WHY I WROTE

A PEN WITH A POINT OF VIEW…

When I first began to research our history in the 80’s, it was for our church’s Black History Month in February. Each year I culled through 7-8 websites to gather as much as I could find; and I began to notice the differences between websites concerning dates, time, articles, and information. That only made me dig deeper. So much of the history we now take for granted was missing or left out. Gradually I noticed that many of the incidents I researched came as a direct result of US laws and Supreme Court Rulings. They managed our lives, and our oppression much more than anybody was telling. Again, I dug deeper.

So, I went backwards from the 1900’s to the 1800’s. That was a real eye opener. Most of the present-day approaches, policies, and attitudes towards Africans, Blacks, Coloreds, and Negros were established then.  Until recently, most history didn’t focus on this time period.

Again, I had to go further back.  In those days most US history started with the War of Independence in 1775. But earlier Colonial history gave more insight. Here, a continuous thread began that has managed the oppression of my people. Democracy (or the will of the people), wasn’t for all the people.

Concerning the newest 6th Edition, I’ve included the 15th, 16,th & 17th Century. Not in the book, but on this website, I went even further, back the 8th – 12th century, and at last things made sense.

At last there is a “black spin” on black history….

CW Porter