Wiki History!

Do you recognize the names of Emmett Till, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, David Richmond or Ruby Bridges?   Perhaps you recognize some but not others. Perhaps none.   That’s okay. They weren’t seeking fame or fortune. They just wanted to get an education, vote or just eat at a cafeteria lunch counter. You might not know their names but they made a difference for all of us. In this podcast show, you’re gonna here EXACTLY what they did.   Hi, I’m Robin Lofton, the Chief In-house Historian and host of this great and groundbreaking show that can inspire YOU and your FAMILY with true stories, real experiences, practical lessons, cultural traditions, and fun celebrations—all inspired by African American history. I find history to BE inspirational, instructional and entertaining. And African American history fits the bill in all of these ways. Personally, I hate boring stuff. So boring stuff is not allowed at rememberinghistory.com or at this Wiki history podcast show.   This was planned as the third and final podcast i

Can you vote? Do you want to vote? Do you even have a vote?   Great questions!   You might have a quick answer that “of course” you can vote. Or you WILL vote after you turn 18. That’s excellent if you do!   Now what if someone told you that YOU couldn’t vote?   You might answer: No, that’s wrong. I meet the age requirement. I’m over 18.   But then you are asked:   Do you know the US Constitution?   Of course! I know about it, you say.   Then the registrar says: Great. Now recite the entire Constitution.   Do you mean that I should read it to you?   Can you read?   Yes, again, of course.   No, she says, just recite the entire Constitution from memory.   But I don’t KNOW it from memory!   So, the registrar says, “Then you can’t vote. Your application to register to vote is denied!”   Or the scenario could go this way:   You might be asked: Did you pay the $1,000 poll tax?   No, but I can pay it. I can write you a check right now.   Then the registrar says: No, you have paid it for 10 years. You owe $10,000 plu

Rememberinghistory.com Podcast Show January 2017   Hello and welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it. I’m Robin Lofton, the host of this great and groundbreaking show that inspires YOU and YOUR family with stories, experiences, lessons, traditions, and celebrations—all from African American history. That’s right—it’s inspirational. History—in all its forms--can be inspirational. American history, ancient history, European history, music history, history of medicine, history of technology, history of law, women’s history. All kinds of history can be inspirational, instructional and entertaining. And African American history fits the bill in all of these ways.   I remember taking a course on the history of jazz when I was in college. Confession time, I took the class because I heard that it was easy and that I would easily get a good grade. What do you think that I discovered when I actually took the class? It WAS easy and I DID get a good grade. But it was ea

Quick and Easy Guide to Celebrating Kwanzaa!   Habari gani!   That’s a traditional greeting in Swahili.   Welcome to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it.   Today we are talking about Kwanzaa! Tis the season!   Kwanzaa is a wonderful week-long celebration of African culture and heritage. It was designed to help African Americans remember the history, richness and rituals of African culture, particularly the African mindset of showing gratitude for the harvest, honoring the ancestors and remembering the family unit. Kwanzaa celebrates all of this.   Kwanzaa was founded in 1966 by Dr. Ron Karenga who was an active part of the Black nationalist movements of the 1960s and 1970s. He designed it as one of the first specifically African American holidays. During the 1960s and 70s, there was a movement by African Americans to reconnect with African culture and history.—things that were stripped away during slavery and then diminished and disregarded for years. So, Kwanzaa is a c

Welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it. We’re here for another Wiki history lecture featuring the great and groundbreaking podcast series on African Americans in the United States military.   November is the month that Americans remember and honor its veterans—the brave men and women who fought for freedom and liberty both within the country and around the world. Did you know that there are nearly 20 million veterans living in the United States. Of that number, more than 2 million veterans are African American.   African Americans have fought in every U.S. war beginning with the Revolutionary War.   Civil War: 200,000 African Americans served, mostly but not all for the Union war effort. Did you know that Harriet Tubman served as a nurse and spy for the Union Army? World War I: 375,000 African Americans served, mostly as labor: cooking, cleaning and building roads. There was also the Harlem Hellfighters—if you haven’t heard about these incredible guys, you

Hello and welcome to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it. I’m Robin, the founder and host of this great and groundbreaking podcast show. I would also say that this is an historic show—yes, I know it’s about history—but it is historic because we are discussing, learning and being inspired by people who have been forgotten by history. In this series, we’re focusing on Black explorers.   Remember in the first show of this series, we discussed William Sheppard who was born a poor boy in the southern United States but became one of the greatest explorers in the Congo, learned the Kuba language, gained the respect of the Bakuba people and became one of the world’s first human rights activists. He alerted the world to the horrible treatment and atrocities (remember the severed hands?) suffered by the Congolese resulting from the Belgian rubber trade. William Sheppard also became one of the first collectors of African art. In the second podcast show, we discussed Black women ex

