ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY: THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE WAS AWARDED 41 MILLION DOLLARS

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This story was news 5 years ago today

The Central Park Five case is officially closed. 

A federal court judge on Friday signed off on the wrongfully-convicted quintet's $41 million settlement with the city, court records show. 

The deal "is an act of justice for those five men that is long overdue," Mayor de Blasio said in a statement after the filing... 

The five black and Latino men were teens when they....were coerced into confessing... [They] had all served their sentences when career criminal Matias Reyes confessed to the crime.  His story was backed up by DNA evidence, and a judge vacated their convictions with the blessing of the Manhattan District Attorney's office...

~Daily News

Read More: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/central-park-legal-battle-officially-article-1.1929270?


The miniseries about their lives was created by Ava DuVernay.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7137906/

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BLACK PANTHER PREMIERED A YEAR AGO TODAY

BLACK PANTHER Smashes Multiple Box Office Records, Is One Of The Top 5 Biggest Domestic Openings Ever

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     A Repost from February 2018

Funny how things change. 

Believe it or not, there was a time, not that long ago, when a Black Panther movie was considered an impossibility. [Don't just] take my word for it. That was was the hardcore opinion of Louis D'Esposito, who is the co-president of Marvel, and has been the executive producer of every Marvel film made since Iron Man. Back in 2012, during a panel at the New York Comic Con, he actually said that a Black Panther film was highly unlikely, mainly because trying to visually create on-screen a fictional African nation of Wakanda is "maybe a little more difficult, maybe ... it's always easier basing it here … For instance, Iron Man 3 is rooted right here in Los Angeles and New York. When you bring in other worlds, you're always faced with those difficulties." 

Yeah right. Funny that Marvel didn't seem to have any trouble recreating other fantastic imaginary fantasy worlds in other films, but Wakanda is somehow too difficult. Of course, he was roundly criticized for those comments and people were quick to point out that D'Esposito and Marvel what really saying was that there was no audience for a black superhero film. 

~SHADOW AND ACT

* * * * *


WHAT A DIFFERENCE A HALF A DECADE MAKES?

READ MORE
https://shadowandact.com/black-panther-historic-opening-box-office/?

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A Salute To The Black Female Actresses Of 2018

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     In terms of quantity, this has been a strong year for Black female leads.

While it may not be reflected at year’s end when many critics groups and other organizations are hardly recognizing the works of many, with the exception of Regina Hall, but from the various festivals around the world to theatrical releases and streaming platforms, there were at least 30 or more films that featured Black actresses in lead roles in 2018.

     From studio thrillers to indie films, there were plenty of genres that were highlighted where the performances showcased the range of many.
     There is still a lot of work to be done. Oscar winner Viola Davis, after becoming the first African-American to win an Emmy for best actress in a drama in 2015, stated, “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity.”
     So far, in the Academy Awards’ 90 year history, Halle Berry (2001) is the ONLY Black woman to have won an Oscar for Best Actress out of the 11 Black women ever nominated. That’s 11 out of 450 in total. Hopefully, in time, some of these actresses will be starring in films that merit consideration and more than one.
     Among the 2018 highlights...

~BLACKFILM.COM

Read The List Here: https://www.blackfilm.com/read/2018/12/a-salute-to-the-black-female-leads-of-2018-films/ 

The Muting Of R Kelly

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     Amid renewed attention on the R&B singer and his sexual misconduct allegations, many radio workers are opting to #MuteRKelly. “You have to feel some type of culpability or feel complicit in some way,” said one DJ, “especially if you work in radio.”




     After watching Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly documentary, Jerold Jackson, a radio program director in Lafayette, Louisiana, was angry.
     “To see the faces of those people, to hear that every single person was saying the same exact thing ... it was describing an MO of how he operates,” Jackson told BuzzFeed News. “That’s pimp-like quality and that’s the last thing we need.”
     Jackson suddenly felt compelled to pull down a plaque on his wall that he said he’d received from R. Kelly himself at a National Black Programmers Coalition years before, “thanking” him for playing the singer’s music. Jackson’s radio stations, KRRQ 95.5 and KNEK 104.3, no longer play the singer’s music.
    Jackson’s stations are not alone. 
    After decades of giving the musician airtime, many urban, R&B, and even pop stations across the US now seem to be slowly abandoning Kelly, as they find it increasingly difficult to turn a blind eye to the severity of the claims against him in the #MeToo era. BuzzFeed News spoke with almost a dozen radio workers across the country about how they’re handling the renewed focus on the singer’s scandals, revealing that the coordinated campaign by activists to #MuteRKelly may indeed be breaking through where it counts: the gatekeepers of the music industry...

