GumGum Black History Month Spotlights : Week 3

In celebration of Black History Month, each week GumGummers will be spotlighting inspiring Black Americans throughout history through the present day who have made an impact and mark in the world.

This week we’ll be highlighting Mary Seacole, John Lewis, Ruby Bridges, and Lisa Jackson.

Read more about them below.

Mary Seacole (1805 – 1881) - Mary Seacole was a groundbreaking nurse practitioner, entrepreneur, and author. Born to a Jamaican mother and Scottish father, she was a woman of driving energy and a born healer. She brought her nursing skills, learned from a tradition of Jamaican and West African Doctresses, all the way to the 1850's Crimean War in Eastern Europe, where she established a convalescent center behind the lines. Mary was seen helping wounded soldiers on the battlefield while the battle still raged about her. She overcame official indifference and prejudice, getting out to the Crimea by her own efforts and at her own expense.
Later, she became noted for her use of herbal remedies to relieve the symptoms of infectious illnesses such as cholera in Jamaica and Panama. Mary Seacole’s reputation after the Crimean War rivaled Florence Nightingale’s. She wrote an autobiography The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands and was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991. Currently, the Mary Seacole Trust works to celebrate the diversity of the nursing and midwifery workforce and the communities in which they work. https://www.maryseacoletrust.org.uk/learn-about-mary/

John Lewis (1940-2020) - Few individuals in the history of the American civil rights movement cast as long a shadow as Representative John Lewis. Born in rural Alabama as the son of sharecroppers, Lewis first gained fame (at least in his hometown newspaper) by preaching a sermon at his family church before even turning 16. John Lewis then embarked on an incredible life of “good trouble”: as a Freedom Rider, as a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), as an organizer of the March on Washington, and as a leader of the famed march in Selma, Alabama, that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” By the time he was 25, Lewis had done more than most accomplish in a lifetime, using speech and assembly as the powerful tools for change the Founders intended them to be. And, of course, he was only getting started; Lewis continued to serve as a powerful voice for racial justice and First Amendment freedoms in the halls of Congress for over 30 years. Photo: President Obama presents a 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rep. John Lewis during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 15, 2011.(Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Ruby Bridges (1954 - ) Bridges probably had no idea that the bold act she committed in 1960 would set off a chain reaction leading to the integration of schools in the South.
She was just six years old when she became the first African American student to attend William Frantz Elementary in Louisiana at the height of desegregation. Greeted by an angry mob and escorted by federal marshals, Ruby bravely crossed the threshold of this school and into history single-handedly initiating the desegregation of New Orleans’ public schools. She is now the chair of the Ruby Bridges Foundation, which was formed in 1999 to promote “the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences.”

LISA JACKSON (1962 -) - Lisa Jackson was the first African American (and one of only a few women) to serve as the federal EPA Administrator. Appointed by President Obama in 2009, she made it a priority to focus on vulnerable groups – including children, the elderly, and low-income communities – that are particularly susceptible to environmental and health threats. Jackson became interested in environmental matters following the national and international coverage of the Love Canal Disaster in the mid-1970. She led the EPA to expand its commitment to engaging with and listening to all stakeholders in the decision-making process. After leaving the EPA, in May 2013, Jackson joined Apple as their environmental director.Some more info about her:
https://www.apple.com/leadership/lisa-jackson/

Lusia Harris (1955 – 2022), a women's basketball trailblazer! Harris was the first — and only — woman officially drafted by an NBA team, and she scored the first bucket in women's Olympic basketball history. The following year, she was selected by the New Orleans Jazz with the 137th pick of the 1977 NBA Draft but declined to try out for the team — she was pregnant at the time. Harris was technically the second woman ever drafted by an NBA team. Eight years prior, the San Francisco Warriors tried to select another woman, Denise Long, in the 1969 draft, but the NBA wouldn't allow it in part because of her gender. Born to Mississippi sharecroppers, Harris dreamed of shooting like her idol Oscar Robertson. She was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992, becoming one of the two first women to enter the hall alongside Nera White.

Quote: “If I was a man, then there would have been options for me to go further and play. I certainly would have had money. I would have been able to do a lot of things I would have wanted to do.”

Check back next week for more Black History Month spotlights and check out the #Voice slack channel for daily Black History Month updates and shares.