Black Explorers Podcast Number 2   Hello History friends!   Welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it.   I’m Robin and I’m the host of this great and groundbreaking podcast series about Black explorers. In the first podcast of this series, we discussed William Sheppard who was one of the first black missionaries in Africa. He explored the Congo River region, established relationships with the local people like the Bakuba, learned the Kuba language and learned their techniques in hunting, music, growing crops and ancestral worship. Sheppard also established one of the first humanitarian organizations in the world and brought international attention to the human rights abuses (like slavery and torture) being committed against the local people as part of the Belgian rubber industry. He did so much on both sides of the Atlantic and his legacy as an explorer, human rights activist and African art collector continues to grow and spread. If you have not heard the pre

Podcast: African American Explorers 1   Hi and welcome to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it. Today we begin our great and groundbreaking podcast series about Black explorers! And we also have a very special guest who will introduce them: Frederick Lofton who is known as the Lawyer Explorer. Frederick has made many incredible explorations and today he is on the Big Island of Hawaii making even more discoveries. We are so lucky that he is taking the time to tell us about explorations made by other African Americans. You might not have heard of these great people—which is very sad—but hopefully they will one day become household names because there is so much that we can learn from them and their stories are so inspirational. Let’s do a bit of housekeeping then let’s hear from Frederick, the Lawyer Explorer.   As you may know, October 12, 2015 is Columbus Day in the United States. Columbus is celebrated for his explorations in the 15th century. Although he set out for a

Hello and welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it.   I’m Robin, the host of this podcast show and I’m so glad that you have joined me for the opening of this important podcast series. Our history makers in this series will make you stand up and cheer. Or perhaps they’ll make up sit down and grab a book. Why? Because in this series, we focus on a group of history makers that are often forgotten: The educators. Teachers, tutors, lecturers, writers. People from all disciplines who teach our children or learners of any age. This is such an inspirational group and I’m gonna tell you why I think so.   First, I strongly believe in education. I guess that’s not breaking news. Oh well, I just had to say it anyway. But here is some breaking news: many of the greatest Black educators hailed from very humble, even disadvantaged backgrounds. Some were former slaves. Some were children of former slaves. They were sharecroppers who worked the fields from a young age. Or th

Hello history friends and welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making history too.   So, today is the last part of this great and groundbreaking series on fun and easy ways to be inspired by history. Wow, we have covered a lot of ground during this series.   We started with the decision to read, read, and read some more. I think that I almost lost some of you with that first step.  Yes, I love to read but I think that you imagined that I stayed up in the wee hours of the night to read a 1,000-page history textbook (written in a tiny font). Wrong!  While I appreciate the role of textbooks in education, I don’t take the view that they are teaching history. Instead, they are presenting names, dates and events instead of telling a story. That’s what history is to me: a collection of stories—about people.  The names, dates, and events are incidental. The people are the main characters; they make the story. And the story makes history.  Remember, David McCullough (my f

Hello history friends and welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making history!   Today we are continuing with our 6-part wiki history series called “6 Fun & Easy ways to be inspired by history.” This series has proven to be amazingly inspirational; I hope that you’re having a great time. I know I am. Inspiration is all around us but sometimes it is difficult to see.  The same applies to history—it is everywhere yet we often don’t realize that history is being made every single day. We don’t want to miss these inspirational moments.  And that is what this series is all about and how to be inspired by history. Let’s briefly review:   In Part I, we discussed how books can be amazingly inspirational. Remember that history is a collection of stories about people.  I keep saying that the history textbooks that many of us have read in high school or college only relate history as names, dates and death counts. They don’t tell stories.  Don’t let them put you off learn

Note: This is a transcript from the podcast series called "6 Fun & Easy ways to be inspired by history!" Hello history friends and welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making history!   This is Robin and I’m really glad that you have come back to hear Part IV in this great and groundbreaking wiki history podcast series called “6 Fun & Easy ways to be inspired by history”! Today, we will explore the fourth way to be inspired, but before I reveal this amazingly inspirational way to be inspired by history, I just want to briefly review the past three ways.   In Part I, we found ways to be amazingly inspired by books about history.  Okay, textbooks can be kinda boring so we focused on “nonfiction novels” that are true stories, written as a novel (as piece of fiction). I have read many nonfiction novels that bring history to life and are without a doubt, amazingly inspirational.  We also examined autobiographies (like Frederick Douglass’s narrative) and slave na

Hello History Friends and welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making history!   This is Robin and I’m so glad to see you here again to continue with our great and groundbreaking and amazingly inspirational series called “6 Fun and Easy Ways to be inspired by History”.  Yes, this is a great and groundbreaking series because many people will discuss history and why history is so important but they often forget one thing: They forget that history can be amazingly inspirational. Many people forget (or they just don’t realize) that history is about people—their stories, their experiences, their successes, their failures, their lives. Our lives. Yes, that’s why I repeat that we are remembering history but we’re also making history—every day.   In the past two parts of this series, we have discussed different ways to learn and find history. In Part I, we discussed how books about history can be amazingly inspirational. Books that tell stories about people like biographie

