The Museum of UnCut Funk has acquired the latest stamps from the United States Post Office Black Heritage Series, the Distinguished Soldiers stamp featuring Doris Miller and the Anna Julia Cooper stamp.
Doris Miller, known as “Dorie” to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller. He had three brothers, one of which served in the Army during World War II. While attending Moore High School in Waco, he was a fullback on the football team. He worked on his father’s farm before enlisting in the U.S Navy as Mess Attendant, Third Class, at Dallas, Texas, on September 16, 1939, to travel, and earn money for his family. He later was commended by the Secretary of the Navy, was advanced to Mess Attendant, Second Class and First Class, and subsequently was promoted to Cook, Third Class.
Following training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, Miller was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1) where he served as a Mess Attendant, and on January 2, 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became the ship’s heavyweight boxing champion. In July of that year he had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to West Virginia and on 3 August, and was serving in that battleship when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Miller had arisen at 6 a.m., and was collecting laundry when the alarm for general quarters sounded. He headed for his battle station, the antiaircraft battery magazine amidship, only to discover that torpedo damage had wrecked it, so he went on deck. Because of his physical prowess, he was assigned to carry wounded fellow Sailors to places of greater safety. Then an officer ordered him to the bridge to aid the mortally wounded Captain of the ship. He subsequently manned a 50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship.
Miller described firing the machine gun during the battle, a weapon which he had not been trained to operate: “It wasn’t hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us.”
During the attack, Japanese aircraft dropped two armored piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes into her port side. Heavily damaged by the ensuing explosions, and suffering from severe flooding below decks, the crew abandoned ship while West Virginia slowly settled to the harbor bottom. Of the 1,541 men on West Virginia during the attack, 130 were killed and 52 wounded. Subsequently refloated, repaired, and modernized, the battleship served in the Pacific theater through to the end of the war in August 1945.
Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on April 1, 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral (then Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked:
This marks the first time in the conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I’m sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts.
On December 13, 1941, Miller reported to USS Indianapolis (CA-35), and subsequently returned to the west coast of the United States in November 1942. Assigned to the newly constructed USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) in the spring of 1943, Miller was on board that escort carrier during Operation Galvanic, the seizure of Makin and Tarawa Atolls in the Gilbert Islands. Liscome Bay’s aircraft supported operations ashore between November 20-23, 1943. At 5:10 a.m. on November 24, while cruising near Butaritari Island, a single torpedo from Japanese submarine I-175 struck the escort carrier near the stern. The aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, sinking the warship within minutes. Listed as missing following the loss of that escort carrier, Miller was officially presumed dead November 25, 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. Only 272 Sailors survived the sinking of Liscome Bay, while 646 died.
In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller was entitled to the Purple Heart Medal; the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.
Commissioned on June 30, 1973, USS Miller (FF-1091), a Knox-class frigate, was named in honor of Doris Miller.
On October 11, 1991, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority dedicated a bronze commemorative plaque of Miller at the Miller Family Park located on the U.S.
Source: The Navy Museum
Anna Julia Cooper, a woman born into slavery in North Carolina nine years prior to the Civil War, reached milestones as the first woman to publish a book on Black feminism, “A Voice from the South by a Black Woman from the South,” and one of the first Black women to earn a doctorate from world renowned University of Paris, Sorbonne.
Her accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. On Thursday, June 11, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled the Anna Julia Cooper Commemorative Stamp at the Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School in Northwest.
Cooper, who also worked as a teacher and principal at the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth (later known as M Street School and today as Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School), was honored by the Postmaster of Washington, D.C., Yverne Pat Moore, Vice President and Consumer Advocate for the United States Postal Service Delores J. Killette, Professor of English at University of Maryland Carla L. Peterson, Dunbar High School Principal R. Gerald Austin, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Cooper is the 32nd honoree to be inducted into the Black Heritage Stamp Series.
“Anna Julia Cooper once said, ‘The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class – it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.’ Her actions to support these memorable words during her life are the reason the Postal Service has chosen Ms. Cooper as the subject of the 32nd stamp in the Black Heritage series,” Killette said.
Cooper was freed from slavery after the Civil War and received a scholarship to attend the St. Augustine Normal School and Collegiate Institute, known today as St. Augustine’s College, in 1868. Cooper graduated and married George A.C. Cooper in 1877. Two years later, her husband died and Cooper moved to Ohio and attended Oberlin College, distinguishing her as one of the first Black women to graduate from the school. Cooper earned a degree in math and returned to St. Augustine to teach math, Greek and Latin.
