Black Wall Street by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian

THE BLACK (NEGRO) WALL STREET

From the book 

BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY BY DR. LEROY VAUGHN, MD, MBA, HISTORIAN

The “Black (Negro) Wall Street” was the name given to Greenwood Avenue of North Tulsa, Oklahoma during the early 1900’s. Because of strict segregation, Blacks were only allowed to shop, spend, and live in a 35 square block area called the Greenwood District. The “circulation of Black dollars” only in the Black community produced a tremendously prosperous Black business district that was admired and envied by the whole country.

Oklahoma’s first African American settlers were Indian slaves of the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes”: Chickasaws, Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles. These tribes were forced to leave the southeastern United States and resettle in Oklahoma in mid-winter over the infamous “Trail of Tears.” After the Civil War, U.S.-Indian treaties provided for slave liberation and land allotments ranging from 40-100 acres, which helps explain why over 6,000 African-Americans lived in the Oklahoma territory by 1870. Oklahoma boasted of more all-Black towns and communities than any other state in the land, and these communities opened their arms to freed slaves from all across the country. Remarkably, at one time, there were over 30 African American newspapers in Oklahoma.

Tulsa began as an outpost of the Creek Indians and as late as 1910, Walter White of the NAACP, described Tulsa as “the dead and hopeless home of 18,182 souls.” Suddenly, oil was discovered and Tulsa rapidly grew into a thriving, bustling, enormously wealthy town of 73,000 by 1920 with bank deposits totaling over $65 million. However, Tulsa was a “tale of two cities isolated and insular,” one Black and one White. Tulsa was so racist and segregated that it was the only city in America that boasted of segregated telephone booths.

Since African Americans could neither live among Whites as equals nor patronize White businesses in Tulsa, Blacks had to develop a completely separate business district and community, which soon became prosperous and legendary. Black dollars invested in the Black community also produced self-pride, self-sufficiency, and self-determination. The business district, beginning at the intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street, became so successful and vibrant that Booker T. Washington during his visit bestowed the moniker: “Negro Wall Street.” By 1921, Tulsa’s African American population of 11,000 had its own bus line, two high schools, one hospital, two newspapers, two theaters, three drug stores, four hotels, a public library, and thirteen churches. In addition, there were over 150 two and three story brick commercial buildings that housed clothing and grocery stores, cafes, rooming houses, nightclubs, and a large number of professional offices including doctors, lawyers, and dentists. Tulsa’s progressive African American community boasted some of the city’s most elegant brick homes, well furnished with china, fine linens, beautiful furniture, and grand pianos. Mary Elizabeth Parrish from Rochester, New York wrote: “In the residential section there were homes of beauty and splendor which would please the most critical eye.” Well known African American personalities often visited the Greenwood district including: educators Mary McCloud Bethune and W. E. B. DuBois, scientist George Washington Carver, opera singer Marian Anderson, blues singer Dinah Washington, and noted Chicago chemist Percy Julian.

T. P. Scott wrote in “Negro City Directory”: “Early African American business leaders in Tulsa patterned the development of Tulsa’s thriving Greenwood district after the successful African American entrepreneurial activity in Durham, North Carolina.” After the Civil War, former slaves moved to Durham from the neighboring farmlands and found employment in tobacco processing plants. By 1900, a large Black middle class had developed which began businesses that soon grew into phenomenally successful corporations, especially North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. Charles Clinton Spaulding was so successful with the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company that he was able to create a real estate company, a textile and hosiery mill, and the “Durham Negro Observer” newspaper. Durham Blacks also created a hospital, Mechanics and Farmers Bank (1908), North Carolina Training College (1910), Banker’s Fire Insurance Company (1920), and the National Negro Finance Company (1922). However, living conditions in Durham were so substandard and working conditions so poor that the 1920 mortality rate among Blacks in Durham was three times higher than the White rate. As of 1926, 64% of all African Americans in Durham died before the age of 40. These perilous working and living conditions were not present in Tulsa.

On May 31, 1921, the successful Black Greenwood district was completely destroyed by one of the worse race riots in U.S. history. A 19 year old Black male accidentally stumbled on a jerky elevator and bumped the 17-year-old White elevator operator who screamed. The frightened young fellow was seen running from the elevator by a group of Whites and by late afternoon the “Tulsa Tribune” reported that the girl had been raped. Despite the girl’s denial of any wrongdoing, the boy was arrested and a large mob of 2,000 White men came to the jail to lynch the prisoner. About seventy five armed African Americans came to the jail to offer assistance to the sheriff to protect the prisoner.  The sheriff not only refused the assistance but also deputized the White mob to disarm the Blacks. With a defenseless Black community before them, the White mob advanced to the Greenwood district where they first looted and then burned all Black businesses, homes, and churches.

