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MY'STORY

The MOVE Fire

This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police fired thousands of rounds at the MOVE house, city officials approved dropping an explosive device on the roof, the resulting fire was allowed to burn, 11 people—including five children—died, and 61 homes were destroyed. Philadelphia City Council later called it a “brutal attack carried out by the City of Philadelphia on its own citizens” and acknowledged that no individual faced criminal consequences for the bombing. One timeline correction worth preserving for the BHP record: the major previous MOVE-police confrontation was August 8, 1978, about seven years before the bombing, not a year or two earlier. Officer James Ramp was killed, other police and firefighters were wounded, nine MOVE members were later convicted, and television cameras recorded police beating Delbert Africa during his arrest. The 1985 MOVE Commission later specifically criticized city planners for failing to adequately use lessons from that 1978 confrontation. And that actually strengthens the point you’re making: 1985 did not happen without precedent or institutional memory. There had already been a deadly confrontation with MOVE, years of conflict, negotiations and police involvement before Osage Avenue.

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BLACK FACTS
The Truths They Never Taught You...

Ruler of the Mali Empire in the 14th century

Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.

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BHP gathered finds from its connected research sources. Showing the 12 strongest Black History matches.
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NMAAHC

National Guards - Taking Negros to Ball Park for Protection

Date
1921
Created by
Caption
On May 31 and June 1, 1921, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, mobs of white residents brutally attacked the African American community of Greenwood, colloquially known as "Black Wall Street," in the deadliest racial massacre in U.S. history. Amidst the violence, both white rioters and the Oklahoma National Guard rounded up black residents of Greenwood and forced them to detention centers. More than 6,000 African Americans were interned at the Convention Hall, the Tulsa County Fairgrounds, and the baseball stadium McNulty Park. Some were held for as long as eight days.
Photo postcards of the Tulsa Race Massacre were widely distributed following the massacre in 1921. Like postcards depicting lynchings, these souvenir cards were powerful declarations of white racial power and control. Decades later, the cards served as evidence for community members working to recover the forgotten history of the riot and secure justice for its victims and their descendants.
Description
A sepia-toned photographic postcard depicting African Americans held by the National Guard being led through the streets of Tulsa. The image depicts a long column of black men and women walking down a street with National Guard soldiers positioned along either side. There are buildings and rail cars on the other side of the line of people. A sign on one of the structures reads [THE CONTINENTAL]. Along the bottom of the image, written into the negative and appearing as white text is [NATIONAL GUARDS - TAKING NEGROS TO BALL / PARK FOR PROTECTION - RACE RIOT OF TULSA / JUNE 1st 1921]. The verso is marked [POST CARD] at the top with spaces for [CORRESPONDENCE] and [ADDRESS] and an AZO stamp box in the top right corner.
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National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Photographs and Still Images
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2011.175.8
Type
gelatin silver prints
photographic postcards
Restrictions & Rights
Public domain
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper, with ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 3 7/16 × 5 7/16 in. (8.7 × 13.8 cm)
Title
Title • National Guards - Taking Negros to Ball Park for Protection
Record ID
nmaahc_2011.175.8
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
NATIONAL GUARDS - TAKING NEGROS TO BALL PARK FOR PROTECTION
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Date
1920s
Geo Location
City • Tulsa • County • Tulsa County • State • Oklahoma • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America
Online Media Type
Images
Online Media Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions

Media

Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Rights and restrictions shown above are supplied by the Smithsonian record.

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Wikipedia

Black Wall Street

The Black Wall Street may refer to: Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma, a neighborhood containing many African-American businesses in the early 20th Century Tulsa race massacre of 1921, in which a white mob destroyed much of Greenwood Jackson Ward, a thriving African-American business community in Richmond, Virginia Black Wall Street (Durham, North Carolina), Parrish Street, in Durham, North Carolina, an area of successful black-owned businesses The Black Wall Street Records, a record label

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Wikipedia

The Black Wall Street Times

The Black Wall Street Times is an African-American newspaper founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2017. It is named after Tulsa's Greenwood District, which is also known as Black Wall Street.

