“AMERICANS ARE UNITED!”
Series 1: BUILDERS OF THE HOMELAND!
Part 4: African Americans Makes History as United Builders of the Homeland
AGN LIFE: April 11, 2021
African Americans have been a part of America’s history since 1619 as builders and creators. United Builders of the Homeland have always included Americans of African ancestry.
African Americans (Black Americans or Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa. They are the third largest ethnic group and the second largest racial group in the US with 46,713,850 (2019).
African-American history began in 1619 with Africans from West Africa being sold to European slave traders and transported across the Atlantic to the Thirteen Colonies. After arriving in the Americas, they were sold as slaves to European colonists and put to work on plantations, particularly in the southern colonies.
They were farmers and lived in villages for thousands of years. As kings, queens, hunters, servants and laborers in African tribes, they worked as a group to help the community. They were known for their creative abilities and craftsmanship. In addition to being craftsmen, they were cooks, bakers, business owners, tribal leaders, engineers, civic leaders, and achievers.
They were builders of the Pyramids (Egyptians who are North Africans) that are still in place after over 5,000 years. The Pyramid of Khufu is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence. These Africans came to America to help build America.
Today, African Americans have achieved many firsts.
Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier (1894-1948) was a survivor of the Rosewood Massacre of January 1-7, 1923. Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier was a well-liked and well-educated early 20th century Florida school teacher. She taught school in Levy County, Florida. She was well-liked and her unique teaching skills were rewarded.
She was the first African American licensed as a school principal in the state of Florida. She was a real survivor. In the year 2000, she was named as a Great Floridian for her contributions to the state of Florida.
Barack Obama was the first African American elected as the President of the United States in November 4, 2008, taking office on January 20, 2009.
The first African American to be elected as Vice President of the United States on November 3, 2020 was Kamala Harris, taking office January 20, 2021.
Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American of the modern era to become a Major League Baseball player in 1947.
Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century, frequently ranked as the best heavyweight boxer and greatest athlete of the century.
In the 1700s there were many firsts:
When the U.S. Revolutionary War started, 9,000 African Americans became Black Patriots. They fought and died for America on the American side in the war.
Crispus Attucks (c.1723 – March 5, 1770) was an American of African and Native American descent, was the first person killed in the Boston Massacre and thus the first American killed in the American Revolution on March 5, 1770. He has been widely celebrated for a heroic role in the history of the United States. He is considered an iconic martyr of Patriots.
First known African-American (and slave) to compose a work of literature: Lucy Terry.
First African-American clockmaker, Peter Hill.
First known African American to be elected to public office: Wentworth Cheswell.
First African American to join the Freemasons: Prince Hall.
First African American to hold a patent: Thomas L. Jennings, for a dry-cleaning process.
In 1837 the first formally trained African-American medical doctor: Dr James McCune Smith of New York City, who was educated at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and returned to practice in New York.
Garrett Morgan, the first Black man in Cleveland to own a car, invented and patented the traffic light in 1923.
First African-American woman millionaire: Madam C. J. Walker in 1910.
First known African-American woman to publish a book: Phillis Wheatley.
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Perry is included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Dubbed the “Queen of All Media,” she was the richest African American of the 20th century and North America’s first black multi-billionaire, and she has been ranked the greatest black philanthropist in American history.
Local African American communities have many entrepreneurs who have excelled in business and as professionals in medical, legal, tech, entertainment, construction, and as internet business owners.
Enduring many generational struggles, African-Americans have contributed to many of America’s greatest advancements and achievements from space travel to global businesses.
Since Americans are united, regardless of where or why they came … there is an inescapable fact according to one historian … “We the people of the United States can and will work together to build a more perfect union.”
“AMERICANS ARE UNITED!”
Series 1: BUILDERS OF THE HOMELAND!
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