Veterans Day 2010 - Blacks In The US Military

FIRST BLACK WEST POINT COMMANDER 

EMILY PEREZ

The first Black woman to serve as Corps Commander Sergeant Major at West Point.

Perez graduated in the top 10 percent of her class, out-ran many men, directed a gospel choir and read the Bible every day.

She also headed a weekly convoy as it rolled down treacherous roads, pocked with bombs and bullets near Najaf, Iraq.

As platoon leader, she insisted on leading her troops from the front. Shortly before shipping out to Iraq with the 204 Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, she flew cross-country to be a bone marrow donor for a stranger who was a match.

At 23, she was the 64th woman from the U.S. military killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. September, 2006.

---

Thank you all veterans for your service.  Though many have received praise, many more have had their contributions ignored.  Time for this to change.

The book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY, by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, historian is a groundbreaking work that fills in many of the blanks in world history.    This section read in the webeo below with some of the images explained in detail, gives a closer look at some of the contributions of Black soldiers to the US Military.

BLACKS IN THE MILITARY

 MEDAL OF HONOR MEN
THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND NAVY
(Below)

Portraits of 15 African American soldiers and sailors

including Sgt. John Lawson, Milton M. Holland,

Robert A. Pinn, Sgt. Brent Woods, Powhatan Beaty,

Corporal Isaiah Mays,
Sgt. John Denny, James H. Harris,

Dennis Bell, Thomas R. Hawkins,
Sgt. William Carney,

Christian Fleetwood, Pvt. James Daniel Gardner,

Sgt. Alexander Kelly, and Sgt. Thomas Shaw

(Photo of Gen Colin Powell right)

Television images of General Colin Powell in specific, and Black, well trained, energetic soldiers in general, are a great source of pride for most African Americans. These television images represent the fruits of over two hundred years of struggle by African Americans for equality, integration, and respect in the military service. There is probably no irony in American history more pointed than the American Black soldier fighting and dying for basic American democracy and freedom, while being denied most of those same freedoms at home and in the military since the founding of this country.

(Photo left: West Point Academy's first African American graduate - plus a whole lot more revealed in the book -  Henry Flipper)

Until recently African Americans begged for the privilege to fight and die for this country in hopes that a more equitable society would await them at the end of the war. However, Black soldiers and sailors were strictly prohibited from participation in virtually every American war until a severe manpower shortage made this country desperate. In 1792, laws were passed by Congress to exclude Blacks from the Army and Marines. The Marine Corp did not accept an African American for its first 150 years of existence, up to and including World War II, when White politicians and generals finally became desperate enough to encourage Black military participation. Black soldiers were frequently poorly trained, unequally paid and equipped, and forced to participate in all Black regiments with White southern officers in charge.

(Photo right: Tuskgee, Alabama, March, 1942. Members of the first class of Negro pilots in the history of the US Army Air Corps who were graduated at the Advanced Flying School as Second Lieutenants by Major General George E. Stratemeyer)

When Blacks were allowed to participate in American wars, they invariably performed exceptionally well. Over 5,000 African Americans, both slave and free, served in the army during the Revolutionary War, and almost all of them received their freedom in appreciation after the war. In fact, most northern states abolished slavery because of their contribution. The outstanding contributions of over 200,000 African American soldiers and sailors during the Civil War led to the 13th Amendment freeing all slaves.

(Photo left: Brigadier General Joseph E. Bastion pins the Distinguished Service Cross on Capt. Charles L. Thomas, 1945)

Between 1869 and 1890 Black soldiers in the West, nicknamed the Buffalo Soldiers, won 14 Congressional Metals of Honor, 9 Certificates of Merit and 29 Orders of Honorable Mention while fighting Native Americans. President Theodore Roosevelt credits these same Buffalo Soldiers for saving his famous "Rough Riders" from extermination in Cuba during the Spanish American War of 1898.

(Photo above: Black Soldiers during World War I)

About 160,000 of the 200,000 African Americans sent to Europe during World War I were forced to work as laborers in unloading ships and building roads. The remaining soldiers were not even allowed to fight along side White American soldiers but rather were assigned by General Pershing to French Divisions. These Black soldiers had to fight in French uniforms with French weapons and French leadership until the end of World War I. Over 3,000 casualties were sustained by these Black soldiers, who subsequently were awarded over 540 medals by the French government including the Legion of Honor - for gallantry in action.

