Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
"George Washington Carver" (Agricultural Genius) by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on Strtetched Canvas
George Washington Carver was born into slavery in 1864. Since slave births, as a practice, went undocumented the actual date of his birth is unknown. Some sources note January 1864 and others note July 12, 1864 as possible birth dates.
Carver was born on the Moses Carter Plantation, in Diamond Grove (today known as Diamond), Missouri. It is said that Moses Carter treated his slaves as decent as a man who upheld the institution of slavery could. Young George was sickly and frail. The Carter family developed a strong affection for him. Due to his ill health, he was not required to work in the cotton or crop fields. However, it was while playing in the fields of the plantation that he first showed an affinity and aptitude for plant life. Young Carver's interest in plant life earned him the nickname, "The Plant Doctor".
Carver's father died shortly after he was born. Tragically, when
he was still an infant George and his mother were both stolen off the plantation by thieves. The Carter family loved baby George so much that they got him back by trading a race horse for him. Unfortunately, Carver's mother was never recovered. From this point on, Moses Carter and his wife raised George as their step-son and allowed him priveledges beyond that of a slave, eventually granting him his freedom.
In 1874, around the age of 10, George left the Moses Carter Plantation in search of the formal education that was prohibited to African-Americans in Diamond Grove. At the age of 12 he was finally accepted at a one-room school house in Newton County, Missouri, where he traded farm labor for an education. After seeing a black man beaten to death in the streets of Newton County, Carver left the state of Missouri for good. He move to Minneapolis, Kansas and graduated from Minneapolis High School.
Carver's goal was to attend college but he had been turned down by several scholastic institutions because of his race. Finally in 1890, Carver was accepted at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where he excelled in fine art. It was George's love for plant life that gave reason for him to transfer to Iowa Agricultural College (today known as Iowa State University). He graduated with a bachelors degree in 1894. This was a profound feat for a black man in the 1890's.
Carver's accomplishments at Iowa Agricultural College so impressed the Board of Deans that they offered him a position to teach there. He became the first African-American to hold a position on the faculty of Iowa State University. He was authorized to use the school's laboratory and greenhouse facilities often as needed. and he took full advantage of this opportunity.
Carver undertook advanced researches in botany and agricultural sciences while also teaching and working on his Masters Degree at the University. In 1895, he collaborated on a study about the prevention and cures of cherry plant fungi that was published and released in professional journals. In 1896, George Washington Carver earned his Masters Degree in agriculture from Iowa State University. Through his research, while there, he discovered two previously unknown strains of fungus that were named in his honor.
In 1897, Booker T. Washington, president and founder of Tuskegee Institute, an all black university in Tuskegee, Alabama, convinced Carver to accept the position as Head of the School of Agriculture. While teaching at Tuskegee Institute (today known as Tuskegee University) Carver began a personal investigation of the mounting problems facing the share croppers and poor farmers of the early 20th century deep South. This was a subject he was self-driven to resolve
Prior to Reconstruction, cotton had been the staple crop for southern farmers. Years upon years of planting the nutrient depleting cotton had severely damaged the soil. It yielded less and less healthy crop each year. Compounding the problem, was the onslaught of the boll weevil plagues of the early 1900's. This served as the knock-out blow for the cotton industry. Cotton was no longer a viable crop for the small farmer. Carver stepped in and convinced the independent farmers and share croppers (many African-American) to consider planting alternative crops to cotton. He educated them on crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes and soy beans. These type crops would replenish the soil nutrients depleted by the cotton plants. He taught them that these plants would not only repair the soil but also feed their families while providing an income. Carver then educated them on the proper methods of crop rotation. This prevented the soil from ever incurring any further depletion of its nutrients. While at Tuskegee Institute, Carver wrote 44 farming bulletins to aide and educate the small farmers and share croppers.
Carver's enthusiasm for agricultural sciences led him to many discoveries in that field of study. Using the inadequate and antiquated equipment available to him at Tuskegee Institute, George Washington Carver was still able to develop 105 recipes using the peanut. He also created and invented over 100 different products from the dissemination of the peanut, sweet potato and soy bean. Products such as, paints, dyes, plastics, cosmetics, fuels and even explosives, to name a few.
