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History According to Simon Rutledge: Master Historian Teaches on NYC Streets

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2017

Street Historian Simon Rutledge (left) speaks to passersby on the streets of New York City at the corner of 96th and Broadway.

On any given day, businessman, Simon Rutledge can be seen addressing a crowd on the streets of New York City. At the corner of 96th and Broadway, he pours out fountains of information – from politics to slavery to the African pyramids, Rutledge offers his knowledge in the informal setting. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city, while selling his wares he engages everyday people in conversations that challenge their thinking – in the form of verbal history according to Simon Rutledge. Before he knew it he had a following.

“I’ve had diplomats and people from Wall Street say, they never understood certain concepts until I put it in just the right framework,” explained Rutledge from his home in New York with wife, Shirley of 52 years.

By connecting these historical dots, Rutledge at the age of 73, helps people understand that the demonizing and mistreatment of black people began with the Papal Bull, a public decree issued by the pope of the Roman Catholic Church. According to Rutledge, the pope decreed people of color as second-class citizens centuries ago. “When you dehumanized a person, you can justify any type of treatment toward that person. This has carried on to the modern day attitude that African American’s face today. “If you can justify that a person is less than, you can justify any mistreatment or indifference toward them. “The police department feels since we are outside the human race they have a right to kill us. That’s the reason why historically at every cross burning, house burning, lynching, law enforcement was always there.”

He also discussed the frenzy behind the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a group of bills that helped quiet early calls for Southern secession—and a new law that forcibly compelled citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves. “Abolitionists nicked nicknamed it the “Bloodhound Law” for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.”

Rutledge also cited the Dred Scott decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857, ruled that a slave, Dred Scott, who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom. “This ruled that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; It basically said a Black man has no right that a white man has to respect. Nothing has changed it just evolved.”

Born in 1944, Rutledge says his interest in history was sparked as a young boy growing up in the small coastal town of Georgetown, South Carolina, a city where “the First Lady Michelle Obama’s ancestors are from, a town that exported rice, and people did not live very long.”

“I witnessed people working in the rice fields all day and night. They were worked to death and I wanted to understand to them. How did this arrangement come about where one group of people hardly worked and had everything, while others worked themselves to death and had nothing?”

By reading, Rutledge says it took him all over the world causing him to question every thing; like how areas of the Caribbean and Africa become nation states under countries as small as Belgium. “How do people who had nothing now control 87% of the earth including countries as vast and rich as the Congo?”

Simon Rutledge meets Post News Group publishers Paul and Gay Cobb on the streets of New York City.

Rutledge says even the cell phone industry relies on Africa. “The Katanga Mining Corporation in Congo’s Katanga Province, produces refined copper and cobalt which are raw materials used to make components of the cell phone. Much of the world is operating off the Congo’s wealth and natural resources. The banks off the Nile River can feed all of Africa because it’s the longest

running river in world, 4000 miles long.”

Some of Rutledge’s findings are quite shocking, but put systemic racism into perspective. “It’s never discussed that the skin of Black people was used to make lamp shades and pocket books. Even the first erected skeleton was of a black man who was murdered and boiled. The Jews never discuss that prior to Hitler killing the Jews, he killed the Africans first, because Germany had a large black population also.”

From the IQ Test to the Emancipation Proclamation, Rutledge is filled with historical facts accumulated through years of research. “The very first IQ test came out of Germany in a Hitler Camp. They were trying to decide who to kill (exterminate). This is what prefaced the SAT and testing for special education. Also, after the Emancipation Proclamation 500,000 mixed people were born. It was black women having white men’s babies.”

While Rutledge never went to college or business school but learned the diesel engine industry. On Wall Street he owned a parking lot, a trucking firm and a grocery store. “I learned that nobody is going to take care of you and I now encourage young men to go to a trade school. They don’t need to go to a 4- year school and accumulate $200,000 in student loans. A true education is a farmer who teaches kids to farm and make a living. Then he can send them to college to bring up their intellect, speak well and read well and problem solve.”

Rutledge says Trump, just like some president’s post-slavery is here to push back all the laws and protections to undermine “our progress.” “In the preamble of the constitution it says that slavery will be abolished in the private sector but will always be a part of the penal system.”

With over 2 million Black men in the penal system that is now very privatized and prison labor is producing products for Fortune 500 companies, Rutledge advises Black people to recognize their worth.

“Everybody knows our worth except for us. Your critical thinking is key. Any man that invades your country, changes your name, strips you of your culture and kills millions and transfers millions around the world, have them work for hundreds of years and give them no land – what makes you think these people will be fair to you now?”

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Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

19 hours ago

August 15, 2026

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View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

21 hours ago

August 15, 2026

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George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.