Black History: Growing up in Chicago's "Black Belt"

Timuel Black grew up in Chicago's "Black Belt".  His family moved to Chicago during the "Great Migration", in 1919.  (Mine migrated in 1920.)  

African Americans left the South in order to have a better life and a better future for themselves and their families.  They often settled in large cities including Chicago, Cleveland and New York, where they formed their own communities during segregation.  

Black lists the reasons why his parents decided to move North.  

Unfortunately, many of these prosperous, thriving Black communities were destroyed by white supremacists.  See also:   

The Rosewood Massacre  

100 Years Since the Destruction of Black Wall Street.  

Go here for more Black history blogs.  

Why are we only just now starting to hear about these thriving Black communities - and the demise of many of them?  Please comment below and please share.  Thanks.  

Was the March on Washington a Waste of Shoe-Leather?

Is marching a waste of shoe-leather? This is what John Henrik Clarke said about marching.

Before the March on Washington, Malcolm X predicted that African Americans would still be marching 50 years later – check out this video clip.

Malcolm claimed Black people did not have the moral high ground because we did not own our own businesses, and therefore could not employ our own people, as other communities did and still do.

However, his argument was naïve because we know that banks and financial institutions discriminated against Black business owners and would-be entrepreneurs.

And when Black people did set up their own thriving business communities, these communities were sometimes brutally attacked, as was the case with the Black Wall Street.

Still, when we look at the situation today, where Black people often do not patronise businesses in our own communities, but instead rush to spend our money in other communities, we need to remember Brother Malcolm's words. It's up to us to employ our own people, just as other communities do. In order to do this, we need to build a Strong Black Business Community. 

I believe it was important to have a nationwide March on Washington.  It was a significant moment in history and still has an impact today.  But is it still useful to keep on marching?  I don't think so.  What do you think?  Leave your comments below.   

Click here to remember the 1963 March on Washington in words and pictures.