(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.']
Date: 2025-07-11
Commentary: Black Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor John P. Parker (1827 – February 4, 1900) was an African-American abolitionist, inventor, iron molder and industrialist who helped hundreds of slaves to freedom in the Underground Railroad resistance movement based in Ripley, Ohio, members aided slaves escaping across the river from Kentucky to get further North to freedom; some chose to go to Canada. He guided hundreds of slaves along their way, continuing despite a $1,000 bounty placed on his head by slaveholders. He rescued fugitive slaves for nearly fifteen years. Parker was one of the few Black people to patent his inventions before 1900. His house in Ripley has been designated a National Historic Landmark and restored.
Parker was born in Norfolk, Virginia, the son of a slave mother and white father. Born into slavery under the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, at the age of eight John was forced to walk to Richmond, where he was sold at the slave market to a doctor from Mobile, Alabama. While working in the doctor's house as a domestic servant, John was taught to read and write by the doctor's family, although the law forbade slaves' being educated. During his apprenticeship in a foundry, John attempted escape and had conflicts with officials. He asked one of the doctor's patients, a widow, to purchase him. After taking title to him, she allowed him to hire out to earn money, and he purchased his freedom from her for $1,800 in 1845. He earned the money through his work in two of Mobile's iron foundries and occasional odd jobs. The historian Stuart Seely Sprague has researched much information about Parker and his life. Beginning as an iron molder, Parker developed and patented a number of mechanical and industrial inventions, including the John P. Parker tobacco press and harrow (or pulverizer), patented in 1884 and 1885. He had invented the pulverizer while still a young man in Mobile in the 1840s. Parker was one of the few Black people to patent an invention before 1900. In 1865 with a partner, he bought a foundry company, which they called the Ripley Foundry and Machine Company. Parker managed the company, which manufactured engines, Dorsey's patent reaper and mower, and sugar mill. In 1876 he brought in a partner to manufacture threshers, and the company became Belchamber and Parker. Although they dissolved the partnership two years later, Parker continued to grow his business, adding a blacksmith shop and machine shop. In 1890, after a destructive fire at his first facility, Parker built the Phoenix Foundry. It was the largest between Cincinnati and Portsmouth, Ohio. Read more here -->
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$600 million has been spent trying to salvage the city’s decrepit water system after it collapsed three years ago. Now the money is gone and the problems aren’t fixed—and residents fear they may permanently lose control of their water. The New Republic: The Ugly Politics of Jackson, Mississippi’s Ongoing Water Crisis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three years ago, a man with white hair and a ruddy grin went around one neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi, daring residents to drink the tap water. He’d buy you a drink, but only if you had a glass of water first. He’d buy your groceries, but first you had to take the case of bottled water out of your shopping cart. Residents of the capital city had been under a boil-water notice for weeks, and it had just been lifted: Distrust was still high, and the water was still brown. Not everyone took Ted Henifin up on the drink, but Jacksonians were more than willing to let this guy buy their groceries—even if it meant going back for the bottled water.
In August 2022, Jackson entered a state of emergency after flooding overwhelmed the city’s fragile infrastructure, leaving residents without running water to drink, cook, brush their teeth, or even flush their toilets. Periods of low pressure and subpar service were nothing new for Jacksonians, 27 percent of whom live in poverty and 82 percent of whom are Black. They have been deprived of resources by the state legislature, which is overwhelmingly white and conservative, for decades—forever, really.
By November, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency had filed a complaint against the city for failing to comply with the Clean Drinking Water Act and proposed a federal intervention to stabilize the water system. The city government and the Mississippi State Department of Health agreed to place Jackson under receivership and appointed Henifin, who came to Jackson from Virginia, as interim third-party manager.
