Black History by U.S. Cities

Monument in Boston to Crispus Attucks and others who were first to die for America; (c) Soul Of America

Black History by U.S. Cities

“I prayed for freedom for 20 years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.”

– Frederick Douglass

Black History by U.S. Cities began with the arrival of African soldiers under the commission of the Spanish crown to continue colonizing the Florida Territory. They helped settle Saint Augustine, Florida in 1565.

In 1609, when John Smith arrived in Jamestown, Virginia to establish a British colony, a few Africans also made passage. Those Blacks along with many Whites, were most likely Indentured Servants. It is reported but not well documented, that a couple of Blacks jumped ship to the nearby area today known as Hampton, Virginia.

In 1619, New York City imported enslaved people from Africa, and the wretched curse of slavery spread across land taken from Native Americans.

In the 1770s, people of mixed African & French descent came to North America as free fur trappers & traders like Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable. He established the riverside settlement that became Chicago. Both free and enslaved Blacks fought in the Revolutionary War for freedom, with a Black man, Crispus Attuck, being the first person to die for this country.

In the 1800s, before slavery was abolished, many Blacks with help from a minority of Whites who hated slavery, successfully used the Underground Railroad to freedom to Canada, northern U.S. cities, and western U.S. territories. Harriet Tubman is rightfully, the most celebrated person of the Underground Railroad for leading so many to freedom.

Harriet Tubman sign in Eastern Maryland near her birthplace; (c) Soul Of America

Before the Civil War (1861-65), Frederick Douglass helped organize the Abolitionist Movement to free all slaves. During the Civil War, he helped convince President Lincoln to enlist Colored Troops to fight for the freedom of all Black folk.

After the Civil War ended, many Black families led by Buffalo Soldiers and Black Cowboys, migrated west to freedom and formed Black Towns or moved to cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

In 1905, W.E.B. Dubois, Fredrick McGhee, Max Barber, William Monroe Trotter, and 8 other men formed the Niagara Movement in Canada, which eventually led to the founding of the NAACP in 1910.
Black soldiers also fought in every war on American soil to earn our freedom. After remaining enslaved people were legally freed in 1863, America’s Human Rights Movement continued with the works of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune, and many others. Inch by inch, they tirelessly fought to secure more human rights and economic progress for people of color.

Over 1914-18, a majority of White soldiers did not want to serve beside Black soldiers, nor did American politicians want large numbers of Blacks trained to handle weaponry. Though racism exists in France, it is felt less by African American travelers because Black soldiers were commissioned to valiantly fight beside French soldiers to free France in World War I (and later, World War II).

In 1925, Asa Phillip Randolph organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

In 1941, Asa Phillip Randolph’s Black labor union threatened to boycott discriminatory Defense factories. That convinced President FDR to open tens of thousands of Defense jobs for Black folks.

With Blacks soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen having saved many White American soldiers and Europeans in World War II, enough returning White veterans felt comfortable with Jackie Robinson desegregating Major League Baseball in 1947.

In 1948, Asa Phillip Randolph successfully pressured President Truman to end racial segregation in the military and open federal government hiring.

In 1950, Asa Phillip Randolph, NAACP Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins, and National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council leader Arnold Aronson founded the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. They were instrumental in raising money and expanding public awareness of the movement.

Black History by U.S. Cities includes difference-making numbers of Black immigrants from the Caribbean, Africa, and Brazil. That is readily apparent in each city’s assemblage of Black-owned restaurants, nightclubs, and African art & crafts shops.