Monday, February 23, 2009

Monday's Moment: W.E.B. Dubois


William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American civil rights activist, leader, Pan-Africanist, sociologist, educator, historian, writer, editor, poet, and scholar. He became a naturalized citizen of Ghana in 1963 at the age of 95.
On Feb. 23, 1868, W. E. B. Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Mass., where he grew up. During his youth he did some newspaper reporting. In 1884 he graduated as valedictorian from high school. He got his bachelor of arts from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., in 1888, having spent summers teaching in African American schools in Nashville's rural areas. In 1888 he entered Harvard University as a junior, took a bachelor of arts cum laude in 1890, and was one of six commencement speakers. From 1892 to 1894 he pursued graduate studies in history and economics at the University of Berlin on a Slater Fund fellowship. He served for 2 years as professor of Greek and Latin at Wilberforce University in Ohio.

In 1891 Du Bois got his master of arts and in 1895 his doctorate in history from Harvard. His dissertation, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, was published as No. 1 in the Harvard Historical Series. This important work has yet to be surpassed. In 1896 he married Nina Gomer, and they had two children.
In 1896-1897 Du Bois became assistant instructor in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. There he conducted the pioneering sociological study of an urban community, published as The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899). These first two works assured Du Bois's place among America's leading scholars.
Du Bois's life and work were an inseparable mixture of scholarship, protest activity, and polemics. All of his efforts were geared toward gaining equal treatment for black people in a world dominated by whites and toward marshaling and presenting evidence to refute the myths of racial inferiority.
As Racial Activist
In 1905 Du Bois was a founder and general secretary of the Niagara movement, an African American protest group of scholars and professionals. Du Bois founded and edited the Moon (1906) and the Horizon (1907-1910) as organs for the Niagara movement. In 1909 Du Bois was among the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and from 1910 to 1934 served it as director of publicity and research, a member of the board of directors, and editor of the Crisis, its monthly magazine.
In the Crisis, Du Bois directed a constant stream of agitation--often bitter and sarcastic--at white Americans while serving as a source of information and pride to African Americans. The magazine always published young African American writers. Racial protest during the decade following World War I focused on securing anti-lynching legislation. During this period the NAACP was the leading protest organization and Du Bois its leading figure.
In 1934 Du Bois resigned from the NAACP board and from the Crisis because of his new advocacy of an African American nationalist strategy: African American controlled institutions, schools, and economic cooperatives. This approach opposed the NAACP's commitment to integration. However, he returned to the NAACP as director of special research from 1944 to 1948. During this period he was active in placing the grievances of African Americans before the United Nations, serving as a consultant to the UN founding convention (1945) and writing the famous "An Appeal to the World" (1947).
Du Bois was a member of the Socialist party from 1910 to 1912 and always considered himself a Socialist. In 1948 he was cochairman of the Council on African Affairs; in 1949 he attended the New York, Paris, and Moscow peace congresses; in 1950 he served as chairman of the Peace Information Center and ran for the U.S. Senate on the American Labor party ticket in New York. In 1950-1951 Du Bois was tried and acquitted as an agent of a foreign power in one of the most ludicrous actions ever taken by the American government. Du Bois traveled widely throughout Russia and China in 1958-1959 and in 1961 joined the Communist party of the United States. He also took up residence in Ghana, Africa, in 1961.
Pan-Africanism
Du Bois was also active in behalf of pan-Africanism and concerned with the conditions of people of African descent wherever they lived. In 1900 he attended the First Pan-African Conference held in London, was elected a vice president, and wrote the "Address to the Nations of the World." The Niagara movement included a "pan-African department." In 1911 Du Bois attended the First Universal Races Congress in London along with black intellectuals from Africa and the West Indies.
Du Bois organized a series of pan-African congresses around the world, in 1919, 1921, 1923, and 1927. The delegations comprised intellectuals from Africa, the West Indies, and the United States. Though resolutions condemning colonialism and calling for alleviation of the oppression of Africans were passed, little concrete action was taken. The Fifth Congress (1945, Manchester, England) elected Du Bois as chairman, but the power was clearly in the hands of younger activists, such as George Padmore and Kwame Nkrumah, who later became significant in the independence movements of their respective countries. Du Bois's final pan-African gesture was to take up citizenship in Ghana in 1961 at the request of President Kwame Nkrumah and to begin work as director of the Encyclopedia Africana.
As Scholar
Du Bois's most lasting contribution is his writing. As poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, sociologist, historian, and journalist, he wrote 21 books, edited 15 more, and published over 100 essays and articles. Only a few of his most significant works will be mentioned here.
From 1897 to 1910 Du Bois served as professor of economics and history at Atlanta University, where he organized conferences titled the Atlanta University Studies of the Negro Problem and edited or co-edited 16 of the annual publications, on such topics as The Negro in Business (1899), The Negro Artisan (1902), The Negro Church (1903), Economic Cooperation among Negro Americans (1907), and The Negro American Family (1908). Other significant publications were The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches (1903), one of the outstanding collections of essays in American letters, and John Brown (1909), a sympathetic portrayal published in the American Crisis Biographies series.
Du Bois also wrote two novels, The Quest of the Silver Fleece (1911) and Dark Princess: A Romance (1928); a book of essays and poetry, Darkwater: Voices from within the Veil (1920); and two histories of black people, The Negro (1915) and The Gift of Black Folk: Negroes in the Making of America (1924).
From 1934 to 1944 Du Bois was chairman of the department of sociology at Atlanta University. In 1940 he founded Phylon, a social science quarterly. Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 (1935), perhaps his most significant historical work, details the role of African Americans in American society, specifically during the Reconstruction period. The book was criticized for its use of Marxist concepts and for its attacks on the racist character of much of American historiography. However, it remains the best single source on its subject.
Black Folk, Then and Now (1939) is an elaboration of the history of black people in Africa and the New World. Color and Democracy: Colonies and Peace (1945) is a brief call for the granting of independence to Africans, and The World and Africa: An Inquiry into the Part Which Africa Has Played in World History (1947; enlarged ed. 1965) is a major work anticipating many later scholarly conclusions regarding the significance and complexity of African history and culture. A trilogy of novels, collectively entitled The Black Flame (1957, 1959, 1961), and a selection of his writings, An ABC of Color (1963), are also worthy.
Du Bois received many honorary degrees, was a fellow and life member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He was the outstanding African American intellectual of his period in America.
Du Bois died in Ghana on Aug. 27, 1963, on the eve of the civil rights march in Washington, D.C. He was given a state funeral, at which Kwame Nkrumah remarked that he was "a phenomenon."