Read More: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/michaelblackmon/r-kelly-radio-mute?

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MARTIN LUTHER KING AND CORETTA SCOTT KING HOME ADDED TO MLK NATIONAL PARK

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King’s family home in Atlanta, Georgia is now part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park.

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     "African American history is U.S. history, and the family home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King is a touchstone for us all to better understand our shared heritage,” 

     National Park Foundation president Will Shafroth said in a press release. "The acquisition of both Dr. King’s birth home and the family home he shared with Coretta Scott King and their children advances the National Park Foundation’s commitment to telling a more comprehensive American story through national parks. With greater access to Dr. King’s life and legacy, we can learn more about this country’s past and how his work continues to echo through time."

     Located on Sunset Avenue in an Atlanta neighborhood called Vine City

https://www.becauseofthemwecan.com/blogs/culture/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-and-coretta-scott-kings-family-home-is-now-part-of-mlk-national-historical-park?fbclid=IwAR1wew34nHsEd-AJIOL9kHJZdGodlkBQSdP0ZMYz-xm6LkMsaKEFWOKcYhk

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Marsai Martin's LITTLE Is Coming To A Theater Near You

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     Marsai Martin, of BLACK-ISH fame, is a 14-year-old force to be reckoned with. And no, I don’t mean in the way that the 14-year-olds on the train home make you feel uneasy because you know they’re cooler than you. (Just me? Okay.) Well, I mean a certifiable force.

     Best known for her role as the too-wise-for-her-own-good Diane Johnson on BLACK-ISH, Marsai is now the youngest executive producer in Hollywood [History] after dreaming up the concept for and starring in the feature film LITTLE.

     Martin was literally 10 years old when she came up with the idea for the body swap comedy. Yes, you read that right. While you were on the playground playing “The Floor Is Lava” Marsai Martin was in a room with executives pitching LITTLE. In the words of producer Will Packer, “It’s crazy. I mean, what were we doing at 10 years old?”

...Marsai explained that it was a conversation with her parents that sparked the idea for the film. “Well, before the [pitch] happened we were talking–it was me, Mommy and Daddy–and we were talking about the movies they were watching back then, and one of my mom’s favorite movies growing up was Big. So, that’s really how the idea was just, like, brought out to us and I think that’s just where it all started! And then we just started brainstorming...

Read More Here: http://www.vh1.com/news/371812/little-marsai-martin-issa-rae-regina-hall-will-packer-film-black-girl-magic/

Preview:

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MISTY COPELAND CONTINUES TO BRING BLACK HEAT TO THE VERY WHITE SPACE OF BALLET

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     In 2015, Misty Copeland made history twice when she became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), and along with Brooklyn Mack, the first Black couple to play the lead roles in a full-length production of "Swan Lake" at the Washington Ballet. 

     "Beyond my personal goals as a ballerina, I want to celebrate, elevate and give opportunities to talented Black and brown dancers to share the stage with me while I have the power and presence that I do," Copeland told the Los Angeles Times in an email. "And to build a structure which can continue to exist beyond me." 

...she and Calvin Royal III make their debuts as Pierrette and Pierrot in "Harlequinade"  at Segerstrom Hall [...marking] the first time in the company's history that an African American man and woman will dance a lead couple's roles. 

~BecauseOfThemWeCan 

Read More:  https://www.becauseofthemwecan.com/blogs/botwc-firsts/misty-copeland-and-calvin-royal-iii-will-be-the-first-black-couple-to-dance-lead-roles-for-the-american-ballet-theatre?

Michelle Obama’s BECOMING Logs Longest #1 Streak Atop Amazon Book Charts Since 50 SHADES OF GRAY

     The milestones continue to pour in for Becoming, the bestselling memoir published last year to critical acclaim by former first lady Michelle Obama.
     The intimate read that details our Forever First Lady’s Chicago childhood, Ivy League education, her courtship with former President Obama and their eight years in the White House remains No. 1 on Amazon’s list of best-selling books after two months, marking the longest streak for any book in the top-selling spot since Fifty Shades of Grey in 2012.
    This is the longest-ever streak for a political manuscript or public figure memoir, CNN reported, based on Amazon data.

