Celebrating Black History Month 2021 by Nonprofit Student Council USF

"The Hill We Climb" by Amanda Gorman

usfnpsc — 2021-02-02 18:05:58 UTC

When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade.
We've braved the belly of the beast,
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace,
and the norms and notions
of what just is
isn't always just-ice.
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn't broken,
but simply unfinished.
We the successors of a country and a time
where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one.
And yes we are far from polished.
Far from pristine.
But that doesn't mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge a union with purpose,
to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,
but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,
that even as we grieved, we grew,
that even as we hurt, we hoped,
that even as we tired, we tried,
that we'll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat,
but because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
and no one shall make them afraid.
If we're to live up to our own time,
then victory won't lie in the blade.
But in all the bridges we've made,
that is the promise to glade,
the hill we climb.
If only we dare.
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it's the past we step into
and how we repair it.
We've seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it.
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth,
in this faith we trust.
For while we have our eyes on the future,
history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption
we feared at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter.
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert,
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was,
but move to what shall be.
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free.
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation,
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.
But one thing is certain,
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy,
and change our children's birthright.
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with.
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west.
We will rise from the windswept northeast,
where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sunbaked south.
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover.
And every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful.
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it.

usfnpsc — 2021-02-02 18:15:03 UTC

"I Wish I Knew" - Nina Simone

usfnpsc — 2021-02-02 18:20:09 UTC

Live + Powerful!

Twins of Morning

whofacker1 — 2021-02-02 22:31:38 UTC

John T. Biggers (1975)

Playlist 🎵

2021-02-02 23:04:35 UTC

Saluting the poets and spoken word artists that have filled us with pride. (Photography by Shawn Theodore)

Virtual Festival

2021-02-02 23:14:25 UTC

Presented by The Association for the Study of African American Life and History

For the first week of this fine February, a celebration of our legendary "Lady Day".

2021-02-03 00:34:04 UTC

I say to you, all of you, my dear friends, just direct your feet to the "sunny side of the street"!
-Natty Hamilton

whofacker1 — 2021-02-03 03:31:46 UTC

2021-02-03 23:11:33 UTC

Concha Buika's African-Inspired Flamenco

2021-02-04 01:37:50 UTC

"María Concepción Balboa Buika (born 11 May 1972), known as Concha Buika or Buika, is a Spanish singer. Her album Niña de Fuego was nominated for the 2008 Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year and La Noche Más Larga was nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014."

Gladys West - the 'hidden figure' of GPS

2021-02-04 01:43:03 UTC

"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou

2021-02-04 01:52:50 UTC

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise.

"Little Things" by India Arie

2021-02-04 01:59:13 UTC

Door of No Return

2021-02-04 05:02:28 UTC

Mary Ellen Pleasant

2021-02-04 05:06:11 UTC

Revered as the Mother of Civil Rights in California. She was born a slave in 1814.

Indya Moore

2021-02-04 05:11:35 UTC

Model & Actor, best known for their role as Angel in Pose. Time magazine named them as one of the 100 most influential people of 2019. Transgender Non Binary pronouns (they/them)

Nina Simone

2021-02-04 05:24:46 UTC

Nadine Burke Harris, M.D., M.P.H. ~ Trailblazer in STEM

2021-02-04 19:27:06 UTC

Pediatrician and leader in addressing toxic stress in youth and California’s first-ever Surgeon General

Dr. Burke Harris decided early on to specialize in medicine and help children. She studied integrative biology at UC Berkeley and received her bachelor’s degree in 1996. After Cal, Dr. Burke Harris continued her education at UC Davis where she earned her medical degree, then at Harvard, where she earned her master’s in public health.

As a pediatrician, Dr. Burke Harris aimed to address toxic stress in children who have experienced early-childhood trauma. The Heinz Foundation recognized her for her work in establishing a system to screen and treat youth dealing with this toxic stress.

