The importance of voting was the central message at the recent celebration of Rosa Parks’ 111th birthday. The event held Feb. 3, at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center attracted more than 250 people of all ages.
In preparation for the upcoming election season, over 36 collaborators and partners, including Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, president of the Ward Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), Dr. Carliss R. McGhee, and Danny Bakewell, Jr. of the LA Sentinel, will be gathering for The Rosa Parks Birthday Outing, and to demonstrate the importance of voting.
During February, a special ritual takes place backstage at “The Lion King” musical on Broadway. On show days, the four young actors who play the lion cubs Simba and Nala seek out fellow actor Bonita J. Hamilton in the moments before the curtain goes up at the Minskoff Theatre. The youngsters have learned their lines and choreography, of course, but during Black History Month, they also tell Hamilton what they’ve learned about a Black historical figure. It might include a birthdate, the figure’s biggest achievements and some facts about their lives. “February is my favorite month because the children _
April 20: Rosa Parks was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, which is the highest award for a US citizen, 1999
Clearly, there are several lessons to be gleaned from the legacy of these freedom warriors and workers for a new society and world. And the first is to rightfully locate them in Black history among their people, our people in the midst of an unfinished and ongoing Black freedom struggle. Indeed, there can be no correct understanding, appropriate appreciation or honest emulation of their lives and the lives of all those who preceded them and made them and us possible and of those who were their co-combatants, unless we place them all in the context of their people, our people, Black people and our struggle.
The new Chief Justice, displaying considerable political skill and determination, the new chief justice succeeded in engineering a unanimous verdict against school segregation the following year.
“The Rosa Parks Story,” a biopic showcasing the life of Rosa Parks (starring Angela Bassett) was released, 2002.
The 19th Amendment was adopted Aug. 18, 1920, after the required number of states ratified the constitutional measure. Though many Black women led suffrage campaigns, the 19th Amendment put white women on an empowerment tract to electoral engagement. Interestingly, the suffrage movement, festooned in the symbolic color white, is often portrayed through a narrow window uncomplicated by the strictures of race and power that framed the Amendment then and now.
The historic launch of the BNC will fulfill the business dream and vision of J.C. Watts, Jr., a nationally known entrepreneur and former U.S. Congressman, representing Oklahoma’s Fourth District.
The Los Angeles Clippers returned to Staples Center after a six-game Grammy’s road trip over 11 days just before All-Star break. Looking to move up in the Western Conference Standings, the Clippers went on to route the Phoenix Suns 134-107 Wednesday night, extending the Suns losing streak to 15 consecutive losses.
“Had there been no May 17, 1954 (the day the Supreme Court ruled in Brown V. Board of Education), I’m not sure there would have been a Little Rock. I’m not sure there would have been a Martin Luther King Jr., or Rosa Parks, had it not been for May 17, 1954. It created an environment for us to push, for us to pull,” Lewis said.
I was born of a White mother and a Black father in 1961 in Southern California during a time when America was experiencing segregation across the nation. Although many of us in California did not feel the same effects as many of our relatives in the South, segregation was still alive and well throughout the country. The Civil Rights Movement was in its beginning stages and the 50’s and 60’s were pivotal in changing the face and climate of America. The Civil Rights Movement was organized by African Americans with the goal to help end racial discrimination and provide equal rights to all under the law.
