The parallels keep mounting. Now it is that Tesla and Garvey also had Colorado Springs, COlorado in common (albeit at different times) The following extracts speaks to the rise of the UNIA in the Rocky Mountain State.
Abstract:
Two years ago, a colleague and I discussed the history of a relatively small African American population in Colorado. The two of us concluded that despite the persistent small numbers that one cannot negate the fact there is a very rich and extensive history of Black migration, pioneering Black family histories, and Black institutional building in Colorado Springs and Denver, Colorado. The Black population in Denver, though once confined to the isolated Five Points neighborhood, constitutes the largest in the state, while the second largest was located in the St. Vrain neighborhood of Colorado Springs. More interesting, with the rapid rise of Garveyism and the phenomenal growth of Garvey’s organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) due primarily to the wave of Black migration to the state, and two visits of Marcus and Amy Jacques Garvey in Colorado during the 1920s, there is no doubt that Colorado’s rich Black history needs continued documentation. A close reading of the Denver UNIA Division reports published in The Negro World, the official organ of the UNIA, reveal some astonishing results. Further information about the activities of the Denver Division was covered in The Colorado Statesman and The Denver Star, as well as information about the Colorado Springs Division Number 508 in The Colorado Springs Gazette. While touring the state, both Marcus and Amy Jacques Garvey captured the attention, imagination, and spirit of race consciousness among Black Coloradans. This essay provides an expansive model and framework for understanding the significance of the Garvey Movement at the micro-level, focusing on the political and religious activism of Garveyites in both communities.
It is in this direction that this essay explores three important contributions in the literature about Garvey and Garveyism. First, it advances prior scholarship about the Black presence in Colorado, exploring the social forces that gave rise to black migration in mass numbers to two major cities in the state during the first, second, and third decades of the early 20th Century. Secondly, it seeks to increase our understanding in determining some of the reasons behind the couple’s two organizational tours to Colorado Springs and Denver, as Marcus and Amy Jacques Garvey and other UNIA-ACL leaders labored to liberate the mindset of a sizeable Black presence in Colorado. Between the economic aspirations, and the political and religious activism of these communities, not to mention the racial politics of the KKK, which was connected to economic power and white skin privilege, lay the reasons why the UNIA existed in Colorado. Thirdly and finally, the chapter explores the extent to which the activism of local Garveyites on St. Vrain Street as members of the Peoples Methodist Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs and on Welton Street in the Five Points Neighborhood of Denver, proved successful. In effect this essay seeks to rescue and recover local Black history in the State of Colorado.
-RJ Stephens
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
The Rights
In 1920, in New York City, Garvey presided over the first International Conference of Negro Peoples of the World, under the auspices of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
following is the Declaration of the Universal Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World
Preamble
Be it Resolved, That the Negro people of the world, through their chosen representatives in convention assembled in Liberty Hall, in the City of New York and United States of America, from August 1 to August 31, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and twenty, protest against the wrongs and injustices they are suffering at the hands of their white brethren, and state what they deem their fair and just rights, as well as the treatment they propose to demand of all men in the future.
We complain:
I. That nowhere in the world, with few exceptions, are black men accorded equal treatment with white men, although in the same situation and circumstances, but, on the contrary, are discriminated against and denied the common rights due to human beings for no other reason than their race and color.
We are not willingly accepted as guests in the public hotels and inns of the world for no other reason than our race and color.
II. In certain parts of the United States of America our race is denied the right of public trial accorded to other races when accused of crime, but are lynched and burned by mobs, and such brutal and inhuman treatment is even practiced upon our women.
III. That European nations have parcelled out among themselves and taken possession of nearly all of the continent of Africa, and the natives are compelled to surrender their lands to aliens and are treated in most instances like slaves.
IV. In the southern portion of the United States of America, although citizens under the Federal Constitution, and in some states almost equal to the whites in population and are qualified land owners and taxpayers, we are, nevertheless, denied all voice in the making and administration of the laws and are taxed without representation by the state governments, and at the same time compelled to do military service in defense of the country.
V. On the public conveyances and common carriers in the Southern portion of the United States we are jim-crowed and compelled to accept separate and inferior accommodations and made to pay the same fare charged for first-class accommodations, and our families are often humiliated and insulted by drunken white men who habitually pass through the jim-crow cars going to the smoking car.
VI. The physicians of our race are denied the right to attend their patients while in the public hospitals of the cities and states where they reside in certain parts of the United States. Our children are forced to attend inferior separate schools for shorter terms than white children, and the public school funds are unequally divided between the white and colored schools.
VII. We are discriminated against and denied an equal chance to earn wages for the support of our families, and in many instances are refused admission into labor unions, and nearly everywhere are paid smaller wages than white men.
VIII. In Civil Service and departmental offices we are everywhere discriminated against and made to feel that to be a black man in Europe, America and the West Indies is equivalent to being an outcast and a leper among the races of men, no matter what the character and attainments of the black man may be.
IX. In the British and other West Indian Islands and colonies, Negroes are secretly and cunningly discriminated against, and denied those fuller rights in government to which white citizens are appointed, nominated and elected.
X. That our people in those parts are forced to work for lower wages than the average standard of white men and are kept in conditions repugnant to good civilized tastes and customs.
XI. That the many acts of injustice against members of our race before the courts of law in the respective islands and colonies are of such nature as to create disgust and disrespect for the white manís sense of justice.
XII. Against all such inhuman, unchristian and uncivilized treatment we here and now emphatically protest, and invoke the condemnation of all mankind. In order to encourage our race all over the world and to stimulate it to a higher and grander destiny, we demand and insist on the following Declaration of Rights:
1. Be it known to all men that whereas, all men are created equal and entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and because of this we, the duly elected representatives of the Negro peoples of the world, invoking the aid of the just and Almighty God do declare all men women and children of our blood throughout the world free citizens, and do claim them as free citizens of Africa, the Motherland of all Negroes.
