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Black History

Seeking Zero-Tolerance of Slavery: The Abolitionism Movement

The trans-Atlantic slave trade introduced a system of slavery that was commercialized, racialized and inherited, according to The New York Times Magazine. Africans were not thought of as human beings but fuel for the country’s economic engine. Fast-forward 400 years, most Americans still know little about the story of slavery. Even fewer understand that not all white people were proslavery, but abolitionists: people who sought to abolish slavery during the 19th century and the immediate and full emancipation of all enslaved people.

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Noted abolitionists of the 19th century. Top row, left to right: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass. Bottom row, left to tight: Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Willian Lloyd Garrison. Wikipedia image.
Noted abolitionists of the 19th century. Top row, left to right: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass. Bottom row, left to tight: Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Willian Lloyd Garrison. Wikipedia image.

By Tamara Shiloh

The year was 1619. A Portuguese slave ship, the São João Bautista, made its way across the Atlantic Ocean filled with human cargo: captive Africans from Angola. All were bound for a life of enslavement in Mexico. But the ship was captured by two English pirate ships and the Africans were instead taken to Point Comfort, a port near Jamestown, the capital of the English colony of Virginia.

The trans-Atlantic slave trade introduced a system of slavery that was commercialized, racialized and inherited, according to The New York Times Magazine. Africans were not thought of as human beings but fuel for the country’s economic engine.

Fast-forward 400 years, most Americans still know little about the story of slavery. Even fewer understand that not all white people were proslavery, but abolitionists: people who sought to abolish slavery during the 19th century and the immediate and full emancipation of all enslaved people. The abolitionist movement, an organized effort to end the practice of slavery in the U.S., started in New York and Massachusetts during the 1830s and quickly spread throughout other northern states.

Many abolitionists were white, religious Americans like Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Willian Lloyd Garrison. Some of the most prominent leaders of the movement, however, were Blacks who escaped from bondage: Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Their goal was to abolish slavery completely. Yet other groups, such as the Free Soil Party, only opposed the expansion of slavery into U.S. territories and newly formed states such as Kansas.

Abolitionists viewed slavery as an “abomination and an affliction on the United States, making it their goal to eradicate slave ownership.” They sent petitions to Congress, ran for political office and inundated Southerners with antislavery literature.

Early leadership (1830–1870) duplicated tactics used by British abolitionists to end slavery in 1830s Great Britain and its colonies. Abolitionism, despite its religious underpinnings, became a controversial issue that divided much of the country, sparking heated debates and deadly confrontations that opened doors to the Civil War.

Throughout this chapter of American history, the South denied free, escaped and enslaved Blacks access to education. Abolitionists, however, believed in the practice of educational freedom for all people.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) established before the Civil War include Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (1837), Lincoln University (1854) and Wilberforce University (1856). Although many Southern HBCUs were founded in the years following the war, the roots of these efforts to educate Blacks began in the northern abolitionist schools during the slave era.

“Abolitionists worked to challenge and dismantle white supremacy in schools by eliminating zero-tolerance policies in favor of restorative justice, integrating students’ cultural and community knowledge into curriculum,” said UC Riverside professor Tara J. Yasso.

The abolitionist movement continued until 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified and slavery was formally abolished. Many historians argue that it lasted until the 1870 passage of the 15th Amendment, which extended voting rights to Black men.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 27 – December 3, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 27 – December 3, 2024, 2024

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Black History

Emeline King: A Trailblazer in the Automotive Industry

Emeline King is recognized as the first African American female transportation designer at the Ford Motor Company. Let’s take a look at her life and career at the Ford Motor Company.

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Transportation designer Emeline King. Photo courtesy of Emeline King.
Transportation designer Emeline King. Photo courtesy of Emeline King.

By Tamara Shiloh

Emeline King is recognized as the first African American female transportation designer at the Ford Motor Company.

Let’s take a look at her life and career at the Ford Motor Company.

King’s fascination with cars began during her childhood. Growing up, she was captivated by the sleek designs and mechanical complexities of automobiles. She loved playing with toy cars and considered it an insult if anyone gave her a doll.

King pursued her interest in cars by studying at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. There, she improved her skills in transportation design, gaining the technical expertise and artistic vision she needed to break into the male-dominated industry.

However, her true inspiration came from her father, Earnest O. King, Sr., who worked for Ford as a Fabrication Specialist. She remembered the father-daughter trips to the auto shows, and the Saturday mornings with the famous Black sculptor, Oscar Graves, who her father assisted in some of his commissioned art works.

She said Graves would mentor her in clay relief sculptures. She was always fascinated by the smell of clay that was a constant in his studio.

However, it was her first visit to her father’s job that became the catalyst for King to want a career in transportation design. At the company’s annual employee Christmas parties, she got the chance to meet his co-workers and learned about the roles they played in the auto industry. It was a chance to see some great cars, too.

Her career at Ford began in the 1980s, when women — particularly women of color –were scarcely represented in the automotive industry. King’s role at Ford was groundbreaking, as she became the first African American woman to work as a transportation designer at the company.

At Ford Design, she worked on the Ford Mustang SN-95’s interior. She also made several design contributions on other vehicles, too, including the interior components of the 1989 Thunderbird, the 1989 Corporate Steering Wheel, the 1989 Thunderbird Wheel/Wheel cover design program, the 1990 Thunderbird Super Coupe, the 1993 Mach III, the 1994 Mustang, to name a few.

King also served three foreign assignments: Turin Italy; Koln, Germany; and Brentwood, Essex, England — designing Ford cars for Europe.

Leaving Ford after about 25 years of service and along with her many speaking engagements, she wrote an autobiography about being Ford’s first female African American transportation designer titled, “What Do You Mean A Black Girl Can’t Design Cars? She Did It!”

She’s quoted as saying, “I’m now so proud to have written a book that I hope will inspire young girls and boys to never give up. To influence them so that they can stay focused and alert, and so they never look back. There are mentors who are placed in our lives to serve as our ‘Bridges to Destinations’ and allow us to cross over them to reach our dreams. Hoping they gain inspiration from my book, my motto for them is simple: ‘OPPORTUNITY IS NOW, SO GRAB IT! IF I DID IT, SO CAN YOU!”

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Oakland Post: Week of November 20 – 26, 2024

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