Black History

If Beale Street could talk, it would tell Memphis to ‘copyright me’

NNPA NEWSWIRE — I will never forget the colorful characters of Beale Street: Men wearing coordinated suits, shoes and hats, with processed hair; curvaceous women walking with advertising gaits and long eye lashes; impromptu street concerts by bands and musicians; “barkers” pleading for customers to enter their stores and shops; shoe shine boys with their mobile shine parlors and the bustling crowds.

Published

8 years ago

January 31, 2019

Oakland Post

By Dr. L. LaSimba M. Gray Jr., Special to The New Tri-State Defender

When I first heard of the movie “If Beale Street Could Talk” I got excited about the possibility of seeing the legendary Beale Street of Memphis on the big screen. To my utter disappointment this movie has nothing to do with the 1.8-mile long street in Memphis.

My disappointment is rooted in my personal “Beale Street Experience.”

I was introduced to Beale Street by my father, the late Rev. Leo M. Gray Sr. Periodically, he would take my two brothers and myself to the New Daisy Theatre on Beale. I remember asking him why we were not going to the Princess on Main Street.
“At the New Daisy we don’t have to sit in the balcony, we can sit on the main floor,” he said.

Mr. Robert Morris managed the New Daisy Theatre and was my school principal. En route to the New Daisy, we were enthralled by the carnival atmosphere, the aroma of soul food and the eccentric characters of Beale Street. The music pouring out of the juke joints and cafes was captivating. The bass guitar and drums moved us to walk with a bounce. We had swag before we knew what swag was.

In 1956, an African-American entrepreneur called “Mr. Buck” would hire boys from our neighborhood to work the Cotton Carnival Parade on Main St. We sold popcorn and cotton candy from Main and Poplar to Main and Beale. Mr. Buck would meet us half way to collect the money and replenish our trays. When we reached Beale Street, we turned east and walked down to Fourth Street, where he would pick us up.

The Beale Street Experience began the minute we turned on Beale. On Main St., we could not walk on the sidewalk or look our customers in the face as we sold them our goods.

Mr. Buck was very stern as he taught the acceptable behavior for Main Street. We were to avoid prolonged encounters with white females and we were drilled on saying “yes sir” and “no ma’am.”

“Y’all do remember Emmett Till, don’t you?” he would ask.

Free on Beale Street, we joked and played with each other. We looked into people’s faces, walked on the sidewalks and popped our fingers to the hard-hitting rhythm and blues songs. We took advantage of the hot-dog specials and had plenty of the sizzling hamburgers, chitterlings and bar-b-que.

The Cotton Makers Jubilee Parade rolled down Beale Street. We saw African-Americans on floats and in fine decorated cars. On Main Street, African Americans pulled floats or swept up behind the horses.

On Beale Street, the Cotton Makers Jubilee Parade was an all African-American thing. The marching bands of local high schools competed. Their sonic sounds and high-stepping majorettes kept the parade-goers spellbound. The legendary Nat D. Williams, the first radio personality at WDIA Radio, amplified the excitement with commentary.

I will never forget the colorful characters of Beale Street: Men wearing coordinated suits, shoes and hats, with processed hair; curvaceous women walking with advertising gaits and long eye lashes; impromptu street concerts by bands and musicians; “barkers” pleading for customers to enter their stores and shops; shoe shine boys with their mobile shine parlors and the bustling crowds.

Along the eastward journey, professional blacks punctuated the landscape. There were lawyers, doctors, and dentists, printing shops, photographers, banks, insurance companies and benevolent organizations.

A massive and magnificent church, First Baptist Beale, greeted us at Fourth St. Neighboring to the east was Church Park and Church Auditorium. We could go into the park, which was revolutionary to me. I lived across the street from the Winchester Park and could not enter.

When our ride showed up, we scampered on to the truck and claimed our seats. Mr. Buck would collect from each worker and pay off. My first experience on Beale Street far exceeded my compensation; Beale Street had given me a sense of “somebodiness.”
As we drove off, a sense of longing for more filled my spirit from that day to now. I love Beale Street.

Through the annals of history, we realize that Beale Street does talk. It was a mecca for African Americans all over the South.

“Beale Street is a composite of colorful incidents,” the legendary Lt. George W. Lee once said.

Lee collaborated with W. C. Handy and Robert Church to make Beale Street the epic experience of African Americans. Hearing the moans and groans of African Americans vented in song and dance, Handy put pen to scale, the blues was born, and he became known as its father.

Church, the first millionaire of African descent in the South, was at home on Beale Street. He controlled political patronage for the “Negro: in the Mid-South from reconstruction through World War I. He was the go-to-person to mobilize the “negro vote” and to get a true reading of the temperament of the “negro.”

