Most Powerful Women in DC

Elle Magazine named Susan Rice and Sheila Johnson among the 10 most powerful women in Washington.

Susan Rice
­Susan Rice, America’s ambassador to the United ­Nations, is a ­famously tough, ­forthright, and passionate advocate who, at 47, is ­already ­a ­veteran of nearly 20 years of foreign-policy and ­diplomatic ­service dating back to the first Clinton administration.

http://www.elle.com/Life-Love/Society-Career-Power/Capital-Dames-10-Powerful-Women-in-DC/Susan-Rice-10-Powerful-Women-in-DC-ELLE.com
More about Susan: http://www.biography.com/people/susan-e-rice-391616
http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2009/03/black-women-leading.html

Sheila Johnson 

For this 63-year-old entrepreneur—CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts, cofounder of BET—philanthropy is about “connecting the dots…combining it with whatever I’m doing”

http://www.elle.com/Life-Love/Society-Career-Power/Capital-Dames-10-Powerful-Women-in-DC/Sheila-Johnson-10-Powerful-Women-in-DC-ELLE.com
More about Sheila: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Johnson 

2011 Theme: African Americans in the Civil War

"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States."  

Frederick Douglass

Each year, Woodson established a national theme for the celebration of Black History. ASALH has continued this tradition annually.  This year's theme, African Americans aextended the celebration for the entire month of February.  Each year the theme is celebrated with a luncheon in February, a theme toolkit you can order online and the fall conference in which there are various papers and panels related to the conference.  Here's some more info related to this year's theme from ASALH:
PRESS RELEASE:  2011 National Black History Month Theme Announced:  Washington, DC – (December 1, 2010) The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is excited to announce the 2011 National Black History Month Theme as “African Americans and the Civil War.” This year’s commemoration continues the tradition of excellence started by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History, in 1915, in his vision of accurate historic documentation of the tremendous impact of African Americans amidst American history. Black History Month 2011 takes on even greater significance amidst the discoveries of erroneous text book accounts of history in Virginia and Texas. In the spirit of Dr. Woodson, ASALH will spend the month educating the nation on how Black soldiers took up arms to help free themselves and liberate a nation.  http://www.asalh.org/files/2011_Black_History_Theme_PR_01112011.pdf

AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE CIVIL WAR:  In 1861, as the United States stood at the brink of Civil War, people of African descent, both enslaved and free persons, waited with a watchful eye. They understood that a war between the North and the South might bring about jubilee--the destruction of slavery and universal freedom. When the Confederacy fired upon Fort Sumter and war ensued, President Abraham Lincoln maintained that the paramount cause was to preserve the Union, not end slavery. Frederick Douglass, the most prominent black leader, opined that regardless of intentions, the war would bring an end to slavery, America’s “peculiar institution.”

Over the course of the war, the four million people of African descent in the United States proved Douglass right. Free and enslaved blacks rallied around the Union flag in the cause of freedom. From the cotton and tobacco fields of the South to the small towns and big cities of the North, nearly 200,000 joined the Grand Army of the Republic and took up arms to destroy the Confederacy. They served as recruiters, soldiers, nurses, and spies, and endured unequal treatment, massacres, and riots as they pursued their quest for freedom and equality. Their record of service speaks for itself, and Americans have never fully realized how their efforts saved the Union. 

In honor of the efforts of people of African descent to destroy slavery and inaugurate universal freedom in the United States, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History has selected “African Americans and the Civil War” as the 2011 National Black History Theme. We urge all Americans to study and reflect on the value of their contributions to the nation.  http://www.asalh.org/Annual_National_Black_History_Theme.html

This theme is also the focus of the 85th Annual Black History Luncheon scheduled on Saturday, February 26, 2011 that will be held at the Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel on 999 9th Street NW; click on http://www.asalh.org/Annual_Luncheon.html.  ASALH encourages all Americans to study and reflect on the value of their contributions to  the nation.

Education, Inventions and Freedom

On November 20 in Black History

In 1865… Howard Seminary (later Howard University) founded in Washington, D.C. By 1867, liberal arts and medical programs were added to the university. Famous alumni include Thurgood Marshall, Phylicia Rashaad and Toni Morrison. Famous faculty include Dr. Charles Drew and Carter G. Woodson. The University continues to attract the nation’s top students and produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D.s than any other university in the world. www.howard.edu

In 1938… Morgan State University was founded on this date. The school actually began in 1867 as the Centenary Biblical Institute to train young men in ministry. In 1915, Andrew Carnegie gave the school a conditional grant of $50,000 for the central academic building. The university became public in 1939. Morgan is also a founding member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Morgan State experienced record student enrollment this year. www.morgan.edu

In 1923…Garrett Morgan invented and patented the traffic signal. He was successful and had invented the first human-hair straightener. He marketed the product under the name the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Cream. Morgan called it a Safety Hood and patented it as a Breathing Device, but the world came to know it as a Gas Mask. He also started a newspaper called the Cleveland Call. http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/garrettmorgan.html

In 1655…Zumbi, Afro-Brazilian abolitionist, soldier and leader in the resistance against the Portugese oppression, was beheaded. Zumbi was the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares, in the present-day state of Alagoas, Brazil. He was known or his physical prowess and cunning in battle and was a respected military strategist by the time he was in his early twenties. November 20 is celebrated, chiefly in Rio de Janeiro, as a day of national pride. The day has special meaning for Afro-Brazilians, who honor him as a hero, freedom fighter, and a symbol of freedom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumbi

Bust of Zumbi in Brasília. The plaque reads: "Zumbi dos Palmares, the black leader of all races."

