Reminders of Many Heroes.

There are many heroes who should be acknowledged. Moms 4 Housing is a grassroots group of mothers in Oakland, California who desire to provide housing to people and to fight for justice for all. They have mentioned the fact that since there are four times a s many empty homes in Oakland as there are people without homes, therefore children and adults deserve to have adequate, quality housing. They are right to mention that housing is a human right, and no one should be homeless. For a long time, this organization have united mothers, friends, and neighbors in promoting housing rights. It is a historical fact that many real estate speculators, big banks, and Wall Street interests want a select amount of people to have housing while establishing a lax of ownership among many other people. This group is made of dedicated mothers. They have united in common cause to help mothers and children to exist in a place to stay at. They have inspired council people in Oakland to fight for their legitimate cause. These black people are fighting the austerity regime that is found in America plus worldwide. We are fighting the serious problem of the displacement of black people form their communities via urban renewal, gentrification, and other tactics. Back in the day and even in our time, many landlords burned their own properties to collect insurance money than making them better for renters. The leaders of this movement are 4 mothers who struggled to find a place to stay. Investors buy up properties and sell them at higher prices, so the cycle of economic exploitation continues. Moms 4 Housing continue to do great work in making sure that justice, accountability, and freedom are made real. Solomon Commissiong is one of the great young black scholars of the 21st century. He writes books from an independent, progressive perspective. He deals with analyzing hip hop culture, and he writes about how corporate power has infiltrated sections of hip hop to make it advance materialism, exploitation, and non-revolutionary themes. Solomon is a public speaker and a person who wants hip hop culture to be used to help educate especially the youth in the world. One of the books that I have read from him in real life is "A Hip Hop Activist Speaks Out on Social Issues." It is a great book, and I do recognize it for anyone. It exposes imperialism (which is related to the military industrial complex), colonialism, racism, the mass incarceration state, and other evils in uncompromising terms.

Solomon is adamantly opposed to imperialism and the glorification of overt wicked people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. Dr. Leah Wright Riguer is a black American scholar whose works are magnificent. One of her great books deal with the complexity of black Republicans (i.e. black Republicans aren't just far right people. Many black Republicans are more moderate historically, have different life experiences, and some even disagree with Trump. I can't be a Republican, because of the obvious reason, but her research does show the nuisances of history). Her award winning book detailing this subject is entitled, "The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power." I do recommend her book also. The book outlines Goldwater's campaign as a turning point in American history as Goldwater aided racists in promoting an anti-civil rights agenda that disrespected the aspirations of the black collective. Goldwater voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act which caused more black people to leave the Republican Party. Dr. Leah Wright Riguer is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School. Dr. Riguer is an expert on African American history, United States political and social history, and civil rights issues. Dr. Riguer has organized seminars on racial, gender, and political issues in order to get human beings to discuss matters and establish solutions to the problems that confront us all.

Tony Weaver is the founder of Weird Enough Productions. This is a ed tech company that wants to combat media misrepresentation via original content production and media literacy education. We all know that media misrepresentation contributes to false stereotyping of black people which can cause more black people to have harsher jail sentences, less attention from doctors, and a higher chance of being victims of a police shooting. Tony Weaver has developed 13 original short films and used a web comic to promote more accurate, positive representations of black people. He an alumuns of Elon University with a Bachelor of Arts/Science degree. He was trained at the Tupac Amur Shakur Center for the Arts, the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta, and the Acting Program at Elon University. He helps to volunteer to help black men in his local community. Michelle Alexander is a writer, a civil rights advocate, and visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary. For years, she has fought against the prison industrial complex. Her 2010 book entitled, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness' describes how the mass incarceration state has harmed black and brown lives for generations. It shows stats, stories, and other evidence to promote her ideals. She is an opinion columnist for the New York Times. She has a BA from Vanderbilt University and a JD from Stanford University. Michelle Alexander fought hard against race and gender discrimination. She has married Carter Mitchell Stewart (who is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School). They have three children together. She has earned awards and continues in this journey of liberation. Malcolm Mitchell is a former American NFL player who writes books promoting mental health development. Also, he promotes a program that helps children to read. He received the Promise Hero Award from America's Promise Alliance during its 20th Anniversary Summit and Gala in New York by April. He developed a passion for reading after his struggles with reading years ago. His Read with Malcolm program is helping students, especially in poorer communities, to read literature. He made his own children' book called, "The Magician's Hat." He gives the right advice for people to never give up.

