We Must Remember

Black History is Mary Vanessa Brittan Brown. She invented the first home alarm system in 1966. In 1969, she and her husband patented a system using peepholes, a camera, monitors, two-way audio, and a remote door lock—A foundation for today’s video surveillance, intercoms, and smart security systems all around the world. Every time you hear the ambulance sirens or have to call 911 because of an emergency, let’s remember it was in 1967 that 25 Black men and women of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania made it possible. They started the first ambulance service. They’re responsible for the first EKG, intubation, and electro defibrillation of the heart. This is Black history—American history. Please don’t ever forget what we bring to the table because without our people, life would not be as you know it today in many ways. These past two weeks, I’ve shared some of the incredible contributions Black people have made to America. But let’s not get it twisted—the atrocities my people have faced are truths many can barely stomach. Most people think racism is just being called the N-word, being compared to animals, or police violence. The truth is, racism is everywhere—you just have to open your eyes to see it. In 1932, in Alabama, the United States government began a medical experiment on 600 Black men with syphilis, known as the Tuskegee Experiment. These men were told they had “bad blood” and were promised free medical treatment. Penicillin was discovered as a cure in 1947, yet it was intentionally withheld. Doctors wanted to observe what would happen as the disease progressed. By the time the truth came to light in 1972, only 74 of those men were still alive. Because they were denied treatment, many unknowingly passed the disease to their wives and children—costing even more lives. They were deliberately neglected because the government did not see their lives as meaningful. But they did matter.
And we still matter. Out of this horrific injustice came change: modern informed consent laws, stricter medical ethics, and protections requiring that patients know the risks and agree to treatment were born from this very experience. The pain of those men helped shape safeguards meant to protect future generations. And that is the truth we carry—one of deep suffering, yes, but also of extraordinary resilience. Despite terror, betrayal, and systemic harm, Black people have continued to survive, create, lead, and transform this nation. Telling these stories is not about dwelling in the past. It is about honoring those who endured, reclaiming our truth, and ensuring that what happened to them is never forgotten—and never repeated. Bessie Coleman first Black woman pilot in the world and the first Black person to hold an International pilot’s license. She was denied flight training in America, so she taught herself French and trained in France to achieve this dream of hers. She had to leave the US to make this happen, let that sink in. People highlight the achievements and rarely mention the challenges it took to achieve them. She is an icon, pioneer and she must be remembered. Although, she doesn’t have an airport named after her, there are honorable mentions of her in Oakland, Ca: Bessie Coleman Drive (OAK airport), O’Hare International Airport Exhibit and B. Coleman Aviation: air cargo and FBO facility near Chicago. Her first US air show was at Curtiss Field, now known as LaGuardia Airport. People think history happened so long ago — as if the word itself makes it distant, disconnected, and irrelevant. But the truth is… it really wasn’t that long ago at all. In Fort Worth, Texas, in the Terrell Heights neighborhood, lived William McDonald, the first Black millionaire in Texas. He built a three-story home there — an exact replica of the house belonging to Nathan Bedford Forrest, the slave master who once owned his father before emancipation. That alone tells you something about resilience — and about the complicated ways survival sometimes looks. But McDonald didn’t just build wealth for himself. He built opportunity for others. In 1906, he founded the Fraternal Bank and Trust Company — the first Black-owned bank in Texas — helping establish a thriving Black business district. He bought foreclosed homes, restored them, and sold them to Black families so they could have something many were denied: stability, ownership, and dignity. He donated a building to the YMCA so Black children and other marginalized groups would have a safe place to gather. He created The Jim Hotel so Black travelers had somewhere safe to sleep during segregation. Inside that space lived music, culture, and joy — hosting legends like Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, and many more. McDonald died on July 4, 1950. Even in death, his story speaks loudly. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery beneath a 38-foot obelisk — and just steps away once stood a Ku Klux Klan chapter building, opened in 1924, which held one of the largest memberships in the United States and served as a Texas headquarters. That building was only demolished in August 2025. Sit with that for a moment. This is not ancient history.
This is not distant history.
This is living memory. And it is proof that even in the face of hatred, exclusion, and systemic barriers, Black people have always built, created, uplifted, and transformed the world around them. History isn’t far away.
It is closer than many are comfortable admitting.