Positivity Within Discourse

35 years ago, Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to start a Super Bowl, then conquered the Denver Broncos with an MVP performance. In the buildup to Super Bowl 57, which pits two Black starting quarterbacks (Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes) against each other for the first time, that part of Williams' story has been recounted over and over. To many, Williams' story is one of the American dream. The narrative of Williams' entire NFL career, however, is more one of America's shortcomings. It is a story of a Black man entering a near-impossible situation with no modern precedent for success. It is one of that man achieving near-instant prominence and empowering a team and a region of the South that wasn't entirely prepared for him to do so. And, though it ended in triumph, it is a story of failure, perhaps on all sides, to fully understand one another.  Though Williams had broken passing records at the HBCU, Eddie Robinson, his football coach at Gramblin...

  Have you ever heard of "Black Wall Street"? At the turn of the 20th century, African Americans founded and developed the Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma built on what had formerly been Indian Territory, the community grew and flourished as a Black economic and cultural mecca . . . until May 31, 1921. On May 30, 1921, a young Black man named Dick Rowland, who worked shining shoes, rode the elevator of Tulsa's Drexel building to use one of the few available segregated public restrooms downtown. After the female elevator operator screamed, Rowland fled the elevator and rumors quickly spread of an alleged sexual assault. The next day, he was arrested, leading to an armed confrontation outside the courthouse between a growing white crowd and Black men hoping to defend Rowland from being lynched. As things became heated and shots were fired, the vastly outnumbered African Americans retreated to the Greenwood District. The white group followed, and as the night unfolded,...

 Since this is my first blog on this website, and it is also February 1, 2023, I thought it would be appropriate to think about Black History month. I am a white/Caucasian male. Does that qualify me to have an opinion. Hell no! However, I recently watched a documentary called " Summer Of Soul ", and I got really angry at myself!  Most people know that Woodstock took place in 1969. But here was an equally wonderful, free-spirited concert with many greats like Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder and so, so many more ~ and I had Never heard of it before!! Maybe that is a small part of the definition of "white privilege" in that you are able to gleefully go through your life with friends and neighbors who are black, red, yellow, brown, green, purple, etc. and know absolutely nothing about the culture.  With that being said, I plan to learn more! Let's start with learning a bit about Carter G. Woodson. Black history month can be traced back to 1926. Here is an excerpt...