Snags continue to delay local #govt joint authorities sale of #Oakland Coliseum site to #AfricanAmerican investment group.

Super shady desperate deal to unload 122 acre parcel including 80,000 seat #stadium built in 1968 and approx 18,000 capacity indoor #arena was supposed to close before summertime, but now is delayed for another year.

Some city #government officials hoped to quickly balance budget during current fiscal crisis with $100+ million in sale proceeds, but have received only small $5m fraction of revenue as #AlamedaCounty officials have delayed signing off on their portion of complex property transaction.

Previously elected city politicos had split on applying proceeds of the flash fire sale to balance the city budget deficit, with some council members calling the now ousted Mayor's claim pushing property transfer was "fiscally irresponsible" .

https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-delays-sale-coliseum-site-next-year-20267716.php

Today in Labor History April 14, 1917: IWW sailors went on strike in Philadelphia and won a ten dollar per month raise. Ben Fletcher, an African-American IWW organizer, was instrumental in organizing the Philadelphia waterfront. Fletcher was born in Philly in 1890. He joined the Wobblies (IWW) in 1912, became secretary of the IWW District Council in 1913. He also co-founded the interracial Local 8 in 1913.

In 1913, Fletcher led 10,000 IWW Philly dockworkers on a strike. Within two weeks, they won a 10-hr day, overtime pay, & created one of the most successful antiracist, anticapitalist union locals in the U.S. At the time, roughly one-third of the dockers on the Philadelphia waterfront were black. Another 33% were Irish. And about 33% were Polish and Lithuanian. Prior to the IWW organizing drive, the employers routinely pitted black workers against white, and Polish against Irish. The IWW was one of the only unions of the era that organized workers into the same locals, regardless of race or ethnicity. And its main leader in Philadelphia was an African American, Ben Fletcher.

By 1916, thanks in large part to Fletcher’s organizing skill, all but two of Philadelphia’s docks were controlled by the IWW. And the union maintained control of the Philly waterfront for about a decade. At that time, roughly 10% of the IWW’s 1 million members were African American. Most had been rejected from other unions because of their skin color.

Fletcher also traveled up and down the east coast organizing dockers. However, he was nearly lynched in Norfolk, Virginia in 1917. And in 1918, the state arrested him, sentencing him to ten years for the crime of organizing workers during wartime. He served three years.

You can read my full biography of Ben Fletcher here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/05/13/ben-fletcher-and-the-iww-dockers/

Facts and Myths About Harriet Tubman

"Despite being a popular historical figure, the best-known details about Harriet Tubman’s life are a mixture of fact and myth."

https://www.thecollector.com/facts-and-myths-about-harriet-tubman/

Books about Harriet Tubman at PG

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Harriet+Tubman&submit_search=Search

Recordings from 29 March 2025 are now available free at the "Enslavement to citizenship: African Americans in Irish Slaveholder records" website.

Includes overview of databases "Irish slaveholders in South Carolina 1670-1865" & "They had names: African Americans in Liberty County, Georgia"

@histodons
@geneadons
@genealogy

#Genealogy #FamilyHistory #SouthCarolina #Georgia #Irish #AfricanAmerican

https://www.enslavement-to-citizenship.com/#/

Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans, Louisiana

First opened in 1939, this legendary performance venue was a haven for Black musicians including Ray Charles and Little Richard.#african-american #blackhistory #history #music #hotels #section-Atlas
Dew Drop Inn

#OTD in 1856, Booker T. Washington, the African-American educator, author, and orator was born.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington

His books at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/880

#IndieFilm #Film #AfricanAmerican #BlackHair #Braids #BlackWomen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okpHdA6SRhg

Thelma Delgers: American Hero or American Fool?

Thelma is a young African American woman in Riverbend, USA. She has become the "de facto" leader of Riverbend's TDG.

Is she a hero? Is she a fool?

https://tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/blog_details.php?blog_cat_id=18&id=256

#tiereddemocraticgovernance
#africanamerican

Miembros del #KuKluxKlan
eran jueces, abogados y
banqueros. No solo los agricultores como
a menudo son retratados.
Por eso llevaban máscaras.
Eran hombres prominentes
y no quería ninguma
consecuencias de su derecho y deber de aterrorizar
comunidades negras
#blackexcellence #blackwomen #blackpeople #blacklivesmatter #blackhistory #blackexperience #blackhistory365 #blackHistoryMatters #africanamerican #blackculture #Blackhistorymonth2025 #blackliberation

