BLACK HISTORY in White America: a children's story

Lauren Holly, actress, in black dress aboard a boat reminds me of what separated colored folk from white folk, and rich white folk from everyone else when I was a child. Two generations before Lauren Holly's career bloomed racism was a partner of white privilege, fame, and wealth. The best talents, and most famous beauties esteemed highly in their day, and in ours were immersed in a culture that held colored folks hostage to the idea of their inferiority, and second-class citizenship. More likely than not most of them thought we were niggers. But Colored folk, like everyone else, enjoyed good movies, and like everyone else idolized whoever caught their fancy. All of the famous names enjoyed adulation from their fan bases, but they did not speak for the cause of Negroes, or Indians until certain people in the industry spoke up.


Black artists like Harry Belafonte, Dick Gregory in the 1950's & '60's influenced a national consciousness from their connection to their unknown predecessors in the entertainment industry, the ministry, politics, business, and education. Black Africa in North America thrived and suffered. The intelligentsia of Negro American life added a paradigm to the concept of inferior status that exceeded the attitudes and expectations of white Americans. It is a deep source of pride to know these things. Even deeper is having that blood flowing through your veins, and deeper than is knowingly acting upon that energy.

The culture of Hip Hop comes from various African traditions of thought, belief, action, behavior, culture, and spirituality. Our African ancestors sing, dance, and rejoice with the new births of our freed expression. Without knowing and understanding these connections to freed speech an element of creativity is individually lost within artists. Talent is important but if an artist is ignorant of the ancestral and historical connections of the art and the People he/she comes from his/her 'game' is weaker than it should be. Every artist is a conduit. Ignorance is not bliss. It is a fault; an err in training. It is not good for the upcoming generations to be cut off the line of their ancestors. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

Lauryn Hill