Inspiration for my Brothers

Inspiration for our Black Brothers

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My black men, your judged and talked about regardless of whether your in the forefront of the crowd or not. Your persona, stance, clothing and attitude are judged more closely that your fellow white couterparts, however you must embrace the history that has been left before you to rise above the criticisms and aspire for better than living up to bad expectations.... Nothing is stopping you being GREAT fathers, husbands, boyfriends, colleagues, and KINGS YOU WERE BORN TO BE.

George Alcorn
Not many inventors have resumes as impressive as George Edward Alcorn's. Among his credits, the African-American inventor received a B.A. in physics, a master's degree in nuclear physics and a Ph.D in atomic and molecular physics. Despite such impressive credentials, Alcorn is probably most famous for his innovation of the imaging x-ray spectrometer.

Benjamin Banneker
In the Stevie Wonder song "Black Man," the Motown marvel sings of Benjamin Banneker: "first clock to be made in America was created by a black man." Though the song is a fitting salute to a great inventor (and African Americans in general), it only touches on the genius of Benjamin Banneker and the many hats he wore – as a farmer, mathematician, astronomer, author and land surveyor.

Otis Boykin
Few inventors have had the lasting impact of Otis Boykin. Look around the house today and you'll see a variety of devices that utilize components made by Boykin – including computers, radios and TV sets. Boykin's inventions are all the more impressive when one considers he was an African American in a time of segregation and the field of electronics was not as well-established as it is today

George Washington Carver
Generally, when people think of famous African-American inventors, one of the first names that springs to mind is George Washington Carver. Perhaps most famously, Carver discovered over 300 different uses for peanuts – including making cooking oil, axle grease and printer's ink.

George Crum
Every time a person crunches into a potato chip, he or she is enjoying the delicious taste of one of the world's most famous snacks – a treat that might not exist without the contribution of black inventor George Crum.

Dr. Mark Dean
As a child, Mark Dean excelled in math. In elementary school, he took advanced level math courses and, in high school, Dean even built his own computer, radio, and amplifier. Dean continued his interests and went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee, a masters degree in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford.

Dr. Charles Richard Drew
It's impossible to determine how many hundreds of thousands of people would have lost their lives without the contributions of African-American inventor Dr. Charles Drew. This physician, researcher and surgeon revolutionized the understanding of blood plasma – leading to the invention of blood banks.

Kenneth J. Dunkley
Kenneth J. Dunkley is currently the president of the Holospace Laboratories Inc. in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. He is best known for inventing Three Dimensional Viewing Glasses (3-DVG) – his patented invention that displays 3-D effects from regular 2-D photos without any type of lenses, mirrors or optical elements.

Frederick McKinley Jones
Anytime you see a truck on the highway transporting refrigerated or frozen food, you're seeing the work of Frederick McKinley Jones. One of the most prolific Black inventors ever, Jones patented more than 60 inventions in his lifetime.

Garrett A. Morgan
Many of the world's most famous inventors only produced one major invention that garnered recognition and cemented their prominent status. But Garret Augustus Morgan, one of the country's most successful African-American inventors, created two – the gas mask and the traffic signal.

James E. West
Ninety percent of microphones used today are based on the ingenuity of James Edward West, an African-American inventor born in 1931 in Prince Edwards County, VA. If you've ever talked on the telephone, you've probably used his invention.

 

The following information is taken from Brother Tony Warner's www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk newsletter with much apprecaition.

 

Beautiful Brothers doing Good
  

 
 
 

serious brother from the wire"There are plans, serious plans! I want to go to Sierra Leone with something-whether it's some sort of contribution to healthcare, or to the entertainment industry. My cousin is a nurse; we are talking about opening a clinic. If I could somehow encourage a film community to use Sierra Leone as the studio in West Africa to make films there, that would be really cool." Idriss Alba

Beautiful Brothers Doing Good.

