Commentary: African American Scientists and Inventors
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
On December 10, 1878, 16-year-old Osbourn Dorsey invented the doorknob and doorstop forever changing the way people around the world open and closed their doors. Details of when Dorsey was born remain scanty but historians who have been researching into his early life say he may have been born around September 19, 1862. His mother was Christina Dorsey and he had two siblings — Mary and Levi. His birth was listed in the Washington DC slave emancipation records from April 1862.
Dorsey is listed in the records as “Osbourn Dorsey- son of Christina- Aged about eight months- ordinary size- dark complexion.” Records of Dorsey’s father’s early life are unknown. But what is known is that the former owner of the Dorseys, Mary Peter, asked for compensation after they were freed. Historians suggest that the Dorseys probably were the only slaves that Mary Peter had.
They were initially the property of a family with the last name Washington. Mary Peter purchased the Dorseys in April 1861, before Dorsey was born. Mary Peter demanded $1,350 in compensation for the freedom of her four slave. Details from the 1880 census indicate that when Osbourn Dorsey was 18 years old, he resided with his parents, siblings and brother-in-law, Isaac Williams. His father and brother-in-law worked as butchers. His sister, Mary was six years older than him and was described as ordinary sized while his brother Levi was four years old and described as huge in stature.
Dorsey was a self-taught inventor. He began his career as a blacksmith, but he soon turned his attention to inventing. Before Dorsey invented the door knob, people relied on some type of latch to close their doors, with others using leather straps as handles.
In 1878, he patented the doorknob and doorstop. His invention was a major improvement over the previous versions of doorknobs and doorstops, which were often made of wood or metal and were difficult to use. The patent number which was issued to Osbourn was 210, 764. He was said to be residing in Washington D.C. His innovation was described as an “extraordinary” and “useful upgrade” in door-holding devices. The description Dorsey submitted to the patent office is akin to what we now refer to as a doorknob. It had a rod which is horizontally stationed between the doorknob and doorframe.
The invention wasn’t readily embraced. Before his invention people closed and secured doors in a variety of ways. Many people used some type of latch to keep doors closed, whereas others used leather straps as handles. It took many years for people to accept fixing the knobs on their doors when they realized the knobs offered them better safety and ease when opening their doors compared to the latch or leather straps.
Dorsey’s doorknobs and doorstops were made of cast iron and were much easier to operate. Eventually Dorsey’s invention became a ubiquitous success, and he soon began to manufacture his doorknobs and doorstops on a large scale. Before Dorsey developed his revolutionary door knob and stop, secure doors were operated by levers and heavy locks. Security was a privilege of the wealthy, as they were the only ones who could afford the costly mechanisms. The invention of the doorknob revolutionized the door. The effect of this advance was a measure of affordable security that had been previously unavailable to the common people. It’s a reminder that the household items we take for granted were at one point a luxury item.
Though he successfully obtained a patent for his work, because of the time in which he lived and the fact that he was Black, very little is known about the remainder of his life.
Read more here -->
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A renegade federal appeals court — one dominated by MAGA-aligned judges who routinely read the law in ways that even the current, very conservative Supreme Court finds untenable — has spent the last half-decade harassing DeRay Mckesson, a prominent civil rights activist and an organizer within the Black Lives Matter movement
As part of this crusade, two of the Fifth Circuit’s judges effectively eliminated the First Amendment right to organize a protest in a case known as Doe v. Mckesson.
Mckesson’s case has already been up to the Supreme Court once, and the justices strongly hinted in a 2020 opinion that the Fifth Circuit’s attacks on Mckesson’s First Amendment rights should end — labeling this case “fraught with implications for First Amendment rights.” But the Fifth Circuit did not take the hint, issuing a new opinion last July reaffirming its attack on First Amendment-protected political protests.
Now the case is before the Supreme Court again, and Mckesson’s lawyers want the justices to restore the First Amendment as fast as they possibly can.
In 2016, Mckesson helped organize a protest near Baton Rouge’s police department building, following the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling in that same Louisiana city. At some point during that protest, an unknown individual threw a rock or some other hard object at a police officer, identified in court documents by the pseudonym “Officer John Doe.”
Sadly, the object hit Doe and allegedly caused “injuries to his teeth, jaw, brain, and head, along with other compensable losses.
