Maya Angelou, John Lewis and Bill Russell Receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom

"the best of who we are and who we aspire to be" 
President Barack Obama

Today, President Obama honored fifteen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony at the White House. As the President said, “These outstanding honorees come from a broad range of backgrounds and they’ve excelled in a broad range of fields, but all of them have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place. I look forward to awarding them this honor.”The Nation’s highest civilian honor, the 2010 Medal of Freedom is presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.  The following individuals received the Presidential Medal of Honor Today:

•President George H. W. Bush - George Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States.
•Chancellor Angela Merkel - Angela Merkel is the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

•Congressman John Lewis - John Lewis is an American hero and a giant of the Civil Rights Movement.
•John H. Adams - John H. Adams co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council in 1970.
•Maya Angelou - Dr. Maya Angelou is a prominent and celebrated author, poet, educator, producer, actress, filmmaker, and civil rights activist, who is currently the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
•Warren Buffett - Warren Buffett is an American investor, industrialist, and philanthropist. He is one of the most successful investors in the world.

•Jasper Johns - American artist Jasper Johns has produced a distinguished body of work dealing with themes of perception and identity since the mid-1950s.

•Gerda Weissmann Klein - Gerda Weissmann Klein is a Jewish Holocaust survivor who has written several books about her experiences.
•Dr. Tom Little (Posthumous) - Dr. Tom Little was an optometrist who was brutally murdered on August 6, 2010, by the Taliban in the Kuran Wa Munjan district of Badakhshan, Afghanistan, along with nine other members of a team returning from a humanitarian mission to provide vision care in the remote Parun valley of Nuristan.

•Yo-Yo Ma - Yo-Yo Ma is considered the world’s greatest living cellist, recognized as a prodigy since the age of five whose celebrity transcends the world of classical music.

•Sylvia Mendez - Sylvia Mendez is a civil rights activist of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent.

•Stan Musial - Stan “The Man” Musial is a baseball legend and Hall of Fame first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. Musial played 22 seasons for the Cardinals from 1941 to 1963.

•Bill Russell - Bill Russell is the former Boston Celtics’ Captain who almost single-handedly redefined the game of basketball.

•Jean Kennedy Smith - In 1974, Jean Kennedy Smith founded VSA, a non-profit organization affiliated with the John F. Kennedy Center that promotes the artistic talents of children, youth and adults with disabilities.

•John J. Sweeney - John J. Sweeney is the current President Emeritus of the AFL-CIO, and served as President of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009.


Maya Angelou is an internationally acclaimed author and poet with over thirty books in print and has received three Grammy Awards for spoken word. Dr. Angelou serves as the Northern Coordinator for The Southern Christian Leadership Conference – she was appointed by the request of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Her Memoir, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” was published in 1970. She received a Pulitzer Prize Nomination in 1972 for “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Diiie.” Her poem, “On the Pulse of Morning,” was written at the request of William Jefferson Clinton for his Inauguration as the 42nd President of the United States and was presented on January 20, 1993. In 1993 Random House published her book “Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems for Women.” In 1995, her poem “A Brave and Startling Truth,” was recited at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
Maya Angelou has written plays, screenplays and performed as an actor in television programs, series and films, receiving an Emmy Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in the television series “Roots.” In 1998 Maya Angelou presented her directorial film debut for the film, “Down in the Delta.”
Maya Angelou is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and West African Fanti. With over 1,000,000 Facebook Fans, she is known as “the people’s poet” and her voice continues to reach across lines of age, race, sexual preference and religion. Maya Angelou champions diversity and her belief that “we are more alike than unalike.”  http://mayaangelouonpublicradio.com/bios/maya-angelou/

John Lewis is often called "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community" in America. His dedication to the highest ethical standards and moral principles has

He was born the son of sharecroppers on February 21, 1940, outside of Troy, Alabama. He grew up on his family's farm and attended segregated public schools in Pike County, Alabama. As a young boy, he was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which he heard on radio broadcasts. In those pivotal moments, he made a decision to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Ever since then, he has remained at the vanguard of progressive social movements and the human rights struggle in the United States.

