New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

15/06/2024

issy Elliott & Her Mother Patricia Elliott 🖤

12/06/2024

12/06/2024

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Africa to promoting Bad Boys 4 (it’s just for laughs)

09/06/2024

The branding of the syrup was a tribute to this woman’s gifts and talents. Now future generations will not even know this beautiful black woman existed.
The world knew her as “Aunt Jemima”, but her given name was Nancy Green and she was a true American success story.
She was born a slave in 1834 Montgomery County, KY. and became a wealthy superstar in the advertising world, as its first living trademark.
Green was 56-yrs old when she was selected as spokesperson for a new ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour and made her debut in 1893 at a fair and exposition in Chicago.
She demonstrated the pancake mix and served thousands of pancakes, and became an immediate star.
She was a good storyteller, her personality was warm and appealing, and her showmanship was exceptional.
Her exhibition booth drew so many people that special security personnel were assigned to keep the crowds moving. Nancy Green was signed to a lifetime contract, traveled on promotional tours all over the country, and was extremely well paid.
Her financial freedom and stature as a national spokesperson enabled her to become a leading advocate against poverty and in favor of equal rights for all Americans.
She maintained her job until her death in 1923, at age 89. This was a remarkable woman, and sadly she has been ERASED by politics. I wanted you to know and remind you in this cancel culture time period

08/06/2024

Sadie Alexander came from a family with a rich history of academic achievement. Her father was the first black American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. One uncle was the first black American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and another became the Dean of Education at Howard University. She would follow the lineage, becoming the first black American to earn a Ph.D. in Economics and the first black American woman to earn a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, among other notable academic achievements.
But while she would achieve many firsts in education, Sadie's lasting legacy stemmed from her impactful work as a lawyer and economist, where she fought for equal rights while taking an ardent, vocal stance on the importance of black Americans' achievements and contributions to the nation's progress. This latter effort came at a particularly important time in U.S. history, as the eugenics movement, which aimed in part to show the inferiority of black Americans, had gained popularity.
Though she wouldn't achieve the same fame, some described Sadie as one of the most important civil rights leaders in modern history, mentioning her amongst people such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., and Sojourner Truth.

07/06/2024

Sarah Boone was a dressmaker who sought to improve the ironing process of form-fitting styles that were typical of the early 1890s. Designers were originally pressing their garments on a wooden plank across two chairs. The ironing board, on the other hand, features a narrow end perfect for slipping into sleeves to keep the garment in
place, padding to prevent impressions from the wood & collapsable legs for easy storage. Born to slaves, Boone earned her freedom when she got married & fled to Connecticut. In her 40s, she taught herself to read & write at church, which is how she was able to apply for the patent."
Sarah was an American inventor best known for her patented improvements to the ironing board. She was one of the first black women to receive a patent in United States history.
Boone’s legacy was her improved ironing board. The ironing board had first been patented in 1858 and circulated into common usage in the times that followed. Boone’s improvement was patented on April 26, 1892, as U.S. Patent 473,653.
The patent described the new invention as “particularly adapted to be used in ironing the sleeves and bodies of ladies’ garments.” It accomplished this by taking the previously rigid design of the board and curving the edges slightly, to account for the seams inlaid in most women’s clothing at the time. It was sized to that of the typical sleeve of contemporary clothes. The text of the patent hints at a possible variation that would be better suited for men’s clothing. The board also used a support system to flip the garment to its other side, enabling the user to iron both sides of a sleeve. This meant that the ironing of one side would not be undone by the ironing of the other side.
Boone was born enslaved in Craven County, North Carolina in 1832, as Sarah Marshall. She married James Boone in 1847, with whom she had eight children. Shortly after the marriage, the couple were freed.

06/06/2024

On this day in 2016, Singer, songwriter, & record producer Prince passed away. Gone but not forgotten!
“Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” —Prince

06/06/2024

A rare photo of comedian
Redd Foxx with his older brother Fred G. Sanford Jr.
Redd Foxx made sure that the executives for the show Sanford and Son allowed him to name his character so that he could honor the memory of his brother, Fred, who'd died before the show premiered.

