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President Ronald Reagan was overt in his views. What you see is what you get with him. Ronald Reagan use eloquence to promote his conservative ideologies, and there was a progressive opposition to his views from economics to foreign policy. He saw the existence of 2 centuries and more than 8 decades of life. The conservative movement was strengthened by his Presidency. Barry Goldwater was the godfather of the modern conservative movement, and Ronald Reagan was the influential evangelist of that movement. He inspired the existence of the Tea Party too. Ronald Reagan is a controversial person. As a black American, you already know that I don't agree with many of the views of Reagan from domestic to foreign policy matters. Also, it is important to give a summary of his life and Presidency in order for us to learn lessons in creating a better future. Ronald Reagan was born in the Midwest on February 6, 1911. His parents were Nell Wilson Reagan and John Edward Reagan. He lived in Dixon, Illinois by 1920. Ronald Reagan lived a curious life being a lifeguard at Lowell Park, near Dixon. He saved 77 lives during the 7 summers that he worked there. 1926 was the year when he started being a lifeguard. By 1928, Ronald Reagan had graduated from Dixon High School. While he was in high school, he was student body president. Also, he played in football, basketball, track, and school plays. From 1928-to 1932, he attended Eureka (Illinois) College, where he majored in economics and sociology. During his sophomore year, Reagan becomes interested in drama. Reagan also serves as student body president.

Back in those days, Ronald Reagan was a liberal. Reagan even supported Franklin Delano Roosevelt when FDR was President. Reagan in 1932 received a temporary sports broadcasting job with WOC, Eureka (Illinois) College, where he majored in economics and sociology. During his sophomore year, Reagan becomes interested in drama. Reagan also serves as student body president. In 1937, Reagan enlisted in the Army Reserve as a private but is soon promoted to 2nd lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps of the Cavalry. An agent for Warner Brothers "discovered" Reagan in Los Angeles and offered him a seven-year contract. By 1940, Ronald Reagan played the role of the Notre Dame football legend George Gipp in his most acclaimed film, Knute Rockne, All American. The role earned Reagan the nickname "the Gipper." Ronald Reagan married the actress Jane Wyman on January 24, 1940. They met while working on the movie Brother Rat. Maureen Reagan was born on January 4, 1941. By 1942, Reagan was called to active duty by the Army Air Force. He is assigned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, Calif., where he makes over 400 training films. After WWII, Reagan worked on acting and makes more films. He was in a TV movie too. The Reagans adopted Michael Reagan in March 1945. By 1947, he was elected President of the Screen Actors Guild for the first of five consecutive terms, Reagan testified as a friendly witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The hearings result in the blacklisting of many writers and directors thought to have ties to the Communist Party. In 1948, Ronald Reagan supported Harry Truman for President. In 1949, Reagan and Wyman divorced.

Reagan by the 1950's became conservative from liberal. In 1950, he campaigned for the California Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas in her bid for the U.S. Senate against Richard Nixon.  In 1952, Ronald Reagan campaigned as a Democrat for Eisenhower. Ronald Reagan and Nacy Davis married on March 4, 1952. Their daughter Patricia was born on October 21, 1952. In 1954, Reagan is hired to host the General Electric Theater on television, a job he holds for eight years. Reagan tours the country giving speeches as a GE spokesman. By 1956, Reagan campaigned for President Dwight D. Eisenhower's re-election as a Democrat. Ronald Prescott Reagan was born on May 20, 1958. In 1960, he campaigned, as a Democrat, for Richard Nixon for President. It would be in 1952 that Ronald Reagan changed his party registration to Republican. On October 27, 1964, Ronald Reagan gave a television address supporting Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. The speech, called "A Time for Choosing," launches Reagan's political career. Reagan was so extreme that he opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, he opposed the Housing rights bills in California, and he was caught on tape making a racist remark about Africans (with Richard Nixon during the 1970's). Reagan incorrectly compared JFK's Medicare proposal for seniors to socialism. In 1965, Ronald Reagan released his autobiography called, Where's the Rest of Me? -- the title is a line from his 1942 movie King's Row -- was published.

