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