There is no excuse for throwing a rock at another human being, and whoever did so should be held responsible for their illegal act, including serious criminal charges. But even Judge Jennifer Elrod, the author of the Fifth Circuit’s most recent opinion targeting Mckesson, admits that “it is clear that Mckesson did not throw the heavy object that injured Doe.”
Nevertheless, Doe sued Mckesson, claiming that, as the organizer of the protest where this injury occurred, Mckesson should be liable for the illegal action of an unidentified protest attendee. But that is simply not how the First Amendment works. The Supreme Court held in NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware (1982) that “civil liability may not be imposed merely because an individual belonged to a group, some members of which committed acts of violence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grammy-winning folk artist and cultural historian Dom Flemons’ collection of African-American artifacts is heading to Vanderbilt University.
According to The Nashville Tennessean, Flemons’ musical instruments, an Edison phonograph with several playable wax cylinders, historical sheet music, art pieces, memorabilia, personal gifts, autographed records, materials documenting his professional music career and research materials on Black cowboys as curated by his wife, Vania Kinard, will be housed in the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries.
“From the moment I began my journey into a career in music, I found that my trajectory led me to acquire items that would be of interest to future generations,” Flemons said in a statement. “Many of the items, which are unique in nature, will give viewers insight into my passion for music and its history.”
The university’s Academic Archive Purchasing Fund – which helps Heard Libraries keep up its expanding collection of African-American music-related books, scores, audio recordings, and tangible artifacts for lending, exhibition, and research at the museum – collaborated with the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) to acquire the Dom Flemons American Songster Collection, which will go into Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives.
Country music publisher and songwriter Alice Randall, writer-in-residence in Vanderbilt’s Department of African American and Diaspora Studies, hailed Flemons’ music and research as helping Black communities reclaim a significant part of their heritage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tessa Tookes had already gone wedding dress shopping once, but nothing compared to a gown she found while scrolling through Instagram. When the 28-year-old NYC-based model discovered a boutique that carried the dress, she traveled to Ontario, Canada, to try it on.
“It really felt like that ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ moment that I was looking for,” said Tookes, who met her fiancé, Joey Kirchner, on season two of "Bachelor in Paradise Canada," which premiered in 2023. “But then the conversation took a turn.”
As Tookes stood on the pedestal in her dream dress, the boutique employees grabbed two brown-colored breast cups. The cups already built into the dress were beige, or “nude” — and free — but if she wanted the undergarments of the dress to match her skin color, she’d have to pay an extra $200.
The experience immediately took Tookes back to her highschool dance performances, she said, when she had to “pancake” her pink ballet shoes with foundation and dye her “nude” tights with tea bags to match her skin.
“I just received the information in silence and defaulted to being uncomfortable,” Tookes, who was the only person of color in the store at the time, told USA TODAY. “I was not acutely aware of my blackness until [that moment.] It was incredibly isolating, and I felt very othered.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the summer of 2022, the US was confronted with the last thing it needed after two years of Covid-19: another public health emergency. For the first time ever, mpox, then commonly called monkeypox, was spreading widely in developed countries.
At the height of that outbreak, the US was reporting nearly 500 new daily cases of the virus, which can cause severely painful rashes and, in a small percentage of cases, death. But developed nations quickly stamped out the outbreak with effective testing and vaccines. In May 2023, the World Health Organization declared the global mpox emergency over.
But around the same time, the first known sexual transmission of a deadlier version of mpox was beginning in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the virus circulates regularly but usually through less transmissible means, such as animal bites or eating contaminated food.
Over the last year, the DRC, a country of more than 110 million people in central Africa, registered more than 12,500 suspected mpox cases and 581 suspected mpox deaths — both all-time highs. The culprit was mpox clade I, which has a higher fatality rate than the clade IIb that circulated in the US and other places around the world in 2022. Before April 2023, sexual transmission of clade I had never been documented; now, mpox has been detected in parts of the DRC where it has never been seen before. The World Health Organization is warning again about the possibility of worldwide spread.
An existing mpox vaccine, which is widely available in the US, could stop transmission of this strain — but it is nowhere to be found in the DRC. Bavarian Nordic, the manufacturer, has blamed bureaucratic hurdles for the failure to provide doses to the DRC and other African nations. The vaccine has not technically been approved by local regulators, and the company says it wants assurances about liability before selling or donating vaccines there.
