BLACK FACTS

Bob Marley (1945 - 1982)

Messenger of Freedom

©Avery Clayton, 2001

Lithograph from an original pen & ink drawing (18 x 24")

There's a reason that over 20 years after his death the music and legend on Bob Marley continues to be embraced by new generations.  Bob Marley was a hero figure, in the classic mythological sense. His departure from this planet came at a point when his vision of One World, One Love -- inspired by his belief in Rastafari -- was beginning to be heard and felt. The last Bob Marley and the Wailers tour in 1980 attracted the largest audiences at that time for any musical act in Europe.  Bob Marley the Prophet of Jah (God) was born in Kingston, Jamaica.  The force of his immense musical talent brought worldwide attention to the Rastafarian movement through Reggae music.  The dreadlocks (long-hair) worn by Marley and other Rastafarians symbolizes black pride, dignity and demonstrates reverence for their ancient ways.  True Rastafarians (believers in the divinity of Haile Selassie, Ethiopia's last emperor) believe that the uncut, uncombed and frequently washed hair serves as antennae to the heavens.  Bob Marley's music and life reflect the essence of Rastafarian philosophy:  The quest for Universal Freedom and Personal Triumph.

 

Juneteenth

African American Holiday in Celebration of Freedom

Juneteeth by Avery Clayton ©2005 (Posters available)

Juneteenth is an American holiday that has celebrated the emancipation of Texas slaves for 143 years.  While its roots are in Texas, it has become a special day for Americans throughout the United States.

The celebration of Juneteenth began in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865.  It was on that day that the slaves in Galveston learned they were free by order of the Emancipation Proclamation that had been signed into law on January 1, 1865.    On June 19, 1865 Major General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas with Union soldiers bringing news that the Civil War had ended and that all slaves were free.  Major Granger read General Order Number Three to the newly freed slaves from the balcony of the Ashton Villa in Galveston.  The order stated:

       "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 rights of property

       between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore

       existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.

       The freedmen are advised to remain 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." 

For the slaves of Texas the news of freedom came two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued on January 1, 1863.  Despite the delay, it was a day to celebrate.

With freedom came choices.  Some former slaves chose to stay and work for their 'old masters.'  Many moved on in search of betters lives.  Juneteenth remained an important day and for those who chose to move on, they often returned to celebrate annual festivities with those that remained behind.  Many slaves went West lured by the freedom the cowboy lifestyle offered.  One in three cowboys were black. 

Barbeques, rodeos, fishing, baseball, pageants and parades became part of Juneteenth celebrations.  In the earlier years, most festivities took place near rivers, creeks and on church grounds.  Strawberry soda, a.k.a. "red soda water," lamb, pork and beef were generally on the menu.  Education and self-improvement have always been major themes of Juneteenth  celebrations.  Guest speakers and revered elders used the festivities as opportunities to recount he past, very much in the tradition of West African griots (keepers of village histories). 

Juneteenth celebrations began to decline in the early 1900s as children were taught in classrooms instead of at home.  In the past, families taught their children the traditions of Juneteenth, but as schoolbooks replaced family customs and discussions, passing on the significance of the day began to decline.

The Great Depression (1929-1939) also had an effect on the decline of the celebrations.  Many African Americans were forced to leaves their farms in search of work in the cities.  Many landowners took advantage of the situation and were less inclined to give workers the day off for Juneteenth festivities. 

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s saw a resurgence of Juneteenth celebrations. Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom, family, education and achievement.  It is a time for reflection and rejoicing.  It is a time for personal, family and professional assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future.  Juneteenth's growing popularity signifies a level of African American cultural maturity of which we can all be proud.

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Sojourner Truth: Woman of God

  A frequent lecturer at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan, Sojourner

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree in 1797 in Ulster County, a Dutch settlement in upstate New York.  She was one of thirteen children born to slave parents.  She spoke only Dutch until she was sold from her family around the age of eleven.  She suffered cruel treatment at the hands of her new master and as a result learned to speak English quickly, but spoke with a Dutch accent for the rest of her life.