(Photo right: Brigadier General Benjamin Davis conducting close rifle inspection of the United States Colored Troops somewhere in England about 1942)

The plight of Blacks in the military did not improve significantly until President Franklin Roosevelt and President Harry Truman made concessions to Black leaders in exchange for Black votes. On October 15, 1940, Roosevelt announced that Blacks would be trained as pilots, that Black reserve officers would be called to active duty, and that Colonel Benjamin Davis would be named the first Black Brigadier General.

In 1948, Truman was even more desperate for Black votes and issued Executive Order 9981, ending military segregation and demanding "equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the Armed Services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin." After two hundred years of struggle, African Americans can now look upon Black military men and officers with a great since of pride and accomplishment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - BLACKS IN THE MILITARY

Donaldson, G. (1991) The History of African-Americans in the Military. Malabar, FL: Krieger Pub. Co.

Foner, J. (1974) Blacks and the Military in American History. New York: A New Perspective Pub. Co.

Greene, R. (1974) Black Defenders of America: 1775-1973. Chicago: Johnson Publishing.

Langley, H. (1967) Social Reforms in the United States Navy: 1798-1862. Urbana, IL: University of IL Press.

Lanning, M. (1997) African-American Soldier: From Crispus Attucks to Colin Powell. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Gr.

Moebs. T. (1994) Black Soldiers - Black Sailors - Black Ink. Chesapeake Bay, MD: Moebs Publishing Co.

Mullen, R. (1973) Blacks in America’s Wars. New York: Pathfinder.

Nalty, B. (1986) Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military. NY: Free Press.

Rogers, J. (1989) Africa’s Gift to America. St. Petersburg, FL: Helga Rogers Publishing.

Wilson, J. (1977) The Black Phalanx: A History of the Negro Soldier.. New York Arno Press.

Zinn, H. (1980) A People’s History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Dr. Leroy Vaughn Raises Over $32,000 For Eye Medications For ASA-USA Medical Missions

Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian, and author of the groundbreaking book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY, is also a great humanitarian. His missions to Africa to do free eye surgery for people who otherwise would not be able to afford it is legendary.  His work so effective he was awarded the title of Honorary African Chief.

Dr. Vaughn has raised over $32,000 for eye medications for ASA-USA Medical Missions.  It's rare when people do good deeds that folks say thank you beyond the moment, if then.  Below is one of the rare exceptions to that, including a list of other contributors, who should also be honored and supported.  

Thanks so much Dr. Vaughn for all the heroic work that you do.  You are a model of greatness for us all to follow...and your book is still the best look into Black history I've ever read...dreams achieved.

God's eternal blessings to you and your family and crew.

From (and please send donations to):

ASA-USA MEDICAL MISSION

C/O Financial Secretary

P. O. BOX 981084

West Sacramento CA 95798

                                          

Dr. Bernard Okwelogu, Kpakpando Ozubulu

"Shine in your Community and Generation"

ASA-USA Medical Mission Chief Fundraiser.

559 392 0668

Dear Good Stewards:

"We are using this opportunity to thank Dr Leroy Vaughn for arranging the donation of $32,587.54 worth of eye medications from a major Pharmaceutical manufacturing company.  Dr Leroy Vaughn is the Ophthalmologist / Surgeon who travels with us yearly to our ASA-USA Medical Missions. Please help me in thanking him for his generosity and kindness to Ndi-Igbo and  Ndi-Anambra." Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze, President ASA-USA.

Dr Vaughn is not stranger to yearly ASA-USA Medical Mission to Anambra State. He makes far-reaching financial sacrifices every year for the benefit of Ndi Anambra in particular and Ndi Igbo in general. Imagine closing down his Clinic for 4 weeks every year, takes his employees along to Medical Mission, lose money while in Anambra State and yet pays his employees. Let us assume  $50,000 to $100,000 per day in lost income, so for 4 weeks, you got the picture.

Dr. Vaughn does not claim citizenship of any Anambra State towns. Humanitarianism, volunteerism and generosity are habits most of us are yet to pick up from Americans even though we have lived here for decades. Be a good steward of resources ( time, money, knowledge, influence, expertise, network etc) God entrusted in your care! Use these resources judiciously in the service of God and mankind. Do not walk the other way!  

I am calling on all men and women of Goodwill to stand and be counted. The "harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few". Won't you volunteer for this year's Medical Mission or volunteer your money instead? If you plan to help us help our people this year, NOW IS THE TIME as timely purchase / shipment of drugs and supplies cannot wait.

