The tensions among North and South existed long before the American Civil War. Back in the Revolutionary times, the North and the South competed for political power. After 1848, these tensions only grew. There were many anti-slavery elements in the North and pro-slavery elements in the South. By 1860, there were four million slaves in the South. It is important to note that abolitionists and anti-slavery black people fought for freedom in the South too. A small number of Northerners wanted to have the immediate abolition of slavery. A much larger number of Northerners opposed the expansion of slavery and sought to put it on the path of extinction. There were many violent reactions to abolitionist advocates in the North like the burning of an anti-slavery society in Pennsylvania Hall. Many resistance actions to slavery were peaceful, some people used self-defense, and they were outright resistance against slavery in other ways. Resistance is justified as slaves lived in a tyrannical state and a tyrannical system. Slavery is fascism and tyranny, so black people have every God-given right to resist slavery by any means necessary to have freedom. The slave rebellions by Gabriel Prosser in 1800, Denmark Vesey in 1822, Nat Turner in 1831, and John Brown in 1859 caused racist whites in the South to possess fear. These racists created stricter oversight of slaves was imposed and the rights of free black people were reduced. Southern racist white Democrats back then insisted that slavery was of economic, social, and cultural benefit, even to the slaves themselves (which is complete racist nonsense). Plantation owners relied on slavery for their economic power. The plantations produced resources which were used by European markets and Northern cities, so the North is not innocent in the slavery tyrannical system in America back then. Many Northern cities and regional industries were tied economically to slavery via banking, shipping, manufacturing, including their textile mills. Southern states benefited from slavery by having an increased apportionment in Congress due to partial counting of slaves in their populations. The Compromise of 1850 dealt with slavery. The Compromise of 1850 was created in a package of five separate bills passed by the U.S. Congress in September 1850 (promoted by Whig Senator Henry Clay, Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas, and President Millard Fillmore). It wanted to defuse tensions between slave and free states, but tensions grew. So, the Compromise of 1850 allowed California to enter the Union as a free state, strengthened fugitive slave laws with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, banned the slave trade in Washington, D.C. (while still allowing slavery to exist there), and created northern and western borders for Texas. The deal made New Mexico a territory and the Territory of Utah with no restrictions on whether any future state from this territory would be free or slave. Sojourner Truth gives her "Ain't I a Woman" speech at a women's rights convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851. March 20, 1852 was when Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was published. December 1853 was when Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, by Williams Wells Brown, is the first novel published by an African-American. John Mercer Langston is one of the first African Americans elected to public office when elected as a town clerk in Ohio by 1855.
The Missouri Compromise was repealed in 1854 with the Kansas–Nebraska Act; promoted by Stephen Douglas in the name of "popular sovereignty" and democracy, this act of Congress permitted voters to decide on the legality of slavery in each territory. Anti-slavery forces rose in anger and alarm, forming the new Republican Party. Pro- and anti- contingents rushed to Kansas to vote for or against slavery, resulting in a miniature civil war called Bleeding Kansas. By the late 1850s, the young Republican Party dominated nearly all Northern states, and hence the electoral colleges. The party insisted that slavery would never be allowed to expand and would therefore slowly die out.
May 21, 1856 was when the Sacking of Lawrence in Bleeding Kansas took place. May 25, 1856 was when John Brown, whom Abraham Lincoln called a "misguided fanatic", retaliates for Lawrence's sacking in the Pottawatomie massacre. Wilberforce University is founded by collaboration between Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal representatives in 1856. Harriet E. Wilson writes the autobiographical novel Our Nig in 1859. In 1859, Ableman v. Booth the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state courts cannot issue rulings that contradict the decisions of federal courts; this decision uphold the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and in August 22, 1859, the last known slave ship to arrive to the U.S., the Clotilde, docks in secrecy at Mobile, Alabama. The Supreme Court's 1857 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford ruled that the Compromise was unconstitutional, and that free Black people were not U.S. citizens. The decision enraged Northerners, and the Republicans worried that the decision could be used to expand slavery.
