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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1982)
The Black woman is our soul Sojourner Truth was in the yanguard of the abolitionist movement— a forceful lec turer. Frances E. H arper, the first Black woman to publish a novel, was a prominent member o f the early wom en's rights movement. Ida B. Wells Barnett was the leader o f anti-lynching crusades, an educator and journalist. The independence, verve, and v ita lity o f the Black woman have been detailed m any times by sociologists and a n th ro p o lo g ists. H e r bea uty and p h ysica l a ttrib u te s have been praised in H o llyw ood and on M adison Avenue. W hat distin guishes the Black woman, however, is her spirit, which stems from a long tra d itio n o f female dominance. This tra d itio n , which influences every Black female, grew out o f the slave social system, which devalued the role o f the Black m ale. B lack w om en, as a result, have been as free, pow erful and expressive as any group o f women in history. Black women played a crucial role in the fig h t fo r free dom . H a rrie t T ubm an slipped in to the South 19 tim es and led out 300 slaves. Ida B. Wells kept her newspaper free by w a lkin g the streets o f M em phis, Tennessee, in the 1890s w ith tw o pistols on her hips. The tra d itio n has been carried on by wom en lik e M a ry M cL e o d Bethune, M a ry C h urch Terrell, Rosa Parks, Daisy Bates and Diane Bevel. A fte r E m ancipation when the whole social fa b ric o f life crumbled and the very economic basis o f Black existence was destroyed, it was the Black w om an, o fte n alone w ith her children but always aiding her husband when there was one, who made the survival o f Black people possible. D uring the 1960s the role o f the Black wom an in the fight fo r c iv il rights continued to show her as a strong and vita l social force. The Black woman, who first reached the shores o f the new w o rld in the 17th ce n tu ry continues to be a deep w e ll o f B la c k p r i d e . M ary McLeod Bethune dedicated her life to the edu cation of Black people. Cablesystems Salutes Black History Month * Mf*? ( • Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) INVENTOR AND ENGINEER. Born a free man, in Ellicott, Maryland, he was the first Black to pub lish scientific and astronomical materials, and he constructed the first clock made entirely in America in 1753. He published a treatise on bees, computed the cycle of the seventeen-year locust, and pub lished a yearly almanac from 1791 until 1802. A member of the surveying team that laid out the city plan of Washington, D.C., he astounded scientists and intellectuals with his insight and ability as an astronomer, mathematician and essayist. cablesystems pacific - C ablesystem s Brings the choice to you I I • * 24-hour news networks— Reuters and Cable News Network. O 24-hour satellite SuperStations from New York, Chicago and Atlanta. a Children’s shows— Nickelodeon. a CBS cultural programming. a 24-hour sports (ESPN). A- / 'V. Home Box Office (cJnemex) SHOWTIME Page 6 Section II Portland Observer, February 25, 1982
