Black History

COMMENTARY: Are we forgetting 400 years?

FLORIDA COURIER — This milestone 400th anniversary year of the single incident that began the relationship for the next four centuries among Africans, English, and Native Americans.

Published

8 years ago

February 13, 2019

Oakland Post

By Dinizulu Gene Tinnie

As Black History Month (BHM) 2019 begins, we might easily find ourselves simultaneously gratified, impressed, and nearly overwhelmed by the rich smorgasbord of programs and activities taking place in South Florida alone (diligently compiled by the Miami-Dade Office of Black Affairs and other sources).

This reflects a rapidly-growing availability of previously lost and hidden information steadily coming to light in this new day ‒ or what Native American First Nations people have recognized as a “Time of Awakening,” from which there is no escape or going back to past ignorance.

This year, for example, many are learning for the first time this year that February 1, the anniversary of the 13th Amendment officially ending legal slavery in the U.S. in 1865, is officially National Freedom Day, signed into law in 1948 by President Truman to celebrate the freedom enjoyed by all Americans. This is thanks to the dedicated efforts of Major Richard Robert Wright.

Pushed for recognition

Wright was born into slavery in Georgia in the 1850s. After a distinguished military career and numerous remarkable achievements in education and business, he launched his campaign in 1941 to establish the holiday – a fitting beginning of Black History Month.

However, just as this rapidly increasing knowledge and awareness might make this year’s BHM the most empowering ever, enhanced by the 2019 National Black History Theme of “Black Migrations,” there is a striking absence in virtually all of the programs listed on this full calendar of any reference to one of the most significant Black migrations of all time.

That is the fateful 1619 arrival from Ndongo, Angola, West Africa 400 years ago of the first “20 and odd” captive Africans to be brought into British-occupied Native North America, at Point Comfort, Virginia (not Jamestown, as is usually reported).

Their arrival notably occurred more than a year “Before the Mayflower” (the title of Lerone Bennett Jr.’s classic study of America’s Black history), but also more than a century after the first Africans of the modern era, free and enslaved, had come to the Spanish-claimed territory of Florida peninsula and other coastal settlements (including one which was destroyed by a slave revolt).

Note that there are much earlier documented African arrivals in the Americas centuries before Columbus, or the African presence among Indigenous peoples long before then.

More than one incident

In that larger historical and geographical context, the storied landing of a few Africans brought to a remote British North American outpost on the ship “White Lion” might seem to be almost insignificant, considering how commonplace such human trafficking had become since the early 1500s under Spanish and Portuguese flags.

(In case you didn’t know, the White Lion’s captain had stolen these same Africans from a Spanish vessel which he attacked and raided, and then sold the captives to the English settlers as commodity in exchange for food and supplies.)

That very point about context is convincingly made in Dr. Michael Guasco’s September 2017, article in Smithsonian magazine, cautioning against the dangers of overemphasizing the single 1619 incident at the expense of ignoring how much equally or more important history preceded, surrounded, and followed it.

Even without that caveat, other factors have already long been in play which serve to downplay the importance of those particular African men and women’s arrival in the Virginia colony.

On the one hand, many thoughtful observers astutely refuse to give undue importance to historical occurrences which become emphasized as parts of “his-story,” presented and defined by the settlers’ perspectives only.

On the other hand, there is also the inescapable factor of traumatic pain and unhealed psychic wounds associated with such stories which lead many African descendants to prefer not to be reminded of them, even though they continue to haunt our every hour ‒ whether we acknowledge them or not.

Knowledge empowers us

And that becomes the most important point today. “Knowledge is power,” and we are all certainly more empowered by knowledge of the collective history which has played such a prominent role in making us who we are today than by ignorance ‒ or worse yet, myths, lies, and propaganda ‒ calculated to disempower us.

This milestone 400th anniversary year of the single incident that began the relationship for the next four centuries among Africans, English, and Native Americans in North America is the ultimate “teachable moment,” an opportunity not to be missed, especially in this Time of Awakening when information abounds, and a new generation is coming of age as yet another is being born.

A quadricentennial only comes once. Only the present generations can gather and preserve historical facts that were either unavailable or too painful for those before us, and may well be lost and forgotten forever if we do not pass them on to those who come after us.

Among the most important facts of 1619 ‒ even more than knowing what those Africans and the millions who came after them, both on ships and as descendants for the next 400 years contributed to the building of the nation that we know today ‒ is the knowledge of who those first surviving Africans (like all others to follow) were.

What happened?

What did they feel upon their arrival in this strange place? How did they interact with one another and with the English settlers and the Native Nations which surrounded them? What indelible marks did their lives-that-mattered make on the society of which they were an integral part, regardless of what social status the settlers attempted to force upon them?

