The Gist of Freedom Preserving American History through Black Literature . . .

Willis Augustus Hodges, the publisher of a the weekly newspaper, The Ram's Horn and an Underground Railroad agent, Hodges helped escaping African Americans move to and establish the settlement, Blacksville. They used the land granted to them by Peterboro abolitionist Gerrit Smith. Gerritt Smith’s antebellum “scheme of justice and benevolence” championing black voting rights and the redistribution of land to 3,000 free blacks.Henry H. Garnett was also a recipient of Smith's land grant. Smith in a political move to circumvent the property requirement for poor blacks and whites, gave more than three thousand land grants, an averaging of 40 acres apiece. Professor Kwame Zulu Shabazz on The Gist of Freedom as we continue our reading and discussion about the book, The Black Abolitionists, by Benjamin Quarles. Call in and join the discussion with panelists, Ty El-Gray (A Black Woman's Smile) and Preston Washington (Genealogist)The Ram's Horn was a weekly newspaper published and edited by Willis A. Hodges, a free Black born in Virginia. His family moved to New York in the mid-1830s after Nat Turner's rebellion prompted the Virginia legislature to severely limit the

Join The Gist of Freedom as Preston Washington welcomes Historian Dr. Bradley Skelcher for a lively discussion about The 150th Anniversary of The Emancipation Proclamation, African American's New Year's "Watch Night" Celebration! John Henrik Clark~ "History Is A Compass That People Use To Find Themselves On The Human (Spiritual) geography." Black Methodists and Baptists celebrate Watch Night, December 31, 1862: the Emancipation Proclamation would go into effect at midnight. The basis for the celebration in African American churches today. The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to enslaved Africans of the Confederate States. The prayer meeting congregation depicted in Carlton’s painting consists of former enslaved Africans that migrated to Union territory during the Civil War.  Carlton’s painting is variously called “Watch Night — Waiting for the Hour” or ” Watch Meeting–Dec. 31st, 1862.” It was sent to President Lincoln by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison  The painting in 1864 circulated widely as an engraving (below).  It now hangs in what is called the Lincoln Bedroom, really that president’s study and Cabinet Room, over the desk upon which he signed the Emancipation Proclamation on the afternoon of New Year’s

The Gist of Freedom is pleased to present the Book, Black Abolitionists, By B. Quarles~ Discussion & Reading Chapter 3. The New York African Society for Mutual Relief (NYASMR) -  ~JAMES VARICK~ Founded in 1808, the New York African Society for Mutual Relief (NYASMR) was the leading antebellum secular charitable and cooperative organization to, Like, other mutual aid societies, NYASMR collected funds to assist the sick, widowed, and the orphaned, and to help defray burial costs.  The Society also provided financial support for black schools. It served the everyday needs of the free black community in Manhattan.  The founders included William Hamilton and William Miller, who, with other prominent black men in the city, met at the Rose Street Academy, a school for black children in Manhattan, to begin planning the organization. The Society’s strong links to the black churches was evidenced in its membership, which included eight ministers. James Varick was the first chaplain of the New York African Society for Mutual Relief (1810) and a vice-president of the African [Bible Society (1817). In 1821, he was a member of the group of Blacks who petitioned the state constitutional convention for the right to vote. He supported the establishment of Freedom's Journal, the first American black newspaper, in 1827.

The Gist of Freedom is pleased to Present the Reading of Benjamin Quarles' Black Abolitionists with  Genealogist, Preston Washington. Author, AMANDA SMITH: At the end of the nineteenth century, a remarkable and world renowned African American established the first orphanage in Chicago Illinois for African American children. At the time of her death in 1915, the Chicago Defender called the well-traveled Amanda Berry Smith, "the greatest woman that this race has ever given to the world." While living on the East Coast, she was urged to write her autobiography. Written at the home of friends in Newark, New  Jersey, it was published in Chicago. Originally published in 1893, it has been reprinted in at least six editions during the past one hundred years. An Autobiography, The Story of the Lord's Dealing with Mrs. Amanda Smith, the Colored Evangelist has become one of the better-known works by nineteenth century African American women writers.

