W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey discussed the same economic issues that we are dealing with today. We as black people make up one of the largest consumer groups in the country but why we have not translated that into ownership on a broad scale? Most the (23) major cities cites in this article have extremely high crime rates; sub-standard school and declining infrastructures that all spin the vast majority of our young men into drug dealing and other petty criminal offenses; therefore we over-populate the prisons. The slaves who perservered gave us life, the people who picketed and marched created opportunities for us. What will be our legacy for the next generation? This and many other issues of the day were discussed and in the early 1900's and they have yet to be resolved?

This is a wonderful article. I will definitely take this article and present it to my church youth group

I was just discussing with a co-worker how it seems that media and print publications have not really been highlighting the achievements of African-Americans as they did when I was going to elementary and high school. I remember that I could not wait to February to see Roots or go to a Black History Program. This was a wonderful article and I will definitely pass it on.

Another Black History International Fact and a celebration for all Black Women.

Angie Brooks - Became the first black woman to serve as president of the United Nations General Assembly. Here is an article on her rise to this historic position from the UN Chronicle.

President of the General Assembly. Angie E. Brooks' tenure with the United Nations was the culmination of a lifetime of hardship and hard work. Unlike Mrs. Pandit, who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Ms. Brooks was one of nine children of a "back-country minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church". She grew up in a foster home as her parents were too poor to support her. After studying law through a tutor, she was admitted to Shaw University in North Carolina. Unable to pay for travelling expenses, she showcased the beginnings of her lifelong tenacity by personally entreating the President of Liberia for funding. "In Liberia, the President's office is open to all … I kept plaguing [President William V. S. Tubman]. I heard he likes to walk at six [a.m.], so early one morning I went to see him."2 Her repeated requests finally paid off and she received the necessary funds to study in the United States.

After working with the Justice Department of Liberia, Ms. Brooks was appointed in the delegation to the United Nations in 1954, just as Mrs. Pandit's tenure was ending. She continued serving for the next two decades, culminating in her own appointment as the twenty-fourth General Assembly President in 1969. Mrs. Brooks had an illustrious career with the United Nations. In 1956, she served as Vice-Chairman of the Assembly's Fourth Committee, which monitored the state of colonial and non-self-governing territories. Six years later, she became Chairman of the United Nations Commission for Rwanda-Burundi, followed in 1964 with a chairmanship in the UN visiting mission to the pre-independent Pacific Islands. In 1965, she was Vice-President, and the following year President, of the Trusteeship Council-the UN watchdog over its trust territories. She was the first woman and the first African to serve in this capacity.

In her opening speech as Assembly President, Ms. Brooks did not spare the Organization her criticism: "The UN … has suffered a decline in prestige in recent years because of its lack of dynamism. Our weakness … seems to lie in the fact that we all too often view world affairs somewhat parochially, as if they were being played out at the Headquarters on the East River of New York. We have sometimes failed to realize that neither oratory nor agreements between delegates, nor even resolutions or recommendations, have had much impact on the course of affairs in the world at large." Mrs. Brooks' legacy lay in her "mixture of feminine charm and shrewd diplomacy".2 She was adept at getting her point across without much diplomatic sidestepping and was not averse giving her fellow delegates a "straightforward" and "motherly" scolding. After representing her country in the United Nations, she served as a Justice on Liberia's Supreme Court.

Thank You for this email. It is very informational and educational.

you are right on time. I am preaching on this subject in arkansas soon and as always the topic had to have something to verify it to me. Thanks a million, the topic is to be preached.

I would like to thank you for this article. I printed it out and had my two children read it. They are ages 12 and 81/2.

This is a great summary which I plan to share with my 16 year old son, whose father is a scientist. So of course I noticed your summary left out many significant inventors: Benjamin Banneker (wooden clock); Elijah McCoy ("the real McCoy" oil-dripping cup); Lewis Latimer (carbon filament in the light bulb); Granville Woods (electric train); Sarah Goode (1st black women to receive a U.S. patent for a cabinet bed);Dr. Patricia. E. Bath (created a laser-based device to perform cataracts surgery); and President Obama, has Donna Auguste to thank for his Blackberry, she headed the team of engineers whose work led to today's PDA's. Perhaps you kept the list short because there are almost too many to fit in any brief summary.