(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Black Kos, Week In Review [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-07-08
Paul Cuffee
Commentary: Black Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
Paul Cuffe, also known as Paul Cuffee (January 17, 1759 – September 7, 1817) was a successful 18th century sea captain and businessman. He had all African-American crews that served the Atlantic Coast and sailed to Europe and Africa.Paul Cuffe is best known for his work in assisting free blacks who wanted to emigrate to Sierra Leone. He helped the British effort to resettle freed African-American slaves after the American Revolution. He wrote the Memoir of Captain Paul Cuffee (1811).
Cuffe was born free on Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts (near New Bedford) sometime around 1759. The exact date of his birth is unknown. He was the youngest of ten children. His father, Kofi (also known as Cuffe Slocum), was from the Ashanti Empire in West Africa. Kofi was captured, enslaved and brought to New England at the age of 10. Paul’s mother, Ruth Moses, was a Native American of the Wampanoag people of New England. Kofi, a skilled tradesman who was able to earn his freedom, but died when Paul Cuffe was a teenager. The younger Cuffe refused to use the name Slocum, which his father had been given by his owner, and instead took his father’s first name.
In 1773, the year after his father's death and again in 1775, Paul Cuffe sailed on whaling ships, getting a chance to learn navigation. In his journal, he identified as a marineer (mariner). In 1776 after the start of the Revolutionary War, he sailed on a whaler but it was captured by the British. He and the rest of the crew were held as prisoners of war for three months in New York City before being released. Cuffe returned to his family in what is now Westport, Massachusetts. In 1779, he and his brother David borrowed a small sailboat to reach the nearby islands. Although his brother was afraid to sail in dangerous seas, Cuffe set forth, probably with a friend as his crewmate in 1779 to deliver cargo to Nantucket. He was waylaid by pirates on this and several subsequent voyages. Finally, he made a trip to Nantucket that turned a profit, and he reportedly continued to make these trips to Nantucket throughout the war.
Cuffe was keenly aware of the inequities and difficulties faced by blacks in the US. Cuffe became politically active in his early 20s. In 1780, against the backdrop of the American Revolution, Paul and his brother John Cuffe refused to pay taxes, arguing that, despite being free blacks, they were denied the right to vote. The two were briefly jailed, and in 1780 Cuffe and several other free blacks petitioned the Massachusetts General Court, requesting that they be exempted from taxation because they were denied the benefits of citizenship. Although the petition failed to sway the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) the campaign helped pave the way for creation of a new Constitution in 1783 which granted equality to all Massachusetts citizens. The result was that Massachusetts made “all free persons of color liable to taxation, according to the ratio established for white men and granting them the privileges belonging to the other citizens.”
After the war’s end, Cuffe and his brother-in-law, Michael Wainer, opened a shipyard, and they soon had three small ships. Cuffe would later build a number of larger vessels, including the Hero and the Alpha. He and various relatives manned the ships and went on long whaling expeditions and trading voyages to Europe and other parts of the Americas. In addition to his maritime ventures, Cuffe was a prosperous merchant as well as the owner of a grist mill and a farm. As a result of his labors, Cuffe was perhaps the wealthiest African American of his time.
In 1808 Cuffe became a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), and he joined the Friends Meeting in nearby Westport, Massachusetts, where he bought a farm. By 1811 he was reputedly the wealthiest African American in the United States and the largest employer of free African Americans. Despite his commercial success, Cuffe became increasingly disillusioned with the racial status of African Americans, and believed the creation of an independent African nation led by returnees from the United States offered the best prospects for free blacks and for African modernization.
Asked by the Society to assist in the resettlement of free blacks to the British colony of Sierra Leone, Cuffe became interested in the possibility of freed slaves’ returning to Africa. Inspired by British abolitionists who had established Sierra Leone, Cuffe began to recruit blacks to emigrate to the fledgling colony. On January 2, 1811, he launched his first expedition to Sierra Leone, sailing with an all-African American crew to Freetown. While there Cuffe helped to establish “The Friendly Society of Sierra Leone,” a trading organization run by African Americans who had returned to West Africa. Cuffe and others hoped the success of this enterprise would generate a mass emigration of free blacks to West Africa who, once there, would evangelize the Africans, establish business enterprises, and work to abolish slavery.
Later that year he journeyed to England, where he met with British abolitionists and sought support for his resettlement plans; he eventually secured a land grant. In 1812 Cuffe returned to the United States, at which time his cargo was seized on charges that he broke the 1807 Embargo Act, which restricted imports from Great Britain. Cuffe traveled to Washington, DC, where he met with U.S. President James Madison, who ordered the release of his cargo.
