Christina Proenza-Coles

Book title that reads "'White People Do Not Know How to Behave at Entertainments Designed for Ladies & Gentlemen of Colour:' William Brown's African & American Theater, Marvin McAllister, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill & London

Great book about New York theater manager William Brown who celebrated the multicultural realities of the 1820s US by cultivating theaters with mixed race performers & audiences.

The book title is from a sign that Brown posted in response to rioters who endeavored to destroy his American Theater.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
—James Baldwin

"Think in terms of images and words. They can be mighty powerful when they are fitted together properly."
Gordon Parks, born on this day in 1912

Portrait of an elegant woman flanked by two young daughters.

Gertrude Mossell (c. 1890 with their daughters) she was a journalist, educator, & the partner of Dr. Mossell. Her great grandfather, Cyrus Bustill, served with Washington’s troops during the American Revolution & helped found Philadelphia’s Free African Society. Her sister was Paul Robeson’s mother.

Portrait of an elegant woman flanked by two young daughters.

Gertrude Mossell (c. 1890 with their daughters) she was a journalist, educator, & the partner of Dr. Mossell. Her great grandfather, Cyrus Bustill, served with Washington’s troops during the American Revolution & helped found Philadelphia’s Free African Society. Her sister was Paul Robeson’s mother.

I loved both Buckeye and Heart the Lover so much. Am glad to learn of the other titles.

Portrait of an elegant man in a waistcoat jacket and tie with a watch chain.

Dr. Nathan Mossell, whose great-great-grandfather survived the Middle Passage, was a highly accomplished surgeon who founded a hospital in Philadelphia in 1895. archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/pen...

I really loved the new doc Becoming Led Zeppelin and tracing the early history of John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page as session musicians.

Yay. Thank you. Happy Birthday!

Stronger Than Fear?

Formal portrait of a very accomplished family. Sarah and Benjamin Tanner are seated in the center flanked by their children and grandchildren.

Sarah & Benjamin Tanner met at Avery College. He became a minister & educator who edited the largest Black-owned US newspaper in 1868. Henry Ossawa Tanner, standing behind his father, was an award-winning painter. Halle (seated left of her father) was the 1st woman to pass the AL state medical exam.

NYC street sign commemorating Elizabeth Jennings Graham at the corner of Spruce Street and Park Row, near City Hall.

I knew of Elizabeth Jennings Graham because @prisonculture.bsky.social took us here ⤵️ during one of her walking tours. It's near where she was thrown off the streetcar.

Miriam Sicherman's class of 3rd- and 4th-grade students had the idea for the street sign:
www.miriamsicherman.com/elizabeth-je...

As they correctly observed in the series Death By Lightening, future US president Chester Arthur represented her in court & her case was championed publicly by Henry Highland Garnet, James Pennington, Frederick Douglass & her parents.

Grainy image of a woman in a high collared dress standing by a sofa.

In 1855 Elizabeth Jennings Graham brought a suit that initiated the desegregation of NYC transit. Raised by politically active parents (her was mother formerly enslaved, her entrepreneur father was awarded a patent in 1821) Ms. Graham was a teacher, organist, & kindergarten founder.

I didn’t know about Mr. Beadle or his talented son. Thank you. They should be more widely known.

And a piece on Augustus Tolton whose "story is an invitation to learn about all 7 Black Catholic candidates for sainthood" Augustus Tolton, Pierre Toussaint, Henreitte Delille, Mary Lange, Julia Greeley, Thea Bowman & Martin de Porres Ward. See M. Heinlein, Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood.

And a piece on Father Augustus Tolton! So glad you posted this.

The image is a man wearing a Prince Hall Masonic Insignia. Prince Hall Freemasons are the largest & oldest African American fraternal organization in history, comprised of hundreds of thousands of members internationally, & included prominent figures e.g. WEB DuBois, Thurgood Marshall & Count Basie.

Grainy portrait of a man wearing a Prince Hall Masonic Insignia

Prince Hall & his collaborators twice endeavored to pass legislation in the Massachusetts state senate to end slavery. In a 1777 petition they argued for “the Natural Right of all Men” & against “the inconsistency of [people] acting themselves the part which they condemn and oppose in others . . .”

The image is from a 1898 news story on the Spanish American War - I’m not sure if Baker is here - I wanted to acknowledge his sacrifice & offer a visual to convey that this is not just one story of American heroism. Black men have served & earned medals in US military conflicts since colonial times.

Very talented father & daughter…

Photo of Black American soldiers in formation in Cuba during the Spanish American War c. 1898. Library of Congress.

Several African American soldiers & sailors received Medals of Honor for bravery in the Spanish American War. Among them was Captain Edward Baker who rescued a drowning soldier under heavy fire. Baker was the grandfather of the legendary musician Dexter Gordon.

Rebecca Protten, born in 1718 in Antigua, made her way out of enslavement to become ordained in St. Thomas in the 1730s. Her career as a teacher & missionary in the Caribbean, Europe, & West Africa helped to shape the development of Christianity & education in the 18th century.

The good old days

Engraving a man in coat & cravat from the shoulders up, based a portrait of James Armistead made by Jon Martin in 1824.

James Armistead of Virginia was a double agent during the American Revolution. The intelligence he gathered from British troops abetted the Patriot victory at Yorktown. Having risked his life - among thousands of Black Patriots - for the founding of the US, he petitioned for his freedom.

Taylor was a sergeant. As a newspaper correspondent, he detailed Black soldiers’ experiences & protested racial injustice. A delegate to the VA Constitutional Convention, he championed Black voting & civil rights. He supported the Readjuster Party, a biracial coalition that invested in public ed.

Thanks for a fascinating mini bio which connects enslavement, which many view as distant, and access to Madison Square Garden, an institution which is part of our modern lives. All are connected and part of our current reality.

Formal portrait of a young man in suit and tie with a pocket square and spectacles

Judge Raymond Alexander was an alum of Wharton & Harvard. In 1921 he sued Madison Square Garden for denying him entrance, he fought school segregation in the courts in the 1930s, & he consulted on the 1954 Brown case. Both of his parents were born enslaved.

Black and white photo of a very young man in a Navy uniform.

Neil Daniel Frye, US sailor who died in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, was recently identified, returned home to North Carolina, & buried with full military honors. He earned the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, American Defense Service Medal, & the Bronze Star Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

10 Black Veterans in U.S. History Who Redefined Courage and Patriotism Honoring 12 Black veterans whose courage, leadership, and sacrifice redefined American patriotism from the Revolution to modern warfare.

Honoring 10 Black Veterans in U.S. History Who Redefined Courage and Patriotism theblackwallsttimes.com/2025/11/11/1... #veteransday