When Henifin first took over from city officials, under the auspices of the newly minted utility provider JXN Water, many in Jackson were simply relieved to see some investment in their perennially neglected infrastructure. Just a year before, Mississippi lawmakers had withheld the $1.8 billion the state received from the American Rescue Plan Act from the capital city, despite the mayor’s urgent request that the governor disburse the funds to cover immediate repairs. When the infrastructure finally collapsed, Congress allocated a combined $600 million specifically for recovering Jackson’s water system.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While 2025 has felt like a series of anxiety-inducing headlines, Baltimore actually celebrated a major community win as we wrapped up the first half of the year. This month, the city’s mayor, Brandon Scott, announced that Baltimore has recorded the fewest homicides in 50 years.
While 2025 has felt like a series of anxiety-inducing headlines, Baltimore actually celebrated a major community win as we wrapped up the first half of the year. This month, the city’s mayor, Brandon Scott, announced that Baltimore has recorded the fewest homicides in 50 years.
In the same time period last year, the city had reported 88 homicides. The nearly 22.7% decrease compared to the first six months of 2024 marks the fewest number of homicides in more than five decades.
In addition to declining homicide rates, the city reported seeing a 19.6% decline in non-fatal shootings, a 34% decline in auto theft, a 22% decline in robberies and a 15% decline in carjackings compared to 2024.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donald Trump has yet to visit Africa as President. But he’s certainly left an impression.
In his first term, Trump angered the continent’s leaders and public when he reportedly referred to Haiti and African nations as “sh-thole countries.” Amid blowback, Trump denied using the specific phrase, while Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, who was present in the closed-door meeting where the remark was supposedly uttered, told media at the time that Trump made “hate-filled, vile and racist” comments “and he said them repeatedly.”
In his second term so far, Trump has been criticized for championing false claims of “white genocide” in South Africa, granting refugee privileges to white Afrikaners while implementing new travel restrictions that inexplicably seem to target several majority-Black African nations.
He’s also gutted humanitarian assistance to the continent. Africa was one of the biggest recipients of support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and millions of Africans are expected to die as a result of the agency’s dismantling.
To many, these moves seemed reflective of Trump’s apparent disregard for the continent.
But Africa, in the words of a Brookings Institution research paper from January, “is increasingly recognized as the next frontier for global economic growth. Its potential is vast, characterized by diverse natural resources, a burgeoning youth population, and untapped innovation.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The disaster left four-fifths of island uninhabitable, but its people remain determined to stay while still facing an uncertain future. The Guardian: ‘I’m here’: Montserrat 30 years on from devastating volcanic eruption
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the volcanic eruptions that devastated the small Caribbean island of Montserrat. In July 1995, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupted for the first time in centuries, leaving 80% of the self-governing British overseas territory uninhabitable.
The area known as the exclusion zone is now deserted and overgrown. The eruptions forced a mass exodus, depopulating the island from 14,000 to just over 4,000 people and rendering it one of the world’s least populous sovereign states or dependencies. Those who stayed migrated north while Brades, once countryside, became Montserrat’s de facto capital. The sense of what could have been permeates the island. Montserratians – including Alvin Ryan, the director of the Disaster Management Coordination Agency – are proud of the island’s heyday. The holder of the proverbial and literal keys to the exclusion zone, Ryan speaks wistfully about a nation once on the precipice of independence, priding itself on its economic sustainability – exporting agricultural produce to neighboring islands – and a robust musical and cultural identity.
As we drive into the boundaries of the exclusion zone, Ryan radios the Montserrat Volcano Observatory to announce our arrival – “Two souls, one vehicle” – emphasizing just how secure this area truly is. Once inside, he reminisces about his past life, from boiling eggs in the volcanic hot springs as a child, to believing in the myth of a beautiful mermaid living at the peak of the mountain, unaware then that it was an active volcano.
There is an implicit kinship with those who hail from the same village in the old Montserrat or “town” as it is affectionately called. This is what binds them – shared fond memories of belonging, flickered with grief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSEL
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/11/2332473/-Black-Kos-Week-In-Review?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
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/
