Tag Archives: Slavery

On this Day in American History — June 24, 2015, Confederate Flag Flies at Alabama Capitol until this day in 2015; Monuments Remain (From the Equal Justice Initiative 2020 Calendar)

Posted on June 24, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

On June 24, 2015, Alabama officials removed a Confederate flag flying on the grounds of the state capitol in Montgomery. The move came in response to national scrutiny of Confederate symbols on public property, triggered by a tragic shooting at … Continue reading →

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Talladega Knights: The Ballad of Bubba Wallace, “Sweet Home Alabama,” and the Day of the Noose

Posted on June 22, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Headline: Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black driver who races full-time in NASCAR’s top three series – a noose was found in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway, “the biggest and baddest track.” NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag from its … Continue reading →

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On this Day in American history – June 19, 1865 — Juneteenth (From the Equal Justice Initiative)

Posted on June 19, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Although President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved Black people in Confederate territories free, these locations were under Confederate control, which rejected the freedom of enslaved people on plantations throughout the South. The Proclamation did little to emancipate enslaved … Continue reading →

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The South Won the War of Northern Aggression?

Posted on June 13, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Imagine a visitor from another planet, say Mars, is touring the Southern states and is in modern day Virginia. The Martian makes its way to Jamestown, which he finds both interesting, and puzzling. It has familiarized itself with 200 years … Continue reading →

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The Fires This Time

Posted on June 5, 2020 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Last year, 2019, we marked 400 years since Africans were brought to Virginia and America’s “peculiar institution” took root. Since then, in the annals of American history, there has been systematic oppression and brutality against the descendants of Africans in … Continue reading →

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Happy Black Independence Day!

Posted on June 19, 2019 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States, a day more important to descendants of Africans than the Fourth of July.  (Read Frederick Douglass’ classic speech, “What is the Fourth of July to … Continue reading →

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On this Day in American history, September 6, 2010 — Alabama Prison Bans Pulitzer Prize-Winning Book, Slavery By Another Name

Posted on September 6, 2018 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

In September 2010, lawyers at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a nonprofit civil rights law firm in Montgomery, Alabama, mailed a copy of Slavery by Another Nameto client Mark Melvin, then incarcerated at Kilby Correctional Facility. Written by award-winning journalist Douglas … Continue reading →

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On this day in American history, August 26, 1874 — Mob of 400 Lynches Sixteen Black Men Kidnapped from Tennessee Jail

Posted on August 26, 2018 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

On August 26, 1874, sixteen African American men were held in the Gibson County Jail in Trenton, Tennessee, transferred from Picketsville, a neighboring town where they’d been arrested and accused of shooting at two white men. Around 2:00 a.m. that … Continue reading →

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On this day in American history, August 21, 1831 — Nat Turner Leads Enslaved Black People in Virginia Rebellion

Posted on August 21, 2018 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Nat Turner was an enslaved black man who lived in Southampton, Virginia. By many accounts, Turner was a very religious man who ministered to fellow enslaved blacks as well as whites. Turner studied the Bible fervently and often claimed to … Continue reading →

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On this day in American history, August 20, 1619 — First Enslaved Africans Land in Jamestown, Virginia

Posted on August 20, 2018 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

The stage was set for slavery in the United States as early as the 14th century, when Spain and Portugal began to capture Africans for enslavement in Europe. Slavery eventually expanded to colonial America, where the first enslaved Africans arrived … Continue reading →

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