Welcome back to the African Roots Podcast! You can reach me HERE.
Well this is Memorial Day weekend and I hope that you are all going to have a wonderful weekend with loved ones and friends and that you will be honoring loved ones as well. I also know that many of you will be visiting cemeteries this weekend to decorate the graves of loved ones and to see that they are remembered. They are the ones upon whose shoulders we stand today.
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I wanted to give a hats off salute to some people in Texas who are celebrating their history! I am referring to people with ties to Shankleville Texas! This is an historically Black settlement in Newton County Texas! Someone shared the efforts of the Shankleville Historical Society this week and I was impressed! The society has been around since about 1988, and this history has a fascinating past! Also did you know that the annual Purple Hull Pea Festival takes place in Shankleville TX? I love it that this historic community is embracing its history and celebrating their legacy. If you read their website and their history you will be so impressed! What a truly beautiful story of resistance, and resilience and the descendants of this community should be truly proud of their history. They are also having a Homecoming event in August of this year. Their story is one that hundreds of communities should imitate, and their story is truly one of inspiration!
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Henry Johnson to Be Remembered at Last With Nation’s Highest Honor
This Memorial Day weekend I will be remembering my own ancestors my grandfather served in the 809th Pioneer Infantry and my uncle John Louis Bass who is buried in France. They will be remembered. But I was happy to hear that Henry Johnson of the 961st Battalion will finally get the Medal of Honor. He served in the Harlem Hellfighters. This is a unit of Black soldiers most of whom were from New York. He served in an army that did not respect him, nor other men of color. Yet he was a hero. He saved lives, he was wounded, and continued to fight and after running out of ammunition, he engaged in hand to hand combat. He received the French Cross, but never received the full American highest honors. Now 97 years later, he is being honored. He was never given a Purple Heart, after 21 wounds. He died young, in his early 30s and there is no one in the family to carry on his legacy, and he received no benefits from his bravery. But finally after all of these years, he will be honored. Such lack of gratitude was shown to him. He is an American hero, we need to remember him among the many whose names we will call this weekend.
Also remembering Dorrie Miller
Likewise, let us call the name of Dorrie Miller, another under-represented hero of World War II. This man was a man of courage, never trained in arms, because still the military did not see men of color as worth to be trained in the use of arms, and so he was made a cook while in the Navy. This man however, when his ship was attacked at Pearl Harbor, he took a gun and was able to bring down some of the enemy planes as they attacked his ship.
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Are you committed to telling your story? Or has your research stalled? We need the researcher, but we also need the recipient of our research. It’s time to research and re-focus, then this might be a good time to ask if are ready to extend and expand our work. Perhaps we need a shot in the arm, well pull out those old documents, look at them and ask, “so what?” Last night’s episode of Bernice Bennett’s show was a good shot in the arm, when Dr. Shelley Murphy was her guest from central Virginia. This is the time to revisit and see where we can go. Every document can lead you to so many more documents. Are we committed to going in those directions that to which the documents point us? If you are not aware of the “so what” concept–then tune in to her interview which aired last night. As you know Bernice Bennett’s show airs every Thursday evening on Blog Talk Radio.
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Oh by the way, last Sunday I had a wonderful time at the Grand Review Parade. I have quite a few images to share, and I enjoyed seeing the USCT re-enactors, as well as the ladies as well. I think that there could have been more spectators if the event had been more widely publicized. But I did enjoy the event, and thankfully the weather was great, and it was an impressive thing to see. In honor of my own USCT ancestors, other Union army soldiers, and even women in period dress. But if you missed the parade, still go to and visit the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum.
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Well, thank you all for listening this week. I hope that you will have a good Memorial Day weekend. Also take some time to learn the history of Decoration Day, which has African American origins. Many people are unaware of this tradition, of soldiers buried at this old race course. Fascinating roots from Charleston, and do honor all who have come before us, as well.
So have a great week, I appreciate you all for being there. Have a great week, and remember to keep researching, keep documenting, and keep sharing what you find!
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