05/06/2024

Lula Mae Hardaway, was a songwriter and mother of musical genius 'Stevie Wonder. She co-wrote many of Stevie's songs during the early years of his career. She was co-nominated for the 1970 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for co-writing 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
—Lula was born Jan 11th 1930 in Eufaula, Alabama but spent her early adult life in Saginaw, Michigan before moving to Los Angeles in 1975 where she remained until her passing on May 31st 2006.
She co-wrote several of her son's songs, including "I Was Made To Love Her", "Signed Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours", "You Met Your Match" and "I Don't Know Why I Love You". Two of these tracks also appeared on Stevie's 1968 album "For Once In My Life" and another two, ""I Wanna Make Her Love Me" and "Ain't No Lovin'", were also co-penned by Lula.
For co-writing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered", she was co-nominated for the 1970 Grammy Award For Best R&B Song.

05/06/2024

Joseph Phillipe Lemercier Laroche, the only passenger of known African ancestry who died on the Titanic, was born on May 26, 1889 in Cap Haiten, Haiti. He was the son of a white French army captain and a Haitian woman who was a descendant of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the first ruler of independent Haiti. Laroche’s uncle, Dessalines M. Cincinnatus, was president of Haiti from 1911 to 1912.
—Joseph Laroche grew up among the privileged upper class in Haiti and received his early education from private tutors. Fluent in French and English, he decided on a career in engineering and at the age of 15 traveled to Beauvais, France with his teacher Monsignor Kersuzan, the Lord Bishop of Haiti, for his training. He attended classes in Beauvais and Lille, France, and received his certificate in engineering in 1907.
—Laroche married Juliette Marie Louise Lafargue, the daughter of a widowed Paris wine merchant in 1908. They had two daughters, Simonne, born on February 19, 1909, and Marie Louise, on July 2, 1910. Although Laroche worked briefly on the Paris Metro line, he had great difficulty finding and keeping a job in France due to racial discrimination. As a consequence the new family was forced to reside with Juliette’s father. Their youngest child, Marie Louise, had medical problems which also strained the family’s finances and by 1912 they were expecting a third child. This situation led Laroche to decide to return to Haiti where he believed his family’s political connections would guarantee a handsome income for his work.
—Laroche’s mother sent the family tickets to return to Haiti aboard the La France. However, the ocean liner’s policy banning children dining with their parents in the dining room led Laroche to exchange their first class tickets for the La France for second class tickets on the R.M.S. Titanic.
—On April 10, 1912, Laroche and his family boarded the Titanic from the harbor of Grande Rade near Fort de l’Quest. The Laroches enjoyed the opulent amenities of the ship, dining in the same dining room as its first-class passengers. However, they were subjected to stares and some insults from fellow passengers and crew who frowned upon their in*******al marriage. After the sinking of the Titanic, the White Star Line extended a public apology for the racism exhibited by its crew members toward its non-white passengers including Laroche.
—As the ship sank in the early morning of April 15, Laroche stuffed the pockets of his coat with money and jewels and took his wife and children up to the boat deck. He wrapped the coat around his wife, and his last words to her were: “Here, take this, you are going to need it. I’ll get another boat. God be with you. I’ll see you in New York.”
—Joseph Laroche died in the sinking of the Titanic. His body was never recovered. His wife Juliette returned to Paris with her daughters and gave birth to their son, Joseph Lemercier Laroche on December 17, 1912.

01/06/2024

A Family of Mississippian Indians!
And they’re fly!
Salute the real American Indians