2. That we believe in the supreme authority of our race in all things racial; that all things are created and given to man as a common possession; that their should be an equitable distribution and apportionment of all such things, and in consideration of the fact that as a race we are now deprived of those things that are morally and legally ours, we believe it right that all such things should be acquired and held by whatsoever means possible.
3. That we believe the Negro, like any other race, should be governed by the ethics of civilization, and, therefore, should not be deprived of any of those rights or privileges common to other human beings.
4. We declare that Negroes, wheresoever they form a community among themselves, should be given the right to elect their own representatives to represent them in legislatures, courts of law, or such institutions as may exercise control over that particular community.
5. We assert that the Negro is entitled to even-handed justice before all courts of law and equity in whatever country he may be found, and when this is denied him on account of his race or color such denial is an insult to the race as a while and should be resented by the entire boy of Negroes.
6. We declared it unfair and prejudicial to the rights of Negroes in communities where they exist in considerable numbers to be tried by a judge and jury composed entirely of an alien race, but in all such cases members of our race are entitled to representation on the jury.
7. We believe that any law or practice that tends to deprive any African of his land or the privileges of free citizenship within his country is unjust and immoral, and no native should respect any such law or practice.
8. We declare taxation without representation unjust and tyrannous, and their should be no obligation on the part of the Negro to obey the levy of a tax by an law-making body from which he is excluded and denied representation on account of his race and color.
9. We believe that any law especially directed against the Negro to his detriment and singling him out because of his race or color is unfair and immoral, and should not be respected.
10. We believe all men entitled to common human respect, and that our race should in no way tolerate any insults that may be interpreted to mean disrespect to our color.
11. We deprecate the use of the term "nigger" as applied to Negroes, and demand that the word "Negro" be written with a capital "N."
12. We believe that the Negro should adopt every means to protect himself against barbarous practices inflicted upon him because of color.
13. We believe in the freedom of Africa for the Negro people of the world, and by the principle of Europe for the Europeans and Asia for the Asiatics; we also demand Africa for the Africans at home and abroad.
14. We believe in the inherent right of the Negro to possess himself of Africa, and that his possession of same shall not be regarded as an infringement on any claim or purchase made by any race or nation.
15. We strongly condemn the cupidity of those nations of the world who, by open aggression or secret schemes, have seized the territories and inexhaustible natural wealth of Africa, and we place on record our most solemn determination to reclaim the treasures and possession of the vast continent of our forefathers.
16. We believe all men should live in peace one with the other, but when races and nations provoke the ire of other races and nations by attempting to infringe upon their rights, war becomes inevitable, and the attempt in any way to free oneís self or protect oneís rights or heritage becomes justifiable.
17. Whereas, the lynching, by burning, hanging or any other means, of human beings is a barbarous practice, and a shame and disgrace to civilization, we therefore declared any country guilty of such atrocities outside the pale of civilization.
18. We protest against the atrocious crime of whipping, flogging and overworking of the native tribes of Africa and Negroes everywhere. These are methods that should be abolished, and all means should be taken to prevent a continuance of such brutal practices.
19. We protest against the atrocious practice of shaving the heads of Africans, especially of African women or individual of Negro blood, when placed in prison as a punishment for crime by an alien race.
20. We protest against segregated districts, separate public conveyances, industrial discrimination, lynchings and limitations of political privileges of any Negro citizen in any part of the world on account of race, color, or creed, and will exert our full influence and power against all such.
21. We protest against any punishment inflicted upon a Negro with severity, as against lighter punishment inflicted upon another of an alien race for like offense, as an act of prejudice injustice, and should be resented by the entire race.
22. We protest against the system of education in any country where Negroes are denied the same privileges and advantages as other races.
23. We declare it inhuman and unfair to boycott Negroes from industries and labor in any part of the world.
24. We believe in the doctrine of the freedom of the press, and we therefore emphatically protest against the suppression Negro newspapers and periodicals in various parts of the world, and call upon Negroes everywhere to employ all available means to prevent such suppression.
25. We further demand free speech universally for all men.
26. We hereby protest against the publication of scandalous and inflammatory articles by an alien press tending to create racial strife and the exhibition of picture films showing the Negro as a cannibal.
27. We believe in the self-determination of all peoples.
28. We declare for the freedom religious worship.
29. With the help of Almighty God, we declare ourselves the protectors of the honor and virtue of our women and children, and pledge our lives for their protection and defense everywhere, and under all circumstances from wrongs and outrages.
30. We demand the right of unlimited and unprejudiced education for ourselves and our posterity forever.
31. We declare that the teaching in any school by alien teachers to our boys and girls, that the alien race is superior to the Negro race, is an insult to the Negro people of the world.
32. Where Negroes form a part of the citizenry of any country, and pass the civil service examination of such country, we declare them entitled to the same consideration as other citizens as to appointments in such civil service.
33. We vigorously protest against the increasingly unfair and unjust treatment accorded Negro travelers on land and sea by the agents and employees of railroad and steamship companies and insist that for equal fare we receive equal privileges with travelers of other races.
34. We declare it unjust for any country, State or nation to enact laws tending to hinder and obstruct the free immigration of Negroes on account of their race and color.
35. That the right of the Negro to travel unmolested throughout the world be not abridged by any person or persons, and all Negroes are called upon to give aid to a fellow Negro when thus molested.
36. We declare that all Negroes are entitled to the same right to travel over the world as other men.
37. We hereby demand that the governments of the world recognize our leader and his representatives chosen by the race to look after the welfare of our people under such governments.
