By Garry Blanson
We as Black People are going to have to decide where we’re going as a Race of People, because it’s time for Black People in Monroe, Louisiana to “Start Separating The True Black Leaders From The Judasgoats!” –Garry O. Blanson
In 2020, when Kamala Harris was placed on the Democratic Ticket and ran for Vice-President of the United States, why did so many Black People in Monroe, Louisiana think that Kamala was “THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?” Was it because so much of the history of Black People was deliberately left out of the history books at the schools that our Black Children attend? Was it because certain people in Louisiana didn’t want Black female students getting ideas in their heads about becoming Louisiana State Senators and State Representatives? Was it because the people over the Education System in Louisiana “didn’t want Black students to aspire to achieve anything greater than getting a job working for someone else for 20 – 25 years of their life?” Regardless of the reason, many Black People in Monroe are still shocked to death when I tell them that “KAMALA HARRIS WAS NOT THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!”
Which brings us to this week’s Black Pioneer. Many reports say that Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass was born on February 14, 1874, in Sumter, South Carolina. What is surprising to most Black People and White People in Monroe, Louisiana is the fact that in 1952, Charlotta became the “FIRST BLACK WOMAN IN AMERICA TO EVER RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT!” An Astounding feat, especially for a Black Woman in the early 1950s. She was nominated by the defunct Progressive Party, and was the running mate of a White lawyer by the name of Vincent Hallinan. Charlotta ran on a platform that included civil rights, women’s rights, and to end the Korean War. Her slogan was “Win or Lose, We’ll Win by Raising the Issues!” By the way, she was reportedly over the age of 91 when she passed away in Los Angeles, California on April 12, 1969, from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Please excuse me for not going into details about the life of Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass, this week’s “Phenomenal Black Female Pioneer,” but I just had to vent a little about why such “A HISTORIC EVENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY AS CHARLOTTA AMANDA SPEARS BASS, THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO RUN FOR THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” was never discussed in any of my American History classes, while I was in school or college! Also, I feel that it’s a dam shame that people like Governor Jeff Landry and Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley are allowed to continue to keep important information about the accomplishments of Black People out of the history books and the classrooms, at the schools in our Black Communities!
Not to mention that both of them have continually conspired to categorize much of the history of Black People in Louisiana as “Critical Race Theory,” to keep teachers from teaching the truth to students about Louisiana’s dirty past! Well, now it’s on us as Black People to tell and teach the truth, not only to our Black Children and Black adults, but to White children and White adults as well! Also, we as Black people are going to have to decide where we’re going as a race of people, because it’s time for Black people in Monroe, Louisiana to “Start Separating The True Black Leaders From The Judasgoats!”