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Wikipedia

Greenwood District, Tulsa

Greenwood is a historic neighborhood and freedom colony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As one of the most prominent concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States during the early 20th century, it was popularly known as US "Black Wall Street". It was burned to the ground in the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, in which a local White mob gathered and attacked the area. Between 75 and 300 Black Americans were killed, hundreds more were injured, and the homes of 5,000 were destroyed, leaving them homeless. The massacre was one of the largest in the history of U.S. race relations, destroying the once-thriving Greenwood community. Within ten years of the massacre, surviving residents who chose to remain in Tulsa rebuilt much of the district. They accomplished this despite the opposition of many white Tulsa political and business leaders and punitive rezoning laws enacted to prevent reconstruction. It continued as a vital black community until segregation was overturned by the federal government during the 1950s and 1960s. Desegregation encouraged black citizens to live and shop elsewhere in the city, causing Greenwood to lose much of its original vitality. Since then, city leaders have attempted to encourage other economic development activity nearby.

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Wikipedia

Black McCains

The family known in the media as the "black McCains" are the living descendants of Isom McCain (1831 – between 1888 and 1890) and Leddie McCain, African-American people enslaved in Teoc, Mississippi, by William Alexander McCain, a cotton plantation owner who was the great-great-grandfather of Senator John McCain. The black McCains trace their surname to this slave ownership and neither claim nor disclaim blood relationship with Senator McCain. Among the black McCains, siblings Lillie McCain (born 1952), of Detroit, and Charles McCain, Jr. (born 1948) and Mary Lou McCain Fluker, of Carrollton, Miissssippi, are the living contemporaries of Senator McCain. Lillie McCain had in the past e-mailed Senator McCain to inform him about the black McCains after she heard him say on Meet the Press that his ancestors owned no slaves. John McCain stated that he had not known about the slaveholding past until it was discovered by reporters during his 2000 presidential campaign. The McCain plantation in Teoc, which was formally named Waverly, consisted of 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) and existed from 1848 until 1952. The plantation had slaves before the American Civil War and sharecroppers afterward; influential blues guitarist Mississippi John Hurt was born on the plantation to one of the latter. According to The Wall Street Journal Atlanta Bureau Chief Douglas Blackmon, who researched the black McCains in 2008, the black McCains "resisted the Ku Klux Klan, led the civil rights movement and voter registration efforts in the 1960s", and "integrated public schools" in Mississippi. Lillie McCain's father Charles "Jack" McCain, a World War II veteran, purchased 120 acres (0.49 km2) of land in Teoc and split it with his cousin, participating in the civil rights movement in the South, working with Stokely Carmichael when he came to Greenwood, Mississippi. Senator John McCain never met any of the black McCains. Lillie McCain said that Senator John McCain was invited to their biannual family reunion functions in Teoc, but according to the 2008 McCain presidential campaign, schedule conflicts had prevented Senator McCain from attending, though the brother of the Senator, Joseph "Joe" McCain, has attended the Teoc reunions. A statement by the McCain 2008 presidential campaign on the subject of the black McCains said: "How the Teoc descendants have served their community, and by extension, their country, is a testament to the power of family, love, compassion, and the human spirit."

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National Archives

Massachusetts MPS House at 118 Greenwood Street

Date: 63791288

This resource is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Areas of significance include: Architecture. Architectural classifications include: Stick Style. The National Historic Places Register Reference Number is 89000702.

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National Archives

Georgia MPS North Wall Street Historic District

Date: 93205848

This resource is located in Bartow County, Georgia. Areas of significance include: Architecture; Commerce; Transportation. Architectural classifications include: Renaissance; Commercial Victorian Vernacular; 20th Century Commercial; Stripped Classical. The National Historic Places Register Reference Number is 98000249.

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National Archives

Mississippi MPS Greenwood MRA

Date: 73890244

This resource is located in Leflore County, Mississippi. Areas of significance include: Architecture; Agriculture; Exploration/Settlement; Ethnic Heritage: Black History; Industry; . The National Historic Places Register Reference Number is 64000408.

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National Archives

Kansas SP Greenwood Hotel

Date: 123863995

This resource is located in Greenwood County, Kansas. Areas of significance include: Commerce. Architectural classifications include: Spanish Colonial Revival. The National Historic Places Register Reference Number is 06000769.

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NMAAHC

National Guards - Taking Negros to Ball Park for Protection

Date: Date

Caption

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NMAAHC

Photograph of the body of a man killed in the Tulsa Race Massacre

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NMAAHC

Negro Slain in Tulsa Riot, June 1-1921

Date: Date

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NMAAHC

A Victim of Tulsa Race Riot, 6-1-21

Date: Date

Caption

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TOPIC OF THE DAY

Greenwood / Black Wall Street

Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

Which Black woman became the first elected to the United States Congress?

Shirley Chisholm, elected in 1968.