Stop and listen for just a minute over the shouts of "We Want Our Country Back" and then just imagine...-Mem

Many people on the right celebrated Ronald Reagans 100th birthday!  How many will celebrate one of our Countries most important birthdays?

Happy Birthday NAACP! -Founded Feb. 12. 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization. It is also the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln!-Mem

Life Without Black People

This is a story of a little boy named Theo who woke up one morning and asked his mother, “Mom, what if there were no Black people in the world?”

On President's Day, Remember Your 5 Black Presidents

Compiled by the DiversityInc staff

February 15, 2008

We keep hearing that this year will mark the first time a major political party in the United States nominated a woman or a Black person as its presidential candidate. For women, that is true, but some historians say Sen. Barack Obama, if elected, would not be the nation's first Black president. They say he certainly won't be the first president with Black ancestors--just the first to acknowledge his Blackness.

Which other presidents hid their African ancestry? Well, it's not Bill Clinton, even though the Congressional Black Caucus honored him as the nation's "first Black president" at its 2001 annual awards dinner. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge all had Black ancestors they kept in their genealogical closets, according to historians.

Harding did not deny his African ancestry when Republican leaders called on him to deny his "Negro" history. He said, "How should I know whether or not one of my ancestors might have jumped the fence?"

Does African ancestry make these men Black? If the bar is the one-drop rule, then yes. The one-drop rule is a historical term used during the Jim Crow era that defines a person with one drop of sub-Saharan-African ancestry as not white and therefore must be Black. If that's the bar, then there have already been other Black presidents, says historian Leroy Vaughn, author of Black People and Their Place in World History.

The first president with African ancestry was Jefferson, who served two terms between 1801 and 1809. Jefferson was described as the "son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father," as stated in Vaughn's findings. Jefferson also was said to have destroyed all documentation attached to his mother, even going to extremes to seize letters written by his mother to other people.

President Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president, was in office between 1829 and 1837. Vaughn cites an article written in The Virginia Magazine of History that states Jackson was the son of an Irish woman who married a Black man. The magazine also stated that Jackson's oldest brother had been sold as a slave.

Lincoln, the nation's 16th president, served between 1861 and 1865. Lincoln was said to have been the illegitimate son of an African man, according to Vaughn's findings. Lincoln had very dark skin and coarse hair and his mother allegedly came from an Ethiopian tribe. His heritage fueled so much controversy that Lincoln was nicknamed "Abraham Africanus the First" by his opponents.

President Warren Harding, the 29th president, in office between 1921 and 1923, apparently never denied his ancestry. According to Vaughn, William Chancellor, a professor of economics and politics at Wooster College in Ohio, wrote a book on the Harding family genealogy. Evidently, Harding had Black ancestors between both sets of parents. Chancellor also said that Harding attended Iberia College, a school founded to educate fugitive slaves.

Coolidge, the nation's 30th president, served between 1923 and 1929 and supposedly was proud of his heritage. He claimed his mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry. Coolidge's mother's maiden name was "Moor," and in Europe, the name "Moor" was given to all Blacks, just as "Negro" was used in America. It later was concluded that Coolidge was part Black.

Presidents and years they served:

Thomas Jefferson

1801 to 1809

According to historian Leroy Vaughn was the “son of a half-bread Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father.”

Andrew Jackson
1829-1837
According to Vaughn Jackson was the son of an Irish woman who married a black man. His oldest brother was reportedly sold as a slave.

Abraham Lincoln
1861 to 1865
The “Great Emancipator” was said to have been the illegitimate son of an African man, according to Leroy’s findings. Lincoln had very dark skin and coarse hair and his mother allegedly came from an Ethiopian tribe.

Warren Harding
1921 to 1923
Evidently, Harding had black ancestors between both sets of parents. Harding also attended Iberia College, a school founded to educate fugitive slaves.

Calvin Coolidge
1923 to 1929
Coolidge claimed his mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry. Coolidge’s mother’s maiden name was “Moor” and in Europe the name “Moor” was given to all blacks just as “Negro” was used in America. It later was concluded that Coolidge was part black.

Barack, Do You Think We Could Just Be Friends?

by Darin Murphy-Huffington Post

Dear Barack,

First of all let me just say that I am, like, your biggest fan, oh my God! I absolutely love watching you speak and I'm moved every time I hear or see you. There is no one I'd rather see in the White House than you. However, I'm afraid I just can't support you anymore in light of recent things I've learned about you that I didn't know before. First and foremost, you are...how should I say this...black. At first I didn't think you were. You were so articulate and clean and well spoken that I just naturally assumed you were like me. So imagine how shocked and sad I was to find out otherwise!

I've also found out that not only are you a person of color, but your pastor is, too! That means, like, two black guys in the White House. After all, what your pastor says is what you say, is it not? And he said some bad things about America. Now I know what you're gonna say. "Well look, Republican pastors like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and Ted Haggert and John Hagee have said and done some deplorable things." But in all fairness, those guys are, y'know, white. So they should be given the benefit of the doubt, don't you think? 'Course you do.

Now I used to judge candidates on which one I'd like better if I could have a beer with them. But I don't drink anymore so I don't support anyone who does (that leaves out Hilary, aren't you glad?!) What I'm really looking for is someone who can beat me in a fried Twinkie eating contest. Anyone who can do that has my respect. But I hear you don't much go for junk food. Now that term in itself is an oxymoron. I can't support anyone that won't eat my kinda food. I mean, how can you eat all that healthy crap? It's so European. And Europeans are bad; that's why we left, remember?

I've also found out that you're not fond of wearing an American flag pin on your lapel. C'mon! I mean, America's your team; your gang. Shouldn't you wear the colors at all times? I know what you're gonna say, Ronald Reagan didn't wear one either and neither do your opponents. But again, their skin tone is one third of the colors of the flag and that's good enough for me.

I've also heard people say that you're a Muslim. I know, I know, everyone by now knows about that Christian church you attend. But still, how is a name like Barack Hussein Obama going to stand up in history alongside a William Jefferson Clinton, John Quincy Adams or a Franklin Delano Roosevelt? I mean, what will our great grand kids think? And I won't be around to defend you!

Like I said before, honestly, I like you. A lot. More than all the other candidates you're running against. But I'm just not ready for someone so different than me in every way to be running my country. You sure are inspiring, though, which gives me an idea. You ever consider hiring yourself out as a public speaker? You could make a killing doing that; you're so entertaining. Dude, you'd be like a rock star without the rock! And as your number one fan I'll be right in the front row. By the way, can I have your autograph for my niece? Her name's Betty.

Sincerely,

The Good Ole' U.S.A.