Ms.Medlock Teaches

Happy Black History month day 24 🖤

Today I will be discussing the Black Panther Party ✊🏿

The Black Panther Party was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. It emerged during the height of the Civil Rights Movement as a response to police brutality, racial injustice, and economic inequality affecting Black communities.

The Party’s foundation was its Ten-Point Program, which demanded:
• Freedom and self-determination
• Full employment
• Decent housing
• Education that taught true Black history
• An end to police brutality
• Exemption of Black men from military service
• Justice in the legal system

While often remembered for their armed patrols monitoring police activity (which were legal at the time under California law), the Panthers were also deeply invested in community survival programs.

🍎 Free Breakfast for Children Program — Feeding tens of thousands of children daily across the country before school. This model later influenced the expansion of federal school breakfast programs.
🏥 Free Health Clinics — Providing medical care, screenings for sickle cell anemia, and health education in underserved communities.
📚 Political Education Programs — Teaching Black history, civic awareness, and community organizing skills.
👕 Community Clothing Drives & Food Distribution — Supporting families experiencing poverty.

The Party also built coalitions across racial and ethnic lines, working with Latino, Asian American, and poor white activist groups on shared issues of economic justice.

However, the Panthers were heavily surveilled and targeted by the FBI’s COINTELPRO program, which aimed to disrupt and dismantle Black radical organizations.

Internal conflict, government repression, and legal battles contributed to the Party’s decline by the early 1980s.
However, The Black Panther Party remains one of the most influential and debated organizations in American history ✊🏿🖤

Happy Black History month day 21 🌞

Today I will be uplifting Muhammad Ali 🖤

Muhammad Ali was more than a boxing champion, he was one of the most visible and unapologetic activists of the 20th century.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali rose to global fame after winning the heavyweight title in 1964. Soon after, he announced he had joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali, rejecting what he called his “slave name.”

At a time when Black identity was heavily policed, that decision alone was a bold political act.
But his most defining stand came in 1967.

During the Vietnam War, Ali refused induction into the U.S. Army, stating: “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong… No Viet Cong ever called me n*gg*r.”

He grounded his refusal in both his religious beliefs and his opposition to racial injustice in America. For this decision, he was arrested, stripped of his heavyweight title, banned from boxing for over three years and facing up to five years in prison all at the height of his athletic prime, Ali sacrificed his career, income, and public approval for his principles.

In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction. By then, public opinion had shifted and many began to see Ali not as a villain, but as a man who stood on conviction when it was costly.

Beyond Vietnam, Ali consistently spoke out about police brutality, economic injustice, black pride and, self-determination, religious freedom.

He traveled globally, advocating for peace and humanitarian causes long after his boxing career ended.
Muhammad Ali showed the world that greatness is not just about titles And athletic ability, standing your ground and what you're willing to risk for your beliefs.
He fought in the ring but he also fought for dignity, conscience, and the right to stand on principle.

Happy Black History month day 16 🖤

Today I will be uplifting Billie Holiday ❤️

Born Eleanora Fagan in 1915, Billie Holiday grew up in extreme poverty in Baltimore and Harlem. Her childhood was marked by instability, racism, and trauma. She left school early, endured sexual violence, and spent time in reform school before moving to New York City as a teenager.

But even in hardship, her voice was undeniable.
Discovered while singing in Harlem nightclubs, Billie Holiday went on to become one of the most influential jazz vocalists of all time. Her emotional phrasing, raw vulnerability, and ability to bend melody changed American music forever.

Songs like “God Bless the Child” and “Lover Man” showcased her unique storytelling style.
In 1939, she began performing Strange Fruit, a haunting protest song about the lynching of Black Americans. The song forced audiences to confront racial terror in a way few artists had dared to do publicly.

Because of her refusal to stop singing “Strange Fruit,” she became a target of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Under commissioner Harry Anslinger, federal agents surveilled, harassed, and pursued her aggressively.

