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Thursday, March 1^st
Price:  $16.50

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The inventor of the Cellular phone is Henry Sampson, Jr. Sampson is an African-American from Jackson, Mississippi. He attended Morehouse College and transferred to Purdue. He received an MS in Engineering from the University Of California. He was awarded an MS in Nuclear Engineering from Illinois and his Ph.D from Illinois. Sampson is the first African-American to receive a Ph.D in Nuclear Engineering.

In 1971 Sampson was awarded a patent for the “gamma-electric cell.” This technology was used in the cellular phone. Hopefully Dr. Sampson was well rewarded for his efforts.

All right, now that you have this information join the “Tell a Brother Club” by passing this information on to more individuals who are uninformed.

http://jamrockvybz.com/profiles/blogs/african-american-dr-henry

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Kingsley Heritage Celebration 2012:  The War of Jubilee

Jacksonville, FL:  The National Park Service invites the public to the 14th Annual Kingsley Heritage Celebration.  This year the event focuses on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which was called by many as the War of Jubilee.  This tumultuous time in our history signaled the end of bondage for more than four million enslaved African Americans.  In this conflict, African Americans fought as soldiers, worked as spies, and spoke out against the horrors of slavery.  This years celebration honors the role of African Americans in the Civil War as our nation remembers this important anniversary.

Special afternoon events will be held on February 18th and 25th, and are sponsored by the National Park Services Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.  These events are free and open to the public.  The goal of this annual celebration is to allow the local community to explore cultural traditions found in modern American society that originated during the plantation period.

These events are a celebration of the determination and perseverance of the human spirit to survive against incredible odds, explains Superintendent Barbara Goodman.  The goal is to present this history in meaningful ways to our community. The arts have united people through the ages, and it will help us learn more about our shared history through the cultural influences that we hear and see every day.

Surrounded by ancient live oaks and stately palms, Kingsley Plantation overlooks the Fort George River on Fort George Island in the Timucuan Preserve. The rich and diverse history of the plantation includes the story of wealthy English planter Zephaniah Kingsley and his wife Anna Madgigine Jai, who was born in Senegal and purchased by Kingsley as a slave. The history also includes the stories of the men, women, and children who struggled to survive enslavement, in an era when wealth was sometimes measured in human property.

Kingsley Plantation is a unit of the National Park Services Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Jacksonville. Zephaniah Kingsley owned and operated a 1,000-acre plantation on the island during the first half of the nineteenth century. In addition to the scheduled events, visitors may also visit the grounds that include the original plantation house, kitchen house, barn, and the remains of 25 tabby slave cabins.  The Plantation house is itself Floridas oldest standing (1798) plantation era structure.

The grounds offer perhaps the most graphic evidence of slave living quarters and daily life experiences in the state, if not the South.

Located off Heckscher Drive/A1A one-half mile north of the St. Johns River ferry landing, Kingsley Plantation is open daily, at no charge, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.  For more information, call 904.251.3537, or go to http://www.nps.gov/timu, where you can access this full text press release and detailed biographies of the presenters and performers.

Details of the events are as follows:

Saturday, February 18:

1:30 p.m. – Rose Person, a Harriet Tubman reenactor, will recite poetry and explain Harriet Tubmans role in the Civil War as a spy, nurse, and occasional laundress, including her role in the Civil War events of Jacksonville.  Ms. Persons performances with the Tubman African American Museum have been lauded as deeply moving.

2:00 p.m. – Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, folk musicians, will present their poignant performance  The Blue and Gray in Black and White,  the story of the Civil War told through music and song. In over forty years of performing, Sparky and Rhonda have performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as NPR’s On Point, Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and Morning Edition.

Kids Corner:  Throughout the day, park staff will present childrens activities relating to the Civil War and the Underground Railroad.  Kids will be able to design their own drums, make a rag doll to take home and even send secret messages like Civil War spies.

The Kingsley Plantation Main House will be open for viewing from 10 am until 1:30 pm.

