NMAAHC's New Exhibition Features Black Athletes in Hockey

The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has installed a new exhibition case dedicated to hockey. On view in the "Sports: Leveling the Playing Field" gallery, the exhibition explores hockey's early history and Black athletes' contributions, which extend to the late 19th century. Alongside the hockey case is a new statue honoring the first Black player in the National Hockey League (NHL), Willie O'Ree.

The Colored Hockey League (CHL) was founded in 1895 by descendants of African Americans that escaped slavery and fled north. Among that group were roughly 30,000 formerly enslaved African Americans that sailed to Canada after fighting alongside British troops during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. As the museum explores the widespread legacies of slavery, hockey provides an entry point to explore the experiences of African Americans who sought a life better than the one they had in the United States. Years later, their descendants created a hockey league that helped develop the modern game.

"The skill, creativity and athletic abilities of these players were unmatched and defied the belief that Black athletes were incapable of playing such a sport," said Damion Thomas, NMAAHC's curator of sports. "Their story is one of resilience and determination, mirroring that of their ancestors who migrated north to escape slavery. These athletes invested in a pastime that brought a sense of comradery and community to Black Canadians and immigrants in Canada."

Although the league was active for a brief time (1895-1930), the legacy of these Black hockey players and the all-Black league is evident today through the rising number of Black players in the NHL, most of whom hold roots from throughout the African diaspora, including Jamaica, Haiti, Canada, the United States and Nigeria. However, even after the first Black player joined the game in 1958, the presence of Black hockey players in the NHL has been slow to increase, reaching a record high of 28 players in the 2017-18 season.

"This story of hockey-the full story-acknowledges Black athletes' crucial role in shaping hockey as we know it today and tells a more inclusive history of not just hockey but the enduring legacy of slavery," Thomas said.

Several objects from the museum's collection are on view showcasing the history of the Black hockey league in Nova Scotia, Canada, known as the CHL, in which players pioneered various innovations like butterfly goaltending, a technique goaltenders use to block attempts to score. Also included are objects from Ice Hockey in Harlem and the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, two hockey programs that use the sport to encourage diversity and personal development in African American youths. In addition, objects from outstanding African American NHL players like Seth Jones and Joel Ward are on display.

[SOURCE: NHL.COM]

Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on Administration’s Voting Rights Efforts

Vice President Kamala Harris released the following statement on Administration’s Voting Rights Efforts:

Every American has a right to have their voice heard at the ballot box, and no American should be kept from voting early, voting by mail, or voting at all. Our democracy is strongest when everyone participates, and it is weaker when people are left out.

Throughout the arc of our nation’s history, many have worked—and many have died—to ensure that all Americans can cast a ballot and have their vote counted. Today, that hard-won progress is under assault.

In the last election, more people voted than ever before. Since then, more than 380 bills have been introduced across the country that would make it harder for Americans to vote. These bills seek to restrict the options that make voting more convenient and accessible, including early voting and vote by mail. Our Administration will not stand by when confronted with any effort that keeps Americans from voting.

We must protect the fundamental right to vote for all Americans regardless of where they live. There are two important bills in Congress that would do just that. The For the People Act would provide all Americans with fair and accessible voting options, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would prevent discriminatory changes to voting laws and procedures.

President Joe Biden asked me to help lead our Administration’s effort to protect the fundamental right to vote for all Americans. In the days and weeks ahead, I will engage the American people, and I will work with voting rights organizations, community organizations, and the private sector to help strengthen and uplift efforts on voting rights nationwide. And we will also work with members of Congress to help advance these bills.

The work ahead of us is to make voting accessible to all American voters, and to make sure every vote is counted through a free, fair, and transparent process. This is the work of democracy.

Wilberforce University forgives student debt for 2020-2021 students

Wilberforce University is sending its newest graduating classes home with a huge gift and peace of mind.

At the end of Saturday’s commencement exercises, President Elfred Anthony Pinkard announced to the 2020 and 2021 new alumni that their debt and other debt owed to the university by students from 2020 and 2021 has been settled and carries a zero balance.

The university’s debt erasing dollars are resourced from various scholarships such as the United Negro College Fund, Inc., Jack and Jill, Inc., and other institutional funding to help students from last year’s spring and fall semesters and spring 2021 with their higher education finances.

Last spring, during the initial COVID 19 pandemic outbreak, all Wilberforce students were relieved of financial pressure through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), set up through the CARES Act, which provided emergency financial aid for colleges and universities. This specifically helped students whose bursar office balance would have prohibited them from registering for the upcoming fall classes.

The debt relief means a brighter financial future for this graduate.

