By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Black Santa has always been a hotly debated holiday figure in the American consciousness. Many of his critics often forget, or maybe never learned, that the image of Black Santa was originally meant to mock the Black community until he was reclaimed as an inspirational figure. In the 1950s and 60s, the image of Black Santa evolved to become a civil rights figure. Today Black Santa continues to inspire hope, joy, merriment, and anger in the hearts of many, though the image of Santa himself was originally brought to America to help businesses pursue…
Author: Logan Langlois
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — The first African American woman ever elected to the United States Congress in 1968, the first woman and African American to seek presidential nomination from a major American political party in 1972, and co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971, Shirley Chisholm’s birthday yesterday is most certainly one of importance. On November 30, 1924, Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York, as the oldest of four daughters to her mother Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from Barbados, and father Charles Christopher St. Hill, a factory worker from Guyana. She received her…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — One famous dish during Thanksgiving, macaroni and cheese, is an often-forgotten contribution of Black Americans. It was James Hemings who would bring the dish to America from Paris in the 18th century while enslaved by the 3rd president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. During his enslavement, Heming would be sent to France and bring back with him a phenomenon. According to the historic house’s website, Heming would be brought to Monticello as a part of the Wayles estate, which came into Jefferson’s possession as a portion of his wife’s inheritance while Heming was…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — As Americans continue the tradition of celebrating bountiful harvest and family on the Thanksgiving Holiday, many share foods popularized by African Americans without even realizing it. One such food, now identified as a soul food staple, is the ever-better-served with bacon dish, collard greens. The oldest leafy green in the cabbage family, collard greens originated near Greece and came to America in the early 1600s when the first Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. According to the LATIBAH Collard Green Museum in Charlotte, N.C, “collard greens were just one of a few select vegetables that…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Once the cultural mecca of Black Nashville, Jefferson Street: from humble beginnings to put Music City on the international map. The land of North Nashville was platted three years before the Civil War began in 1858 and would host several camps that held “contraband,” the label of enslaved peoples in Union-occupied Confederate territory. Camps would be located around Fort Gillam at both Jefferson Street and Salem Street, formerly 18th Street. Following the end of the Civil War, Nashville’s Black population gradually migrated from an area previously known as Black Bottom near Capitol Hill to…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — One day, unaware of the history that was about to unfold in front of her, Black Nashvillian Lena Brown Prince received a call from the Daughters of the Confederate Army. They were contacting her as a part of their search for the families of 18 enslaved people who served in the Confederate Army and were asking her if she would like to come to a ceremony to honor the unveiling of a marker that would include her grandfather Tom Brown. “My older brothers used to ask daddy if he was in the war,” Lena…
By Logan Langlois Fall is the perfect time to stay inside, stay warm, and cozy up with a book. Luckily for us, November brings many new releases from fantastic Black authors. One of the most anticipated reads of this November has got to be To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul by Tracy K. Smith. Smith is mostly known for her poetry collections, even winning a Pulitzer Prize for Life on Mars. To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul branches out from her previous works as a collection of essays. In this collection, she…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — A crowd of excited guests took their seats Thursday, facing seven chairs set up spread out on top of a slightly elevated stage and a podium standing stage left inside the Dr. Wayne Riley Auditorium of Meharry Medical College. The crowd chatter dissipated as opening remarks began with Executive Director Rashawn Ray Ph.D., followed by District 21 Council Member Brandon Taylor, welcoming the guests, and summarizing some of the topics of the night’s discussion. Introductory remarks concluded with a presentation from AIR Pipeline Partnership Program Intern Virginia Sparks, who gave a detailed presentation regarding…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — This week marks the 57th anniversary of the Black Panther Party (BPP) a group that worked to ensure the equal rights of Black men and women while actively fighting against police brutality. Founded on October 15, 1966, in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the group originally named the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was heavily inspired by the speeches of the late Malcolm X and the grotesque living conditions for Black Americans in their home city. The pair were also inspired by the Nation of Islam, as well as literature…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — “I’ve loved the beauty industry, I’ve always wanted to be a part of the beauty industry, but I didn’t feel like they love me back,” said Christina Abiola, a popular makeup influencer and reviewer on the social media app TikTok. This has been the overall sentiment of the Black makeup community following the release of popular makeup brand Youthforia’s release of the highly-anticipate recent beauty line Date Night Skin Tint Serum Foundation. At the reveal of the foundation’s shade range, only 15 shades were made publicly available, and of those only three were found…