Had she remained in the Deep South, Mary Ellen Pleasant could have possibly received as much–if not more–recognition for her contributions as Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and Rosa Parks…to name a few. Ms. Pleasant’s story was unique in comparison with many Blacks who were enslaved in the Antebellum South: Born in Augusta, GA in the early 1800s, she was born as the illegitimate daughter of the son of then-Virginia governor and a Haitian voodoo priestess, who was enslaved  as well.

As a child, Pleasant was taken out of slavery by an unknown family. As a young woman, Pleasant married a wealthy Mulatto abolitionist by James Smith sometime in the 1840’s. After her husband’s untimely death, Pleasant inherited his substantial fortune.

Moving to New Orleans shortly after this turn of events, she connected with a woman named Queen Marie Laveau–also known as one of the greatest voodoo priestesses to reside in the “Crescent City”. It was said that Pleasant studied under Laveau to learn the science of voodoo as a means of empowering her people. In spite of her selfless acts of service to her fellow Melanoid people in New Orleans, it was a short matter of time before she would be on the move again — this time to San Francisco.

In April of 1852, Mary Ellen Pleasant arrived in the Bay Area’s largest city. Once she got there, she had to take on two identities, due to California’s Fugitive Slave Act of 1852 –in order to avoid being captured by slave hunters. Under her two identities, she lived a double life — One as “Mrs. Ellen Smith” (her married name), and the other as “Mrs. Pleasants”, who operated as a businesswoman and abolitionist. Under the “Ellen Smith” moniker, she worked as a white boardinghouse steward and cook. With a job in the service sector, she was often in the midst of a sizable number of wealthy white businessmen in ‘Frisco, who she served as she worked. She was well-liked by many of the men, but she used their admiration for her as leverage to have them hire Black people, and give them benefits they were previously denied access to. It was because of her personal brand of power brokering that many people in her circle nicknamed her “The Black City Hall”.

With a secret business partner, Pleasant eventually amassed a fortune worth over $30 million. She used much of that fortune to challenge the white supremacist status quo that’s always plagued this country, with her most notable deed being that she financially backed the storied abolitionist, John Brown.

For more on the story of Mary Ellen Pleasant, follow this link.

B. Clark

]]> https://www.melanoidnation.org/mary-ellen-pleasant-the-30-million-dollar-mother-of-civil-rights-in-california/feed/ 121 https://www.melanoidnation.org/black-to-school-heres-a-list-of-several-reputable-african-centered-schools-in-the-u-s/ https://www.melanoidnation.org/black-to-school-heres-a-list-of-several-reputable-african-centered-schools-in-the-u-s/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2015 05:54:50 +0000 http://melanoidnation.org/?p=2477 Across the country, children everywhere are seeing their summer vacations ending, only to have them return to school for another year of education. In the case of Melanoid children, many of them are denied the opportunities to access a respectful education that will enable them to become well-rounded and competitive adults in the “real world” (after high school). Listed below are several educational institutions that teach an African-Centered curriculum, which is extremely critical for our children to have as it builds a strong cultural foundation for themselves in addition to them receiving the conventional worldly education/skills as well.

1. Marcus Garvey School (Los Angeles)

School Type: Co-ed & Pre-K/Elementary Private School

Head of School: Dr. Anyim C. Palmer

Website: http://mgsla.org/

2. NationHouse (Washington, D.C.)

School Type: Grade School

Head of School: Kwame Agyei Akoto

Website: http://www.nationhouse.org/

3. Timbuktu Academy (Detroit)

School Type: K-8

Head of School: Cha-Rhonda Edgerson

Website: http://www.timbuktuacademy.org/

4. Sankofa Academy (Houston)

School Type: Grade School

Head of School: Toni Imani Fisher

Website: http://sisterhoodcreations.com/sankofa_academy

5. Betty Shabazz International Charter Schools/Barbara A. Sizemore/DuSable Leadership Academy (Chicago)

School Type(s): K-12

Head of School: Frank Davis

Website: http://www.bsics.org/

6. Freedom Home Academy

School Type: Private Home School (Based in Chicago)

Head of School: Marcus Kline

Website: http://www.fhaintl.org/index.php

7. Little Sun People (Brooklyn)

School Type: Preschool

Head of School: Fela Barclift

Website: http://www.littlesunpeople.com/

8. ILE OMODE SCHOOL (Oakland)

School Type: Pre K-8

Head of School: Jahi Awakoaiye

Website: http://www.ileomode.org/draft1/index.htm

9. Imhotep Institute Charter High School (Philadelphia)

School Type: High School

Website: http://imhotepcharter.org/website/

 10. Kamali Academy (New Orleans)

School Type: K-12

Head of School: Dr. Samori Camara

B. Clark

Below is a short video clip that effectively highlights the hypocrisy of George “Dubya” Bush as he cozies himself up with young Melanoid girls for selfies, dancing a jig with his wife (Laura) for the cameras, and makes his overall presence felt in New Orleans by delivering speeches and interviews which expressed contrived nuggets of contrition. Keep in mind that it was Bush and his administration that were slow to respond to the cries of the thousands of Melanoid people who were displaced from their homes because of Katrina, infected with illnesses as a result of being exposed to unsanitary conditions in the storm’s aftermath, and outright murdered in cold blood by suspected white supremacists who saw the storm’s Melanoid victims as ‘looters’.

B. Clark