Dr. Annette Joseph Gabriel is a scholar working to show the world about the intersection of politics, culture, and literature. She always does research and teaches courses on race, gender, and citizenship in France, the Caribbean, and Africa. Her research deals with anticolonial subjects, women's activism, black women's writings, and slavery all over the French Atlantic. She has a B.A. (cum laude) in Comparative Literature from Williams College and a Ph.D. in French with a graduate certificate in African American and Diaspora Studies form Vanderbilt University. Her research deals with issues of race, gender, literature, languages, philosophy, and black culture. Her recent book is called, "Re-imaging Liberation: How Black Women Transformed Citizenship in the French Empire." The book is about the leadership of black women in the anticolonial movements of France, Africa, and the Caribbean. Dr. Annette Joseph-Gabriel has written publications and spoke to places all across the world. Dr. Greg Carr is an expert on Africana studies. For decades, he has fought for the liberation of black people. He is the Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. He has a Ph.D. in African American Studies from Temple University and a JD from the Ohio State University College of Law. He fought to make sure that Philadelphia' high schools have a mandatory African American history course. He has helped many students with his Philadelphia Freedom Schools Movement. He has traveled into Africa to study its rich cultural heritage. He has spoken on many shows and platforms. Professor Ashley D. Farmer is a famous African American historian. She is the Associate Professor in the Departments of History and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas-Austin. Her 2017 book is called, "Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era." Professor Farmer's scholarly work has been found in The Black Scholar and the Journal of African American History. Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast in human history. She has a combined total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals, She is the most decorated American gymnast and the world's third most decorated gymnast. She won gold in Rio in 2016, and in other places. She won individual gold medals in all around, vault and floor, and other events. She has stood up against the evil person Larry Nassar as Nassar is an abuser. Simone Biles and other survivors were awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. To this very day, Simone Biles inspires girls and women to pursue their dreams and aspirations.

Misty Copeland is a world famous ballet dancer for the American Ballet Theater (ABT). The ABT is one of there leading classical ballet companies in America. On June 30, 2015, Misty Copeland was the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75 year history. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She was a prodigy at the age of 13 when she first started ballet. She danced in Southern California. She is a public speaker, a spokesperson, and a stage performer. She wrote two autobiographical books and narrated a documentary about her carer called A Ballerina's Tale. She was raised in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, California. Copeland had a 3.8/4.0 GPA through her junior year of high school. She is a friend to Victoria Rowell. In 2007, she danced the Fairy of Valor in The Sleeping Beauty. She won many honors and is supported by tons of people. By 2014, Misty Copeland was named to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. She also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford for her contributions to classical ballet and helping to diversify the art form. Her husband is the attorney Olu Evans. Afro-Columbian Sister Francia Elena Marquez Mina is a human rights and environmental activist in Columbia. She has fought to stop illegal gold mining in her community of La Toma and organized the march of 80 women who trekked 350 miles to Bogota (in demanding the removal of all illegal mines and equipment from their community). She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018 for that work. Francia was born in Yolombo, Columbia or a town in the southwestern department of Cauca. This is where more than 250,000 Afro-Columbians live at. She has studied law, and she has no fear of evil. Francia is an inspiration to us all. Stacey Abrams has fought for voting rights and social justice issues for a long time. She ran for the Governor of Georgia race. Aparecida Sueli Carneiro Joacoel is an Afro-Brazilian philosopher, writer, and anti-racism activist. She founded Geledes Black Women's Institute to fight for justice. She was born on June 24, 1950 at Sao Paulo, Brazil.



By Timothy