EMOTIONAL TIMES IN BLACK HISTORY "TRAILBLAZERS"
FIGURES
by Dennis
S Murray Sr
Before praying every morning, I start my day, walking down the hallway, greeted by a large portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on my wall filled with inspirations that help me identify my commitment as a black man of history. Watching him think allows me to continue the mission and dream about the future of Blacks and minorities in America that has suffered injustices and cruelty in America’s society. I used to wonder why as a youth growing up in Long-island, New York listening to some of the ugliness outside my neighborhood and unable to have conversations with my father who was born in St. Croix Virgin Island formerly known as the Danish West Indies in 1848 a place filled with racial unrest and bigotry during his children in 1919 hood however, my older sisters in 1968 were more vocal about civil rights, discrimination, and lynching that was still happening in the south during the 19th to early 20th centuries as black people continued to struggle in the south. My foster mother was a native of Montgomery, Alabama where lynching was a sport with white mobs despite her family being once removed from slavery. Yet, she was reluctant to share her feelings with us.
She never felt that it was her duty coming from the South to
educate us regarding her intervention and concerns regarding how it affected
her upbringing about racism and bigotry during Jim Crow Alabama which continues
to be filled with racism as if Jim Crow South was a corporation, that lacked real
compassion for mankind. Like many of my friends, both black and white who lived
in biracial neighborhoods most of them had a hunger for the truth only to be
blindsided by hidden facts to help Black children survive through bullying, racism,
discrimination, and more.
My former pastor at Calvary Baptist Church a place where I worshiped
as a child located in Jamaica, NY, and in Queens, NY was the local Black Panthers
Chapter that held educational programs with tutoring sessions and also served
free breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for those who wanted it for the betterment
of themselves especially when the schools system limited the teaching of Black
history and nourishment for the poor. Does this sound familiar in 2025? They provide
the blueprint regarding issues of civil rights and discriminatory practices by
sharing with youth the common good of humanity and how to arm themselves with
the facts. As I sit writing this article, I am still surrounded by black historical
figures including a larger-than-life portrait of Malcolm X who cared about
black people in such a profound way and wasn’t embarrassed articulating his
vision and declaring his love for the black race with memorable statement ”by
any ‘means necessary’. The phrase has always resonated with me despite some of the
negative influences growing up especially when I was in the military a place filled
with discrimination against black and brown servicemen and often filled with
hate serving this country. However, I remember my older sister wearing a Malcolm
X t-shirt expressing her viewpoint as a landscape artist and painter, with many
of her friends sharing a similar ideology.
I am also in the presence of Frederick Douglas over my shoulder born into slavery,
self-educated, a social reformer, abolitionist,
orator, writer, and statesman as he settled down in later in Washington, DC a
place I still call home after getting out of the military. He was one of the
most important leaders of the movement for African American civil rights in the
19th and Sojourner
Truth also gave me hope as a brave pioneer and legend of all women giving speeches, freeing slaves during the abolitionist
movement along with helping them understand their rights as women and challenging
abolitionists movement for black equality. Nobody talked about her enough
during the civil rights movement reshaping women’s rights during slavery while
making her way to Canada and other places in the North.
Nelson Mandela authorized the creation of South
Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 1995. The TRC was a
court-like body that investigated human rights violations during apartheid and
granted amnesty to some perpetrators as a great humanitarian for the people
even in South Africa, however, he spoke out about discrimination, and civil rights,
regarding the racist characters of the political system in South Africa. After
27 years as a political prisoner, he triumphed becoming South Africa president
to lead his people out of the Apartheid. He traveled throughout the world including
Washington, DC, and the United Nations teaching humanity to others, and avoiding
bitterness, at times when I witnessed
him, he appeared not to be emotionally drained discussing his values and what
he wanted for his people and the world.
American historian
Jacob Armstead Lawrence was a visionary painter with a rustic overview
on the canvass known for his portrayal
of African American historical subjects and contemporary life with a style of
"dynamic cubism", an art form popularized in Europe that drew great
inspiration from West Africa. During his entire career, Lawrence
was admired, celebrated, and recognized through awards during his lifetime,
including the prestigious Spingarn Medal and the National Medal of Arts. I was honored to meet him in Washington, DC during one of his last art exhibits accompanied by
a family member before he passed in 2000. We also celebrate literacy giants like Elizabeth Coleman who was an
American civil aviator, the first African American woman and first Native
American to hold a pilot license, and the earliest known Black person to earn
an international pilot's license from the Fédération Aéronautique International
on June 15, 1921.
This iconic individual
was featured in a Netflix 2023 movie titled ”RUSTIN” Bayard Rustin was an
American political activist, and a prominent leader in social movements for
civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. As a gay man, Rustin was
the principal organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963
despite his struggles getting the NAACP on board during the March On Washington
he fought through his political struggles, values, and personal identity issues
making a different in our historical archives delivering what the march needed
for success. Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was an American
photographer, composer, author, poet, and filmmaker, who became prominent in
U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particularly in
issues of civil rights, poverty, and African Americans—in glamour photography.
Claudette Colvin is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. Eunice Roberta Hunton Carter was an American lawyer. She was one of New York's first female African American lawyers and one of the first African American prosecutors in the United States. She was active in the Pan-African Congress and with the United Nations committees to advance the status of women in the world. I wanted to add this black woman because she is a hidden historical figure who fought for justice and like Thurgood Marshall, she was the first to share her love for the law in the world. If we had time to name the thousands of black inventors, literacy figures, world-renowned scientists, and more it would make you head spine along with those whose work was stolen by white America. Blacks shaped and reshaped America from slavery every day and black people are continually giving this country hope by generating positivity for the good of our children so they can have these discussions with each other in the cafeteria and playgrounds every day despite those southern states attempting to erase black history off the map in 2025. We are obligated to tell black history to our children until the earth is purple because White America should never forget our contribution to this world as historical Blacks and legendary thinkers.
All Black mothers,
aunts, and sisters who have cared for their husbands, fathers, brothers, and
nephews since slavery are recognized 365 days a year for their caring souls, brightening
minds, and stern hands helping Black men to exist in this world. Without their strength
that embodies what a black man has been through for centuries of lynching, police
brutality/violence, false incarceration, and more black men always needed the
presence of our black women as we rotate in life.
References: Google and Wikipedia
Books to read and references-
Brother, I am dying by Edwidge Danticat
Sellout, by Randall Kennedy
For Discrimination (Race, Affirmative Action and The Law) by Randall
Kennedy
Economic Growth and Development in Africa, by Horman
Chitonge
Race Matters with a New Preface by Cornell West
The Michael Eric Dyson READER, By Michael Eric Dyson
Athletic Racism and Brown v. Board of Education, by Marvin
L Williams
The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture, by David Brion
Davis
Defining Movements In Black History—Reading Between the LIES,
By Dick Gregory
Black
Museum to visit
The Legacy Museum, Montgomery, Alabama
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Montgomery, Alabama
Civil Rights Memorial Center, Montgomery, Alabama
National Family Civil Rights Center, Washington, DC
National Museum of African American History and Culture,
Washington, DC
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