Wake Up Video Clip: http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?artist=854&vid=35334
Youth Black History speech Video/ Oral message:(compliments of Ms. C. Kelly): http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid823433113/bctid1378397439 Women Firsts" Extraordinary educator and political leader Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) founded NCNW in 1935 and envisioned it to be an "organization of organizations" that would represent the national and international concerns of Black women. It would also give Black women the opportunity to realize their goals for social justice and human rights through united, constructive action. Our Mission Today, the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) is a council of 39 affiliated national African American women's organizations and over 240 sections - connecting nearly 4 million women worldwide! Our mission is to lead, develop and advocate for women of African descent as they support their families and communities. We fulfill our mission through research, advocacy and national and community-based health, education and economic empowerment services and programs in the United States and Africa. Through section and affiliate volunteers in 34 states, NCNW addresses local needs while impacting communities nationwide. African American history is filled with important milestones and breakthrough achievements. The following list calls out just a few notable "firsts" in the history of Women.  Astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space when she flew on the space shuttle Endeavor in a September 1992 mission. After her space flight, Jemison resigned from NASA and established the Jemison Group, a company that researches, develops, and markets advanced technologies.
Black church
Protestant minister Richard Allen founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first black church that would have a nationwide following, in Philadelphia in 1816. A group of black parishioners at Saint George's Church in Philadelphia had formed the congregation that became the AME as early as 1786. From its inception, the AME has been dedicated to black self-improvement and Pan-Africanist ideals. Poem
In 1746 Lucy Terry, an African-born slave in Rhode Island, composed the first known poem by a black American: "Bar's Fight." The poem, which was not published until 1855, describes a Native American raid against white settlers in New England. In 1773 poet Phillis Wheatley became the first African American to publish a book, entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Considered the founder of African American literature, Wheatley is perhaps best remembered for her poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America," which describes her experience coming to America as a seven-year-old child and as a slave.  Pulitzer Prize
In 1950 poet and novelist Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize, which she received for her second book of poetry, Annie Allen (1949). Brooks was praised throughout her writing career for poems that grapple with issues of art, identity, race, gender, and the relation between literature and popular culture.  Tennis champion |