As a student at American Baptist College, John Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. Lewis risked his life on those Rides many times by simply sitting in seats reserved for white patrons. He was also beaten severely by angry mobs and arrested by police for challenging the injustice of Jim Crow segregation in the South.  Check out EH Post here:  http://experiencinghistory.blogspot.com/2009/02/cowards-and-heroes.html
While still a young man, John Lewis became a nationally recognized leader. By 1963, he was dubbed one of the Big Six leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. (The others were Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer and Roy Wilkins). At the age of 23, he was an architect of and a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in August 1963.   Despite more than 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence.   In 1977, John Lewis was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to direct more than 250,000 volunteers of ACTION, the federal volunteer agency.

John Lewis holds a B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University, and he is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary, both in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been awarded over 50 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities throughout the United States.  Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards from imminent national and international institutions, including the Lincoln Medal from the historic Ford's Theatre, the Golden Plate Award given by the Academy of Excellence, the Preservation Hero award given by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Capital Award of the National Council of La Raza, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Non-Violent Peace Prize, the President's Medal of Georgetown University, the NAACP Spingarn Medal, the National Education Association Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award, and the only John F. Kennedy "Profile in Courage Award" for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. The Timberland Company has developed the John Lewis Award, which honors the Congressman's commitment to humanitarian service by acknowledging members of society who perform outstanding humanitarian work. And the company has established a John Lewis Scholarship Fund.
John Lewis authored his biography with writer Michael D'Orso, entitled Walking With The Wind: A Memoir of the Movement (June, 1998). http://johnlewis.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=31

Bill Russell is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A five-time winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and a twelve-time All-Star, Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won eleven NBA Championships during Russell's thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, Russell holds the record for the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships (1955, 1956). He also won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the U.S. national basketball team.

Russell is widely considered one of the best players in NBA history. Listed as between 6'9" (2.06 m) and 6'10" (2.08 m), Russell's shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' success. He also inspired his teammates to elevate their own defensive play. Russell was equally notable for his rebounding abilities. He led the NBA in rebounds four times and tallied 21,620 total rebounds in his career. He is one of just two NBA players (the other being prominent rival Wilt Chamberlain) to have grabbed more than fifty rebounds in a game. Though never the focal point of the Celtics' offense, Russell also scored 14,522 career points and provided effective passing.

Playing in the wake of pioneers like Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper, and Sweetwater Clifton, Russell was the first African American player to achieve superstar status in the NBA. He also served a three-season (1966–69) stint as player-coach for the Celtics, becoming the first African American NBA coach.[1] Frequent battles with racism left Russell with a long-standing contempt for fans and journalists. When he retired, Russell left Boston with a bitter attitude, although in recent years his relationship with the city has improved. Russell is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was selected into NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971, into NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980 and named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, one of only four players that selected into all three teams. In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2009, the NBA announced that the NBA Finals MVP trophy would be named the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in honor of Russell.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Russell

http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/feb/15/winston-salems-maya-angelou-received-medal-freedom-ar-785837/?sc_cid=WSJ-NEWS-PMDlyNews
http://m.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/02/15/watch-live-president-obama-honors-presidential-medal-freedom-recipients

From Fugitive Slave to Citizen

On February 15 in Black History...

Black Abolitionists Invade Boston Courtroom and Rescue Shadrach Minkins, a Fugitive Slave

On Saturday morning, February 15, 1851, two officers posing as customers at Taft’s Cornhill Coffee House seized the waiter Shadrach Minkins, a “stout, copper-colored man,” who had escaped from slavery in Virginia and settled in Boston. Minkins was taken to the nearby courthouse for a hearing. Lawyers Robert Morris, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Ellis Gray Loring and Samuel E. Sewall offered their services as Minkins’ counsel. They immediately filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the Supreme Judicial Court seeking Minkins' release from custody.

Lemuel Shaw, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, refused to consider the defense’s habeas corpus petition. Later, a crowd of black and white abolitionists entered the courthouse, overcame armed guards and forced their way into the courtroom.

