Were We Tricked?

In 1852, Frank W. Woolworth was the original USA based chain of five and dime stores. Woolworth was much like a Walmart, because the products ranged from bedroom sheets to electronics. I have fond memories shopping with my mother at Woolworth as a little girl.

(The Greensboro Four seen above)

February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina, four African American students sat at a 'White's only' lunch counter in a Woolworth department store. The students were from North Carolina’s Agricultural and Technical College: Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond. 

The four men ordered food but received no service, so they remained sitting at the lunch counter until the store closed. Students began coming everyday to protest at the lunch counter -- in which the count amounted to 300 hundred protesters by the 5th day. Woolworth still wouldn't integrate; some students were even arrested and charged with trespassing. 

The arrests fueled more protests and caused a snowball effect, as students launched boycotts at segregated lunch counters across the city. 

Store revenue fell sharply and store owners were ultimately forced to give in. Six months later those same four students returned to that same lunch counter and was served food. 

These courageous acts led to the integration of many stores before the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. In 1933, an eight foot section of the lunch counter from Woolworth was moved to the Smithsonian Institution to forever mark this moment in history.

Racial tension between Black people and the Woolworth department store was even more evident, which in turn triggered a massive boycott. 

As a little girl, I remembered that the Woolworth department store suddenly disappeared and I didn't know where it went or what happened to it, all I knew was that the store in which I had become accustomed to had vanished. 

Over time I found out what happened to Woolworth, would you like to know?

Since revenue sharply declined due to poor sales as a result of the boycott, in order to get and keep the black dollar something had to be done. Woolworth decided to re-invent themselves and changed their name to Venator Group; their name was then changed to Footlocker which we all know to be a major department store today.

Woolworth decided to change its focus to athletic clothing, and even started an athletic retailer mail-order catalogue titled, East Bay. 

Altogether, there are 596 Woolworth stores worldwide and all of them are now under one corporate entity. And although the Woolworth name has been masked in America, there are plenty overseas in New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Canada, and Mexico City doing very well in profit. 

Were we tricked?

Woolworth had gone out of business in America, due to its racist attitude and the owners knew if they continued with this name they'd lose more money. 

So now we're tricked into thinking that Footlocker is a totally different store, but it's really all the same. Same people, same store, and probably the same racist agenda.

Now that I am aware of these changes will this stop me from shopping at Footlocker? 

Without a blink of an eye the first word that comes to mind is, absolutely!

2008 LA

American Corporations Built From The Slave Trade

Below is a list of American companies that developed from slavery:

*JP Morgan

*Chase Bank

*Bank of America

*Aetna insurance company

*Wachovia Bank

*Amoco Oil

*CSX

Is it fair for companies to retain wealth that has been acquired through the slave trade, especially when slavery brought about pain and suffering for many black Americans that continues to wreak havoc on future generations? And although many of these companies still exist -- shouldn't they be made to relinquish the funds that is unfairly in their possession?

In my searches I found another corporation from the slave trade, and it has been around for over 300 hundred centuries! 

The company is called Unilever.

William Hesketh Lever, born in 1851 (seen-r) was the founder of Lever Brothers, a company that would soon make up one big corporate entity in the year 1930. 

The company produces products made of oils and fats -- principally soap and margarine, and is now one of the worlds biggest companies.

On the company's website it reads that William Hesketh Lever, wanted to help people look good, feel good, and get more out of life with his products. Apparently, he made cleanliness and hygiene very popular in Victorian England. 

What the company website fails to tell you is that this same man William Hesketh Lever, used forced labor of slaves to build his empire. 

Lever built a community and called it Port Sunlight, which housed and supported all his workers. In order to live at Port Sunlight workers had to comply with Lever's intrusive rules and mandatory participation in activities; working for him.  

Lever conned his worker's into working for him by offering them things that they didn't have, like housing and wages. However, the catch 22 was that if these worker's decided to move away, so then would their housing and wages.

You have to hand it to Lever, he was smart enough to think of a way to get his projects done all while getting his money back in the process, while making it appear as if he didn't harbor forced labor. He invested wages into laborers who became his tenants, and then received the wages right back when it came time for the laborers to pay their rent!

During the early 1900's, Lever used palm oil produced in British West African Colonies and when his supply ran out, he traveled to other colonies in search of more. 

In 1911, Lever visited the Belgian Congo to use his slaves to retrieve palm oil; his attitude towards the Congolese were reportedly very racist, controlling, brutal, and is very well documented. 