This experience echoes, on a smaller scale, what African nations endured during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, as Covid vaccines were being widely distributed in wealthier nations, African countries were largely left behind. By April 2022, more than half of the world’s population had been fully vaccinated, while only about 15 percent of Africans were. With no Covid vaccine manufacturing capability of its own, the continent was dependent on importing vaccines from wealthier nations that hoarded doses for their own citizens. Covax, an international campaign to bring vaccines to lower-income countries, has been held back by a lack of funding and other logistical challenges.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From a beautiful, pink sandy beach in the Caribbean, environmentalist John Mussington points to private resorts at either end of Barbuda’s southern coast. It’s known as the Barbuda Ocean Club, and they’re building hundreds of multimillion-dollar residences and a golf course.
“Luxury properties are built, golf courses are going to be built,” he said. “Sale of these luxury properties and [putting] them behind fence for persons living a private lifestyle will mean large areas of resources we depend on for livelihoods will no longer be available to us.”
Mussington is worried about the environmental impact, as the larger of the two resorts is within an area declared by the intergovernmental Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international significance.
The developments are sparking divides on the island: Some see the new resorts as threats to the local culture and ways of life, while others see them bringing much needed jobs to the region.
The developers leading the project, the American firms PLH Barbuda Limited and the Discovery Land Company, declined our request for an interview. But in a statement, they said that the project was approved in a transparent and inclusive process, that they’re doing a lot of environmental work — including restoring wetlands — and that they’ve created hundreds of jobs for Barbudans.
Mussington, however, has taken the government to court over another aspect of the project: the construction of an airport in the middle of the island, which he says is in an environmentally sensitive area.
“No proper environmental impact assessment was done. When an impact assessment turned up, the review by the Department of Environment said it was totally inadequate,” he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
East African leaders have asked Sudan’s warring generals to immediately cease fighting and meet face-to-face within 14 days. They also demanded that Ethiopia withdraw from its port access deal with Somaliland and seek consent from Somalia.
The heads of state of the eight-nation trade bloc known as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) met Thursday in Entebbe, Uganda, on the sidelines of the Kampala-based summits of the Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77 plus China—a gathering of developing nations.
East African officials agreed on establishing a high-level panel to work on revising an African Union-proposed road map for peace in Sudan within one month. The panel members, who were appointed by the African Union Commission chairperson, comprise the AU’s Mohamed Ibn Chambas; former Ugandan Vice President Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe; and the AU chair’s former special representative for Somalia, Francisco Madeira.
Yet it seems that neither Sudan nor Ethiopia is willing to cooperate with IGAD. Sudan even suspended its membership in the group. The junta accused the bloc of “violating” the country’s sovereignty and refused to attend the meeting after IGAD invited the leader of the army’s rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is widely known as Hemeti.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Dr. Uché Blackstock and her twin sister graduated from Harvard Medical School in 2005, they became the school’s first Black mother-daughter legacies. Their mother had received her medical degree three decades before and had an enormous influence over Blackstock’s career ambitions.
“She was a leader of a black woman physician group in Brooklyn. And so for many years, I thought that most physicians were Black women,” Blackstock said in an interview with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal. “Until I got to college and medical school, and I realized that we actually are only about less than 3% of all physicians.”
In her book “Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism in Medicine,” Blackstock looks at the historical and systemic reasons there are so few Black physicians. She also traces her own family’s multigenerational experience in the field. The following is an excerpt from the book looking at the influence her mother, Dr. Dale Blackstock, had on her career.
From an early age, my twin sister, Oni, and I loved to play with our mother’s doctor’s bag. It was an old-school, heavy black leather bag, worn and cracked around the edges, that snapped open from the top to reveal the medical instruments inside. Her full name was written in faded golden uppercase letters across one side of the bag, followed by “M.D.” The bag lived in her bedroom, under her bureau. As children, we were always getting into her business, whether it was looking through old papers and photographs in the small file cabinet in her room or pulling out shoes and scarves from her closet. We knew that the medical bag was important to her, so that made it important to us.
Whenever we could, we snuck up into her room, emptying out the contents of the bag on the floor: her stethoscope, with its long rubber tubing, the little hammer to test reflexes, the otoscope for ear exams, the ophthalmoscope for looking at the eyes. Then we’d sit and play doctor together. I’d listen to the thump, thump, thump of my sister’s heart with the stethoscope in my ears or I’d hop up onto the bed so Oni could hit just under my knee with the reflex hammer, making my leg flip up quickly. If our mother came in and found us mid-game, she would smile warmly. She was a petite woman who wore her hair natural and in a small Afro.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.