An African Slave named Onesimus helped kick start the beginning of the end of the Smallpox epidemic in 1716. Onesimus told his owner/master Cotton Mather, a Boston Minister, that he knew how to prevent Smallpox and that he in fact had it and had been cured of it. Onesimus’ cure was a process called variolation. This process involves gathering the infectious material from the blisters of those with smallpox and then this infectious material is injected in a healthy person thus creating immunity. Today, we use Variolation to eliminate diseases like the Flu and Covid.
Martin Luther King’s birth name was Michael Luther King. King changed his name to Martin Luther King. After touring Berlin, King witnessed the beginning of Nazi Germany. Hitler had become chancellor the year before King’s arrival. Germany is the birthplace of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, which led to a split with the Catholic Church. When King returned to Atlanta, he decided to change his name and his son’s name from Michael to Martin Luther, after the German Protestant leader.
Nikki Giovanni, world famous African American poetess and Fisk University alum, was the keynote speaker at the 2023 MLK Day at Tennessee State University. In her speech, she explained how Nashville came to be known as “Music City”. As Fisk University was dealing with financial difficulties, the Fisk Jubilee Singers decided to go on tour in order to raise money to save the university. When they performed in England, one of Queen Victoria’s cousins was in the audience. After the performance he went up to them and told them that the Queen should hear their voices. He then set up an audience for the Jubilee Singers to perform for Queen Victoria in 1873. After the performance, the Queen asked them where they were from, they answered, “we are from Nashville, TN.” Queen Victoria then said, “Nashville must be a musical city”. It is because of the Jubilee Singers that Nashville, Tennessee is called “Music City.” Hopefully, this will put an end to this dubious question as to why Nashville is called Music City.
John Henry Hale was a prominent surgeon, professor and philanthropist who played a prominent role in establishing the black medical community in Nashville. He performed over 30,000 surgeries, mainly at Meharry Medical College. He also taught at Meharry for 29 Years while mentoring hundreds of African American surgeons. So, when travelling down Jo Johnston Ave. in North Nashville, the housing project you will see is named after Dr. John Henry Hale.
Vonetta Flowers became the first African American to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics.
Mississippi became the last state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which abolished slavery.
Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run, surpassing Babe Ruth as major league baseball’s all time homerun leader.
Alice Walker won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for The Color Purple in l983.
The Clotilda, the last known American slave ship to bring enslaved Africans to the United States, arrived in Mobile, Alabama with 110 African Captives in 1860.
The first African Americans to settle in Alabama were Moors that arrived with the Spanish in 1540-80 years before the Pilgrims.
To give a perspective that slavery was not so long ago, Harriet Tubman died in 1913.
Evan B. Forde was the first African American Scientist to explore the deep ocean in a submersible vehicle in 1979.
Alkebu-lan Images, located at 2721 Jefferson St., is Nashville’s only Black owned bookstore. Alkebu-lan Images was established in 1989 and has served the diverse, intellectual, spiritual and inspirational needs of African Americans in the Nashville area and beyond.
The only Tina Turner Museum in the world is located in Brownsville, Tenn., which is located between Memphis and Nashville. Brownsville is the birthplace of Tina Turner.