I am appealing to all ASA-USA leadership, membership and well-wishers to "CASH IN" on your influence and Goodwill by asking your friends, business partners and  EMPLOYERS to make a tax-deductible donation (cash and supplies) towards 2009 ASA-USA Medical Mission to Anambra State, Nigeria. You will be amazed at the response you will get for just asking. Do it for the least among us, the poor and the sick at home. Let us turn our passion to assist our people into action by collectively throwing ropes of hope to the poor and sick drowning in  poverty and disease at ground zero.

"Ours is a call of hope and capacity. It envisions individuals, Families, communities working together to bring about in a lasting way conditions that upgrade all aspects of health that include physical, emotional, economic, social, environmental and spiritual well being. No calling is higher and I have not been taking it lightly, neither should you". Dr. Chris Emeka Uddoh

LIST OF DONORS.

SUPPLIES:

1. Chief Dr Bernard Okwelogu donated 1000 pairs of reading / Prescription eyeglasses.
2. ASA-PHILADELPHIA. 20ft Container Load of Medical Equipment and Supplies.
3. Dr. Ebube Odunukwe donated two huge boxes of surgical supplies and equipments.
4. Dr Leroy Vaughn $32,587 worth of eye medications. Eye Surgery Expertise:Priceless.

  

 CASH:

1. Dr. John Anikpe $500
2. Morial Wells $100
3. Dr & Mrs Chris Emeka Anago $500
4. Mr & Mrs Arinze V. Chukwuneta $200
5. Mr. Primus Odili $200 
6. Mr & Mrs Ifeanyi Ezenwa $100     
7. Victor and Tess Ezekwo $100
8. Mr & Mrs Moses Onyejeme $50 
9. Drs/Mrs Nwachukwu Anakwenze $1000       
10. Medpoint Management $2000  
11. Joan Oviawe $100  
12. Chief Ezeani Achusim $500
13. Dr Chike Ezekweche $300
14. Mr John Obegolu $200
15. Adaora Chukwuma $200
16. Mr & Mrs Alex Ike Okeke $100
17. Chief Tony Idigo, Ikolo Aguleri $100
18. Mr Victor Nwanso $200  
19. Northridge Diagnostic Laboratory $400  
20. Dr. Chris Ulasi $500
21. Anonymous Donor $500    
22. Mr. Michael Akwuba $100 
23. Dr & Mrs Onor $500
24. Gakeze Travel Agency (Chuks Ezewusie) $200
25. Mrs Vivian Okoro $100
26. Mr Meshack Okpala, ASA-USA Fin Sec. $100
27. Azubuike Okpalaze $100
28. Chief Ezeani Achusim additional $100
29. Mr Sobenna Dunu $50
30. Mr Uwadi Uwaoma $100  
31. Dr Ifeanyi Ntukogu $100 
32. Atty Philip Chinwuba, London UK, $150
33. Nze & Lolo G. Aginam $100
34. Memorial Medical Center, Modesto, $1500
35. Adinu Dike Anakwenze $500
36. Dr. Joe Udeozor $200

 37.  RN Chitra, Indian American Nurse, $100

DONATIONS / DUES FROM ASA-USA CHAPTERS

   1.  ASA-USA Dallas  $2000

   2.  ASA-USA Los Angeles 

   3.  ASA-USA Houston 

   4.  ASA-USA Miami

   5.  ASA-USA Chicago

   6.  ASA-USA Atlanta

   7.  ASA-USA Louisiana/Baton Rouge

   8.  ASA-USA Boston

   9.  ASA-USA Nashville

  10. ASA-USA New Orleans

  11. ASA-USA New Jersey

  12. ASA-USA New York

  13. ASA-USA Ohio

  14. ASA-USA Oklahoma

  15. ASA-USA Sacramento

  16. ASA-USA Washington DC

  17. ASA-USA Philadelphia

  18. ASA-USA Memphis

  19. ASA-USA Bay Area North California

  20. ASA-USA Baltimore

  21. ASA-USA North Carolina

  22. ASA-USA Michigan

Town Unions Donations:

  Awka ?  

 Enugwu-Agidi ?    

 Aguleri----- ----$1000. 00

 Ukpor  ?

 Neni ?

 Isulo ?                          

 Onitsha?                    

 Ekwulobia ?              

 Awkuzu ? 

 Others

                   

GRAND TOTAL $14,850.00

 

                         Please mail you donation to

 ASA-USA MEDICAL MISSION

C/O Financial Secretary

P. O. BOX 981084

West Sacramento CA 95798

                                          

Dr. Bernard Okwelogu, Kpakpando Ozubulu

"Shine in your Community and Generation"

ASA-USA Medical Mission Chief Fundraiser.