In 1937, while attending a conference in Dearborn, Michigan, Carver was introduced to, automobile mogul, Henry Ford. The two soon became close friends. With the backing of Ford, Carver invented a tough and durable plastic from the soy bean that is still, in principal, used in the automotive industry today.
in his small quarters on the college campus, close to his laboratory. He wore the same clothes and was often criticized by his African-American peers, including Booker T. Washington, for not presenting a higher station in life. They didn't realize that George Washington Carver was a very simple man whose goal was to remain living the simple life. No amount of fame or money could alter his determination to keep his life as stress free and normal as possible. Many today could learn from that philosophy.
Carver's most important and his proudest accomplishment was disproving the stereotype that portrayed African-American people as intellectually inferior and incapable of anything except menial labor or providing musical or comical entertainment. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for showing the world the magnitude of intellectual ability an African-American mind could achieve when given the opportunity. This was the primary reason why Mr Carver remained teaching. His goal was to nurture the minds of our young African-American students and instill in them the belief that if they worked hard and strived for it, they too, would have the opportunity to show that they could be something other than porters, maids, comedians and minstrels. They could compete with the strongest intellectual minds of the world.
George Washington Carver died at the age of 73, on January 5, 1943 due to complications from a severe fall he incurred while on campus. He died doing the thing he most loved to do. He was buried next to Booker T. Washington on the campus of Tuskegee University.
Written by Carl G. Brown
Friday, May 13, 2011
"Dr Charles Drew" (Blood Plasma Pioneer) by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904, in Washington, D.C..
Drew attended undergraduate studies at Amherst College, in Amherst, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1926. In 1933, he received his medical degree from McGill University, in Montreal, Canada. In 1940, as Dr Drew, he earned a PHD in Medical Research,at Columbia University, in New York.
In the 1930's, while still an intern working on his doctorate in the study of the properties and preservation of blood plasma, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital , Dr Drew discovered that the long term storage of blood plasma could be achieved. Prior to this, whole blood could only be stored for a few days before it broke down and became unusable. By running whole blood through a centrifuge (centrifugal force) the heavier red blood cells, which deteriorated within a week, could be separated from the lighter blood plasma, which held all the life saving antibodies and clotting agents necessary in blood transfusions. The durable blood plasma could then be freeze died and stored for a much longer time than whole blood and reconstituted as needed.
Dr Drew was the foremost authority, of his time, on the processes of retrieving and storing blood products. During World War II he was assigned as Director of the American Red Cross Blood Bank. Under his direction blood banks were developed on a vast scale and thousands of units of blood products were made available to the soldiers and war victims in England.
After persistent pressure from Dr Drew, U.S. military authorities ceased the policy of prohibiting the blood products of African-Americans from being admitted into blood banks. However, he resigned his post as a Red Cross director when the U.S. military ruled that African-American blood products could be used but must be stored separately from the blood products of white donars.
After resigning from the Red Cross, Dr Drew accepted a position as a surgeon at Freedmen's Hospital, in Washington, D.C.. From 1942 to 1950 he also held the position of Professor of Medicine at Howard Univeristy, an African-American institution of higher learning, in Washigton, D.C..
On April 1, 1950, Dr Charles Richard Drew died in a fatal automobile accident, in Burlington, NC, while traveling to a medical convention in Tuskegee, Alabama. Urban legend has it, that Dr Drew bled to death after being refused admittance by a 'white only" North Carolina hospital, being denied the very medical procedure that he pioneered. For the record, this is not true. Truth is, the physicians traveling with Dr Drew did as much as they could to save his life and the hospital did admit him. Unfortunately, due to massive arterial lacerations and irreparable damage to his internal organs there was nothing that could be done to save him.