Saturday, February 25:

1:00 p.m. -54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first all-black regiment of the Civil War, a group of soldiers that paved the way for other black men to join the Union army, in the form of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), will be the topic of the day.

Volunteers from the local reenacting group, which portrays the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, will be on hand to discuss the experiences of the first all-black regiment of the Civil War.  The original regiment spent time in Northeast Florida during the Civil War.

Park rangers and volunteers in period costumes will demonstrate various tasks involved in the operation of a large plantation.  Demonstrations will include cooking, spinning, weaving, dyeing with indigo, woodworking, and gardening.

For more information, please call Kingsley Plantation at (904) 251-3537 or visit http://www.nps.gov/timu.

Like us on Facebook at Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and follow us on Twitter @TimucuanNPS.

Best Wishes,
Emily Palmer, Park Guide
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve Kingsley Plantation
11676 Palmetto Ave.
Jacksonville, FL 32226
(904) 251-3537-office
(904) 251-3577-fax
Emily_Palmer@nps.gov

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The 2012 edition of the critically acclaimed Experience Hendrix concert tour, will launch with a three week run of dates starting March 6th featuring an all-star lineup of musical greats paying homage to the abiding genius of Jimi Hendrix. The announcement coincides with latest issue of Rolling Stone wherein Jimi Hendrix was, predictably, designated “The Greatest Guitarist of All Time.” The tour will alight in twenty markets including North Florida, stopping at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre on Friday, March 16th. Tickets for this show will go on sale to the public, this Friday, January 13^th at 10AM.

The St. Augustine Line-up will feature:

Billy Cox (of the Band of Gypsys & Jimi Hendrix Experience)
Robby Krieger (of the Doors)
Jonny Lang
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Robert Randolph
Eric Johnson
David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas (of Los Lobos)
Dweezil Zappa
Brad Whitford (of Aerosmith)
Chris Layton (of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble)
The Slide Brothers
Mato Nanji (of Indigenous)

with more to be announced!
Tickets: Reserved Seating: $79.50; $59.50; $39.50; $29.50

Website :http://www.experiencehendrixtour.com

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Gemini One Films in association with Private Side Media

presents WE REMEMBER RAINES , a documentary about the history and legacy of William M Raines High School, Jacksonville, FL

Film Screening: We Remember Raines February 22, 2012 7:00p

University of North Florida Andrew Robinson Theater Jacksonville, FL Parking $3

RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/events/323152844396195/

Exclusive Premiere: WE Remember Raines February 25, 2012 8:00p

William M Raines Auditorium Jacksonville, FL

http://www.facebook.com/events/324810967557072/

Director: Emanuel Washington
… Executive Director: Andrew Wright
Narrators: Ben Frazier and GeneDotCom
Photography: Tamica Jackson and Donnell Bennett
Assistant Director/Producer: Diallo Sekou
Film Editor: Maxie Coleman
Music Director: Tony White
Theme Song: Tru.Ski The Transmitter
Graphic Design: E. Street Paperie

For more information contact ewashington@nokturnalescape.com or call (904) 465-6891

sponsored by
Nokturnal Escape Entertainment, LLC http://www.nokturnalescape.com/
Eartha MM White Legacy Fund http://www.jaxcf.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=530
Jacksonville Free Press http://jacksonvillefreepress.com/
“Still Raines”
William M Raines High School National Alumni Association
Blinkvirtualbuzz.com http://blinkvirtualbuzz.com/

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Thanks to Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Black History Month has been celebrated in the month of February for more 36 years. Woodson, born to parents who were former slaves, worked in the Kentucky coal mines as a child and enrolled in high school at age 20.

He graduated within two years and later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. As a student, he was disturbed to find that history books largely ignored the African American population. So Woodson decided to take on the challenge of ensuring African Americans were accurately included in the nation’s history.

He established the “Association for the Study of Negro Life and History” in 1915; later re-named the “Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.” In 1916, Woodson founded the widely respected “Journal of Negro History.” In 1926, he launched Negro History Week.

Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it corresponded to the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two men who greatly impacted the Black American population. In 1976, the Association succeeded in expanding the observance, which then became Black History Month.

BCN – Mobile Global Media

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As America celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s birthday this week and is getting ready to celebrate Black History Month in February, I have reflected on the state of liberalism and its impact on the Black community and have concluded that I am very confused!

What am I confused about? Before Obama’s election as president, no one thought we would ever see a Black person elected president because of racism.

Since Obama has been elected president, can one reasonably postulate that racism has become less of an issue? If the answer is no, then how do you explain Obama’s election? Remember, conventional wisdom was that America was too racist and would never elect a Black president (and remember, whites are still a majority of the electorate, so therefore, there were a lot of whites who voted for Obama).

If the answer is yes, then why do liberals constantly blame the plight of Blacks on racism? You can’t have it both ways.

So, whites are too racist to care about the plight of Blacks, but no longer too racist to vote for a Black candidate for president?

Is it white America’s fault that they helped elect a Black president that took almost two years before he met with the Congressional Black Caucus (despite meeting with gay and Hispanic groups sooner and more frequently); is it white America’s fault that they helped elect a Black president who told the CBC last September to “stop complaining” [about him not doing anything for the Black community]; is it white America’s fault that they helped elect a Black president who has fewer Blacks in his administration than George W. Bush?

Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver (from Kansas City, MO and Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus) famously said last year, “if Obama was white, we would be marching on the White House.” Cleaver was making reference to Obama not paying attention to the Black community.

Here you have the first Black president of the U.S. who is doing everything in his power to ignore the very community that gave him 96% of their vote. And people like Cleaver are giving Obama a pass simply because he Black?

Why was there no outcry from the NAACP, the Urban League, Al Sharpton, or Jesse Jackson about Cleaver’s racist comment? So, it’s racist when a white person in power ignores the Black community, but it’s ok if a Black person in power does the same thing?

King fought and died for the principles he believed in. King constantly criticized both Kennedy brothers over civil rights; he constantly criticized Johnson over Vietnam. I can’t imagine King giving Obama a pass simply because he was Black. His moral compass would not have allowed him to remain silent.

Cleaver, and those who think like him, does a great disservice to everything that King stood for.

There are more Black elected officials than ever before, but the pathologies in our community are getting worse (unemployment, crime, teenage pregnancy, etc.).

Who is to blame for this? White folks? Devall Patrick, the Black governor of Massachusetts, has not improved the plight of Blacks in his state. David Dinkins (New York), Tom Bradley (Los Angeles), Coleman Young (Detroit), all former mayors, never improved the plight of Blacks in their cities with their liberal policies. Was that because of racism also?The two exceptions to this were former mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson and former mayor of Washington, DC, Marion Barry. Why were they so different than the other Black mayors?

They focused on increasing Black entrepreneurship by increasing more opportunities for private sector and government contracting. These two mayors created many Black millionaires, who created jobs, and hired people who paid taxes and helped to create stable communities.

So, on the one hand, Blacks said America would never elect a Black because of racism. Blacks then turn around and say Obama can’t do anything to specifically address the needs in the Black community because of racism (meaning white racist will accuse Obama of being partial to Blacks).

I am confused!

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com), Freedom’s Journal Magazine (www.freedomsjournal.net), and U.S. Africa Magazine (www.usafricaonline.com).

P.S. – Because of the many emails I get asking me to write more about issues relating to Africa, I have an announcement. I will continue to write my weekly Thursday columns as normal. But, I now will also write a column focusing on Africa every other Tuesday beginning next week. If you have a particular country or issue you want me to consider, please let me know and I will consider all requests.

BCN – Mobile Global Media

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Coming up Spring 2012, stay tune for tickets to the show that will have you laughing so hard your hair might fall out!

The Royal Comedy Show is kicking off Live in Blacksonville, the funniest comedy show of the Year!

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