The person Mobie Lee Sykes (1886-1932) is my late 1st cousin. She is the daughter of Lydia Claud and Willis Sykes. Mobie is the granddaughter of Zilphy Claud or my 5th great grandmother. Mobie Lee Sykes' daughter was Alice Beatrice Evans (1922-2003). For months, I didn't know about her descendants. It was difficult to find information on her and her children until recently. By early October of 2020, I discovered tons of information about her and her children. Alice Beatrice Evans was born on September 19, 1922 at Virginia. She married James S. Brown on April 28, 1940 at Portsmouth, Virginia. Portsmouth is a city where many people from Southampton County, Virginia traveled to. James S. Brown lived from 1918 to 2007. Alice Beatrice Evans lived from September 19, 1922 to March 20, 2003. She passed away at Suffolk, Virginia. Alice Beatrice Evans and James S. Brown had many children. Their children are Constellar Murella Brown (1942-present), Mobie L. Hurt (1943-present), Anita Bernice Brown (1946-2018), Eddie Lenhart Brown (1948-2020), Linda Maegora Brown (1951-present), Lessie Elnora Brown (1954-present), Dwight G. Brown, Willis Brown, and James Brown Jr. These children of James and Alice Brown are my 3rd cousins. Anita Bernice Brown Mitchell was born on March 26, 2018 at Suffolk, Virginia, and she passed away on August 22, 2018 at Chesapeake, Virginia. She married Van Buren Mitchell Sr. (1943-present) on August 15, 1966 at Nansemond, Virginia. They divorced on July 30, 1996 at Norfolk, Virginia. The couple had 3 children whose names are Anita Bernice Mitchell (1967-present), Van Buren Mitchell Jr. (1971-present), and Brandon Omar Mitchell (1985-present). These 3 children are my 4th cousins. Anita Bernice Mitchell (born on January 25, 1967 at Nansemond, Virginia) married Eddie Robinson on June 23, 2001 at Norfolk, Virginia. Van Buren Mitchell Jr. married Janice Denice James on October 2, 2004 at Chesapeake, Virginia. His son is Kyeon Rashard Mitchel (1990-present whose mother is Natasha L. Johnson). Brandon Omar Mitchell was born on June 4, 1985 at Norfolk, Virginia. My 3rd cousin Costellar Murella Brown was born on June 21, 1942 at Portsmouth, Virginia. She married Romie Linwood Ledbetter on June 22, 1960 at Nansemond, Virginia. The couple's children are Rosaline Bonita Ledbetter (b. 1960), Romie Linwood Ledbetter (b. 1962), and Monet Alyce Ledbetter (b. 1968), who are my 4th cousins. Rosalind Bonita Ledbetter married Ronald Maurice Lacy at Suffolk, Virginia on June 18, 1983. They divorced on November 15, 1993. Monet Ledbetter was born on January 20, 1968 at Nansemond, Virginia. She married Ian Glaude (b. 1962). Their child is Chriftoff Jamal Glaude (b. 1966. He is my 5th cousin). Alice and James Brown's son of Eddie Lenhart Brown Sr. lived form 1948-2020). Eddie's children are Eddie Lenhart Brown Jr. (b. 1973) and Tiffany Brown Goosby (b. 1981), who are my 4th cousins. Eddie Brown Sr. lived in Brooklyn, NYC. Lessie Elnora Brown was born on March 30, 1954 at Nansemond, Virginia. She married Clyde Wilson Lewter on July 4, 1973 at Nansemond, Virginia. Nansemond is an old name for Suffolk, Virginia back in the day.
The P2 Lodge of the Propaganda Due is one of the most mysterious organizations of all time. It was a Masonic Lodge under the Grand Orient of Italy being founded in 1877. Its Masonic charter was withdrawn in 1976. Then, it was transformed into a clandestine, pseudo-Masonic, ultraight organization. It operated in contravention of Article 18 of the Constitution of Italy that banned secret associations. By this time, it was leaded by Licio Gelli. P2 was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries like the collapse of the Vatican affiliated Banco Ambrosiano, the murders of journalist Mino Pecorilli and banker Roberto Cali, and other corrupt bribery scandals. These actions of the P2 were brought to light via the investigations into the Michele Sindona's financial empire. The P2 acted as a state within a state. The lodge had many prominent journalists, members of parliament, industrialists, military leaders including Silvio Berlusconi (he would be the later Prime Minister of Italy), and the heads of 3 Italian intelligence services (of SISDE, SISMI, and CESIS). The police found a document called plan for Democratic Rebirth. It wanted the consolidation of the media, suppression of trade unions, and the rewriting of the Italian Constitution. The P2 Lodge was found in Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina. Raul Alberto Lastri was an Argentine member of the group. He was interim President in 1973 during the Dirty War. P2 member Emilio Massera was apart of the military junta led by Jorge Rafael Videla form 1976-1978, and P2 member Jose Lopez Rega was minister and founder of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, and General Guillermo Suarez Mason was a P2 member. Many early members were of the Piedmont nobility. It later was inactive except by 1966 when Licio Gelli formed a revitalization of the group. Benito Mussolini once banned Freemasonry, but it was reborn after World War II. After being disbanded by the Grand Orient of Italy, the P2 Lodge went underground. Many names of its members were found in March 1981 by the police. The P2 had links to the Mafia. Its names revealed high level military people and politicians. Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani was a P2 member too. He was forced to resigned. By January 1982, the P2 Lodge was banned by law. The P2 hated the Italian Communist Party and trade unions. To this day, the P2 Lodge has been condemned by people from across the political spectrum.
