Black Leaders Who Made America Keep Its Promise
Black History Month is the perfect opportunity to learn how Black history is American history. It’s not to overshadow any other races or cultures, but it is to get the record straight since Black and Brown folks are often written out of history. If you haven’t already, come and join the 21-day Purusue Black Liberation Course & Challenge. As you’re about to learn in this blog, liberating the most oppressed helps liberate us all. Here are a few Black leaders who chose unity over comfort to bring justice to their communities.
The Boston Massacre 1770
The Boston Massacre is most famously known as the start of the American Revolution. However, most Americans don’t know that the American Revolution was ignited after the unjust death of a Black man killed by authorities. His name was Crispus Attucks, and he was the first of the five colonists who were killed by British soldiers. According to the Crispus Attucks Museum (2012, October 11), he was a runaway fugitive slave working as a sailor in Massachusetts and “...was the only victim who became known after dying at the massacre. He became the first martyr of the American Revolution.” His legacy has been used and referenced by several abolitionists and Black activists, such as Martin Luther King Jr., to combat slavery and racism.
Most sources claim there is little known about the man; however, the museum that bares his name accounted the following: “According to witnesses’ depositions during the Boston Massacre Trial, Crispus Attucks, described as a stout mulatto whose very looks was enough to terrify any person, was at the head of twenty or thirty sailors” (The Crispus Attucks Museum, 2012, October 11). Knowing that he was the leader rather than an innocent bystander changes the conversation. Not only was he an unjustly murdered colonist, but he was also a respected Black man who unified his peers to stand up to the Redcoats.
Black Suffragists of the Late 1800s
Voting still remains to be controversy, and Black women were at the forefront of this fight. One of the leaders of Black suffragists was Sarah J.S. Tompkins Garnet. She is the founder of the Equal Suffrage League in Kings County in Brooklyn, New York, which was established before Ida B. Wells’ Alpha Club. According to Middleton (2023), the Black suffragist was focused on the community rather than just women because “...voting was an integral component in the fight for civil rights, proper education, economic freedom, and racial impartiality.” They didn’t allow their intersectionality to stop their fight from being inclusive of the community as a whole. While not the most famous within the movement, Garnet was a trailblazer that preceded the several leaders that came afterward.
The Stonewall Rebellion 1969
The Stonewall Rebellion was monumental for gay rights and how law enforcement harassed and harmed the LGBTQ+ community. Marsha P. Johnson is the founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and co-founded the Street Tranvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). As a transwomen, Johnson and friend, Sylvia Rivera, worked hard to assist their community with their short-lived organization. New York Historical Society Museum and Library (n.d.) affirms, “...it is clear that Marsha was on the front lines[; according to accounts,] ...she started the uprising by throwing a shot glass at a mirror [and] ...she climbed a lamppost and dropped a heavy purse onto a police car, shattering the windshield.” no matter which account, Marsha P Johnson was always known to show up and show out for her people. Her close involvement with the community and the rebellion shows just how dedicated Johnson was to the cause.
Time and time again, Black folks have come together to pursue civil rights and liberation, not just for them, but for all of those oppressed by the same system. If you want to learn more about these historical figures, please see the links below and research their impact on America’s history.
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REFERENCES
Crispus Attucks Museum. (2012, October 11). Crispus Attucks role in the Boston Massacre. http://www.crispusattucksmuseum.org/crispus-attucks-role-in-the-boston-massacre/
Middleton. D.J. (2023). Sarah J. Garnet: The first Black female principal of a New York City public school. https://www.uniquecoloring.com/articles/sarah-j-garnet
New York Historical Society Museum & Library. (n.d.). Life Story: Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992). Retrieved February 3, 2023, from, https://wams.nyhistory.org/growth-and-turmoil/growing-tensions/marsha-p-johnson/