Written by Carl G. Brown
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
"The Real McCoy" (Inventor Elijah McCoy) by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
African-American inventor, Elijah McCoy, was born 1843 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada. His parents were George and Mildred McCoy, two fugitive slaves who escaped through the Underground Railroad into Canada from a tobacco plantation in Kentucky. In 1846, the McCoys repatriated back into the United States and settled in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where young Elijah was raised.
Though formally educated in Edinburgh, Scotland as a mechanical engineer, because of his race McCoy could only find work as an oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad. As an oiler he had to manually lubricate critical moving parts of the steam engines to prevent catastrophic breakdowns. Trains had to make frequent stops in order to be oiled. These frequent stops were costly to the railroads. Idle engines were not making money. McCoy, with his mechanical engineering background, was determined to resolve this problem.
In 1872, McCoy designed, fabricated and patented a self lubricating cup, the first of its kind, that would mechanically deliver oil to the moving parts of the steam engine while in motion. This eliminated the need to make frequent stops allowing the trains to run continuously.
McCoy's invention was a revolution in the steam locomotive industry, because it allowed trains to remain on line longer, reducing down time, thus generating more revenue for the railroads. It also eliminated the need for manual oiling, saving the railroads money by reducing the need for manpower. The success of the self lubricating cup brought McCoy enough notoriety to become a consultant in the railroad industry. Over the years McCoy improved upon his invention until it was the best available.
The self lubricating cup became a mandatory part on all steam powered engines. Soon, imitators began marketing their versions of the self lubricating device. However, railroad engineers and steam engine mechanics found McCoy's design to be the superior product and swore by it. The catch phrase,"The Real McCoy!", originated from the railroad industries preference for Elijah McCoy's patented design. Today, the phrase indicates something to be the genuine article.
Elijah McCoy patented over 50 inventions in his lifetime. The lawn sprinkler and the collapsible ironing board are two commonly used products also invented by him. At the height of his success McCoy established his own company, aptly named, The Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company.
Elijah McCoy died in 1929, at the age of 86, from complications caused by senile dementia.
Written by Carl G. Brown
Saturday, May 7, 2011
"Old Times There Are Not Forgotten" by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16zx20 Stretched Canvas
One third of the population on the Antebellum South (1850-1860) were African-American slaves. After the decline of the tobacco industry, due to tobacco's damaging effects on the soil, cotton became the number one staple crop of the South. Slaves were very expensive, therefore, most slaves were purchased by southern cotton plantation owners, who had the capital to afford the great expense.
Life for the field slave, male or female, entailed work that was long, cruel, difficult and hard. The workers had to be in the fields working by sunrise. In the field, adult women and men were required to pick a minimum of 200 pounds of cotton per person, per day. Sometimes the work had to be done in the blistering Summer sun. Pregnant women were required to work and fill their 200 pound minimum quotas up unto childbirth. After childbirth, they had to strap the infant onto their backs and resume work in the fields. The children, under 12 years old, were required to pick weeds, remove insects and deliver water to the workers. At the age of 12 they were treated as adults and were required to do the work of an adult slave.
After the day's quota was picked, which took hours in the field, the slaves were required to clean and remove weeds, unwanted materials and seeds from the white fluff of the cotton bolls. This process was known as "ginning" the cotton. This was a very tedious and time consuming task. Plantation owners closely scrutinized the gin because the cleaner the cotton, the more it would bear at market. A poor gin
inspection could be cause for the severe beatings of many slaves.
The field workers were driven at a grueling pace by an overseer (sometimes another slave...most times a hired white male) on horseback, armed with a bull-whip. Most field slaves' hands were badly scarred and calloused from years upon years of working in
the cotton fields.
After the cotton was ginned the slaves were required to pack it in bales that weighed on an average 500 pounds. The heavy bales then had to be moved by slave labor to a storage facility or loaded on a wagon to be transported to market .
Free time for a slave was extremely rare. On some hot days they were given about an hour of rest. Generally, they were worked continuously until sundown. After sundown the days crop was weighed and the slaves were fed. After feeding the slaves were free to do their personal chores such as sewing, mending, quilting, washing, bathing, carpentry and general repairs around the quarters.