559 392 0668

Black People And Their Place In World History - Black Nationalism

From the book

BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY
by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD. MBA, Historian
Chapter 20TH CENTURY
Section Black Nationalism 
(pages 198-201)  

 

BLACK NATIONALISM

Black Nationalism is defined as “a complex set of beliefs emphasizing the need for the cultural, political, and economic separation of African Americans from White society.”  The philosophy of Black Nationalism is a direct response to racial discrimination and the overt hostility of White society toward anyone of African descent.  Black Nationalist beliefs were strongest during slavery and again with Marcus Garvey at the beginning of the 20^th century.  Since most Black Nationalists believed that White society would never treat African Americans fairly, they demanded a territorial base either in Africa or in America, completely governed by Black men.

As the philosophy of Black Nationalism expanded, Black pride, solidarity, and self-reliance became issues just as important as the demand for a territorial base.  For example, in the 18^th century, Boston’s free Blacks demanded that Crispus Attucks, the first to die in the American Revolution, become a symbol of African American contributions to the Revolutionary War.  Crispus Attucks Day (March 5th) was celebrated for decades before it was replaced by July 4t^h.  During the 19^th century, Paul Cuffee, the richest Black man in America, employed only African Americans to demonstrate their ability to the skeptical White world.  In the 1920’s, Marcus Garvey demanded distinctly Black standards of beauty and refused any advertisements in his newspaper “The Negro World” for hair straighteners or skin whiteners.  He insisted on highlighting the accomplishments of Blacks throughout the world and that Black people chose Black heroes.  He even demanded that Black churches depict all religious figures as Black, including Jesus Christ.

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, many young Blacks became impatient with its slow progress and passive non-violent philosophy and again embraced Black Nationalism.  Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) soon had most Black youths proclaiming the slogans “Black is Beautiful” and “Black Power.”  Bobby Seale and Huey Newton founded the “Black Panther Party” in 1966 and advocated militant self defense in addition to Black Nationalism.  Elijah Muhammad (a former Garveyite) and Malcolm X emphasized religious justification for racially separate enterprises, especially in business.  When the young Black leaders of the Civil Rights Movement looked for the “Father of Black Nationalism,” they chose a name that history had almost forgotten: Martin Robison Delany. 

Martin Robinson Delany (1812-1885) was a highly intelligent, well-educated Black Nationalist with an immense and outspoken love for his people.  Delany strenuously rejected the notion of Black inferiority and proposed emigration rather than the continuous submission to racial humiliation by White society.  Although his father, Samuel Delany, was a slave, Martin was born free because his mother, Pati Peace Delany, was free.  The Delany children mastered reading and education so quickly that West Virginian Whites became threatened and forced them to move to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1822.  In 1831, Martin completed the Reverend Lewis Woodson School for Negroes and later completed enough medical study in the offices of abolitionist medical doctors to make a comfortable living as a medical practitioner.  In 1850 he became the first Black admitted to Harvard Medical School but was asked to leave after one year because Dean Oliver Holmes considered him a “distraction to education.”

Martin Delany hated slavery and while still practicing medicine, he published the “Mystery,” the first Black-owned newspaper “West of the Alleghenies.”  He published his abolitionist newspaper from 1843-47 and when finances forced him to close, he joined Frederick Douglass as coeditor of the newly founded “North Star.”  Delany demanded liberty for Blacks as a human right.  He also exhorted Blacks to elevate themselves by becoming skilled workers and landowning farmers.  Martin Delany emphasized Black self-reliance through education, independent thought, and self respect.  He felt that Blacks would only gain “the world’s applause” by obtaining wealth through successful businesses.

When Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, Delany gave up all hope that this country would ever ameliorate the condition of his people.  He moved his family to Canada and became a full time advocate for emigration to Africa.  Delany organized three emigration conventions (in 1854, 1856, and 1858).  In July 1859, Martin Delany sailed to western Africa and on December 27, 1859, he signed a treaty with the king of Abeokuta (Nigeria).  The treaty “permitted African Americans associated with Delany to settle in unused tribal lands in exchange for sharing their skills and education with the Yoruba people.”  Happy with his African treaty, Delany then sailed for Britain to obtain financial support.

In London, Martin Delany was able to convince cotton dealers and philanthropists that Christian colonies in Africa could easily compete with slave cotton from the South.  Delany helped found the “African Aid Society,” which agreed to lend two thirds of the money needed by the first group of settlers who were expected to leave the U.S. in June 1861.  Unfortunately, before the first settlers could leave, the Civil War began, and Delany decided to cancel the first group’s departure.