In 1966, Reagan defeated the incumbent California Governor Edmund G. Brown (a progressive man) in a landslide. As Governor of California, Ronald Reagan was in the middle of the culture war. He opposed the views of the hippies, he supported the unjust Vietnam War, he opposed federal civil rights legislation, and he opposed the Black Panthers. By 1968, Reagan ran for President, waiting until the Republican National Convention in Miami to announce his candidacy. He later joins in supporting nominee Richard Nixon. In 1969, Reagan sent the National Guard to break up protests at the University of California at Berkeley after university officials block activists' efforts to create a "People's Park." Reagan was re-elected California governor in 1970. In 1974, Reagan wrote a syndicated newspaper column and provides commentaries on radio stations across the country after his 2nd term as California's governor. Ronald Reagan lost the Republican Party's nomination to Gerald Ford in 1976, but it was a prelude to his victory in 1980. Reagan and his conservative allies built alliances, worked hard, and joined with many of the Religious Right. Back in the day, many conservative Christians refused to be in politics. That would change. On November 13, 1979, Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy for President of the United States of America. By November 4, 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected President in a landslide victory over the incumbent Jimmy Carter. By January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president of the United States. On the same day, Iran releases the 52 remaining hostages who had been held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran for 444 days. On March 30, 1981, Reagan is shot in the chest upon leaving a Washington hotel but made a full recovery after surgery. Three other people, including Reagan press secretary James Brady, are wounded in the assassination attempt. John Hinckley Jr. is charged but found not guilty by reason of insanity. On April 28, 1981, Reagan appeared before Congress for the first time since the assassination attempt. He receives a hero's welcome and overwhelming support for his economic package, which includes cuts in social programs and taxes, and increases in defense spending. Reagan's social spending cuts harm many poor and communities of color (including black people). On July 29, 1982, Congress passed Reagan's tax bill. Instead of a 30% tax cut over three years, Reagan accepts 25%. By August 3, 1981, Air traffic controllers go on strike. Reagan gives them 48 hours to get back to work and fires those who refuse. Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman justice on the United States Supreme Court in September of 1981. The late Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor would mostly judge in the center. On October 18, 1981, Reagan concedes that the United States is in "a slight recession" but predicts recovery by the spring.

On November 10, 1981, Budget Director David Stockman charges that the 5% economic growth rate that the administration had assumed was a "rosy scenario," and pans "supply side" economics as a way to benefit the rich. In a speech to the British House of Commons, Reagan predicts "the march of freedom and democracy...will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history ..." This was on June 8, 1982. He was hawkish on the Soviet Union for years. By the Fall of 1982, the nation sinks into its worst recession since the Great Depression. Reagan fears budget deficits as high as $200 billion. On Nov. 1, more than 9 million Americans are officially unemployed. By January 31, 1983, Reagan submits his fiscal 1984 budget to Congress. The recession, tax cuts, and increased defense outlays are blamed for a projected $189 billion budget gap. Reagan vows to "stay the course," rejecting advice to raise taxes or cut defense. On March 8, 1983, in a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals, Reagan warns against ignoring "the aggressive impulses of an evil empire," the U.S.S.R. On March 23, 1983, Reagan showed his proposal for a Strategic Defense Initiative, later dubbed "Star Wars," in a national speech: "I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete." Today, missile interception technology has been much more advanced than during the 1980's. A Soviet fighter downs Korean Air Lines flight (KAL 007), killing all 269 people aboard, including 61 Americans. Reagan denounces it as a "crime against humanity." (on September 1, 1983). 

The suicide bomber attack in Beirut, Lebanon on October 23, 1983 caused 241 members of the peacekeeping force. U.S. troops invade Grenada to oust Marxists who had overthrown the government, and to protect U.S. medical students on the Caribbean island (on October 25, 1983). Reagan wanted a return to arms talk with the USSR on January 16, 1984. In a televised speech, Reagan urged helping the Contra "freedom fighters" in Nicaragua (in May 9, 1984). The truth is that the Contras were terrorists involving in drug trafficking too. By June 6, 1944, Reagan gave an emotional speech in Normandy, France commemorating the 40th year anniversary of the events of D-Day (which liberated millions from Nazi fascist tyranny). On July 19, 1984, Walter Mondale accepts the Democratic presidential nomination and promises to raise taxes. By August 11, 1984, while checking a microphone prior to a radio broadcast, Reagan jokes: "...I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." Reagan and Mondale debate each other. Reagan struggles in the debate, and Reagan continues to work on his campaign. Congress banns funding for the military aid to the Nicaragua Contras.

