Why We Celebrate Fourth of July

On By thewriterfredIn Black History3 Comments
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United States Colored Troops | The image shows a black man in a United States uniform, obviously wounded in defense of his country, and there is a caption in the original that reads, “and not this man?” > Image Credit: http://www.civilwar.org

All across America, Black Americans will do as all other races and cultures do on July 4. That is, we will have cookouts at home, picnics in the park, and planned vacations at resorts, beaches and in the homes of close friends and relatives. But the similarities with others end with the various festivities, because our reasons for celebrating this day are quite different. We have no reason to memorialize a day recognized as the beginning of the fight for independence because that independence was not extended to our ancestors. We have no compelling desire to admire George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. We smirk at Patrick Henry’s rallying call, “Give me liberty or give me death,” because we recognize the hypocrisy of those words coming from the mouth of slave owners. Why should we pay deference to the founding fathers?

These men are heroes to the majority of white Americans but villains to Blacks. After all they accepted slavery as legitimate when they failed to do no more than outlaw the international slave trade in 1808, but never condemned slavery or domestic slave trade within the borders of this country. Our heroes are the very men and women who fought against the institution of slavery. Instead of Patrick Henry, we pay homage to David Walker who urged his people to pick up arms and end the oppressor’s tyrannical subjugation of them. Instead of the warrior George Washington, we exalt the warrior Nat Turner, who actually took up arms against evil and fought a real battle for independence. Instead of Martha Washington and Dolly Madison, we respect Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. As Black Americans, we admire and pay deference to Frederick Douglass who refused to be a slave and took his freedom. Abraham Lincoln should not be designated as the great emancipator but as the president who fought a war to save the union. If there is a need for a great emancipator (which I don’t believe is necessary) then that honor should be bestowed on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who gave his life fighting for absolute freedom and equality for his people. Equality of the races was never given consideration by Lincoln. He made it quite clear that this country was for white people only.

So as my family and I pack up to go spend the holiday with close friends, I will explain to my grandson why we are celebrating, because it is time for Black America to tell their history their way. And that is what I plan to do with friends and family from now on.

Take a Trip Back in History and Visit Black Wall Street In 1921

On By thewriterfredIn Black HistoryLeave a comment
...Called "Black Wall Street." Greenwood, North Tulsa c. 1917. As the Greenwood District began to emerge in the early 1900s, rigid segregation held sway. Image Credit: digital.library.okstate.edu
…Called “Black Wall Street.” Greenwood, North Tulsa c. 1917. As the Greenwood District began to emerge in the early 1900s, rigid segregation held sway. Image Credit: digital.library.okstate.edu

If you purchase Fires of Greenwood: Tulsa Riot of 1921, you will get to know some of the most successful, adorable and heroic African Americans in this country’s history. You will stand in the beautiful ballroom at the Stradford Hotel, with its luxurious chandeliers hanging from the ceilings and the shining hardwood floors welcoming you to step inside. While in the hotel you will meet the owner, John B. Stradford, the richest Black businessman in the most prosperous business community within the United States. If one luxurious hotel is not enough for you, cross over Greenwood Avenue and you can enter the Gurley Hotel, not quite as extravagant as the Stradford, but nice enough for Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois to lodge there when he visited the city in the spring of 1921.

You will be deeply immersed in the community when you walk into the Little Rose Beauty Shop and Mabel Little, one of the most revered and respected Black women in the city, greets you. You’ll feel as though you are a part of the conversation between the ladies getting their hair done and those waiting for their turn in one of the four chairs. The conversation gets quite interesting and not much different from what is discussed in beauty shops today.

Further down Greenwood Avenue, you will be invited into the offices of The Tulsa Star, owned by the fiery Andrew Smitherman. You will hear a heated debate between those supporters of Booker T. Washington’s accommodationist approach to dealing with segregation and Dr. Du Bois’ more aggressive protest approach. The discussion centers around whether the leaders should invite Dr. Du Bois to the city to deliver a lecture. The pro Du Bois forces win out but in the end of the novel you can decide if that was a good decision for the community.

Nearing the corner of Greenwood and Archer, you will duck your head inside the Dreamland Theater and join the other seven hundred moviegoers enjoying an Oscar Micheaux movie. You will also sit in the audience the night Dr. Du Bois delivers one of his riveting challenges to Black Americans to take up arms and fight back against the racists who refused to allow them equality in their own country.

Then, on May 31, you will stand with the veterans of World War I, whose leader is the brave O. B. Mann, when they pledge to fight to the death before they allow the racists to lynch Ms. Damie’s baby boy for a crime he did not commit. You will march with them across the Frisco Railroad Tracks and confront the mob demanding that the sheriff turn Dick Rowland over to them. And you will rejoice with those brave Black men, who fight a battle that they ultimately will lose, but a war they did win. They confronted evil and were victorious, and that makes them our heroes.