The 1860 Presidential election was one of the most important elections in human history. Abraham Lincoln, with his imperfections, won the election, and he was a threat to the Southern aristocracy, because Lincoln was a lifelong opponent of slavery. Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer and an Illinois state legislature, military veteran, and lawyer. He was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky in the South, and he grew to be one of the greatest President in American history. The end of the 1860 election caused the Southern states to secede and leave the Union to form the Confederacy. By 1860, the country was heavily divided among the anti-slavery Republicans and the pro-slavery Democrats. The incumbent president, James Buchanan, like his predecessor, Franklin Pierce, was a Northern Democrat with Southern sympathies. Buchanan also adamantly promised not to seek reelection. From the mid-1850s, the anti-slavery Republican Party became a major political force, driven by Northern voter opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the Supreme Court's 1857 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford. From the election of 1856, the Republican Party had replaced the defunct Whig Party as the major opposition to the Democrats. A group of former Whigs and Know Nothings (which was a xenophobic, anti-immigrant party) formed the Constitutional Union Party, which sought to avoid disunion by resolving divisions over slavery with some new compromise. The Republicans had many people running for President like Abraham Lincoln, William Seward (a Senator from New York), Simon Cameron (a Senator from Pennsylvania), Salmon P. Chase (a governor of Ohio), Edward Bates (the former representative from Missouri), John McLean (an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court), Benjamin Wade (a Senator from Ohio), and William L. Dayton (a former Senator from New Jersey). The Republican National Convention met in mid-May 1860 after the Democrats had been forced to adjourn their convention in Charleston. With the Democrats in disarray and a sweep of the Northern states possible, the Republicans felt confident going into their convention in Chicago. William H. Seward from New York was considered the front-runner, followed by Salmon P. Chase from Ohio, and Missouri's Edward Bates. Abraham Lincoln from Illinois, was lesser-known, and was not considered to have a good chance against Seward. Seward had been governor and senator of New York and was an able politician with a Whig background. Also running were John C. Frémont, William L. Dayton, Cassius M. Clay, and Benjamin Wade, who might be able to win if the convention deadlocked.
Chase, a former Democrat, had alienated many of the former Whigs by his coalition with the Democrats in the late 1840s. He had also opposed tariffs demanded by Pennsylvania and even had opposition from his own delegation from Ohio. However, Chase's firm antislavery stance made him popular with the Radical Republicans. But what he offered in policy he lacked in charisma and political acumen.The conservative Bates was an unlikely candidate but found support from Horace Greeley, who sought any chance to defeat Seward, with whom he now had a bitter feud. Bates outlined his positions on the extension of slavery into the territories and equal constitutional rights for all citizens, positions that alienated his supporters in the border states and Southern conservatives, while German Americans in the party opposed Bates because of his past association with the Know Nothings.
Into this mix came Lincoln. He was not unknown; he had gained prominence in the 1858 Lincoln–Douglas debates and had represented Illinois in the House of Representatives. Lincoln had been quietly eyeing a run since the debates, ensuring that they were widely published and that a biography of himself was published. He gained great notability with his acclaimed February 1860 Cooper Union speech, which may have ensured him the nomination although he had not yet announced his intention to run. Delivered in Seward's home state and attended by Greeley, Lincoln used the speech to show that the Republican Party was a party of moderates, not crazed fanatics, as Southerners and Democrats claimed. Afterward, Lincoln was in much demand for speaking engagements. As the convention approached, Lincoln did not campaign actively, as the "office was expected to seek the man". So, it did at the Illinois state convention, a week before the national convention. Young politician Richard Oglesby found several fence rails that Lincoln may have split as a youngster and paraded them into the convention with a banner that proclaimed Lincoln to be "The Rail Candidate" for president. Lincoln received a thunderous ovation, surpassing his and his political allies' expectations. Lincoln's campaign managers had printed and distributed thousands of fake convention admission tickets to Lincoln supporters to ensure and increase the crowd's support.
Abraham Lincoln had a hard time to win the nomination. He wanted to be the second choice of most delegates in order to into the 2nd round. As the convention developed, however, it was revealed that frontrunners Seward, Chase, and Bates had each alienated factions of the Republican Party. Seward had been painted as a radical, and his speeches on slavery predicted inevitable conflict, which spooked moderate delegates. He also was firmly opposed to nativism, which further weakened his support. Seward was right to oppose nativism. He had also been abandoned by his longtime friend and political ally Horace Greeley, publisher of the influential New-York Tribune. Seward won the first round and Lincoln was in second place as Lincoln predicted. Many voters switched from Seward to Lincoln. The convention was deadlocked. Abraham Lincoln's delegates convinced delegates to abandon Seward to go for Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was a moderate on political subjects including slavery, promoted economic issues, and had a strong oratory ability to allow the delegates to pick him to be the Presidential candidate of the Republican Party. Senator Hannibal Hamlin from Maine was his vice-Presidential running mate. The Republicans wanted tariffs to protect industry and workers, a Homestead Act granting free farmland in the West to settlers, and the funding of a transcontinental railroad. There was no mention of Mormonism (which had been condemned in the Party's 1856 platform), the Fugitive Slave Act, personal liberty laws, or the Dred Scott decision. While the Seward forces were disappointed at the nomination of a little-known western upstart, they rallied behind Lincoln, while abolitionists were angry at the selection of a moderate and had little faith in Lincoln. The 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago nominated Abraham Lincoln, a former one-term Whig Representative from Illinois.
