Harambee Learning and Cultural Center

Today we celebrate the National Black Women's Day of Rest. It's a day dedicated for Black women to prioritize self-care, mental health, and rejuvenation, often honoring the legacy of Harriet Tubman. It encourages taking a break from daily responsibilities to combat burnout and recognize rest as a form of resistance and healing. Enjoy your day‼️

We give thanks, honor, and sincere gratitude to all of our Black History Heroes/Series who endured and overcame so we could benefit from their sacrifices. Celebrating Black History deserves more than a month, so we celebrate it all year.

We honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson.

Jesse Louis Jackson was an American civil rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the civil rights movement, he became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a shadow delegate and shadow senator for the District of Columbia. In 2000, he was awarded by President Bill Clinton the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Richard Bowie Spikes (1878–1963) was a man of many hats—a barber, a public school teacher, and a talented musician who played the piano and violin. Born into a family of high achievers (his brothers were famous jazz songwriters!), Richard’s own path led him to transform the world of engineering.

A Lifetime of Practical Genius:

The Perfect Pour: While operating a saloon in Arizona, Richard became dissatisfied with how beer was dispensed. He developed a pressure-dispense beer tap that was so effective, the Milwaukee Brewing Company purchased the patent—and variations of his design are still used today.

Safety on the Road: He developed a safety braking system for trucks and buses and a testing machine that even the Oakland Police Department was eager to try out.

Shifting Gears: In 1932, he received a patent for improving the automatic gear shift mechanism, helping to evolve the way we drive.

Early Signaling: As early as 1913, he installed his version of directional signals on a Pierce-Arrow car.

Innovation Against the Odds: Even as his eyesight began to fade due to glaucoma, Richard’s spirit of invention never faltered. He continued to work and create, following in the footsteps of his father-in-law, an ex-slave who founded the first public schools for African Americans in Beaumont, Texas.

Though many of his inventions weren't widely adopted during his lifetime, his impact is felt every time we see a heavy vehicle stop safely or enjoy a modern convenience he helped refine. We are honored to preserve his legacy in the Black Archives. 🕊️✨

Which of Richard Spikes' inventions surprised you the most to learn about today? Leave a "❤️" to celebrate his brilliance, or tell us in the comments if you knew about his connection to the beer tap! 💬🗨️

Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court in 1967 and he served until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-American justice. Before his judicial service, he was an attorney who fought for civil rights, leading the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Marshall was a prominent figure in the movement to end racial segregation in American public schools. He won 29 of the 32 civil rights cases he argued before the Supreme Court, culminating in the Court's landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which rejected the separate but equal doctrine and held segregation in public education to be unconstitutional.

Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was a pioneering Black educator, civil rights leader, and presidential advisor who founded Bethune-Cookman College, championed women's rights, advised five U.S. Presidents (including FDR's Black Cabinet), and advocated for Black Americans in national defense and at the founding of the UN, laying groundwork for the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Lonnie Johnson, a NASA engineer and inventor, created the Super Soaker in 1989 after accidentally discovering the concept while working on an environmentally friendly heat pump in his home. Patented in 1986 as a "sq**rt gun," this iconic, high-pressure water toy was licensed to Larami Corporation (later Hasbro) and generated over $1 billion in sales.

Hattie McDaniel was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African American to win an Oscar.

She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 2006 became the first black Oscar winner honored with a U.S. postage stamp. In 2010, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.

Elijah McCoy, was a prolific African-American inventor who secured over 50 patents, most famously U.S. Patent No. 129,843 on July 23, 1872, for an automatic lubricating cup for steam engines. His device allowed trains to operate continuously without stopping for maintenance, significantly improving how they operate. He created an automatic lubricator for oiling the steam engines of locomotives and ships, patenting as "Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines". The phrase "The Real McCoy" is aptly named after him due to his efficiency.

Phillis Wheatley was an American writer who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent. She was emancipated by the Wheatley family shortly after her first book was published.