Belgian administrators, missionaries, and doctors protested against the practices at the Lever plantations, and although the Belgian Socialist Party were called to investigate the matter -- the forced labor continued up until the 1960's. 

Should this company not be investigated and made to pay for its divisive, racist, and unreasonable acts? It is documented that Lever was a liberal man, but apparently only "liberal" when it came to his pockets. 

   

2008 LA

A Few of My Favorite Things: Black Inventors

When I think of slavery the question that often pops in my head is, "How many black inventors had their ideas stolen by the "oppressor" for personal gain?" This thought propelled me to research Black inventors.       

*Everyone has a smoke detector in their home to alert them should the house catch on fire, right? But did you know a black man by the name of Sidney Jacoby, invented the smoke and heat detector?  

Is Sidney Jacoby's Estate and family receiving royalties for his invention?

*Black inventor Henry Blair born in 1807, made the first seed planter in 1834, and the first cotton planter in 1836. There was much land to maintain and from dusk to dawn slaves maintained it. Selling cotton was profitable for masters in the South, however, profit was almost non-existent for the slaves who grew and picked it. 

Is Henry Blair's Estate and family receiving royalties for his invention?

*Black inventor Dr. Patricia Bath (seen-r), an Ophthalmologist from New York, was the first African American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention. 

Bath's invention was called the Cataract Laser Phaco Probe. This extraordinary discovery helped to remove cataract lenses accurately with a laser device, while restoring sight to people who had been blind for over 30 years!

*Sarah Boone invented the ironing board. 

*In 1839 Edmond Berger, invented car spark plugs to enable automobiles to start up.

*In 1899 John Albert Burr invented the lawn mower. 

*In 1896 Charles Brooks invented improvements to street sweeper trucks, adding revolving brushes and front fender scrapers for snow pick up. Charles also designed the part of the truck which collects garbage and crushes it, using a special power lifting mechanism. Finally, Brooks invented the hole puncher which is widely used by train conductors, schools, businesses, and in homes. 

Are these inventor's families receiving royalties for their contributions to society?

*Mr. Andrew Beard was born a slave on a plantation in Woodland, Alabama. In 1881, Beard invented the field plow and in 1892, he invented a rotary engine. In 1897, Beard invented the Jenny Coupler which is a carefully structured hook that connects train cars together. Amazing isn't it!? 

Is Mr. Andrew Beard's family receiving royalties for his inventions?

*George Washington Carver (seen-r), was a Agricultural Chemist in the 1800's. Carver discovered 300 uses for peanuts and over 100 uses for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes! 

Carver suggested his recipe of inventions to Southern farmers for adhesives, axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, chili sauce, fuel briquettes (which would promote sustainable human development, and preserve our environment with renewable energy if we invest in it now), ink, instant coffee, linoleum, mayonnaise, meat tenderizer, metal polish, paper, plastic, pavement, shaving cream, shoe polish, synthetic rubber, talcum powder and wood stain.  Although Carver invented all these products, he only received 3 patents for only 3 inventions!

Who currently owns the rights to Carver's other products, and is his estate and family receiving royalties for his inventions?

*Do you have 24 hour TV surveillance in your home? You can thank black inventor Marie Brown, who created the first video home security system on December 2, 1969. 

*If you have a boiler in your home or apartment building, vacuum pumps, central air conditioning, and refrigerators, you can thank black inventor David Crosthwait. He invented the heating system for New York's famous Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center. 

Crosthwait was an expert with heat transfer, air ventilation, and central air conditioning. The current owner's of David Crosthwaits' inventions are 'Dunham-Bush' Inc., and has a main headquarters sitting in West Hartford, Connecticut.  

Who is Dunham-Bush and how did they receive the rights to Crosthwait's inventions?

*Futuristic thinker and black inventor George Carruthers (seen-r), invented the far Ultraviolet Camera Spectrograph, which was the first of its kind to be taken to the moon by Apollo 16 and astronauts in 1972. 

The camera allowed researchers to examine the Earth's atmosphere for concentrations of pollutants. Carruthers built the first telescope during young school years with teacher's often telling Carruthers, that his ideas and ways of thinking were "out in space". Ha! I guess they were right about the space part!

Whether there is documentation of negotiation on patent ownership or not for these black inventors, we know for a fact the contracts couldn't have been fair given the time period in history. An investigation should be conducted into patent ownership rights regarding slave inventors, to make sure future generations of these successful inventors are rightfully receiving their inheritance, and if not contract negotiation should be on the table. 

I find it disheartening that I wasn't taught any of this in school, but I'm overjoyed of my discovery -- and hopefully yours as well. 

2008 LA