Celebrate Black History 2101 - Fred Hampton

by Dick Mac

Fred Hampton was born August 30, 1948, and killed by the Chicago police on December 4, 1969, at the age of 21. The cause of death was determined to be "justifiable homicide." He was chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and deputy chairman of the Panthers national party.

His work to unite Chicago gangs in the hope of stopping street violence and promoting the work for social change made him a target of the cold-war-frenzied, white supremacist FBI and Chicago Police Department. His efforts to unite the Panthers with the Young Lords and Young Patriots frightened the FBI and Chicago police. During the cold war era, the FBI was determined to prevent the formation of any cohesive black movement in the United States and often used Hampton's promotion of "socialism" in propaganda against him.

His parents moved from Louisiana during the Great Migration and as a young man Hampton became active in the NAACP and was a leader of its Youth Council. In his capacity as an NAACP youth organizer, he worked to get recreational facilities established in the neighborhoods and to improve educational resources for the impoverished black community. He was a believer in nonviolent action in a world that directed daily violence towards him and other African Americans.

Fred Hampton was an American who, like the vast majority of African Americans, was never allowed to be part of America. His murder was an extrajudicial killing, sparked by his rise to prominence, J. Edgar Hoover's flagrant racism, and FBI efforts to suppress all African Americans.

Fred Hampton is an American hero.

You can watch the Democracy Now report "The Assassination of Fred Hampton: New Documents Reveal Involvement of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover" here: https://youtu.be/vewm6-FEIQs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hampton

#blackhistorymonth #BlackLivesMatter #WorkForChange

Celebrate Black History 2021 - Muhammad Ali

by Dick Mac

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay, January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, and died in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 3, 2016, at age 74.

Ali was a professional boxer and civil rights activist, is one of the most beloved and significant people of the 20th Century, and one of the greatest boxers of all time.

In Jim Crow America, the young Cassius Clay was not afraid to be his own man, stood proudly as a professional, believed deeply in his personal convictions, and demanded change from Americans. He was instrumental in keeping the dialog of civil rights in the media, sports world, and pop culture.

After converting to Islam and changing his name, he said: "I am America. I am the part you won't recognize." I fear most African Americans know that this is still true today.

Ali proudly and bravely refused to participate in the Vietnam War stating: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" For his refusal to go to war, he was stripped of his title and banned from boxing.

He was relentless. He never gave up hope, and he never backed down.

Muhammad Ali is everything that America is intended to stand for, he is one of the greatest Americans who ever lived.

The movie "One Night In Miami" (2020) is a fictionalized story of Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke spending an evening together in a hotel room, confronting personal and political issues of the day. It's a movie, it is not history; but it challenges us with the problems of the day, many of which are still problems today.

See this video of Ali on the Dick Cavett show discussing his position on the Vietnam War: https://youtu.be/hxuqSzE2mB0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali

The accompanying image depicts Ali with the American poet Marianne Moore, who was an avid sports fan and great admirer of Ali.

#blackhistorymonth #BlackLivesMatter #WorkForChange

Celebrate Black History 2021 - Betty Davis

by Dick Mac

Betty Davis (nee Mabry) is an American funk singer whose gritty and glamorous style made her popular among fellow musicians, but not record company and radio executives. She worked as a songwriter and a model, but it was her amazing live performances that put her on the map and created her cult following.

In 1968, she married Miles Davis and introduced him to the music of Jimi Hendrix and other up-and-coming musicians, causing a shift in Miles' musical approach and influenced his remarkable 1970 release "Bitches' Brew."

Her three self-produced LPs for Island Records in the 1970s are supersonic funk creations loaded with feminism and sexual aggression. Her openness likely prevented radio play, even though white artists of the era were starting to sing about sex. None of her LPs enjoyed chart success and she vanished from sight for decades.

Hers is a story that highlights the history of black women being treated very poorly in every industry. The story of Betty Davis is why celebrating Black History Month is so important.

I recommend the LP "Nasty Gal." Betty Davis was the first true Queen of Funk.

See this video: https://youtu.be/EtInpDRchM0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Davis

#blackhistorymonth #BlackLivesMatter #WorkForChange

Celebrate Black History 2021 - Malcolm X

by Dick Mac

Malcolm X (a/k/a Malik Shabazz) was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925, and assassinated in New York City, on February 21, 1965. He was 39.

Malcolm X was a Muslim minister and civil rights activist whose intelligent, dynamic, truthful, and aggressive work in the movement for African-American rights made him the target of white supremacists, and his efforts to work within the confines of organized religion made him unpopular with the leaders of his faith.

He was particularly angered by, often spoke about, and advocated against police brutality; the same police brutality that African-American taxpayers suffer today, fifty-plus years after his death.

He was shot with a sawed-off shotgun while making a speech at the Audubon Grand Ballroom.

Hear this excerpt of a speech he made in 1962: https://youtu.be/6_uYWDyYNUg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X

Celebrate Black History Robert Keith McFerrin Sr.

by Dick Mac

Robert Keith McFerrin Sr., an American opera singer (baritone) was the first African-American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. He is also the father of Bobby McFerrin.

Hear him sing in this video:

https://youtu.be/gKq-xUThcWk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McFerrin