Black History Month - History, Risk Taking, Art, and Poetry

One of the files I had for homeschooling is for Black History Month. I was looking through it and found some interesting things:

Underground Railroad

- Harriet Tubman made 19 trips on the secret tails and paths to the South, liberating 300 captives from slaveholders. She was so successful that a reward of $40,000 ws posted for her capture. After the Civil War, she founded two schools, worked for women's rights, and opened a home for the elderly.

- The Underground Railroad was a vast network of byways, barns, churches, and homes that stretched from Delaware to what would become Nebraska, from Minnesota to New York, and even into Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean.

- It is existed in every state north of the border slave states and had a particularly extensive network in the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

~ Langston Hughes ~

Clock Making

- As a slave, Peter Hill learned clock making from his owner. But after gaining freedom in 1785, Mr. Hill opened his own shop in Burlington, New Jersey. Several of his beautiful clocks still stand in homes or museums today.

Because candles were used at night, Mr. Hill painted the clock face white. Telling time was easier on a white surface than on a brass or silver one.

One of his clocks is at the National Museum of American History.

Source

Know that love has chosen you

To live his crucial purposes.

Know that love has chosen you.

~ Robert Hayden ~ 

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson was a professional baseball player who became the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues in the 20th century. He had nine values:

Courage

Doing what you know is the right thing even when it is hard to do.

Determination

Staying focused on a plan even though the path to its end may be difficult.

Teamwork

Working with other people toward a common goal.

Persistence

Working toward a goal and continuing to move forward even though you face obstacles or barriers.

Integrity

Sticking to your values, regardless of what others think you should do.

Citizenship

Making a contribution that improves the lives of others.

Justice

Treating all people fairly, no matter who they are.

Commitment

Making a promise and following through on it.

Excellence

Doing the  best that you possibly can.

I hear a single music

in us, one note

dancing us through the

singular moving world

~ Lucille Clifton ~ 

Sojourner Truth

She was born in 1797 and died in 1883. She freed herself from slavery, traveled around the United States preaching and speaking out against slavery, had a book published about her during her lifetime, and purchased and sold her own land.

She knew what

she was and so

was capable

of anything

anyone

could imagine.

~ Rita Dove ~