Any Black resisters were shot and thrown into the fires. When the National Guard arrived, they assisted the others by arresting all Black men, women, and children, and herding them into detention centers at the Baseball Park and Convention Hall. As many as 4,000 Blacks were held under armed guard in detention. Dr. Arthur C. Jackson, a nationally renowned surgeon and called by the Mayo brothers (of Mayo Clinic fame) “the most able Negro surgeon in America,” was shot at the Convention Hall and allowed to bleed to death. The “Chicago Tribute” Newspaper reported that Whites also used private airplanes to drop kerosene and dynamite on Black homes. By the next morning the entire Greenwood district was reduced to ashes and not one White was even accused of any wrongdoing, much less arrested.

The race riot of Tulsa, Oklahoma was not an isolated event in American history. On May 28, 1917, a White mob of over 3,000 in East St. Louis, Illinois ravaged African American stores, homes, and churches.  Eyewitnesses reported that over one hundred Blacks were gunned down as they left their burning homes including a small Black child who was shot and thrown back into the burning building to die. Seven White police officers charged with murder by the Illinois Attorney General were collectively fined $150. During the “Red Summer” of 1919, over twenty-five race riots, where White mobs attacked Black neighborhoods. were recorded. In the 1919 race riot at Elaine, Arkansas, White mobs killed over 200 African Americans and burned their homes and businesses. Federal troops arrested hundreds of Blacks trying to protect their possessions and forcibly held them in basements of the city’s public schools. Twelve Blacks were indicted (no Whites) and convicted of inciting violence and sentenced to die. The NAACP persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time in history to reverse a racially biased Southern court.

Director John Singleton exposed the horror of the Rosewood, Florida massacre of 1922 in his film entitled “Rosewood.” A White mob burned down the entire town and tried to kill all of its Black inhabitants. In April 1994, the Florida legislature passed the “Rosewood Bill,” which awarded $150,000 to each of the riot’s nine eligible Black survivors.

After the Tulsa riot, the White inhabitants tried to buy the Black property and force Black people out of town. No Tulsa bank or lending institution would make loans in the riot-marred Greenwood district, and the city refused all outside assistance. However, racial pride and self-determination would not permit the Greenwood owners to sell, and they doggedly spend the entire winter in tents donated by the American Red Cross.

Rebuilding was a testament to the courage and stamina of Tulsa’s pioneers in their struggle for freedom. Most of the buildings along the first block of Greenwood Avenue were rebuilt within one year. Henry Whitlow wrote: “A little over a decade after the riot, everything was more prosperous than before.” In 1926, W. E. B. DuBois visited Tulsa and wrote: “Black Tulsa is a happy city. It has new clothes. It is young and gay and strong. Five little years ago, fire and blood and robbery leveled it to the ground. Scars are there, but the city is impudent and noisy. It believes in itself. Thank God for the grit of Black Tulsa.” Like Black Tulsa, African Americans can continue to survive by self-pride, self-help, and self-determination.

BLACK (NEGRO) WALL STREET BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amazon Associate Links

Brown, R. (1975) Strain of Violence: Historical Studies of American Violence. NY: Oxford Univ. Press.

Butler, W. (1974) Tulsa 75: A History of Tulsa. Tulsa: Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce.

Debo, A. (1982) Tulsa: From Creek Town to Oil Capital. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Ellsworth, S. (1943) Death in a Promised Land: Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. Baton Rouge: LA St. Univ. Press.

Franklin, J. (1974) From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans. New York: Alfred Knopf.

Franklin, J. (1980) The Blacks in Oklahoma. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Gates, E. (1997) They Came Searching - How Blacks Sought the Promised Land.. Austin, TX: Eakin Press.

Johnson, H. (1998) Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic., Texas: Eakin Press.

Teall, K. (1971) Black History in Oklahoma: A Resource Book. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma City Public Schools.

Waskow, A. (1967) From Race Riot to Sit-In. 1919 and the 1960’s.. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

Williams, L. (1972) Anatomy of 4 Race Riots - Racial Conflict in Knoxville, Elaine.. Univ. Col. Pr. of MS.

SLAVE CHILDREN OF THOMAS JEFFERSON - From The Book By Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian

From The Book

BLACK PEOPLE 

AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY

SLAVE CHILDREN OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

In the 1860 census in the South, there were 500,000 mulatto or mixed race slaves and 350,000 slave owners. Thus, every slave owner had on average produced more than one slave child. The slave children of former President Thomas Jefferson, and their direct descendants, are among the most carefully studied families in the history of America because of their outstanding achievements up to and including Chairman of the Board of DuPont Chemical Corporation.

