On May 17, 1954, The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that separate but equal schools and classrooms were inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional. This decision was met with almost immediate disapproval by every southern state in this country. As a matter of fact the Brown decision was actually going to be ignored by southern states for as many as 16 years. In 1956, southern senators and southern school boards along with governors of the majority of those southern states announced a plan to defeat the nation’s implementation of the Brown versus the Topeka, Kansas Board of Education decision. The formal adoption of what came to be known as the Southern Manifesto was delivered and signed by multiple southern senators. This document came prior to the Brown 2 decision which dictated that southern schools could integrate at “all deliberate speed”, which basically gave southern states permission to slow the process of integrating schools to a crawl.

Today, I read that racist document and refer to the document as I evaluate whether Brown really changed and impacted schools throughout this nation. There was a huge disparity between black and white schools across the nation. That disparity existed not only in southern schools but also northern schools. Northern schools were segregated due to the nature of de facto segregation. Now, it is said that schools both north and south are more segregated in 2020 then they were in 1954. The educational and economic disparity between suburban and urban schools has created two distinct students in terms of classroom performance as well as classroom teacher performance.

Would those racist senators who signed the Southern Manifesto in 1956 be pleased with the inadequate implementation of the Brown Decision 66 years later? We do have two distinct educational systems for white and black students in the majority of communities across the country. School districts still suffer from the perils of de facto segregation in northern cities , and southern school system are not providing the level of education that meets the needs of children of color. Why is this? Why has the Brown Decision failed to meet the need to provide equal educational opportunities to all children of color in this nation? With the increasing level of racism seemingly sweeping across various sectors of this nation. Can this nation ever fully be a society based on equal civil and economic opportunities and equal educational
opportunities?

We need to understand the past in order to build on the future. We cannot allow the invisible strain of racism to rear its ugly head again as it did in 1956 with the Southern Manifesto. One key component to building a truly United course of classroom instruction I feel is mandatory teaching of African American History to every student in this nation. We especially need this form of education to our children in the urban school districts across the nation. Every grade level should have significant unit teaching of African American History to provide a meaningful foundation to our children’s understanding of their past ancestors. We need another Manifesto today, one that promotes the promise of true equality in every classroom across the nation. We also must re-educate those people who feel that the Southern Manifesto is still relevant in today’s society.

March 11, 1959, 61 years ago on Broadway the most successful play featuring an all black cast opened, A Raisin In The Sun. It introduced to the New York audience names such as Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil and Sidney Poitier but the most important name was the young playwright who authored this work of incredible art, Lorraine Hansberry. Lorraine Hansberry was such a beautiful and dazzling​ talent taken from us way too soon. She was much more than a raisin in the sun. Lorraine Hansberry was an advocate for justice.

Today, I look back to 2016 when I read words from Ms. Hansberry. This powerful woman who faced down the Attorney General Of The United States Robert Kennedy. Lorraine lived for a very short time but her impact on this nation was tremendous. Let’s celebrate Lorraine Hansberry today on my blog. Since school buildings are closing all across the country due to the corona virus please direct your young ones to this blog for learning of our magnificent black history.

In 1964 a black boxer from Louisville, Kentucky defeated a seemingly unbeatable heavyweight champion Sonny Liston in Miami, Florida. That fighter went to become the iconic Muhammad Ali. After the fight in the ring he shouted that he shook up the world. Well, in reality a black boxer from Galveston, Texas in 1910 beat the former undefeated heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries and in reality did indeed shake up a nation dripping in racism, and soaked in Jim Crow oppression. Jack Johnson did what every white person thought was impossible for a black man prove that white superiority was a joke, a fantasy, an illusion. He did it by being bold, brash, and cocky. He threw his color and his personality in the faces of his opponents and the entire nation. Today, I look back to that day July 4, 1910, a day that so alarmed white Americans that they attempted to censor the entire event and happening from the history books.

10 Points On The Greatness of Harriet Tubman
Reading Harriet Tubman by Eloise Greenfield
On the 107th Anniversary of the day,​ Harriet Tubman breathed her final breath after a life of immense struggle, a life of significant trials, a life that featured a multitude of obstacles, a life that showed this nation this woman’s defiance, a life that exhibited this woman’s determination, a life that clearly uncovered this woman’s fearlessness, a life that symbolized the meaning of spiritual strength and a life that epitomized the meaning of and example of America’s hero. Yes, Harriet Tubman’s physical remains rest for eternity in The Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York but the spirit of Harriet Tubman resides in all of us who demand equality and purpose of life. Harriet Tubman knew that freedom came with a price and it was a price she was willing to pay with her life if necessary. Harriet Tubman’s spirit could care little about being a symbol on a twenty dollar bill unless all of her people weren’t fully vested with equality and justice. So today I bring the words of the noted wordsmith Eloise Greenfield and her book about Harriet Tubman, The Moses of our Nation. She fought for freedom and died a pauper but her legacy is priceless. God bless Harriet Tubman on the anniversary of her passing.