The 1860 Presidential election Democratic conventions were tumultuous, becuase the Democrats split into Northern and Southern party conventions. Its platform promised not to interfere with slavery in the South but opposed extension of slavery into the territories. The 1860 Democratic National Convention adjourned in Charleston, South Carolina, without agreeing on a nominee, but a second convention in Baltimore, Maryland, nominated Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas's support for the concept of popular sovereignty, which called for each territory's settlers to decide locally on the status of slavery, alienated many radical pro-slavery Southern Democrats, who wanted the territories, and perhaps other lands, open to slavery. Northern Democratic candidates were Stephen Douglas, James Gurthrie, Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, Joseph Lane, Daniel S. Dickinson, Andrew Johnson (a Senator from Tennessee), and Howell Cobb. Douglas' running mate was Hershel V. Johnson (the 41st Governor of Georgia). Douglas believed in popular sovereignty in allowing states to vote for slavery or not. Radical pro-slavery people called the Fire Eaters left the convention on June 18, 1860, because they would not adopt a resolution to extend slavery into territories whose voter didn't want it.
With President Buchanan's support, Southern Democrats held their own convention, nominating Vice President John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky. This convention took place on June 11, 1860, at Richmond, Virginia. This Southern Democratic convention decided to nominate Democrat John C. Breckinridge for president and Senator Joseph Lane from Oregon for vice president. The Breckinridge and Lane ticket was supported by the Buchanan administration. The 1860 Constitutional Union Convention, which hoped to avoid the slavery issue entirely, nominated a ticket led by former Tennessee Senator John Bell. Many in the xenophobic Know Nothing party and the Whig Party were in the Constitutional Union Party. Gerrit Smith was in the Liberty Union Party (he was a former representative from New York) being a Radical Abolitionist. Nonetheless, he remained popular in the party because he had helped inspire some of John Brown's supporters at the Raid on Harpers Ferry. In his letter, Smith donated $50 to pay for the printing of ballots in the various states. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were rivals. There was the People's Party too. Lincoln lost to Douglas in the Illinois Senate race just two years earlier.
The 1860 Presidential election was long. In their campaigning, Bell and Douglas both claimed that disunion would not necessarily follow a Lincoln election. Nonetheless, loyal army officers in Virginia, Kansas and South Carolina warned Lincoln of military preparations to the contrary. Secessionists threw their support behind Breckinridge in an attempt either to force the anti-Republican candidates to coordinate their electoral votes or throw the election into the House of Representatives, where the selection of the president would be made by the representatives elected in 1858, before the Republican majorities in both House and Senate achieved in 1860 were seated in the new 37th Congress. Mexican War hero Winfield Scott suggested to Lincoln that he assume the powers of a commander-in-chief before inauguration. However, historian Bruce Chadwick observes that Lincoln and his advisors ignored the widespread alarms and threats of secession as mere election trickery.
Indeed, voting in the South was not as monolithic as the Electoral College map would make it seem. Economically, culturally, and politically, the South was made up of three regions. In the states of the Upper South, also known as the Border South (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri), unionist popular votes were scattered among Lincoln, Douglas, and Bell, to form a majority in all four. In the four Middle South states, there was a unionist majority divided between Douglas and Bell in Virginia and Tennessee; in North Carolina and Arkansas, the unionist (Bell and Douglas) vote approached a majority. In three of the seven Deep South states, unionists (Bell and Douglas) won divided majorities in Georgia and Louisiana and neared it in Alabama. Breckinridge convincingly carried only four of the seven states of the Deep South (South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas). The Deep South states had the largest enslaved populations, and consequently the smallest enfranchised free white populations. The election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860, and was noteworthy for the exaggerated sectionalism and voter enthusiasm in a country that was soon to dissolve into civil war. Voter turnout was 81.2%, the highest in American history up to that time, and the second-highest overall (exceeded only in the election of 1876) or 1.5% of the voting age population.