Friday, February 20, 2009

Flashback Friday: Shai- If I Ever Fall in Love Again

Let me apologize for not posting yesterday. I had a very long and offensive day and was frankly, too tired and lazy to post anything last night. I'll double up next week though.

So I'm dedicating this week's Flashback Friday to everybody who remembers their first crush. Remember passing the note around: Do you like me? _ Yes _ No _Maybe. What da hell was up with "Maybe" anyway? I don't want no Maybe. I don't believe in indecisiveness. Give me a straight up answer so I can stop wasting my time, eraseable ink and my momma's money that she spent to buy the paper I wrote this note on.

Anyway.... Here's the video below. If you want to watch the real video, click here!


Shoutout to all my HU Alums!


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

WTF Wednesday: Do the Halle Berry!!!!!

Yes that's right do the Halle Berry. As if we didn't have enough dumb shit to dance to, some clowns have created the Halle Berry. If this aint the most IG'NANT mess I've seen in a while. It reminds me a cross dressing Kappa Stroll with all these mirrors and posing. Dudes if I ever see you do this in the club, I'm gonna punch you in the throat!!








Before I go.... I must comment on this video. People... should you decide to post your life on the world wide web via YouTube or any other video-based website. Please clean up yo damn room!! Its so much going on with this video. Why don't you have any damn curtains?!?! Take yo momma's J.C. Penney sheets off the damn wall. Why are there clothes and shoes everywhere?? Please invest in some chester drawers or a trunk (Yes I said Chester drawers!).... THANKS! Next issue... make up your damn beds! I really hope y'all ain't sharing a room, but if so... that is still not an excuse for this dirty @$$ room! DO BETTER.

I'm done people.... This is my WTF Wednesday!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

T-shirt Tuesdays: Puffy... the career reducer!!



Today's t-shirt is dedicated to none other than Sean "Puffy Poppy Diddy Pop" Combs. So I was watching this video on YouTube about how Puffy was considered "poison" to every musical artist he managed. Puffy's "Midas Touch" has turned hopeful and talented artists into "rusted" visions of the past.

Allow me to go through the Bad Boy Roster of the Grim Reaper himself:





  • Mase- Diddy's side kick rapper turned preacher turned gangsta.

  • Craig Mack- Once known for "kicking new flavor in ya ear", Mack's was apparently found working at a gas station a few years ago.

  • Notorious B.I.G.- Although we all know, love, and appreciate the music of Biggie. Puffy has made more money off him dead than when he was alive.
  • Total- The ladies known as Kima, Keisha, and Pam blessed us with "Kissing you" and "Can't you see" and then fell into the black hole of Bad Boy Artists.




