Basic Black Live: The Relevance of Black History Month and Sex Education in Public Schools

Arts & Culture | Black Boston | Health | Politics

(Originally broadcast February 25, 2011)  The controversy over sex education in public schools; also, as February comes to a close, a discussion on the relevance of Black History Month. We also pause to acknowledge the loss of Say Brother producer Beth Deare, who died earlier this week.

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Basic Black Live: The Relevance of Black History Month and Sex Education in Public Schools

Arts & Culture | Black Boston | Health | Politics

(Originally broadcast February 25, 2011)  The controversy over sex education in public schools; also, as February comes to a close, a discussion on the relevance of Black History Month. We also pause to acknowledge the loss of Say Brother producer Beth Deare, who died earlier this week.

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First Person: Sarah-Ann Shaw

Arts & Culture | Black Boston | Education | Politics

Boston’s first African American television reporter, Sarah-Ann Shaw, talks about her early political influences, her activism during the civil rights era in Boston, and how she became a broadcasting pioneer. Always outspoken, Shaw is also very candid about the changes she has seen in the commitment of present-day black activists, churches, and reporters. 

 

(First Person is an oral history interview series with New England's iconic leaders of color.)

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A Conversation with Tito Jackson

Arts & Culture | Black Boston | Politics

Basic Black contributor Talia Whyte talks with community activist Tito Jackson.

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Empowering Women & Girls: Nicole Roberts Jones

Arts & Culture | Black Boston | Health | Politics

by Talia Whyte


Nicole Roberts Jones was the mistress of ceremonies at Boston's 43rd annual Martin Luther King Day Breakfast.  As the old adage goes, behind every great man is an even greater woman.  Coretta Scott King played a vital role as Dr. King’s wife and organizing partner.  There were many other women who had participated in the civil rights movement, but unlike Mrs. King, Betty Shabazz and Rosa Parks, their accomplishments have been given little attention.

Ella Baker, Septima Poinsette Clark, Fannie Lou Hamer and Vivian Malone Jones are all unsung heroines from that era.  Baker was a longtime organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) who worked behind the scenes.  Because she was neither a man nor a minister, she was not seriously considered to become the head of the organization.  Clark, better known as the “queen mother” of the civil rights movement, was an educator who played a role in a legal victory that would allow blacks to become principals in public schools in Charleston, South Carolina.  Hamer was a Mississippi sharecropper, who was beaten and jailed in 1962 for trying to register to vote.  She co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and spoke at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.  Jones defied Gov. George Wallace by becoming one of the first black students to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963.

And there were countless other women, who are unknown, but worked tirelessly cooking meals and cleaning up after rallies.  These women should be the main role models for today’s black women, not stars on reality shows.   

While no woman gave a speech at the 1963 March on Washington, it seems like their accomplishments are now being recognized.  Myrlie Evers-Williams delivered the invocation at President Obama’s inauguration – the first ever done by a woman and layperson.

“There’s a Chinese saying, ’Women hold up half the world,” said former NAACP chairman Julian Bond. “In the case of the civil rights movement it’s probably three-quarters of the world.”

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Karen B. McLean Dade

Arts & Culture | Black Boston | Education | Health

Author and educator Karen B. McLean Dade led a "call & response" during her book signing at Frugal's Bookstore in Roxbury (Massachusetts).

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The NAACP and the Boston Public Schools - 1977

Black Boston | Politics

Leah Fletcher reports that the NAACP is pleased with the Boston school superintendent's efforts to improve the "separate but equal" education system in Boston.

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Boston Public Schools - 1974

Black Boston | Education | Politics

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Boston Schools' Funding Cut - 1975

Black Boston | Education

Basic Black reports on Boston public schools in 1975.

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Boston Public Schools - 1974

Black Boston | Education | Politics

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