Black History Month: We Have To Do Better

Trying to write in this blog today, and I have absolutely nothing new to give you all.  So I am just going to share with you a few old pieces that I hold close.  Since this is Black History Month....  Hold up wait.  Black History Month is a funny and very disrespecting time for me.  Hear me out.  As a father I ask my 2nd grader if they are doing anything special for Black History Month, and his reply is the usual Rosa Parks.

No Black History programs or anything of that nature? That really irks me. You would think that the curriculum would be in some form or fashion dedicated to teaching these kids something historical and inspiring during this month.  As a student we learned about Rosa Parks probably every year in Elementary.  They act like Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are the only 2 Black people of substance that the children can, need. or want to learn about.

So with that being said today I give you 5 African-Americans facts of note that I task you to introduce yourself and your kids (if you have any) to.

1) 1895 -  First African American to earn a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) from Harvard University: W.E.B. Du Bois

2) 1899- First African American to achieve world championship in any sport: Marshall "Major" Taylor, for 1-mile track cycling (I have the book about this amazing athlete)

3) 1901 - First African American invited to dine at the White House: Booker T. Washington

4) 1902 - First African-American professional basketball player: Harry Lew (New England Professional Basketball League) (See also: 1950)

5) 1908 - First African-American heavyweight boxing champion: Jack Johnson



There you have it Ladies and Gents.  Five fun and climactic points in our great history.  Please share this information with as many as you possibly can.  I thank you for taking the time out, and enjoy the information shared.

As promised here are a couple of old joints that I want you all to read and comment on.

TamirSaidIt....

Po-Art-Tree

My Sunshine

“I paint clouds in a way that they all seem dark to me,

Dark until you come around.

Around my way when you touch down is when the sun comes and raids the shade,

I love to watch as the sun cleans up the mess I’ve made…

My Sunshine My Lovely Sunshine You Make Me Happy When Skies are Dark

I want your hand as we walk the park

I want your smile and your lips to part

I want to breathe your rays so that your scent invades me.”

-TamirSaidIt

How I See It All

Ghost reflection of a man disguised as a profound poet taking steps in murky waters translating his views to help make things clearer.
Shattering the alternate picture of the sinner in the mirror, because he knows change starts in his center.
The core he has yet to enter, hard and heavy is the burden he carries, likened to the rolling stone that the tortoise calls home on his back.
Ghost reflection reflecting in the form of lies and deceit,
Giving the world an image
His lady another
Friends something different,
But, these split personalities drive him mad, fore he only knows what he really is.
A ghostly reflection of shattered portions of that man in that broken mirror who is trying to puzzle piece himself into the man he craves to be.

#Tamirsaidit

6-15-12