Black History Sheroes
Commentary from Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
Since the most hated demographic in the U.S A. today by the powers that be, are Black women, thought I’d dedicate my Black History Month posts to some of them.
Here’s a good start:
From the US Gov. United States Courts webpages:
Autherine Lucy: Failed Integration Bid Left Lasting Legacy
It was 1952, two years before Brown v. Board of Education declared school segregation unconstitutional. Autherine Lucy had just graduated from a small liberal arts college for African Americans when a classmate made a radical suggestion: Why not enroll as graduate students at the University of Alabama?
That September, Lucy applied, beginning a six-decade journey of defiance, defeat, persistence, and eventual redemption. Today, her name is honored by a campus clock tower and a university scholarship program. While those who rejected her with racist taunts are long forgotten, Autherine Lucy continues to inspire the students who followed in her footsteps.
“Thinking about the hatred Autherine Lucy endured on my campus, in order for students who look like me to receive a quality education at a premier institution, inspires me to be the best I can be,” said Aleah Brown, a senior at the University of Alabama who last year mentored African American freshmen in a learning community called “Lucy’s Legacy.”
Lucy’s inspiring but little known story is recalled in a new feature on the African American History Month page. While her story involved the federal courts and the assistance of Thurgood Marshall, justice ultimately was won not through the law but through perseverance and the passage of time.
The university initially accepted written applications from Lucy and her friend, Pollie Anne Myers, but officials revoked that acceptance after learning the students were Black. Marshall represented Lucy and Myers in federal court, and in 1955, U.S. District Judge Harlan H. Grooms ordered the students admitted.
Don’t know how many readers check the fact of the day daily — I do.
Was glad to see these posts on Bluesky.
x
Feb. 3, 1956
Autherine J. Lucy becomes the first black student to attend the University of Alabama.
She was expelled three days later "for her own safety" in response to threats from a mob. In 1992, Autherine Lucy Foster graduated from the University with a master’s degree in education.
[image or embed]
— kmetzgiv.bsky.social (@kmetzgiv.bsky.social) February 3, 2025 at 2:35 AM
x
Autherine J. Lucy became the first black student to attend the University of Alabama but was expelled three days later "for her own safety.”
In 1992 Autherine graduated from the University with a master’s in education along with her daughter, Grazia Foster (bachelor’s degree in corporate finance)
[image or embed]
— Tae | 태 🌸 (@seoulstxrm.bsky.social) February 3, 2025 at 9:53 AM
From Black Past:
Autherine Juanita Lucy Foster (1929-2022)
Born on October 5, 1929 in Shiloh, Alabama, Autherine Lucy was one of ten children in a family of farmers. Despite this modest background, Lucy would impact history as the first African American to integrate the University of Alabama. Lucy will also be remembered as the first black student in the history of desegregation to experience the anger of an organized mob.
Autherine Lucy attended high school at Linden Academy in Shiloh, graduating in 1947. She then attended historically-black Selma University in Selma, Alabama before transferring to another black institution, Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama. In 1952, Lucy graduated from Miles College with a B.A. in English. Lucy’s next educational goal was to obtain a master’s degree in education at the University of Alabama.
Lucy’s decision to integrate the University of Alabama was met both with support and opposition from within the black community. She was praised by the Reverend Martin Luther King who declared, “Thank God, there are some people who can rise above the old and broken down thoughts of their parents, who can rise above their background and heredity.” However, Lucy’s own father, who received threats from his white neighbors, was publicly critical of her choice. “That girl’s grown, I raised her to know better. I always treated white people with respect. I always go to the back door,” he explained.
[...]
On February 6, hundreds of people descended on the university to protest Autherine Lucy’s enrollment. The mob, armed with rocks, eggs, and bricks, screamed racist epithets at Lucy and threatened her life. At one point, Lucy was hit in the back with an egg as she was ushered, under police escort, into an auditorium. Although physically separated from the mob, Lucy was still able to hear the jeers and the shouts of the crowd outside. Lucy remained in the auditorium for hours as the crowd outside taunted her. Eventually, Lucy was escorted from the building unharmed.
[...]
To honor its first black student, the University of Alabama dedicated the Autherine Lucy Clock Tower in 2010. In 2019, the university awarded her an honorary doctorate. Sixty-six years after she was expelled from the University of Alabama, a building–once named for former governor and leader of the Ku Klux Klan, David Bibb Graves–was renamed Autherine Lucy Hall on February 25, 2022. Lucy was a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
Autherine Lucy Foster passed away on March 2, 2022. She was 92 years old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerome Deangelo Richardson, a 21-year-old Temple University student and activist, was arrested by federal agents on Monday in connection to an anti-ICE protest that took place at a church in Minnesota.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Richardson’s arrest, along with Ian Davis Austin, on Monday. The Trump official wrote on X, “If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you.”
A GoFundMe page in support of Richardson says he turned himself in Monday morning in Philadelphia.
Richardson is facing the same criminal charges against independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, as well as Minneapolis activists Nekima Ivy Armstrong, Chauntyll Allen and others, who were charged with civil rights conspiracy and of interfering with First Amendment religious rights under the FACE Act.