Lincoln's main opponent in the North was Douglas, who won the popular vote in Missouri, electoral votes in New Jersey, and the second highest popular vote total nationally. Douglas was the only candidate in the 1860 election to win electoral votes in both free and slave states. In the South, Bell won three states and Breckinridge swept the remaining 11. Lincoln's election motivated seven Southern states, all having voted for Breckinridge, to secede before the inauguration in March. Although Lincoln received no votes in 10 Southern states, this was due not to his having been removed from the ballot in those states but rather to the Republican Party's absence in those states (parties rather than states printed ballots in that era). The American Civil War began less than two months after Lincoln's inauguration, with the Battle of Fort Sumter; afterward four further states seceded. Lincoln would go on to win re-election in the 1864 United States presidential election. The 1860 election was the first of six consecutive Republican victories. Despite Lincoln's commanding victory, this was the first election in American history in which the winner had failed to win his home county, with Lincoln narrowly losing Sangamon County, Illinois to Douglas.
Lincoln won the Electoral College with less than 40 percent of the popular vote nationwide by carrying states above the Mason–Dixon line and north of the Ohio River, plus the states of California and Oregon in the Far West. Unlike every preceding president-elect, Lincoln did not carry even one slave state; he instead carried all eighteen free states exclusively. There were no ballots distributed for Lincoln in ten of the Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. There was a ballot in Virginia. This withheld 61 potential electoral votes from Lincoln, a fifth of what was the total 303 available to the other candidates. In a similar divide between North and South electors, Breckenridge carried nine of the ten states that withheld Lincoln from the ballot, the exception being Tennessee.
Lincoln won the 1860 election by November 1860. Then, the South left the Union. Lincoln's victory and imminent inauguration as president was the immediate cause for declarations of secession by seven Southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas) from December 20, 1860 to February 1, 1861. They then formed the Confederate States of America. On February 9, 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederacy. Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina once voted against secession. They would later be part of the Confederacy. Missouri voted against secession too and stayed in the Union.
Another bloc of Southerners resented Northern criticism of slavery and restrictions on slavery but opposed secession as dangerous and unnecessary. However, the "conditional Unionists" also hoped that when faced with secession, Northerners would stifle anti-slavery rhetoric and accept pro-slavery rules for the territories. It was that group that prevented immediate secession in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas when Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861. He took no action against the secessionists in the seven "Confederate" states but also declared that secession had no legal validity and refused to surrender federal property in those states. (He also reiterated his opposition to slavery anywhere in the territories.) Preparing to form an army, on March 6, 1861, Jefferson Davis called for 100,000 volunteers to serve for twelve months. The political standoff continued until mid-April, when Davis ordered Confederate troops to bombard and capture Fort Sumter.
Lincoln then called for troops to put down rebellion, which wiped out the possibility that the crisis could be resolved by compromise. Nearly all "conditional Unionists" joined the secessionists, including for example presidential candidate John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party, whose home state of Tennessee was the last to secede. The Virginia convention and the reconvened Arkansas convention both declared secession, as did the legislatures of Tennessee and North Carolina; all four states joined the Confederacy. Missouri stayed in the United States but had an unrecognized dual government.
After the Civil War begun, Douglas then threw his support behind Lincoln and undertook a tour to bolster support for the Union, making visits to Virginia, Ohio, and Illinois. Douglas declared "There are no neutrals, only patriots and traitors". However, three months after Lincoln's inauguration, Douglas contracted typhoid fever and died in Chicago on June 3, 1861. By April of 1861, President Abraham Lincoln experienced the greatest political crisis of his life which was the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln knew of the stakes, and his surprising contributions to the Union in its victory included stories that no movie can capture. The future Union victory against the Confederate enemy was one of the greatest blessings in American history. The war started after the Confederacy used an illegal, unjust attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April 1861. As time went onward, President Abraham Lincoln would be a more compassionate progressive man in 1865 than in 1860 indeed.
The 67th Annual Grammy Awards has taken onward on a solemn and inspirational tone in the midst of the wildfires of Southern California and other natural disasters in North Carolina, etc. The award ceremony took place at the Cypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. The Grammys honored the recordings, compositions, and artists from September 16, 2023, to August 30, 2024. The winners are chosen by the member of the Recording Academy by February 2, 2025. CBS and Paramount+ hosted the broadcast. The South African comedian Trevor Noah hosted the ceremony for the fifth consecutive time. No new categories were introduced for the first time in four years. In an urgent letter to the 12,000 voting members of the Recording Academy, chief executive officer (CEO) Harvey Mason Jr. urged them to cast their votes with "purpose, intention, and integrity" and without "bias, grudge-holding, or careless voting." In a joint statement, Mason Jr. and Tammy Hurt, the chair of the Recording Academy's board of trustees, confirmed that the ceremony would proceed as planned "in close coordination with local authorities to ensure public safety and responsible use of area resources." This edition, however, carried a "renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours."
During the broadcast, some commercial airtime was donated to help small businesses affected by the wildfires. Host Trevor Noah announced this initiative, and special guests appeared in the commercials. Featured businesses included Orla Floral Studio of Altadena with an appearance by Doja Cat, Two Dragons Martial Arts of Altadena with an appearance by Charlie Puth, Rhythms Of The Village of Altadena with an appearance by Anderson .Paak, Paliskates Skate Shop in Pacific Palisades with an appearance by Avril Lavigne, and the L.A. Lost Stuffy Project with an appearance by the Jonas Brothers. Additionally, high school choir students from Pasadena Waldorf School in Altadena and Palisades Charter High School in the Pacific Palisades, both of which were damaged in the wildfires, sang backup vocals during the Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock performance of "We Are The World." There were many award changes too during the Grammys in 2025. For example, Best Pop Dance Recording was renamed to Best Dance Pop Recording.
Best Dance/Electronic Music Album was renamed to Best Dance/Electronic Album. Best Song for Social Change, a Special Merit Award, was renamed to the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award. It will now be recognized as a CEO's Merit Award, with the finalists and recipients selected annually by a committee composed of a community of peers dedicated to "artistic expression, the craft of songwriting, and the power of songs to affect social change." The premiere ceremony took place on January 29, 2025 with performers like Muni Long, Yolanda Adams, Deborah Cox, Scott Hoying, Angelique Kidjo, Taj Mahal, Joe Bonamassa, Bela Flack, Joyce DiDonato, Renee Fleming, Kelli O'Hara, and Kevin Puts.
When the 67th Annual Grammy Awards started, there was a tribute to Los Angeles with the famous song of "I Love L.A." which was performed by Dawes, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley, Brittany Howard, and St. Vincent. There was the song Birds of a Feather shown by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell. Sabrina Carpenter shown the songs of Esperesso and Please Please Please. Chappel Roan shown the song of Pink Pony Club, Khruangbin expressed the song of May Ninth. Music was expressed by Benson Boone, Doechii, DJ Miss Milan, Teddy Swims, Shaboozey, and Raye. California Dreamin' was shown by Bruno Mars and Lady gaga in a tribute to Los Angeles. The Weekend and Playboi Carti shown the songs of Cry for Me and Timeless. A tribute to Quincy Jones was done by Herbie Hancock, Cynthia Erivo, Lainey Wilson, Jacob Collier, Stevie Wonder, and Janelle Monáe. They sang the songs produced by Quincy Jones which are Killer Joe, Fly Me to the Moon, Let the Good Times Roll, Bluesette, We Are the World, and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (performed by of course by Janelle Monae). Additionally, the music video for "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga premiered during a commercial break in the broadcast.
Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" swept all five of its nominations, which included Record of the Year and Song of the Year, making it the most decorated song in Grammy Awards history. He became the second rap artist to win both awards, after Childish Gambino in 2019. Beyoncé received the most nominations at the ceremony with eleven and won three awards, which included Album of the Year and Best Country Album for Cowboy Carter. She became the first Black artist to win Best Country Album and the first Black woman to win Album of the Year since Lauryn Hill in 1999. Beyonce was shocked and surprised to win Album of the Year and County Music Album of the Year. Chappell Roan took home Best New Artist, and Sierra Ferrell swept the American roots categories, winning all four of her nominations Best New Artist nominee Doechii won Best Rap Album for Alligator Bites Never Heal, becoming the third woman to win this award, after Hill (with the Fugees) in 1997 and Cardi B in 2019. Other three-time winners included Charli XCX and St. Vincent. Other artists that led nominations included Charli XCX and Post Malone with eight each, and Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish with seven each. Dan Nigro won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Amy Allen won Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical. The Best Pop Solo Performance award was song by Sabrina Carpenter for the song Esperesso. Best Rock Performance was sent to The Beatles for Now and Then. Broken Man was called Best Rock Song done by Annie Clark. The Best Rock Album was Hackney Diamonds made by the Roling Stones. Made for Me by Muni Long was awarded Best R&B Performance from Live on BET. Best Traditional R&B Performance was done by Lucky Daye for his song of That's You. AverySunshine won the Best Progressive R&B Album for So Glad to Know You. Saturn won Best R&B song with Rob Bisel, Cian Ducrot, Carter Lang, Solana Rowe, Jared Solomon, Scott Zhang, and SZA. Chris Brown won Best R&B Album for 11:11 Deluxe. Best Melodic Rap Performance was won by Rapsody and Erykah Badu for the song 3:AM. CeCe Winans won Best Gospel Album for More Than This.