Having no musical instruments, to speak of, they found solace and entertainment in singing religious and African derived songs while dancing, drumming on their thighs, patting their feet and, on rare occasions, playing improvised instruments, usually made by an elder. The banjo originated from a string instrument made by slaves from Africa.
Some literate slaves were allowed to read the bible, but writing or reading any other text was prohibited.
After dark the slaves were restricted, by law, from leaving the confines of the shack. They were also restricted from gathering in groups of 3 or more unless they were all family.
Most field slaves suffered from sleep deprivation. They were
required to get up at sunrise and were worked hard until sunset. Finding the time and energy to do their personal chores, after dark, and then get the adequate sleep necessary for another hard days work was very difficult. When they did get to sleep, the only bed they had was a coarse blanket on the earthen floor.
There was little heat in the winter and most shacks had no windows to let in a cool breeze in the summer. The shacks leaked in the rain and often the earthen floor became a muddy mire.
Often, slaves were sold or traded to other plantations far away. Entire families were sold and split up never to see each other again. Babies were taken from their mothers and grew up on distant plantations never knowing the identities of their birth family.
Life, for the field slave was a living hell that prompted several to risk escape and death rather than continue to be subjected to the cruel and inhumane treatment most plantations dished out.
Written by Carl G. Brown
Friday, May 6, 2011
"The Underground Railroad" by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
In 1787, an abolishionist and Quaker, named Issac T. Hopper, developed a network of like minded people offering transportation and safe haven to escaped slaves, aiding them on their quests to reach sancturary in the "free" northern states and Canada. This was the unofficial beginnings of, what is known today as, the "Underground Railroad".
The Underground Railroad was not actually a planned organization. There were no official members or leaders. In essence, it was a cooperation of abolitionist, free blacks and anti-slavery sympathizers working together to fulfill a moral obligation to assist fugitive slaves on there trek to freedom.
In the 1830's a slave known as Tice Davis escaped from Kentucky to Sandusky, Ohio without a trace. Legend has it that one of the slave catchers was heard sarcastically saying, "He must have gone off on an underground railroad!", thus, the name was born.
The Underground Railroad, as it is known today, began
around 1816. It Peaked and ended between 1850 and 1860.
It is estimated that within that time over 100,000 slaves escaped.
Railroad terms were used as code words. The people who helped transport slaves from point to point, providing them food, water, safe havens and money were called "conductors". The homes. stores, warehouses, root cellars and barns used to hide the fugitive slaves were called "stations". The stations were spaced about 20 to 50 miles apart. Many stations were equipped with hidden rooms, passage ways and tunnels where the fugitive slaves would hide, sleep, eat and move about.
Several white abolitionist like, Levi Coffin, Thomas Garrett and John Rankin were suspected to be conductors. These men were vocal opponents to the institution of slavery. Later, both Coffin and Garrett wrote books detailing the workings of the Underground Railroad and much of what is known about it today came from that literature. Free African-Americans such as, Frederick Douglass and William Still were also believed to be conductors. However, they could not be as vocal as their white counterparts. Both being free black men existing in a society that, in some part, upheld black slavery, any statements connecting them to the Underground Railroad would have jeopardize their safety and brought possible destruction to the entire operation. The continued success of the escapes was of much greater importance.
The bravest participants in the Underground Railroad campaign were the fugitive slaves who had previously escaped and risked recapture and death returning to the South, time and time again, to lead other escapees along the route. The most famous being Harriett Tubman. It is said that Harriett Tubman made up to 19 or 20 trips back into the hostile South where there was a $40,000 bounty on her head, dead or alive. She helped more than 300 slaves escape all the way, to freedom.
Slaves hid and rested during the daylight hours restricting travel to night. On clear nights they would use moonlight or the North Star to guide them in the right direction.
