Robert Miller

11/07/2023

Chauncey Spencer was born on this date in 1906. He was an African American pilot and educator.

He was born in Lynchburg, VA, one of three children of Edward Spencer and noted Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer. One of the most respected families in Lynchburg, visitors to the Spencer home included George Washington Carver, Paul Robeson, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, Clarence Muse, Dean Pickens, Adam Clayton Powell, Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, and W.E.B. Dubois.

At the age of 11, he fell in love with flying, but after graduating from college, no aviation school in Virginia would admit him because of his color. Spencer moved to Chicago in 1934 and joined with a group of African American aviators in organizing the National Airmen Association of America (NAAA). Working for $16-a-week as a kitchen helper, he paid $11 an hour for flying lessons.

In May 1939, he and fellow aviator Dale Lawrence White, also an NAAA member, flew a rented Lincoln-Paige biplane with only two flight instruments on a ten-city tour that started in Chicago and ended in Washington, DC. Realizing that war in Europe was imminent, they demonstrated the aviation abilities of Negroes and lobbied Congress to include of people of color in the Civilian Pilot Training Program for the Army Air Corps. Their flight drew national attention and proved that African Americans could fly an airplane, contrary to the beliefs and opinions of most Army Air Corps and government leaders.

They met with Harry Truman and others in Congress, convincing them to support their cause. Later, while employed by the Army, Spencer worked with Judge William H. Hastie for fair treatment of African American air cadets being trained at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and other air bases during World War II. He encountered considerable resistance from whites as well as blacks as the Civilian Personnel Employee Relations Officer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Despite this, he persisted and made steady progress towards integration of the Air Force. In 1948, Spencer received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award for service during World War II, the highest honor the Air Force could bestow upon a civilian.

In 1953, the United States Air Force referred to his role in the integration of the military as "unique though strangely unsung." However, his refusal to drag his feet on integration created resentment among highly-placed officials who wished to see integration fail. Consequently, in 1953, Spencer was charged with disloyalty and accused of being a Communist. He was relieved of his position and his family suffered great humiliation and economic deprivation. In June 1954 the Air Force cleared him of all charges. Spencer and his family would never fully recover from this ordeal.

Despite ill-treatment, he continued to maintain his belief in the goodness and strength of mankind and America until his death on August 21, 2002.

08/15/2023

THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790)

Thomas Fuller, often called “the Virginia Calculator,” was born in 1710, somewhere between the “Slave Coast” of West Africa (present-day Liberia) and the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern-day Benin). When the pre-colonial scramble for slaves replaced the earlier trade in gold, Fuller was snatched from his native land, sold as a slave, and brought to Colonial America in 1724, at age 14. Although considered “illiterate” because he could not read and write in English, he consistently demonstrated an unusual talent for solving complex math problems in his head. Northern Virginia planters, Presley and Elizabeth Cox, both of whom were also “illiterate,” quickly recognized his surprising abilities and put them to use in every phase of the management of their 232-acre plantation farm, about four miles from Alexandria, Virginia.

Working as a field slave for most of his adult life, it was generally believed that Fuller must have taught himself how to calculate early in life probably as a child in West Africa. In an environment where slaves were forbidden to learn to read and write, he explained his skill as coming from experimental applications around the farm such as counting the hairs in a cow’s tail or counting grains in bushels of wheat or flax seed. Allegedly, he also figured out a new way of multiplying how far apart objects were, wading into complex astronomy-related computations, now carried out by computer. Not surprisingly his owners refused numerous offers to purchase Fuller because they had come to depend on his amazing abilities to measure things with his mind, alone.

In 1780, when Fuller was 70 years old, a Pennsylvania businessman and a couple of associates, on hearing of his extraordinary genius, traveled to Alexandria to meet him. Out of curiosity, they asked a few questions. Two were noteworthy: (1) how many seconds were in a year and a half? And, (2) how many seconds had a man lived who is 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours old? When he correctly answered 47,304,000 and 2,210,500,800, respectively, in less than two minutes each time, one of the men objected, citing his own calculations were much smaller. Fuller quickly responded, “(Stop), Massa, you forget de leap year.” When the observer adjusted for the extra day every four years, they grudgingly accepted Fuller’s answer. Their observations of Fuller’s computational abilities were later submitted to the Abolitionist Society of Pennsylvania.

Fuller died on the Cox farm near Alexandria, Virginia in 1790. He was 80. The Columbian Centinel, a Boston, Massachusetts newspaper noted in its obituary of Fuller: “Thus died ‘Negro Tom,’ this self-taught arithmetician, this untutored Scholar! — Had his opportunities of improvement been equal to those of thousands of his fellow-men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of Science at Paris, nor even Newton himself, need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a Brother in Science.”