38. We demand complete control of our social institutions without interference by any alien race or races.
39. That the colors, Red, Black and Green, be the colors of the Negro race.
40. Resolved, That the anthem "Ethiopia, Thou Land of Our Fathers," etc., shall be the anthem of the Negro race.
41. We believe that any limited liberty which deprives one of the complete rights and prerogatives of full citizenship is but a modified form of slavery.
42. We declare it an injustice to our people and a serious impediment to the health of the race to deny to competent licensed Negro physicians the right to practice in the public hospitals of the communities in which they reside, for no other reason than their race and color.
43. We call upon the various governments of the world to accept and acknowledge Negro representatives who shall be sent to the said governments to represent the general welfare of the Negro peoples of the world.
44. We deplore and protest against the practice of confining juvenile prisoners in prisons with adults, and we recommend that such youthful prisoners be taught gainful trades under humane supervision.
45. Be it further resolved, that we as a race of people declare the League of Nations null and void as far as the Negro is concerned, in that it seeks to deprive Negroes of their liberty.
46. We demand of all men to do unto us as we would do unto them, in the name of justice; and we cheerfully accord to all men all the rights we claim herein for ourselves.
47. We declare that no Negro shall engage himself in battle for an alien race without first obtaining the consent of the leader of the Negro people of the world, except in a matter of national self-defense.
48. We protest against the practice of drafting Negroes and sending them to war with alien forces without proper training, and demand in all cases that Negro soldiers be given the same training as the aliens.
49. We demand that instructions given Negro children in schools include the subject of "Negro History," to their benefit.
50. We demand a free and unfettered commercial intercourse with all the Negro people of the world.
51. We declare for the absolute freedom of the seas for all peoples.
52. We demand that our duly accredited representatives be given proper recognition in all leagues, conferences, conventions or courts of international arbitration wherever human rights are discussed.
53. We proclaim the 31st day of August of each year to be an international holiday to be observed by all Negroes.
54. We want all men to know we shall maintain and contend for the freedom and equality of every man, woman and child of our race, with our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
These rights we believe to be justly ours and proper for the protection of the Negro race at large, and because of this belief we, on behalf of the four hundred million Negroes of the world, do pledge herein the sacred blood of the race in defense, and we hereby subscribe our names as a guarantee of the truthfulness and faithfulness hereof in the presence of Almighty God, on the 13th day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty.
following is the Declaration of the Universal Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World
Preamble
Be it Resolved, That the Negro people of the world, through their chosen representatives in convention assembled in Liberty Hall, in the City of New York and United States of America, from August 1 to August 31, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and twenty, protest against the wrongs and injustices they are suffering at the hands of their white brethren, and state what they deem their fair and just rights, as well as the treatment they propose to demand of all men in the future.
We complain:
I. That nowhere in the world, with few exceptions, are black men accorded equal treatment with white men, although in the same situation and circumstances, but, on the contrary, are discriminated against and denied the common rights due to human beings for no other reason than their race and color.
We are not willingly accepted as guests in the public hotels and inns of the world for no other reason than our race and color.
II. In certain parts of the United States of America our race is denied the right of public trial accorded to other races when accused of crime, but are lynched and burned by mobs, and such brutal and inhuman treatment is even practiced upon our women.
III. That European nations have parcelled out among themselves and taken possession of nearly all of the continent of Africa, and the natives are compelled to surrender their lands to aliens and are treated in most instances like slaves.
IV. In the southern portion of the United States of America, although citizens under the Federal Constitution, and in some states almost equal to the whites in population and are qualified land owners and taxpayers, we are, nevertheless, denied all voice in the making and administration of the laws and are taxed without representation by the state governments, and at the same time compelled to do military service in defense of the country.
V. On the public conveyances and common carriers in the Southern portion of the United States we are jim-crowed and compelled to accept separate and inferior accommodations and made to pay the same fare charged for first-class accommodations, and our families are often humiliated and insulted by drunken white men who habitually pass through the jim-crow cars going to the smoking car.
VI. The physicians of our race are denied the right to attend their patients while in the public hospitals of the cities and states where they reside in certain parts of the United States. Our children are forced to attend inferior separate schools for shorter terms than white children, and the public school funds are unequally divided between the white and colored schools.
VII. We are discriminated against and denied an equal chance to earn wages for the support of our families, and in many instances are refused admission into labor unions, and nearly everywhere are paid smaller wages than white men.
VIII. In Civil Service and departmental offices we are everywhere discriminated against and made to feel that to be a black man in Europe, America and the West Indies is equivalent to being an outcast and a leper among the races of men, no matter what the character and attainments of the black man may be.
IX. In the British and other West Indian Islands and colonies, Negroes are secretly and cunningly discriminated against, and denied those fuller rights in government to which white citizens are appointed, nominated and elected.
X. That our people in those parts are forced to work for lower wages than the average standard of white men and are kept in conditions repugnant to good civilized tastes and customs.
XI. That the many acts of injustice against members of our race before the courts of law in the respective islands and colonies are of such nature as to create disgust and disrespect for the white manís sense of justice.
XII. Against all such inhuman, unchristian and uncivilized treatment we here and now emphatically protest, and invoke the condemnation of all mankind. In order to encourage our race all over the world and to stimulate it to a higher and grander destiny, we demand and insist on the following Declaration of Rights:
1. Be it known to all men that whereas, all men are created equal and entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and because of this we, the duly elected representatives of the Negro peoples of the world, invoking the aid of the just and Almighty God do declare all men women and children of our blood throughout the world free citizens, and do claim them as free citizens of Africa, the Motherland of all Negroes.
2. That we believe in the supreme authority of our race in all things racial; that all things are created and given to man as a common possession; that their should be an equitable distribution and apportionment of all such things, and in consideration of the fact that as a race we are now deprived of those things that are morally and legally ours, we believe it right that all such things should be acquired and held by whatsoever means possible.
3. That we believe the Negro, like any other race, should be governed by the ethics of civilization, and, therefore, should not be deprived of any of those rights or privileges common to other human beings.