Thomas Jefferson is considered the greatest and most brilliant statesman this country has ever produced. Moreover, among the founding fathers, he was the one who was the most vocal opponent of slavery and did the most to contribute to its abolition. He wrote the Declaration of Independence with a clause opposing slavery, which was taken out at the insistence of the other signers. He wrote the Northwest Ordinance in 1783, and included a clause that prohibited slavery in the new areas of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, and included a provision, which prohibited the introduction of slavery into these new areas. While president, Thomas Jefferson pushed through Congress a bill in 1808, which prohibited the importation of slaves and authorized the U.S. Navy to seize and confiscate ships containing slaves on the high seas. Thomas Jefferson was married to Martha Wayles, the daughter of John Wayles, for 10 years before she died in 1776. Upon the death of Martha Wayles and her father, Jefferson inherited 11,000 acres of land and 135 slaves. Sally Hemmings was one of the slaves inherited. She was also a daughter of John Wayles and an African slave, and thus his wife's half sister. Jefferson fell in love with this mulatto slave after she accompanied his daughter to France, where he was U.S. Ambassador in 1787. Their first son "Tom" was born in 1789. Sally Hemmings produced Beverly Hemmings in 1798, while Thomas Jefferson was Vice President, and three other children while Jefferson was President, including Harriet in 1801, Madison in 1805, and Eston in 1808.

Beverly and Harriet Hemmings were allowed to run away in 1822. Harriet married a White person and never acknowledged her parents. Beverly ended up in England where he also passed for White. His great-grandson, Edward Graham Jefferson, migrated back to the U.S. and became a naturalized American citizen. He subsequently became CEO of DuPont Chemical Corporation, retiring in 1986 and was a member of the Board at AT&T Corporation, Chemical Bank, and Seagram Corporation.

Sally Hemming's first son, Tom, eventually married Jemima, the slave daughter of a master named Drury Woodson, and changed his name to Tom Woodson. He became the distributor of an abolitionist newspaper and a leader in the Black community. Federal Judge Timothy Lewis in 1991, became the first prominent person to admit publicly that he was a descendant of Sally Hemmings and son, Tom Woodson. This was only after his Senate confirmation hearings. Most descendants were ashamed of their slave ancestry.

Frederick Madison Roberts, the grandson of Madison Hemmings, became the first Black man ever elected to the State Assembly of California. He also became a close friend of Earl Warren and helped found UCLA, that is, the  University  of California at Los Angeles. Sally Hemming's last born son, Eston, had a son named John Wayles Jefferson who founded the Continental Cotton Company, which was very successful.

Thomas Jefferson was the most vocal opponent against slavery and spent his entire life working for the abolition of slavery. He strongly believed that “all men are created equal” and that they could achieve equally if only given the opportunity. Jefferson would be proud to know that his slave children confirmed his theory about racial equality by their outstanding achievements.

BLACK PEOPLE 

AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY

by

Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian

SLAVE CHILDREN OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adler, D. (1987) Thomas Jefferson: Father of Our Democracy. New York: Holiday House.
Bakhufu, A. (1993) The Six Black Presidents. Washington, D.C.: PIK2 Publications.
Bear, J. and Betts, E. (1987) Thomas Jefferson’s Farm Book, University Press of Virginia.
Bennett, L. (1988) Before the Mayflower. New York: Penguin Books.
Brodie, F. (1974) Thomas Jefferson, An Intimate History. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.
Erickson, E. (1974) Dimensions of a New Identity: Jefferson Lectures. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.
Jefferson, I. (1951) Memoirs of a Monticello Slave. University of Virginia
Kane, J. (1981) Facts About the Presidents: From Geo. Wash. to Ronald Reagan. NY: H. W. Wilson Co.
Malone, D. (1981) Jefferson and His Times: The Sage of Monticello.Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
Mapp, A. (1987) Thomas Jefferson: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity: New York: Madison Books.
Reuter, E. (1969) The Mulatto in the United States. Haskell House.
Sloan, S. (1992) The Slave Children of Thomas Jefferson. Berkeley: The Orsden Press.
Sullivan, M. (1991) Presidential Passions: Love Affairs of Am’s Pres. - Wash. - John. NY: Shapolsky Pub.
Tinsell, C. (1964) The Secret Loves of the Founding Fathers. New York: Devin-Adair Co.

BRAD PYE’S BOOK FOREWORD BY LEROY VAUGHN, MD, MBA, Historian

BRAD PYE’S BOOK FOREWORD 

BY LEROYVAUGHN, MD

        I was quite honored when Brad Pye Jr. asked me to write the foreword to his outstanding autobiographical book considering all the very distinguished people he could have chosen. Brad has uplifted the lives of thousands of people during his 60 plus years in Los Angeles and several of those deeds are outlined in this work. I am sure his toughest job was choosing which appreciation letters, tributes, and award documents to include in this outstanding compilation.

When I was recently asked who the real American heroes were, I answered that I most admired people who had dedicated their lives toward uplifting the lives of their fellow man and especially people less fortunate than themselves. In fact, I am in awe of people who have helped disenfranchised, bright, gifted, deserving, needy African Americans break through racial barriers and injustices. This esteemed group includes people like John Brown and Marcus Garvey. Brad Pye in my eyes has spent no less energy trying to help others.

John Brown dedicated his life toward the emancipation of all slaves. He actively campaigned to establish African American schools and helped Oberlin College to open its doors to “Negroes” in 1839. John Brown volunteered to personally teach Black farmers in New York how to clean up and plant farmland that he had convinced a wealthy New York landowner to donate. When slavery appeared to have no end, John Brown died trying to steal enough weapons to allow slaves to fight for their own freedom.

Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Harlem in 1918. His vision was to organize the Black race through race pride, education, self-reliance, and economic development. Garvey attempted to promote race pride by stressing the importance of the historical accomplishments of people of African descent. He said “we were once masters in art, science, and literature”, and “whatsoever a Black man has done a Black man can do.” Self-reliance and economic development was Garvey’s second major theme. His ultimate objective was to manufacture every marketable commodity and to establish factories that could employ and train thousands of Black workers. Although Marcus Garvey did not achieve all his goals, his spirit fortunately lives though the millions of people he has inspired and uplifted. I am convinced part of that spirit reached Brad Pye Jr.

Brad Pye Jr.’s humble beginning started in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. In 1943 at the age of 12, he convinced a person driving to Los Angeles to allow him to ride along for $5. His loving mother steered him toward friends and joined him six years later. Brad parlayed this non air-conditioned journey into a magnificent career as an award winning manager and sports editor of the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper and as the sports director of multiple radio stations for many years including KGFJ, KJLH, KACE, and KDAY.

Brad’s outstanding sports journalism career provided him the opportunity to obtain a lofty civic stature and to befriend numerous sport owners and upper management personnel. He used those inroads to increase awareness of racial injustices and inequalities and to promote opportunities for qualified African Americans in numerous endeavors. For over 50 years Brad used his influence and “insider” leverage to help break racial barriers in every major sport including football, baseball, boxing, and track and field. Brad was there when Aaron Wade became the first African American to be named an American Football league (AFL) official and when Eldridge Dickey became the first Black American quarterback drafted into the NFL. As a good friend, recruiter, and “Administrative Assistant” to Oakland Raider owner Al Davis, Brad encouraged the first aggressive football recruiting from historically Black colleges. This foresight helped the Raiders win 3 Super bowl championships. It is also no coincidence that Al Davis hired Art Shell as the first Black American head football coach in the NFL.

In professional baseball, Brad also worked tirelessly to promote Black “firsts”. He and others wrote numerous letters and met personally with the late Dodger owner Walter O’Malley. Eventually, Emmet Ashford became the first African American umpire called up to the Major league. Brad and others like Wendell Smith of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper also helped promote the acceptance of major league baseball stars like Sam Lacey and Jackie Robinson who became his very close friend.

Although Brad is well known for promoting prep athletes at major southern California universities like UCLA and USC, he is just as recognized for obtaining press box accommodations for Black journalists in Southern California. Black journalists are now a staple in the press boxes of the Dodgers, Lakers and all other major sporting events.

Brad Pye Jr.’s great career also touched the lives of numerous non athletes. Among those who thank him and sing his praises include the late Attorney Johnnie Cochran who thanked him for 30 years of friendship and promotion long before the national media “discovered” him. Personally, my story is not unlike Attorney Cochran. When I told Brad that I had difficulty establishing my private practice as the only Black Retinal specialist on the West Coast, he told me not to worry. He subsequently published my resume in the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper and appointed me to the State Boxing Commission and the State Athletic Commission. To demonstrate his trust, he even sent his mother to me shortly thereafter when she developed a retinal detachment. I cherish our 30 year friendship.

I am confident that after reading this autobiographic collection of letters, tributes, and awards, the reader will be amazed at what one man can accomplish for his fellow man when intensely motivated. Perhaps this book can inspire the reader to also help others.

LEROY W. VAUGHN, MD, MBA, Historian

Dr. Vaughn's book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY opens with a review by Brad Pye, Jr. 

Five Black USA Presidents - Book - Black People And Their Place In World History by Dr. Leroy Vaughn

From the book

BLACK PEOPLE
AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY

by

Dr. Leroy Vaughn 

MD, MBA, Author, Historian, Humanitarian

(Text below bibliography)

Five Black Presidents Bibliography

Adler, D. (1987) Thomas Jefferson: Father of our Democracy. New York: Holiday House.

Bakhufu, A. (1993) The Six Black Presidents, Washington, D.C.: PIK2 Publications.

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

Brodie, F. (1974) Thomas Jefferson, An Intimate History. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.

Curtis, J. (1982) Return to These Hills: VT Yrs. of C. Coolidge. Woodstock, VT: Curtis-Lieberman Books.

Dennis, R. (1970) The Black People of America. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.

Erickson, E. (1974) Dimensions of a New Identity: Jefferson Lectures. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.

Kane, J. (1981) Facts About the Presidents: From Geo. Washington to Ron. Reagan. NY: H. W. Wilson Co.

Mapp, A. (1987) Thomas Jefferson: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity. New York: Madison Books.

Morrow, E. (1963) Black Man in the White House. New York: Coward-McCann Inc.

Remini, R. (1966) Andrew Jackson. New York: Harper and Row

Reuter, E. (1969) The Mulatto in the United States. Haskell House.

