Black History Series Vol. 2

Happy Friday and welcome to Black History Series Vol. 2! I so enjoyed last year’s series (and so did many of you!) and I knew I had to do it again. If you have been following along on my Instagram page, you know all about the influential persons I featured this year. Here, I am providing a roundup of each feature so they are all in one place. I’ve also linked all the items I wore…ya know, in case you for some reason need to dress in early 20th century garb.

This year, I decided to shoot on Atlanta’s iconic street that is the mecca of Black business: Peters Street. Especially for the Black Wall Street feature, I wanted this historical landscape to perfectly complement the rich history of the stories I shared. Peters Street is truly hallowed ground. I loved creating this year and I already have my list of stories ready for 2022. I wish I could continue this series year round, but the time, planning, and costume hunting would be a bit much to manage. This series means too much to me to do it half way. So I will continue to share Black stories (in this specific way) during what has been deemed Black History Month—when others seemingly have more open hearts to feel and open ears to listen. But we all know Black History is rich, runs deep, and will forever be 24/7. I hope you all enjoy.

MS. C.J.? NO, IT’S MADAM!

Sarah Breedlove was born in Delta, Louisiana to sharecroppers and former slaves. I believe she’s kin because my maternal Great Grandmother’s maiden name is Breedlove and there is a resemblance. As a young woman, Walker moved to St. Louis and, soon thereafter, began to suffer from a scalp pathology that caused her to lose most of her hair. She decided to experiment with making her own hair products and also tried those of Annie Malone, a trailblazer in Black hair care. In 1905, Walker relocated to Denver to become a sales agent for Malone and married her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker. It was from then on that she took on the alias of Madam C.J. Walker and began to sell her Wonderful Hair Grower, a conditioning and healing formula for the scalp. She took what she learned from her time working with Malone—and ingredients she obtained from a dream—and mobilized the Walker System; promoting improvements in scalp nourishment, pomades, and hot combs.

Walker toured the South to sell her products and host demonstrations, opened Leila College to train “hair culturists,” and built a factory, salon, and second training school in Indianapolis. In 1916, Walker moved to Harlem and played an integral role in social and financial contributions to the NAACP’s anti-lynching movement. Walker’s business simultaneously grew and she was able to galvanize her agents and host her Madam C.J. Walker Hair Culturists Union of America convention in 1917–notably one of the first national business women meetings in the U.S. During this convention, Walker encouraged her agents to focus not only on business and wealth, but also political activism. From sharecropper to laundress to one of the first self-made Black female millionaires, Madam C.J. Walker is forever known as an ultimate pioneer of the Black hair care industry. As an avid Naturalista, I STAN.
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FASHION FOOTNOTE: Edwardian fashion was the epitome of style from the late 1890s – 1914. Inspired by Britain’s King Edward VII, opulence was the name of the game. Bloused bodices, S-shaped silhouettes, lace, and ruffles galore. And baby, Madam C.J. wore that elegance well.

BLACK WALL STREET

Greenwood District was founded in 1906 on American Indian territory. Some Blacks, as former tribal slaves, acquired land through the Dawes Act. Oklahoma was ultimately promoted as a safe haven and became home to the largest number of Black townships post-Civil War.
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Wealthy Black landowner, O.W. Gurley, purchased 40 acres of land in Tulsa and dubbed it Greenwood. Word spread about potential opportunities and even more Blacks migrated to the district. Other Black entrepreneurs such as J.B. Stradford followed suit and built businesses in the area. They were of the mindset that pooling resources could enhance Blacks’ economic progress. The railway track that separated Blacks and whites made that self-contained economy even easier to achieve. Greenwood Ave was complete with Black luxury shops, restaurants, hotels, theaters, professionals’ offices, you name it. Greenwood had its own school system, bank, hospital, and newspaper—Tulsa Star—that kept the community informed about legal rights and local legislation. Here, the Black dollar was exchanged 19 times before leaving the community.
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It did not take long for neighboring whites to realize and resent the affluence among what they believed was the inferior race. Tensions erupted in 1921 when Dick Rowland, a Black shoe shiner, was accused of sexually assaulting white elevator operator, Sarah Page. Same story, different city, y’all: He was innocent. In response, white mobs descended on Greenwood, looting, burning, and killing; ya know, doing what white supremacists do.
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The Tulsa Race Massacre was one of the deadliest riots in the U.S. At least 300 were killed and the town endured millions in property damage. With the help of the NAACP, survivors rebuilt, but some of the businesses did not make it. Integration and gentrification led to the community’s ultimate decline, but Greenwood will forever remain a Black economic model. Black businesses old and new, I salute you. Who’s trying to pool resources and buy back the block?
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FASHION FOOTNOTE: Edwardian fashion prevailed during this period. Lavish dresses and tailored suits—beautiful illustrations of Black Wealth.