By going back to this beginning, without forgetting and by including that larger historical and geographic context around those 20-plus first Africans in British-occupied North America, we take full advantage of the proverb, “The past is present, the future is now.”

Yesterday is not tomorrow, which will be largely defined by what we do. As products of our ancestral past, what we do with our knowledge in the present moment shapes the future of our next generations.

This is why this milestone 400th year adds so much power and significance to all of our various inspired Black History Month and year-round activities. This is why each of these activities will benefit us and their audiences by including prominent public mention and recognition of this anniversary. Conversely, we will lose a precious and invaluable opportunity forever by not doing so.

***

Dinizulu Gene Tinnie is a South Florida-based artist, activist and historian. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

This article originally appeared in the Florida Courier.

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IN MEMORIAM: The Rev. Leon “Sonny” Clark, Longtime Orange County Pastor and Community Leader, Dies at 72

Rev. Leon William “Sonny” Clark, the longtime pastor of New Spirit Baptist Church in Santa Ana and a prominent faith and community leader in Orange County, passed away on September 9 at the age of 72. Born in Bennettsville, South Carolina, Clark was a U.S. Navy veteran who dedicated his life to service. He served various Southern California churches before leading New Spirit Baptist Church for over 22 years, extending his work into counseling, mentoring, and civic engagement, and supporting the African American community. To learn more about his life and contributions, read more.

Published

4 days ago

September 28, 2026

Post News Group

The Rev. Leon “Sonny” Clark. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Rev. Leon William “Sonny” Clark, longtime pastor of New Spirit Baptist Church in Santa Ana and a respected faith and community leader in Orange County, died Sept. 9. He was 72.

Born Oct. 2, 1953, in Bennettsville, South Carolina, Clark was a U.S. Navy veteran who later built a life of service centered on family, faith, ministry, and community.

Clark began his formal ministry at Metropolitan Baptist Church in Altadena in 1978. After acknowledging his call to ministry in 1980, he preached his first sermon and went on to serve churches throughout Southern California, including Second Baptist Church in Riverside, Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Rubidoux, Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Pomona, and Friendship Baptist Church in Yorba Linda.

In November 2003, Clark was called to lead New Spirit Baptist Church in Santa Ana, where he served as pastor for more than 22 years. His work extended beyond the pulpit through counseling, mentoring, civic engagement, and efforts to strengthen Orange County’s African American community.

Clark served on the Orange County Heritage Council and supported efforts to preserve and celebrate African American history and culture. He helped organize the Orange County Black History Parade and Unity Festival, served on the Interfaith Committee and the Orange County Transit Authority, and served as president of the Orange County Ministers Conference.

In 2024, the City of Santa Ana recognized Clark for his contributions to the community. He also received the Orange County Southern Baptist Association Hall of Faith Award and was previously honored as Pastor of the Year by the Orange County Heritage Council.

Clark is survived by his wife, Andrea Joyles Clark; six children, Shawn Williams, Le Ondra Clark Harvey, Kyla Coward, Joshua Clark, Marissa Clark and Ashley Clark; grandchildren and great-grandchildren; siblings; extended family; and the New Spirit Baptist Church congregation.

A wake will be held Thursday, Oct. 1, from 4 to 8 p.m. at New Spirit Baptist Church, 701 S. Sullivan St. in Santa Ana, with a remembrance service from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

A Celebration of Life will be held Friday, Oct. 2, at Friendship Baptist Church, 17145 Bastanchury Road in Yorba Linda. Viewing begins at noon, followed by the service at 1 p.m.

Burial will take place Monday, Oct. 5, at 10:15 a.m. at Riverside National Cemetery.

Clark often shared a guiding principle that shaped his ministry: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

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Black History

Remembering Chauncey Bailey as Student Journalists Face Threats to Truth-Telling

Nearly two decades ago, Oakland Post reporter and editor-in-chief Chauncey Bailey was tragically murdered for investigating a crooked business. His assassination shocked the journalism world and is remembered as student journalists today face increasing threats and censorship. A former classmate of Bailey and chair of the Student Press Law Center notes a significant rise in calls from students seeking legal advice amid a hostile environment. This situation highlights the importance of protecting young journalists and their pursuit of truth. Read more to learn about Bailey’s legacy and current challenges facing student press.

Published

4 days ago

September 27, 2026

Post News Group

By Steven A. Holmes Special to The Post

It is nearly 20 years since Chauncey Bailey, a crusading journalist, was murdered

on an Oakland street corner, gunned down to prevent him from writing stories about a

crooked business.

I hope people remember Bailey, a reporter and editor-in-chief for the

Oakland Post, the city’s Black newspaper. He had already written several articles about

the problems of a business called Your Muslim Bakery and was working on another

when the bakery’s owner ordered an employee to kill Bailey.

