Black Hollywood: The Way It Was: Part 1

November 18th, 2023 in Posted in:

TonyBrownsJournal.com Presents … The first episode of this fantastic glimpse into the archives of the motion picture industry, “Burnt Cork,” journeys back to the beginning with the invention of the first moving picture and follows the impact of African Americans in its development. As part of the film industry’s early beginnings, the Black image was…



Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee — Black Royalty

October 13th, 2023 in Posted in:

Black Royalty … The informal king and queen of this artistic wing during much of this inspiring era of self-reliance from a conspicuously talented sociographic and intellectual expatriate colony of diverse descendants of Africa was the brilliant and legendary duo of Ossie Davis (born Raiford Chatman Davis on December 18, 1917, in Cogdell, Ga.) and…



Oscar Micheaux: A Man Ahead Of His Time

October 6th, 2023 in Posted in:

Did you know that the most prolific Black – if not the most prolific independent – filmmaker in American cinema, Oscar Micheaux, wrote, produced and directed 44 feature-length films between 1919 and 1948. Micheaux, born on January 2, 1884 in Metropolis, Illinois, the fifth child in a family of thirteen, worked as a shoeshine boy,…



The African Presence In Asia

September 30th, 2023 in Posted in:

“Asia and Blacks”: Historian and scholar Dr. Runoko Rashidi has researched the African presence globally and the African foundations of world civilizations. Host Tony Brown sits down and discusses with Dr. Rashidi little-known facts about African origins in Asia.    Tony Brown’s Journal, “the most complete and thoughtful record of African-American opinion,” is in the…



Southern Slavery, Northern Lies

September 23rd, 2023 in Posted in:

In the 100 years between 1700 and the end of the legal slave trade in 1808, Rhode Island monopolized the western Atlantic slave trade. Ships departing from Rhode Island departed on nearly 1,000 voyages to Africa and returned with at least 100,000 slaves. Rum and slaves formed an unholy alliance in Rhode Island, making Rhode…



Slavery’s Biggest Secret

September 15th, 2023 in Posted in:

Slavery could not have become institutionalized in the South without the active participation of northerners in the United States. As the authors argue, the state of Connecticut, and the entire nation, were complicit. This “complicity” took many forms – ownership of slaves, promotion and funding of the slave trade and active involvement in it, support…



Historical Black Women In The Military

September 8th, 2023 in Posted in:

African-American women in military service also did not receive proper recognition for their service. Reflecting that apartheid custom, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only African-American WAC unit to serve overseas in WWII. This unit was responsible for redirecting the mail to the GIs on the battlefield, a Sisyphean feat, considering that troops…



The Tuskegee Airmen – Pt. 4: Red Tails and Black Aces

September 2nd, 2023 in Posted in:

Red Tails and Black Aces: As a result of the “Tuskegee Experiment” being a proven success and used as a basis to demonstrate that Blacks could perform with excellence and in air combat and leadership roles, President Harry Truman, in 1948, signed the executive order to integrate the entire military. The mere decision to go…



The Tuskegee Airmen – Pt. 2: The Enemy Within

August 18th, 2023 in Posted in:

Criticism of the 99th’s overseas combat record was instantaneous and virulent. After only a few months in combat, the Commander of the 12th Air Support Command assailed the performance of the Black pilots. “Officers of all professions,” he said, felt that “the Negro type has not the proper reflexes to make a first-class fighter pilot.”…



Tuskegee Airmen: Clipped Wings – Pt. 1

August 12th, 2023 in Posted in:

The Tuskegee Airmen — “America’s Black Air Force” in WWII  The pilots of America’s WWII armed forces were highly skilled flyers who became the stars of war stories and the ingredients of legends.  These Black pilots were and are the first line of defense, the protectors of our fleets and the rulers of the skies…