Church built a park and auditorium for his people when city fathers continued to make empty promises. In 1899, without a dime of tax money, he built a recreational oasis – second to none – in the midst of the desert of segregation. In “The Bright Side of Memphis,” G.P. Hamilton wrote this about Church Park: “lighted up at night, it looked like a fairy land or garden for the gods.”

Developed for African-Americans, Church Park was opened to all. President Theodore Roosevelt spoke there while Memphis was totally segregated.

Advocacy journalism was born on Beale Street when W.E.B. Dubois partnered with Henry Pace to organize and publish the Crisis Magazine that became the official journal of the NAACP. Ida B. Wells published the Memphis Free Press on Beale Street as she sought to expose the lynching of African Americans and to end the bastard acts of violence.

Run out of Memphis by daily threats on her life, Wells reemerged as a national leader and charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
And in 1892, Dr. M.V. Lynk published the Medical and Surgical Observer, the first medical journal for “Negro” physicians, on Beale Street.

Beale Street was an incubator for business development by and for African Americans – Universal Life Insurance Company, Hooks Brothers Photography, Robert Henry Promotions, the Solvent Savings Bank of Memphis and more.

On Beale Street, African Americans found a soul force to endure the pathos of a toxic society and the residue of slavery. That “soul force” is “somebodiness” and a positive self-regard.

In the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. Martin L. King Jr. in Memphis in 1968, Beale Street was dealt a morbid wound by the concepts of urban renewal in the 1970s. Buildings were gutted and abandoned. Bustling crowds were diminished to a scarce few.
The music stopped on Beale and relocated. The legendary Gate Mouth Moore visited his old stomping grounds in the early 70’s and wrote a song: “Beale Street is gone and Beale Street ain’t Beale Street no more.”

The kitchens were closed, lights were turned off and Memphis – erroneously – announced the death of Beale Street. The premature obituary notwithstanding, tourists kept coming and inquiring.

“What happened to Beale Street?”

Abe Schwab resolved to keep his dry goods store open and serve his loyal customers base. He was asked why.

“You have to understand, Beale Street is more than a destination,” he said. “Beale Street is an attitude.”

The attitude of defiance and determination sustained Beale Street through its most challenging time. In many instances, some of the city’s leaders acted like modern day Pontius Pilates. Like the biblical figure, they seemed to be trying to wash themselves of a martyr’s blood, in this case using urban removal.

However, the essence of Beale Street was not in the buildings. It was in the souls of all who drank from the refreshing waters of affirmation and transformation. That fountain was only on Beale Street for African Americans of the Greater Mid-South.

Beale Street still is talking. Today it stands with opened arms, beckoning the world to come, see and taste “Soul.”

Beale Street is too important to the history of African Americans to be trivialized in a movie title.

The false expectations created by the movie title, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” lead me to seriously propose to City Fathers and all stakeholders that the brand “Beale Street” be copyrighted – immediately.

Oakland Post

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Black History

Doulas Are Helping Black California Moms Navigate Pregnancy–Even as High Mortality Rates Persist

In California, Black women experience the highest pregnancy-related mortality rate — about four times greater than other women, according to statistics. From 2021 to 2023, the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths included cardiovascular disease, COVID-19, hemorrhage, sepsis, amniotic fluid embolism, and pulmonary embolism.

Published

2 days ago

September 24, 2026

Post News Group

Long Beach resident Cassandra Carter approached the birth of her daughter, Nyomi (pictured), last November with anxiety after losing twins. She is pictured here with her husband.

By McKenzie Jackson, California Black Media

After losing twins, Long Beach resident Cassandra Carter approached the birth of her daughter, Nyomi, last November with anxiety. She wanted support for herself and her husband, Adewole, that extended beyond routine medical care.

“Getting pregnant as a Black woman, I wanted a team around me that made me feel safe,” she said. “I know all about the mishaps that Black women experience.”

Carter, a therapist and self-described hippie, hired Yvette Perry, a doula and co-founder of Divine Birthing Services LLC in Lancaster. Perry helped Cassandra craft a detailed birth plan.

“I was worried about postpartum depression. Mrs. Yvette knows a lot about how postpartum affects men as well,” Carter explained.

Perry was present the day Nyomi was born. She held the baby when Carter or her husband needed a moment and even set up candles in the birthing suite.

“Whatever I needed for my comfort, she was there,” Carter said of Perry. “She was there as an advocate and voice. I had a really serene birthing experience because I had someone extra who wasn’t tied to me as my family.”

Perry, a doula for nearly six years, said preexisting conditions, poor communication and dismissive hospital care heighten health risks for Black mothers.

“Sometimes, Black mommies are not being heard. They don’t know they have rights. They don’t know they can say, ‘no,’” Perry explained. “Doulas empower them. We are there to educate them.”

