Today’s Feature honors a few of the many Black scientists and innovators who have added so much to the quality of life for all people. I wanted to highlight names less “obvious” than George Washington Carver or Booker T. Washington. So, over the past month, I’ve been collecting stories from Facebook posts that intrigued me. My own … More Black History Feature of the Day: Black STEM Innovators
Ethel Waters: “The Member of the Wedding” In an earlier article, I wrote about Ethel Waters’ fabulous performance in the film, “A Cabin in the Sky.” Today, I want to highlight another masterful performance by this gifted woman. I stayed up late last night to watch the film “The Member of the Wedding,” starring the … More Black History Feature of the Day: Celebrating Actress Ethel Waters and Actor David Oyelowo
February 23, 2015 This essay started innocently enough. I read and shared a Facebook post declaring that President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s mother was mulatto. Which, in our racially driven American society (the “one drop” theory) would make Eisenhower Black as well. I decided to do a little research on this and opened up Pandora’s Box—Big … More Black History Feature of the Day: Did You Know That Dwight Eisenhower and Some Other Famous People Were Black?
Thanks to The Polar Vortex/Siberian Express/Snowmaggeden 2015, baltimoreblackwoman spent most of the past week just trying to stay warm. Now that my brain has thawed, it’s time to continue and complete my first annual Black History Month Celebration! There will be posts all this week. Some will be short—just providing links to some of the … More Black History Month 2015: Week 4
February 14, 2015 On February 1, 2015, I shared a video with my Facebook friends of Serena Williams’ classy and heartfelt speech after winning the 2015 Australian Open Women’s Singles Tennis Championship (https://www.facebook.com/#!/video.php?v=10153512475856102&set=vb.26081741101&type=2&theater). I’ve been following Serena and Venus Williams since the sisters first exploded onto the world courts of tennis—an astonishing 20 and 21 … More Black History Month Feature of the Week: Celebrating Serena Williams and Katrina Adams
Sometimes, when you feel like the world might be your oyster after all, you stumble and fall. And the oyster falls “Splat” right out of your hand! I’ve been going great guns with the writing the past few weeks. Starting to feel really good about it. Ideas for posts were coming so fast, I wondered … More Information Overload: Reality Check
February 9, 2015 In general, my favorite Grammy moments involve surprise performances—like Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond’s classic and unforgettable performance of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers Anymore,” and unusual collaborations by performers you might not expect to see together—like last year’s performance of “maad City” and “Radioactive by Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar. The … More A Magic Fingers Music “Exclusive”: Magic and Mayhem at the 2015 Grammy® Awards
February 7, 2015 “But wisely, in truth, he has held up to us the mirror of truth….” This quote, from my poem “The Inauguration of Change 2009,” resonates with me today as the greatest strength of President Barack Obama—his Truth. It is a strength he has shown ever since he stepped onto the national … More Black History Month Feature of the Week: In Celebration of Barack Obama
February 2-5, 2015 In my lifetime (61 years), I have gone from being “Colored” to “Negro” to “N-Word” to Black to African-American. How did I get here? When I was growing up, my paternal grandmother and step-grandfather always referred to themselves as “Colored.” In contrast, my maternal grandparents—especially my grandfather—preferred the term “Negro.” All of … More What’s In a Name? From “N-Word” to African-American
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of our first African-American President, Barack Obama. [It is also the 2nd anniversary of the inauguration of Chaos wrought by the current president, but I will waste no more words on that.] In honor of that remarkable day, I am reposting the poem I wrote 10 years ago. … More The Inauguration of Change 2009
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