~THE GRIO 

Read more: https://thegrio.com/2019/01/16/michelle-obamas-becoming-logs-longest-no-1-streak-for-amazon-since-50-shades-of-grey/

Read More: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/15/media/michelle-obama-book/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0ksidiUO3cTQr6j7Cwy49G7yNLIx9D1F9Y2Y-m8xCvAT7FLZ32leALHTg

Serena Wins For Pregnant Women And Is Voted AP Female Athlete Of The Year For 5th Time

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   The women’s award has been won more only by Babe Didrikson Zaharias, whose six wins included one for track and five for golf.
     Williams’ previous times winning the AP honor, in 2002, 2009, 2013 and 2015, were because of her dominance.
     This one was about her perseverance.
     Williams developed blood clots after giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. on Sept. 1, 2017, and four surgeries would follow. She returned to the WTA Tour in March and played in just a pair of events before the French Open, where she competed in a skin-tight, full-length black catsuit .
     She said the outfit — worn partly for health reasons because of the clots — made her feel like a superhero, but her game was rarely in superstar shape. She had to withdraw in Paris because of a right pectoral injury and didn’t play again until Wimbledon, where she lost to Angelique Kerber in the final.
     Williams came up short again in New York, where her loss to Naomi Osaka in the final will be remembered best for her outburst toward chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who had penalized Williams for receiving coaching and later penalized her an entire game for calling him a “thief” while arguing.
     That loss leaves her one major title shy of Margaret Court’s record as she starts play next year in a WTA Tour that will look different in part because of new rules coming about after issues involving Williams. Players returning to the tour may use a “special ranking” for up to three years from the birth of a child, and the exemption can be used for seedings at big events. Also, the tour says players can wear leggings or compression shorts at its tournaments without a skirt over them...

~AP NEWS 

Read More: https://www.apnews.com/c93b33278c8c464983db9b7a9a6c998d?

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Jordan Peele's New Movie: US

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"After sending shockwaves across contemporary culture and setting a new standard for provocative, socially-conscious horror films with his directorial debut, Get Out, Academy Award®-winning visionary Jordan Peele returns with another original nightmare that he has written, directed and produced..."

read more at youtube link below

Us In Theaters March 15, 2019 https://www.UsMovie.com

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WHITES LYNCHED BLACKS FOR PROFIT

To give the 2018 Kamala Harris victory (her federal anti-lynching law) some context, you need to read about THE PEOPLE'S GROCERY STORE LYNCHING OF 1892
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    “To Punish the Lynchers: Memphis Negroes Thirsting for Vengeance,” read the March 11, 1892 headline in The New York Times. Two days earlier, People’s Grocery owner Thomas Moss had been lynched alongside two of his workers, Calvin McDowell and Will Stewart, by a white mob that accused Moss of plotting a war against whites. The local paper, the Memphis Appeal Avalanche, described the lynchings as a skillful execution, with the corpses of Moss, McDowell, and Stewart left to rot in the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad yard a mile outside of Memphis, Tennessee.
     Moss, a dark-skinned, chin-bearded, 150-pound man, lay shoeless with his face to the earth. Stewart, the grocery clerk, lay with a shotgun hole in the right side of his neck. To the south of them lay McDowell, a light-skinned, curly-haired, 200-pound man, butchered to the point of dismemberment. “There were four holes in his face and neck, any one of them large enough to allow the insertion of a person’s fist,” the Appeal Avalanche reported.
     The lynchings came 27 years after the defeat of the Confederacy. They marked the breaking point that led to investigations by journalist Ida B. Wells, whose stories in the Memphis Free Speech exposed the real reasons behind the lynchings [ = money, profit]

Read a little more: https://daily.jstor.org/peoples-grocery-lynching/

          Read a lot more: https://www.amazon.com/Ida-Sword-Campaign-Against-Lynching/dp/0060797363
 

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LYNCHING TO BECOME A FEDERAL CRIME AFTER MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF WHITE RESISTANCE

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    In a legislative victory [well over]100 years in the making, the Senate unanimously approved a bill on Wednesday that declares lynching a federal crime in the United States.

     The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act was a bipartisan effort introduced earlier this year by three African-American Senators: California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris, New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker and South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott. The bill, according to CNN’s Eli Watkins, deems lynching—or mob killings that take place without legal authority—as “the ultimate expression of racism in the United States,” and adds lynching to the list of federal hate crimes.
     Though the practice existed during the era of slavery in the United States, lynchings proliferated in the wake of the Civil War, when African-Americans began to establish businesses, build towns and even run for public office. “Many whites … felt threatened by this rise in black prominence,” according to PBS. In turn, the article reports, "most victims of lynching were political activists, labor organizers or black men and women who violated white expectations of black deference, and were deemed 'uppity' or 'insolent.'"
     ... The new bill states that 99 percent “of all perpetrators of lynching escaped from punishment by state or local officials....

