Black History
Opinion: Sha’Carri, H.E.R., and Kamala’s Olympian Dash to the Presidency
I know the Olympics are over. Consider this me just running through the tape. You know, the one at the finish line. (Remember as the 100-meter gold medalist Noah Lyles found out, a leg can beat you, but it’s the first torso to cross that counts). I’m still savoring all of the Olympics highlights.
By Emil Guillermo
I know the Olympics are over. Consider this me just running through the tape. You know, the one at the finish line.
(Remember as the 100-meter gold medalist Noah Lyles found out, a leg can beat you, but it’s the first torso to cross that counts).
I’m still savoring all of the Olympics highlights.
My favorite moment — even more than the wild Stephen Curry three that nailed the gold in men’s basketball–was the Women’s 4×100 relay and Sha’Carri Richardson. Far behind, as she got the baton for the anchor leg, Richardson was magic in motion. With a phenomenal burst of speed, she made up the lost ground in seconds. But it was her glance back at the smoked competition as she crossed the finished line that got me.
Unforgettable.
To top it off was the closing ceremony that included H.E.R., singing the “Star Spangled Banner,” our country’s national anthem. It was H.E.R. representing all of us — the Asian American Filipino/African American pop star a/k/a Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson of Vallejo, Calif.
She was the face of America, welcoming the next games to our nation where in 2028, the entire country will be closer to what California already is, a minority-majority state. Seeing the multiracial singer was the extension of an ideal theme that a world where people have a love interest in one another, will get along with each other.
It’s the hope of a world at peace beyond the Olympic zone.
KAMALA IN THE BAY AREA FOR $13 MILLION
As the closing ceremonies were relayed from Paris, another biracial icon was continuing her Olympian sprint to the presidency. Kamala Harris was back in the Bay Area to share her campaign joy with rich homies.
At the Fairmount in San Francisco, the tickets ranged from $3,300 to up to $500,000 — a sliding scale for the well-heeled. Far from the $5 dollar internet pitches that end up in your inbox daily.
There were some who gladly paid at the low-end forgoing a vacation to support a historic run to save democracy. Nearly 700 attendees offering up more than $13 million were reported on the inside, including high tech folks and politicos like attorney general Rob Bonta.
Outside of the event, Harris also drew the same type of Pro-Gaza protestors who have dogged her at events in Las Vegas and Detroit. “Killer Kamala, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” was the chant, according to reports.
The protestors accuse Israel of genocide against the Palestinians but hold the Biden/Harris administration just as accountable for the tens of thousands who have died in Gaza.
Harris never saw the protestors on Nob Hill. But she saw them in Detroit, where she let the protestors have their First Amendment right, and then spoke directly them.
“If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that, otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said to cheers from supporters who drowned out the protestors.
It was as tough and as candid as Harris has been on any issue since she began her campaign.
For now, she is the joyful, feelgood Kamala, raising millions, staying on message, and “moving forward not backward.”
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. See him on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. Or at www.amok.com
Black History
Reception for Marin City Legacy Exhibit
Godfrey Lee, “The Legacy of Marin City, A California Black History Story (1942-1960),” Civic Center Library, San Rafael, on Thursday, Sept. 5, the Marin County Free Library, Black history in California, Black Americans, Felecia Gaston, “A Brand. New Start . . . This is Home,” Andre Thierry, www.marinlibrary.org
By Godfrey Lee
A reception honoring the exhibit “The Legacy of Marin City, A California Black History Story (1942-1960),” will be held at the Civic Center Library, 3501 Civic Center Drive, in San Rafael, on Thursday, Sept. 5, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
According to the Marin County Free Library, this exhibit will be on view at the Civic Center Library and at all 10 branches of the Marin County Free Library and will showcase the story of Black history in California and the nation, revealing the true-life stories of Black Americans with tremendous faith, courage, heart. and soul.
Felecia Gaston, the curator and author of “A Brand. New Start . . . This is Home,” will be speaking. Andre Thierry will also be performing.
All library events are free. Call 415-473-6057 or visit www.marinlibrary.org for more information.
Arts and Culture
African American Historic Ties to Blue Jeans Revealed in Indigo-Dyeing Workshop at Black-Eyed Pea Festival
Oakland-based artist Reshawn Goods, also known as Bushmama, will host a hands-on workshop that connects present-day blue jeans to the skills of enslaved Africans at the 9th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival on Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West streets. Indigo is a plant that is cultivated in a number of places around the world, including India and and Africa. Indigo dyes were introduced in America as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Many of the enslaved African people knew how to propagate indigo to create dye from the plant.
By Daisha Williams
Oakland-based artist Reshawn Goods, also known as Bushmama, will host a hands-on workshop that connects present-day blue jeans to the skills of enslaved Africans at the 9th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival on Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West streets.
Indigo is a plant that is cultivated in a number of places around the world, including India and Africa.
