Boston's Black History
This statue, installed on Boston Common in December 2022, commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
What is The Embrace?
This month is celebrated in the U.S. as Black History Month.
What is February?
George Washington Carver became one of the leading agronomists of his time, pioneering over 300 different uses for this crop.
What is the peanut?
Speculative fiction author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah recently published this debut novel.
What is Chain-Gang All-Stars?
"When we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: ‘Yes we can.’"
Who is President Barack Obama?
A five-time NBA MVP and a 12-time All-Star, this player was the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics’ dynasty of the 1960s.
Who is Bill Russell?
This President was the first to recognize Black History Month during the U.S.'s 1976 bicentennial.
Who is Gerald Ford?
Lonnie Johnson holds over 40 patents, but is most known for his invention of this powerful squirt gun loved by both children and adults.
What is the super soaker?
Maya Angelou's 1969 autobiography, which tells a tale of personal strength amid childhood trauma and racism, resonated with readers and was nominated for the National Book Award.
What is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?
"I want history to remember me not just as the first Black woman to be elected to Congress, not as the first Black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a Black woman who lived in the 20th century and dared to be herself"
Who is Shirely Chisholm?
Long before urban renewal efforts of the 1950s destroyed the area and displaced its residents, this neighborhood was considered the epicenter of Black life in Boston.
What is the West End?
These two historical figures have birthdays in February, which is why February was chosen to be Black History Month. (Name one).
Who is Abraham Lincoln? Who is Frederick Douglass?
19th century inventor Alexander Miles designed this mechanism after his daughter nearly fell down an empty elevator shaft.
What are automatic elevator doors?
The works of this American writer, including If Beale Street Could Talk, The Fire Next Time, and Giovanni’s Room, helped to raise public awareness of racial and sexual oppression.
Who is James Baldwin?
"The ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive."
Who is Malcolm X?
In April of 1965, a month after the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, this man led more than 20,000 people in a march from Roxbury to Boston Common.
Who is Martin Luther King Jr.?
Every year Black History Month has a theme. This is the theme for 2024.
What is African Americans and the Arts?
Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist, this Black woman created and marketed hair products to other Black women. She became the first ever self-made female millionaire.
Who is Madame C.J. Walker?
This Harlem Renaissance writer wrote two short novels, Quicksand and Passing, both of which are now renowned for their modernist take on race.
Who is Nella Larsen?
"Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America."
Who is John Lewis?
In 1843, the first racially restrictive covenant, a clause stating that the land not be sold to a “Negro or native of Ireland,” was included in a property deed in this Boston neighborhood.
What is Brookline?
This man created Negro History Week, which eventually became Black History Month.
Who is Carter G. Woodson?
Garrett Morgan, who called himself the "Black Edison," is remembered for two inventions that have saved countless lived and are still in use today. (Name one).
What is the gas mask? What is the yellow traffic light?
Phills Wheatley, was the first African American woman to publish a book of poems. Her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published in this decade.
What is the 1770's? (1173 to be exact)
"I recognize that my power as well as my primary oppressions come as a result of my blackness as well as my womanness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable."
Audre Lorde