Join The Gist of Freedom as we present The Black Abolitionists featured in Benjamin Quarles' book, Black Abolitionists.   In our first of 13 shows, Preston Washington and host Ty Gray-El will discuss chapter one; Anti-Slavery Movement Prior to The Revolution; Organizations, Churches, Colonization- John B. Vashon, Martin Delaney, Bishop Richard Allen. Vashon paid the bounty for blacks held by slave catchers. Kidnappers received great rewards for kidnapping blacks in the North and enslaving them in the South.   This was especially true after the original Fugitive Slave Law of 1792, was revised, The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. The federal Government deputized vigilantes and paid bounties for the capture of alleged "Runaways".  In one instance, Vashon gave shelter and employment to a young man after purchasing his freedom.  Vashon was a friend of the abolitionists Martin R. Delany and William Lloyd Garrison,  The Liberator, in Pittsburgh.  

Join The Gist of Freedom host Preston Washington as he welcomes Dr. Dalleo!  Dr. Dalleo will discuss Spielberg's Film Lincoln in the context of a supporter of the 13th amendment, "Senator Nathaniel B. Smithers an anti-slavery man, and a prohibitionist .  Smithers was Delaware's member of the House of Representatives when the 13th Amendment went through that chamber in 1865.  Dalleo Ph.D. in African history and interested in the diaspora. Recent presentation: "Afro-Bahamian Sailors in the Union Navy During the Civil War" member of the Underground Railroad Coalition - Delaware member of the Delaware Humanities Forum Visiting Scholar and Speakers Bureau- upcoming presentation January 10, 2013: Sail and Steam withAfrican-Delawarean Union Sailors During the Civil War at the Delaware History Society in Wilmington, Delaware

Join The Gist of Freedom as we welcome, Author and Musician, Ty Gray-EL, CSMT on Ty's Breath of My Ancestors-is Reflections from the Conscience of an African in America - a book of essays, poems and slave-narrative stories written to uplift the souls and revive the spirits of black folk. It is a testimony to the indomitable spirit and unquestionable courage of those who gave America all its wealth and splendor.

  Dr. John Hope Franklin is the tie that binds- Not only is he the son of the great Civill Rights Lawyer Buck Franklin he was also an advisor to Thurgood Marshall during the historical Brown v. Board of Education Topeka  Dr. Franklin's father Buck Franklin sued the City of Tulsa for passing an ordinance that effectively barred blacks from rebuilding their city, "Black Wall Street" after the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921.  Buck Franklin won that suit before the Oklahoma Supreme Court. His father’s success – and his critical importance to the Greenwood community – became a preamble to the success and importance of the son. Dr. John Hope Franklin became one of the most important American historians of the 20th Century. As a historian, a scholarly voice working for American civil rights, an advisor to Thurgood Marshall during the United States Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of  Education, Dr. Franklin was on Marshall’s team of historians which uncovered a speech written in 1866 by Thaddeus Stevens, (Steven Spielberg's Movie Lincoln (Tommy Lee Jones) the leader of the Aboltionist Republicans who introduced the 14th Amendment.  Steven delivered his speech before Congress Steven said in part: “Where any State makes a distinction in the same law between different classes of individuals, Congress shall have the power to correct such discriminations and inequality.” Marshall and his team argued that the drafters of the amendment -Bingham himself had stated that constitutional provisions should be “writ broad for ages yet unborn.”        

Before there was MLK, Malcolm X & Rosa Parks, there were hundreds of unsung Civil Rights Leaders llike Edward D.Davis, Harry T. Moore, Robert "Bob" Saunders, Ruby Hurley & Mrs. Irene K irkaldy who also lost their lives. Harry T. Moore and his Wife Harriet were The First Civil Rights members of The NAACP to lose their lives. The Moores were assassinated, i.e. Blown up in their home on Christmas, 1951 in Mims Florida. Join The Gist of Freedom and host Preston Washington discuss these tragic events which led to the victories Americans enjoy and take for granted today, with Chester Sims the nephew of Edward D. Davis, the founder of the Florida Voters League. Edward Davis Sr., was the NAACP two-term President of Florida, during this tragic era. Needless to say, Mr. Davis was also under constant threat. Dynamite was discovered in his home, only a few days after the Moore's assassination. Mr. Davis' nephew, Activists and Screenplay writer Chester Sims, is working to preserve his family's and legacy! So far Chester Sims has had great success, he assisted with the naming of a State Highway in his Uncle Edward D. Davis' Honor. Chester also lobbied for his Uncle's nomination into Florida's Civil Rights Hall of Fame. Langston Hughes and Sweet Honey In The Rock both wrote tributes to The Moores.   