There were 14 Northern states and all of Western and Eastern Canada that offered sanctuary and freedom to fugitive slaves. These states, along with Canada, were the terminal destinations of the Underground Railroad. The primary states targeted were Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and the New England states. Some slaves did not feel safe living anywhere in the United States, due to the harsh laws and hefty bounties established in the South to discourage escapes. It was not uncommon for slave catchers to travel up North in order to kidnap and transport a slave back to a plantation owner down South. For this reason, more than 30,000 escaped slaves chose to continue onward across the Canadian border, where there were laws in place to protect them from slave catching and kidnapping. After the abolishment of slavery several African-Americans repatriated back into the United States and settled along the border in places such as, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota
It is estimated that within that time over 100,000 slaves escaped.
Railroad terms were used as code words. The people who helped transport slaves from point to point, providing them food, water, safe havens and money were called "conductors". The homes. stores, warehouses, root cellars and barns used to hide the fugitive slaves were called "stations". The stations were spaced about 20 to 50 miles apart. Many stations were equipped with hidden rooms, passage ways and tunnels where the fugitive slaves would hide, sleep, eat and move about.
Several white abolitionist like, Levi Coffin, Thomas Garrett and John Rankin were suspected to be conductors. These men were vocal opponents to the institution of slavery. Later, both Coffin and Garrett wrote books detailing the workings of the Underground Railroad and much of what is known about it today came from that literature. Free African-Americans such as, Frederick Douglass and William Still were also believed to be conductors. However, they could not be as vocal as their white counterparts. Both being free black men existing in a society that, in some part, upheld black slavery, any statements connecting them to the Underground Railroad would have jeopardize their safety and brought possible destruction to the entire operation. The continued success of the escapes was of much greater importance.
The bravest participants in the Underground Railroad campaign were the fugitive slaves who had previously escaped and risked recapture and death returning to the South, time and time again, to lead other escapees along the route. The most famous being Harriett Tubman. It is said that Harriett Tubman made up to 19 or 20 trips back into the hostile South where there was a $40,000 bounty on her head, dead or alive. She helped more than 300 slaves escape all the way, to freedom.
Slaves hid and rested during the daylight hours restricting travel to night. On clear nights they would use moonlight or the North Star to guide them in the right direction.
There were 14 Northern states and all of Western and Eastern Canada that offered sanctuary and freedom to fugitive slaves. These states, along with Canada, were the terminal destinations of the Underground Railroad. The primary states targeted were Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and the New England states. Some slaves did not feel safe living anywhere in the United States, due to the harsh laws and hefty bounties established in the South to discourage escapes. It was not uncommon for slave catchers to travel up North in order to kidnap and transport a slave back to a plantation owner down South. For this reason, more than 30,000 escaped slaves chose to continue onward across the Canadian border, where there were laws in place to protect them from slave catching and kidnapping. After the abolishment of slavery several African-Americans repatriated back into the United States and settled along the border in places such as, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota
Written by Carl G. Brown
Thursday, May 5, 2011
"Birmingham '63" (The Era of Civil Wrongs) by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
Prior to and during the 1960's, Birmingham, Alabama was noted to be one of the most racist metropolitan cities in the United States. Well known as a stronghold for Ku Klux Klan activities, Birmingham stood as a prime example of 'Southern Injustice'. The police and fire departments were headed by a staunch racist and segregationist named, Eugene "Bull" Connor. Connor, along with his, all white, police force and fire department, had run rough-shod over the local African-American population for decades; while turning a blind eye to local KKK terrorism.
To be black in Birmingham, Alabama, before and during the 1960's was to live in fear of police brutality, biased courts and cruel and unusual punishments in the jails and prisons. Up to and during
the sixties in much of the 'Deep South' African-Americans were
threatened by the ever present danger of assaults, lynchings, bombings, mutilations, burnings, shootings, murders and general terroristic acts by the hands of the KKK, without any recourse from the local police and court systems.
Out of dire desperation, the African-American leadership in Birmingham called on Dr. Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to assist in organizing a non-violent campaign to publicly protest the racial discrimination, violations of freedom and miscarriages of justice running rampant in the city.
