By Garry Blanson When you think about any of the long-term Black Civil Rights Organizations in Monroe, Louisiana, one of the first that comes to mind is The National Association For The Advancement of Colored People …
Category: Opinions
Our Rich Black Heritage: John Wesley Cromwell
By Garry Blanson JOHN WESLEY CROMWELL Known for his natural ability to create intellectual organizations and his knowledge of Negro History, John Wesley Cromwell was a teacher, journalist, lawyer, teacher, and civil rights activist. He was born on September 5,…
Is $750,000 worth the embarrassment HBCU Athletics gets for losing big to larger universities on National TV?
By Ro Wright III Recently, Southern University Jaguars played the Louisiana State University Tigers at LSU’s Death Valley Stadium to a sold out crowd of more 103,000 fans. As great as the idea sounded in the months prior to the…
Our Rich Black Heritage: George B. Hamlet
By Garry Blanson GEORGE B HAMLET was the first African-American mayor of Monroe, La. Before 2022, I was told and thought that Abe Piere was the first Black Mayor of Monroe, Louisiana. However, while doing research, I discovered that Abe Pierce wasn’t…
Our Rich Black Heritage: Alfred Lawless
By Garry Blanson Recently, I read about A Petition. The Petition read, “Change Our School Name back to Alfred Lawless High School.” You see when Hurricane Katrina devastated the lower 9th Ward Black Community in New Orleans, Louisiana. It also…
Our Rich Black Heritage: Lydia Hamilton Smith
By Garry Blanson Lydia Hamilton was born at Russell Tavern in Adams County, Pennsylvania. She was the widow of a Gettysburg Negro barber named Jacob Smith, who died in 1852; by whom she had two children. Since she had an…
Our Rich Black Heritage: Samuel B. Fuller
By Garry Blanson The Accomplishments of our Black ancestors should be and are very important to the older generation of Blacks living today (and to the younger generation as well). Back in 1905, when Samuel B. Fuller was born in…