Rogers, J. (1965) Sex and Race. St. Petersburg, FL: Helga Rogers Publishing

Rogers, J. (1965) The Five Negro Presidents. St. Petersburg, FL: Helga Rogers Publishing.

Sullivan, M. (1991) Presidential Passions: Love Affairs of Am’s Pres..Wash..Johnson. NY: Shapolsky Pub.

Whitney, T. (1975) The Descendants of the Presidents. Charlotte, NC: Delmar Printing Co.

Five Black Presidents Text

Joel A. Rogers and Dr. Auset Bakhufu have both written books documenting that at least five former presidents of the United States had Black people among their ancestors.  If one considers the fact that European men far outnumbered European women during the founding of this country, and that the rape and impregnation of an African female slave was not considered a crime, it is even more surprising that these two authors could not document Black ancestors among an ever larger number of former presidents.  The presidents they name include Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding, and Calvin Coolidge.

The best case for Black ancestry is against Warren G. Harding, our 29th president from 1921 until 1923.  Harding himself never denied his ancestry.  When Republican leaders called on Harding to deny the "Negro" history, he said, "How should I know whether or not one of my ancestors might have jumped the fence." William Chancellor, a White professor of economics and politics at Wooster College in Ohio, wrote a book on the Harding family genealogy and identified Black ancestors among both parents of President Harding.  Justice Department agents allegedly bought and destroyed all copies of this book.  Chancellor also said that Harding's only academic credentials included education at Iberia College, which was founded in order to educate fugitive slaves.

Andrew Jackson was our 7th president from 1829 to 1837.  The Virginia Magazine of History, Volume 29, says that Jackson was the son of a White woman from Ireland who had intermarried with a Negro.  The magazine also said that his eldest brother had been sold as a slave in Carolina.   Joel Rogers says that Andrew Jackson Sr. died long before President Andrew Jackson Jr. was born. He says the president's mother then went to live on the Crawford farm where there were Negro slaves and that one of these men was Andrew Jr.'s father.  Another account of the "brother sold into slavery” story can be found in David Coyle's book entitled "Ordeal of the Presidency" (1960).

Thomas Jefferson was our 3^rd president from 1801 to 1809.  The chief attack on Jefferson was in a book written by Thomas Hazard in 1867 called "The Johnny Cake Papers."  Hazard interviewed Paris Gardiner, who said he was present during the 1796 presidential campaign, when one speaker states that Thomas Jefferson was “a mean-spirited son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father.”  In his book entitled "The Slave Children of Thomas Jefferson," Samuel Sloan wrote that Jefferson destroyed all of the papers, portraits, and personal effects of his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, when she died on March 31, 1776.  He even wrote letters to every person who had ever received a letter from his mother, asking them to return that letter.  Sloan says, "There is something strange and even psychopathic about the lengths to which Thomas Jefferson went to destroy all remembrances of his mother, while saving over 18,000 copies of his own letters and other documents for posterity."  One must ask, "What is it he was trying to hide?"

Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president from 1861 to 1865.  J. A. Rogers quotes Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks, as saying that Abraham Lincoln was the illegitimate son of an African man.  William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, said that Lincoln had very dark skin and coarse hair and that his mother was from an Ethiopian tribe.  In Herndon's book entitled "The Hidden Lincoln" he says that Thomas Lincoln could not have been Abraham Lincoln's father because he was sterile from childhood mumps and was later castrated.  Lincoln's presidential opponents made cartoon drawings depicting him as a Negro and nicknamed him “Abraham Africanus the First."

Calvin Coolidge was our 30th president, and he succeeded Warren Harding.  He proudly admitted that his mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry.  However, Dr. Bakhufu says that by 1800 the New England Indian was hardly any longer pure Indian, because they had mixed so often with Blacks.  Calvin Coolidge's mother's maiden name was "Moor."  In Europe the name "Moor" was given to all Black people just as the name Negro was used in America.

All of the presidents mentioned were able to pass for White and never acknowledged their Black ancestry.  Millions of other children who were descendants of former slaves have also been able to pass for White.  American society has had so much interracial mixing that books such as “The Bell Curve”, discussing IQ evaluations based solely on race, are totally unrealistic.

Two Popes Praying To The Black Madonna

Today, two popes of the Catholic Church, living at the same time in Rome, were praying to a Black Madonna in the Vatican, together, before the press. Times have changed but the reality remains the same. There is a historic power in praying to THE BLACK MADONNA too.

The image below is stock of the room where the historic prayer session happened, forgiveness and truth in action.  

The dynamic author Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian, Humanitarian and Honorary Nigerian Chief, in his powerful book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY, tells the truth-story in the chapter "After Christ' he has an image of this statue of Saint Peter that stands at the Vatican too. 

BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY, tells the truth-story about the Black Madonna in the chapter "After Christ" pg 56-58 .pdf and paperback:   

THE BLACK MADONNA

Isis was a Black African goddess of Nile Valley civilizations whose worship eventually diffused to most of the ancient world. Isis was worshiped by the Nubians well over 300 years before the first Egyptian dynasty.  The Egyptians then gave the Isis religion to Greece, Rome, and western Asia. Gerald Massey says that the religious records of all the world’s religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity are nothing more than copies of the religious records of the Black goddess Isis, her son Horus, and her husband Osiris. For example, Horus was the first child born from a virgin mother's immaculate conception, and he was said to have walked on water just as Jesus later did. The Black goddess Isis is also credited with resurrecting Osiris after he was murdered.

The first "Black Madonna and Child" statutes and portraits were of Isis and Horus, and these were taken throughout the world by the Roman Empire. When other religions became more popular, these statues were not destroyed, but simply had their names changed. In India, Isis and Horus became Maya and Buddha in Buddhism or Devaki and Krishna in Hinduism. The Chinese called Isis Kwa-yin, and the Japanese changed the name to Kwannon.

In his 1985 book entitled "The Cult of the Black Virgin", Ean Begg was able to identify over 450 images of a Black virgin and child in Europe with over 190 statutes in France alone. J. A. Rogers says that Paris was actually named for Isis because Para-Isis means "Place of Isis." He also says that Note Dame means "Our Lady" and that the cathedral is nothing more than an enlargement of the original Isis temple.

Millions of pilgrims visit the Black Madonna shrines annually because they are believed to possess magical powers, although the statues are now called Mary and Jesus. It is believed that only the Black statues are magical and all pilgrimages stopped whenever the statues were painted white. The Black Madonnas have been credited with healing towns of plagues, bringing dead babies to life, making infertile women pregnant, and saving nations during wars. Many crutches have been left at the feet of the Black Madonnas, who presumably gave their owners the power to walk. One of the most devoted pilgrims of the Black Madonna shrine in Poland was Pope John Paul II. He prayed to her image while recovering from his gun shot wound. She is credited with thousands of documented miracles including saving Poland from Russia in 1769. In 1968 alone, the Black Madonna shrine in Poland received over 66,000 thank you letters for healing and other miracles. Pilgrims frequently leave gold watches and rings at the feet of the Black Madonnas in appreciation.

Church literature absolutely refuses to acknowledge any association of Black Madonnas with Africa. Church officials claim that the Madonnas are Black because of smoke from candles and from dirt and old age. Church officials would never admit that the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans made pilgrimages until 536 A.D. to the Isis temple at Philae, Egypt to seek the same miracles that current pilgrims seek from the Black Madonna shrines. Isis was recognized as a supreme miracle and magic worker and is also credited with teaching mankind the art of curing disease. Isis was able to restore life to the dead as she did with her husband Osiris and later with the infant Horus, who was brought back to life after he was killed by a scorpion's sting. Isis was the goddess of corn and grain, water and navigation, and even clothing. She was also called a divine granter of salvation for souls of mankind. The ancient Black Egyptians acknowledged Isis as the source of all their prosperity, including the Nile River.

Isis worship was so strong in Europe that Roman citizens ignored Emperors Augustus and Tuberous, who outlawed Isis worship and persecuted her priests. Emperor Caligulia finally bowed to public pressure and re-established the Isis worship. Emperor Justinian caused an unsuccessful armed insurrection in 536 A.D., when he ordered all Isis temples permanently closed.

Religion in general (and the cult of the Black Virgin Madonna in specific) is yet another example of the many elements of civilization and civilizing ideas which were brought from Africa into Europe.

BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY

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THE BLACK MADONNA BIBLIOGRAPHY

Begg, E. (1985) The Cult of the Black Virgin. New York: Penguin Books.
Budge, E. (1969) The Gods of the Egyptians. New York: Dover.
Doane, T. W. (1882) Bible Myths. New York: Truth Seeker Co.
Grabar, A. (1968) Christian Iconography. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jameson, M. (1876) Legends of the Madonna. Boston: Osgood and Co.
MacQuitty, W. (1976) Island of Isis. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Morey, C.R. (1958) Christian Art. New York: Norton.
Patrick R. (1972) Egyptian Mythology. London: Octopus Books.
Rogers, J. A. (1967) Sex and Race. New York: Helga Rogers Publishing
Snowden, F. (1970) Blacks in Antiquity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Van Der Merr, F. (1967) Early Christian Art. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Van Sertima, I. (ed.) (1984) Black Women in Antiquity. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Witt, R. (1971) Isis in the Graeco-Roman World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.

Black Women Of The Old West

From the book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian: From the chapter After 1777: Independence - Section - Black Women of the Old West

"Although our novels and movies are filled with heroes from the old west, African American heroes are virtually never mentioned. Moreover, historians have also contributed to this unjust and unbalanced recording of our glorious western saga by completely ignoring the many accomplishments of Black men and women, despite the fact they were accurately reported in newspapers, government records, military reports, and pioneer memoirs. As members of a double minority, Black women have suffered an even greater historical injustice, although they were an integral part of the western fabric. Nothing more clearly demonstrates the contributions of Black women to the western tradition than the biographies of Biddy Bridget Mason, Clara Brown, and Mary Ellen Pleasant. 