In his second debate with Mondale, Reagan quips: "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." That was on October 21, 1984. By November 4, 1984, Reagan defeats Mondale in a landslide. Reagan carries 49 states -- 525 electoral votes to Mondale's 10, and 59% of the popular vote. Ronald Ragan was 73 years old when he was sworn in the 2nd time. On June 1985, TWA Flight 847 from Athens is hijacked by terrorists. The pilot is forced to fly to Beirut, where hijackers beat and kill a Navy diver. The plane is flown to Algiers, then back to Beirut again. Most passengers are released; 39 are held captive in Lebanon. Reagan vowed that the U.S. will never give in to terrorists' demands. The remaining hostages are freed after 17 days. By November 19, 1985, Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev held a "fireside" summit in Geneva. The leaders disagree on the Strategic Defense Initiative but pledge to meet again and seek a 50% cut in nuclear arms. On January 28, 1986, the U.S.  space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all on board -- six astronauts and teacher Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian to go into space. By April 14, 1986, Reagan ordered air strikes against Libya in retaliation for the bombing of a West Berlin disco in which two U.S. servicemen were killed and more than 200 people were injured. A Reagan-Gorbachev arms summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, ends without agreement after a rift over SDI on October 11, 1986. The Iran Contra scandal grows when Reagan admits sending some defensive weapons and spare parts to Iran but denies it was part of an arms-for-hostages deal on November 13, 1986. National Security Adviser John Poindexter resigned and national security aide Col. Oliver North was fired in the widening Iran-Contra affair. In a press conference, Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that $10-$30 million of profits from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran had been diverted to the Nicaraguan Contras. The Tower Commission report on Iran-Contra concludes that Reagan's passive management style allowed his staff to mislead him about the trade of arms to Iran for hostages held in Lebanon and to pursue a secret war against the Nicaraguan government (on February 26, 1987). Reagan yields to pressure from his advisers (including his wife Nancy) to fire Chief of Staff Donald Regan, and Ronald Reagan admitted his mistake in the Iran Contra affair on March 4, 1987. In a speech at Berlin's Brandenberg Gate, Reagan demands Gorbachev "tear down this wall." That was on June 12, 1987.

The Cold War rapidly starts to end in 1987. By December of 1987, in a Washington summit, Reagan and Gorbachev sign Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty to eliminate 4% of the superpowers' nuclear arsenals. It is the first U.S.-Soviet treaty to provide for the destruction of nuclear weapons and to provide for on-site monitoring of the destruction. Oliver North, John Poindexter, and two others are indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by secretly providing funds and supplies to the Contras. On March 16, 1988. Afghanistan and the Soviet Union agreed to start withdrawing Soviet troops from Afghanistan on April 14, 1988. On May 5, 1988, in his memoir For the Record, Donald Regan reveals that Nancy Reagan relied on an astrologer to set the dates for her husband's public appearances. On May 27, 1988, the Senate ratifies the INF treaty, the first arms-control agreement since 1972's Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) to receive Senate approval. Vice President George Bush defeats Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis to become the 41st president of the United States on November 8, 1988. January 11, 1989, was when Reagan gave his farewell address to the nation, in which he says the so-called Reagan revolution "made a difference." On January 20, 1989, George Bush is inaugurated. Reagan leaves the White House with the highest approval rating of any president since FDR. Reagan retires to California, travels, meets with various world leaders, and gives public speeches in support of charitable organizations, Republican candidates and causes. Reagan undergoes surgery to remove fluid on his brain attributed to an incident a few months earlier in which he has been knocked off a horse in Mexico. The Berlin Wall came down in November 1989 allowing free movement between East and West Germany. President Ronald Reagan gave amnesty to many undocumented immigrants, signed a law to make Dr. King's holiday a federal holiday (after pressure), and vetoed anti-apartheid legislation (claiming that he didn't want boycotts as a method to end apartheid. Congress override his veto). 

By February 1990, Reagan gave videotaped testimony in the Iran-Contra trial of former aide John Poindexter. The Soviet Union ended by December 1991. On November 5, 1994, Reagan discloses in a letter that he has Alzheimer's disease. "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life," he writes. "I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." Maureen Reagan, Reagan's oldest daughter, died at 60 after a long struggle with cancer on August 8, 2001. President Ronald Reagan passed away in California at the age of 93 years old on June 5, 2004. I was in college when he passed away. I remember the somber news just like yesterday. Ronald Reagan helped to lift the confidence up of a new generation of conservative people. On June 11, 2-004, a state funeral was conducted in the Washington National Cathedral, presided over by President George W. Bush. Eulogies were given by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and both former President George H. W. Bush and President George W. Bush. Also in attendance were Mikhail Gorbachev and many world leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Prince Charles, representing his mother Queen Elizabeth II; German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder; Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi; and interim presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq.

After the funeral, the Reagan entourage was flown back to the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, where another service was held, and President Reagan was interred. At the time of his death, Reagan was the longest-lived president in U.S. history, having lived 93 years and 120 days (2 years, 8 months, and 23 days longer than John Adams, whose record he surpassed). He was also the first U.S. president to die in the 21st century. Reagan's burial site is inscribed with the words he delivered at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: "I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life." Reagan gave conservatives a spine, inspiration, and influence modern-day society. I don't agree with Reagan on many issues, but I don't hate the man. I realize his legacy, and I do realize the important fight to create justice for everybody. 

