Tag: HIST 210

By Julia O’Rourke

“Angela Davis must go free,” Franklin said. “Black people will be free. I’ve been locked up (for disturbing the peace in Detroit) and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace. Jail is hell to be in. I’m going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because I believe in communism, but because she’s a Black woman and she wants freedom for Black people. I have the money; I got it from Black people — they’ve made me financially able to have it — and I want to use it in ways that will help our people.”

Aretha Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Growing up in a Baptist Church in Detroit Michigan wasn’t easy. Her dad was a minister at their church. Even though he was a minister he didn’t treat her mother very kindly. At the age of 18, she started her music career with Columbia Records. With her father as a civil rights activist and her music career growing fast, she used her fame and knowledge to also speak about racial equality. Franklin’s hit song “Respect” was used as an anthem for racial and gendered political movements. Using her talents to advocate equality was something she was amazing at. In 1968, Aretha Franklin sang “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” at Martin Luther King Jr’s funeral. Just like King, she was an inspiration to many.

Being a black woman in the 50’s and 60’s wasn’t any easy thing. Aretha Franklin broke boundaries and created an inspiring life for others to look up to. I believe Aretha Franklin is an important person to acknowledge during Black History Month because of her amazing spirit and inspiring goals. It’s important to have an African American women in the 50’s as a role model. She overcame discrimination from her skin color and her gender. She used her talents to make change in the world.

A strong example of Franklins commitment to the civil rights movement was when she offered to post bail for Angela Davis. Angela Davis was a revolutionary activist and scholar who was accused of assisting in a courtroom takeover which ended in four deaths. “Angela Davis must go free,” Franklin said. “Black people will be free. I’ve been locked up (for disturbing the peace in Detroit) and I know you got to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace. Jail is hell to be in. I’m going to see her free if there is any justice in our courts, not because I believe in communism, but because she’s a Black woman and she wants freedom for Black people. I have the money; I got it from Black people — they’ve made me financially able to have it — and I want to use it in ways that will help our people.”

Her selfless acts to the movement shows how serious she took equality. Aretha Franklin wasn’t just a woman with a good voice. She had things to say and wanted to help. I believe she is a very important person to learn about during Black History Month.

The first African American to work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States.

May 7, 1845-January 4, 1926

by Avyana “Ivy” Williams

Mary Eliza Mahoney was an African American born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 7th, 1845. Mahoney was the first African American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States. Graduating in 1879, she was also the first African American to graduate from a nursing school. When Mary was a teen, she already wanted to become a nurse. So, Mahoney began to work at the New England Hospital for Women and Children, but she was a janitor, dishwasher, and a cook; before ever reaching a nurse.

Mahoney got accepted to the New England Hospital for Women and Children nursing school at the age of thirty-three. The program was sixteen intense months with first-hand experience. Of the forty-two students of the program, only four completed, one being Mahoney meaning she was the first African American to earn a professional license.

Reflection

On Mary Eliza Mahoney’s legacy:

I believe Mary Eliza Mahoney was important because she followed her dream no matter what. Mary never gave up because of how hard life was and that really inspires me to keep pushing, no matter how hard life gets. I feel like she relates to Black History Month because it’s a month where significant blacks get recognized and credit for what they did in society. Mary should be in it because many people don’t know her full story and how she became a nurse. She and many other African Americans should be recognized for their hardship in life and to promote a positive outlook for other African Americans to follow their dreams.

Editor’s note –

by Denise Holladay Damico

Mary Eliza Mahoney was commemorated with an award named after her by the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses in 1936; this award is still given today by the American Nurses Association. In 1973, Helen S. Miller, winner of the 1968 Mahoney Award, led a fundraising drive to erect a monument at Mahoney’s gravesite. The drive was supported by the American Nurses Association and Chi Eta Phi, the national sorority for professional and student nurses. To learn more, visit https://www.aahn.org/mahoney.

Sources:

• Mary Eliza Mahoney.” MARY MAHONEY, FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN NURSE, Nursing Theory, nursing-theory.org/famous-nurses/Mary-Mahoney.php. Date accessed January 26, 2020.
• “Mary Mahoney.” Mary Mahoney Biography, A&E Networks Television, 9 July 2019, www.biography.com/activist/mary-mahoney. Date accessed January 26, 2020
• Spring, Kelly. “Mary Eliza Mahoney.” National Women’s History Museum. National Women’s History Museum, 2017. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mahoney Date accessed January 26, 2020.