31/05/2024

Lest We Forget: May 29, 1851, Sojourner Truth delivered her famous speech, "Ain't I a Woman?", at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio...
In 1851, Truth joined George Thompson, an abolitionist and speaker, on a lecture tour through central and western New York State. In May, she attended the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio where she delivered her famous extemporaneous speech on women's rights, later known as "Ain't I a Woman". The convention was organized by Hannah Tracy and Frances Dana Barker Gage, who both were present when Truth spoke. Different versions of Truth's words have been recorded, with the first one published a month later by Marius Robinson, a newspaper owner and editor who was in the audience. Robinson's recounting of the speech included no instance of the question "Ain't I a Woman?" Twelve years later in May 1863, Gage published another, very different, version. In it, Truth's speech pattern had characteristics of Southern slaves, and the speech included sentences and phrases that Robinson didn't report. Gage's version of the speech became the historic standard, and is known as "Ain't I a Woman?" because that question was repeated four times. Truth's own speech pattern was not Southern in nature, as she was born and raised in New York, and spoke only Dutch until she was nine years old.
In contrast to Robinson's report, Gage's 1863 version included Truth saying her 13 children were sold away from her into slavery. Truth is widely believed to have had five children, with one sold away, and was never known to boast more children. Gage's 1863 recollection of the convention conflicts with her own report directly after the convention: Gage wrote in 1851 that Akron in general and the press in particular were largely friendly to the woman's rights convention, but in 1863 she wrote that the convention leaders were fearful of the "mobbish" opponents. Other eyewitness reports of Truth's speech told a calm story, one where all faces were "beaming with joyous gladness" at the session where Truth spoke; that not "one discordant note" interrupted the harmony of the proceedings. In contemporary reports, Truth was warmly received by the convention-goers, the majority of whom were long-standing abolitionists, friendly to progressive ideas of race and civil rights. In Gage's 1863 version, Truth was met with hisses, with voices calling to prevent her from speaking.
=================================
"Ain't I a Woman?" by Sojourner.
"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 at 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 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 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? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or Negroes' 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."

31/05/2024

PICTURE OF MORGAN FREEMAN WHEN HE WAS 18-YEARS-OLD
Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) graduated high school in 1955, but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to enlist in the United States Air Force and served as an Automatic Tracking Radar Repairman, rising to the rank of Airman 1st Class. He served from 1955 to 1959.

27/05/2024

Photo of 21-year-old Alfre Woodard in a Boston University production of Thesmophoriazousae in 1974.
Alfre Woodard (born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and two Grammy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century". She is a board member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Woodard was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was a cheerleader in high school. Woodard attended Bishop Kelley High School, a private Catholic school in Tulsa, graduating from there in 1970. She studied drama at Boston University, from which she graduated.
Woodard began her acting career in theater. After her breakthrough role in the Off-Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Su***de / When the Rainbow Is Enuf (1977). She received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in Cross Creek (1983). She earned a BAFTA Award for Best Actress nomination for her role in Clemency (2019).
Woodard's notable films include Grand Canyon (1991), Passion Fish (1992), Heart and Souls (1993), Crooklyn (1994), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Primal Fear (1996), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Down in the Delta (1998), Love & Basketball (2000), Beauty Shop (2005), Something New (2006), The Family That Preys (2008), 12 Years a Slave (2013), and Juanita (2019). She voiced Sarabi in The Lion King (2019).
Woodard gained prominence for her television role as Dr. Roxanne Turner in the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1986, and for Guest Actress in 1988. She's received four Primetime Emmy Awards for her roles in the NBC drama series Hill Street Blues in 1984, the NBC series L.A. Law in 1987, the HBO film Miss Evers' Boys (1997), and The Practice in 2003. From 2005 to 2006, Woodard starred as Betty Applewhite in the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) she portrayed the "Black" Mariah Dillard Stokes in the Netflix series Luke Cage (2016–2018).
In 2021, Woodard starred opposite Kevin Hart in the drama film Fatherhood. She has also been cast in action thriller The Gray Man(2022) for Netflix. Woodard executive produced and co-starred in the CBC Television period drama miniseries The Porter. The series premiered on February 21, 2022.
On September 2, 2021, Woodard was cast in the film adaptation of Salem's Lot playing the role of Dr. Cody, and set to star alongside Morgan Freeman in Hate To See You Go. She starred opposite Blair Underwood in the thriller film Viral. She also starred in the epic film The Book of Clarence, set to be theatrically released on January 12, 2024, and the comedy film Summer Camp alongside Diane Keaton and Kathy Bates.
She is also known for her work as a political activist and producer. Woodard is a founder of Artists for a New South Africa, an organization devoted to advancing democracy and equality in that country.

