Sweet Blackberry Blog
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 In recent times many strides have been made to uncover the African American history and culture that we once thought was lost. For this post, Sweet Blackberry is honored to celebrate the recently made national holiday Juneteenth. However, this holiday should not be thought of as solely for Black Americans but for all Americans. For we know that African American history is American history.
Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. It is also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day. The holiday originated in Texas, but is now celebrated throughout the United States annually on June 19. In 2021 under the Biden administration, Juneteenth became a nationally recognized; a result of the protest surrounding George Floyd’s death and the racial reckoning movement of 2020-2021. Juneteenth commemorates the day when Union army general Gordon Granger “announced federal orders in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, proclaiming that all slaves in Texas were free.” In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln had already passed the Emancipation Proclamation that officially outlawed slavery in states in rebellion against the Union. Learn about the holiday and get resources for classrooms and families by clicking the article below: Juneteenth History: An Independence Day for African Americans
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Founder and CEO Karyn Parsons did a teacher workshop on history, diversity and literacy at John P. Parker Elementary School with Dr. Kimberly Mack (Principal) in Cincinnati, OH. See photos in the slide show and the video below. Photos also include Sweet Blackberry volunteer Symone Childs (In red dress).   In the movies all of the heroes of the West are male. All cowboys are white males. What if we told you that 20-25% of cowboys of the old west were African Americans. Some were women and a small number were Black women. Like Mary Fields (1832 –1914)...
Also known as Stagecoach Mary and Black Mary, Mary Fields was an American mail carrier who was the first Black woman to work for the US Postal Service (She did contract work as a star route mail carrier). Born in the antebellum south, Fields was enslaved on a plantation in Hickman County, Tennessee until the age of 33. In 1865 she was emancipated upon the end of the American Civil War. After being free she began working on a Mississippi steamboat called the Robert E. Lee as a chambermaid… Fields’ rough demeanor, short temper, gun toting, heavy drinking and excessive use of profanity caused her to have frequent clashes with the religious community within the convent. She even got into a quarrel with a male employee at St. Peter’s Mission that involved firearms. As a result, In 1894, after several complaints from the nuns, the bishop asked her to leave the convent. Fields left St. Peter’s and opened a tavern in Cascade, Montana. However, the business struggled financially and closed in less than a year… See more in this article entitled Mary Fields (StageCoach Mary): Hero of the West with Lesson Plans and Resources.  Today Sweet Blackberry would like to highlight a little-known historical person, that is absolutely extraordinary. Rev. Dr. William Simmons (1849-1890) was a formerly enslaved African who overcame great odds and was a part of the freedom struggle. Simmons, despite being born into enslavement, received a formal education and went on to do more in four decades than most people do in a lifetime. Simmons’ life defies the popular narrative of the helpless enslaved person, who was powerless against the enslavers’ oppression. Eventually settling in Kentucky, he accomplished a lot in his short life, he escaped slavery, went on to serve in the US military, became a minister, an educator, dentist, author, activist, and even a college president!
To read more about Dr. Simmons click on the article below: William J. Simmons: A Formerly Enslaved Man Who Became a Dentist, Writer, US Soldier, Educator, Minister and College President Founder and CEO Karyn Parsons gave the keynote address at the prestigious Muhammad Ali Center with Sweet Blackberry board member Dr. David Childs. Click below for the full keynote discussion.  SWEET BLACKBERRY featured in article on democracy and me site, a Cincinnati Public Radio project5/1/2024   SWEET BLACKBERRY was recently featured in an article about multicultural educational resources on DEMOCRACY AND ME's website. Democracy and Me is a project of Cincinnati Public Radio, that features information about civics, diversity, social studies, history and education.
Here is an excerpt from the article: "A great example of classroom resources for multicultural education is a series of short animated films and books on African American history by Karyn Parsons’ (Hillary from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air) production company known as Sweet Blackberry. Sweet Blackberry’s stated Mission “is to bring little known stories of African American achievement to children everywhere.” Parsons hopes to tell the “triumphant stories of individuals” who overcame “the odds” and made “invaluable contributions to our society” offering “inspirational and empowering” stories. Sweet Blackberry’s website states that “these stories illustrate for our children the concept that tremendous obstacles are actually opportunities for greatness! Children of all races and ethnicities feel a sense of shared history when they learn about the real people whose lives and work impact their everyday lives.” See the entire article Democracy and Me article in the link below: Re-educating Our Children: Multicultural Educational Resources from Sweet Blackberry Media Company  This summer, Sweet Blackberry partnered with Fresh Air Fund on a captivating, unique program teaching young minds about the importance and need for journalism. Through our workshops, Sweet Blackberry shed light on the numerous contributions of Black Americans in American history including, Ida B. Wells, an investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement as founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. We also hosted a workshop on Gordon Parks, prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particularly in issues of civil rights, poverty and African-Americans.
Both Wells and Parks helped show Americans the injustices many Black people faced during their respective time and we wouldn't be where we are today without their contributions or the contributions of their peers. As a final project, we assigned Fresh Air Fund interns a project of their choice focusing on an underserved community or injustice they believe needed to be shared. Please check out our blog each Monday as we begin to post their wonderful work. Over the years, Sweet Blackberry has shared history on the barriers many African Americans had to cross to receive an adequate education. But once, that education was received, there were still rules in place barring Black people from jobs regardless of their talent. Architecture was one of those professions. Still today, African American architects make up only 2% of all licensed architects in the U.S. African American women make up 0.3%. In this post, Sweet Blackberry celebrates these pioneers by showcasing their achievements. You may also read more about the impact racism has, and continues to have, on this profession here. 
By: Jai Rodriguez
2020 is the year of creativity. This year creativity isn't only for artists and musicians; it's for anyone with an idea and MORE than enough time to bring it to life. Usually, we would be spending our summers deep in the woods and enjoying the company of our camp family; unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, we were not able to do so. So we made a switch to online Summer Camp! This summer, The Fresh Air Fund had the opportunity to work with Sweet Blackberry and bring their idea to life in our own special fresh airway. You can only imagine the excitement on all of our camper's faces when they discovered that they would be not only be carrying out this project but getting to have their own Q&A session with Karyn Parsons. Deciding who we will be basing our project on was a challenge. We had so many options to choose from. After a few voting sessions, we finally had our winner; it was no other than The Queen of Jazz herself, Ella Fitzgerald. Ella is a very well-known jazz singer, so campers wanted to ensure her full story was told as one camper said, "Ella is like an onion with so many layers." All campers were divided into four groups ScriptWriting, Storyboarding, marketing and educational assets. They were responsible for fulfilling the requirements in each group to ensure their vision for the video. They divided and conquered each obstacle that came their way. They made sure everyone was involved in each creative decision and recalculated whenever an idea they had didn't work out. It was a beautiful sight to watch as a facilitator. `The premiere of their Project was also their very last day of virtual summer camp. Overall, campers enjoyed their time working on this project and were ecstatic with its results. It was a bittersweet ending to our summer, and everything fell into place beautifully. |
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