After four years of bloodshed, Martin Delany was able to convince President Lincoln to allow him to recruit an all Black army with Black officers, which would terrorize the South by arming all slaves and encouraging them to fight for their own emancipation.  Delany was commissioned as a Major in the Union Army, the first Black field officer, but the war ended before he could implement his plan to arm all slaves.  After the war, Delany was labeled as a “race agitator” for telling freed slaves to “trust only Blacks” and “to break the peace of society and force their way by insurrection to a position he is ambitious they should attain to.”

African Methodist Episcopal Church (A. M. E.) Bishop Daniel Payne wrote that “Delany was too intensely African to be popular…had his love for humanity been as great as his love for his race, his influence might have equaled that of Fredrick Douglass.”  Martin Delany’s emphasis on race pride and self-reliance and his stressing of the importance of “elevating the race” clearly makes him the “Father of Black Nationalism.” 

BLACK NATIONALISM BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Adams, R. (1969) Great Negroes: Past and Present. Chicago: Afro-Am Publishing Co. Inc.

Appiah, K. & Gates, H. (eds.) (1999) Africana. New York: Basis Civitas Books.

Asante, M. & Mattson, M. (1991) Historical and Cultural Atlas of African Americans NY: Macmillan Pub. Co.

Bennett, L. (1975) The Shaping of Black America. Chicago: Johnson Publishing Co.

Bennett. L. (1988) Before the Mayflower. New York: Penguin Books.

Delany, M. R. (ed.) (1996) The Condition, Elevation, Emigration.. Black Classic Press; Reprint edition

Franklin, J. & Meier, A. (ed.) (1982) Black Leaders of the 20th Century. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Franklin, J. (1988) From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans, New York: Alfred A Knopf.

Griffith, C. (1975) The African Dream: Martin R. Delany and the Emergence of Pan-African Thought.

University Park: Pennsylvania State University.

Litwack, L. & Meier, A. (1988) Black Leaders of the Nineteenth Century. Chicago: Univ. of IL Press.

Low, A. & Clift, V. (eds.) (1983) Encyclopedia of Black America. New York: Neal Schuman Publishers.

Moses, W. (1988) The Golden Age of Black Nationalism, 1850-1925. New York: Oxford University Press.

Moses. W. (ed.) (1996) Classical Black Nationalism: From Am. Rev. to Mar. Garvey. NY: NY Univ. Press.

Sally, C. (1993) The Black 100, New York: Carol Publishing Group.

 PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS

 198, MARCUS GARVEY STOREFRONT WINDOW, SIGNS IN THE WINDOWS OF A MARCUS GARVEY CLUB IN THE HARLEM AREA CREATED BY GORDON PARKS. SOURCE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

198, MALCOLM X AND MARTIN L. KING SMILING, THE LIBRARY OF SISTER SOMAYAH KAMBUI,  CRESCENT ALLIANCE SELF HELP FOR SICKLE CELL, LOS ANGELES, CA

199, MALCOLM X WITH A GUN AT THE WINDOW, ON THE LOOK OUT FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATION OF ISLAM, PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HOGAN CHARLES

200, MARTIN ROBINSON DELANY AFTER THE CIVIL WAR "1847B. MARTIN R. DELANY MOVES FROM PITTSBURGH TO ROCHESTER IN ORDER TO FOUND WITH AND WORK WITH FREDERICK DOUGLASS ON A NEW PAPER, NORTH STAR, PRINTED IN THE BASEMENT OF MEMORIAL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH, A FLOURISHING CENTER FOR "UNDERGROUND" ACTIVITIES. SOME LOCAL CITIZENS WERE UNHAPPY THAT THEIR TOWN WAS THE SITE OF A BLACK NEWSPAPER, AND THE NEW YORK HERALD URGED THE CITIZENS OF ROCHESTER TO DUMP DOUGLASS'S PRINTING PRESS INTO LAKE ONTARIO. GRADUALLY, ROCHESTER CAME TO TAKE PRIDE IN THE NORTH STAR AND ITS BOLD EDITOR. STARTING THE NORTH STAR MARKED THE END OF HIS DEPENDENCE ON GARRISON AND OTHER WHITE ABOLITIONISTS. THE PAPER ALLOWED HIM TO DISCOVER THE PROBLEMS FACING BLACKS AROUND THE COUNTRY. DOUGLASS HAD HEATED ARGUMENTS WITH MANY OF HIS FELLOW BLACK ACTIVISTS, BUT THESE DEBATES SHOWED THAT HIS PEOPLE WERE BEGINNING TO INVOLVE THEMSELVES IN THE CENTER OF EVENTS AFFECTING THEIR POSITION IN AMERICA. [ROLLIN]," THE LIBRARY OF DR. LEROY VAUGHN, MD, MBA, HISTORIAN

Richard Allen and the A.M.E. Church - From Book Black People... Vaughn

Bishops of the A.M.E. Church

From the book
BLACK PEOPLE
AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY
by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian, Honorary African Chief

 . 

After1775 - Richard Allen and the A.M.E. Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Church (A. M. E. Church) was one of the first Black organizations dedicated to Black self-improvement and Pan-Africanist ideals. The A. M. E. Church was also distinguished by its commitment to political agitation, Black education, and social activism. The interest in education initially culminated in the founding of Wilberforce University in 1863, as the first Black college founded by Blacks. Numerous other A. M. E. Colleges soon followed.

A. M. E. pastors were also responsible for numerous lawsuits against public school segregation, which eventually led to the 1954 case: “Brown vs. Board of Education.” During the Civil Rights movement, the A. M. E. Church was very active, and in addition to a pragmatic gospel, the church addressed the housing, welfare, and unionization issues of new immigrants to northern cities. However, nothing more completely captures the spirit and embodiment of the A. M. E. Church than its founder and first bishop, Richard Allen.

Richard Allen was born into slavery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1760 and shortly thereafter his entire family was sold by a Philadelphia lawyer, Benjamin Chew, to a Delaware plantation owner, Stokely Sturgis. Although the slave master was unconverted, he allowed Richard Allen to attend Methodist meetings. In addition to their antislavery beliefs, Allen was especially impressed by their emphasis on a simple set of virtues including honesty, modesty, and sobriety and converted to Methodism at age 17. By age 20, Allen was able to convert his slave master and to convince him that slave holding was wrong. Allen was allowed to buy his freedom for $2,000 by working a variety of odd jobs over the next five years. Once freed, “Allen traveled widely on the Methodist circuits, preaching, holding prayer meetings, and giving religious counsel to groups of White and Black Christians in the small towns and rural settlements of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York.” While in Philadelphia, Allen was asked by the elders at St. George Methodist Church to preach to their Black members. After the Black membership increased dramatically, Richard Allen determined that his calling was to minister to the “uneducated, poor, and un-churched community” and that he could best reach them in a separate Black church. However, the White Methodist elders ridiculed the whole idea with “very degrading and insulting language.”

St. George’s Black membership became so large that the church was forced to build a new seating gallery. When church authorities demanded that Blacks sit in the rear of the gallery, Allen and others decided they had been insulted enough: “We all went out of the church in a body and they were no more plagued with us.” The Black Methodists agreed to purchase a blacksmith shop and to move it to a lot Allen had purchased with his own savings. Carpenters were hired to make the building suitable for church meetings and on April 9, 1794, Bishop Asbury dedicated the structure as “Bethel African Church.” Bishop Asbury also ordained Allen as the first Black Methodist deacon and within four years the Bethel membership increased from 45 to 457 members. Richard Allen’s success was the inspiration for many other Black Methodist groups to form African Methodist Churches throughout the Northeast especially in New York, Delaware, and Maryland.

Since Bethel African Church was still under White Methodist ecclesiastical jurisdiction, White Methodists sued for legal control of Bethel, but in 1807 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in Allen’s favor. In 1816, Allen organized a national convention of Black Methodists, since many of them had similar White Methodist challenges. The convention delegates resolved that the churches they represent “should become one body under the name ‘African Methodist Episcopal Church’ in order to secure their privileges and promote union and harmony among themselves.” Richard Allen became the new denomination’s first Bishop and retained that title until his death in 1831.

Richard Allen dedicated his entire life toward uplifting his fellow African Americans. He felt that true Christians had to stretch out their hands beyond the circle of family and friends “to comfort the poor neighbor, the stranger, the widow, and the orphan.” He helped establish the Free African Society, the Bethel Benevolent Society, and the African Society for the Education of Youth “in order to support one another…from a love to the people of our complexion whom we behold with sorrow.” Bethel Church became the scene of numerous Black conventions to discuss the abolition of slavery and racial discrimination, and Richard Allen was commonly recognized as the leader of free Northern Blacks. Allen also published “An Address to Those Who Keep Slaves” in which he attacked slavery and the arguments for it.