4. We declare that Negroes, wheresoever they form a community among themselves, should be given the right to elect their own representatives to represent them in legislatures, courts of law, or such institutions as may exercise control over that particular community.
5. We assert that the Negro is entitled to even-handed justice before all courts of law and equity in whatever country he may be found, and when this is denied him on account of his race or color such denial is an insult to the race as a while and should be resented by the entire boy of Negroes.
6. We declared it unfair and prejudicial to the rights of Negroes in communities where they exist in considerable numbers to be tried by a judge and jury composed entirely of an alien race, but in all such cases members of our race are entitled to representation on the jury.
7. We believe that any law or practice that tends to deprive any African of his land or the privileges of free citizenship within his country is unjust and immoral, and no native should respect any such law or practice.
8. We declare taxation without representation unjust and tyrannous, and their should be no obligation on the part of the Negro to obey the levy of a tax by an law-making body from which he is excluded and denied representation on account of his race and color.
9. We believe that any law especially directed against the Negro to his detriment and singling him out because of his race or color is unfair and immoral, and should not be respected.
10. We believe all men entitled to common human respect, and that our race should in no way tolerate any insults that may be interpreted to mean disrespect to our color.
11. We deprecate the use of the term "nigger" as applied to Negroes, and demand that the word "Negro" be written with a capital "N."
12. We believe that the Negro should adopt every means to protect himself against barbarous practices inflicted upon him because of color.
13. We believe in the freedom of Africa for the Negro people of the world, and by the principle of Europe for the Europeans and Asia for the Asiatics; we also demand Africa for the Africans at home and abroad.
14. We believe in the inherent right of the Negro to possess himself of Africa, and that his possession of same shall not be regarded as an infringement on any claim or purchase made by any race or nation.
15. We strongly condemn the cupidity of those nations of the world who, by open aggression or secret schemes, have seized the territories and inexhaustible natural wealth of Africa, and we place on record our most solemn determination to reclaim the treasures and possession of the vast continent of our forefathers.
16. We believe all men should live in peace one with the other, but when races and nations provoke the ire of other races and nations by attempting to infringe upon their rights, war becomes inevitable, and the attempt in any way to free oneís self or protect oneís rights or heritage becomes justifiable.
17. Whereas, the lynching, by burning, hanging or any other means, of human beings is a barbarous practice, and a shame and disgrace to civilization, we therefore declared any country guilty of such atrocities outside the pale of civilization.
18. We protest against the atrocious crime of whipping, flogging and overworking of the native tribes of Africa and Negroes everywhere. These are methods that should be abolished, and all means should be taken to prevent a continuance of such brutal practices.
19. We protest against the atrocious practice of shaving the heads of Africans, especially of African women or individual of Negro blood, when placed in prison as a punishment for crime by an alien race.
20. We protest against segregated districts, separate public conveyances, industrial discrimination, lynchings and limitations of political privileges of any Negro citizen in any part of the world on account of race, color, or creed, and will exert our full influence and power against all such.
21. We protest against any punishment inflicted upon a Negro with severity, as against lighter punishment inflicted upon another of an alien race for like offense, as an act of prejudice injustice, and should be resented by the entire race.
22. We protest against the system of education in any country where Negroes are denied the same privileges and advantages as other races.
23. We declare it inhuman and unfair to boycott Negroes from industries and labor in any part of the world.
24. We believe in the doctrine of the freedom of the press, and we therefore emphatically protest against the suppression Negro newspapers and periodicals in various parts of the world, and call upon Negroes everywhere to employ all available means to prevent such suppression.
25. We further demand free speech universally for all men.
26. We hereby protest against the publication of scandalous and inflammatory articles by an alien press tending to create racial strife and the exhibition of picture films showing the Negro as a cannibal.
27. We believe in the self-determination of all peoples.
28. We declare for the freedom religious worship.
29. With the help of Almighty God, we declare ourselves the protectors of the honor and virtue of our women and children, and pledge our lives for their protection and defense everywhere, and under all circumstances from wrongs and outrages.
30. We demand the right of unlimited and unprejudiced education for ourselves and our posterity forever.
31. We declare that the teaching in any school by alien teachers to our boys and girls, that the alien race is superior to the Negro race, is an insult to the Negro people of the world.
32. Where Negroes form a part of the citizenry of any country, and pass the civil service examination of such country, we declare them entitled to the same consideration as other citizens as to appointments in such civil service.
33. We vigorously protest against the increasingly unfair and unjust treatment accorded Negro travelers on land and sea by the agents and employees of railroad and steamship companies and insist that for equal fare we receive equal privileges with travelers of other races.
34. We declare it unjust for any country, State or nation to enact laws tending to hinder and obstruct the free immigration of Negroes on account of their race and color.
35. That the right of the Negro to travel unmolested throughout the world be not abridged by any person or persons, and all Negroes are called upon to give aid to a fellow Negro when thus molested.
36. We declare that all Negroes are entitled to the same right to travel over the world as other men.
37. We hereby demand that the governments of the world recognize our leader and his representatives chosen by the race to look after the welfare of our people under such governments.
38. We demand complete control of our social institutions without interference by any alien race or races.
39. That the colors, Red, Black and Green, be the colors of the Negro race.
40. Resolved, That the anthem "Ethiopia, Thou Land of Our Fathers," etc., shall be the anthem of the Negro race.
41. We believe that any limited liberty which deprives one of the complete rights and prerogatives of full citizenship is but a modified form of slavery.
42. We declare it an injustice to our people and a serious impediment to the health of the race to deny to competent licensed Negro physicians the right to practice in the public hospitals of the communities in which they reside, for no other reason than their race and color.
43. We call upon the various governments of the world to accept and acknowledge Negro representatives who shall be sent to the said governments to represent the general welfare of the Negro peoples of the world.
