, their cat.
To learn how Iyanla can help you get started on your journey toward spiritual enlightenment, visit Inner Visions Worldwide, Inc., at www.innervisionsworldwide.com.
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sudan
B.E. Specialist
Posts: 414
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Post by sudan on Nov 26, 2006 14:23:58 GMT -5
Sojourner Truth Address to the First Annual Meeting of the American Equal Rights Association
New York City, May 9, 1867
"My friends, I am rejoiced that you are glad, but I don't know how you will feel when I get through. I come from another field- the country of the slave. They have got their liberty- so much good luck to have slavery partly destroyed; not entirely. I want it root and branch destroyed. Then we will all be free indeed. I feel that if I have to answer for the deeds done in my body just as much as man, I have a right to have as much as a man. There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about the colored women; and if colored men get their rights, and not colored women theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before. So I am for keeping the thing going while things are stirring; because if we wait till it is still, it will take a great while to get it going again. White women are a great deal smarter, and know more than colored women, while colored women do not know scarcely anything. They go out washing, which is about as high as a colored woman gets, and their men go about idle, strutting up and down; and when the women come home, they ask for their money and take it all, and then scold you because there is no food. I want you to consider on that chil'n. I call you chil'n; you are somebody's chil'n, and I am old enough to be mother of all that is here. I want women to have their rights. In the courts women have no right, no voice; nobody speaks for them. I wish woman to have her voice there among the pettifoggers. If it is not a fit place for women, it us unfit for men to be there.
I am above eighty years old; it is about time for me to be going. I have been forty years a slave and forty years free, and would be here forty years more to have equal rights for all. I suppose I am kept here because something remains for me to do; I suppose I am yet to help to break the chain. I have done a great deal of work; as much as a man, but did not get so much pay. I used to work in the field and bind grain, keeping up with the cradler, but men doing no more, got twice as much pay; so with the German women. They work in the field and do as much work but do not get the pay. We do as much, eat as much, we want as much. I suppose I am about the only colored woman who goes about to speak for the rights of the colored women. I want to keep the thing stirring, now that the ice is cracked. What we want is a little money. You men know that you get as much again as women when you write, or for what you do. When we get our rights we shall not have to come to you for money, for then we shall have money enough in our pockets; and may be you will ask us for money. But help us now until we get it. It is a good consolation to know that when we have got this battle once fought we shall not be coming to you any more. You have been having our rights so long, that you think, like a slave-holder, that you own us. I know that it is hard for one who has held the reins for so long to give up; it cuts like a knife. It will feel all the better when it closes up again. I have been in Washington about three years, seeing about these colored people. Now colored men have the right to vote. There ought to be equal rights now more than ever, since colored people have got their freedom. I am going to talk several times while I am here; so now I will do a little singing. I have not heard any singing since I came here."
Speech for May 28-29, 1851
(This is Ms. Truth's most famous speech ~ And Ain't I A Woman.)
"Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women of the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I could have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man- when I could get it- and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [Intellect, somebody whispers] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negro's rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure-full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say."
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sudan
B.E. Specialist
Posts: 414
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Post by sudan on Jan 7, 2007 18:41:39 GMT -5
Chief Elder Osiris Akkebala Black Pan-Afrikan Nationalist Ex-Radio Show Host (www.harambeeradio.com/) Afromerica Columnist (www.afromerica.com) Assata Shakur Columnist (www.assatashakur.org) Destee Columnist (www.destee.com) Available For Speaking And Lecturing
Education: AA, BA, Political Science, Sociology Diploma: Executive Management
Activities: Served as Chairman of the young adult council NAACP Early Sixties Chairman and State Chairman Of The Congress Of Racial Equal ( CORE ) Seventies Founder and Executive Director Of The Florida National Black United Fund Founder And Chief Elder Of The Pan - Afrikan International Movement Founder And Chief Elder Of The Sankofa Repatriation Movement
Yes I walked arm locked with Roy Wilkins, the Excutive Director of The NAACP at that Time, I was the State Youth adviser in Florida, for The NAACP and served as Local and State Chairman of the Congress Of Racial Equality ( CORE ) at the beginning Time of the 1970's, many Marches I organized and lead in Orlando, Florida and did walk picket lines in Florida and other cities in the country and did lead a delegation from Florida to the Gary Indiana Black Political Convention and did participate in many Boycotts against Segregation, so I am mentioning these activities plus many more, just to inform you that My life has been active in pursuit of dignity, respect, and change for Black people in this country for a long Time and when I speak, I speak from experience and not to be some arm chair plaintiff , having no intention to ever leave the comfort of my living room.
