In the Library: Things Fall Apart: by Chinua Achebe ~ born 11/16

03/22/2025 Nativegrl77

Author Chinua Achebe died at 82 on March 22, 2013

Things Fall Apart tells two intertwining stories about Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first, a powerful fable of the immemorial conflict between the individual and society, traces Okonkwo’s fall from grace with the tribal world. The second, as modern as the first is ancient, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo’s world with the arrival of aggressive European missionaries. These perfectly harmonized twin dramas are informed by an awareness capable of encompassing nature’s life, human history, and the mysterious compulsions of the soul.

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My first exposure to the author, Chinua Achebe, was during my first-year lit class in college. Unfortunately, there were far and few books from authors like Chinua available at my high school. I thank the Ethnic Studies Prof for the experience and will always think of Chinua Achebe, as a pioneering African writer, government critic, and advocate for African storytelling. His books, are filled with great imagery of a place I know is a part of my ancestry but will never visit … I may not agree with or like some of the practices of some sub-cultures, but this book gives the reader a better understanding of traditions, trials, and tribulations of the times

~ Nativegrl77

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Helen Keller – Women’s History Month

03/22/2025 Nativegrl77

(American Author and First Deaf-Blind Person to Earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree)

Birthdate: June 27, 1880

Birthplace: Tuscumbia, Alabama, United States

Died: June 1, 1968

A prolific author, having written 12 published books and several articles, Helen Keller was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Her autobiography, The Story of My Life, made Keller famous and was adapted for film and stage. She was also an activist and campaigned for women’s suffrage, labour rights, socialism and other such causes.

Source: thefamouspeople.com

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Selma ~ In Memory of ~

03/21/2025 Nativegrl77

This month marks the 1965 marches in Selma, Alabama — a moment in American history that is layered with bravery, fear, hope, hatred, violence, perseverance, and triumph.

In many ways, Selma is the quintessential American story of people banding together against all odds to stand up for the promise of freedom and fairness. It is a story that deserves to be told, explored and understood by every American in this country.
Whether we realize it or not, every one of us was touched by this courageous moment that is often considered the emotional and political peak of the Civil Rights Movement.

It is because of events like the Selma marches … and the entire Civil Rights Movement … that makes the completing of the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall so important.

The construction of the Museum is more than halfway complete. But to ensure we can open the Museum’s doors in early fall of next year as scheduled requires additional support from those of us who understand the importance of building this place of remembrance, celebration and reconciliation. Please help keep us on track with a donation of $ 25 or more today.

When I think of African American history, I often think of Selma, Alabama and the Civil Rights crusaders who made the historic marches and all of the African-American heroes, famous and not famous, and the white supporters who came together to push freedom forward.

I’m thinking of people like Amelia Boynton who was beaten, tear-gassed, and left for dead during the Bloody Sunday March. Ms. Boynton lived to tell her story and she is now 103 years old. But it is up to people like you and me to build our Museum to make sure her brave story lives on forever.

That is why the Museum embarked on the very important task of interviewing people who were foot soldiers in the Civil Rights Movement, to give them the chance to tell their stories and have them preserved and shared in ways that resonate with people from all backgrounds.

So as we spend this month commemorating the heroes who courageously marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, please take your celebration one step further by making a special contribution of $ 25 or more to the Museum that will forever share this important history with the world.

On behalf of the entire Museum, thank you again for your leadership and support.
All the best,

Lonnie G. Bunch
Founding Director

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1985 – Police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings. At least 21 demonstrators were killed.

03/20/2025 Nativegrl77

Democracy 30 | The Sharpeville 6 sentenced to death in 1985

In the Black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed Black South African demonstrators, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in a hail of submachine-gun fire. The demonstrators were protesting against the South African government’s restriction of nonwhite travel. In the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, protests broke out in Cape Town, and more than 10,000 people were arrested before government troops restored order.

The incident convinced anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela to abandon his nonviolent stance and organize paramilitary groups to fight South Africa’s system of institutionalized racial discrimination. In 1964, after some minor military action, Mandela was convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life in prison. He was released after 27 years and in 1994 was elected the first Black president of South Africa.

Source: history.com

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JANE BOLIN (1908-2007)

03/20/2025 Nativegrl77

Women’s History Month

Judge Jane Bolin, 1942 Courtesy US Library of Congress (LC-USF344- 007933-ZB)

Jane Bolin was the first Black woman graduate of Yale Law School and the first Black female judge in the United States. Bolin was born in Poughkeepsie, New York on April 11, 1908. From her earliest days in her father’s law office, Bolin knew she wanted to be an attorney. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1928 and earned her law degree from Yale Law School in 1931.

Bolin clerked in her father’s law office until she passed the New York bar exam in 1932. She married fellow attorney Ralph E. Mizelle a year later, and together they opened up a practice in New York City. In 1937, Bolin was named Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, serving on the Domestic Relation Court. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia appointed Jane Bolin Judge of the Domestic Relations Court in 1939, where she served for 40 years. During her tenure with two other judges she achieved two major changes: the assignment of probation officers to cases without regard for race or religion, and a requirement that publicly funded private child-care agencies accept children without regard to ethnic background.

Source: blackpast.org