In 1887, Cooper moved to the District where she was invited to teach science and math at the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, the most prestigious high school for Black students in the country at that time. Cooper became principal of the school in 1902.
“Although Ms. Cooper was born in Raleigh, N.C., Washington, D.C. claims her as one of its own because she lived her life here and she worked as an educator, feminist, and an activist in our nation’s capital,” Moore said.
“I want to thank the postal service for holding this ceremony. For me, this is very special. This is not the quite the same Dunbar I graduated from, but it is on the same ground,” Norton said.
“This was the first public high school in America for Black children, but it became known nationally and internationally for its faculty. Dunbar would not have become Dunbar without the standards and the aspirations of teachers like Anna Julia Cooper. She set such high standards that in turn they encouraged Black children throughout the District of Columbia to believe that they could go to college and to believe that Dunbar High School would prepare them to go to the best colleges in the United States,” Norton said.
Source: The Washington Informer
Original Production Cel use to film the opening of Soul Train. This cel is part of the collection of The Museum of UnCut Funk
Original Production Drawing used to create the original production cel to Soul Train. This drawing is part of the collection of The Museum of UnCut Funk
It was the little show that could. Beginning its ride as a local dance show on Chicago’s WCIU-TV, “Soul Train” chugged its way to Los Angeles and into pop culture history. The syndicated franchise’s impact is chronicled in the 40th-anniversary tribute “Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America.”
Narrated by actor Terrence Howard with an original score by the Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, the 90-minute documentary abounds with performance clips and commentary by former dancers and crew members as well as music executives (Clive Davis, Antonio “L.A.” Reid) and major performers who appeared on “Soul Train,” including Chaka Khan,Snoop Dogg, Aretha Franklin and Sly Stone. At the helm is “Soul Train” creator/producer/host Don Cornelius.
The special, produced by VH1 Rock Docs and Soul Train Holdings, doubles as entertainment and history lesson. The innovative show’s August 17, 1970, debut was bracketed on one side by the civil rights movement and on the other by the emergence of black empowerment.
“This is so much more than a story about a man with a vision for a music dance show,” says Kenard Gibbs, a co-principal in Soul Train Holdings with Peter Griffith and Anthony Maddox. “Had it not been for the social and political forces stirring the pot, the show probably wouldn’t have been as successful. It empowered African-Americans, showing our culture and creativity in a light not seen on TV. This was reality TV at its best.”
After its 1971 move to Los Angeles, “Soul Train” spun off award shows as well as a No. 1 R&B/pop hit in 1974, MFSB’s “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia”). The Gamble & Huff-produced single originally was billed as “The Theme From ‘Soul Train.’”
Cornelius jokes in the documentary that the hit’s title change was his “one mistake.” During a recent phone interview, though, he said his fondest memory is the show’s early validation by major R&B talent.
“Gladys Knight & the Pips helped us start out, but we didn’t know where it would go from there. We were just determined to make this happen, feeling it was the right kind of show for this country at the time,” he recalls. “Then one day James Brown walked onto the sound stage. A few months later came the Jackson 5, and then Stevie Wonder. So we’re thinking, ‘OK, this might work.’”
The show later hosted performances by such pop stars as Elton John and David Bowie.
Contributor: Gail Mitchell
Who is the man
Who would risk his neck for his brother man?
SPADE!
Who’s the cat who won’t cop out
When there’s danger all about?
SPADE!
He’s a complicated man
And no one understands him like his woman
RICHARD SPADE
You say this cat Spade is a mean mother-
Shut ya mout’!
I’m talkin’ ’bout Spade!
Then we can dig it!!!
Although the characters are nearly 40 years old and the vernacular is a little old school, Richard Spade’s mojo over the chicks, hustlers, militants and most of all the man still holds up.
While this obscure collection of six novels never rose to the same level of urban prominence as Donald Goines or Ice Slim’s, one thing for sure is that if you can get your hands on one of these B.B. Johnson works it will transport you to a time and place where cats like Spade were superfly. Spade is not technically a private eye, but this cat could give John Shaft a run for his money. Can you dig it?
Each of these six men’s adventure paperback originals are billed as “a tough novel by B. B. Johnson,” which we’re told is “a pseudonym for one of Hollywood’s most talented and creative Black personalities.” His novels were resonant with black power relevance and full of typical “out there” plots for the time, such as Mother of the Year, which features Spade protecting a Black beauty queen marked for death by a group of militant Black feminists.