Political Experience Candidate For The City Council Of Orlando, Florida First Black Man To Run For The Mayor Of Orlando, Florida
Public Speaking And Lecture College And Universities
Talk Shows Appearances Larry King Heraldo University Of Florida Television
Religious Experiences Formal Penacostal Baptist Ordain Minister Pastor Of Several Churches Presently - Afrikan Hierophant, Spiritualist Master Teacher Ancient Nubian Theology Authority In Ancient Afrikan Our-Story
Travel International Afrika - Ghana Europe - London, Geneva Switzerland United Nations, Geneva Switzerland Delivered an address on Reparation, Repatriation And Nation State For Descendants Of Chattel Slavery, before Working Committee Of The U.N.
Human Rights Commission A Follower Of The Honorable Marcus Garvey Organizer And Advocator Of Back To Afrika Author of two books: 1. Lies about God - 2. My God the Creator Distinguish Black Leaders Of which Chief Elder Osiris has had the honor of interacting with personally:
A. Phillip Randolph Roy Wilkin-Executive Director Of The NAACP-SIXTIES Dr.John Henri Clarke Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan -------------------------------------- Contact: email address: O_akkebala2002@yahoo.com ********************************************************************* Hoteph Chief Osiris National Representative Sankofa Repatriation Movement Pan-Afrikan Inter'National Movement
In Honor of Our Afrikan Ancient Cosmic Ebonite Spiritually Divine Ancestors, Honorable Marcus Garvey, our Afrikan Political prisoners, and Our Beloved Afrika.
Osiris Lamentation For Afrikan People Hoteph Beloved sisters and Brothers: Hear me oh people of yestertime, a Time when you walked and talked with the gods that reside in another portion of the Universe, you who know the secrets of all there is to know of about then Universe, you out of your loins did a strange and Divine people descend and now I beseech you to Turn not your ears away from our cry, a cry that is in need of being heard with an action that will drive away that pain that cause such a crying sound.
Oh goddess and gods of our Divine Ancestors, you who know what God Is, you who is a part of the Universe, you who is no stranger to self, forsake me not, as I plead my desire to you.
Need I strip myself of all cloths I wear and lay humbly before you, confessing the act of neglect and disrespect that your children show now, toward each other, and do so without shame or repentance to you, oh goddess and gods of our Divine Ancestors, you who know the Soul, mind, and Spirit of each of your children, Black they are and Divine once they were.
Rebuke me not My Queen of the Heaven, a goddess that you are, out of you the Universe become, you from which the rays do flow from the Sun-Stars, you in whom does Eternity and Infinity become One with you, to you I beckon to touch the Soul of the gods of that Universe of which within you they do reside, submitting only to the essence of Eternity and Infinity, a source of power that is beyond measure, the essence of all there is in the Universe and beyond, the essence that need no beginning nor ending, the essence of Time, its motion, to you goddess and gods of the Universe, do I appeal for your presence, which is enclosed in freedom, Justice and Independence, Turn me not away.
I wail! And I Wail! and my tears flow as the morning dew come, representing the sorrow of how God presence is so disrespected by a world gone mad, a world that know not the meaning of the identity of those people in Black, a pigment that represent the very Holiness of the majestic of the Mass of Darkness, a Mass that extend into Infinity and is that which God is intrinsic interwoven.
Look! Look! Hear! Hear! See and know the sound of sadness and loneliness of a people that once walked and talked with you, goddess and god of the Universe, you who sit upon the Divine Throne of Universal Knowledge, you who came and deposit your children upon a New planet known now as Earth and you did give them the key to the knowledge and understanding of Eternal Infinity and now, look at them, now a people without power nor authority to call their own over not one thing that was left in their charge, those your children do I offer myself as a sign of knowing who you are, and with the Divine Knowledge of what God the Eternal Infinite Is, the True meaning of the Universe and the Self, from which the True Knowledge is revealed.
Hear oh goddess and gods of the Cosmic world, hear a plea in behalf of your children, those who have forsaken the True Knowledge of your Divine presence and now, look at them, Souls in constant agony, having no respect from anyone, not even each other, a children that have been scattered to the four corners of Queen Mother Earth, one knowing not the other, divided that we are and Tribes we now call ourselves, now fighting and killing each other and show no remorse, a sign of a once Divine people now Soulfully dead and we now suffer from such ignorance of who you are and what God Is!!! I beseech you, I humbly summon you to come and save a dying Nation, one that once was One and United one to the other.