44. We deplore and protest against the practice of confining juvenile prisoners in prisons with adults, and we recommend that such youthful prisoners be taught gainful trades under humane supervision.
45. Be it further resolved, that we as a race of people declare the League of Nations null and void as far as the Negro is concerned, in that it seeks to deprive Negroes of their liberty.
46. We demand of all men to do unto us as we would do unto them, in the name of justice; and we cheerfully accord to all men all the rights we claim herein for ourselves.
47. We declare that no Negro shall engage himself in battle for an alien race without first obtaining the consent of the leader of the Negro people of the world, except in a matter of national self-defense.
48. We protest against the practice of drafting Negroes and sending them to war with alien forces without proper training, and demand in all cases that Negro soldiers be given the same training as the aliens.
49. We demand that instructions given Negro children in schools include the subject of "Negro History," to their benefit.
50. We demand a free and unfettered commercial intercourse with all the Negro people of the world.
51. We declare for the absolute freedom of the seas for all peoples.
52. We demand that our duly accredited representatives be given proper recognition in all leagues, conferences, conventions or courts of international arbitration wherever human rights are discussed.
53. We proclaim the 31st day of August of each year to be an international holiday to be observed by all Negroes.
54. We want all men to know we shall maintain and contend for the freedom and equality of every man, woman and child of our race, with our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
These rights we believe to be justly ours and proper for the protection of the Negro race at large, and because of this belief we, on behalf of the four hundred million Negroes of the world, do pledge herein the sacred blood of the race in defense, and we hereby subscribe our names as a guarantee of the truthfulness and faithfulness hereof in the presence of Almighty God, on the 13th day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty.
Monday, March 29, 2010
New York of the 1920s: the World of the Shockers
Marcus Garvey arrived in America in 1916 and stayed there till roundabout 1922/23. Tesla, by this period, had been living in America since the 1890s and had already been through the ignominy of the break form his former backer JP Morgan (who pulled funding from Tesla's wireless transmission project) and was beginning to lead tothe reclusion that would mark his last years
The city was experiencing tremendous change at this time, as this document from the Living City site attests.
The period of the 1920s was widely regarded as an era of prosperity. Unemployment amongst urban workers remained, on average, under 7 percent. Per capita income grew by a third during a decade of economic expansion that remained relatively unmarred by inflation and recession. The standard of living improved across the board for the employed sector of the economy. Such improvements were measured not only in increases in earnings between 1922 and 1929, but in living conditions. A 1929 Bureau of Labor Statistics study of Ford Motor Company employees found, for example that industrial workers lived in far more salubrious conditions than they did at the turn of the century. Employed workers lived in houses that provided, on average, one room per person. They enjoyed electricity, central heating, and inside running water, and toilets. The notion of abundance and consumerism became a means of establishing American unity. In some sense, though, little changed for the industrial worker. Unemployment in this period was, indeed, lower than it had been in previous decades, but continued high unemployment and job turnover characterized the industrial working experience. A continued labor surplus fueled not by immigration but Black migration and migration from the farm to the city along with the displacement of both skilled and unskilled workers with machines insured continued levels of high unemployment and job insecurity along with limited improvements in wages and working conditions.
The 1920s was also an era of contradictions for New York as a modern industrial city that, with engineering feats of wonder, had conquered the sky and constructed a hidden network of water lines, sewer lines, and power lines below the ground. In the 1920s the gap between the City's infrastructural capacity and its population once again widened. The City's roadways did not keep pace with the rapidly increasing popularity of the automobile. Between 1918 and the end of the 1920s, there were more than a half a million new motor vehicles on the streets yet there had been no new highway construction within the City, choking the City with traffic. The Depression brought an end to construction of a West Side Highway, begun in 1927, and the Triborough Bridge, begun in 1929. Yet the end of the 1920s and early 1930s did open the City to more traffic. The Holland Tunnel opened in 1927 and the George Washington Bridge in 1931. Like the roadways, development of parks lagged far behind the booming population. Land reserved for parks in Brooklyn was rented to commercial enterprises. Central Park-the gem of the City-fell into disrepair.
The 1920s represent the current end of this project, but it was the dawn of a new era of vast changes to the relationship between health and the built environment as Robert Moses transformed New York City's highway and parks systems.
The city was experiencing tremendous change at this time, as this document from the Living City site attests.
The period of the 1920s was widely regarded as an era of prosperity. Unemployment amongst urban workers remained, on average, under 7 percent. Per capita income grew by a third during a decade of economic expansion that remained relatively unmarred by inflation and recession. The standard of living improved across the board for the employed sector of the economy. Such improvements were measured not only in increases in earnings between 1922 and 1929, but in living conditions. A 1929 Bureau of Labor Statistics study of Ford Motor Company employees found, for example that industrial workers lived in far more salubrious conditions than they did at the turn of the century. Employed workers lived in houses that provided, on average, one room per person. They enjoyed electricity, central heating, and inside running water, and toilets. The notion of abundance and consumerism became a means of establishing American unity. In some sense, though, little changed for the industrial worker. Unemployment in this period was, indeed, lower than it had been in previous decades, but continued high unemployment and job turnover characterized the industrial working experience. A continued labor surplus fueled not by immigration but Black migration and migration from the farm to the city along with the displacement of both skilled and unskilled workers with machines insured continued levels of high unemployment and job insecurity along with limited improvements in wages and working conditions.