Hello History Friends and welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making history. I’m glad that you have returned for this fantastic, trailblazing and incredibly amazing series called “6 Fun and Easy Ways to be inspired by history”! And I believe this series really is all those things. Why? Because anything that can help to inspire us in so many different ways (and to such great heights) must be fantastic, trailblazing and incredibly amazing-or at least just incredibly amazing!    What have we learned so far?  In Part I, we discovered that you can be inspired by books about history.  I’m not talking about the 800 or 1,000-page history textbooks from high school and college though some people could be inspired by them. But I am talking about history as great literature.  I mentioned the “non-fiction novel” that was first used by Truman Capote when he wrote In Cold Blood.  Then I also mentioned the Pulitzer prize-winning book, The Devil in the Grove, written by Gilbert

How to be inspired by history, Part I   Last April, I posted a blog that discussed why I love history. (It was called “What Inspires Me” if you want to read it again.) Unequivocally, I answered that history inspires me. I love the stories, the people, the intrigue, struggles and the triumph.  They all inspire me. History shows me that nothing happens in a vacuum and reminds me that nothing ever had to happen as it did.  While I have some belief in fate, I am inspired by the thought that we have some control over our destiny.  And history reminds me of that.   I had a lot of responses and discussion about my history “obsession” that came from my blog post.  Apparently, I touched a few people “out there” which is always a pleasure. But it is also humbling because many people wanted to know how I actually “find” history.  They thought that I sit down with a 1,000-page textbook written in a size 10-font and read into the wee hours of the night.  (I admit that this is my ritual sometimes!)  But I realized (this i

Welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making history, too.   We’re gonna make a slight change in this part of this podcast by discussing a place that was briefly mentioned in the previous podcast.  It was a place that I visited as a child and I recommend it to everyone, not just African Americans.  But all Americans, all people who visit the United States, all history enthusiasts, military historians, civil rights activists, legal historians and…Well, I’ll stop here and just say that everyone should visit this place. So, what is it?   It is Harper’s Ferry!    An amazing place—and I’m going to tell you why right after this brief introduction.   First, I just want to remind you that this is the new and improved blog called rememberinghistory.com where were and are remembering history and we’re making history, too. We are a large and growing community of fun and friendly historians and we welcome everyone who loves history or even if you’re just curious about history

Hello history friends and welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it. In this month’s podcast series, we are going to remember history in a slightly different way. Rather than talking about it (which, of course, is a great thing to do and a great way to learn), we are going to visit history, see history, experience history, and get immersed in history. (And, yes, we will talk about it a bit too!) What do I mean? I mean that this month we are going to discuss important historical sites around the United States. You might not realize that there are lots and lots of different sites where great and important historical events have occurred.  Some were small and brief events. Others were large and long lasting. But all were memorable and all were game changers.  I think that it is so important to visit historical sites and see where and how things happened, where people lived and how they lived. Remember, one of my goals is to bring history to life—that is one of th

Welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making history.  We continue in this third wiki history podcast about Less Famous People involved in Civil Rights. In this podcast, we will focus exclusively on women who participated and died in the struggle for civil rights. Why should we spend an entire podcast focusing on women heroes of the civil rights movement? Great question. I think that I can give you a great answer. I noticed, in my research on civil rights heroes, that there were lists devoted to this subject by organizations that I respect. When I read the lists, I found very few women.  Perhaps only one or two on a list of twenty or thirty people.   It seems like the stories about women heroes are not being told, they are being forgotten and that’s completely contrary to what rememberinghistory.com stands for.  There are other reasons but I will discuss those reasons in the context of a larger issue that will be presented towards the end of this podcast. Stay tune

Welcome back to rememberinghistory.com where we are remembering history and we’re making it. In this podcast series, we are remembering the unknown (or lesser known) heroes of the civil rights movement.  More specifically, I should say that we are remembering and honoring the lesser-known martyrs in civil rights—those men and women who fought for voting rights, housing rights, and other forms of equal rights and the people who staunchly fought against segregation, lynching, police brutality and other forms of violence.  In the last podcast, we remembered Corporal Roman Ducksworth who refused to be removed from the front of a bus travelling through Mississippi. We remembered Rev. George Washington Lee who fought for voting rights. And, lastly, we remembered Harry and Harriett Moore who fought for equal rights in education and investigated police brutality and lynching in Florida.   In today’s podcast, we will remember and honor some of the white people who fought for civil rights for Black Americans.  Remembe

Welcome back to robinlofton.com.  Actually, I should welcome to the new rememberinghistory.com podcast. This month, April 2015, I launched the new and improved website and podcast called rememberinghistory.com where we are still remembering history and we’re still making history, too!  Yes, it’s a new and improved website and community where you can still find the Wiki History podcasts, my bodacious blog and a great community of fun and friendly people who love history!  You will also find some new things at rememberinghistory.com. I have opened a store called Books & Stuff where you can find, well, books. But you can also find DVDs, videos, and lots of other “stuff” to enhance your history experience.    While I’m glad that you are listening to my podcasts, I think that it’s also important to read, read and read some more.  I remember that John Adams (2nd president of the United States) said when after finishing his studies at Harvard and before writing the Massachusetts constitution was asking himself,