Introducing Unheralded Heroes

One of the things that a person has to do to affect change is to be part of change. In the state of Louisiana like other states of the south, Black children could not attend any public schools alongside their white counterparts. But on November 14, 1960, a six year old girl, with two federal agents to her front and two in back, began a Walk of Change into the William Frantz School in New Orleans to become the first Black person to be admitted to an all-white elementary school. Young Ms. Bridges was born on September 8, 1954 in Tylertown Mississippi. Raised on a farm with her parents and grandparents who were sharecroppers (sharecroppers were people who would pick cotton or whatever crop grew by the owner and would receive food and lodging for their work which was still similar to slavery). After moving to New Orleans she took a test to enter into the school and began her educational journey. Ms. Bridges was jeered everyday by parents of white students, one who threatened to poi...

On of the things that is happening today is the intense presence of social media. Every action, movement or word can be captured on some type of device. James Meredith set out on a March for Freedom of the Colored People (another of the many names for Blacks back then) in June of 1966 and wanted to do it alone. No help from other civil rights people of the time but he wanted to do it by himself. In changing the landscape for Black people, James Meredith said. I Can Do This By Myself. Born June 25, 1933 in Kosciusko Mississippi, he was raised on a farm and never saw racism before until he was riding the train from Chicago back home and had to not only give up his seat but stand the entire ride home. After that he promised to help begin changes to the status quo. He first began after leaving the U.S. Air Force,by registering to attend the University of Mississippi where he applied and was accepted but denied because he was a Negro. He was eventually allowed to enter the school on...

Good evening and Marvelous Monday. I am a resident of the city of Chicago and ride public transportation everyday. One of the things that does not happen as much as it should would be for more men to offer seats to women who are standing. But in doing some research I found a young girl who in March 2, 1955 she refused to give her seat for another white passenger. She was eventually a plaintiff in in the Browder v Gayle court case which ruled Montgomery Alabama's bus system was segregated and unconstitutional. Her name is Claudette Colvin and she was able to Stand Up By Sitting Down. Born in Montgomery Alabama on September 5, 1939 Ms. Colvin was arrested when she refused to give her seat when she was only 15 years old. In this times the Negro, we Blacks were called Negro back then, we had to give up or seats to any white person who wanted to sit down. That was how things were done back then and when this young lady refused to obey the unwritten rule she was eventually convi...

One of things in life that is very important is legacy and family. Your legacy, which means what you can leave behind of value, and the family unit is important. So while posting Historical Black Facts on social media, my cousin JW asked me continue on giving him some names and events that may not be as famously written about like the March on Selma or celebrating the life of the greatest civil rights advocates of my time even though I was 6 when he was killed, MLK. These contributions were huge, but in doing this first writing for Introducing Unheralded Heroes, I want to begin with a man and a woman, actually a husband and wife who had children, were killed in the struggle of freedom. There story to me is For No Other Reason Other Than............. Born November 18, 1905 and killed December 25, 1951, Harry T Moore was a pioneer in the struggle of making life better for the Negro, what we were called before being called Black, another really derogatory term, and then finally Afric...