The 1920s was also an era of contradictions for New York as a modern industrial city that, with engineering feats of wonder, had conquered the sky and constructed a hidden network of water lines, sewer lines, and power lines below the ground. In the 1920s the gap between the City's infrastructural capacity and its population once again widened. The City's roadways did not keep pace with the rapidly increasing popularity of the automobile. Between 1918 and the end of the 1920s, there were more than a half a million new motor vehicles on the streets yet there had been no new highway construction within the City, choking the City with traffic. The Depression brought an end to construction of a West Side Highway, begun in 1927, and the Triborough Bridge, begun in 1929. Yet the end of the 1920s and early 1930s did open the City to more traffic. The Holland Tunnel opened in 1927 and the George Washington Bridge in 1931. Like the roadways, development of parks lagged far behind the booming population. Land reserved for parks in Brooklyn was rented to commercial enterprises. Central Park-the gem of the City-fell into disrepair.
The 1920s represent the current end of this project, but it was the dawn of a new era of vast changes to the relationship between health and the built environment as Robert Moses transformed New York City's highway and parks systems.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Marcus Garvey + Nikola Tesla = SHOCKERS!
That's the new working title of the book - and it looks to be the final title from where I sit. I'm feeling a lot more energy (pardon the pun) around this project since the title came to me about a week ago, so watch for more regular updates and sample chapters soon.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tesla Time
A few inaccuracies (The Prestige was a Christopher Nolan movie, not Tery gilliam) but the branding web-letter Reveries (Cool News)
tesla time
Nikola Tesla, a scientist and inventor who died friendless and penniless almost 70 years ago, is re-emerging as "geek god"of "hip techies," reports Daniel Michaels in the Wall Street Journal (1/14/10). Tesla, as you might recall, "achieved fame and fortune in the 1880s for figuring out how to make alternating current (AC) work on a grand scale ... He created the first major hydroelectric dam, at Niagara Falls ... His inventions helped Guglielmo Marconi develop radio." Tesla started out working for Thomas Edison, but "quit in a spat over pay" and the two became rivals -- with Edison advocating direct current (DC) versus Tesla's AC.
Tesla eventually sold his AC patents to George Westinghouse for lots of money, but "burned through much of his fortune testing radio transmissions." He also "stumbled upon -- but didn't pursue -- lasers and X-rays, years before their recognized discoveries ... He sketched out robots and a death ray he hoped would end all wars." But while Edison racked up some 1,093 patents in his lifetime, "Tesla left few completed blueprints." All of this has created a certain "geek mystique" about Tesla among some, like director Terry Gilliam, who sees him as "more of an artist than a scientist in some strange way."
In 2006, David Bowie played Tesla in a Gilliam film, "The Prestige," and 1984, was featured in an OMD song called "Tesla Girls." Today, his name brands an electric roadster (link) and is being used for a videogame "character who could understand alien spaceships." Edison, meanwhile, is maybe less "current" (sorry) these days, with his phonograph and motion-picture camera "becoming historical curios," and even the incandescent bulb losing favor to compact fluorescents. OMD's Andy McCluskey calls Tesla "a romantic 'failure' figure," and says, "I can't imagine writing a song about Edison ... too boringly rich, entrepreneurial and successful!"
tesla time
Nikola Tesla, a scientist and inventor who died friendless and penniless almost 70 years ago, is re-emerging as "geek god"of "hip techies," reports Daniel Michaels in the Wall Street Journal (1/14/10). Tesla, as you might recall, "achieved fame and fortune in the 1880s for figuring out how to make alternating current (AC) work on a grand scale ... He created the first major hydroelectric dam, at Niagara Falls ... His inventions helped Guglielmo Marconi develop radio." Tesla started out working for Thomas Edison, but "quit in a spat over pay" and the two became rivals -- with Edison advocating direct current (DC) versus Tesla's AC.
Tesla eventually sold his AC patents to George Westinghouse for lots of money, but "burned through much of his fortune testing radio transmissions." He also "stumbled upon -- but didn't pursue -- lasers and X-rays, years before their recognized discoveries ... He sketched out robots and a death ray he hoped would end all wars." But while Edison racked up some 1,093 patents in his lifetime, "Tesla left few completed blueprints." All of this has created a certain "geek mystique" about Tesla among some, like director Terry Gilliam, who sees him as "more of an artist than a scientist in some strange way."
In 2006, David Bowie played Tesla in a Gilliam film, "The Prestige," and 1984, was featured in an OMD song called "Tesla Girls." Today, his name brands an electric roadster (link) and is being used for a videogame "character who could understand alien spaceships." Edison, meanwhile, is maybe less "current" (sorry) these days, with his phonograph and motion-picture camera "becoming historical curios," and even the incandescent bulb losing favor to compact fluorescents. OMD's Andy McCluskey calls Tesla "a romantic 'failure' figure," and says, "I can't imagine writing a song about Edison ... too boringly rich, entrepreneurial and successful!"
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Remembering Marcus
"No one remember, old Marcus Garvey" sang Burning Spear in the 70s, but of course, that's not totally true. Here's a sampling form Wikipedia of Garvey memoria arpund the world
Jamaica
A marker in front of the house of his birth at 32 Market Street, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica.[38]
A statue on the grounds of St. Ann's Bay Parish Library.
A secondary school in his name in St. Ann' Bay.
A major highway in his name in Kingston.
A bust in Apex Park in Kingston.
Likeness on the Jamaican 50 cent coin, 20 dollar coin and 25 cent coin.
A building in his name housing the Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs located in New Kingston.
A Marcus Garvey statue at National Heroes Park in Kingston, JA.
The album "Marcus Garvey" and "Garvey's Ghost" (a dub version of the "Marcus Garvey" album) by reggae legend Burning Spear.
A deejay version (Jamaican rap) by reggae legend Big Youth, based on an instrumental mix of the original Burning Spear recording "Marcus Garvey".
A cover version of Burning Spear's "Marcus Garvey" recorded by reggae singer Spectacular (as Burning Spectacular) was released in 2002 on a 12" vinyl record on the Jamaican label Human Race Records. Produced by Bruno Blum, it features an original recording of a live Marcus Garvey speech in which several key slogans of the Rastafari movement founded in the 1930s can be heard. The flip side includes another recording by Big Youth of the "Marcus Garvey" composition mentioned right above.