05/17/2023

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05/10/2023

05/02/2023

LaWanda Page (born Alberta Peal; October 19, 1920– September 14, 2002) was an American actress, comedian, and dancer whose career spanned six decades. Crowned "The Queen of Comedy" or "The Black Queen of Comedy". She released five solo albums, including the 1977 gold-selling Watch It, Sucker!. She also collaborated on two albums with comedy group Skillet, Leroy & Co.

As an actress, Page is best known for portraying the Bible-toting and sharp-tongued "Aunt" Esther Anderson in the popular television sitcom Sanford and Son, which originally aired from 1972 until 1977. Page later reprised this role in the short-lived television shows Sanford Arms (1976–1977) and Sanford (1980–1981). She also co-starred in the 1979 short-lived series Detective School. Throughout her career, Page advocated for fair pay and equal opportunities for Black performers.

Page was born Alberta Pealon in Cleveland, Ohio. Page knew from a young age that she wanted to work in show business: as she told Call and Post journalist Mary Lynn in 1975, Page was "born talented" and "never took a singing or dancing lesson". Growing up, Page danced at the Friendly Inn Settlement in Cleveland, a community center run by the Women's Christian Temperance Union. When she was young, her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Page attended Banneker Elementary School, where she met Redd Foxx (who portrayed Fred Sanford on Sanford and Son), who was two years her junior. Eventually, both entered the field of comedy separately and performed their own stage acts, working alongside each other on the Chitlin' Circuit and Foxx's TV sitcom Sanford and Son.

Page began her show business career at age 15 in St. Louis, where she learned how to fire dance. Swallowing fire, lighting matches and ci******es with her fingertips, and walking over flames were part of Page's entertaining bag of tricks. Billed as "The Bronze Goddess of Fire" or "LaWanda, the Flame Goddess", Page entertained small St. Louis nightclubs.

At some point, Page moved to Los Angeles, California. Once there, Page took a gig dancing and waiting tables at the Brass Rail Club for 15 years. She also toured her fire dancing act and made appearances at nightclubs across the country and world, including Canada, Brazil, and Japan.

According to an interview in the Philadelphia Tribune, Page did not like comedy at first, but a fellow Brass Rail Club employee and member of the comedy duo Skillet & Leroy saw Page's potential, telling her: "you can do comedy. As a matter of fact, if you don’t do comedy you can’t work here". Page toured the Chitlin' Circuit, where she shared stages with noted comedians such as Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor.

In 1977, Page appeared in an episode of The Love Boat titled "A Tasteful Affair; Oh, Dale!; The Main Event" alongside Sherman Hemsley. Page also appeared on several episodes of The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, and over the next two decades occasionally guest-starred in episodes of other popular television shows, including Amen, Martin, 227, Family Matters and Diff'rent Strokes.

She also had a cameo appearance in the 1995 movie Friday, stealing the opening scene with a one-liner, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), and a recurring role as Ms. Porter during the first season of the 1990s television sitcom, Martin.

04/27/2023

Black Heritage Commemorative Society for Rare and Mint-Condition Black American Stamps.

04/20/2023

04/20/2023

Did you know Cornrows were used to help slaves escape slavery?
Slaves used cornrows to transfer information and create maps to the north.

Since slaves were not allowed to read or write they had to pass information through cornrows.

It is believed to have originated in Colombia, South America where Benkos Bioho, in the late 1500’s came up with the idea to have women create maps & deliver messages through their cornrows. They were also called “canerows” to represent the sugarcane fields that slaves worked in.

One style had curved braids, tightly braided on their heads. The curved braids would represent the roads they would use to escape.
Also in their braids they kept gold and hid seeds which helped them survive after they escaped. They would use the seeds to plant crops once they were liberated.
Cornrows was the best way to not give back any suspicion to the owner. He would never figure out such a hairstyle would mean they would escape or the route they would take.

04/20/2023

MME. ABOMAH: "THE AFRICAN GIANTESS" WHO WAS ONCE THE TALLEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD

Ella Williams (Mme Abomah) was once the world`s tallest lady in the late 1800`s and early 1900`s. She was reputed to be 7ft 6inch giantess. Though she was born in South Carolina in USA, her show manager claimed she was born In Dahomey (now Republic of Benin).

Born in South Carolina in Oct. of 1865, Ella Grigsby narrowly missed being born a slave as the 13th Amendment to the U.S Constitution was ratified only 10 months previous. Ella came to work for Elihu and Harriet Williams when as a teenager. Because Grigsby was the family name of her parent's slave holders, Ella took the Williams surname as her own.