She was arrested multiple times, denied the cabaret license required to perform in many New York clubs, and effectively blacklisted from major venues.
Despite government persecution, racism, and personal struggles, Billie Holiday’s voice never lost its power.

She passed away in 1959 at just 44 years old hospitalized and reportedly under police guard.

Billie Holiday was more than a jazz singer. She was a truth-teller. She turned pain into protest and music into memory.

Happy Black History month day 14 🖤.

Today I will be uplifting Malcolm X 🖤

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925. His childhood was shaped by racial violence. His father, a Black nationalist organizer, was killed under suspicious circumstances, and his family was torn apart by systemic racism.

As a young man, Malcolm fell into crime and was imprisoned, but prison became the turning point of his life.

While incarcerated, he educated himself, reading dictionary pages word by word and studying history, philosophy, and religion. He emerged transformed, joining the Nation of Islam and becoming one of the most powerful and uncompromising voices for Black self-determination in America.

Malcolm X spoke openly about racism, police brutality, economic exploitation, and the psychological damage of white supremacy. He rejected the idea that freedom should require patience or respectability, insisting that Black people had the right to defend themselves and define their own futures.

After leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm’s thinking continued to evolve. Through global travel and study, he began to frame the Black struggle as a human rights issue, connecting it to anti-colonial movements around the world. His vision grew more expansive, more international, and more unifying.


Malcolm X was a civil rights and human rights leader a , powerful orator and political thinker, a global advocate for Black liberation
•
Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 at just 39 years old but his words, clarity, and courage continue to shape conversations about freedom, justice, and self-respect.

His message regarding education, dignity, and self-determination are inseparable from liberation. ✊🏾📚

Happy Black History month day 12 🖤

Today I will be discussing Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.

In 1906, O.W. Gurley (Ottawa W. Gurley), a Black entrepreneur originally from Greenwood, purchased over 40 acres of land in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He sold the land exclusively to Black families and named the district Greenwood after his Mississippi hometown.

What he helped build became known as Black Wall Street , one of the most prosperous Black communities in American history.

By the early 1920s, Greenwood was thriving with:
🏦 Banks
🏨 Hotels
📰 Newspapers
🎭 Theaters
🏪 600+ Black-owned businesses
👩🏾‍⚕️ Doctors, lawyers, educators, and entrepreneurs

Greenwood represented economic independence, generational wealth, and Black excellence during a time of extreme segregation.

But in 1921, white supremacists backed by the police and the national guard attacked the community in what is now known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. White supremacists burned and destroyed more than 35 blocks, 1200 homes and left more than 300 Black people dead. With over 10,000 people displaced.
An entire thriving district was destroyed.

Still, the legacy of Black Wall Street lives on as a powerful reminder of what was built and why preserving and protecting Black economic power matters.

Happy Black History Month day 10

Today I will be revealing the history behind Central Park, formerly known as Seneca Village 🌞

Long before Central Park existed, this land was home to Seneca Village, a thriving community founded in 1825 by free Black Americans between what is now West 82nd and West 89th Street.

Families in Seneca Village owned their homes, built churches and a school, and created a close-knit neighborhood where children were educated and adults exercised civic rights. Property ownership even allowed Black men to vote which was an opportunity rare in New York at the time.

Later, Irish immigrants also lived there, making Seneca Village one of the city’s earliest racially integrated communities.

In the 1850s, the city seized the land through eminent domain to build Central Park. Entire households were forced out, homes were destroyed, and a living community was erased so a public space could rise in its place.

Today, millions walk these paths unaware of the lives once built beneath their feet. 👣

Y'all, Ms.Medlock Teaches just got interviewed!!!!

Read all about me and my journey building my legacy with South Carolina Voyager Magazine!!

Inspiring Conversations with Jiavanna Medlock of Ms.Medlock Teaches Today we’d like to introduce you to Jiavanna Medlock. Hi Jiavanna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?In 2016, I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology from Elon University with the intention of continuing on to graduate school and becoming a psycholog...

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