In the Bob Marley song "so much things to say" Marley sings "I'll never forget, no way. They crucify Jesus Christ, I'll never forget, no way. They sold Marcus Garvey for rice".
Reggae band The Gladiators recorded the song "Marcus Garvey Time", proclaiming him as a prophet with lyrics like, "Every thing he has said has come to pass".
Deejay/Producer Mikey Dread acknowledges him as an inspiration and calls him a national hero on the 1982 track "In Memory (Jacob, Marcus & Marley)".
[edit]Trinidad
A statue on Harris Promenade, San Fernando
[edit]United States of America
Park in his name and a New York Public Library branch dedicated to him in New York City's Harlem.
A major street in his name in the historically Black Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford Stuyvesant in New York City.
Marcus Garvey elementary school in the historically Black Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford Stuyvesant in New York City call P.S.44.
The Universal Hip Hop Parade held annually in Brooklyn on the Saturday before his birthday to carry on his use of popular culture as a tool of empowerment and to encourage the growth of Black institutions.
A park in his name in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, California.
A Marcus Garvey Cultural Center, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado.
A secondary school in Trenton, New Jersey.
A Community Center and Senior Housing Community in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
Marcus Garvey school. A K through 8 grade private school in Los Angeles, California.
Marcus Garvey school. A Pre-K through 8 grade public magnet in math and science in Chicago, Illinois.
Marcus Books stores are named after him in San Francisco and Oakland.
Record producer, CEO, clothing designer, actor, and rapper Sean John Combs's clothing line Sean John released a pair of denim jeans whose style is named 'Garvey' after Marcus Garvey.
Boston indie band Piebald wrote a song titled "If Marcus Garvey Dies, Then Marcus Garvey Lives" for their 1999 release "If It Weren't For Venetian Blinds, It Would Be Curtains for us All"
Ska band Hepcat recorded the song "Marcus Garvey" on their album Scientific.
Sinéad O'Connor's reggae album, released in 2008, has a track named "Marcus Garvey"
[edit]Canada
Marcus Garvey Centre for Unity in Edmonton, Alberta [39]
Marcus Garvey day festival held yearly on 17 August in Toronto (North York), Ontario [40]
United Negro Improvement Association Hall located in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
[edit]Africa
A major street in his name in Nairobi, Kenya.
A street named after him in Enugu, Nigeria.
A neighborhood bearing his name in the township of Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa.
[edit]United Kingdom
A small park in his name in Hammersmith, London, England.
Marcus Garvey Centre in Lenton, Nottingham, England.
A Marcus Garvey Library inside the Tottenham Green Leisure Centre building in North London, England.
Marcus Garvey Road in Brixton, London.
Blue plaque at 53, Talgarth Road, Hammersmith, London, England:
GARVEY, Marcus (1887-1940) Pan-Africanist Leader, lived and died here, 53 Talgarth Road, W14. [Hammersmith and Fulham 2005]
Marcus garvey statue in Willesden green Library, Brent, London England
Jamaica
A marker in front of the house of his birth at 32 Market Street, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica.[38]
A statue on the grounds of St. Ann's Bay Parish Library.
A secondary school in his name in St. Ann' Bay.
A major highway in his name in Kingston.
A bust in Apex Park in Kingston.
Likeness on the Jamaican 50 cent coin, 20 dollar coin and 25 cent coin.
A building in his name housing the Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs located in New Kingston.
A Marcus Garvey statue at National Heroes Park in Kingston, JA.
The album "Marcus Garvey" and "Garvey's Ghost" (a dub version of the "Marcus Garvey" album) by reggae legend Burning Spear.
A deejay version (Jamaican rap) by reggae legend Big Youth, based on an instrumental mix of the original Burning Spear recording "Marcus Garvey".
A cover version of Burning Spear's "Marcus Garvey" recorded by reggae singer Spectacular (as Burning Spectacular) was released in 2002 on a 12" vinyl record on the Jamaican label Human Race Records. Produced by Bruno Blum, it features an original recording of a live Marcus Garvey speech in which several key slogans of the Rastafari movement founded in the 1930s can be heard. The flip side includes another recording by Big Youth of the "Marcus Garvey" composition mentioned right above.
In the Bob Marley song "so much things to say" Marley sings "I'll never forget, no way. They crucify Jesus Christ, I'll never forget, no way. They sold Marcus Garvey for rice".
Reggae band The Gladiators recorded the song "Marcus Garvey Time", proclaiming him as a prophet with lyrics like, "Every thing he has said has come to pass".
Deejay/Producer Mikey Dread acknowledges him as an inspiration and calls him a national hero on the 1982 track "In Memory (Jacob, Marcus & Marley)".
[edit]Trinidad
A statue on Harris Promenade, San Fernando
[edit]United States of America
Park in his name and a New York Public Library branch dedicated to him in New York City's Harlem.
A major street in his name in the historically Black Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford Stuyvesant in New York City.
Marcus Garvey elementary school in the historically Black Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford Stuyvesant in New York City call P.S.44.
The Universal Hip Hop Parade held annually in Brooklyn on the Saturday before his birthday to carry on his use of popular culture as a tool of empowerment and to encourage the growth of Black institutions.
A park in his name in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, California.
A Marcus Garvey Cultural Center, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado.
A secondary school in Trenton, New Jersey.
A Community Center and Senior Housing Community in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
Marcus Garvey school. A K through 8 grade private school in Los Angeles, California.
Marcus Garvey school. A Pre-K through 8 grade public magnet in math and science in Chicago, Illinois.
Marcus Books stores are named after him in San Francisco and Oakland.
