In Honor of Afrikan History Month...plus two of januarys bdays Tubman and Robinson

Langston Hughes born (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. Hughes is known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance.





One of my favorite poems by L. Hughes

Minstrel Man by Langston Hughes

Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter
And my throat
Is deep with song,
You do not think
I suffer after
I have held my pain
So long?

Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter,
You do not hear
My inner cry?
Because my feet
Are gay with dancing,
You do not know
I die?





"The Moses of her people"
born January 29th 1819/1920





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Harriet Ross was born into slavery in 1819 or 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland. Given the names of her two parents, both held in slavery, she was of purely African ancestry. She was raised under harsh conditions, and subjected to whippings even as a small child. At the age of 12 she was seriously injured by a blow to the head, inflicted by a white overseer for refusing to assist in tying up a man who had attempted escape.

At the age of 25, she married John Tubman, a free African American. Five years later, fearing she would be sold South, she made her escape.








born January 31st 1919


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According to a poll conducted by Jimmie Fidler in 1947, Robinson was the second most popular man in the country, behind Bing Crosby. [32]

In 1976, his home in Brooklyn, the Jackie Robinson House, was declared a National Historic Landmark

In March 1984, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Dorsey High School, in Los Angeles, also named the football stadium they play in after the late Robinson.

The homes of the Daytona Cubs, Jackie Robinson Ballpark, and the UCLA Bruins Baseball team, Jackie Robinson Stadium, are named after Robinson.

The Chicago Public School system has named an elementary school after Jackie Robinson. It is in the Kenwood neighbourhood in Chicago's south.[33]

In 1987, Major League Baseball renamed the Rookie of the Year Award the Jackie Robinson Award in his honor.

On April 15, 1997, Jackie Robinson's #42 was retired by Major League Baseball, meaning that no future player on any major league team could wear it. Players wearing #42 at the time, some of whom said they did so as a tribute to Robinson, were allowed to continue wearing it, thereby grandfathering the number's retirement. The last player currently wearing the number is New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

In 1999, he was named by Time Magazine on its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.[34]

In 2000, he ranked number 44 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

On October 29, 2003, the United States Congress posthumously awarded Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award the Congress can bestow. Robinson's widow accepted the award in a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on March 2, 2005.

At the November 2006 groundbreaking for a new New York Mets ballpark, Citi Field, scheduled to open in 2009, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, will be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Additionally, Mets owner Fred Wilpon said that the Mets and Citigroup would work with the Jackie Robinson Foundation to create a Jackie Robinson Museum and Learning Center in lower Manhattan, as well as fund scholarships for "young people who live by and embody Jackie's ideals."[35]

On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Jackie Robinson will be inducted into the California Hall of Fame this December 5, 2007 located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.