Allen spent the final years of his life vehemently opposing the American Colonization Society, which Whites organized in 1817 to support the emigration of free Blacks from America to Africa. The American Colonization Society argued that free Blacks would have to leave this country to find true freedom, since the Fugitive Slave Act allowed any White person to call a free Black a fugitive slave. Since African Americans could not testify in court and therefore could not defend themselves, they had to find someone White who could speak in their behalf or they would become enslaved. Richard Allen himself was once called a fugitive slave, but fortunately, he was so famous that he not only won his case but had his accuser thrown into jail for three months. The American Colonization Society also argued that African Americans could help civilize and convert their less fortunate African brothers. However, Allen angrily responded that American Blacks could not convert or civilize anyone since they were mostly illiterate and uneducated themselves. He felt the real purpose of the colonizationists was to expel the most vociferous opponents of slavery. Allen told the American Colonization Society: “We will never separate ourselves voluntarily from the slave population in this country; they are our brethren and we feel there is more virtue in suffering privations with them than fancied advantage for a season.”

Richard Allen propelled the A. M. E. Church to the center of Black institutional activity during his lifetime. Allen’s life, as much as his sermons, remained an effective example for the future leadership of the A. M. E. Church. Moreover, his leadership direction is responsible for the continued proliferation of A. M. E. membership throughout the 19th and 20th century, which today boasts a total of over three million members.

Blacks In The Military - From Black People... by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, M...

Dr. Vaughn Responds To Wikipedia Articles On His Book Black People...

The above photo is of the dynamic writer and historian Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian and author of BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY, a breathtaking look at what really happened in our shared past. 

A successful ophthalmologist by trade, Dr. Vaughn's book gives the reader a new vision and empowerment about the hidden truths in history like who were the other 5 Black US Presidents, what really happened on Black Wall Street and and look at the powerful service given by Blacks in the Military.  The truth is liberating.

I emailed Dr. Leroy Vaughn today asking his response to a couple of WIKI pages folks put up on the book his book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_People_and_Their_Place_in_History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_heritage_of_United_States_presidents

Here's Dr. Vaughn's response to the above Wiki pages

"I WROTE WIKEPEDIA A LONG TIME AGO AND THANKED THEM FOR MENTIONING OUR BOOK. 

I SAIL I WAS AMAZED THAT THEY ONLY DISPUTED ONE CHAPTER OUT OF THE DOZENS THAT WERE WRITTEN. 

I TOLD THEM THAT ONE DROP OF LINCOLN'S BLOOD OR THE BLOOD OF ANY OF THE OTHER 43 PRESIDENTS COULD SOLVE THIS PROBLEM IN LESS THAN A DAY.

I ALSO TOLD THEM THAT HAVING SO CALLED PROFESSIONAL HISTORIANS COMMENT DOES   NOT MAKE THE INFORMATION ANY LESS ACCURATE."   

I agree.  Thanks Dr. Vaughn.  

If you're ready for a breathtaking journey into the truth in history, I urge you to read the evolutionary book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian and African Chief.

Black People...Blacks In The Military by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA Historian

Excerpts from the book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY, by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, BLACKS IN THE MILITARY.

MEDAL OF HONOR MEN
THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND NAVY

Portraits of 15 African American soldiers and sailors

including Sgt. John Lawson, Milton M. Holland,

Robert A. Pinn, Sgt. Brent Woods, Powhatan Beaty,

Corporal Isaiah Mays,
Sgt. John Denny, James H. Harris,

Dennis Bell, Thomas R. Hawkins,
Sgt. William Carney,

Christian Fleetwood, Pvt. James Daniel Gardner,

Sgt. Alexander Kelly, and Sgt. Thomas Shaw

(Photo of Gen Colin Powell right)

Television images of General Colin Powell in specific, and Black, well trained, energetic soldiers in general, are a great source of pride for most African Americans. These television images represent the fruits of over two hundred years of struggle by African Americans for equality, integration, and respect in the military service. There is probably no irony in American history more pointed than the American Black soldier fighting and dying for basic American democracy and freedom, while being denied most of those same freedoms at home and in the military since the founding of this country.