Indigo dyes were introduced in America as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Many of the enslaved African people knew how to propagate indigo to create dye from the plant. Indigo was used to dye clothes throughout all of West Africa, often referred to as blue gold. Wearing these clothes was a symbol of wealth. The Yoruba of Benin, the Manding of Mali, and the Hausa of Kano were renowned for indigo processing and dyeing.
According to Goods, the Europeans liked the colors that this dye produced and made slaves continuously produce it. Another crop that they cultivated was cotton, still something used for much of our clothing today.
When talking about the historical significance of indigo for Black Americans Goods said, “Slaves at that time were given a ration of clothes once a year… this cloth was very coarse and harsh to the skin. So, one slave decided to dip their clothes in the indigo vat and this was the early beginnings of what denim became to be. People will say that Levi Strauss created jeans, but we created jeans.”
At Goods’ workshop, attendees will be able to use cotton, indigo, and denim to create patches that resonate with them that will be used to form a family quilt. This fun and free craft has a lot of historical significance.
“When you go to school you learn about slaves, but you don’t learn about where they came from or what they brought with them,” said Bushmama. “That’s not part of the narrative… we brought so much with us, and that part is not shared. I feel that if we knew how powerful we were it would help us to elevate. That would help to dismantle white supremacy.”
Bush has been creating ever since she was young. Her first exhibition was in 1994 and was also where she sold her first piece. Since then, she has continued using art to create awareness within the Black community.
Before the counterculture of the 1960s, dungarees weren’t even sold in department stores but rather Army-Navy and hardware stores. They were really cheap but sturdy and only made in men’s sizes. Eventually, blue jeans began to be used by designers and became fashion statements that can cost hundreds of dollars.
Many Black Americans are unfamiliar with this history, and with conservative pushback against things like Critical Race Theory, many pieces of history like this are left untold.
That’s why having workshops like these is so important, it shines a light on the parts of history that have been hidden in the shadows while empowering the Black community by connecting them to their roots.
Arts and Culture
Chef Wanda Blake Honors Black Culture Through Food at Black-Eyed Pea Festival
Chef Wanda Blake, a legacy food ambassador for Farms to Grow, Inc., will honor the history of Black farmers and Black cuisine by creating a food altar for this year’s annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival on Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West streets. Blake is a chef who incorporates history and culture into her foods, using her awareness of Black history to enrich both the body and the mind. With this in mind, Blake’s altar will highlight red foods and their significance to the Black community.
By Daisha Williams
Chef Wanda Blake, a legacy food ambassador for Farms to Grow, Inc., will honor the history of Black farmers and Black cuisine by creating a food altar for this year’s annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival on Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West streets.
Blake is a chef who incorporates history and culture into her foods, using her awareness of Black history to enrich both the body and the mind. With this in mind, Blake’s altar will highlight red foods and their significance to the Black community.
Red is associated with the blood shed during slavery and that blackness and pain are often intertwined with one another.
The practice of eating red foods and drinks for Juneteenth and other gatherings was popularized in Texas, which may have been influenced by Yoruba and Congo cultures. Red symbolizes spiritual power and transformation in both of these cultures.
Blake says that things like “red drink” are examples of the ancestors’ ability to find value in the things around them. “Red drink” was a type of hibiscus tea, sweetened with honey. Hibiscus is now known to be hydrating, and helps with high blood pressure, blood sugar and menstrual cramps.
Like black-eyed peas, watermelon is part of Black history as it was cultivated in Africa. And, according to Wikipedia, red velvet cake — an iconic dessert — may “have origins in 1911 when Rufus Estes, a formerly enslaved person and chef, incorporated a recipe for a sweet velvet cake in his cookbook.”
The color red also has ties to enslaved ancestors beyond food. There are tales of African people being lured to slave ships using red cloth, which was a rarity and highly prized. such as. Red handkerchiefs were considered powerful objects.
Blake learned to cook the way many Black women do, from her mom, and later from aunties and grandmothers as well. Food, family, and culture are so intertwined with each other, and Blake never forgets that when navigating her career. This explains her strong ties between food and culture.
As she’s taken recipes into her own hands, she has added her own creativity into. For example, at previous Black-Eyed Pea Festivals, she has created many different black-eyed pea dishes, including a hummus-like dip, chili, pies, and hoppin’ john pasta.
Blake is the legacy food ambassador for Farms to Grow Inc. Farms to Grow is a nationwide 501c3 nonprofit organization that works with Black farmers, and other farmers who struggle due to systemic oppression such as Indigenous people, Latinx people and other minority groups. Their goal is to keep underserved farmers able to grow and produce food not just now, but for future generations as well.
Blake holds the title of ‘Legacy Food Ambassador’ for consciously integrating culture into her meals, as well as keeping an awareness about cultural food security. Blake was born in Lewisville, Ark., and then moved to San Francisco, first studying at City College of San Francisco.
The 9th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival takes place on Sat. Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West in West Oakland. Free and family friendly, take BART, the bus or car service and bypass parking. See you there.
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