Several of the local African-American adults refused to participate in any type of public protest fearing severe retributions from the Klan and from Bull Connor's corrupt police force. Dr. King had no choice but to utilize the willing local teenagers, young college students, black and white, along with SCLC personnel and concerned leaders from the clergy, black and white, to form the body of the non-violent campaign.
It was Dr. King's intentions to attract media attention ample enough to reach the public sentiment. In turn, the waves of adverse public opinion would pressure the Federal Government to finally intercede on behalf of all black people who suffered in situations similar to the people of Birmingham. Wisely, Dr. King informed the national media of the upcoming protest and in response they came to follow the story.
When Bull Connor got wind of the impending protest he took it as a direct offense to his authority. Playing into Dr. King's hand, Connor ordered the police force and the fire department to inflict as much physical pain and abuse as needed to crush and deter any civil protest, be it non-violent or not, be they children or not.
In April of 1963, the public protest began. Ignoring the presence of the national media, Bull Connor's forces were nationally televised using high pressure water hoses, police attack dogs, gun butts, fist, feet, billy clubs and black jacks to deter the young men and women from accomplishing a peaceful public protest. Connor, himself, appeared as a man who showed no sympathy or mercy when it came to dishing out the "Good 'ole Boys Justice" served in Birmingham, Alabama.
As Dr. King had assumed, the carnage was broad casted over the entire country and abroad. All of the major news networks carried the horrid details. Finally, all of America, no matter the race, would experience the ugly face of discrimination that Africa-Americans had suffered through for centuries . As it turned out, the majority of decent Americans, even in the South, were appalled by the brutality they witnessed on television.
For their efforts, Dr. King, members of the clergy and several young students were booked and jailed for participating in what should have been their Constitutional Right to protest. However, the damage had been done and the birth of the "Civil Rights Movement" had begun. Although it took great sacrifices and many good people were incarcerated, injured and killed; that day, in Birmingham, served as a wake up call for every American who had closed their eyes to racial injustice.
Miracles did not happen overnight. There were still cases of unsolved mayhem and murder on the part of the KKK. Segregationist continued their efforts to block any laws that would offer black people equal consideration. However, a public awareness had been started that eventually led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to equal opportunity laws, to fair housing laws and to the prosecution and imprisonment of several Klan members who once thought they were untouchable.
Written by Carl G. Brown
"Tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen" by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
During World War II, suffering under the same false and racist
stereotypes that had previously plagued African-American progress throughout the history of the United States, black men were thought to be incapable of possessing the mental know-with all, bravery and patriotism to fly as fighter pilots or flight crew in the United States Army Air Corps. After persistent public pressure, the Roosevelt Administration directed the War Department to develop an "all black" flying unit.
In 1942, the first class of potential black pilots began training at Tuskegee Army Air Field, in Tuskegee, Alabama, thus earning the moniker "The Tuskegee Airmen". One of the first successful graduates of the class was Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., whom soon after was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned to command the all-black 99th Pursuit Unit. The 99th saw combat in Italy at the island of Pantelleria and Sicily.
Lt. Colonel Davis was soon ordered back stateside to take
over command of the 32nd Fighter Group, a much larger, all black, flying unit training to be deployed to fight in the European war effort. Unbeknownced to him, plans were in the works to disassemble the ,all black, 99th Pursuit Squadron, under the false premise that the black pilots performances in combat had been sub-par to their white counterparts. Infuriated when he received the news, Lt. Colonel Davis called for a conference with the media at the Pentagon and challenged the accusers to prove their claims. He also took his grievances to the War Department where an official committee to study the performance of African-American servicemen was formed. Through the persistence of Lt. Colonel Davis, the 99th was allowed to continue flying in the war efforts. In January 1944 they shot down 12 German aircraft in Anzio, squashing any further criticism and doubt as to their ability and fitness to perform.
The 332nd Fighter Group, known as "The Red-Tails" because of the distinctive red color painted on the rear sections of their planes, was based in Ramatelli, Italy. The ,all black, 32nd flew several successful missions deep behind the German lines, which was extremely perilous due to the 3rd Reich's homicidal protocol when it came to the capture of black prisoners.
The many successes of The Tuskegee Airmen, prompted the War Department to expand the command of Lt. Colonel Davis to also lead the all-black 47th Bombardment Group. In total, under the guidance of Lt. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., The Tuskegee Airmen compiled an impressive combat record against the Nazi Regime. Dispatched on more than 15,000 sorties, they shot down 111 Lutwaffe planes and destroyed or disabled 273 enemy aircraft on the ground, while only losing 66 aircraft of their own.
The 332nd Fighter Group, known as "The Red-Tails" because of the distinctive red color painted on the rear sections of their planes, was based in Ramatelli, Italy. The ,all black, 32nd flew several successful missions deep behind the German lines, which was extremely perilous due to the 3rd Reich's homicidal protocol when it came to the capture of black prisoners.
The many successes of The Tuskegee Airmen, prompted the War Department to expand the command of Lt. Colonel Davis to also lead the all-black 47th Bombardment Group. In total, under the guidance of Lt. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., The Tuskegee Airmen compiled an impressive combat record against the Nazi Regime. Dispatched on more than 15,000 sorties, they shot down 111 Lutwaffe planes and destroyed or disabled 273 enemy aircraft on the ground, while only losing 66 aircraft of their own.
Written by Carl G. Brown
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
"Glory" by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
In 1862 the Union Militia Act, in conjunction with the Emancipation Proclamation, allowed freed African-Americans to enlist into the Union Army. However, under the bigotted premise that black men were like children and were mentally incapable of learning battlefield tactics; the first African-American troopers were restricted to military duties concerning manual labor and kitchen details.
Furthermore, African-American statesmen, such as Frederick Douglass and many Northern white abolitionists equated that any
black man that fought for his country should also earn the right to
vote. Unable to accept any notion that would allow a black man the right to vote many Union military leaders refused to assign African-American units the opportunity to participate in the actual fighting.
Finally , due to the war dragging on, the Union Army began to suffer innumerable casualties. There became a critical need for manpower on the battlefield. On July 18, 1863, led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the son of a Northern abolitionist the, all black, 54th Massachusetts Regiment was given the go ahead to place a frontal assault on the Confederate stronghold of Fort Wagner, which was the first defense guarding Charleston, South Carolina. The men of the 54th put up a fierce battle. A few successfully penetrated through Confederate defenses and briefly held a portion of the fort . Eventually, being grossly outnumbered, the Confederate forces overran them. Sadly, more than 50% of the, all black, regiment was killed, including their white leader Colonel Shaw.
The charge on Fort Wagner by the, all black, 54th Massachusetts Regiment proved that African-American soldiers could and would fight in battle and perform just as capably and just as valiantly as their white counterparts.
vote. Unable to accept any notion that would allow a black man the right to vote many Union military leaders refused to assign African-American units the opportunity to participate in the actual fighting.
Finally , due to the war dragging on, the Union Army began to suffer innumerable casualties. There became a critical need for manpower on the battlefield. On July 18, 1863, led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the son of a Northern abolitionist the, all black, 54th Massachusetts Regiment was given the go ahead to place a frontal assault on the Confederate stronghold of Fort Wagner, which was the first defense guarding Charleston, South Carolina. The men of the 54th put up a fierce battle. A few successfully penetrated through Confederate defenses and briefly held a portion of the fort . Eventually, being grossly outnumbered, the Confederate forces overran them. Sadly, more than 50% of the, all black, regiment was killed, including their white leader Colonel Shaw.
The charge on Fort Wagner by the, all black, 54th Massachusetts Regiment proved that African-American soldiers could and would fight in battle and perform just as capably and just as valiantly as their white counterparts.
Written by Carl G. Brown
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
"Forbidden Knowledge" by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
On September 9, 1739 in the British colony of South Carolina
along the Soto River, a literate slave abducted from the Kingdom of Kongo, called Jemmy Cato, led 20 other enslaved Kongolese men on the largest slave revolt in British colonial history. Branded as the "Soto Rebellion", the slaves had all been former soldiers. All being literate, they were able to communicate with each other through reading and writing, thus keeping the revolt a secret and making an organized rebellion possible. After a substantial loss of life on both sides the rebellion was eventually suppressed.
Pursuant to the "Soto Rebellion", the legislators of the South Carolina Colony passed the Negro Act of 1740. Laws were inacted, in part, to restrict and ban the education of all slaves in the colony. Mirroring the anxieties of South Carolina, in 1755 the colony of Georgia inacted similar legislation banning the teaching of slaves to write and restricting reading to biblical text only. Similar laws banning the education of slaves spread throughout the 13 British colonies and remained in place even after America gained its independence from Great Britain.
Realizing that these laws constituted a gross injustice, whenever the opportunty allowed, risking severe coporal punsihment or hefty monetary fines, literate slaves, freed blacks and sympathetic whites continued to bring education to the slave populations, often under the cover of darkness.
Written by Carl G. Brown
Monday, May 2, 2011
"Abduction" (Kidnap of a Nation) by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
Beginning in the middle 1400's the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade became the dubious spin-off of the Portuguese government's quest to seize the huge deposits of gold legend to be stockpiled in West Africa. Discovering the tales of these immense caches of gold to be all but fable the Portuguese refocused their objectives and set off on a campaign to obtain human slaves; which was a more plentiful commodity.
By the 1700's the European world powers had come to two dark conclusions; that the slave trade was a very profitable endeavor and that human slavery would be essential to fulfill their visions of New World colonization. Through trial and error they discovered that the Mandingo people of West Africa were biologically more suited to resist the diseases that had overtaken many of the indigenous people first captured and forced into servitude. They also found black people to be more conditioned to withstand the heat and humidity of the tropical climates of the Caribbean and the Southern Americas making them the primary sources of labor for working the mines and plantations.
Undeniably, slaves were abducted primarily with the full assistance of oppositional tribal chiefs and corrupted African merchants. However, it was the need or greed for European capital and weapons that fueled this treachery. On rare occasions, slaves were also obtained through the direct campaigns of European slave merchants.
For the abducted captives, life aboard the slave ship was abominable. Shackles attached to a line of thick chains were cold riveted onto bear ankles. Many slaves suffered severe infections caused by wounds from the metal bracelets. They were herded one on top of the other into the dark and damp cargo holds. So many people were crammed into the holds that they were unable to stand erect. They would be fed malnourishing and sometimes rancid slop. They would receive inadequate portions no more than twice a day. Anyone who refused to eat the slop would be systematically beaten and force fed. When food or fresh water supplies became low, lines of black captives chained together; men, women and children; would be brought up from the hold and thrown overboard to drown. Almost all were in poor health due to being chained in the damp and drafty cargo holds for months. Rat infested and overflowing with human waste they were subjected to extremely unsanitary conditions. Sickness and disease were rampant. Death was an everyday occurrence.
For a captive to have survived the long and arduous Trans-Atlantic journey, making it to the New World, still alive, was a miraculous blessing that would soon turn into a tragic curse.
Written by Carl G. Brown
Sunday, May 1, 2011
"The Human Marketplace" by Carl Brown
Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas
For 246 years the dreaded institution of slavery carved a deep and ugly scar into the fabric of American morality. In 1655, the first slave auction too place in New Amsterdam, today known as New York City, but it came into prominence in the southern "Cotton Belt" states.
The black captives were kidnapped, inchained and shipped thousands of miles away from their African homeland and families, with no regard to their God given right to freedom. They were placed on the auction block and sold as human chattel to the highest bidder.
Husbands, wives and children were auctioned away never to see each other again; destined to live a horrendous life of degradation, inhumane treatment and forced servitude. Families devastated forever.
More tragically, in several incidences, the black captives were being shipped directly from West Africa, unloaded and then placed directly onto the auction block. Fresh off the ship, confused, malnourished and weak from the long and cruel journey, they did not understand the language, the culture, or the full measure of what was set before them.
Written by Carl G. Brown
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