 

 

For a long time, I knew that my 5th cousin Cherrel Norris Turner-Callwood (born on November of 1959) was related to me, because our DNA results matched on Ancestry.com. I just didn't know how I was related to her, except that we are descendants of my 5th great-grandmother Zilphy Claud. Now, I know more about how we are related to each other. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where many of my maternal and paternal relatives have lived at. Her parents are Levis Henry Norris (1937-2004) and Patricia A. Moody Norris (b. 1941). Patricia A. Moody Norris's parents are Raymond Gant Moody (1911-1984) and Doris Virginia Claud Moody (1918-2007). Doris Virginia Claud married Raymond Moody in 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My 3rd cousin Doris Virginia Claud Moody's parents are Guy Franklin Claud Sr. (1896-1971) and Viola Bell Rogers (1896-1971). Guy Franklin Claud Sr.'s parents were Frank Thomas Claud (1861-1948) and Elizabeth Whitehead (b. 1868). Frank Thomas Claud is a direct descendant of Zilphy Claud. Cherrel Turner-Callwood is a great author who loved reading and creating literature. She has worked heavily to work with children involving storytelling. Her first book was "The Adventures of Chocolate Sunshine." Cherrel is a person with an Associate's Degree in Business Administration/Accounting, a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice, and she has many certificates. She is a retired correctional officer and a Ph.d candidate. Her books are available on Amazon about her life experiences and about black history in general. When History was Black II: The Making of the United States is one of her many books to honor the power of black history. She is an expert in forming black poetry too. Cherell Turner-Callwood is one of the bravest people in my family for telling her story and inspiring others to shine the light of truth on her experiences. The Golden Rule is important, and it's important to treat people with dignity and with respect. Syreeta C. Norris (b. July 28, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the daughter of Cherrel Norris Turner-Callwood. Syreeta is my 6th cousin, and her grandparents are George Jones (1936-1986) and Ella Mae Downing-Jones (1932-2004). Cherrell Turner-Callwood's son is Terrance Terrel Tazwell (born July 1982), who is also from Philadelphia. 

Debbie Stephenson Harris is my 4th cousin being a descendant of my 5th grandmother Zilphy Claud. She was born in May 1959 in New York City. Her parents are Joseph McCoy Stephenson (1929-1973) and Mandy P. Claud Stephenson (b. 1939). Mandy Claud Stephenson's parents are Persie Booker T. Washington Claud (b. 1900) and Mandy Turner (1903-1982). Persie's parents are Frank Thomas Claud (1861-1948) and Elizabeth Whitehead (b. 1868). She is from Brooklyn, New York City. There are many of my distant cousins from New York City. Debbie Harris has been confirmed to be genetically related to me on the 23 and Me website and on the Ancestry.com website too. 

Hattie Claud Byrd was a heroic, late relative of mine. She passed away on Monday, June 16, 1997, at Sentara Hampton General Hospital. She was born in Southampton County, Virginia, and she graduated from Southampton Training School. Byrd lived in Hampton for 56 years. She was a certified nursing assistant at the Riverside Rehabilitation Convalescent Center. She loved her loyal service in the location for 25 years. That is why she was presented with an emerald pin and retired by June of 1995. Her husband was Rev. Hayden Anne Byrd (1912-1991), and they were married for 52 years at the time of his passing. Hattie C. Byrd had a son named Hayden Anderson Byrd Jr. (b. 1950) from New Jersey. Their 2 daughters are Captain Barbara  L. Maufas (b. 1948) and Gloria Byrd-Johnson (b. 1955), both being from Newport News Virginia. Hattie Claud was my 3rd cousin, and her parents are Hilliard Thomas Claud (1883-1968) and Lugssie branch (b. 1890). Hattie Claud Byrd's siblings are Effie Lillie Claud Vester (b. 1913), Edward Thomas Claude (1917-1979), Mary Odist Claud (b. 1918), Queen Esther Claud (b. 1922), Betty Sue Claud (1923-1983), Richard Marcus Claude Sr. (1925-1993), George W. Claud  (1930-2015), and Lawrence Randalph Claud (1929-2018. He was known as Lawrence Shaheed of Brooklyn, NYC. His children are Lawrence Jr., Sharon, Jo Ann, Kim, Fajr, and Mustafa). 

 

In our generation, many people have misinterpreted or outright lied about what is the definition of pro-black. Pro-black is easily the movement or ideology that simply believes that black liberation is the goal in favor of many precepts. These precepts are that black families must be developed being healthy, Black Love is Beautiful, the black community should be built up, rejecting self hatred, reject poor shaming of our people (in favor of economic justice),  and the interests of black people should be cultivated to grow generational wealth including true freedom among black people worldwide. The common lie (promoted by some) is that scandal-filled, controversial people and shills like Young Pharoah (who tons of women accused him of beating them), Tariq Nasheed (known for xenophobia), and others are representative of pro-black people. That isn't the case as being pro-black is not about hating a person who is of a different background (I don't believe in hating a person who is of a different background or color. That's wrong). It is about honoring our black African heritage and doing positive, constructive actions to improve the black community individually and collectively. That is the forthright truth. 

By Timothy