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-200-failed-attempts-us-has-made-lynching-federal-crime-180971092/#95hhf2CdYi4oKyJM.99

Tomorrow: 
An Introduction To The U.S. History of Whites Lynching Blacks For Profit

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The Hidden Figure Of GPS Inventor Dr Gladys West Inducted Into Air Force Hall Of Fame

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     Gladys West is one of the people whose work was instrumental in developing the mathematics behind GPS.     Until now, her story has remained untold.
     When Mrs West started her career at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in the US state of Virginia in 1956, just one other black woman and two black men worked alongside her.
     "I carried that load round, thinking that I had to be the best that I could be," she says.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-43812053

     Inspired by the re-telling of her sorority sister’s engineering success in the now classic film “Hidden Figures”, a Virginia woman named Gladys West is coming forward with her hidden history and involvement in created a technology most of us use everyday—GPS. As it turns out, like her sorority sister, West is also an important forgotten figure of technological advancement in the U.S. before and during the Civil Rights movement. This time, its West’s work on the modern day GPS system during her 42-year career at the Navy base in Dahlgren where her work was essential to her team which developed the Global Positioning System in the 1950s and 1960s.

https://blavity.com/dr-gladys-west-who-helped-develop-the-gps-inducted-into-air-force-space-and-missile-pioneers-hall-of-fame

HAPPY 94th BIRTHDAY CICELY TYSON

I sat a few seats down from Cicely Tyson during an Alvin Ailey performance. (Yes. I am serious about my Alvin Ailey performances. I get good seats.)  She and eventually Danny Glover, stepped over us as they went out to the lobby during intermission. A friend, who cannot not be taken anywhere nice, had Danny Glover looking down at us strangely. 

Once he was out of earshot, Jesse sing-songed, "I touched his leg."  Oh my gawd. I was laughing hysterically as she followed up with, "Hard as a rock." I swear, I really didn't know what was going on when he gave us that look, but I digress.

I saw Cicely Tyson in THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, with Blair Underwood, a decade later, She did this long, Long, LONG soliloquy. And she was in her late 80s if she was a day. I kept looking for the monitor that she must have been reading from at her age. I couldn't find it.  And I'm sure she wasn't -- she was looking left, right, down at her feet -- not at a monitor anywhere that I could see.  It seems to me that she had memorized this long, long speech that she had to give near the end of the play when she was in her late 80s. 

I couldn't remember that long a speech in my 20s. 

She's awesome.

She was born awesome

She will always be awesome.

Dear Lord, Please let her live forever. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ms. TYSON.
She is currently playing Annalise Keatings Mother (Viola Davis, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER)  

See more here:



Read More: 
https://www.emmys.com/news/cicely-tyson-rich-and-bountiful-life

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22 DOCUMENTARIES ON BLACK WOMEN

SOURCE: SHADOWANDACT.COM

1 — “Free Angela & All Political Prisoners” (2013)

2 — “Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed” (2004)

3 — “Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992” (2012)

4 — “Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai” (2008)

5 — “Beah: A Black Woman Speaks” (2003)

6 — “Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun” (2008)

7 — “Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth” (2013)

8 — “Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin’ to Tell You” (2013)

9 — “Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess” (2015)

10 — “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise” (2016)

11 — “T-Rex” (2016)

12 — “A Ballerina’s Tale” (2015)

A feature documentary on African American ballerina Misty Copeland that examines her prodigious rise, her potentially career ending injury alongside themes of race and body image in the elite ballet world.

13 — “Iron Ladies of Liberia” (2007)

14 — “The Real Shirley Bassey” (2001)

15 — “Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee” (2014)

See descriptions of each one here: 
http://shadowandact.com/2017/03/28/15-documentaries-about-black-women-to-watch-as-womens-history-month-comes-to-an-end/

MORE DOCUMENATARIES

16-  Nina Simone:  "What Happened, Miss Simone?"  (Netflix)

I had already put the "Strong Black Woman" stereotype away as far as being something I aspired to. But this really put the nails in Strong Black Woman's coffin for me. I highly recommend watching this one.

17-  Ruby McCollum: "You Belong To Me"  (Amazon Prime)

Though this documentary is far from perfect. I might buy it to add to my black history collection.  

McCollum's story takes place during a period not talked about too much in Black History books except for the Black Renaissance. But it would have been better if black women had total control of producing it. I stopped and started it a few times to make sure I had a full picture of what was happening during the police investigation.  However, you'll get the full picture of what happened after this black woman killed a white doctor in a southern town in the 1950s if you know your black history and can read between the lines. You'll also have a better understanding of what black women were/are going through between the end of slavery to the end of The Civil Rights Movement and beyond.

McCollum's son speaks about his mother, in very sexist terms, at the very end of the documentary. But his attempt to defend (the white doctor or his father or men in general)  doesn't take away from the story that's told.  (Last seen on Amazon Prime)

18- Fannie Lou Hamer - "This Little Light Of Mine" (???)

(I've seen a very short documentary on Hamer. I'm pretty sure this is not it. It looks like it's been praised quite a bit and is being sold to schools. If your kid says they're showing it at their school, make sure you go "visit" that day because it's expensive if it's not on Netflix or Hulu.)

19-  "All Jokes Aside: Black Women In Comedy"  (New From VH1)

This features a host of talented ladies—including Martin’s Tichina Arnold and Insecure‘s Yvonne Orji—discussing how they deal with racism, sexism and the lack of representation in the industry. - 
http://people.com/tv/black-women-in-comedy-documentary-vh1/

20- "Venus and Serena"  (NETFLIX)

"Ever since Venus and Serena Williams started playing in tennis tournaments, they've provoked strong reactions - from awe and admiration to suspicion and resentment. They've been winning championships for over a decade, pushing the limits of longevity in such a demanding sport. How long can they last? In Venus & Serena, we gain unprecedented access into their lives during the most intimidating year of their career. Over the course of 2011, Venus grappled with an energy-sapping autoimmune disease while Serena battled back from a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Neither Venus nor Serena let their adversities hold them back. They drew their greatest strength from each other."  

  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2376024/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

21.  The Rape Of Recy Taylor (DVD)

Mrs. Recy Taylor was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Unbroken, she spoke up and fought for justice with help from Rosa Parks and legions of women.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6116682/

22. "Being Serena"  (HBO)

     Being Serena is a documentary series chronicling tennis icon Serena Williams at a pivotal moment in her personal and professional life.
     Produced by HBO Sports and IMG’s Original Content group, Being Serena provides viewers unprecedented access to Williams during her pregnancy, new motherhood and marriage, while documenting her journey back to supremacy on the court. The intimate first-person show delves into her landmark career, family life and expanding role as a businesswoman and investor in the worlds of tech, fashion, fitness and philanthropy.
     Serena Williams, 36, is one of the most dominant forces tennis has ever seen, with 39 Grand Slam titles, four Olympic Gold Medals and the most women’s singles match victories in Grand Slam history. Her supremacy on the court earned her Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year honors in 2015 and made her a four-time winner of the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, first in 2002 and most recently in 2015...

https://www.hbo.com/content/hboweb/en/being-serena/about.html

DOCUMENTARIES ARE CHEAP AND EASY HISTORY

find a one to watch this year

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REMEMBERING THE AFRICAN WARRIOR QUEENS

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. 

"Black Women have always been at the forefront of any movement or revolution. In fact, I'll go as far and say that without back women most revolutions or movements wouldn't  happen, or function properly" 

~HOME TEAM HISTORY

(source: video introduction)

Read More Below

5. Queen Yennenga 

Yannenga was the daughter of King Nedega, who ruled over the Dagomaba Kingdom (which is now part of Northern Ghana.) Yennenga’s three brothers all commanded their own battalions, and as she grew Yennenga also learnt the skills of a warrior. She was an expert horse rider and learnt how to use a javelin, spear and bow. She was a match for any of the men in her father’s armies, and soon she led her own command.

Read More: https://sheroesofhistory.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/yennenga-warrior-princess/

4. Queen Gudit 

The fall of the Aksumite kingdom of Ethiopia toward the end of the 10th century A.D. was attributed to a queen who invaded from the south. This queen is said to have laid waste to the city of Aksum and the countryside, destroyed churches and monuments, usurped the throne from the ruling Aksumite king, and attempted to wipe out the remaining members of the royal family. Yet, this queen is a great mystery, and opinions about her vary from one scholar to another.

Read More: http://solarey.net/queen-gudit-ethiopia-africa/ (not secure)

3. Queen Nzinga

Queen Nzinga (Nzinga Mbande), the monarch of the Mbundu people, was a resilient leader who fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade in Central Africa.