25/05/2024

'DADDY'S LITTLE GIRLS' (REAL-LIFE SIBLINGS) THEN & NOW
16 YEARS LATER...Daddy's Little Girls is a 2007 American film written and directed by Tyler Perry and produced by Perry and Reuben Cannon. The film stars Idris Elba, Gabrielle Union, Louis Gossett Jr., and Tracee Ellis Ross. It tells the story of a lawyer who helps a mechanic(Monty) in a custody battle against his mean-spirited ex-wife over who will get custody of their daughters.
Pictured Left to Right:
➡Lauryn Alisa McClain (born January 7, 1997) is an American actress and singer. In 'Daddy's Little Girls,' she played Monty's middle daughter(Lauryn James). She is also known for Haunt (2019), 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020) and A.N.T. Farm (2011).
Lauryn was in her first school musical when she discovered her love for singing and acting. She was once a very, shy girl; however, her appearance in her 1st film, The Gospel, left her wanting more. So she put away her stage fright and picked up a guitar.
➡Sierra Aylina McClain (born March 16, 1994) is an American actress and singer. In 'Daddy's Little Girls,' she played Monty's oldest daughter(Sierra James). She had her breakthrough as Nessa Parker in Empire (2016–2018), and is also best known for starring as Tanya Clifton in the television series Mindhunter (2019). Her film roles have included starring as Tosha in the films Honey: Rise Up and Dance (2018), and as Carina in Shrink (2009). She is currently starring as Grace Ryder in 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020–present).
➡China Anne McClain (born August 25, 1998) is an American actress and singer. In 'Daddy's Little Girls,' she played Monty's youngest daughter(China James). Her career began when she was seven years old, portraying Alexis in the film The Gospel (2005). She received recognition for starring as Jazmine Payne in the television series Tyler Perry's House of Payne (2007–2012; 2020–present) and as Charlotte McKenzie in the film Grown Ups (2010); and became internationally known for starring as Chyna Parks in the Disney Channel television series A.N.T. Farm (2011–2014), and as Uma in the Disney Channel films Descendants 2 (2017) and Descendants 3 (2019). She also voiced Freddy in Descendants: Wicked World. In 2018, McClain began starring in The CW superhero series Black Lightning (2018–2021) as Jennifer Pierce / Lightning. She also reprised her character Jazmine Payne on OWN's revival of The Paynes (2018).
China began her musical career in 2005 as a member of the sister girl group the 3mcclaingirls with her sisters Sierra and Lauryn. Her first professional single was "Your Biggest Fan" with Nick Jonas on the soundtrack album Jonas L.A. (2010). In 2011, McClain signed with Hollywood Records both as a solo artist and with her sister girl group, known as the McClain Sisters. Her debut single as a solo artist was "Dynamite" which peaked at no. 2 on the US Kid Digital Songs, and her second single, "Calling All the Monsters", peaked at no. 1 on the same chart and earned 25,000 downloads within its first week of release. The A.N.T. Farm soundtrack album spent five weeks on the Billboard Kids chart in 2011 and sold 14,000 copies in its first week of release. Billboard also named her the sixth best-selling artist for digital kids' songs in 2012. In 2017, her single "What's My Name" from Descendants 2 peaked on several Billboard charts, and was certified gold, with 500,000 units sold, on November 10, 2017. In June 2020 her sister girl group changed their name to Thriii.
FAMILY
The McClain sisters comes from an artistic family. Their father, Michael McClain, is a music producer who produced Solange Knowles' debut album Solo Star (2002). Their mother, Shontell McClain, is a songwriter and former screenwriter.
They also have a brother named Gabriel McClain. He is an actor, known for Hubie Halloween (2020), Daddy's Little Girls (2007) and Thriii Feat. Messenger: My Sanity (2020).

25/05/2024

🤎 Last night, I reported to my gate to work a late flight. As the other attendants arrived, we realized we would be an all African American crew. Then, the First officer arrived … and lastly, the Captain. 🤯 We all looked around at each other and took in the moment. We quickly agreed that we’ve never seen this before, but thanks to the diversity in our airline, we’ll soon see it again. Our entire crew is African American!! Wow! 🙌🏾