Like many slaves, Isabella was sold several times and suffered terrible hardships under slavery.  Fortunately, her mother instilled a deep, unwavering faith in her that carried her throughout the trials in her life.

Her third master, John Dumont forced her to submit to his will and she was made to marry an older slave named Thomas.  Thomas and Isabella had five children, most of whom Dumont sold.  She stayed on the Dumont farm until a few months before the state of New York ended slavery in 1828.  Dumont had promised Isabella freedom a year before the state emancipation.   When Dumont reneged on his promise, Isabella ran away with her infant son.

She eventually settled in New York City where she worked as a domestic for several religious communes, such as the Quakers.  Isabella was a woman of remarkable intelligence despite being “illiterate.”  She always acknowledged that her “gifts” came from God.  She was an imposing presence, 5’11” tall.  Her speaking voice with its heavy Dutch accent was strong, low and many said, masculine sounding and authoritative.  Her singing voice was beautiful and powerful.  Whenever she spoke in public she always sang.  There are many accounts about the power and beauty of her singing.   There is equal praise for her wit and phrasing when speaking.

In 1843 Isabella had a spiritual revelation.  She changed her name to Sojourner Truth and committed her life to traveling around the country as an itinerate preacher to speak truth; truth about slavery, truth about women’s suffrage and truth about man’s inhumanity to man.  In her famous “Ain’t I a Woman” speech delivered at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio in a thunderous voice she commanded the audience when she said, “Look at me!”   She bared her right arm and flexed her powerful muscles.  “I have plowed, I have planted and I have 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 any man, when I could get it, and beared the lash as well!  And ain’t I a woman?  I have borne children and seen most of them sold into slavery and when I cried out with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me.  Ain’t I a woman?”  The audience cheered wildly!

1859 poster announcing a lecture given by

Sojourner Truth at the Battle Creek, Michigan Sanitarium

Mayme A. Clayton Collection

After the Civil War, Truth worked tirelessly to aid newly freed southern slaves.  She attempted to petition Congress to give ex-slaves land in the “new West.”  Many newly freed blacks were drawn to the West by the lure of independence and freedom.  One in three cowboys were black.  Truth continued preaching and lecturing until her health forced her to retire.  She died in 1883 at the age of 92 in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Sojourner Truth was a fiery abolitionist, an imposing physical presence, a riveting preacher, and a spellbinding singer who dazzled listeners. Her wit, charm and originality are legendary.  Straight talking and unsentimental, Truth became a national symbol of women’s rights and freedom.  Like her contemporaries, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth was a complex and heroic figure in American history.  Inspired by God she transformed herself from a slave to a domestic to a powerful spokesperson of truth for humanity.  Strength, pride and perseverance are her hallmarks.

                                                    

Sojourner Truth:  part myth, part legend, larger than life

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The Origins of

Black History Month

Carter G. Woodson (1875 - 1950)

 Black History Month was founded by Carter G. Woodson as Negro History Week in 1926.  The month of February was selected to honor Frederick Douglass and Abraham  Lincoln who were born that month. 

 The son of a slave, Carter G. Woodson was born in New Canton, Virginia in 1875.  He began high school at the age of 20.  He went on to study at Berea College, the University of Chicago the Sorbonne in France and Harvard University where he earned a Ph.D. in 1912.

Dr. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 to train black historians and to collect, preserve and publish documents on black life and black people.  He also founded the Journal of Negro History (1916), Associated Publishers (1922 and the Negro Bulletin (1937).  Woodson spent his life working to educate all people about the vast contributions made by black men and women throughout history.  Carter G. Woodson died April 3, 1950 and Black History Month is his legacy.

 Mayme A. Clayton Library maintains a substantial collection of Carter G. Woodson's early publications.  Once in an appropriate facility, Mayme A. Clayton Library will share the valuable lessons of history contained in its collections with people of all ethnic backgrounds.

                                                                  

Carter G. Woodson at age 20, c. 1895

 

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Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)

                       Lion of Unityrcus Garvey,

 © Avery Clayton, 2005

Marcus Garvey coined the phrase "Black is Beautiful" during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) which had a membership of 1.5 million in 30 states.  His nationalist movement, born out of black pride and independence, encouraged black Americans to repatriate Africa. 

