From Africa, Slavery, and Civil War:

From Africa to 1619 to 1865

Did you know that a White Christian woman Harriett Beecher Stowe, wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin", depicting the horrors of slavery, was only second to the bible in sales in the USA, and was also read worldwide? It actually did a lot to turn Whites against slavery. Uncle Tom, the main character was portrayed as a hero, not the sellout as portrayed by so many today. Why is that?

To Reconstruction: 1865 to 1877

The Republican Party, Lincoln's party, was established to abolish slavery. They used the law, that is the US Constitution, used the military to occupy the south, and other measures, to end slavery and "Reconstruct " the nation after the war. What they did laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement and affects the lives of Americans today. During this time period many Black men were elected to political office, including to the US Congress. Who were the Radical Republicans? what laws did they pass that affect our lives today? And why did Reconstruction end?

To Jim Crow: 1865 to 1954

In 1896 the US Supreme Court decided Separate but Equal (segregation and Discrimination) was legal. Domestic terrorist groups did a lot to maintain White Supremacy, including riots and prolific lynching. Sick and tired of the violence the NAACP was founded. A major tool of the NAACP was use of the law. They brought many cases before the courts, including one of the most important cases in US History, Affecting all our lives today. That case was Brown v Board in 1954, which reversed the Plessy v Ferguson, deciding that ". . . Separate is inherently unequal. . . " Only White men served on the Warren Court. Why did they make this unanimous decision?

To Black Revolution/Civil Rights Movement: 1954 to 1968

Looking back, on the positive side, at the 13th, 14th and, 15 Amendments to the US Constitution, the many other human rights victories, and now Brown v Board, thank Heaven we live in our Democratic Republic. Not only did Brown v Board set off the Civil Rights Movement, but other movements followed suit. Assimilation to the WASP, dominant culture, was increasingly losing its grasp on society as Black people took to the streets and anywhere else to find relief from the yoke of Jim Crow and begin to thrive. What did Democracy v Autocracy have to do with it? What did media have to do with it? Why did Black people take up the leadership in the fight for freedom like never before?

To Freedom: Post Civil Rights Movement and world Leadership: 1968 to Present

Black folks gave up Lincoln's Party Beginning with John F. Kennedy as US President and have largely voted Democrat. The Democrats posited candidate Barack Obama, a Black American, for President, and the American people elected to the presidency 2 consecutive terms. You don't have to like Obama to realize that it was the potential of the USA's Democratic Republic and the commitment of generation after generation of the American people to the American Ideals that made Obama's rise to the Presidency possible. Obama is also symbolic of the rise of the Black Middle class, which so many Black folks attribute to opportunities to doors opened by Affirmative Action.

Now: Worldwide Human Rights:

Many black students of history agree that Black people can be seen in every field of professionals and employment, e.g., astronauts, lawyers, doctors, teachers, business, executives of large companies, entertainment, athletics, politics, and the list goes on. However, there is another Black America that didn't make it into the middle class. In many instances these Black Americans are in unhealthy communities experiencing poverty, gang violence, high rates of crime and incarceration, high unemployment, and schools in the pipeline to prison. And yes, the law enforcement historically designed to contain as much as serve these communities, are constantly being called to justice by organizations like Black Lives Matter--with tons of support from all cultural groups. As a nation, where do we go from Here?