Cuffe continued to advocate for his colonization plans, and he initially gained support from a number of African American leaders. On his last trip in 1815–16, he transported nine families of free blacks from Massachusetts to Sierra Leone to assist and work with the former slaves and other local residents to develop their economy. Some historians relate Cuffe's work to the "Back to Africa" movement being promoted by the newly organized American Colonization Society (ACS). A group made up of both Northerners and Southerners, it was focused on resettling free blacks from the United States to Africa - eventually resulting in development of Liberia. The leaders of the ACS had sought Paul Cuffe's advice and support for their effort. After some hesitation, and given the strong objections by free blacks in Philadelphia and New York City to the ACS proposal, Cuffe chose not to support the ACS. He believed his efforts in providing training, machinery and ships to the people of Africa would enable them to improve their lives and rise in the world.
Cuff returned to the United States in late 1816 and sought backing for another voyage. However, his health soon began to decline, and he died the following year.
Sources:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Academy Award-actress Viola Davis exudes a warrior’s mentality in the new trailer for The Woman King, slated for release this fall.
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood,The Woman King is based on true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey during the 18th and 19th centuries. Davis plays Nanisca, the leader of the all-female military unit known as the Agojie, and the film chronicles their journey while preparing to defend their territory from invading colonialists.
In the trailer’s opening montage, a male voice can be heard saying: “An evil is coming that threatens our kingdom, our freedom. But we have a weapon they are not prepared for,” when describing Nanisca’s ferocity.
x YouTube Video
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
when it comes to support for abortion rights and access polls suggest that Black voters are more supportive than white voters Five Thirty eight: Why Abortion Is A Civil Rights Issue for Black Voters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talking with voters about reproductive health issues, including abortion access, isn’t new for Malika Redmond, the co-founder and CEO of Women Engaged, an Atlanta-based group that focuses on Black voter engagement. Not long after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, which established the constitutional right to abortion in 1973, access to reproductive care was harmed by the passage of the Hyde Amendment, which banned the use of federal funds for most abortions. This, Redmond told me, disproportionately impacted women and young people from perpetually disenfranchised and rural communities, particularly Black women and other women and young adults of color.
Georgia was among 33 states that banned the use of state Medicaid funds for abortions, following federal guidance. And, by 2017, some 95 percent of counties in Georgia had no clinics that provided abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Fifty-five percent of women in Georgia lived in these counties. The situation further deteriorated in 2019, when Gov. Brian Kemp signed a controversial bill that would effectively ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. At that point, Redmond said, her group started hearing more from people who wanted to understand the fate of reproductive health care in Georgia. That question is once again on the minds of Black voters in Georgia, as the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, and that six-week ban, which was struck down by the courts in 2020, is now expected to go into effect soon.
In other words, access to reproductive health care, and the impact that its loss will have on people’s everyday lives, was always top of mind not just for Georgia’s Black voters, but also for Black voters across the U.S. It’s why, as we head into this fall’s midterms, a handful of pro-Black advocacy groups have said that Black voters might view November’s midterm elections as a referendum on abortion access — a wish that some Democratic politicians are banking on, too. But according to Andra Gillespie, a professor of political science at Emory University, “[I]t’s hard to say that Black voters are single-issue abortion voters. I think it’ll be couched in a mix of other things important to them.”
If history has taught us anything, it is that Black people, particularly those who are poor, will be among the biggest sufferers in a post-Roe world despite some anti-abortion advocates claiming that banning abortion will be good for Black people. But it’s unclear whether Black voters will prioritize Roe over issues like rising prices, the economy or police violence. Moreover, it might be harder for Black voters across the nation to discuss one-size-fits-all abortion policies without first acknowledging how their communities have been disproportionally hurt by things like high youth incarceration rates, increased maternal mortality rates and a lack of educational opportunities for their children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Somewhere in Bunkie, Louisiana, there’s a 19-year-old Black man in the backroom of his grandmama’s white clapboard house hiding his Sith Lord mask and Gundams. He just wants the matriarch and her deaconess friends to stop praying for the devil to let him go.
Something similar plays out in Corvallis, Oregon. Only this time, it’s not age or Big Mama’s religion restraining her spirit. It’s race. And gender. Corvallis has a Black population of just 1.3%, and the 26-year-old cosplaying physics teacher who loves comic books just wants to stop feeling “other.”
That’s why, six years ago, along with Hassan Parrish, Hilton George co-founded Blerdcon – the only convention that marries Blackness and nerdiness, saturates geeky with the culture and creates a welcoming environment for people who feel that their interests keep them on the periphery of their kin and colleagues.
“We in the Black community have not resolved our relationship with nerdom and whiteness,” said George, the Blerdcon CEO, who spent 20 years in education before leaving his job to launch Blerdcon. “Oftentimes Black nerds don’t have to just turn in their cool card as all nerds often do. They have to turn in their Black card, too,” he told theGrio.
