BHM

7 posts

Black History Month: Irene Morgan Kirkaldy

In 1944, alone and recovering from a miscarriage, Irene Morgan boarded a Greyhound bus in Gloucester, VA. She found a seat in the black section of the bus and settled in for the long drive home to Baltimore.

The packed bus stopped in Middlesex County, VA, where a white couple boarded. The driver confronted Morgan and demanded that she vacate her seat. Morgan refused. The bus driver drove to the local sheriff’s station and the sheriff boarded the bus with a warrant for Morgan’s arrest. Morgan tore up the warrant and when the sheriff went to grab her she kicked him and fought every step of the way.

“He put his hand on me to arrest me, so I took my foot and kicked him,” she recalled in You Don’t Have to Ride Jim Crow!, a 1995 public television documentary. “He was blue and purple and turned all colors. I started to bite him, but he looked dirty, so I couldn’t bite him. So all I could do was claw and tear his clothes.” Continue reading →

Black History Month, Athlete Week: Flying v. Walking

Twentieth century sports history is peppered with, “the first black person to…” stories. From Satchel Paige, to Frederick Douglas “Fritz” Polllard, to Jack Johnson, and of course all of the ladies mentioned this week. If you venture beyond black history, you’ll find dozens of more firsts and more waiting to happen.

These stories are heartwarming. They give hope to the kids training and dreaming on run down equipment. They are a source of optimism for the adults who continue to fight their own daily struggles. But these stories should also inspire reflection. Continue reading →

Black History Month, Athlete Week: Debi Thomas


The 1980s was a huge decade for black women. Angela Davis made her first Vice Presidential run in 1980. In 1982, Alice Walker was the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple. Toni Morrison doubled down on the ass kicking when she won the Nobel Prize for literature later that year. On the opposite, but no less notable end of the achievement spectrum, Vanessa Williams was the first black woman to win the Miss America pageant, in 1984, and the first black woman to turn a public nudity and over-blown, puritanical rage incident into a hit record and successful acting career. Ah! The infancy of equality!

Returning to sports, one of the most notable people of this decade was groundbreaking, world champion, figure skater Debi Thomas. Continue reading →