Listen to Michelle Alexander Live!  Ms. Alexander, the author of "The New Jim Crow is the keynote speaker at a Banquet Honoring Trayvon Martin's parents.   ~There are more African Americans under correctional control today-- in prison or jail on probation or Parole-- then were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began~   Michelle Alexander ----- A people who do not know their history quickly beome history----  The New Fugitive Slave Law was established in 1850, in exchange for the Gold in California's 1849 (49ers) Gold Rush. The pro-slavers led by Kentucky Senator, Henry Clay agreed to allow the North to admit California and it's gold into the Union as a Free Slave State in exchange for rewarding, paying the slaveholders for the capture of their "Fugitives". 

Join Stephanie Gilbert, a descendant of an Underground Railroad passenger turned abolitionist. Stephanie Gilbert will discuss her great grandfather Oliver Cromwell and his daring  escape with the assistance of Abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens- (Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln) on The Gist of Freedom with host, Preston Washington.    

Actor, Steven Anderson is The Great Abolitionist, Thaddeus Stevens! Join The Gist of Freedom as host, Preston Washington welcomes re-enactor, Steven Anderson back to The Gist of Freedom as he protrays Thaddeus Stevens.  Stevens is portrayal is very interesting- in the movie Lincoln as having a black mistress. Historian Steven Anderson will discuss the accuracy of this depiction. Thaddeus served for several years in the Pennsylvania state legislature  in 1848 as an antislavery Whig. He opposed the fugitive slave law and the Compromise of 1850. In 1856, Stevens was reelected to Congress as a member of the new antislavery Republican party, and soon wielded great power as the chair of the important House Ways and Means Committee. As a passionate believer in the principles of Radical Republicanism, the "Great Commoner," as he was known, pushed for emancipation and black suffrage.   Stevens an early and vehement critic of President Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction policy eventually became a leader in the effort to impeach the president. An advocate of treating Southern states during Reconstruction as "conquered provinces," Stevens encouraged strong, sweeping action by the federal government to destroy white supremacy in the South. He hoped to use the Fourteenth Amendment to confiscate plantations and redistribute the land to former slaves. He was a member of Congress’ joint committee on Reconstruction, but it was dominated by moderates. During Johnson’s impeachment trial, Stevens was so ill that he had to be carried into the Senate chamber and died in Washington, D. C., less than three months after the President’s acquittal.

 Mwariama Kamau,  Marcus Garvey Historian      Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League    

Join, The Gist of Freedom host, Preston Washington as he welcomes Civil Rights Hero Florence Tate! Mrs. Tate is still going strong, but back in the day, she was a member of Civil Rights group CORE, 1963-66, then became a SNCC fundraiser and Southern Ohio campus liaison 1966-68. In addition, she served on Dayton All iance for Racial Equality (DARE) from 1966-69.  In an article in hopeforwomen.org she said: “The country has gone backwards from the time of Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech; we have regressed. There’s been an attempt to take things back to the pre-Civil Rights days,” says Tate. The article continued:  In her memoir, Tate draws upon her extensive experience integrating major companies like Bell Telephone, and Globe Industries, working with seminal civil rights groups including SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and CORE (Congress for Racial Equality). As the first African American female journalist at the Dayton Daily News, The work that brought her into close confidence with key activist figures — such as Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown — also eventually brought Tate, under the surveillance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation –  Tate wasn’t all that surprised by her voluminous FBI file. “ Photo two women, Angela Davis and Toni Morrison

The Gist of Freedom presents The Lincoln Movie Review with BrownEyez Publishing Group at Union Square's Think Coffee, Restaurant in New York.   Young NYU, New York University students were also present, discussing the Re-Election of President Obama and their vision for young republicans.