on February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Joint Resolution of Congress passing the Thirteenth Amendment and sending it off to the states for ratification. The amendment provided that “[n]either slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” It gave Congress power to enforce that amendment. This was the first amendment that gave power to the federal government rather than taking it away.
When the measure had passed the House the day before, the lawmakers and spectators had gone wild. “The members on the floor huzzaed in chorus with deafening and equally emphatic cheers of the throng in the galleries,” the New York Times reported. “The ladies in the dense assemblage waved their handkerchiefs, and again and again the applause was repeated, intermingled with clapping of hands and exclamations of ‘Hurrah for freedom,’ ‘Glory enough for one day,’ &c. The audience were wildly excited, and the friends of the measure were jubilant.” Indiana congressman George Julian later recalled, “It seemed to me I had been born into a new life, and that the world was overflowing with beauty and joy, while I was inexpressibly thankful for the privilege of recording my name on so glorious a page of the nation’s history.”
But the hopes of that moment had crumbled within a decade. Almost a century later, students from Bennett College, a women’s college in Greensboro, North Carolina, set out to bring them back to life. They organized to protest the F.W. Woolworth Company’s willingness to sell products to Black people but refusal to serve them food. On February 1, 1960, their male colleagues from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University sat down on stools at Woolworth’s department store lunch counter in Greensboro. David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell A. Blair Jr., and Joseph McNeil were first-year student
s who wanted to find a way to combat the segregation under which Black Americans had lived since the 1880s.
So the men forced the issue by sitting down and ordering coffee and doughnuts. They sat quietly as the white waitress refused to serve them and the store manager ignored them. They came back the next day with a larger group. This time, television cameras covered the story. By February 3 there were 60 men and women sitting. By February 5 there were 50 white male counterprotesters.
By March the sit-in movement had spread across the South, to bus routes, museums, art galleries, and swimming pools. In July, after profits had dropped dramatically, the store manager of the Greensboro Woolworth’s asked four Black employees to put on street clothes and order food at the counter. They did, and they were served. Desegregation in public spaces had begun.
In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized February 1 as the first day of Black History Month, asking the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
On February 1, 2023, Tyre Nichols’s family laid their 29-year-old son to rest in Memphis, Tennessee. He was so severely beaten by police officers on January 7, allegedly for a traffic violation, that he died three days later.
In 2025 the U.S. government under President Donald Trump has revoked a 60-year-old executive order that protected equal opportunity in employment and has called for an end to all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. This February 1, neither the Pentagon nor the State Department will recognize Black History Month.
Mine eyes have seen the glory. – HEATHER COX RICHARDSON January 31st 2025
I finally saw the movie ‘The Butler’ (2013) starring Forest Whitaker a few nights ago and it was absolutely marvellous.
Based on the real life story of Eugene Allen, born into a world of slavery before becoming a servant in the White House and witnesses the coming and going of 8 Presidents.
His witnessing of the Civil Rights Movement in the 60’s is a particularly powerful episode in the movie.
The so-called ‘president’ of the U.S today isn’t worthy enough to lick Eugene’s shoes.
Get one thing straight, lefties. You did this to yourselves, your hatred, your insults, your attacks on those who don’t think as you America rejected you, not your agenda, not your policies, not your causes, but you your actions dragged those down with you.
braindead Premium Member about 8 hours ago
Meanwhile, Stantis dumps (dumps, as in number 2) a cartoon showing rescue workers searching for The Blame.
Does Stantis really not know who is rushing to the microphone to assign blame and who he is assigning that blame to?
.
Or is Stantis deathly afraid to criticize Trump?
And wants to make clear he is Obeying In Advance?
Walter Kocker about 8 hours ago
on February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Joint Resolution of Congress passing the Thirteenth Amendment and sending it off to the states for ratification. The amendment provided that “[n]either slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” It gave Congress power to enforce that amendment. This was the first amendment that gave power to the federal government rather than taking it away.
When the measure had passed the House the day before, the lawmakers and spectators had gone wild. “The members on the floor huzzaed in chorus with deafening and equally emphatic cheers of the throng in the galleries,” the New York Times reported. “The ladies in the dense assemblage waved their handkerchiefs, and again and again the applause was repeated, intermingled with clapping of hands and exclamations of ‘Hurrah for freedom,’ ‘Glory enough for one day,’ &c. The audience were wildly excited, and the friends of the measure were jubilant.” Indiana congressman George Julian later recalled, “It seemed to me I had been born into a new life, and that the world was overflowing with beauty and joy, while I was inexpressibly thankful for the privilege of recording my name on so glorious a page of the nation’s history.”
But the hopes of that moment had crumbled within a decade. Almost a century later, students from Bennett College, a women’s college in Greensboro, North Carolina, set out to bring them back to life. They organized to protest the F.W. Woolworth Company’s willingness to sell products to Black people but refusal to serve them food. On February 1, 1960, their male colleagues from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University sat down on stools at Woolworth’s department store lunch counter in Greensboro. David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell A. Blair Jr., and Joseph McNeil were first-year student
Walter Kocker about 8 hours ago
s who wanted to find a way to combat the segregation under which Black Americans had lived since the 1880s.
So the men forced the issue by sitting down and ordering coffee and doughnuts. They sat quietly as the white waitress refused to serve them and the store manager ignored them. They came back the next day with a larger group. This time, television cameras covered the story. By February 3 there were 60 men and women sitting. By February 5 there were 50 white male counterprotesters.
By March the sit-in movement had spread across the South, to bus routes, museums, art galleries, and swimming pools. In July, after profits had dropped dramatically, the store manager of the Greensboro Woolworth’s asked four Black employees to put on street clothes and order food at the counter. They did, and they were served. Desegregation in public spaces had begun.
In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized February 1 as the first day of Black History Month, asking the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
On February 1, 2023, Tyre Nichols’s family laid their 29-year-old son to rest in Memphis, Tennessee. He was so severely beaten by police officers on January 7, allegedly for a traffic violation, that he died three days later.
In 2025 the U.S. government under President Donald Trump has revoked a 60-year-old executive order that protected equal opportunity in employment and has called for an end to all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. This February 1, neither the Pentagon nor the State Department will recognize Black History Month.
Mine eyes have seen the glory. – HEATHER COX RICHARDSON January 31st 2025
RobinHood about 7 hours ago
Valparaíso
No 6 about 6 hours ago
Eugene Allen also aspired.
I finally saw the movie ‘The Butler’ (2013) starring Forest Whitaker a few nights ago and it was absolutely marvellous.
Based on the real life story of Eugene Allen, born into a world of slavery before becoming a servant in the White House and witnesses the coming and going of 8 Presidents.
His witnessing of the Civil Rights Movement in the 60’s is a particularly powerful episode in the movie.
The so-called ‘president’ of the U.S today isn’t worthy enough to lick Eugene’s shoes.
RobinHood about 5 hours ago
Get one thing straight, lefties. You did this to yourselves, your hatred, your insults, your attacks on those who don’t think as you America rejected you, not your agenda, not your policies, not your causes, but you your actions dragged those down with you.
RobinHood about 5 hours ago
His wings didn’t even melt.
Slowly, he turned... about 2 hours ago
Cleanup on aisle 7… and 8…. and…
ctolson about 1 hour ago
There was a doctor and nurse on the med-flight that crashed in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, no survivors there either.