"God and nature made us what we are,

and then out of our own created genius we make

ourselves what we want to be.  Follow always the Great Law.

Let the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement."

                                                                                   Marcus Garvey

 

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Watch Night Services

Essay on Watch Night Services by Charyn D. Sutton

Originally written December 2000, Revised August 2004

Illustration Citation:  Heard and Moseley.

"Waiting for the Hour (Emancipation), December 31, 1862

Carte de visited. Washington, 1863 Prints and Photographs Division

If you grew up in a black community in the United states, you have probably heard of "Watch   Night Services," the gathering of the faithful in church on New Year's Eve.  The service usually  begins anywhere from 7pm to 10pm and ends at midnight with the entrance of the New Year. 

Some folks come to church first, before going out to celebrate.  For others, church is the only New Year's Eve destination.

Like many others, I always assumed that Watch Night was a fairly standard Christian religious service, made a bit more Afrocentric because that's what happens when elements of Christianity become linked with the black church.  And yes, there is a history of Watch Night

Services in the Methodist tradition.  Still, it seemed that most predominately white Christian Christmas Eve programs did not include Watch Night Services on their calendars, but focused   instead on Christmas Eve programs.  In fact, there were instances where clergy in mainline denominations wondered aloud about the propriety of linking religious services with a secular holiday like New Year's Eve.

However, in doing some research, I discovered there are two essential reasons for the importance of New Year's Eve services in African American congregations.  Many of the Watch Night Services in black communities that we celebrate today can be traced back to gatherings on December 31, 1862, also known as "Freedom's Eve."  On that night, Americans of African

descent came together in churches, gathering places and private homes throughout the nation, anxiously awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had become law.  Then, at the  stroke of midnight, it was January 1, 1863 and according to President Abraham Lincoln's

promise, all slaves in the Confederate States were legally free.  People remained in churches and other gathering places, eagerly awaiting word that Emancipation had been declared.  When the actual news of freedom was received later that day, there were prayers, shouts of joy and songs of praise as people fell to their knees and thanked God.

But even before 1862 and the possibility of a Presidential Emancipation, African people had gathered on New Year's Eve on plantations across the South.  That is because many owners of enslaved Africans tallied up their business accounts on the first day of each new year. 

Human property was sold along with land, furnishings and livestock to satisfy debts.  Families and friends were separated.  Often they never saw each other again in this earthly world.  Thus coming together on December 31 might be the last time for enslaved and free Africans to be together with loved ones.

Black folks in North America have gathered annually on New Year's Eve since the earliest days, praising God for bringing us safely through another year and praying for the future.  Certainly, those traditional gatherings were made even more poignant by the events of 1863 which brought freedom to the slaves and the Year of Jubilee.  Many generations have passed since and most of us were never taught the significance of gathering on New Year's Eve.  Yet our traditions and faith still bring us together at the end of every years to celebrate once again, "How we got over." 

  By Charyn D. Sutton, The Onyx Group

 

"To know where you're going, you have to know where you've been."

 

Traditions live when they are shared

 

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker (1906 - 1975)

The toast of two continents, the French called her "La Baker." At night she could be found dressed in elaborate gowns and headdresses, receiving standing ovations at the Follies Bergere in Paris.  By day she strolled the Champs Elysees in Dior originals with two pet leopards that wore diamond studded collars.  General Charles De Gaulle presented her with the Legion of Honor, France's highest military award for her efforts for the French Resistance during World War II.  Josephine Baker was an early champion of the Civil Rights, bringing international attention to racial injustice before the advent of the Civil Rights Movement.  A great humanitarian, she adopted eleven children of all races. She called them the Rainbow tribe in a grand experiment to prove that given equal opportunities all children could achieve equally. 

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All the articles on this page was researched and prepared by Avery Clayton,

with the exception of Night Watch. Please feel free to reproduce them giving a professional

credit to Avery Clayton, Executive Director, Mayme A. Clayton library & Museum