Biddy Bridget Mason (1815-1891) was born into slavery and given as a wedding gift to a Mormon couple in Mississippi named Robert and Rebecca Smith. In 1847 at age 32, Biddy Mason was forced to walk from Mississippi to Utah tending cattle behind her master’s 300-wagon caravan. After four years in Salt Lake City, Smith took the group to a new Mormon settlement in San Bernardino, California in search of gold. When Biddy Mason discovered that the California State Constitution made slavery illegal, she had Robert Smith brought into court on a writ of habeas corpus, and the court freed all of Smith’s slaves. Now free, Mason and her three daughters (probably fathered by Smith) moved to Los Angeles where they worked and saved enough money to buy a house at 331 Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. Knowing what it meant to be oppressed and friendless, Biddy Mason immediately began a philanthropic career by opening her home to the poor, hungry, and homeless. Through hard work, saving, and investing carefully, she was able to purchase large amounts of real estate including a commercial building, which provided her with enough income to help build schools, hospitals, and churches. Her most noted accomplishment was the founding of First African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, now the oldest church in Los Angeles, where she also operated a nursery and food pantry. Moreover, her generosity and compassion included personally bringing home cooked meals to men in state prison. In 1988, Mayor Tom Bradley had a tombstone erected at her unmarked gravesite and November 16, 1989 was declared “Biddy Mason Day”. In addition, the highlights of her life were displayed on a wall of the Spring Center in downtown Los Angeles, an honor befitting Los Angeles’ first Black female property owner and philanthropist. 

Clara Brown (1806-1888) is another who dedicated her life to the betterment of others. She was born as a slave in Virginia and then sold at age three to the Brown family in Logan, Kentucky. At age 35, her master died, and her slave husband, son, and daughter were sold at auction to different owners. After 20 additional years in slavery, she was able to buy her freedom and immediately headed west to St. Louis. At age 55, she agreed to serve as cook and laundress in exchange for free transportation in a caravan headed for the gold mines of Colorado. Clara Brown established a laundry in Central City and as her resources expanded, she opened up her home, which served as a hospital, church, and hotel to the town’s less fortunate. Under her direction, the first Sunday school developed, and moreover, the whole town turned to her during illness because she was such a good nurse. Frequently, she even “grubstaked" miners who had no other means of support while they looked for gold in the mountains and was repaid handsomely for her kindness and generosity by those who struck pay dirt.” Far and wide, she was known as “Aunt Clara” and as “the Angel of the Rockies”. 

By the end of the Civil War, Clara Brown had accumulated several Colorado properties and over $10,000 in cash. Since slavery was over, she used her fortune to search for relatives in Virginia and Kentucky and returned with 34 of them including her daughter. She continued her philanthropy among the needy for the rest of her life and also spent large sums of money helping other Blacks come west. Upon her death at age 82, the Colorado Pioneers Association buried her with honors, and a plaque was placed in the St. James Methodist Church stating that her house was the first home of the church. 

Mary Ellen Pleasant (1814-1903), a former slave, moved to San Francisco in 1849 where she opened a successful boarding house, famous for cards, liquor, and beautiful women. She was also a partner of Thomas Bell, co-founder of the first “Bank of California.” As a businesswoman, she was called mercurial, cunning, cynical, and calculating, but personally she was softhearted and had a passion for helping the less fortunate who called her “the Angel of the West”. She was a leader in California for the protection of abused women and children and helped build and support numerous “safe havens” for them. Mary Ellen Pleasant hated slavery and frequently rode into the rural sections of California to rescue people held in bondage. Because of Pleasant, the entire Black community of San Francisco received a warning from one judge for “the insolent, defiant, and dangerous way that they interfered with those who were arresting slaves.” Mary Ellen Pleasant used most of her fortune to aid fugitive slaves. “She fed them, found occupations for them, and financially backed them in numerous small businesses.” In 1858, she gave $30,000 to John Brown to help finance his raid at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. This White abolitionist had hoped to capture the national armory and distribute the weapons to slaves for a massive insurrection. During the Civil War, Pleasant raised money for the Union cause and continued to fight for civil rights. Her tombstone epitaph read: “Mother of Civil Rights in California” and “Friend of John Brown”. 

Brief biographies of Biddy Bridget Mason, Clara Brown, and Mary Ellen Pleasant serve to illustrate the enormous contributions and accomplishments of Black women in the old west. Era Bell Thompson in “American Daughter” clearly states the problem: “Black women were an integral part of the western and American tradition. It both impairs their sense of identity and unbalances the historical record to continue to overlook the role of Black women in the development of the American west.”

BLACK WOMEN OF THE OLD WEST
Bibliography

Billington, M & Hardaway, E. (eds.) (1998) African Americans on the Western Frontier. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado.

Bruyn, K. (1970) Aunt Clara Brown: Story of a Black Pioneer - Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing Co.

