In 2016 for Black History 365 I explore the obvious and not so obvious parts of American history that those called Black have taken part in. The things that we (Black people) have done other than be stolen from our homeland and made forced labor in a land foreign to us. I’m going to start this series by looking up the first time someone African-American did something and broke the color barrier in that activity or field. I’ll be starting with Wikipedia and working my way out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African-American_firsts
I will be learning a lot of this as I go since I am a product of the standardized Euro/Anglo/Caucasian leaning public school system. I hope you enjoy learning with me. I’ll be going down the list chronologically as it appears in the Wikipedia article.
If you have any other sources or additional information for this topic, please share in the comments. I also welcome any and all comments and discussion. Thanks for reading!
For my first entry this year:
1738
First free African-American community: Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (now usually referred to as Fort Mose)
Fort Mose Historic State Park (originally known as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé) is a U.S. National Historic Landmark (designated as such on October 12, 1994),[2] located two miles north of St. Augustine, Florida, on the eastern edge of a marsh. The original site of the fort was uncovered in a 1986 archeological dig. The 24-acre (9.7 ha) site is now a Florida State Park, administered through the Anastasia State Recreation Area. Fort Mose was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994 and is the “premier site on the Florida Black Heritage Trail.”[3] The fort has also been known as Fort Moosa or Fort Mossa.
Fort Mose (pronounced “Moh-say”) was the first free black settlement legally sanctioned in what would become the United States.[4] The community began when Florida was a Spanish territory.
Looking forward to more info. Blackpast.org and blackthen.com have good info! Aaregistry.com has good info. I’ve gotten lots of great info for my blog. Blackmail4u.WordPress.com
Thanks for the heads up! For now I am working my way through the list on Wikipedia. I’ll look for more info to link to on the other sites though. Thanks again!