Hello, Black History Month!

Just look at how this teacher reimagined her classroom door in celebration of Black History Month! ❤️🙏🏿 https://t.co/zBLZozo4zz

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Kyra's Shea Medleys Hair & Skincare (@KyraSheaMedleys) January 30, 2019

On this eve of #BlackHistoryMonth, I am beyond grateful to have been born black, raised by black people, and consis… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) February 01, 2019

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Today’s Google doodle in honour of the great Sojourner Truth. Born Isabella Baumfree in 1797, she was an African-Am… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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Ebyan (@EbyanEgal) February 01, 2019

...at the Ohio women’s convention, her speech highlighted how both the black movement and women’s suffragette were… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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Ebyan (@EbyanEgal) February 01, 2019

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In my first piece for @nytimes, I write about legendary black fashion designer Zelda Wynn Valdes, who designed your… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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Tanisha C. Ford (@SoulistaPhD) February 01, 2019

"I started to ask myself some important questions, like 'what do I really care about?' and 'how do I give something… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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MAKERS (@MAKERSwomen) February 01, 2019

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To fling my arms wide In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance Till the white day is done. Then rest at cool… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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Poets.org (@POETSorg) February 01, 2019

In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth, we celebrate American abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who escaped from slavery & beca… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) February 01, 2019

A Gentle Human

Remind them. https://t.co/an9VboMTCv

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Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 08, 2018

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Wild Embers by Nikita Gill

A Successful Inaugural Summit

Hello, #ObamaSummit! Thrilled to host civic leaders in Chicago from all over the world. Follow along at @ObamaFoundation.

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Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 30, 2017

Thrilled to be home with @BarackObama! Join us as we kick off the @ObamaFoundation Summit. Tune in:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) October 31, 2017

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Thanks to my friend Prince Harry for joining me in my hometown to surprise these outstanding students! #ReachHigher… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) October 31, 2017

Watch: @ChancetheRapper has a special announcement about the first-ever #ObamaSummit. obama.org/summit/#event https://t.co/EaJ5XxJUoJ

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The Obama Foundation (@ObamaFoundation) October 13, 2017

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Prince Harry and @michelleobama made a surprise visit to students at Hyde Park Academy in Chicago. https://t.co/dMAuIzSYsZ

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Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2017

@MichelleObama The high school is across from the future site of the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side of… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2017

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@MichelleObama The warm and wide-ranging conversation, lasting over an hour, covered how the Center will showcase t… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2017

@MichelleObama They spoke about the importance of young people staying inspired and the power of students using the… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2017

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Prince Harry built a strong working relationship with @BarackObama and @MichelleObama due to their shared interest… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2017

Both of the Obamas have been strong supporters of @WeAreInvictus and @BarackObama attended this year’s… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 31, 2017

POTUS 44. Hip Hop 44

Make sure to visit Google today and have fun with the amazing interactive Hip Hop doodle!

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Google: 44th Anniversary of the Birth of Hip Hop

On August 11, 1973, an 18-year-old, Jamaican-American DJ who went by the name of Kool Herc threw a back-to-school jam at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York. During his set, he decided to do something different. Instead of playing the songs in full, he played only their instrumental sections, or “breaks” – sections where he noticed the crowd went wild. During these “breaks” his friend Coke La Rock hyped up the crowd with a microphone. And with that, Hip Hop was born.

Today, we celebrate the 44th anniversary of that very moment with a first-of-its-kind Doodle featuring a custom logo graphic by famed graffiti artist Cey Adams, interactive turntables on which users can mix samples from legendary tracks, and a serving of Hip Hop history – with an emphasis on its founding pioneers. What’s more, the whole experience is narrated by Hip Hop icon Fab 5 Freddy, former host of “Yo! MTV Raps.”

More here

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The 4th

This is my form of patriotism: https://t.co/w1bRopSSPC

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Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) July 04, 2017

Before you celebrate the Fourth, I do think it is important to read Frederick Douglass' July 4th oration.… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…

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Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) July 04, 2017

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I try not to forget that we also live in a country where a black president delivered this speech across from Indepe… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…

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Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) July 04, 2017

The ghost of Frederick Douglass came down & said enjoying your ribs today isn't mutually exclusive from critiquing America. You can do both.

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Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) July 04, 2017

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It shouldn't have to be said at this point but critiquing this country doesn't prevent one frm loving it. It's how you know the love is real

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Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) July 04, 2017

Fourth of July, 2009. https://t.co/1zgK3hB1B7

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Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) July 04, 2017

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July 4 = obama and kids https://t.co/KXrh6nGwGV

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Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) July 04, 2017

July 4, 2011 🇺🇸 https://t.co/Lhwv1Z3MnS

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shauna (@goldengateblond) July 04, 2017

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President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama always had a picnic for military families every year on July 4th. https://t.co/nlH7D7Yd4F

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meta (@metaquest) July 04, 2017

Happy Independence Day! https://t.co/Swft0ooCzD

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The Obama Foundation (@ObamaFoundation) July 04, 2017

Orator In Chief

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Jacqueline OBoomer: Orator-in-Chief