24/05/2024

Juanita Moore (October 19, 1914 – January 1, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actress. She was the fifth black actor to be nominated for an Academy Award in any category, and the third in the Supporting Actress category at a time when only one black actor, Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind (1939), had won an Oscar. Her most famous role was ascthe mother, Annie Johnson, in the film Imitation of Life (1959).
Moore was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. Her family moved in the Great Migration to Los Angeles, where she was raised. Moore first performed as a dancer, part of a chorus line at the Cotton Club before becoming a film extra while working in theater.
Moore was the vice president of the Original Cambridge Players, who took a Los Angeles production of The Amen Corner to Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in April 1965. She was friends with Marlon Brando and James Baldwin. It was Moore who asked Brando to lend the funds ($75) to Baldwin to write the play.
After making her film debut in Double Deal (1939), Moore had a number of bit parts and supporting roles in motion pictures through the late 1930s and 1950s.
Moore's performance in the remake of Imitation of Life (1959) as black housekeeper Annie Johnson, whose daughter Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) passes for white, won her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for the role. When the two versions of Imitation of Life were released together on DVD (the earlier film was released in 1934), one of the bonus features was a new interview with Moore.
Moore continued to act for film and TV, with a role in Disney's The Kid (2000), and guest-starring roles on Dragnet, Adam-12, Marcus Welby, M.D., ER and Judging Amy.
On April 23, 2010, a new print of Imitation of Life (1959) was screened at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Los Angeles. Both Moore and co-star Kohner attended. After the screening, the two women appeared on stage for a question-and-answer session hosted by TCM's Robert Osborne. Moore and Kohner received standing ovations.
Moore was married for 50 years to Charles Burris, who died in 2001. He was a Los Angeles bus driver and they met when she stepped out in front of his approaching bus. She and Burris married a few weeks later.
Her grandson is actor/producer Kirk E. Kelleykahn, who is CEO/President of "Cambridge Players – Next Generation", a theatre troupe whose founding members included Moore.
Moore died at her home in Los Angeles on January 1, 2014, at age 99 of natural causes. She is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Moore's nephew, Arnett Moore, is determined to get his late aunt a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He says her spotlight is long overdue

22/05/2024

PHOTO OF A 17-YEAR-OLD LOUIS GOSSETT, JR. IN THE 1953 PLAY 'TAKE A GIANT STEP'
Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman, winning him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also won an Emmy Award for his role as Fiddler in the 1977 ABC television miniseries Roots.
Gossett was born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York City. Louis is the first cousin of actor Robert Gossett who starred on TNT's The Closer.
He is an alumnus of Mark Twain Intermediate School 239 and Abraham Lincoln High School. He initially focused on sports when he was in high school, but an injury that temporarily prevented him from playing basketball led him toward theatre. His stage debut came at the age of 17, in a school production of You Can't Take It with You.
His high school teacher had encouraged him to audition for a Broadway part, resulting in his selection for a starring role on Broadway in 1953 from among 200 other actors well before he entered NYU. Gossett replaced Bill Gunn as Spencer Scott in Broadway's Take a Giant Step, which was selected by The New York Times drama critics as one of the 10 best shows of the year. He was 17, and still a student at Abraham Lincoln High School, with no formal drama training.
After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1954, he attended New York University, declining an athletic scholarship. Standing 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall, he was offered the opportunity to play varsity basketball during his college years at NYU; he declined the basketball offer to concentrate on theater.
After college he was drafted by the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) but chose to fully dedicate himself to acting as a career.
Gossett's Broadway theatre credits also include A Raisin in the Sun (1959); he had his cinematic debut with the play's film adaptation in 1961.
Also in 1961, Gossett appeared in the original cast of Jean Genet's The Blacks, the longest running off-Broadway play of the decade, running for 1,408 performances. The original cast also featured James Earl Jones, Roscoe Lee Browne, Cicely Tyson, Godfrey Cambridge, Maya Angelou and Charles Gordone.
In 1965, Gossett appeared in the musical play The Zulu and the Zayda on Broadway as Paulus with music and lyrics by Harold Rome.
Gossett also wrote the antiwar folk song "Handsome Johnny" with Richie Havens; Havens recorded the song in 1966.
His Emmy Award-winning role of Fiddler in the 1977 television miniseries Roots first brought Gossett to the audience's attention. In 1983, he was cast in the title role in Sadat, a miniseries which chronicled the life and assassination of Anwar Sadat. While filming An Officer and a Gentleman, Gossett was also starring in the 1982–1983 science fiction series, The Powers of Matthew Star.
His role as drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman won him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was the first black male to win an Oscar in a supporting role, the second black male to win for acting, and the third black actor to win overall.
Gossett has had roles on several TV shows, including Good Times as Uncle Wilbert and Donald Knight (1974-1975); The Jeffersons as Wendell Brown (1975); The Six Million Dollar Man as O'Flaherty (1975); Police Story as Det. Virgil Barnes and Freddie (1975-1976); and The Rockford Files as Marcus Aurelius 'Gabby' Hayes and Marcus Aurelius Hayes / O'Brien (1976-1977).
Gossett has also starred in numerous other film productions including A Raisin in the Sun, The Landlord, Skin Game, Travels with My Aunt, The Laughing Policeman, The White Dawn, The Deep, Jaws 3-D, Wolfgang Petersen's Enemy Mine, The Principal, the Iron Eagle series, Toy Soldiers and The Punisher, in an acting career that spans over five decades.
In 2013, Gossett starred in the drama Boiling Pot. Gossett plays a detective attempting to decipher a murder case that was fueled by racism, all while putting aside his own prejudices.
In 2021, Gossett appears in the film Not To Forget (2021), which aims to raise awareness and funds for the fight against Alzheimer’s.

