on the black hand side

My Great Grandmother: Jennie Patton Farmer Williams, 1856-1938

by Alonzo Hardy

 

My great grandmother Jennie (Patton) Farmer Williams, 1856-1938, was a former slave in Jefferson County, Florida who became a midwife for 20 years. She was born in December 1856 in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. She was also a member of the Mt. Herman Lodge No. 3517 Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (G.U.O.of O.F.) in Bartow, Polk County, Florida.

Jennie served as secretary during her time with the Order. She is remembered as a strict disciplinarian. Jennie moved to Polk County with her daughter, Victoria Farmer Hadley, at some point after the death of her husband John Williams in 1929. Jennie died October 11, 1938, in Palmetto (Manatee County) Florida. She was the mother of Dr. Alexander Alphonso Farmer, DMD (one of Manatee County's early black dentists), grandmother of then-Unofficial Sepia Mayor of Miami Charles Randolph "Uncle Charlie" Hadley (a school, park, pool, gym are named in his honor in Miami-Dade County) and Howard Hadley, MD (was a Miami medical doctor) and the great grandmother of Howard V. Gary (first and only African-American City Manager in Miami's history (1981-1984). 

The G.U.O.of O.F. Ribbon/Badge Lodge No. 3517 she is wearing is in the photo is a treasured possession of my aunt Alice Hardy of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

The Household of Ruth. This organization was the women’s auxiliary to the African American Odd Fellows order. Household of Ruth was organized in 1857 for the admission of the wives or women related to men in the fraternal order of Odd Fellows.

Photo: Courtesy of Alonzo Hardy
 

 

The Aftermath: Breaking the Black Man and Dis-connecting the Black Community [VIDEO]

I surfed across this very powerful video of the Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. He is speaking at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina on September 13, 2005. You may not like Mr. Farrakhan and you may not agree with him either. If you are black, no matter where you were born, I dare you to watch this video in its entirety.

  

Farrakhan is on point about tactics used to break down the black man in the presence of the black woman and the black child. He is on point about how we have lost the sense of community that our common melanin used to endear. He is on point about how, in a sense, we are worse off today than we were during slavery.

Please share this video with as many black people as possible. 

 

 

Hat Tip: Black Blue Dog

 

 

Black Mormons: Who Knew?

Adaptation:

Few people, Mormon and non-Mormon, are aware that there has been an Black presence in the LDS Church from its earliest days, that the vanguard company of Mormon pioneers included three “colored servants” who were baptized Mormons, and whose descendants remained active in the Church for several generations.

Released in 2007, this documentary talks about that little-known legacy, and confronts the hard issues that surfaced in the most turbulent years of the Civil Rights Movement, when the Church restricted its priesthood from those of African descent. It discusses how that restriction was lifted and what the lives and challenges of the modern Black Mormon pioneers are.

Besides never-released footage shot in 1968 and many rare archival photographs, the documentary includes interviews with renowned scholars, historians, Black Mormons, with Martin Luther King III, and with Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, retired pastor of the First AME Church of Los Angeles, which was founded by a former slave of Mormon pioneers.

Related Link:
Official movie website – Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons

Brainwashed: Black Inferiority/White Superiority [VIDEO]

“You’ve been misled. You been had. You been took.”  --- Malcolm X

Tom Burrell has written a powerful book, Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority, that exposes and explains why the black collective finds itself in a current condition of dysfunction. It was difficult to put this book down because Burrell’s perspective is different from many books on this same broad subject.

Burrell’s perspective as a marketing and public relations expert is straight forward, eye-opening and raw. Our mental conditioning must be addressed before blacks can ever realize true, substantive progress as a people.

Brainwashing is not just a victimization of blacks although blacks seem to be the most damaged by it. Whites have been brainwashed, as have women, men, Latinos, Asians, etc., etc., etc. Pick a group, any group and you have been brainwashed too.

Shout out to Roland Martin of the Tom Joyner Morning Show for interviewing Tom Burrell and turning me on to this book. I've purchased a few as gifts. We'll discuss this book in more detail. Get a copy and Stop the Brainwash!

 

Judge Glenda Hatchett Finds Her Roots [VIDEO]

From You Tube:

Watch Judge Hatchett find her African roots while helping a troubled youth change his criminal ways. To trace your DNA and find your roots, visit www.africanancestry.com.

 

 

 

Is the Ebony Fashion Fair Calling It Quits?

The unbelievable but probably not unexpected news of the Johnson Publishing company Ebony Fashion Fair going on "hiatus" for the rest of its 2009 was quite shocking to me and a few of my friends. After 51 years, the historic traveling fashion show may be ending. Reason: the economy.

I've enjoyed the shows for thirty years. It was a mainstay during my college years at Florida A&M and is a fundraising event for my sorority at home.

Supposedly, the show will be re-worked, restructured and back for the 2010 season. Many civic organizations depend on proceeds from Ebony Fashion Fair to fund their philanthropic initiatives. The loss of the Fashion Fair is much more than just the loss of a fashion show.

Let's hope the Johnson Publishing Company folks will devise a business model that will be a win-win for all.

Rest In Peace, Naomi Sims

Before Beverly Johnson, Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks and Iman, there was Naomi Sims. No, she didn't just make cosmetics, wigs and hairpieces, Ms. Sims has been credited as the first black supermodel. That is why her transition from this world without the appropriate acknowledgement by the news and fashion industry, is appalling. Ms. Sims succumbed to breast cancer at 61.

As a teenager during the black pride era, I recall seeing her beautiful brown face on the cover of many magazines and in advertisements. She was elegant and seemed to glide down the runway.

The pioneering Ms. Sims, who would become an entrepreneur and author, paved the way for ethnic models. Initially, she suffered much rejection because of her dark skin but she persevered and became the toast of the fashion industry.

Thank you, Ms. Sims. You blazed a trail that many take for granted today but I thank you for giving little black girls and black women a reason to walk tall and proud. Ashe'.

What is Juneteenth and Why is It Celebrated?

Perhaps you've heard the term Juneteenth but don't know what it is and why it's important to Black Americans. To keep it short and sweet, the word Juneteenth is a combination of the words "June" and "nineteenth." Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Also important to know is that President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 but it took two and a half years for the message of freedom to reach slaves in Texas.

Read more about the history of Juneteenth at www.Juneteenth.com. If your community doesn't celebrate Juneteenth, perhaps you want to coordinate a celebration. It's an exccellent opportunity to reinforce pride, culture, education and community.

Historic All-Black All Female Flight Crew

On February 12, 2009 an All-Black All Female flight crew of Atlantic Southeast Airlines operated ASA flight 5202 from Atlanta to Nashville and flight 5106 from Nashville back to Atlanta. This crew is believed to be the first of a commercial airlines,

The crew included CPT Rachelle Jones, FO Stephanie Grant, FA's Robin Rogers and Diana Galloway! Congratulations, ladies!

© 2009, on the black hand side, www.blackhandside.net

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Honoring Pullman Porters [VIDEO]

Pullman porters played a significant role in garnering civil rights for blacks in America. Their work was hard and hours long as they fought bigotry and formed the first labor union for blacks.

A tremendous sense of sadness, anger and pride is ignited when the realization that the period of the Pullman porters was not very long ago. Some of the men who worked as Pullman porters are still alive and were honored recently by Amtrak.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

God Bless these gentlemen for their courage, wisdom, patience and dignity.

© 2009, on the black hand side, www.blackhandside.net

Vote for this blog for Best Pop Culture Blog and Best Blog About Stuff in the 2009 Bloggers Choice Awards.