His murder shocked the journalism world that found the idea of an American

reporter killed for doing his job unfathomable. For me, the shock and sadness were also

personal.

I knew Bailey. In the mid-1970s we were classmates in the Michelle Clark Memorial

Foundation program, the precursor to the Institute for Journalism Education Summer

Program. A program, backed by the Ford Foundation, that provided intensive training

for fledgling minority journalism students and then placed them in jobs at newspapers

and television stations.

I’m reminded of Bailey and that program when I visit the East Bay at the end of

September to discuss the future of student journalism. To me, the visit will not only

evoke memories of Bailey. It will also be an opportunity to hone strategies to protect and

support student journalists who are under attack today, maybe not in the way that took away Chauncey Bailey, but an attack, nonetheless.

Spurred by the hostility toward the free press emanating out of Washington, high

school and college journalists are facing a barrage of censorship and harassment from

school administrators and local officials.

The 24-hour hotline staffed by the Student Press Law Center (SPLC), the non-profit I chair, has seen a 35% increase in calls from student journalists seeking legal advice on censorship, libel and copyright issues during the past two years, as well as a tripling in the number of complaints of harassment, including threats of firing, of faculty advisors.

I am not suggesting today’s national climate is as dangerous as the murderous

intentions of Yusef Bey IV, the man who ordered Bailey’s assassination. But the

harassment of student journalists does kill something else. It can destroy the desire of

student journalists to continue their growth to become professional news gatherers and

producers – something the country will always need.

It is that professional maturation that I’m reminded of when I think back on Chauncey

Bailey.

Truth be told, when we were classmates back in 1974 Bailey was the class clown,

known more for his sardonic wit than his writing or reporting talent. I have vivid

memories of Bailey sitting at his desk in the back of the room regaling us with sarcastic

comments. Sure, he was funny.

And he didn’t exhibit the level of reporting skills of our other classmates such as Milton Coleman who went on to be the Deputy Managing Editor of the Washington Post or Alexis Scott who for years has run the Atlanta Daily World.

After a series of reporting jobs in Hartford, Connecticut, Detroit, Michigan, and Oakland, Bailey had risen in talent and skill to helm this very newspaper. A tip from a source led Bailey to look into the possibility that Bey was running Your Muslim Bakery into bankruptcy. Word that Bailey was working on that story filtered back to Bey who ordered the journalist killed.

On August 2, 2007, Bailey was shot three times at point-blank range as he walked to work.

So, when I think of my trip to the East Bay my thoughts go to journalism’s past

represented by Chauncey Bailey’s sacrifice and what the staff and the board of SPLC

can do to secure the current and future work of student journalists.

Steven A. Holmes is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His novel “Black Messiahs” was published in May this year.

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Black History

In Wake of Death on Doorstep, Williams Chapel Baptist Church Calls for Better Care, Funding for Unhoused

An unhoused individual was found deceased on the steps of Williams Chapel Baptist Church in East Oakland at approximately 6:30 a.m. Monday. The church, located at 1410 10th Ave., extended condolences to the individual’s family, noting the tragedy reflects a broader crisis. Williams Chapel Baptist Church provides shelter and referral services, working with West Side Missionary Baptist Church. They call for increased funding and collaboration to expand services for unhoused individuals. Read more to learn about the church’s efforts and the call for solutions.

Published

4 days ago

September 27, 2026

Post News Group

Oakland Police and emergency vehicle arrive to Williams Chapel Monday morning. Courtesy photo.

By Special to The Post

Church extends condolences to individual’s family and loved ones

At approximately 6:30 a.m. Monday, an unhoused individual was found deceased on the steps of Williams Chapel Baptist Church, located at 1410 10th Ave. on the corner of 10th and International in East Oakland.

The individual appears to have come to the church seeking safety and may have needed medical support. We extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the individual’s family and loved ones.

This tragedy reflects a broader crisis affecting unhoused individuals and families throughout the Bay Area. Too many people are living without reliable shelter or timely access to medical care, mental health support, and other essential services. Limited funding and insufficient resources continue to leave vulnerable people without the help they need.

Williams Chapel Baptist Church, a member of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County, works alongside West Side Missionary Baptist Church to provide safe-haven overnight parking, tiny-home emergency shelter, and wraparound referral services to the unhoused.

With funding, both East and West Oakland sites can increase to full capacity and extend to other congregations, creating more safe places for people living on the streets to seek shelter, support, and connection to services.

We invite government agencies, nonprofit organizations, interfaith communities, businesses, and neighbors to join us in this work. By working together with compassion and purpose, we can develop meaningful solutions and help more people experiencing homelessness receive care, stability, and dignity.