Hear the cry of those that now suffer in a place on this planet call New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, victims of neglect, an illness of which all of your Children now suffer from on this planet call Earth, Afrikans they are now call, yet one Afrikan care not about the illness of the other, one believing to be more than the other and while conveying such deceit, the entire Nation now suffer from such a disease that now divide your children, oh goddess and gods of the Universe, Divine Ancestors that you are.
Return back with your favor to your children oh goddess and gods of Truth and Reality, you who are constantly in the know of what God is and what it is your Children is to do in order to not become victims of neglect any more, teach them how to pray once again oh goddess and gods of the Universe, teach them to know that prayer is for the self of you, and should be directed to the Soul of the body double within the You of Me, Myself and I, the corner stone of the body double, the trinity of the godly essence that reside within the physical body.
Oh goddess and gods of our Ancient Ancestors, forsake us not and may we allow our Soul to return, so that we may be worthy of possessing the key to the Throne of the Divine Knowledge once again.
To you, goddess and gods of and in the Universe, I acknowledge the Truthfulness of your Reality, I desire you bring peace and Joy to the Soul of those people now call Afrikan, Black and Divine they once were.
Here Is Loving The Black So Call Afrikan, In spite Of Ourselves.
It Is Time to Condemn the Lie and elevate The Truth!!!
We Must Cause Trouble (with the truth) Until Our Liberation!!!
It Is The Black Fool Who Say I Have Lost Nothing In Afrika!!! (Osiris)
I Come, I Share, You Either Accept Or Reject, I Move On. Completely Loving The Black Afrikan Nation Honor, Respect And Praise To The Honorable Marcus Garvey
Hoteph Osiris Afrikan Spiritualist, Hierophant, Political Revolutionary National Chairman Sankofa Repatriation Movement © 2005
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sudan
B.E. Specialist
Posts: 414
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Post by sudan on Feb 5, 2007 5:29:35 GMT -5
Ebon Dooley, 1942-2006
(APN) ATLANTA – Ebon Dooley, 64, a renowned activist, scholar, and poet, and one of the founding champions of WRFG Radio Free Georgia 89.3 FM, passed away yesterday, October 12, 2006.
Activists are shocked and very sad and upset. “It definitely comes as a surprise. He was quite an incredible guy and had an incredible history,” Barry Weinstock told Atlanta Progressive News.
Dooley had just participated in a radio show the night before he died, and he introduced Amy and David Goodman the night of their recent speech sponsored by WRFG at the First Iconium Baptist Church.
While he had been out of commission a bit in the last few months due to health complications, it appeared like he had just turned the corner and was about to be back in the swing of things.
WRFG dedicated an entire day of programming today to Dooley; many people who knew him called in to talk about him and his impact on their lives. A special program will air Tuesday from 6-7pm as well.
WRFG will hold a special public memorial event, with details to be announced shortly.
Dooley’s birth name was Leo Thomas Hale, and he adopted the name Ebon during his college years as a young poet and activist, according to an archive of information about poets who are also lawyers maintained by Professor James Elkins of West Virginia University.
Dooley never officially changed his name, Heather Gray said in an email to Atlanta Progressive News; however, most if not all accounts of him in recent decades refer to him as Ebon Dooley.
The archive references at least two books mentioning Dooley’s poetry, in addition to several works written by Dooley.
Dooley had a book published called Revolution: A Poem (1968) by Third World Press. Poems published in various anthologies include “A Poem to My Brothers Killed in Combat or something bout a conversation with my father after Rev. King was killed;” “The Mighty John Hancock or: The Bigger They Are--the Harder They Fall;” “The Return to Order: The Peace Terms;” and “The Bust.”
“Ebon Dooley is the name taken by Leo Thomas Hale. He was born in Milan, Tennessee, a small farming community, in 1942,” the archive states.
“He attended Fisk University in Nashville and was Managing Editor of the school’s literary magazine. The name Ebon Dooley came from a college nickname Tom Dooley, after a character in a popular Kingston Trio song ("Hand down your head Tom Dooley.") Hale changed the first part of that name to Ebon, a pioneering black South American pilot,” the archive explains.
“Ebon graduated from Columbia Law School in 1967. He served as a VISTA legal volunteer in Chicago and then moved to Atlanta in 1969 to take over management of the Timbuktu Bookstore,” according to Elkins’s archive.
Dooley fulfilled numerous roles during his activist life. Dooley “took a sharp turn left,” after getting a law degree at Columbia University, he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Newspaper (AJC) in a 1998 profile.