 

 

Neil Bowman Diaspora Activist, mentor, property developer,
author, academic, trainer, life coach and kick boxer, has put thousands of pounds of his own money as well as his time and energy into a variety of community activities. He is a senior mentor on the Origins Rights of Passage programme which operates in Lambeth to train young boys how to be responsible men. The programme costs £80,000.00 per year and not a penny comes from the Establishment. Origins held their graduation programme in May attended by over 200 people. This example of black male positivity, commitment and success did not feature in any mainstream media.Origins by New Initiatives Video

 

Raphael M1k IT Security consultant so loved his fellow human that Raph M1k when an acquaintance was suffering due to kidney problems he offered his kidney as a replacement. The recipient has enjoyed a healthy life with her now 10 year old daughter. Rather than rest on his laurels Raph has used his new zest for life to jump out of planes, run 10k's and marathons and raise money for various charities. He also campaigns to raise awareness and has set up a website to encourage others to donate their organs Minus 1 Kidney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Najae Hackett just won the Jack Petchey "Speak Out" Challenge 2011 Najae Hackett Najae, from City of London Academy, Southwark entertained a huge audience and judges alike with his speech titled 'Sleep - our secret weapon'. He will receive not only his trophy but also a cash bond for £2000 PLUS £3000 for his school.See video of speech

 

 

Nia Imara Founder National Association of Black Saturday Schools, chef, single parent father of three has set up a national database for supplementary schools by travelling all over the contry visiting them, setting up a website, then arranging networking events and annual week long seminars to share best practice and recognise the elders. The next conference is from 21 to 27 August. The most press coverage he's got so far for his outstanding self-funded work, was from the BNP who compalined that he was a separatist. He is currently looking for funding from the community for the event www.nabss.org.uk

 

Ron 'The Don' Daniel. In the movie 2010 a black geologist saves Ron Daniel the planet but there is a real-life St Lucian geologist who is making a difference to the world. If not consulting on how and where to find oil Ron can be found running marathons to raise funds for charity. He also arranged for hundreds of pounds of in-kind sponsorship by getting his work premises to host meetings for a community mentoring group .He visits schools to inspire students with his career path into Geology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Louis Buckley explorer/photographer/action man. Aged 23 he decided louis buckley to make a film on the history of Sierra Leone. He used his own resources, got hold of camera and a friend who spoke the language then jumped on a plane to Freetown. He made Lion Mountains which premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square. Tired of the usual TV stereotypes of Africa he used his contacts to fund a trip to Sudan where he produced Nubian Spirit a documentary to rival any BBC production which won Audience Farourite at the Pan African Film Festival 2009. He is currently editing a film he made about Ethiopia's millenium. He was also producer on the Grove Roots dvd where he trained young people on film-making.

 

 

 

Carlos Ifekoya. Technical Architect is one of only 3000 people in a Carlos world of 6 billion to pass the ultimate level of the elite CISCO Expert computer consultant course which has a 15% pass rate. He was a championship boxer who represented his country and spent many years as co-ordinator on the historical film roadshows known as ETF which educated thousands of people for free. He is well known for his cooking skills and his extensive library on African history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brother Hakim the Film Doctor works in a huge school in Tower Hamlets where the majority population are Bengali boys. Put in charge of the internal exclusion unit Hakim began to use popular films like Scarface, Boyz in the Hood and the Matrix to break stereotypes, analyse masculinity, and promote educational success . Boys who were 'unteachable' and violent were sitting still, paying attentition for hours and even staying after school. He then developed a peer mentoring programme whereby the 'bad boys' were tasked with reforming other 'bad boys' and improving their behaviour. This went so well that Hakim was moved from an exterior portakabin on his own, to an office within the school with staff. The programme continued and the 'bad boys' who had now left school came back and got jobs as learning mentors within the school. Hakim has recently been promoted but still finds time to do presentations on film history.
 

Dr Lez Henry director of Resisting the System , author of What the DJ Said and Whiteness Made Simple is an international public speaker on African culture and history.He's featured in numerous documentaries. He has run the Blak Friday initiative since 2006 . The monthly presentations provided essential information to combat media bias. He is one of the co-ordinators behind the recent commemorations at Lewisham Civic Suite to recognise Mavis Best, Sybil Phoenix, The New Cross Fire and the Black Peoples Day of Action www.nubeyond.com

 