DR. REBECCA LEE CRUMPLER

Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was exposed to health care early in life. Raised by an Aunt who cared for sick neighbors, she decided to live her life “[relieving] the suffering of others.”
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By 1852, Dr. Crumpler moved to Charlestown, MA where she worked as a nurse for 8 years. In 1864, she matriculated into New England Female Medical College; becoming the FIRST Black female MD in the U.S. and the ONLY Black woman to graduate from that school. This medical college was the first in the U.S. to train women as most men believed women were too delicate to become docs. Mmmhmmm. Most med schools prohibited Blacks regardless of gender.
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After the Civil War, Dr. Crumpler collaborated with other Black physicians and the Freedman’s Bureau to care for freed slaves in Virginia.  She contended with intense racism in the post-war South, but that did not stop her from serving her people. The discrimination Black patients endured from white doctors encouraged even more Blacks to seek medical training. Yes, white doctors would literally refuse to treat Black patients and would even let them die. It happened to my Great Uncle Willie when he was just a baby suffering with pneumonia. He passed away because the town white doctor refused to treat him and my great grandparents could not find a Black doctor quickly enough. #BlackDoctorsMatter
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In the late 1860s, Dr. Crumpler returned to Boston to continue treating patients in Beacon Hill regardless of their ability to pay. The little we know of her is from the introduction of her book, A Book of Medical Discourses, published in 1883. Another first. This book is one of the first medical texts published by an African American and discusses treatment for infants, children, and women of childbearing age.
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Dr. Crumpler served her community and opened so many doors for Black people and women alike. We commend you, Queen. AND ON FEBRUARY 8, 2021, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, WE CELEBRATED NATIONAL BLACK WOMEN PHYSICIANS DAY. The acknowledgement and celebration of this day are credited to Dr. KaNisha Hall ( @drkanisha ), Dr. Ciri Press ( @ciripmd ), and Dr. Sonya Sloan ( @sonyasloanmd ) who created the petition on February 3, 2021 and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas who signed the order on February 5, 2021. February 8th–Dr. Crumpler’s birthday —is now officially recognized as a holiday to celebrate Black women physicians! I had already planned to feature Dr. Crumpler in this year’s series and woke up on February 8th to this amazing news. Makes the feature even sweeter! The 2%, myself included, stand on your shoulders, Dr. Crumpler and we thank you for forging the way!
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FASHION FOOTNOTE: For quite some time, Docs went without uniforms and wore their usual clothing, even during surgery. Obviously, that proved to be problematic. Many of the first nurses were nuns who wore habits. The mid-1800s uniforms for nurses echoed the habits with long dresses, caps, and aprons. At the same time, surgeons donned aprons and masks as a result of Spanish flu. The first scrubs did not appear until the 1940s with scientific breakthroughs in disease spread and sanitation.

MALCOLM X

They love to talk about Martin, but never Malcolm. Oh but we gon talk about him TAH-DAY! Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, NE, he was exposed to civil rights activism early on. His father, Earl, was a Baptist minister and Black Nationalist eventually murdered likely by a white supremacist organization. After the dissipation of his family, Malcolm would go on to spend 7 years in prison.
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A visit from his brother exposed him to the Nation of Islam (NOI). Malcolm studied the teachings of Elijah Muhammad—NOI leader—who taught that white American principles deterred Black social, political, and economic advancement. Malcolm was a follower of NOI by the time he was paroled and changed his last name to X as he considered Little a slave name.
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Muhammad appointed Malcolm minister and national spokesman. With forcibly strong and condemnatory rhetoric against white supremacy, Malcolm preached to the masses and established new mosques in major cities; significantly increasing NOI’s membership. He supported protection from whites’ violence “by any means necessary” (juxtaposing with the non-violence ideology of MLK). And that was the impetus behind so many trying to fashion Malcolm as a terrorist. But really, if people were openly violent towards you and yours, how would you act? The FBI began to pay significantly more attention to NOI and even infiltrated the organization; using surveillance to monitor the group. That happened a lot when Black focal figures spoke openly about Black freedoms.
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In 1963, Malcolm learned of secret affairs between Muhammad and several women within NOI. Feeling deceived, Malcom left NOI, completed a pilgrimage to Mecca, and achieved a new outlook on integration. He returned preaching to all people. Tensions grew between NOI and Malcolm; ultimately leading to his assassination in 1965. But not before he became one of the most influential Civil Rights activists of all time.
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FASHION FOOTNOTE: As a young man, Malcolm was sharp in his zoot suits, honey! Emerging from the drape suits of Harlem dance halls, larger than life shoulder pads and overwhelming lapels were huge in the major city scene! Blacks are largely credited for this look, buying a suit too large and tailoring it to be ostentatious. These bold looks made political statements: Black men will NOT be ignored!

So proud of my heritage. So proud of my history. As always, thank you for reading along! Here’s to celebrating Black History today, every day, and always.

xx,

Photos by Tina Smith