Record producer, CEO, clothing designer, actor, and rapper Sean John Combs's clothing line Sean John released a pair of denim jeans whose style is named 'Garvey' after Marcus Garvey.
Boston indie band Piebald wrote a song titled "If Marcus Garvey Dies, Then Marcus Garvey Lives" for their 1999 release "If It Weren't For Venetian Blinds, It Would Be Curtains for us All"
Ska band Hepcat recorded the song "Marcus Garvey" on their album Scientific.
Sinéad O'Connor's reggae album, released in 2008, has a track named "Marcus Garvey"
[edit]Canada
Marcus Garvey Centre for Unity in Edmonton, Alberta [39]
Marcus Garvey day festival held yearly on 17 August in Toronto (North York), Ontario [40]
United Negro Improvement Association Hall located in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
[edit]Africa
A major street in his name in Nairobi, Kenya.
A street named after him in Enugu, Nigeria.
A neighborhood bearing his name in the township of Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa.
[edit]United Kingdom
A small park in his name in Hammersmith, London, England.
Marcus Garvey Centre in Lenton, Nottingham, England.
A Marcus Garvey Library inside the Tottenham Green Leisure Centre building in North London, England.
Marcus Garvey Road in Brixton, London.
Blue plaque at 53, Talgarth Road, Hammersmith, London, England:
GARVEY, Marcus (1887-1940) Pan-Africanist Leader, lived and died here, 53 Talgarth Road, W14. [Hammersmith and Fulham 2005]
Marcus garvey statue in Willesden green Library, Brent, London England
Back on track
Resume our posts in completion of the Tesla-Garvey novel with an interesting amazon.com comment on John O' Neill's "Prodigal Genius" :
Tesla's mother could repeat, without error or omission, thousands of verses of the national poetry of her country. Tesla shared her retentive memory. He had another ability that he only revealed to his mother. If Tesla thought of an object, it would appear before him exhibiting the appearance of solidity and massiveness. He used this ability to visualize the solution to creating the first alternating current generator.
The first time Tesla's ability to visualize helped him in his quest to develop an alternating current generator, occurred when he suggested to a college professor that alternating current would solve some of the problems with a piece of electrical equipment that could be used either to generate electricity or if supplied energy could operate as a motor. As his professor demonstrated the machine, the solution to the problem came to Tesla in such a vivid, illuminating flash of understanding that he knew his visualization contained the correct and practical answer. He saw both the equipment operating without the problems and doing so efficiently, however, he could not see the essential details of how this could be accomplished.
In Feb of 1882, Tesla took a walk in the city of Budapest with a former classmate. While a glorious sunset overspread the sky, Tesla engaged in one of his favorite hobbies-reciting poetry. The setting sun reminded Tesla of some of Goethe's beautiful lines:
The glow retreats, done is the day of toil;
It yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring;
Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil,
Upon its track to follow, follow soaring...
Suddenly, Tesla snapped into a rigid pose as if he had fallen into a trance. "Watch me!" he said, "Watch me reverse it!"
Tesla's friend said, "I see nothing, are you ill?"
"You do not understand," said Tesla, "It is my alternating-current motor I am talking about. Can't you see it right here in front of me, running almost silently? It is the rotating magnetic field that does it. See how the magnetic field rotates and drags the armature around with it? Isn't it beautiful? I have solved the problem."
Tesla now had an electrical system utilizing alternating current, which was much more flexible and vastly more efficient than the direct-current system then being used. But now Tesla had another problem, convincing the rest of the world that his alternating-current power system was simpler, flexible and freed electricity to be sent long distances. The direct-current systems being used at that time were not able to send electricity long distances without major problems. The fact that our power system today uses alternating-current shows that Tesla was finally successful. The book, Prodigal Genius, provides all the fascinating details of this story
Tesla's mother could repeat, without error or omission, thousands of verses of the national poetry of her country. Tesla shared her retentive memory. He had another ability that he only revealed to his mother. If Tesla thought of an object, it would appear before him exhibiting the appearance of solidity and massiveness. He used this ability to visualize the solution to creating the first alternating current generator.
The first time Tesla's ability to visualize helped him in his quest to develop an alternating current generator, occurred when he suggested to a college professor that alternating current would solve some of the problems with a piece of electrical equipment that could be used either to generate electricity or if supplied energy could operate as a motor. As his professor demonstrated the machine, the solution to the problem came to Tesla in such a vivid, illuminating flash of understanding that he knew his visualization contained the correct and practical answer. He saw both the equipment operating without the problems and doing so efficiently, however, he could not see the essential details of how this could be accomplished.
In Feb of 1882, Tesla took a walk in the city of Budapest with a former classmate. While a glorious sunset overspread the sky, Tesla engaged in one of his favorite hobbies-reciting poetry. The setting sun reminded Tesla of some of Goethe's beautiful lines:
The glow retreats, done is the day of toil;
It yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring;
Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil,
Upon its track to follow, follow soaring...
Suddenly, Tesla snapped into a rigid pose as if he had fallen into a trance. "Watch me!" he said, "Watch me reverse it!"
Tesla's friend said, "I see nothing, are you ill?"
"You do not understand," said Tesla, "It is my alternating-current motor I am talking about. Can't you see it right here in front of me, running almost silently? It is the rotating magnetic field that does it. See how the magnetic field rotates and drags the armature around with it? Isn't it beautiful? I have solved the problem."
Tesla now had an electrical system utilizing alternating current, which was much more flexible and vastly more efficient than the direct-current system then being used. But now Tesla had another problem, convincing the rest of the world that his alternating-current power system was simpler, flexible and freed electricity to be sent long distances. The direct-current systems being used at that time were not able to send electricity long distances without major problems. The fact that our power system today uses alternating-current shows that Tesla was finally successful. The book, Prodigal Genius, provides all the fascinating details of this story
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