Ken Barnes entrepeneur, mentor, author, public speaker, Hope Dealer ken barnes and salsa dancer. Ken's achievements are numerous and wide ranging. 10 years ago he hired an office, organised publicity, recruited and trained mentors, sourced venues, recruited young people, set up a website and used thousands of pounds of his own money to set up a London chapter of the 100BMOL. He aimed to provide a unique service designed to improve the image and perception of black men in the community. After he successfully established the charity, he moved on to author the Respectisms series of books and delivered workshops on self esteem in schools. He also established the annual Woodson Barrow Luncheon lecture and dinner. This unique event invited high achieving youngsters to mingle and dine with high achieving elders. www.kenbarnes.co.uk

 

 

 

 

Patrick Vernon used his own cash to set up and run an office with Patrick Vernon three staff and launch Every Generation . EG promoted a variety of events on black history and genealogy. Annoyed by the 100 Great Britons contest which failed to mention a single black person Patrick organised a public vote to create the 100 Great Black Britons website. This competition elected Mary Seacole as number one and the resulting publicity helped put Mary on the national agenda and provide a platform for her statue appeal. He recently became a councillor in Hackney, made a film on Jamaican RAF veteran Eddie Noble and established the Afiya Trust which is concerned with black mental health issues.

 

 

 

 

 

Robin Walker is the African-British genius who spent 17 years robin walker researching ancient African history before producing the 700 page book When We Ruled . The book is a comprehensive resource which provides extensive information which contradicts the miseducation about Africa. He also authored Before the Slave Trade which is designed for teachers and younger readers to show African civilisations before European invasion with lots of rare images that he spent years obtaining. He designed and taught an African-centred curriculum with great results at a North London school. He regularly gives presentations in the community.

 

 

 

Clarence Thompson MBE is a real life superhero responsible for manyClarence Thompson rights which are now taken for granted. Coming to England as a highly skilled Trinidadian oil worker he could not get a decent job in 1950's England. He was refused service in pubs and spat at when inquiring about rooms to let . These incidents led to him being one of the main architects behind the Race Relations Act of 1965 which is the great grandfather of the Race Relations Act of 2000 which protects the population from unfair treatment on the grounds of race, nationality,colour or ethnic origin. He is also heavily involved with the Queen Mother Moore Saturday School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neil Mayers a teacher with 15 years experience was overlooked for Neil Mayers promotion despite having the best academic results in his secondary school. His unique approach to teaching included visiting his Year 10 students' parents at home, training the parents, getting the students to volunteer to do extra study sessions after school and in the holidays teaching in a totally different style and using music videos to teach history, geography and media analysis. He then decided to write a book Gifted at Primary Failing at Secondary to help all parents. He presently runs a variety of courses to help parents/teachers/pupils repeat his results. See Brochure

 

 

 

 

Tunde Jegede is a composer, producer song writer and multi-tunde instrumentalist in Contemporary Classical, African and Pop music. He studied the art of the Griot in Gambia with Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, Master of the Kora . The Jobarteh family are one of five principle musician families within this unique hereditary Oral tradition, which dates back to at least the 13th century. In 1988 He formed his own Jazz Ensemble, The Jazz Griots, with the sole purpose of exploring the connections between African and African Diasporic forms of music. In 1991 he pioneered the first ever national tour of the African Classical Music Ensemble. He's performed new compositions alongside the London Sinfonietta and has worked with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia, Britten Sinfonia, Viva Sinfonia, The London Mozart Players and The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laurie Philpott and Alan Wilmott are World War 2 and British civil

Genesis and Kasensarights veterans. BHW has been highlighting their work for the last 8 years. Mr Philpott published the first black national newspaper back in in the 1950's at at time when the black community had no media with which to express itself. He used his printing skills and the midnight hours to publish the paper and researched and wrote most of the articles himself when there was no such thing as a computer. He then used his ex-military connections to distribute the paper nationwide and that is just one of his many achievements. Alan Wilmott was a big time pop star driving a Rolls Royce back in the 60's. He has many stories to tell of his days in the Southlanders. Some of his most remarkable exploits took place during WW2 when he faced down racist white American troops. White US troops posted to England were used to treating all black troops like dirt and getting away with it. The US military code severely punished black trooops who resisted. The US troops could not tell the difference between African-American soldiers and African Caribbean troops, they would call Jamaican troops the N Word and be utterly shocked when they woke up with no teeth the next day. Mr Wilmott led his crew in regular skirmishes to defend black people from racial abuse. You can see them both being interviewed here

 


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