In 2013, Dr. Burke Harris founded the Center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco, “in the effort to advance pediatric medicine, raise public awareness, and transform the way society responds to children exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress.” In 2019, she was appointed California’s first-ever Surgeon General, a role in which she will continue to stress the importance of screening children for toxic stress and addressing its root causes.
(Source: UC Berkeley Cal Alumni Association, https://tinyurl.com/or3cfeyh)

Naomi Osaka

2021-02-05 18:32:20 UTC

Naomi Osaka (大坂なおみ, Ōsaka Naomi, Japanese pronunciation: [o̞ːsäkä näo̞mi], born October 16, 1997) is a Japanese and African professional tennis player. Osaka has been ranked No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles.

Judy Smith

2021-02-05 23:36:30 UTC

Engineer Jerry Lawson

2021-02-06 00:40:32 UTC

"His groundbreaking technology became the foundation for Atari, Nintendo, and Sega"

Speech Entitled "Ain't I a Woman?" by Soujourner Truth

2021-02-06 00:45:39 UTC

Venus and Serena Williams

2021-02-06 00:48:49 UTC

"Tennis megastars Venus and Serena Williams, the pair of sisters who have captured 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them, as well as nine Olympic medals."

Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

2021-02-06 00:56:06 UTC

"Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent."

Ken Johnson inventor of phase 10

2021-02-07 18:50:03 UTC

Ronald McNair

2021-02-08 01:23:05 UTC

Ronald Erwin McNair was an American NASA astronaut and physicist. He died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L, in which he was serving as one of three mission specialists in a crew of seven

Misty Copeland

2021-02-08 01:30:07 UTC

Misty Danielle Copeland is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre, one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history.

For the second week.

2021-02-08 19:18:33 UTC

Let us celebrate Leontyne Price, one of our greatest sopranos of all time. Please listen to her performance at The Metropolitan Opera on this Padlet.
-Natty Hamilton

"I live for art. I live for love."

2021-02-08 19:33:36 UTC

Tosca by Giacomo Puccini.

The Black Female Battalion That Stood Up to a White Male Army

usfnpsc — 2021-02-11 00:44:05 UTC

Kimberly Jones

seeman3 — 2021-02-11 18:39:43 UTC

I just saw this very intense and very real video about economic injustice. Must see. - Rebecca

Ranger Shelton Johnson Speaks about African American History and National Parks

2021-02-12 23:01:03 UTC

For the third week.

usfnpsc — 2021-02-15 01:52:05 UTC

I celebrate the one and only Nat King Cole. Happy Valentine's, everybody!
-Natty Hamilton

Dr. Selma Burke Renowned for FDR Portrait on the Dime

2021-02-17 23:22:34 UTC

"Burke’s most famous work, a portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that now graces the dime, came about from a competition to sculpt the president for the Recorder of Deeds Office in Washington, D.C. After feeling like she couldn’t capture the likeness of Roosevelt from photographs, Burke wrote the White House and, to her surprise, was granted a sitting with the president."

Black Plant-Based Icons

2021-02-17 23:38:01 UTC

Simone Biles: First double-double dismount on beam in competition

2021-02-17 23:41:53 UTC

"Simone Biles shook the world as she made history by being the first gymnast to perform a double-double dismount on beam during a competition."

Aretha Franklin: First female artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

2021-02-17 23:44:13 UTC

Muhammad Ali: Most boxing Fighter of the Year Awards

2021-02-17 23:45:36 UTC

Michael Jordan: Highest point scoring average in an NBA career

2021-02-17 23:46:59 UTC

Kehinde Wiley, the Artist Behind Barack Obama's Portrait

gmirabrown — 2021-02-18 00:06:54 UTC

"Not only did Obama become the first African-American president to have a portrait hang in the National Portrait Gallery, but Wiley became the first African-American artist to paint an official presidential portrait."

How an Enslaved African Man in Boston Helped Save Generations from Smallpox

2021-02-18 00:32:04 UTC

In the early 1700s, Onesimus shared a revolutionary way to prevent smallpox

Black Joy Treasure Hunt

usfnpsc — 2021-02-18 15:27:35 UTC

A Black culture treasure hunt throughout the City of Oakland that encourages foot traffic and patronage to landmarks, art installations, and locally owned businesses.

Organized by Black Joy Parade, a "hyper-positive non-profit based in Oakland, CA that celebrates the Black experience and community's contribution to history and culture" (https://www.blackjoyparade.org)

The treasure hunt can be completed any time during Black History Month. Plus, prizes to a select number of winners!

New Impactful Mural @ The Harriet Tubman Museum in MD

chanshaw — 2021-02-19 01:54:37 UTC

Artist: Michael Rosato
(Source: https://tinyurl.com/harriettubmanmural)

Plug for a Black-owned business!

ejarvis7 — 2021-02-19 04:54:24 UTC

zerogrocery.com seamlessly links my love of living ethically with my absolute loathing of having to go to a store... Definitely the best low-waste shopping experience, and you earn TRIPLE the karma points because it's a local, woman-owned, Black-owned business.

Black History Month: A Medical Perspective: Chronology of Achievements

2021-02-19 17:27:44 UTC

Mural To Honor Women of the Black Panther Party in West Oakland

2021-02-21 08:00:32 UTC

Art of Rosesharon Oates

2021-02-21 08:06:00 UTC

https://www.rosesharonoates.com

Art of Paul Lewin

2021-02-21 08:16:36 UTC

https://www.paullewinart.com/

QUEEN CALIFIA

2021-02-21 08:40:56 UTC

The state of California is named after a Black Woman, QUEEN CALIFIA.

The pictures below are various depictions and artwork of the true representation of California’s namesake, including the famous mural of her at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, and the mural that was part of a Disneyland exhibit created about her around 10 years ago.

When the European Colonizers from Spain first arrived on this soil, they named it “CALIFORNIA” based on a legend that was popular in Spain at the time.

The Spanish legend reads as follows:

"There exists an island called California very near the terrestrial paradise; and inhabited by BLACK women...

And there ruled over that island of California a queen of majestic proportions, more beautiful than all others...

She was not petite, nor blond, nor golden-haired. She was large, and BLACK AS THE ACE OF CLUBS...

For, as you shall learn, she was reputed the MOST BEAUTIFUL of women; and it was she, O Californias! who accomplished great deeds, she was valiant and courageous and ardent with a brave heart, and had ambitions to execute nobler actions than had been performed by any other ruler — QUEEN CALIFIA."

(from Las Sergas de Esplandián by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo)

Art by Emory Douglas

2021-02-21 09:03:28 UTC

Emory Douglas, the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, reworked some of his original designs from the BPP newspaper and broadsides for the pr campaign for the new HBO film Judas and the Black Messiah, about Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Party. Long live Chairman Fred!

'Education is my tool': Activist Ilyasah Shabazz on teaching Black history in schools and the legacy of her father Malcolm X

2021-02-21 09:07:38 UTC

Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf were Kaepernick before Kaepernick

2021-02-21 09:21:09 UTC

As we commemorate Black History Month, my mind goes back to the NBA players whose beliefs and principles cost them their careers.

James Baldwin

2021-02-21 09:37:15 UTC

Art by Panhandle Slim

The Essential Toni Morrison

2021-02-21 09:42:44 UTC

Toni Morrison was born in 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. She worked for many years as a book editor, published her first novel in 1970 and was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. She died in 2019.

New US Museum Traces History of Black Music Across Genres

2021-02-21 10:37:38 UTC

For the fourth week.

2021-02-22 15:33:18 UTC

I celebrate Lawrence Brownlee, one of our best tenors today with amazing operatic technique and stage presence. I have had the honor to watch his prodigious performance live at the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera. Enjoy this duet of him and American tenor Michael Spyres. I suggest that everyone should see Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
-Natty Hamilton