Black Pioneers of the Pacific Northwest

"To those....obliged to exchange a cultured region for a howling wilderness, we recommend the western wilds....where the ploughshares of prejudice have been unable to penetrate the soil."

Turner's Safety-Valve and Free Negro Migration

Over the span of a century, the black population of Alaska, Oregon and Washington grew from 200,000 to 1.8 million due to a migration of blacks to the Pacific Northwest.


Oregon Black Pioneers 1780-1990

"A Negro may have a few more doors closed to him and he may find them a little harder to open, but he can open them, he must keep trying."

DeNorval Unthank (1899-1977)

Civil Rights Leader in Portland, Oregon

Why Oregon? Many Black people first moved to Oregon to escape racism and slavery in the east.
Challenges to Freedom: Slavery was illegal, however were "Black Laws" passed in Oregon by territorial authorities that severely restricted the rights of African-Americans. One such law was the Lash Law that required that blacks be beaten twice a year. The law was later changed to forced labor instead of beatings. Another law was passed that did not include the right to own land for black people. Other exclusion laws were passed and Oregon became the first state to be admitted into the Union with exlusion laws.
Stories:
DeNorval Unthank, doctor and civil rights activist, spent most of his life confronting social and institutional racism. After moving his family to an all white neighborhood in Portand, Oregon in 1929 and opening a private medical practice in Portland, he and his family were frequently targets of racial hostility with broken windows, threatening phone calls, etc. Refusing to submit to racism, he worked to overcome the economic and social barriers in Oregon.

In 1958, the Oregon Medical Society named him Doctor of the Year. For his role in bringing down racial barriers, the city of Portland named DeNorval Unthank Park in North Portland in his honor in 1969. Unthank was the recipient of several citizenship awards, the first African American member of the Portland City Club, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), cofounder of the Portland Urban League and sat on Oregon’s Committee for Equal Rights and the Council of Social Agencies.

Washington Black Pioneers 1830 - 1990
Why Washington? Many African-Americans first moved to Washington to escape the "Black Laws" passed in Oregon.

Challenges to Freedom: Could not vote
Stories:
George Bush, successful Missouri farmer, set out for Oregon and switched course to Washington when he learned that black exclusionary laws were passed. After settling in the first permanent settlement on the Puget Sound, Bush built the first grist mill and saw mill in 1846 and 1847. He also quickly established a fine farm on the prairie south of the Deschutes Falls. Their right to the homestead was challenged in 1850 when the Donation Land Claim Act provided free land exclusively to white settlers. A petition signed by fifty-five members of the first Territorial Legislature in 1854, and an Act of Congress the following year, allowed Bush and his wife the right to own their land. Bush, however, was never allowed to vote.

Alaska Black Pioneers 1860 - 1990

Why Alaska? Many African-Americans first moved to Alaska during gold rush and then as soldiers. The first African-Americans in Alaska were whalest and other seamen who settled following the Alaska Purchase in 1867. Many came after the 1897 discovery of gold in the Canadian Yukon. The US was in depression and the gold rush was hope. Many stayed after that.
In the 4 years during and after the gold rush, there were 158 members of the company of the 24th infaltry were stationed at Dyea and Skagway to help preserve laws and order. Many chose to stay in Alaska after.

Challenges to Freedom: Social Racism

Stories:
Bessie Couture became the first black business owner in Alaska when she opened the Balck and White Restaurant in Skagwag, Alaska.

Alaska Black Engineers - This African American-manned 95th Engineer Battalion (General Service) was formed in April 1941 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia as part of the U.S. Army buildup preceding World War II. This once forgotten group of African-American men were largely responsible for building the Alcan Highway.

"When America needed a highway through
The lads of black all ressed in brown
carved out a road from frozen ground
from dawson to delta junction
they hatched and chopped and froze their toes
to save America from its foes

Many a night they went to bed
with bodies black and blue and red
mosquitoes, black flies.....?
Hd bitten through their clothes and gotten through
in muck ad mire, brimstone and fire
Tthey buldozd thier way and didn't tire"
J. Roscoe Hurst, Poet

Birth of a Movement

On February 4, in Black History...

In 1974 on February 4, France abolishes slavery. The nation will have a lukewarm commitment to abolition and will, under Napoleon, reestablish slavery in 1802 along with the reinstitution of the "Code noir", prohibiting blacks, mulattoes and other people of color from entering French colonial territory or intermarrying with whites.

In 1913, on February 4 Rosa Parks, mother of the modern day civil rights movement was born. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks, age 42, refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Her action was not the first of its kind.  But unlike these previous individual actions of civil disobedience, Parks' action sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. 
Parks eventually received many honors ranging from the 1979 Spingarn Medal to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Her death in 2005 was a major story in the United States' leading newspapers. She was granted the posthumous honor of lying in honor at the Capitol Rotunda. 
In her autobiography, My Story, Mrs. Parks remarks on that day on the bus:
“People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in" in." 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_parks