In a chaotic struggle, black abolitionists arrested Minkins from his court officers, carried him off and temporarily hid him in a Beacon Hill attic. From there, Boston black leaders Lewis Hayden, John J. Smith and others helped Minkins escape from Massachusetts, and he eventually found his way to Canada on the Underground Railroad. On an order from President Millard Fillmore, nine abolitionists, including Robert Morris, were indicted. Charges against some were dismissed, while others, including Morris and Hayden, faced a jury in court. Utimately, each was aquitted.  Source:  http://www.masshist.org/longroad/01slavery/minkins.htm


BOOK REVIEW:

 

Shadrach Minkins: From Fugitive Slave to Citizen by Gary Collison An impressive feat of detective work lies behind this portrait of Shadrach Minkins, the first black man arrested in New England under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Minkins had escaped from slavery in Virginia and come to Boston, where he was arrested in February 1851. Before his case could come to trial, however, a group of black citizens invaded the courtroom and spirited Minkins away. Thereafter, except for scattered newspaper accounts and anecdotes, Minkins was lost to history. In uncovering evidence that Minkins settled in Montreal, where he helped establish a community of blacks who fled slavery, author Gary Collison restores Minkins and paints a fascinating portrait of those troubled times.  Source:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/474939

Lifting Every Voice

On February 12 in Black History...

In 1900, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (now also known as "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing") was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Lincoln's Birthday on February 12, 1900 by 500 school children at the segregated Stanton School. Its principal, James Weldon Johnson, wrote the words to introduce its honored guest Booker T. Washington.  The poem was later set to music by Johnson's brother John in 1905. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Every_Voice_and_Sing


I was first introduced to Lift Every Voice when I began singing in the Love Community Choir founded by Ms. Laura Wall in Winston-Salem, NC.  Ms. Wall started this choir of about 50 local middle school and high school kids and performed at holiday and other celebrations at local churches and other venues.  Her goal was introduce kids to proper singing and choral music beyond just contemporary gospel. I remember she once took us all to see the Harlem Boys Choir when they performed at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  Each rehearsal began with vocal exercises and at the culmination of every performance, the choir sang ALL THREE VERSES of Lift of Every Voice and Sing.  As I started high school, I was singing in my church youth choir, honors chorus and our high school gospel choir in addition to the Love Community Choir.  As a teenager, I felt that singing those boring spirituals in our uniform white blouses with red vests and navy blue skirts and slacks, with the Love Community Choir was just too childish for me anymore.  My mom made us stay in it until I was in the tenth grade.  As an adult, I look back and am thankful of my time singing with the Love Community Choir.  Ms. Wall passed away sometime around 1992 or so, but I am thankful for her sacrificing her time to expand our music and cultural education for us kids to another fascet of our culture and making us appreciate it in so many ways.  To this day, I can pretty muich recite all three verses as I could back then...the difference is that I know and appreciate what it means to our culture much more.

Lift Every Voice and Sing

By James Weldon Johnson

Lift every voice and sing,

'Til earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the listening skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on 'til victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,

Bitter the chast'ning rod,

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;

Yet with a steady beat,

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,

'Til now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears,

Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;

Thou who has by Thy might

Led us into the light,

Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,

Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,

May we forever stand,

True to our God,

True to our native land.

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.

Pictures Don't Lie

Tune into CNN on Sunday, February 20 for 'A look at 'Pictures Don't Lie' the life of photography Ernest Withers: http://bit.ly/ehf3v4%20#cnn



Ernest Withers (August 7, 1922 – October 15, 2007) was an African American freelance photographer famous for his black and white images of the segregated South in the 1950s and 60s, Negro league baseball, and the Memphis blues scene.

His images captured America for nearly 60 years, preserving the good and the bad, in particular, racism. He traveled with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his public life. Withers' coverage of the Emmett Till murder trial brought national attention to the racial violence taking place during the 1950s in Mississippi, among other places. Withers appeared in a TV documentary about the murdered 14-year-old entitled The American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till.
http://www.wikipedia.org/