He wrote what he saw “in Lincoln’s eyes”
And to some of us reading it was no surprise
That we were certainly in for a treat
When Barack H. Obama rose to his feet
Remember when we heard him speak
At that Democratic National Convention
His remarks got rave reviews in ’04
Much more than honorable mention

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And during his first presidential campaign
When we craved to hear him even more
Remember he told us that we … we …
Were the ones we’d been waiting for
When he cajoled we’re ” … a nation of immigrants …
… strangers once, too,” he stood tall
Prodding us to come together as one, for
“Embracing tribe dooms us all”
From his loftiest words heard in a consoling speech:
“Faith doesn’t mean that you don’t have doubt”

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To his hysterically funny two words to the press:
“Obama, Out!”
Sometimes he delivered oration in a hymn
Often his words caught us all on fire
This man seems to have come out of history
In colonial days, he’d have been a town crier
We love this man, his mind, voice, and tone
We see he’s armed us better than we were before
And when we wonder if we’ll be able to go it alone
We whisper we are the ones we’ve been waiting for
And isn’t that the proof of the orator he’s been
And the fact we seldom see his kind
We’re not sure which of our heartstrings he pulled
But we know he also left his words in our minds
And this year we thank him
Genuinely, without measure
For being Orator-in-Chief
And our national treasure

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‘Enough Is Enough, Through And Through’

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Jacqueline OBoomer

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The Michelle Obama Lesson Plan

She rose up and she stood up
And she said, “Listen here”
And she was our grandmothers
And mothers through the years
This was the lesson they all had tried
To teach us to take in our stride:

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To rise up and stand up
To rise up and stand up.
Treat us with dignity
We are your women and girls
Treat us as equals
We are your diamonds and pearls
Treat us with respect
We are your soulmates and loves
Treat us as partners

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When push comes to shove
Give us our due
As we return it to you
Rise up and stand up
Speak up and give a hand up ~
Enough is enough
Enough is enough, through and through

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Early Bird Chat: First Lady Michelle Obama Honors Student Poets

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First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities poetry reading to honor student poets at the White House

Rapper and Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Hip Hop Culture, Q-Tip recite a poem

Children In Search Of Refuge

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Gazelle’s thoughts on the recent events

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Gazelle

Children In Search Of Refuge

As a child, a refugee child,
My Mama taught me Caution.
Run from the marauders of the streets,
Especially those carrying guns
Beyond their natural height.
Run from machete wielding persona.
Run from The Toothless Angered,
They’re mastered by the powers du jour.
Run for dear life.
If speed is of essence,
Drop your school books upon the dusty path,
Run!
Make it home,
To your Mama’s anxious arms.
Pray you do,
And live another hour

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As a child, an American child,
The ghosts of yonder history hovered.
Waiting their turn to fully manifest,
Yet again.

My Mama taught me,
Before I was double digits,
To be cautious out there.
The marauders, the ghosts, the egregious,
The Toothless Angered
Will menace my being.
Don’t run for dear life.
Learn to stay still

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There is nowhere to run.
Nowhere to stay still,
Except in shocked death.
No school books dropped on a dusty road,
They lay stained in unrequited blood along the school hallway.
Bullet strewn sidewalks splatter my paths.
The Toothless Angered
Are again mastered,
The daily Puppets of Avarice

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Sanctuary is a scarcity in my universe
While The Toothless Angered,
With ample, unjustified impunity,
Continue to menace my being.

Pray I make it home Today, and all Tomorrows,
To my Mama’s anxious arms,
So I can hug her.
And just once, of many more, say
I love you Always

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Ieshia Evans On The Bayou

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Jacqueline OBoomer

Ieshia Evans on the Bayou

The ones who were afraid in Baton Rouge
Were the ones carrying the “red sticks”
Not the warrior queen who visited from the north
On behalf of her five-year old son
So she might invest in
His having a better life.

A better life
Than the sons of other mothers
She had gone there to mourn with
And stand proudly for.

She repelled the “red sticks”
Who were few in number
But seemed to grow into
A wall before her
As she stood her ground
Quietly in front of them.

She was a nurse who cared for others
Who said she was now “a vessel”
Doing God’s work.

The young queen arrived in regal garb
Regal in that it adorned her presence
Regal in that it could almost be said
To adorn ours.
She dressed for the moment
So that – standing in the hot sun
Of righteousness and pride –
She could feel as though
She were floating
In God’s air
In Baton Rouge.

The “red sticks” took her away
Took her away from her son
Took her away from her duties
Took her away from the cameras
And the tributes.

But the imprint she left
In the hearts and minds and souls
Of all of us
Remains
As though someone had gone out
And built a statue
Of a modern-day goddess
In every town in America.

The young queen
In the flowing garb
With diamonds in her closed eyes
With grief in her open heart
Sharing the secret:
How to be a woman
How to be a mother
How to be the vessel
How to show us the way
To Baton Rouge.

She stood silently on the gravel
She never spoke
But when we close our eyes
We can almost hear her say
“Ain’t I a woman?”
So that someday her son may say
“I am a man.”

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