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Black History Month Experience

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Updated: 2 days ago

Join us for a special celebration with drumming, dancing, a choir performance, food, youth presentations & more to celebrate Black History Month on Sunday, February 23, 2025 at 11:30am at Unity of Oak Park.



Be Inspired

Each week, we will post a story about inspiring African American “FIRSTS” and Black History Makers.


Meet Engine 21, the first organized, paid, firefighting African-American company in Chicago.

A tribute story written by Unity Choir Member Kucha Brownlee

Engine Company 21, organized in 1872, was the first all-black fire company in the Chicago Fire Department.
Engine Company 21, organized in 1872, was the first all-black fire company in the Chicago Fire Department.

Engine 21, organized December 21, 1872, and was Chicago's first paid African-American firefighting company. The story of Engine 21 is the story of reconstruction in Chicago and America.


According to the Tribune "the assimilated drill alarms helped Engine 21 to become the first arrival at many alarms and fires." Also, David B Kenyon (1836--1814) and members of Engine 21 created and made popular the concept of the sliding pole in the Fire Service.


Nationally, Black men were not hired as firefighters. This stymied Blacks' ability to get employment and promotions in general. Black men, such as Thomas J. Martin, the inventor of the fire extinguisher in 1872; Garrett Morgan, the inventor of the gas mask in 1914; and Engine 21's invention of the firehouse sliding pole discredit negative stereotypes of Black firefighters. "Black Heroes of Fire; The History of the first African-American Fire Company in Chicago: Fire Engine 21" Submitted by Kucha Brownlee


Meet Madame CJ Walker: Entrepreneur, philanthropist, political and social activist, and most importantly, the first female, self-made millionaire in America

A tribute story written by Unity Board Trustee Lagel Gillmore


Sarah Breedlove was born December 23, 1867 in Delta Louisiana.She had one sister and four brothers. Sarah was the first one in the family born into freedom.  She was orphaned at seven years old and sent to live in to Vicksburg, Mississippi at the age of 10 where she worked as a Domestic. She went on to make her fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for black women.


She called her company, Madame CJ Walker A version of her third husband‘s name Mrs. Charles Joseph Walker. Madame Walker was a big financial supporter of organizations, such as the NAACP and was a patron of the arts.


She built a lavish estate in Irving.  There, she hosted special event in the African-American community. Madam Walker died May 25, 1919, and is buried in Woodlawn cemetery Bronx, New York. Her home in Irving, New York, the Villa Lewaro and The Madam Walker theater in Indianapolis are both listed on the historical registry. On March 4, 2016, a skin care company  in collaboration with Sephora launched hair products In honor of Madame Walker. A line of products focused on using natural ingredients for all types of hair. Madame CJ Walker Beauty Culture. 



Meet Moms Mabley:  The First Female Black Comedian

A remembrance of teenage friendship by Rev. Lucinda Witt

Loretta Mary Aiken, known by her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was an American stand-up comedian and actress. Mabley began her career on the theater stage in the 1920s and became a veteran entertainer of the Chitlin' Circuit of black vaudeville. 

Born: March 19, 1897, Brevard, NC

Died: May 23, 1975 (age 78 years)

Entertainment Medium: Vaudeville; television; stand-up; film


I had a best friend at McCulloch Jr. High School in Marion, IN. who introduced me to her comedy routines. My friend’s name was Linda Smith. She was funny and she had a laugh that just drew me to her. She also remembered every monologue that Mom created, and she could imitate her style so very well.


She asked me if I would like to come to her house and listen to the records of Mom Mabley’s comedy routines. I said, “Yes!!”


 My Mother was not too sure about me going over to her home, because it was in the black neighborhood section in Marion, IN.


I felt no fear at all, and I assured her that Linda was one of my best friends, and I loved listening to the records of Mom’s routines that she had acquired.  


I respected her because of our close friendship, and her willingness to share an important part of her life with me.   My Mother finally gave in and allowed me to share the experience of this great, talented and funny woman.


 I never had any problems going into Linda’s home. Her Mother was so kind and sweet, and she always had cookies and milk for us to share as we listened to the records. We spent many happy moments listening to Mom; I got a real appreciation and understanding of what made Black Comedy so appealing. Mom was the first black woman to create her own routines.


Mom’s timing and comedic subjects were hysterical.  I learned a great deal from her as I listened to her voice, and the subject matter, which was all about black life. She told the funniest stories about her family and friends.


In 1921 she began touring with the husband-and-wife team Butterbeans & Susie, soon making her debut at Harlem's legendary Cotton Club; Mabley was also a fixture of New York City's emerging Black theatre.


Mabley entered the world of film and stage as well, working with writer Zora Neale Hurston on the 1931 Broadway show Fast and Furious: A Colored Revue in 37 Scenes and taking on a featured role in Paul Robeson's Emperor Jones (1933).


She performed alongside other legendary Black performers like Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. Drawing on her vaudeville training, Mabley would intermingle singing and dancing with her comedy routine.


According to Whoopi Goldberg, who directed a documentary about Mabley in 2013, said that she may have been the very first standup comic of any gender.


Mabley effectively harnessed the power of laughter in ways that resonated with her Black audience and forced her white audience to confront their own prejudice.


In the early 1960s, Mabley began to gain the attention of white audiences through her popular comedy records as well as her appearances on mainstream television programs such as The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Ed Sullivan Show.


Yet despite her increasing popularity, Mabley did not change her routine for white audiences. She used her stand-up comedy to pointedly critique American politics and expose the underlying absurdity of racial discrimination.


Though she never experienced the full fame she deserved in her lifetime, she is remembered as a trailblazer, not only helping to create the craft of stand-up comedy but challenging gender stereotypes and racial bigotry,


 

 



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