  • 112- Bad Boyz staple R&B Group, whose baby making Albums "Room 112" and "Part III"


  • Carl Thomas- Carl's first album may possibly be the best R & B and sex soundtrack ever and its a shame Puffy ruined such great talent.

  • Boyz in the Hood- Victims of Puffy's Bad Boy South... At least Jeezy was smart enough to see the signs and escape.

  • Cassie- Diddy's talent deprived Jumpoff. He gassed her up and got her thinking she can sing.

  • Cheri Dennis- I have no idea why this chick is still on Bad Boy. She's been on the label for 10 years and has only released 1 album that has barely sold anything. Cheri... take my advice and run.

              • DA BAND- Don't we miss Dylan, Babs, and the rest of them. And for the record, I'd be damn if I walk across the city to get some damn cheesecake and Cambodian breast milk. (shout out to Dave Chappelle)

              • Day 26- Another one of Diddy's crappy bands that wont last. I wish he would stop making bands.

              • Elephant Man- How in hell this came about, I have no idea. Anytime you go to Diddy to help your career... you are a hopeless!

              • Gorilla Zoe- Jezzy's replacement for Boyz in the Hood... Lets hope he finds a way to make some money.

              • Danity Kane-Diddy's female vocalist group who managed to make some fame and sell some records. Too bad he's making them coon for him on these remix Band shows and they aren't getting any money.

              • Yung Joc- As much as I love my ATL music... Joc does nothing for me... so his contribution to music is not appreciated.

              • Mario Winans- The heathen child of the Winans family who decided to pursue secular music instead of gospel like the rest of his family.

              • Faith- The First Lady of Hip Hop has fallen off the earth musically, but has recently released a new book. Maybe we can get an album from you soon.


              • Black Rob- His career disappeared like WHOA!




              • The L.O.X.- Whatever Puffy did to the LOX to make them so bitter, I have no idea. Just dont ask these men to wear anymore shiny suits.

              • G-Dep- This "Child of the Ghetto" came onto the scene with his "Special Delivery" and was FedEx'd out the planet.

              • Loon- Mase's long lost brother once hoped to help revive Bad Boy. Fell into the black hole and disappeared.

              • New Edition- In a failed attempt to revive their career.... they called on Puffy to play Captain Save 'Em. Unfortunately for them, New Edition just isn't the same w/o Bobby Brown naked and grinding on the stage.






              So with that said..... Diddy... stop RAPING your artists. That is Bitchassness.. which by the way is not a real damn word.




              Stay tuned for next week's T-shirt victim.

              Monday, February 16, 2009

              Monday's Moment: Garrett Augustus Morgan

              Inventor, born in Paris, Kentucky, USA. Born into poverty and with only a fifth-grade education, he moved to Cleveland, OH and worked as a sewing-machine mechanic. By 1907 he had a patent for an improved sewing machine and began his own sewing machine business. In 1909 he discovered a substance that straightened hair (temporarily) and by selling it to African-Americans through his own G A Morgan Hair Refining Co, he achieved the financial security to allow him to pursue his other interests. He patented a ‘breathing device’ (1914), a hood that allowed the wearer to breathe safely in the presence of smoke, gases, and other pollutants. He worked hard to market this device, especially to fire departments, and often himself demonstrated its reliability in fires. In the South, where there was resistance to buying such a device made by an African-American, he demonstrated as an Indian, Big Chief Mason, and in a famous tunnel accident in Cleveland (1916), where he rescued several men, he was denied a medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund. In World War 1 his hood was adopted and then adapted to serve as a gas mask. He patented his automatic traffic signal (1923) and sold it to the General Electric Co. In the 1920s he collaborated in starting a newspaper for African-Americans, the Cleveland Call (later the Call and Post). He was also active in the Cleveland Association of Colored Men and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

              Ps. Garrett Morgan was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

              Renovations

              Okay people... I know I've been "slippin on my pimpin" lately with my blogging. I am issuing my new line up in the blogging series.

              Monday's Moments- Weekend recap followed by significant historical events.

              T-Shirt Tuesdays- Those of you who know me, know I buy random t-shirts from my travels as souvenirs and I often come up with my own T-shirts that capture my random and mildly offensive thoughts. T-shirt Tuesdays will start as my launchpad for capturing the stupidity of my victims.

              WTF Wednesdays- I am putting people on blast for the dumb 'ish people say (and do) without thinking it out all the way through.

              Trash Talkin' Thursdays- I've decided Thursday's will be my day to talk trash about politics. Be advised... My opinions are harsh and real.

              Flashback Fridays- I'm an 80's baby and big fan of the 90s. I'm taking it back to pay homage to our fallen soldiers who fell victim to Y2K.