Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was a tennis legend and a champion of civil rights and equality. He won three Grand Slam titles, the US Open (1968), Australian Open (1970) and Wimbledon (1975). Arthur Ashe was the first African-American male to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon singles titles….
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a 1954 Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. The ruling squashed the “separate but equal” doctrine that many school districts followed. The “separate but equal” doctrine followed a belief system where segregated public facilities…
Michael Kenneth Williams has recently passed away. He was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment of a suspected overdose. He was only 54 years old. While he has acted in many roles, his break-out role was playing the character Omar Little in HBO’s The Wire for five seasons. He also played the character of Chalky…
The Salon, released in 2005 is a comedy directed by Mark Brown. The movie was written by Mark Brown and Shelley Garrett. Mark Brown also wrote the Barbershop movie starring Ice Cube released in 2002. Shelly Garrett was the writer of the famed Beauty Shop stage play. The Salon stars Vivica A. Fox as Jenny,…
Jodeci is a male r&b group comprised of two sets of brothers. K-Ci and JoJo (Cedric and Joel Hailey) form one set of brothers. DeVante Swing and Mr. Dalvin (Donald and Dalvin Degrate) form the other set of brothers. Jodeci released their first album, “Forever My Lady” on May 28, 1991. The album was primarily…
Culture Blurb had a Twitter profile used to promote the blurbs from our website. During the last days of October 2020, we pushed three tweets which earned us a Twitter suspension aka Twitter Cancellation. Our tweets were posted during the height of the Presidential election and the Breonna Taylor Grand Jury push-back. Our top tweet…
Neighborhoods that are poor and majority black or minority are targeted for profit and death. Disadvantaged neighborhoods are targeted for profit by corporations and businesses offering access to subpar and unhealthy foods and products. Compared to neighborhoods with higher household incomes, poor communities have more access to fast food, junk food, liquor, and alcohol. The…
My grandmother’s house was the hub of my family. All the family meetings were held there. All birthday parties and holiday celebrations were held in her home. Even the fights held over the phone were settled at her house one way or another. Her house had a large front yard and an even larger back…
The lynching and murder of Emmett Till in 1955 was a shock to the nation. Seeing his mutilated body in his casket on display in the media shocked some in the nation. However, murder of blacks by white mob justice or even a singular white person was not new in 1955. Seeing black dead bodies…
A Voice from the South was written by Anna J. Cooper in 1892. Anna Cooper was one of the most prominent African American women scholars of her era. She was a sociologist, educator, an activist, and an author. Anna Cooper was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1858. Her family was enslaved by George Haywood,…
Rebecca Lee Crumpler (February 8, 1831 – March 9, 1895) was the first African-American woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. Rebecca Crumpler graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864. The New England Female Medical College (NEFMC) was the first school to train women in the field of medicine….
On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The event held at Rochester, New York’s Corinthian Hall, was organized by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Sewing Society. Below are excerpts from his speech. …Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called…
Jury duty is important for African-Americans. It allows us as citizens to take part in the criminal and civil legal system. In order to take part as a juror, you must be a registered voter. Additionally, you must not throw away the summons, and you must attend and be selected to serve on the jury….
Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was a slave who sailed his family to freedom during the Civil War. Smalls along with other black crew were left onboard the USS Planter steamer ship alone after the ship docked in Charleston. The black crew, with Robert Smalls acting as the ship captain and…
Juneteenth, or June 19th is the day when the last slaves in Texas were finally emancipated or freed from slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation was a proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862. With an effective date of January 1, 1863, the executive order ended slavery in all Confederate areas….
Beloved is a drama and psychological horror movie directed by Jonathan Demme. Jonathan Demme previously directed Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia starring Denzel Washington. The film is based upon the book Beloved written by Toni Morrison which was published in 1987. Beloved is inspired by true events of the slave Margaret Garner who escaped…
David Crosthwait (May 27, 1898 – February 25, 1976) was an African-American engineer and inventor. He was an expert in heat transfer, air ventilation and central air conditioning. Mr. Crosthwait redefined the technology of indoor climate control. Some of his inventions include a vacuum pump, an improved boiler system, and a new thermostat control, among…
This year, May 31st marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Some choose to lessen the horror by calling it a riot. However, it was a two day massacre of African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A white mob attacked and killed black residents and black business owners in the Greenwood District of Tulsa known…