That is, until they get to Blerdcon. This year’s event runs July 8 -10 in Arlington, Virginia, where organizers expect 8,000 to 10,000 unique attendees and 20,000 turnstile Blerds at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City. It’s all things nerd for 24 hours a day. From noon Friday until 4 p.m. Sunday there will be nonstop anime screenings in the theater, RPG (that’s role playing games) and tabletop gaming, an AMV (anime music video) contest, cosplaying, an arcade and a maid cafe (an experience popular in Japan in which servers dress as maids).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An American couple is producing milk, yogurt, and cheeses from animals that have long been raised for their meat. BusinessWeek: An Upstart Farm Is Selling Jamaica on Goat Milk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goats are a common sight in Jamaica, roaming across fields, grazing along highways, and even traipsing about on city streets. They’re prized for their meat, which is featured in curry goat and other popular dishes. Given the seeming ubiquity of the animals, it was initially perplexing to Americans Byron Walker and Ruth Mitchell that they couldn’t find any goat dairy products in local shops. “We were like, what’s wrong with this?” Mitchell says. “Where’s the goat milk? Where’s the goat cheese?”
The couple—frequent visitors to the Caribbean island over decades—came up with an unconventional retirement project that would keep them in Jamaica long term: opening a goat dairy farm. Eight years later, they’re leading a fledgling goat dairy movement in the country. Their business, with nine employees, sells products including milk, yogurt, and cheesecake to grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, and a loyal base of individual customers. It’s called Ruby Goat Dairy—“Ru” for Ruth and “By” for Byron.
Demand far outstrips their capacity, so they’re teaching other goat farmers how to collect milk, which Ruby Goat Dairy buys. It has supply arrangements with five farms. “I thought we’d be hobby-sized and maybe gifting or selling to a small group of people with a dozen animals,” says Walker, 72. “Both Ruth and I are professionally driven, I’d say a little competitive, and consequently as the business began to grow, that was exciting all by itself.”
Before becoming goat farmers, Walker was a technology analyst on Wall Street, and Mitchell, 70, worked as a nurse and managed home-health agencies. “We didn’t want to just sit under a palm tree and read books and sip rum drinks,” Mitchell says. “We needed to be productive.” They say some friends have called them “nuts” for choosing to go back to work, and in such physically demanding jobs.
A farm employee filters goat milk.
Source: Image Development Studios
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An attorney by trade, she joins a team and a league hoping to rebound from racial scandals. The Root: Las Vegas Raiders Name Sandra Douglass Morgan First Black Woman President of An NFL Team
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Las Vegas Raiders, a team with one of the NFL’s most storied histories of breaking racial barriers, on Thursday named attorney Sandra Douglass Morgan to the position of team president. She is the first Black woman in NFL history to be named to the position.
Morgan also breaks other molds: most NFL team executives have at least prior sports experience, if not NFL specific credentials on their resumes. She has neither but boast a host of experiences that that team sees as beneficial to her role. She’s a former city attorney in Las Vegas, the city that the Raiders moved to from Oakland, Calif., just two seasons ago. She’s also the former chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission, a powerful board that oversees the lucrative sports betting and casino industries.
Until recent years, gambling was a taboo for the NFL, but with pro sports embracing legalized betting, the Raiders are positioned as the home team in the country’s betting capital.
In addition to her professional credentials, the optics of the Raiders hiring a Black woman are also critical. The team and the NFL are at the center of scandals involving race and gender. Former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden resigned last October a trove of his emails containing racist and homophobic language was leaked to the media. Gruden is currently suing the NFL claiming he was targeted by the league’s front office.
The Raiders have also lost multiple executives and the organization has been accused of systemically mistreating employees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did Jayland Walker deserve to be shot at least 60 times out of a possible 90 rounds fired? Hopefully, any reasonable person would say no. And yet, it happened, on camera while the 25-year-old Akron, Ohio, native was unarmed. If we can all agree that this tragedy shouldn’t have happened, the next logical question is did it have to happen? The officers involved in his death will almost certainly argue that they had no choice because they feared for their lives and/or because they believed Walker to be armed and potentially still dangerous.
But the predominately white and overwhelmingly male perpetrators of mass shootings all over this country are known to be armed and known to still be an active threat when law enforcement arrives on the scene. Sometimes they have barricaded themselves or have body armor and multiple unused rounds of ammunition with which to defend themselves, and yet very often those suspects are apprehended relatively unharmed.
Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with subduing and arresting a criminal suspect without using lethal force, in fact, it’s arguably ideal. It becomes much easier to deduce motive or whether the killer had co-conspirators if they are alive when they’re brought to justice.
But it is curious, to say the least, that so many unarmed people of color are not afforded the same compassion with which law enforcement routinely engages with mass murderers like Dylann Roof, Payton Gendron or Patrick Crusius.
Highland Park, IL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY PORCH
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/8/2108880/-Black-Kos-Week-In-Review
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