Perry’s concerns reflect a broader public health crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2024 maternal mortality report, non-Hispanic Black women in the U.S. died from pregnancy-related causes at a rate of 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births.

The Centering Black Mothers in California report found that structural racism — including barriers to high-quality health care, and chronic stress— disproportionately harms Black women.

In a statement to California Black Media (CBM), the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said maternal mortality disparities stem from multiple factors. The department said addressing structural racism, listening to Black women’s experiences and reducing provider bias are key to closing the gap.

California began covering doula care as a Medi-Cal benefit in 2023, providing eligible patients with support during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, according to CDPH.

Whitney Dotson of Inglewood wanted an expert on pregnancy, labor, and delivery to guide her and her husband, Anthony, through the birth of their son, Anthony III. So, she hired Perry for doula support.

“It’s always more comfortable when you can have a second opinion,” she said. “Knowing she was better versed in what the options were, made me more comfortable.”

Dotson, 39, had a healthy pregnancy but faced recommendations common for expectant mothers over 35. Her doctor advised inducing labor at 39 weeks, but she hoped to carry to full term.

“I wasn’t comfortable with that,” she admitted.

Perry provided Dotson with information about induction guidelines and alternatives, helping her understand her options and communicate her preferences.

Then, Dotson returned to her doctor.

“I said, ‘I don’t want to — and this is why,’” she recalled. “He agreed and pushed the induction date back a week.”

Perry also advised Anthony on how he could support his wife during and after the pregnancy and during Anthony III’s birth. She also reminded Dotson to change birthing positions — from her back to her hands and knees.

Before Saveneh Martinez became a doula with Fierce Advocates in Contra Costa County, she was a new mom, uneducated on aspects of birth, which led to her first child, Colton, being placed in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“I didn’t know my choices,” she said.

Martinez called it “lifesaving” for expecting moms to have a doula.

“It should be a medical right,” she said.

California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative (CPQCC) Senior Associate Medical Director Kimberly D. Gregory said research suggests that doulas decrease the pre-term birth rate and the likelihood of a C-section.

“Having a doula is a proactive thing to do,” she said.

Efforts are being made across the state to reduce maternal deaths.

CDPH’s Title V Action Plan aims to reduce pregnancy-related deaths among Black birthing mothers from 49.7 to 42.3 per 100,000 live births by 2030 through improvements in patient-centered care, expanding community-based perinatal teams, and addressing the social factors that contribute to poor maternal health outcomes.

CDPH’s Black Infant Health (BIH) Program and Perinatal Equity Initiative (PEI) have already begun to make headway.

“BIH’s prenatal group model improves key intermediate outcomes for participants, including increased social support and empowerment, better stress management, reduced depressive symptoms and gains in health knowledge and behaviors such as safe sleep practices and reduced smoking,” the CDPH told CBM.

“PEI’s early implementation results show progress across several participant-reported areas, such as improved birth experiences, breastfeeding initiation, and coparenting skills among fathers and partners,” the CDPH statement continued.

Gregory said the California Pregnancy Associated Review Committee examines maternal deaths and develops guidelines to help hospitals improve care. One of its main recommendations focuses on how hospitals respond to hemorrhaging, a leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths.

Gregory said CMQCC also created standard clinic care practices for cardiovascular disease and sepsis, two more drivers of maternal mortality, but widespread implementation across the state is pending.

She noted that although there are 800 maternal deaths a year in the U.S., there are also 3.6 million births.

“Most people will do well,” she said. “But you should know about complications like preterm birth. You should know about complications like diabetes, preeclampsia and postpartum depression.”

Martinez said doulas help to make birthing the transformative experience that it is, instead of a routine clinical transaction.

“Being able to feel heard, seen, safe, respected, and just being able to create spaces for them to be held as well,” she said.

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

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Black History

Passing for White, Fighting for Black America: The Courage of Walter White

White personally investigated 41 lynchings and eight race riots. On several occasions, his identity was discovered, forcing him to flee for his life. The evidence he collected helped the NAACP expose the brutality of lynching to Americans and strengthen its campaign for federal anti-lynching legislation. His experiences also influenced his 1929 book, “Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch.”

Published

4 days ago

September 22, 2026

Post News Group

By Tamara Shiloh

Walter Francis White was one of the most important civil rights leaders of the first half of the 20th century. For more than three decades, he helped transform the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) into one of the nation’s most powerful organizations fighting racial discrimination, segregation, and violence against African Americans.

Walter White was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1893 and grew up in a middle-class African American family. His parents, George and Madeline White, had been born into slavery. Although Walter had blond hair, blue eyes, very light skin and could easily have passed as white, he firmly identified as Black. As a teenager, he witnessed the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906, when white mobs attacked African Americans throughout the city. The experience strengthened his determination to fight racial hatred and injustice.