He held many positions at WRFG, including formerly President of the Board of Directors, according to another article in The AJC. Most recently he was Broadcast Director, Radio Host Adam Shapiro told Atlanta Progressive News.
He ran one of the first Black-owned bookstores in Atlanta, called Timbuktu Market of New Africa. He came to Atlanta in 1969, The AJC reported.
He held a law degree and used it to teach individuals about their legal rights. Dooley told the AJC he spent “countless hours using my knowledge of law to teach guys how to dodge the draft.”
Dooley was a labor activist who worked with the Labor Party among other organizations.
Dooley is listed as a member of the Pacifica Radio Board on their website as representing WRFG as an affiliate station. Pacifica’s website already has special comments posted on his recent passing away.
“I am saddened to tell you that on October 12 we have lost my friend and mentor Ebon Dooley,” WRFG Board President Heather Gray wrote in a mass circulated email.
“He had not been well for some time, but we at WRFG are stunned by his loss. His contributions to WRFG and demands for justice in Atlanta, the southern region, the nation, and the world are incomparable. Ebon stands as one of the most brilliant and compassionate people I am fortunate to claim as my friend. But his friends are countless - so many of us have been fortunate to claim him as such,” Gray said.
“In addition to all of the above and much more, Ebon was one of the early organizers of WRFG. At the recent WRFG event where Ebon introduced Amy and David Goodman, I mentioned Ebon is the heart and soul of Radio Free Georgia. This is almost an understatement! He has inspired us through his wisdom, his profound analysis, and his kindness. So many of us at WRFG have been privileged to be his friend and privy to his political, racial, and economic analysis coupled with humor and his constant radiant smile,” Gray added.
“I worked with him when he was Liaison to the Program Committee,” Radio Host Adam Shapiro told Atlanta Progressive News.
“I found him to be perhaps the most patient person I ever knew. There were times I’d see him exasperated, but I never saw him lose his temper or anything,” Shapiro said.
“There was never any prejudice in him. He was really accepting. If you walked into his office, he would be in intense conversation with someone. He really liked to ‘kibbutz,’ which in Yiddish means a lot of talk. A LOT of talk,” Shapiro said.
“He was truly committed to the idea that radio could bring about social change, that the things we do make an actual difference,” Shapiro said.
“He brought a lot of enthusiasm. To him it really was a place of inclusion and everyone was welcome,” Shapiro said.
Barbara Joye said she was “shocked” because she had just heard Dooley on the radio the night before. “He was talking about growing up in Tennessee where they let the White and Black kids out for different vacations,” Joye recalled.
“We met when I was teaching English at one of the Atlanta University colleges. It must’ve been 1971. That’s when he had his bookstore Timbuktu. I heard about this place and wanted to order some books for some students,” Joye recalled.
Joye said she called the store and the person who answered said, “This is really just for Black people here.”
“This was during the Black Power era when there was Black separatism. But I went anyway and told him what happened. And he said that’s ridiculous. Please come in,” Joye said. “He said that didn’t represent his store.”
“Then, the next time I met him, the radio station was getting on the air. It had been started by a young White guy from another city. It took us a while to get the original group [who we wanted] to represent the [entire] community,” Joye said.
“One of the things we wanted was ownership by the Black community. Ebon brought in more people from the Black community who were very knowledgeable. He had a show with Paula. It was called PE, and it stood for Paula and Ebon, and also Political Education. It was exactly what he wanted,” Joye said.
“From 1973 on, he really consistently worked to make WRFG the voice of Atlanta’s communities and a source of inspiration,” Joye said.
“Ebon was an amazingly calm person, was a person who never raised his voice, never disparaged anyone. Even in the station’s 33 years, there have been problems. People have gotten angry at each other. There were factions. He didn’t take sides and some people got angry that he wouldn’t take their side. He was a wise person with a tremendous depth of political knowledge,” Joye said.
“He always had something really helpful to say, despite the fact he never avoided tough issues,” Joye said.
Dooley was also active in the first revival of The Great Speckled Bird Newspaper in 1984, Joye said. The Bird, which has been chronicled in Atlanta Progressive News, is currently in its second revival [or third wave], under the leadership of Barry Weinstock.
Dooley was recently involved in an effort to increase the proportion of public affairs programming on WRFG, Joye said. Dooley would want very much to see WRFG complete their “Tower of Power” campaign to get a new antenna and reach more potential Atlanta listeners, she said.
“It’s always a reminder when something like this happens,” Joye added... “to always take time to be with people you care about while they’re here.”
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