Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race
Maxine Leeds Craig, 2002
“Black is Beautiful!” The words were the exuberant rallying cry of a generation of black women who threw away their straightening combs and adopted a proud new style they called the Afro. The Afro became a veritable icon of the Sixties.
Although the new beauty standards seemed to arise overnight, they actually had deep roots within black communities. Continue reading
Photo credits: AP. In this Sept. 11, 1986, file photo, Winnie Mandela, left, wife of jailed African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela is joined by Coretta Scott King, widow of American civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr., in Soweto.
15 Things You Did Not Know about the History of Black People in London before 1948
By Charmaine Simpson, December 2012
The presence of Africans in England dates back to at least the Roman period when African soldiers who served as part of the Roman army were stationed at Hadrian’s Wall during the 2nd century CE. Septimus Severus, the emperor who was born in Libya, spent his last three years in Britain before he died in York in 211 CE.
I will present 15 facts aimed at raising the level of knowledge, and uncovering the hidden histories, of people of African and Caribbean descent who have contributed to London before 1948.
1. The earliest known [public] record of a Black person living in London is of “Cornelius a Blackamoor” whose burial on 2nd March 1593 was recorded in the parish register at St Margaret’s Church in Lee. Continue reading
Hidden Figures: One official storyBy Joanne Laurier, 12 January 2017
Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore Melfi, screenplay by Melfi and Allison Schroeder, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly
Hidden Figures
Directed by Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures recounts the story of three brilliant African-American female scientists who made extraordinary contributions to NASA—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration—in the 1960s. The movie is based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race.
The film centers on Katherine Goble Johnson (born 1918), a physicist and mathematician who excelled in computerized celestial navigation for Project Mercury, the first US human spaceflight program (including the flights of Alan Shepard and John Glenn) from 1958 through 1963, the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the Moon and the Space Shuttle program. She was also involved in the early plans for a mission to Mars. Continue reading
Margot Lee Shetterly CV Oct 2013MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY
US Mailing Address: …
Mex Address: …
http://www.margotlee shetterly.com
US TEL: … • MEX TEL: …
CURRENT PROJECTS
Hidden Figures, narrative nonfiction work in progress. Hidden Figures is the untold history of the African-American women employed as Human Computers by NACA/NASA from the 1940s through the 1960s. (Represented by Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency)
The Human Computers Project. Multimedia platform archiving the history of NACA-NACA’s African-American Human Computers and their significance in the context of the US Space Program, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for Gender Equality. Collaborative work in progress with Prof. Duchess Harris of Macalester College.
SKILLS, ACHIEVEMENTS, RECOGNITION Continue reading
Serena Williams Is the Greatest
By Vann R. Newkirk, Jul 11, 2016
Last week, for me, was about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the list of names of hundreds more black bodies that they joined. It was about protests and it was about anger. […] It was about grief, and it was about my personal despair that the curtain of racism, inequality, rage, and violence that has covered the country since time immemorial may never be lifted.
Saturday, though, was also about Serena Williams and the magic of her easy 7-5 6-3 victory over Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon. For over an hour I had a respite from digesting and covering a week of pain as I watched Serena blast serve after serve and raise a single fist in joy after the final point was won. On Saturday Williams claimed her 22nd women’s tennis Grand Slam title, tying Steffi Graf for the most in the Open Era. On Saturday, she swatted away any—already dubious—claims that she might not be the greatest. Continue reading
Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles make US gymnastics team for Rio Olympics
CONGRATULATIONS ARE in order for Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles who will represent Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Rio.
Three-time world champ/four-time national champ Simone, 19, and the 2012 Olympic all-around champ Gabby, 20, dreams came true when they were named as members of the team after the Olympic trials last night (July 10).
Simone, who has been deemed unbeatable by many, had an automatic berth onto the team by walking away with the top spot at the trials, with a total score of 123.25. Continue reading
Coretta Scott King: Dedicated Activist
African-American civil rights activist and author Coretta Scott King was born April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Alabama, Coretta Scott was the daughter of Bernice McMurry Scott, a housewife, and Obadiah Scott, a lumber carrier. Scott grew up walking three miles each day to school while school buses carrying white children drove by her. Such occurrences, while difficult, led her to strive for equality and the best for herself. Scott went on to graduate from high school and in 1945 entered Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, on a scholarship.
Majoring in education and music, Scott became alarmed when she was not able to teach in a public school because she was Black. At this time she became involved with civil rights groups and joined the Antioch chapter Continue reading
Dr. Alexa Canady—the first Woman and the first African-American to become a neurosurgeon in America—was born November 7, 1950, in Lansing, Michigan, the daughter of Elizabeth Hortense (Golden) Canady and Clinton Canady, Jr. Her father was a graduate of the School of Dentistry of Meharry Medical College, practicing in Lansing. Her mother was a graduate of Fiasco University and was active for years in the civic affairs of Lansing. She also served as national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Young Canady and her brother grew up outside Lansing and were the only two African American students in the entire school. Despite the obstacles, Canady was an exceptional student and was named a National Achievement Scholar in 1967. Continue reading
by Boyce Watkins (2010) [edited]
University of Illinois professor Deborah McGregor has shed light on an important piece of American history. McGregor has noted that Dr. James Marion Sims, considered the father of [western] gynecology, developed many of his techniques by operating on enslaved African women, many of whom were not given anesthesia.
McGregor, author of ‘From Midwives to Medicine: The Birth of American Gynecology,’ said “There is no doubt that he carried out experiments on women, and that he was only able to do so because they were [enslaved].”
Part of the controversy regarding Sims centers around a statue placed near Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street in New York City. The statue is located next to the New York Academy of Medicine, in a neighborhood that is majority African American and Puerto Rican. Continue reading
Too Much Black 