(Photo left: West Point Academy's first African American graduate - plus a whole lot more revealed in the book -  Henry Flipper)

Until recently African Americans begged for the privilege to fight and die for this country in hopes that a more equitable society would await them at the end of the war. However, Black soldiers and sailors were strictly prohibited from participation in virtually every American war until a severe manpower shortage made this country desperate. In 1792, laws were passed by Congress to exclude Blacks from the Army and Marines. The Marine Corp did not accept an African American for its first 150 years of existence, up to and including World War II, when White politicians and generals finally became desperate enough to encourage Black military participation. Black soldiers were frequently poorly trained, unequally paid and equipped, and forced to participate in all Black regiments with White southern officers in charge.

(Photo right: Tuskgee, Alabama, March, 1942. Members of the first class of Negro pilots in the history of the US Army Air Corps who were graduated at the Advanced Flying School as Second Lieutenants by Major General George E. Stratemeyer)

When Blacks were allowed to participate in American wars, they invariably performed exceptionally well. Over 5,000 African Americans, both slave and free, served in the army during the Revolutionary War, and almost all of them received their freedom in appreciation after the war. In fact, most northern states abolished slavery because of their contribution. The outstanding contributions of over 200,000 African American soldiers and sailors during the Civil War led to the 13th Amendment freeing all slaves.

(Photo left: Brigadier General Joseph E. Bastion pins the Distinguished Service Cross on Capt. Charles L. Thomas, 1945)

Between 1869 and 1890 Black soldiers in the West, nicknamed the Buffalo Soldiers, won 14 Congressional Metals of Honor, 9 Certificates of Merit and 29 Orders of Honorable Mention while fighting Native Americans. President Theodore Roosevelt credits these same Buffalo Soldiers for saving his famous "Rough Riders" from extermination in Cuba during the Spanish American War of 1898.

(Photo above: Black Soldiers during World War I)

About 160,000 of the 200,000 African Americans sent to Europe during World War I were forced to work as laborers in unloading ships and building roads. The remaining soldiers were not even allowed to fight along side White American soldiers but rather were assigned by General Pershing to French Divisions. These Black soldiers had to fight in French uniforms with French weapons and French leadership until the end of World War I. Over 3,000 casualties were sustained by these Black soldiers, who subsequently were awarded over 540 medals by the French government including the Legion of Honor - for gallantry in action.

(Photo right: Brigadier General Benjamin Davis conducting close rifle inspection of the United States Colored Troops somewhere in England about 1942) The plight of Blacks in the military did not improve significantly until President Franklin Roosevelt and President Harry Truman made concessions to Black leaders in exchange for Black votes. On October 15, 1940, Roosevelt announced that Blacks would be trained as pilots, that Black reserve officers would be called to active duty, and that Colonel Benjamin Davis would be named the first Black Brigadier General.

In 1948, Truman was even more desperate for Black votes and issued Executive Order 9981, ending military segregation and demanding "equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the Armed Services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin." After two hundred years of struggle, African Americans can now look upon Black military men and officers with a great since of pride and accomplishment.

FIRST BLACK WEST POINT COMMANDER EMILY PEREZ

The first Black woman to serve as Corps Commander Sergeant Major at West Point.
Perez graduated in the top 10 percent of her class, out-ran many men, directed a gospel choir and read the Bible every day.

She also headed a weekly convoy as it rolled down treacherous roads, pocked with bombs and bulletsnear Najaf, Iraq.

As platoon leader, she insisted on leading her troops from the front. Shortly before shipping out to Iraq with the 204 Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, she flew cross-country to be a bone marrow donor for a stranger who was a match.

At 23, she was the 64th woman from the U.S. military killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. September, 2006.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - BLACKS IN THE MILITARY

Donaldson, G. (1991) The History of African-Americans in the Military. Malabar, FL: Krieger Pub. Co.

Foner, J. (1974) Blacks and the Military in American History. New York: A New Perspective Pub. Co.

Greene, R. (1974) Black Defenders of America: 1775-1973. Chicago: Johnson Publishing.

Langley, H. (1967) Social Reforms in the United States Navy: 1798-1862. Urbana, IL: University of IL Press.

Lanning, M. (1997) African-American Soldier: From Crispus Attucks to Colin Powell. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Gr.

Moebs. T. (1994) Black Soldiers - Black Sailors - Black Ink. Chesapeake Bay, MD: Moebs Publishing Co.

Mullen, R. (1973) Blacks in America’s Wars. New York: Pathfinder.

Nalty, B. (1986) Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military. NY: Free Press.

Rogers, J. (1989) Africa’s Gift to America. St. Petersburg, FL: Helga Rogers Publishing.

Wilson, J. (1977) The Black Phalanx: A History of the Negro Soldier.. New York Arno Press.

Zinn, H. (1980) A People’s History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.