Richard Abraham Spade
A.K.A. “Superspade”
Created by B. B. Johnson
Sexy like Shaft. A player like The Mack. A man with a plan like SuperFly. Richard A. Spade is a man of many faces. RICHARD ABRAHAM SPADE, is a strapping 240-pound fellow who went from the ghetto to UCLA. He made All American as an offensive tackle, acquiring the interesting nickname of Superspade in the process.
He was headed for pro-football fame, but was sidetracked by two years in Vietnam. Returning stateside, forty-three pounds lighter, a lieutenant with a Silver Star and a Purple Heart; he wasted no time turning his attention back to pro-ball. His career was ultimately cut short by a serious injury.
At the start of his first case, he was 33 years old and had been working at Greene College in Santa Barbara for three years as a Black studies lecturer and part-time football coach. He was also pursuing his masters in political science. This was the calm before the storm.
SYNOPSIS OF THE NOVELS
Death Of A Blue-Eyed Soul Brother – 1970
UP AGAINST THE WALL!
Richard Abraham Spade was finished with pro football but the action in his life was just beginning. Spade took a job with a small college as a lecturer and part time coach, in search of a quiet life.
But no such luck.
His best friend, a dedicated politician, was assassinated and Spade was in the middle of a deadly blitz of bullets, broads and burning revolution – scrambling to save his beautiful black skin from being sliced up and served cold.
Black Is Beautiful – 1970
BLACK MAY BE BEAUTIFUL, BABY, BUT IT’S ALSO THE COLOR OF DEATH…
Richard Abraham Spade – Superspade - was beginning to have his doubts about militants.
He had seen for himself how the Black Jaguars handled renegade brothers. It was the most brutal ritual he had ever witnessed.
He had seen how the Jaguars had sprung their brilliant leader, Ridge Hatchett, author of Hell on Fire, from Death Row. And he knows about their master plan for revolution.
That’s Where The Cat’s At, Baby – 1970
CANDIDATE FOR DEATH
When Richard Spade’s daddy asks him to help Black Sam Lake get re-elected Mayor of York, it comes as a complete surprise.
For one thing, Spade’s old man is a firm believer in keeping his mouth shut and his Black butt clear of trouble.
And for another, Sam Lake is a young Uncle Tom and worse, a political opportunist using his own people to make Mr. Charlie rich and fat.
York is a corrupt town torn by Black dissidents. Anybody who starts nosing around might be fair game for a bullet from some angry brothers or an air conditioned throat for the crime syndicate.
But when the push comes to shove, Superspade, knows he has to help the folks down home – even if it means finding himself six feet under.
Mother Of The Year – 1970
Beautiful Black movie star Pussy Willow announces her choice of the ten greatest Americans and instantly seals her assassination contract.
Every man on her list is white!
And every Black militant in the country is waiting for the chance to make her an example for the soul sisters who scorn their Black brothers.
But Superspade wants her alive.
Only two things stand in his way: a vendetta of Black militant woman out to kill Pussy and Spade. And Pussy’s own widowed mother, who’s hated every Black man in her life, including Superspade.
Can Superspade keep Pussy from dying at the box office…and everywhere else?
Bad Day For A Black Brother - 1970
At 23, world heavyweight champion Rocky Wilson is in heavy trouble. His big mouth has blasted the liberal White establishment – while he put down his militant Black brothers. Now he’s got to defend his title against as Australian challenger, and the odds are he’ll never get out of the ring alive. The Aussie isn’t so tough. But an assassin’s high powered rifle will be trained on Rocky during the fight. If the champ won’t go down in the eight, he’s out permanently.
Richard Spade signs on to save Rocky and is immediately on the front lines of a deadly political battle. Rocky is draft bait and a Black hero. The poetry spouting champ is strictly antiwar, but just how far he’ll go in this denunciation of the system is a matter of supreme importance to a lot of V.I.P.’s.
As Superspade digs deeper into the radical underground surrounding Rocky, he becomes convinced that if one assassin’s bullet doesn’t cool the champ, another’s will.
Blues For A Black Sister – 1971
“Tell him I could love you less, if he would only love me more,” wailed Billie Monday, beautiful Black lead singer of the The Superiors, and the crowd went crazy. Billie and her group were riding high, enjoying all the rewards the record industry lavishes on its superstars.
But Billie isn’t on top when her old friend Richard Spade comes to see her. She’s in the hospital, dying of a heavy drug habit. Her death plunges Superspade into a frantic world where a million copy seller and a heroin overdose are sides 1 and 2 of the same record.
These novels are a part of The Museum of UnCut Funk Collection.