Margaret Taylor-Burroughs' later years was filled with power and inspiration. Margaret and her husband Charles co-founded what is now the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago in 1961. The institution was originally known as the Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art and made its debut in the living room of their house at 3806 S. Michigan Avenue in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's south side, and Taylor-Burroughs served as its first Executive Director. She was proud of the institution's grass-roots beginnings: "We're the only one that grew out of the Indigenous Black community. We weren't started by anybody downtown; we were started by ordinary folks." Burroughs served as executive director until she retired in 1985 and was then named director emeritus, remaining active in the museum's operations and fundraising efforts. The museum moved to its current location at 740 E. 56th Place in Washington Park in 1973, and today is the oldest museum of Black culture in the United States. Both the current museum building, and the Burroughs' S. Michigan Avenue home are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the house is a designated Chicago landmark. Burroughs was inspired by Harriet Tubman, Gerard L. Lew, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and W.E.B. Du Bois. In Eugene Feldman's The Birth and Building of the DuSable Museum, Feldman writes about the influence Du Bois had on Burroughs' life. He believes that Burroughs greatly admired Du Bois and writes that she campaigned to bring him to Chicago to lecture to audiences. Feldman wrote: "If we read about 'cannabalistic and primitive Africa,'… it is a deliberate effort to put down a whole people and Dr. Du Bois fought this… Dr. Burroughs saw Dr. Du Bois and what he stood for and how he suffered himself to attain exposure of his views. She identified entirely with this important effort." Therefore, Burroughs clearly believed in Dr. Du Bois and the power of his message. The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center has inspired future artists for generations.
This year is the 50th year anniversary of the groundbreaking show of The Jefferson. It lasted from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985. Its 11 seasons tackled many controversial topics and was one of the longest running sitcoms in history. It was created by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross, and Bernie West. It was developed by Norman Lear, who was a progressive activist who lived for 101 years. The Jefferson focused on a black American family who moved into another neighborhood being upper middle class whose stars were plenty. The actors and actresses of the show are Isabel Sanford, Sherman Hemsley, Marla Gibbs, Roxie Roker, Franklin Cover, Paul Benedict, Mike Events, Berlinda Tolbert, Zara Cully, Damon Evans, Jay Hammer, and other people. The show is so popular that it is still shown all over the world in syndication to this very day. It was shown in CBS. The characters of George and Louise Jefferson moved from Queens to Manhattan to develop George's dry-cleaning chain, Jefferson Cleaners. The Jeffersons were shown on All in the Family too. The Jeffersons was politically incorrect and dealt with issues decades ahead of its time like alcoholism, racism, suicide, gun control, transgender issues, the Klan, adult illiteracy, sexism, etc. Many racial epithets were used. Even The Jefferson ended in controversy by the actors and actresses not knowing that the show ended, except by news reports (which was offensive). Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford were legends of acting and theater long before 1970s. They had an acting chemistry that was powerful and unique. As time went on in the show, the character of George Jefferson learned lessons about the nuisance of life, he constantly confronted racism, and he developed friendships with his neighbors (who are Tom and Helen Willis. They portrayed an interracial couple). Marla Gibbs played Florence Johnston who used humor and wit to combat George Jefferson's character's words. Paul Benedict played Harry Bentley, the kind and loyal eccentric British next-door neighbor, who worked as an interpreter at the United Nations. George Jefferson's mother was played by Zara Cully (who was Olivia Jefferson). The Jeffersons taught us that we can go from different places in life, but it is always important to maintain your core legitimate principles, stand up for yourself, and never be ashamed of being what you are. The Jeffersons gave another diverse picture of black life that wasn't shown readily before the 1970s, and it inspired future shows that outline the greatness of black people.
By Timothy