“I couldn’t believe it when he said it. It’s a blessing. I know God will be with me. I’m not worried. I can use that money and invest it into my future.” – Rodman Allen, 2021 WU Alumnus

The total tally that has been cleared from all Wilberforce students enrolled in 2020 and 2021 exceeds $375, 000. That, the president says, will move these students in a positive budgetary direction. According to the advocacy organization ProgressNow, students with outstanding student debt are 36 percent less likely to buy a home or less likely to take out car loans. Canceling student debt stimulates the economy because potential borrowers are encouraged to spend more.

“As these graduates begin their lives as responsible adults, we are honored to be able to give them a fresh start by relieving their student debt to the university.” -Dr. Elfred Anthony Pinkard, 22nd President, Wilberforce University

In recent years, the average college student loan debt is more than $30,000 and the numbers are staggering for students at HBCUs. For instance, statistics show balances for African American women can take up to 111% of their first year income. And according to the American Association of University Women, Black women also have the highest student debt loan of any racial or ethnic group. For these 2020 and 2021 Wilberforce students, those statistics have now narrowed.

President Biden Proclamation on 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre

A Proclamation on Day Of Remembrance: 100 Years After The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

One hundred years ago, a violent white supremacist mob raided, firebombed, and destroyed approximately 35 square blocks of the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Families and children were murdered in cold blood. Homes, businesses, and churches were burned. In all, as many as 300 Black Americans were killed, and nearly 10,000 were left destitute and homeless. Today, on this solemn centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, I call on the American people to reflect on the deep roots of racial terror in our Nation and recommit to the work of rooting out systemic racism across our country.

Before the Tulsa Race Massacre, Greenwood was a thriving Black community that had grown into a proud economic and cultural hub. At its center was Greenwood Avenue, commonly known as Black Wall Street. Many of Greenwood’s 10,000 residents were Black sharecroppers who fled racial violence after the Civil War.

In the decades following the Civil War and Reconstruction, Greenwood became a place where Black Americans were able to make a new start and secure economic progress despite the continued pain of institutional and overt racism. The community was home to a growing number of prominent Black entrepreneurs as well as working-class Black families who shared a commitment to social activism and economic opportunity. As Greenwood grew, Greenwood Avenue teemed with successful Black-owned businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, and offices for doctors, lawyers, and dentists. The community also maintained its own school system, post office, a savings and loan institution, hospital, and bus and taxi service.

Despite rising Jim Crow systems and the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan, Greenwood’s economic prosperity grew, as did its citizens’ demands for equal rights. This made the community a source of pride for many Black Americans. It also made the neighborhood and its families a target of white supremacists. In 2 days, a violent mob tore down the hard-fought success of Black Wall Street that had taken more than a decade to build.

In the years that followed, the destruction caused by the mob was followed by laws and policies that made recovery nearly impossible. In the aftermath of the attack, local ordinances were passed requiring new construction standards that were prohibitively expensive, meaning many Black families could not rebuild. Later, Greenwood was redlined by mortgage companies and deemed “hazardous” by the Federal Government so that Black homeowners could not access home loans or credit on equal terms. And in later decades, Federal investment, including Federal highway construction, tore down and cut off parts of the community. The attack on Black families and Black wealth in Greenwood persisted across generations.

The Federal Government must reckon with and acknowledge the role that it has played in stripping wealth and opportunity from Black communities. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to acknowledging the role Federal policy played in Greenwood and other Black communities and addressing longstanding racial inequities through historic investments in the economic security of children and families, programs to provide capital for small businesses in economically disadvantaged areas, including minority-owned businesses, and ensuring that infrastructure projects increase opportunity, advance racial equity and environmental justice, and promote affordable access.

A century later, the fear and pain from the devastation of Greenwood is still felt. As Viola Fletcher, a 107-year-old survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre courageously testified before the Congress recently, “I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot.”

With this proclamation, I commit to the survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, including Viola Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, the descendants of victims, and to this Nation that we will never forget. We honor the legacy of the Greenwood community, and of Black Wall Street, by reaffirming our commitment to advance racial justice through the whole of our government, and working to root out systemic racism from our laws, our policies, and our hearts.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 31, 2021, a Day of Remembrance: 100 Years After The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. I call upon the people of the United States to commemorate the tremendous loss of life and security that occurred over those 2 days in 1921, to celebrate the bravery and resilience of those who survived and sought to rebuild their lives again, and commit together to eradicate systemic racism and help to rebuild communities and lives that have been destroyed by it.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre Trailer | Premieres May 30 at 8/7c

The HISTORY® Channel sets the premiere date for its new two-hour documentary “Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre” on Sunday, May 30 at 8PM ET/PT. Executive produced by NBA super star and philanthropist Russell Westbrook, and directed by Peabody and Emmy-Award winning director Stanley Nelson (“Freedom Riders”) and Peabody and duPont-Award winner Marco Williams (“Two Towns of Jasper”), the documentary commemorates the 100th anniversary of the horrific Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, one of the worst acts of racial violence in American history, and calls attention to the previously ignored but necessary repair of a town once devastated.

Watch the trailer below: