Category: Black History
Lynda Blackmon – Youngest person to participate on Bloody Sunday
At the young age of 14, Lynda Blackmon was allowed to march from Selma to Montgomery.
In the height of the Civil Rights Movement, hundreds marched from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in a nonviolent protest for voting rights. February 2020, Bay Area News 9 wrote these words sharing her story, her struggles and how she continues to live with the aftermath of Bloody Sunday.
“But the March 1965 demonstration was met with violence in what is now known as “Bloody Sunday.”
For Lynda Blackmon, the youngest demonstrator allowed to march that day, it’s still hard to talk about.
“I can’t forget those feelings to this day,” said Blackmon, who was 14.
She was hit twice in the forehead and shoved to the ground.
“I was running into a cloud of tear gas and this man was running, beating me, hitting me in my head,” Blackmon said.
The book Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom tells her story.
Blackmon said she became involved in the movement at 7 years old after her mother died.”
Learn about the women of the civil rights movement. They may not be household names but they are living history. Women have a story to tell. Learn their stories. This woman who walked with some of our civil rights giants had been through a tremendous ordeal at a young age. She had lost her Mother, her foundation, the person who loved and cared for her. For her to even participate in civil rights was a tremendous feat and a testimony to her mother, her tribe, her community. Learn the stories of everyday people in your community. It will change your life, change your perspective.
#womenshistorymonth #herstory #BloodySunday #LyndaBlackmon
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Whoopi Goldberg: A Living Icon
Happy Women’s History Month!
If you don’t know me, you don’t know exactly how much I love and admire Whoopi Goldberg. Not because many have compared us in looks and attitude but because I admire her independence, her ability to pave a way for women in comedy, acting and advocacy. I love her as much as I can a person who I’ve never met.
Now let me be clear, I am not a person who is enamored with celebrity or famous people. But there are a few people living and dead that if I could have lunch, coffee or just a brief meeting, it would mean the world to me. I’ve shared my admiration here for Muhammad Ali, Billie Holiday, Malcolm X. You can add Whoopi Goldberg to that list.
Caryn Elaine Johnson, known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg, is an American actress, comedian, author, and television personality. A recipient of numerous accolades, Goldberg is one of sixteen entertainers to have won an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. She is an original!
Currently Whoopi Goldberg is the lead host on “The View” and leads that group as she has so many others I suspect. She is opinionated, thoughtful, insightful, responsive, helpful, informative, insightful, legendary, beautiful, amazing, hilarious, sarcastic, groundbreaking, iconic, the list just goes on.
So as we begin Women’s History Month, we celebrate that I know and those that I wish I had meet in their lifetimes and mine. We will celebrate the Randallstown Moms who live and love in my immediate community, the civil rights icons who used their platforms to advocate for equality and human rights, the women of the Bible who set an example thousands of years ago that holds true today. We will celebrate the women who molded and raised me, the women who shaped my girls and me, and the women in our collective family who watch over us everyday as we achieve greatness, become icons like Whoopi! Happy Women’s Month to you all #themonthofwomen #whoruntheworld #knowourstory #randallstownmom
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Coming 2 America
It’s been 33 years since the release of the legendary film with iconic characters created by Eddie Murphy. It was the first time that my generation saw Black Royalty on the big screen. It is etched in our hearts and minds forever! How many people still quote the original “Coming to America!” Who knows “sexual chocolate” and what is it? Is it true that the first mic drop was in the original “Coming to America”? How many people wanted to go to Zamunda before we had ever heard of Wakanda?
Eddie Murphy is a living legend that I have admired and laughed with since SNL and “Delirious”. He is a comedic and storytelling genius. A native New Yorker, Brooklyn born and bred, he was my school girl crush when the rest of my peers were pining over Prince and Michael Jackson. Now don’t get me wrong I loved Prince, but Murphy was who I wanted to bring home to Momma. 😝 I can’t wait to share both movies with my family and friends. To see Shari Headley looking amazing 30 years later. Who else will return? Whose been added to the cast? It’s going to be epic!
Now, let’s check out the trailer: Coming 2 America trailer
One of the things that makes this movie so special is the new generation of actors who star in the film, including Murphy’s daughter Bella Murphy. She auditioned like every other actor and worked hard to get the part. This was not just handed to her. What an awesome opportunity to work with her Dad and some of the greatest actors of our time.
Jermaine Fowler, Kiki Layne and Teyana Taylor are also featured, and they will not disappoint. Of course many of the Black actors that we have come to know and love will return for this latest edition to Murphy’s portfolio.
No matter what, this film is getting lots of buzz. This film enthusiast is excited that Murphy has given us a look into their lives 30 years later. Eddie Murphy is Black History! I would have been remiss to not include this living legend in my Black History Month series!
#hollywoodroyalty #blackroyalty #coming2america #EddieMurphy #BellaMurphy #legends
Monica Briggs Anderson 