Abomah claimed none of her other siblings were unusually large and she had been contacted by various vaudeville and circus promoters to sign a contract and tour as a giantess, but always refused. However, while working as a cook in her native South Carolina, she agreed to be hired by Frank C. Bostock for a tour of the British Isles in 1896.

The "tour" that Frank Bostock signed Ella up for was a tour of the British Isles. Bostock understood that Ella's act would not go over well in her native country. Racism in Europe was not as pronounced as in the States so Miss Williams was ultimately to find greater success on foreign soil.

Bostock at the time mixed a little fact with fiction in promoting his act. He gave Williams the stage name Abomah, a name which came from Abomey, the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). He further promoted Abomah as being a member of one of the legendary Dahomey Amazons, the all-female fighting force that existed around the time.

“One of King Dahomey’s Amazons who has been brought over to England for show purposes is a giantess indeed. Her height is eight feet, and she is both broad and muscular,” he used to say, according to the American press.

Abomah’s manager knew that in Europe, his strong and beautiful African Giantess would definitely be given massive audience. Over the course of her 30 year career Abomah was to tour not only Britain but most of continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South America, and Cuba.

Abomah also had very expensive and extensive clothing, making the Amazon Giantess always appear elegant and royal.

When Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914, Abomah cancelled her tours and came back to the US in March 1915. She worked for Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey and at Coney Island. Abomah was still doing shows in the 1920’s before she left the scene.

04/20/2023

A four-part Netflix documentary executive produced by US actress Jada Pinkett Smith is drawing criticism on social media for its portrayal of Cleopatra by a Black actress.

Detractors on TikTok and Twitter are criticizing the upcoming documentary, which stars actress Adele James as Egypt's queen and is set to premiere on May 10.

Cleopatra VII (Cleopatra VII) Prior to Roman rule, Egypt was ruled by Philopathor. Historians believe she is a descendant of Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general who ruled Egypt during Alexander the Great's empire.
What are your ideas about this one?

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04/12/2023

Sarah Rector Was Just 11-Years Old When She Became the Richest Girl in America in 1913

Rector was born in 1902 in Taft, Oklahoma. She came from very humble beginnings, but later became the wealthiest Black girl in the country at the young age of 11. Her family were African American members of the Muscogee Creek Nation in Indian Territory.

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Her grandparents had been enslaved by Creek Tribe members, but after the Civil War, they were entitled to land allotments under the Dawes Allotment Act of 1887. When Indian territory integrated with Oklahoma territory to form the state of Oklahoma in 1907, hundreds of Black children referred to back then as “Creek Freedmen minors,” were each granted 160 acres of land.

Rector's allotment was located in the middle of the Glenn Pool oil field and was initially valued at about $550. In 1911, her father decided to lease his daughter’s piece of land to a major oil company to help pay for the property taxes. And then in 1913, everything changed.

According to Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America by Tonya Bolden, an independent driller struck oil that started bringing in 2,500 barrels or 105,000 gallons per day. Rector, still being the owner of the land, began earning more than $300 a day (the equivalent of about $7,500 a day in our time).

Suddenly, she began getting a lot of national attention from newspapers all over the country. For example, The Kansas City Star published the headline, “Millions to a Negro Girl – Sarah Rector, 10-Year Old, Has Income of $300 A Day From Oil.” Meanwhile, another newspaper, The Savannah Tribune, published the headline, “Oil Well Produces Neat Income – Negro Girl’s $112,000 A Year.”

Rector quickly became famous and naturally started receiving all kinds of request for loans, donations, and even marriage proposals.

Sadly though, there was a law at the time that required wealthy Native Americans and African Americans who were citizens of Indian Territory to be assigned a “well-respected” white guardian. As a result, Rector’s guardianship was turned over to a white man named T.J. Porter.

But reportedly W.E.B. Du Bois and the NAACP got involved to protect her wealth and well-being, and were able to successfully do so. She later went on to own one of the first Black-owned auto dealerships in the country, and reportedly enjoyed her wealth until the day she died.

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04/11/2023

A brief interesting about African Moors

African Moors from North Africa conquered and ruled Spain 🇪🇸 for 781 years! They ruled Spain from 711-1492.
They passed through Morocco and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to enter Iberian Peninsula, Spain.
African Moors built universities and mosques in Spain. They also made huge contributions to Mathematics, Medicine, Chemistry, Philosophy, Astronomy, Botany, Masonry and History.

04/06/2023