Primary Sources, Black History

  Join Karen Byrd of  Natural Girls United Dolls  on The Gist of Freedom Blog Talk Radio show WWW.BlogTalkRadio.com/TheGISTofFREEDOM. Natural Girls United is an online store that provides customized dolls and dolls from my collection that have features, skin tones, hair styles and textures that reflect that of the African American & Multi-cultural community. My company centers on helping children, women and men of ethnic communities to help build their self-esteem and sense of self-worth. The Natural Girls United doll project is something that I hope will help to bring a positive view of what ethnic beauty is. There is a serious need for our young girls to be able to have dolls that look like them. It is something that affects their self-esteem, confidence, and how they few themselves. It is important that they have images around them that reinforce that positive message that their beauty is wonderful. Each day that we show them that they matter, is a day that is a step in the right direction.  Karen Byrd Founder & Owner Naturally Beautiful Hair Blog & Website and Natural Girls United! Our Beauty Recognized...   Natural Girls United! www.naturalgirlsunited.com

  Tonight on The Gist of Freedom Author and journalist Herb Boyd will discuss the book he wrote in response to a controversial book about Malcolm X. Mr. Boyd stated he found as many as 25 significant errors in the book, some of which he described as "absolutely egregious". In response, Chicago Black publishing imprint Third World Press released  "By Any Means Necessary Malcolm X: Real Not Reinvented" By Herb Boyd, Ron Daniels, Maulana Karenga and Haki R. Madhubuti in October of 2011.

The Sumner Post originally served as home for the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic, an interracial Civil War veterans' organization. With a national membership of 500,000. GAR was as important in its time as the American Legion. Join historic Preservationist Leslie Raimond and The Gist of Freedom Host and Filmmaker, Gary Jenkins for a candid conversation about GAR and one of it's restoration projects. For more information on the GAR building and plans for its future, or to contribute to its restoration, see www.kentcountyartscouncil.org/gar.html or call Ms. Raimond at 410-778-1149. The national organization accepted members of both races. Built by Frank and Jesse Duyer in 1908, is one of two black GAR buildings still standing. At best estimates, some 400 black soldiers from Kent County served with the Union army during the Civil War. The funds will be used to purchase and restore the early 20th-century building at 206 S. Queen St. that was once a meeting place for black Civil War veterans from Kent County. Raimond also credited "leaders of the African American Community, Town of Chestertown, Kent County Department of Tourism and Economic Development, Main Street Historic Chestertown

Harriet Tubman Day of Commemoration March 10, 2012- Courtsey “Freedom or die a slave!,” declared  Harriet Tubman (1819/20-1913) who freed herself and 300 others from enslavement in the mid-19th century.  Tubman’s legacy resounds today in the lives of heirs who move unrestricted and make choices with few constraints.  The statue is the brainchild of former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields.  Omoye Cooper of Albany, NY and Elizabeth Fulcher-Rankin of Brooklyn are co-chairs of the Black Women’s Leadership Caucus, Inc. (BWLC) host organization which was formed in 1999 during a meeting at the Tubman Homestead in Auburn, NY of women and men involved in the history of the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman. Alison Saar, sculptor was also present. Currently, the group is producing a short documentary about Harriet Tubman, featuring interviews with  descendants, historians and and distinguished educators, including  Adelaide Sanfor, former Vice Chancellor, NYS Board of Regents. Open to the public. Black Women's Leadership Caucus, Inc. WWW.BlackWomenLeadeshipaucus.com e-mail Tubman1913@Yahoo.com 718.393.7957

Join Guest Host, Attorney Activist, Michael Coard, Sunday at 8pm on The Gist of Freedom, as he talks with Investigative filmmaker Keith Beauchamp. Beauchamp, the producer of the documentary, The murder of Emmett Till, examines recent suspicious hanging deaths in his television show The Injustice Files. Were they modern-day lynchings? Watch The Injustice Files, Tuesday at 8pm!

Join Dr. McWilliams and  award-winning television news anchor Cheryl Wills on The Gist of Freedom show www.BlogTalkRadio.com/BlackHistory Tuesday January 17th at 8pm. When Ms. Wills discovers that her Great-great-great grandfather, Sandy Wills, was a runaway slave who joined the historic fight for freedom in the American Civil War, she embarks on an gut-wrenching search to learn more about the courageous ancestor who demonstrated the same courage that she knew in her beloved father, an intrepid New York City firefighter, who died when Cheryl was thirteen, and who never knew his family s notable legacy. Told with deep love and a brow-raising honesty, Die Free stretches from Haywood County, Tennessee, in the 1860s to New York City in the twentieth century. Cheryl shares the unvarnished truth about the Wills' family roots, ever entwined in passion, music, and faith. Cheryl also exhumes the spirit of her great-great-great grandmother Emma Wills, an illiterate lionhearted widow, who was discriminated against as she fought to obtain her husband's Civil War pension and unwittingly dictated her historic life, from slavery to freedom, in sworn depositions to a lawyer. The century-old pension papers become the Holy Grail for the newscaster who nails a scoop that has forever changed her life and that of future generations. A lesson in the pruning of one's imagination, Die Free takes readers on a haunting yet exhilarating ride through the side door of American history.

Tonight we proudly present to you The Roots of Silicon Valley, with Soledad Obrien's CNN documentary The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley, Presented by Navarrow Wright Co-Founder (Russell Simmons) The Global Grind. You're Invited to Attend a discussion of the historical origins of Blacks contributions to technology. View The D.C. Screening Slide-SHOW This is an incredible opportunity to meaningfully celebrate Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday Weekend at a historical venue, The Belmont Mansion in Philadelphia with the founder and operator, Mrs. Audrey Johnson-Thonton!  View The D.C. Screening Slide-SHOW Panelist include, Activist Attorney Michael Coard and Technical Media Personality,Stephanie Humphrey  

  Join  Attorney Activist Micheal Cord and Senator Eric Adams on The Gist of Freedom ~ As a Captain in the NYPD, Adams during his 20-year career in law enforcement, co-founded 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement. 

  Ginger Baine-Miller President and CEO · http://www.john142vets.org Nonprofit organization serving homeless and at risk veterans through advocacy housing and supportive services.

  StreetPositive.com, a division of 4Positive Knowledge (1997), was originally   established in 1999 to promote child safety among elementary school students. C.E.O. Terry Boykins has resided in the Inland Empire for nearly thirty years. He is organizer of the Million Father March and spearheads campaigns and movements that address the needs of critical social and economic issues including fatherhood, homeless youth, abuse, gangs, mentoring and more. The collaboration between Stampley and Boykins came about in 2009 after the Million Father March and Street Positive recognized fathers of disabled children.  H.L. Stampley's A Fragile Child’s Cry is the true-life story of a foster father who proved that love, and perseverance can truly make an amazing difference in the life of a child victimized by shaken baby syndrome. 

cinda Gaskins 

Brian Fegely, William Still local historian speaks with Dr. Weldon McWillliams.

Stephanie McGuire is a black scientist  and opera Singer. Ms. McGuire is currently planning a solo show, Mezzo Laid Bare. Listen as Dave Romeo learns more about Stephanie's fantastic journey.

Dave Romeo, Black History Tours host talks with The Mahina Movement! The All Woman Trio band  combine poetry and song to create passionate music. Having deep roots from all over the world- Mexico, Ireland Tonga- Africa The Mahnia Movement music resonates globally. 

Discussing the case and execution of Troy Davis. The opinions and the views of students at Hampton  University.