James, E. & James J. (eds.) (1971) Notable American Women. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

 Katz, W. (1992) Black People Who Made the Old West, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.

Lerner, G. (1979) The Majority Finds Its Past: Placing Women in History. New York: Oxford University Press.

Myres, S. (1982) Westering Women: The Frontier Experience. 1880-1915. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Pelz, R. (1989) Black Heroes of the Wild West. Seattle: Open Hand Publishers.

Ravage, J. (1977) Black Pioneers: Images of the Black Experience on the North American Frontier. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press.

Riley, G. (1981) Frontierswomen: The Iowa Experience. Ames: Iowa State University Press.

Savage, W. (1976) Blacks in the West. Westport: Greenwood Press.

Sterling, D. (1984) We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Thompson, E. (1986) American Daughter. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society.

Black Popes

MSNBC said there has never been a Black Pope. That's not true according to the dynamic research done by Dr. Leroy Vaughn, MD, MBA, Historian, Humanitarian and Honorary Nigerian Chief, reported in his book BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY!

Black St. Peter in the Vatican

Black Roman Africans made significant contributions to the growth of Christianity and the development of the Roman Catholic faith. The three greatest scholars and founding theologians of Christianity were all Roman Africans including Tetulian, Cyperian, and St. Augustine. However, the greatest contribution was probably made by the three Black popes who were Pope Victor I, Pope Miltiades, and Pope Galasius I.

Pope Victor I was the 14^th pope and served from 189 A.D. - 199 A.D. In 189 A.D., the date of Easter was a matter of great controversy. In Asia, Easter was celebrated on the 14^th day after the full moon, which meant that some Christians were celebrating lent while others were celebrating resurrection. Pope Victor I declared that Easter would only be celebrated on Sunday and that he would excommunicate all of the Christians of Asia if they failed to abide by his ruling. Easter has been on Sunday ever since. Under the influence of the Black theologian Tetulian, the Black Pope Victor I also declared that Latin would replace Greek as the official language of the Roman church. Both Victor and Tetulian only wrote in Latin thereafter. Pope Victor at the same time that Black Romans controlled the world religiously with Victor and Tetulian, the Black Romans gained control of the world politically and militarily in 193 A.D., when the Black Roman African Septimius Severus became the Roman Emperor. He remembered his roots by making large donations to the urban poor and employing them in extensive building campaigns. The month of September was named after Septimius Severus who was seceded as emperor of the Roman Empire by his Black son Caracalla from 211 A.D. until 217 A.D.

The second Black pope was Pope Miltiades who served from 311 A.D. until 314 A.D. as our 32^nd pope. All Christians were persecuted when Miltiades took office until he obtained an edict of toleration signed by Emperor Galerius, which put an end to the great persecutions and allowed the Christians to come out of their catacombs. Pope Miltiades also convinced Emperor Maxentius to return all church buildings and possessions, which had been confiscated during the persecutions. It was also during the reign of Pope Miltiades that the Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity after he saw the cross in a vision.

Constantine's army marched into Rome in 312 A.D. and overthrew the tyrant Maxentius. He subsequently made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Miltiades was made a saint with his feast celebrated on December 10th. The Black Roman theologian St. Augustine called Pope Miltiades "an excellent pontiff, a true son of peace, and father of Christians."

The third Black pope was Galasius I, our 49^th pope, who took office 492 A.D. (exactly 1,000 years before America was so-called "discovered"). He is described by his contemporaries as "famous all over the world for his learning and holiness." Galasius I was devoted to uplifting the poor and weak and commanded his bishops to donate 25% of their revenue to charity, stressing that "nothing is more becoming to the priestly office than the protection of the poor and the weak."

Pope Galasius I is also credited with ending the pagan ritual of Lupercalia in which young men would dress in skins and strike any woman they met with a whip, which was supposed to confer fertility and to chase away bad luck. He replaced Lupercalia with the "feast of the purification of the blessed virgin" now called "Candlemas". Galasius I is most famous for his firm letter to Emperor Anastasius about the need for independence of church and state. He told the emperor that the world is governed by two great powers: that of the popes and that of kings; but the authority of the popes is so much greater because on judgment day, popes will have to render an account to God for the soul of kings. As were the other two African popes, Galasius I was also made a saint and his feast day is held on November 21st.

Contrary to the belief of those who call Christianity a White man's religion, Christianity was founded with the genius of three Black theologians, and further developed and propelled by devoted contributions from three Black Roman African popes.

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BLACK POPES BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brusher, J. (1959) Popes Through the Ages. Princeton.
Holtzclaw, R. (1980) The Saints Go Marching In. Keeble Press Inc.
Khamit-Kush, I. (1983) What They Never Told You in History Class. Bronx, NY: Luxorr Publications.
Loomis, L. R. (1916) Book of the Popes, New York.
Ottley, R. (1952) No Green Pastures, London: John Murray
Scobie, E. (1994) Global Afrikan Presence. New York: A & B Books Publishers.
Van Sertima, I. (ed.) (1993) African Presence in Early Europe. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.