22/05/2024

Kim Hamilton (born Dorothy Mae Aiken; September 12, 1932 – September 16, 2013) was an American film and television actress, as well as a director, writer, and artist. Her career spanned more than half a century, from the early 1950s to 2010. Hamilton's early film credits included the 1959 film noir Odds Against Tomorrow opposite Harry Belafonte and The Leech Woman in 1960.She was also one of the first African-American actors to appear on the soap opera Days of Our Lives and was the only African-American to appear in a speaking role on Leave It to Beaver.
Hamilton portrayed, in an uncredited role, Helen Robinson in the 1962 film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, based on Harper Lee's novel of the same name. She was the film's last surviving African-American adult cast member with a speaking role.

22/05/2024

Sharecropper walking on railroad tracks carrying kids. Mississippi Delta 1936.
Public Domain

19/05/2024

When a student's uniform got torn at school, and the teacher decided to help her sew it she gave her a cloth to cover herself.

She didn't allow the child to go home like that because she is not only a teacher but a mother. This is called:- Ubuntu

Keep following Powerful Africa

17/05/2024

"When I sing, I don't want them to see that my face is black. I don't want them to see that my face is white. I want them to see my soul. And that is colorless." - Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the eldest of three sisters, born into a family of modest means. Though she experienced many challenges growing up, about her upbringing, Marian would say,

"It is easy to look back, self-indulgently, feeling pleasantly sorry for oneself and saying I didn't have this and I didn't have that. But it is only the grown woman regretting the hardships of a little girl who never thought they were hardships at all."

Early in those years, Marian exhibited a remarkable singing voice. But even with the generous financial support of her community, as her family didn't have the means, in what would become a theme throughout her career, because of racism she struggled to find teaching for someone of her talents. Finally, in 1919, Giuseppe Boghetti became a teacher and lifelong friend, helping Marian develop her skills and interest in performing opera.

By the 1920s, Marian was performing in major cities across the United States. Yet, despite her talent, racial prejudice often limited her opportunities. Marian chose to move to Europe, where she found greater acceptance during the 1930s. There, she refined her artistry, sang with major orchestras, and garnered acclaim. And the reputation she built in Europe set the stage for a triumphant, albeit tumultuous, return to the U.S., leading to one of the most significant events in Marian's career.

In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused her the opportunity to sing at Washington's Constitution Hall because of her race. This act of discrimination garnered national attention. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR in response, and an open-air concert was organized for Marian on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday. Over 75,000 people attended this historic performance.

Beyond this iconic performance, Marian continually used her platform to promote equality. In the 1950s and 60s, she collaborated with other civil rights leaders and performed at numerous events to benefit the movement. And in 1963, she sang at the March on Washington, an event that is considered to be one of the most significant in the civil rights movement.

Throughout her career, Marian received many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement. She passed away in 1993.