The arrests of Lemon and Fort ignited outrage from civil rights and advocacy groups who rebuked the Trump administration for violating the journalists’ First Amendment rights as members of the constitutional free press.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from stripping temporary protected status from up to 350,000 Haitians, a status that allows them to legally live and work in the United States amid the turmoil in their homeland.
Judge Ana Reyes issued a temporary stay that prevents Kristi Noem, the US homeland security secretary, from implementing her decision to remove the status known as TPS, which was scheduled to expire on Tuesday.
Reyes notes that Noem, in announcing her decision to revoke TPS for Haitians, referred to those seeking refuge in the US as “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies”.
She then notes that the plaintiffs who asked her to block the order, five Haitian TPS holders, “are not, it emerges, ‘killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies’”.
“They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse”, the judge added.
Reyes said in an accompanying 83-page opinion that plaintiffs were likely to prevail on the merits of the case and that she found it “substantially likely” that Noem preordained her termination decision because of “hostility to nonwhite immigrants”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last night Kendrick Lamar became the most-awarded rapper in the history of the Recording Academy. Jay-Z has won 25 Grammys, but Lamar took the throne when he claimed his 27th. K-Dot doesn’t keep winning because he’s simply the best rapper; he keeps winning because he’s the best assassin.
Before 2024, we knew the Compton rapper was talented, but his albums often required a PhD in philosophy to fully grasp. He had standout songs like “Alright” and “HUMBLE.,” yet he seemed destined for academic reverence rather than mainstream domination. Yes, he won a Pulitzer and a smattering of Grammys, but he remained on the periphery of true superstardom—respected, quoted, studied, but not dominant. Then Drake poked the bear, and Kendrick revealed a version of himself that had clearly been waiting.
The back-and-forth with October’s Very Own wasn’t just a lyrical exchange; it was a surgical dismantling. Kendrick stopped crafting puzzles for critics to decode and started launching heat-seeking missiles that landed squarely on the charts. He didn’t just out-rap Drake—he weaponized his moral high ground, proving he could maintain Pulitzer-level depth while delivering joints you could dance to.
In the “Not Like Us” era, the academic traded his robe for fatigues, using his signature complexity to set a trap for his competition. By the time the world realized Kendrick was no longer just a prestige artist but a cold-blooded strategist, the throne had already been taken. Winning five Grammys for a diss track (I still can’t believe that happened) wasn’t a victory for songwriting, it was a win for psychological warfare.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After suing the NFL and three of its teams for racial discrimination in their hiring practices, Brian Flores explained why he did it in an interview with CBS Mornings exactly four years ago today, saying “we’re either going to keep it the way it is or we’re going to go in another direction and actually make some real change where we’re actually changing the hearts and minds of those who make decisions to hire head coaches, executives, etcetera.”
On Sunday, after the final two of 10 head coach openings were reportedly filled, it appears those decision-makers are fine keeping it the way it is. None of those vacancies went to Black coaches.
Flores, who alleged at the time that the New York Giants interviewed him only to satisfy the Rooney Rule, knew then what should be abundantly clear to anyone paying attention now: the Rooney Rule is not the problem... but it's also not the solution. How can it be when it's not capable of changing the minds and hearts of men?
The real problem is systemic. It's the people in positions of power, who repeatedly pass on Black candidates for their white counterparts. Which is how you get a situation where a league with a majority of Black players only has three Black coaches (DeMeco Ryans, Aaron Glenn and Todd Bowles) without a sign of things improving. In fact, they seem to be getting worse. There were seven Black coaches in 2018, the year before Flores arrived in Miami.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voices & Soul
“… You've bled me and you've starved me but I've still grown strong… “
- Naomi Long Madgett
"Midway"
by Black Kos Editor, Justice Putnam
I once complained the time it takes to blink an eye is the time it takes to roll back the clock to segregated lunch counters and strange fruit hanging from the poplar tree. Well, the time is now and there is no denying it. Slave patrols kitted out in robocop gear kick down doors with impunity and merely holding a camera phone will put you on the kill list. Neo confederate insurgents demolish edifices of democracy without a care.
But we do. We care and we’ve had enough. The Sleeping Giant has been awakened and filled with a terrible resolve. Johnny Reb knows, they all know and their actions belie it. They launched this blitzkrieg under the mistaken belief we would tire of the terror and give up. That’s how little they know American history, and Americans who will climb mountains for freedom.
- JP
I've come this far to freedom and I won't turn back
I'm climbing to the highway from my old dirt track
I'm coming and I'm going
And I'm stretching and I'm growing
And I'll reap what I've been sowing or my skin's not black
I've prayed and slaved and waited and I've sung my song
You've bled me and you've starved me but I've still grown strong
You've lashed me and you've treed me
And you've everything but freed me
But in time you'll know you need me and it won't be long.
I've seen the daylight breaking high above the bough
I've found my destination and I've made my vow;
so whether you abhor me
Or deride me or ignore me
Mighty mountains loom before me and I won't stop now.
- Naomi Long Madgett
"Midway"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