Read More: https://blackpast.org/gah/queen-nzinga-1583-1663

2. Queen Amina 

The earliest commentator to mention Queen Amina is Muhammed Bello's history Ifaq al-Maysur, composed around 1836. Queen Amina is also mentioned in the Kano Chronicle, a well-regarded and detailed history of the city of Kano and the surrounding Hausa people. It was composed in the late 19th century and incorporated earlier oral histories before the Fulani jihad of 1804-1810. It included king-lists of the various Hausa kingdoms.
Known as a great military strategist, the cavalry-trained Queen Amina fought many wars that expanded this southern-most Hausa kingdom.

Read More: http://www.blackhistoryheroes.com/2013/07/queen-amina-of-zaira-west-african.html

1. Queen Amanirenas 

At the northern border of Barwa, there was Egypt daughter of Nubia, which was no longer ruled by the Kamtiu (Blacks) since 500 years. In 4203, the Romans defeated the Greeks who had been occupying the country since 300

Amanirenas and son Akinidad

years. During the heydays of his reign, the emperor August Caesar made Egypt one of his provinces and decided to take Sudan.

Amanirenas and her son, the heir prince Akinidad, made an incursion in Egypt. In the lineage of the Sudanese extraordinary military qualities, Kandake at the head of her troops walked on the Romans, who were impressed to see a woman as a military chief. She lost an eye on the battlefield but beat the Europeans in Aswan, Philae and Elephantine. The Nubians went then back home with war prisoners and war loot that included August Caesar’s busts, one of which they buried under a temple dedicated to the their victories.

Read More: http://en.lisapoyakama.org/kandake-amanirenas-the-greatest-african-woman-ever/

**  **  **  **  **

Queens or Kandakes of Kush 

Kandake, also known as Candace, Kendake or Kentake was the title for queens and queen mothers of the ancient African Kingdom of Kush, also known as Nubia and Ethiopia. They were known as Nubian warrior queens, queen regents, and Ruling queen mothers. 

They controlled what is now Ethiopia, Sudan, and parts of Egypt. They co-ruled the Meroitic with their brothers (not their husbands), a trait of matrilineal societies. They were buried with rich treasure in their own pyramids. 

Reliefs dated to about 170 B.C. reveal Kandake Shanakdakheto, dressed in armor and wielding a spear in battle. She did not rule as queen regent or queen mother but as a fully independent ruler. Her husband was her consort....

One of the most well known Kandakes was Amanishakheto for defeating the Roman invasion of Nubia by Augustus and subsequently brokering a favorable peace treaty.

Conclusion 

The “Kandakes/Candaces” serve as examples of women as powerful figures or clever strategists in their roles as queens, as warrior queens, or as romantic figures, they have had great appeal in times past, and will continue to do so in this present era of feminist or humanist interest in the subject.

Source: http://diasporicroots.tumblr.com/post/10665505018/the-kandakes-of-kush-kandake-also-known-as

THREE MODERN DAY CANDACES

Alicia Garza said

I created #BlackLivesMatter with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, two of my sisters, as a call to action for Black people after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was post-humously placed on trial for his own murder and the killer, George Zimmerman, was not held accountable for the crime he committed. It was a response to the anti-Black racism that permeates our society and also, unfortunately, our movements.

Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.  It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression....

Read More: https://thefeministwire.com/2014/10/blacklivesmatter-2/

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DR. OLIVIA J HOOKER, LAST SURVIVOR OF BLACK WALL STREET RACE RIOT MASSACRE DIES AT 103

Feeling Rebloggy

In 1945, Olivia Hooker became the first African-American to join the U.S. Coast Guard. She later earned a doctorate degree in psychology and became a professor at Fordham University. 

And she is said to be the last survivor of the infamous burning of “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, Okla... 

 https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/05/31/615546965/meet-the-last-surviving-witness-to-the-tulsa-race-riot-of-1921 

“My father’s store was destroyed,” Hooker told Radio Diaries. “There was nothing left but one big safe. It was so big they couldn’t carry it away, so they had to leave it — in the middle of the rubble.” 

The Burning of Black Wall Street in 1921 is considered one of the worst racial atrocities in American history, although it was rarely taught in any history class. 

Over two days, 300 African Americans were killed...

BLACK WALL STREET BURNED BY WHITE SUPREMACISTS 
MAY 31, 1921  to JUNE 1, 1921

Audio: Hooker Interview

Read More:https://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2018/11/olivia-hooker-national-treasure-dead-at-103/?cat=1684

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