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Tressie Souders:  The First Known African American Woman To Direct A Feature Film

Picture of Tressie Souders. She is holding a camera and looking into its lens. Picture has text that says, Tressie Souders is recognized as the first African American woman to produce and direct a feature film. In 1922 the Afro-American Film Exhibitors Company of Kansas City, Missouri, contracted with Souders to distribute her film entitled "A Woman's Error." Underneath the words is the blog website: blackmail4u.com

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Tressie Souders (1897-1995) was an African American film director. She is the first known African American female to direct a feature film. She was born in Frankfort, Kansas, to Robert Souders and Leuvenia Ann Bryant, who emigrated to Kansas as part of the Exoduster movement. The couple split, and Leuvenia remarried Chester A. Harris. There were six more children born into this union. 

Souders grew up in Frankfort and graduated from Frankfort High School in 1918. She then moved to Kansas City, MO, where she found employment as a domestic worker. There are no historical records of how Souders began filmmaking. She participated in an amateur theater production entitled “Every Negro” written by Reverend A. Lawerence Kimbrough in 1918.

In 1922, the Afro-American Film Exhibitors Company of Kansas City, Missouri, contracted with Souders to distribute her film, “A Woman’s Error.”; making Souders the first known black woman to produce and direct a feature film. It was billed as being “produced by a young woman of our race and has been passed by critics as a picture accurate to Negro life.” To date, no copies of the film have been located. Souders is also believed to have written the screenplay for the film.

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St. Augustine Four:  Unsung Heroes Of The Civil Rights Movement

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Youth and young adults were present and active in the civil rights movement. The St. Augustine Four, Audrey Nell Edwards, JoeAnn Anderson Ulmer, Willie Carl Singleton, and Samuel White are among the trailblazers who made their mark on the civil rights movement. 

The St. Augustine Four were arrested in July 1963 for attempting to integrate a whites-only lunch counter at a local Woolworths.  Following their arrest, local law enforcement tried to force them to promise they would no longer participate in further demonstrations.  The St. Augustine Four refused.  The group was also pressed to say the organizer of the movement in St. Augustine, Dr. Robert Hayling was to blame for contributing to the delinquency of minors. The St. Augustine Four again refused.

Backed by their families and the community, The St. Augustine Four stood firm, refusing to concede. In response, they were jailed by the sheriff and then sent to reform school.  The NAACP attempted to gain their release.  The judge informed them that the issue was now beyond local jurisdiction. It took special action from the governor of Florida to get them released in January of 1964 (nearly six months later). 

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Mothers On A Mission: Mae Mallory And The Harlem Nine

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Willie “Mae” Mallory (1927 – 2007) was the founder of and spokesperson for the Harlem Nine. The group of nine Black mothers sued the New York City Board of Education for the poor conditions of Black schools. Mallory took action after her children, Patricia and Keefer, Jr., informed her of the deplorable conditions in their segregated school, P.S. 10, in Harlem. She joined the Parent’s Committee For Better Education, becoming a dedicated and vocal advocate for Black children to have safe environments and high-quality education.

Founded in 1956, the Harlem Nine demanded improved conditions and school integration. The group encountered many obstacles in bringing the lawsuit. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to jail the mothers during the case. The Harlem Nine received support in their efforts from the local NAACP and civil rights activist Ella Baker, and political activist and clergyman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Remember that the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision which called for school desegregation, had been passed three years before this case. During this time, a group of high school students known as the “Little Rock Nine” attempted to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas as well. Both of these desegregation efforts took place in the south. The Harlem Nine case took place in the north, thus highlighting that school segregation was still occurring even in the supposedly more liberal north.

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Black Inventor William H. Richardson Patents Reversible Baby Carriage in 1889

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In 1889 the Black inventor, William H. Richardson, patented a new type of baby carriage. William Kent invented the first baby carriage in England in 1733. The carriage was accented with gold and silver and designed to be pulled by a miniature pony. Due to the expense of early strollers, they were inaccessible to most working-class families. Working-class families did have them had carriages made out of cheaper materials like wood or wicker.

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The Historic Supreme Court Nomination Of Ketanji Brown Jackson

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President Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Justice Stephen Breyer is no surprise. Jackson currently sits on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. She is the first black woman and the first public defender nominated to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, she is expected to influence the court’s Democratic-appointed justices further to the left. At age 51, if appointed, she would likely serve for decades. The proverbial jury is still out just how liberal she will be. Regardless of her leanings, the court will continue to be dominated by its current six-justice conservative majority. However, if confirmed, she is likely to make the court more polarized in its perspective. Her background would suggest that she is expected to be even more liberal than Justice Breyer.

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Yes! Black People Can Get Skin Cancer

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Time to spill the tea on skin cancer! If you have skin, you can get skin cancer. 3 Million+ people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year in the U.S. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer. While it’s true that black people have a lower risk of developing skin cancer, it is also true that they are more likely to have lower survival rates when they are diagnosed. The Skin Cancer Foundation defines skin cancer as “the out-of-control growth of abnormal cells in the epidermis, the outermost skin layer, caused by unrepaired DNA damage that triggers mutations. These mutations lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors. 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70.” The most common types of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC).

People of all skin tones get skin cancer. And, yes, you can get skin cancer even without having prolonged sun exposure or sunburn. Skin cancer is often diagnosed in Black people at later stages. Even when found at an early stage (before it had spread), on average, statistics show that Black people don’t survive as long as White people. Later diagnosis can be deadly when a person has the type of skin cancer known as melanoma. Melanoma is less common than other skin cancers but is more dangerous because it can spread to other parts of the body if untreated. In general, any skin cancer can be challenging to treat in later stages. Fortunately, most skin cancers, including melanoma, can be cured with early detection.

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Exploring The Impact Of Special Education Disparities On Black Students

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Today we are sharing some special education data. The data highlights disparities experienced by black students in the United States receiving special education services. Black students in the U.S. with disabilities are 1.5 times more likely to drop out of school than white students with disabilities. They also face harsher discipline than white students with disabilities. 

Black students with disabilities are more likely to be identified with emotional or intellectual disabilities or emotional disturbances than all students with disabilities. The significance in the identification of disparities is highest for students with “subjective” disabilities According to the National Center For Learning Disabilities, “Subjective disabilities are those for which non-subjective tests are not available, meaning that identification depends on the professional judgment—and potentially the biases—of the assessors.”

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Jennifer King: 1st Black Positions Coach in NFL

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In December 2021, Jennifer King made history when she was named assistant running backs coach for the Washington NFL franchise. King is the second female assistant coach in the NFL. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line coach Lori Locust is the first. 

Born in 1984, King is a native of Reidsville, North Carolina, her professional coaching career began with coaching basketball. She is the former head coach of the women’s basketball team at Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina. She led the team to a national championship in 2018. King previously played football with the Women’s Football Alliance. While coaching basketball, she was introduced to former Carolina head coach Rick Rivera. After expressing her interest in coaching football, he invited her to join the team as an intern. She also completed an internship with Rivera as part of the Washington franchise. The team then hired her as an assistant running backs coach in 2021. As a black woman in a male-dominated sport, King says that a woman doesn’t feel excluded or “othered”. She feels she has earned the respect of the team.

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Cancer Culture:  How Structural Racism & Cancer is Attacking The Black Community

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Let’s talk about CANCER Culture! Black Americans have the highest death rate and lowest survival rates of any racial and ethnic group for all cancers combined and for most major cancers. These numbers are also alarming when considering that about 42% of cancer cases and 45% of cancer deaths are preventable.

Cancer is a set of diseases resulting from abnormal cells’ uncontrolled growth. Death can result if these diseased cells’ spread cannot be controlled. According to the American Cancer Association, About 224,080 new cancer cases and 73,680 cancer deaths are expected to occur among Black people in 2022. The causes of cancer are not fully understood. We do know that many factors are known to increase risk. We also know that many risk factors are modifiable/preventable (Example:  tobacco use and excess body weight). Approximately 1 in 3 black people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. About 1 in 5 Black men and 1 in 6 Black women will die from cancer. This data is alarming. There is also concern regarding how COVID-19 will potentially increase health disparities amongst communities of color, including possible increased cancer diagnosis and cancer-related deaths due to disruptions in screening and treatment related to the pandemic. It will take years to understand the impact of COVID 19 in this regard.

This post will share eight ways cancer is impacting Black communities. This information and more data can be found on the American Cancer Society website https://www.cancer.org

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