One of the most important music of the 1980's is house music. It is electronic dance music made with repetitive four on the floor beat and a tempo of 120 to 130 beats per minute. It was created by Djs and music producers form Chicago's underground DJ culture. DJs back then altered disco dance tracks to get a more mechanical beat and deeper baselines. Many genres came out of house like UK garage, dance pop, trance, electroclash, etc. There is deep house, funky house, ghetto house, tribal house, etc. Many originators of the house sounds are people like Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, Ron Hardy, Jesse Saunders, Chip E, etc. House spread from Chicago, then into New York, into London, and throughout the world. House helped to strengthen dance and pop music which would continue to explode in the 1990's. That is why elements of house has been used by Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Kylie Minogue. House has an intro, a chorus, various verse sections, a midsection, and a brief outro. House originated heavily from disco. Jesse Saunders' On and On in 1984 has been called the first Chicago house record. Early house music appeared to positive message for all people. Hip house used elements of hip hop in the music. Tyree Cooper's Turn Up the Bass featuring Kool Rock Steady in 1988 had hip hop elements in it. By the 1990's and the 21st century, house evolved into more subgenres and musical songs.
Reverend Howard Washington Thurman (1899-1981) was a prominent religious leader. He was involved in many social justice movements. He was one of the people who inspired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s views. Thurman believed in radical nonviolence, and he was a mentor to Dr. King and other civil rights leaders. He was dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University from 1932 to 1944. He was dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University from 1953 to 1965. In 1944, he co-founded along with Alfred Frisk, the first major interracial, interdenominational church in America. He was born in Daytona Beach, Florida. His grandmother was a slave. He graduated from Morehouse College as a valedictorian in 1923. He preached at Roanoke, Virginia and in other places. He moved into Atlanta, Georgia. He traveled the world. The helped to form the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco by 1944. Many in the congregation were African Americans who migrated to San Francisco from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas who wanted jobs in the defense industry. The church helped to create a new community for many in San Francisco. Rev. Thurman was an author. He wrote 20 books on theology, religion, and philosophy. His famous work was the book Jesus and the Disinherited from 1949. This influenced Dr. King and other civil rights leaders in the modern Civil Rights Movement. Thurman was a classmate and friend of Dr. King's father at Morehouse College. Thurman was a spiritual advisor to Dr. King, Sherwood Eddy, James Farmer, A. J. Muste, and Pauli Murray. He had children. His last wife named Sue Bailey Thurman was an author, lecturer, historian, civil rights activist, and founder of Aframerican Women's Journal. She passed away in 1996. Rev. Thurman was a great theologian. He focused on his path of spiritual growth and justice.
Dr. Carolyn Ann Knight was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He worked hard in theological training. She earned her doctorate of Ministry degree from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. She started her religious training at Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York. She has preached the gospel at the Mount Gilead baptist Church in Denver under the leadership of the Reverend Acen L. Philips. She has preached also in Dallas, Rochester, and Harlem. She is the founder and President of CAN DO!. That is a ministry that helps the out and young adults culturally, socially, intellectually, and spiritually.
Richard Allen was a bishop, an educator, and writer. He was the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) in 1791. That was the first independent black denomination in America. He opened his first AME church in Philadelphia. He lived from 1760 to 1831. He wanted black people to worship without racial oppression, and he opposed slavery. He formed Sabbath schools to teach literacy and promotion national organizations to develop political strategies. He was born into slavery. He joined the Methodists early on and preached the Gospel .Later,, Allen was free slavery. His first wife was Flora. Later, he married Sarah Bass from Virginia. Sarah Allen was the mother of the church. Rev. Richard Allen was an abolitionist. He worked with Methodist preacher Absolom Jones. They helped to form an independent church for black people. Allen and Sarah Allen operated a station on the Underground Railroad for slaves who escaped for freedom. After racists harmed black people in Cincinnati in 1829, many black people fled into Canada. Allen and his church including the Negro Convention gave aid to settlements in Canada. Richard Allen was one of the greatest early black Americans with his contributions to society.
Rev. Prathia Hall Wynn (1940-2002) was a great civil rights leader, womanist theologian and ethicist. She was the key inspiration for Dr Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech. She was raised in Philadelphia where his father was Baptist preacher who believed in social justice. He believed in racial justice. He regarded her as his successor. He inspired her to pursue religion and social justice. Prathia wanted to integrate religion and freedom together. She was inspired by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. When she saw the segregated South in the age of 5, she witness the worst kind of racial discrimination. Hall wanted to join the Civil Rights Movement as a teeanger. She protested segregation at Annapolis, Maryland where she was arrested. She graduated from Temple with a degree in political science. She was part of SNCC and worked with Charles Sherrod in Southwest Georgia. She was shot at by and jailed by racists in Georgia. She taught at freedom schools and registered voters. She had a great oratorical power and was part of the Albany Movement. She was in Selma, and left SNCC in 1966 after SNCC backed from embracing nonviolence as a way of life. She married Ralph Wynn. She earned Master of Divinity, Master of Theology, and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. She pastored at Philadelphia. She was one of the first women ordained in the American Baptist Association. She preached passionately in America until her dying day. She passed away at 62 in 2002. Prathia Hall was a lover of freedom with a powerful voice.
By Timothy
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