Henrietta Lacks

This African American woman is Henrietta Lacks and her cancer cells have changed the world in numerous ways. Henrietta was a mother on a tobacco farm in Southern Virginia and suffered from cervical cancer. A doctor from Johns Hopkins Hospital cut a piece of her tumor without her consent and sent it to scientists (without her knowledge). Henrietta's cells were so important because scientists were able to grow her cells in culture and began research on them leading them to be the worlds first immortal cells. Her cells have changed the medical world forever- it has helped advance medicine from polio vaccine to chemotherapy. It wasn't until twenty years after Henrietta's death that her husband & children found out researchers have been shipping her cells all over the world making a multimillion-dollar industry. This became a large mistrust between the Lacks family and the scientific community. A large problem was the fact that they (the Lacks family) were African American- they were all uneducated and doctors/scientist/researchers took complete advantage of that fact. It is know that African americans and doctors have had bad history for many reasons. This is only one example, but a more famous one is the Tuskegee Syphilis study which most of you probably already know. Being white, it is hard to imagine from the African American's perspective of doctors. Of course now it's different but it wasn't that long ago when all these things happened (roughly 1950's).

This is a Statue of W.E.B DuBois that is located at Fisk University in Tennessee. Fisk University is where DuBois did his undergraduate studies. DuBois's time at Fisk was a very important period in his life and was when he truly realized the high level of prejudice in the United States. DuBois was born in the North and was really subjected to the type of hatred and prejudice that was present in the South during that time. Therefore, while at Fisk he began to expand his understanding of the true state of prejudice in the US and began to preach his vision of change through the "talented tenth". He believed in the educated elite leading African Americans in changing the oppressed system in which they currently lived in. He was one of the important figure during the 1900's that lead to great change for African Americna in the United States.

To Kill a Mockingbird

This is a still frame from the movie, To Kill a Mockingbird, of a court scene where the man pictured Atticus Finch is defending an African American –Tom Robinson who was being convicted of rape. This is a great movie in the sense that is really shows people the intensity of how blacks were treated in this time period. Tom Robinson, who was being convicted of raping a white woman and was completely innocent this film shows that it was completely a white mans word over an African American mans word. Throughout the case people are coming up to the stand to try and pin the crime on Robinson when in reality Robinson was simply trying to help the woman do house chores. Atticus Finch was the only white man in his town who was willing to come to Tom’s defense and because of this he was shunned by fellow whites in his town however he was able to see past the color of Tom’s skin and was willing to teach his children the importance of not treating others differently based on their color of their skin. This was a bold move of Atticus, most men in this time would never consider to come to the defense of an African American. Atticus showed others in this town how to work past the race issue. Because Atticus was willing to support Tom in this case he received the respect from so many African Americans. I think the movie was a great demonstration of how people need to look past color and be willing to help those who are in need, no matter if they are white or black. 

Blackface

Blackface was an important performance tradition in American Theatres beginning in 1830. In the United States and Britain, blackface was the most commonly used in the minstrel performance. White blackface performers used burnt cork, greasepaint, or shoe polish to blacken their skin and exaggerate their lips, often wearing wigs or eooly hair pieces. They would also wear raggedly clothes to complete the transformation. Stereotypes played a huge role in racist images, attitudes, and perception of the African American culture in a negative way. Changing attitudes about race and racism in the mid 20th century effectively ended blackface makeup used in performance in the United States. It is still used today outside the U.S. as social commentary and satires.

The Crisis

To the left is a copy of The Crisis, the official magazine of the NAACP founded by W.E.B Dubois. DuBois claimed in his first editorial the intention of the publication was to "set forth those facts and arguments which show the danger of race prejudice, particularly as manifested today toward colored people." It was predominately a current affairs magazine that sought to educate the public with NAACP's program of social reform and racial equality. I found this cover interesting because the photo is depicting Ra-Maat-Neb, one of the black kings of the Upper Nile. He was trying to point out that before the slave trade began, African American men were of prominent status in Africa and Egypt. He further expresses within the magazine that many of the Egyptian leaders actually acquired their arts and laws from the blacks in Africa. This magazine was just one of the Dubois' efforts to help his race.

Fisk University Jubilee Singers

The Fisk Jubilee singers were an a cappella group formed shortly after the civil war. They were organized as a fundraising effort with hopes of raising funds for Fisk University, a black school in Nashville Tennessee that was facing many financial difficulties. In 1871, this group of nine singers set forth on a tour that spread across Ohio to Washington D.C. and eventually accomplished their goal of saving the university from bankruptcy by giving them 40 thousand dollars from the 18 month tour. The Jubilee singers are also credited for the popularization of Negro spiritual tradition among whites and northerners in the late 19th century. Fisk University is still around today and has a building named Jubilee Hall dedicated to these singers. The University also commemorates the anniversary of the Jubilee singers first tour by celebrating Jubilee Day on October 6th each year.