After graduating from Atlanta University in 1916, White worked in insurance and became active in the Atlanta branch of the NAACP. His abilities caught the attention of NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson, who recruited him to the organization’s national staff in 1918.

He soon became known for his extraordinarily dangerous investigations of lynchings. Because many white Southerners assumed he was white, he was able to enter communities where Black investigators would have faced immediate danger. He spoke with witnesses, law enforcement officials, and even members of lynch mobs, often pretending to share their racial attitudes so they would reveal information.

By the early 1930s, Walter had risen to the NAACP’s top administrative position. As executive secretary, he helped build the organization into a major national political and legal force. Under his leadership, the NAACP challenged discrimination in voting, employment, education, transportation, the military, and other areas of American life.

White also recruited attorney Charles Hamilton Houston to lead the NAACP’s legal strategy. Houston and his protégé, Thurgood Marshall, developed the courtroom campaign that eventually helped produce the Supreme Court’s historic 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

White used his relationships with national political leaders as another weapon against discrimination. He worked with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and President Harry S. Truman. He supported efforts to end employment discrimination and encouraged Truman to establish the President’s Committee on Civil Rights.

Walter White remained an NAACP leader until his death in 1955. His courage, political skill, investigative work, and relentless commitment to equality helped establish the foundation upon which the modern Civil Rights Movement would build.

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Black History

Tradition Comes to the Streets in 11th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival at the Freedom Farmers Market

Mayor Barbara Lee stops by to support vendors, Winky Dinky Dogs owner Tyranny Allen A streamlined Oakland Black-Eyed Pea Festival took place on Sat. Sept. 12 in the lower Temescal neighborhood on the blocked off street that connect Shattuck and Telegraph avenues. An early start b

Published

5 days ago

September 22, 2026

Post News Group

(L. to R.) Black-Eyed Pea Festival Director Wanda Ravernell with Barbara Lee and Winky Binky Dogs owner, Tyranny. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

Mayor Barbara Lee stops by to support vendors, Winky Dinky Dogs owner Tyranny Allen

A streamlined Oakland Black-Eyed Pea Festival took place on Sat. Sept. 12 in the lower Temescal neighborhood on the blocked off street that connect Shattuck and Telegraph avenues.

An early start brought together vendor regulars from festival partner, the Freedom Farmers’ Market, and vendors who have supported the festival at its previous location at Marston Campbell Park.

Wanda Ravernell, the festival producer/director was on the verge of cancelling the festival because of funding limitations in May before reaching out to Elaine Smith, president of Farms to grow, Inc., which supervisors the market.

From its start in 2014, the festival has focused on the traditions of African American culture through music, food and art. That emphasis included fresh food vendors, particularly growers of African American legacy crops like black-eyed peas, yams, watermelon, collard greens and okra, which all originate in Africa.

To Fresno farmer Will Scott of Scott Family Farms, the Freedom Farmers’ Market allows him to bring those crops to the inner city – and support the nutrition of African Americans.

Shortly after the festival opened Saturday morning with prayers and salutes to the ancestors by Wakan Wiya Two-Spirit Drum and Awon Ohun Omnira, led M. Zamora and Otobaji Stewart respectively, 86-year-old Scott, the son of a sharecropper, announced that he will put other endeavors aside to dedicate the rest of his life to raise those foods.

Smith shared that Farms to Grow assists Black farmers in helping them overcome one of their main impediments to success – distribution – while creating alliances to help Black people maintain farmland and make it prosperous for younger generations to keep farming and farmland in the family.

As the morning progressed to afternoon, a steady stream of visitors drifted from booth to booth, chatting with vendors and each other.

Scott noted that a market day like this was what he was accustomed to in his youth, where the market was not just about buying things but also a place for valuable social exchange.

The social aspect became even pronounced shortly after midday when Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee stopped by to shop and visit with some of the vendors, including Ellen Bimpeh of Sankofa, and Ravernell who was selling T-shirts designed by Stewart.

Lee is also a fan of Winky Dinky Dogs, an eatery owned by Tyranny Allen whose second brick-and-mortar venture further anchors a hub of businesses at that corner.

As he has in previous years, Andre Thierry of Accordion Soul, closed the festival with a 90-minute set that brought young and the young-at-heart on their feet to dance in a line or as impromptu couples.

And, surprisingly, the man Allen refers to as the mayor of 45th Street, came out on cane and chair to sit by the curb in the sun and listen to music reminiscent of his Louisiana roots. His appearance seemed to echo Scott’s observance about the market: to bring people together.

The Freedom Farmers’ Market is located at 4521 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland and is open on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month until Nov. 14. For more information and to apply to be a vendor, go to https://www.farmstogrow.org/freedomfarmersmarket