Diversity Training

MY INTEREST in BLACK HISTORY was launched in earnest about 42+ years ago in 1980 when some Black pro athletes asked me questions about the role ancient Africans played in biblical and extra biblical history.

I didn’t have a clue. I began researching the topic so that I could at least respond somewhat intelligently to the plethora of topics that came up.

I was one of the first chaplains in the history of the NBA, starting in 1978 with the Washington Bullets and retiring 20 seasons later in 1998.

I had heard of Ivan Van Sertima (pictured below) and had seen some old, grainy VHS videos of Ivan either in a debate or lecturing. I knew that he was a professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University and was revered as a man of great intellect and integrity.

In the early 1990s I somehow got ahold of his home phone number and I called him. This was during the pre-digital era. His wife, Jaqueline, answered. I asked to speak to Ivan. Even though she put her hand over the receiver, I could hear her whispering to him about some White gentleman wanting to talk with him.

When he came on the phone, I said, “Hello, Ivan, I have heard a lot about you and I would like to get to know you. I have much to learn from you. And I would hope that you would like to get to know me also.”

We talked for at least 45 minutes in that first encounter. A great conversation. He made me feel at ease and extremely comfortable. Near the end of the conversation, he asked for my home address. I didn’t think anything of it and gave it to him.

Approximately 3 weeks later a big box filled with at least 15 volumes of his books arrived unexpectedly in the mail. I was blown away. There were topics about Black presence in Asia, the Olmec civilization, they came before Columbus, the Moors and so much more.

The one book that immediately grabbed my attention was “Egypt Revisited”. Reading that book and seeing the images was kind of like wrapping my brain around a telephone pole at 130 mph. A life changing experience. So much so that, after a few chapters, I called Ivan.

After thanking him profusely for such a kind gift of knowledge in literature, I asked him if he would consider becoming my primary historical guide and mentor. To my great surprise, he consented.

Wow!! The many conversations we had as the months and years passed!! I only wish I could explain the essence of hours upon hours of discussing wide-ranging topics germane to ancient African history. He was extremely patient with me, allowing me to ask any and all questions ricocheting about in my little pea brain.

In the video taped presentations I had seen, Ivan was powerful and authoritative, holding the audience in the palm of his hand. In our phone conversations he was almost shy. I had to “prime the pump” with questions and then he would go into great, elegant detail with me. I’d listen and take notes.

Our friendship deepened. For instance, it was a great privilege and honor when Ivan opened up with me about some of the struggles and disrespect he was experiencing in the world of academia. I will not go into detail, but he was very sad at times by the way some powerful leaders actively sought to marginalize him. Even though we never met physically (which I regret), we became very good friends. He gave me a front row seat to his journey.

Every Christmas I would receive a signed card from him and Jacqueline.

One memorable conversation was when I asked him about his view of the Jesus of the Bible. Many Afrocentric scholars point to a number of legitimate, historically documented problems they have with how Christianity was used to justify enslavement and the Slave Trade itself.

Frankly, I wasn’t sure how Ivan would respond. There was a moment of silence and then he said quietly and with great emotion, “Oh yes, I love Jesus with all my heart.”

That meant more to me than anything else he could’ve said at that moment. He then went on to eloquently describe the impact & influence of Augustine, Cyprian, Tertullian and other 2nd to 4th century Christian scholars — especially in North Africa — long before the travels of European explorers into central Africa starting in the mid-1800s.

Ivan passed away in 2009. Thirteen years have gone by and I still miss him greatly — our conversations and our friendship…

MORE INFO: https://WhiteMansJourney.com

HARRIET TUBMAN (Araminta Ross) was born a slave in Bucktown, Maryland about the year 1820. She would later take her mother's name, Harriet, and in 1844 she would marry a free black man named John Tubman.

Five years later, in 1849, fearing that she would be sold further south, Harriet Tubman escaped, making her way north to Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, Tubman found employment and found herself working with abolitionists like William Still and John Brown (who would refer to Tubman as "General" and call her "the bravest person on this continent").

Within a year she returned to Maryland to help members of her family escape. She would eventually lead hundreds to freedom by the same route, via an extensive network known as the Underground Railroad. Her grit, faith, and determination as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, earned Tubman the admiration of leading abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass.

One little known fact is that Harriet suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. This meant that she would fall asleep in the middle of a sentence and wake up 5-10 minutes later completing the sentence. It happened when she was 15. She had gone to a store when she noticed a slave escaping from his/her owner. the slave owner threw a weight or brick at the runaway slave but it instead struck Tubman in the head, most people think it was the frontal lobes.

Can you imagine living your life...never knowing when a sleeping spell would strike? Most of us would have NEVER attempted to rescue other slaves with such a condition. Just another glimpse into the character of this remarkable woman...

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Learn more about the Black History 365 curriculum project: www.BH365.org
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Of her forays into the South to free slaves, William Still, in his 1871 book, The Underground Railroad, wrote:

"Her success was wonderful. Time and again she made successful visits to Maryland on the Underground Rail Road, and would be absent for weeks at a time, running daily risks while making preparations for herself and her passengers. Great fears were entertained for her safety, but she seemed wholly devoid of personal fear. The idea of being captured by slave-hunters or slave-holders, seemed never to enter her mind. She was apparently proof against all adversaries. While she thus maintained utter personal indifference, she was much more watchful with regard to those she was piloting. Half of her time, she had the appearance of one asleep, and would actually sit down by the road-side and go fast asleep* when on her errands of mercy through the South, yet, she would not suffer one of her party to whimper once, about "giving out and going back," however wearied they might be by the hard travel day and night. She had a very short and pointed rule or law of her own, which implied death to any who talked of giving out and going back. Thus, in an emergency she would give all to understand that "times were very critical and therefore no foolishness would be indulged in on the road." That several who were rather weak-kneed and faint-hearted were greatly invigorated by Harriet's blunt and positive manner and threat of extreme measures, there could be no doubt. After having once enlisted, "They had to go through ordie." Of course Harriet was supreme, and her followers generally had full faith in her, and would back up any word she might utter. So when she said to them that "a live runaway could do great harm by going back, but that a dead one could tell no secrets," she was sure to have obedience. Therefore, none had to die as traitors on the "middle passage." It is obvious enough, however, that her success in going into Maryland as she did, was attributable to her adventurous spirit and utter disregard of consequences. It is probable that no one like her was never known before or since."

A SOLUTION to the EDUCATION GAP in AMERICA -- This short BH365 video was used as the opening for an educational Zoom event attended by NBA employees. NBA great, Phil Chenier served as MC. Dr. Milton and Dr. Freeman shared their journey in creating a solution to the education gap in America -- BH365.org

https://vimeo.com/617231783

A Solution to the Education Gap in America This BH365 video was used as the opening for an educational Zoom event attended by NBA employees where NBA great, Phil Chenier served as MC. Dr. Milton and Dr. Freeman…

UNBOXING VIDEO — Blown away by this unsolicited review of the Black History 365 textbook and curriculum by an attorney|author|educator —

BH365: An inclusive Account of American History : An inclusive Account of American History - The Unboxing, Purchase your copy of Black History 365: A...