Majority-Black Town in Ohio Launches Armed Watch after Neo-#Nazi, #Klan Provocations

from #WorldOutlook
February 28, 2025

"On February 7, about a dozen masked men, some of them carrying AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, drove a U-Haul truck to a freeway overpass at Lincoln Heights’ edge. The men, dressed in black, shouted racist slurs and waived black flags with red swastikas on them. Enraged Lincoln Heights residents soon approached to counter protest. Local police who converged on the scene from the nearby town of #Evandale, across the highway, appeared cordial toward some of the white supremacists. As the crowd of Lincoln Heights residents swelled, the ultra rightists got back on their truck and drove off. Counter protesters burned the Nazi flags left behind."

https://world-outlook.com/2025/02/28/majority-black-town-in-ohio-launches-armed-watch-after-neo-nazi-klan-provocations/

#AfricanAmerican #LincolnHeights
#Cincinnati #Ohio #WaPo #BlackNews #WashingtonPost #BlackMastodon
#KuKluxKlan #Black #racism #FightRacism #news #politics

The Dancing Lesson 1878, Thomas Eakins⁣
⁣
#19thcentury, #AfricanAmerican, #AmericanSouth, #Black, #Guitar, #ThomasEakins⁣
⁣
Vintage ◦ Classic ◦ Historical | Art ◦ Design ◦ Inspiration | Restored ◦ Enhanced ◦ Remixed⁣
⁣
Prints, T-Shirts, Stickers, & More by @rocketshipretro via RedBubble → https://bigplanetprints.com/go/dGV1cc

#FloKennedy
#blackexcellence
#blackwomen #blackpeople
#blacklivesmatter #blackhistory #blackexperience #blackhistory365 #blackHistoryMatters #africanamerican #blackculture #Blackhistorymonth2025 #blackliberation

Second of two great opinion pieces from the #PhiladelphiaInquirer. I am not #African-American, but #SolomonJones, the writer, seems to make sense. #AfricanAmerican pals, please weigh in. EDITED TO PROVIDE GIFT LINK
The targets of Trump’s DEI attacks must unite — because no one else is coming to our rescue https://share.inquirer.com/hcehdC

A new study traces the history of Black American literary groups.

By Brittany Allen

https://lithub.com/a-new-study-traces-the-history-of-black-american-literary-groups/

Jessye Norman - O Divine Redeemer {Repentir (Charles Gounod)}

Ah! Turn me not away,
Receive me tho' unworthy;
Hear Thou my cry,
Behold, Lord, my distress!
Answer me from thy throne
Haste Thee, Lord to mine aid,
Thy pity shew in my deep anguish!
Let not the sword of vengeance smite me,
Though righteous thine anger,
O Lord! Shield me in danger, O regard me!
On Thee, Lord, alone will I call.

#JessyeNorman #Opera #Music #Academic #Blackmastodon #AfricanAmerican #Art

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jF0tiuas02o

Middle #Tennessee State #University #histodons assist the #AfricanAmerican community in #Murfreesboro preserve the #history of the Cemetery School in a museum. The segregated school was created for the #education of children of former #slaves who were hired to bury #Union Army casualties, including those killed during the #CivilWar Battle of Stones River that occurred nearby.

https://mainstreetmediatn.com/articles/murfreesboropost/mtsu-helps-cemetery-school-take-on-new-role-as-black-museum/?pubid=murfreesboropost

In the African-American folk traditions of the American South, a "conjure man" or "conjure woman" was a professional sorcerer. They would live outside the community, often in the swamp. Though feared, conjure folk would be consulted for various magical services.

Today in Labor History March 15, 1877: Ben Fletcher, African-American IWW organizer was born on this date. Fletcher organized longshoremen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He joined the Wobblies (IWW) in 1912, became secretary of the IWW District Council in 1913. He also co-founded the interracial Local 8 in 1913. By 1916, thanks in large part to Fletcher’s organizing skill, all but two of Philadelphia’s docks were controlled by the IWW. And the union maintained control of the Philly waterfront for about a decade. After the 1913 strike, Fletcher traveled up and down the east coast organizing dockers. However, he was nearly lynched in Norfolk, Virginia in 1917. At that time, roughly 10% of the IWW’s 1 million members were African American. Most had been rejected from other unions because of their skin color. In 1918, the state arrested him, sentencing him to ten years for the crime of organizing workers during wartime. He served three years.

Confessions of a Future Politician

Thelma Delgers is an average American building a new democracy:

https://tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/blog_details.php?blog_cat_id=29&id=176

#tiereddemocraticgovernance
#africanamerican