Busy As A Bea Productions

Beatrice Joyner

If You Didn’t Learn Your History, It Was Never Meant to Be Taught to You

History is not just what is written… it is what is selected.

When John Henrik Clarke warned that expecting the school system to fully teach your history is a dream, he was pointing to something deeper than education—he was pointing to control.

Because every society decides what to remember… and what to erase.

For generations, African and Black histories were often reduced, reshaped, or removed entirely from mainstream textbooks. Not always through open denial, but through silence. Through omission. Through narrow storytelling that left out entire civilizations, thinkers, and contributions.

So the question becomes:

If your history was filtered before it reached you… how much of it is actually yours?

This is why Clarke’s message still hits hard today. He wasn’t just criticizing schools—he was challenging dependency. He was pushing for self-research, self-teaching, and self-recovery of identity.

Because when you rely only on institutions to define your past, you risk inheriting a partial truth.

And partial truth can shape a distorted future.

But this is not a message of despair. It is a call to awareness.

To question more. To read more. To dig deeper.
To understand that history is not a finished book—it is an ongoing struggle over memory.

So the real responsibility begins now:

Who tells your story if you don’t?

Follow .echo for powerful African history and untold stories.
Support the movement—buy our debut book “20 African Wonder Women That Changed History.”

References:
– John Henrik Clarke, speeches and essays on African historiography
– Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro
– UNESCO General History of Africa project

Billionaire philanthropist Mike Bloomberg, through Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the City Fund have each committed $10 million for a total of $20 million to support public charter schools developed in partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The UNCF serves as a key partner in the initiative.

The funding supports two schools in Alabama. I Dream Big Academy, Tuscaloosa's first tuition-free public charter school, opened in August 2025 in partnership with Stillman College and currently serves students in grades 6 to 8. D.C. Wolfe Charter School in Shorter, Alabama formerly D.C. Wolfe Elementary School is scheduled to reopen in fall 2026 as a conversion charter school serving pre-K through sixth grade in partnership with Tuskegee University.

Students at both schools will have opportunities for early exposure to college life, dual-enrollment courses, and learning with university faculty. This effort builds on Bloomberg Philanthropies' prior support for HBCUs and charter schools, and it includes a $10 million donation to UNCF in 2022 and a $600 million investment in four HBCU medical schools in 2024. The goal is to strengthen educational pathways and expand opportunity for students.

(Photo: Michael Bloomberg / Bloomberg Philanthropies)

Viola Davis’ career spans decades, with some of her biggest milestones coming later in life.

She grew up in “abject poverty,” living in rat infested, condemned buildings and at times eating out of garbage cans and dumpsters.

In 2015, she became the first woman of color to win the Emmy for best lead actress in a drama for "How to Get Away With Murder." A year later, she won an Academy Award for "Fences," a role that had already earned her a Tony Award.

In 2023, she completed EGOT status with a Grammy for narrating her memoir "Finding Me." She is also a co owner of JuVee Productions, which helped bring "The Woman King" to the screen.

She is one of the greatest living self-made Americans on the list. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2026/04/09/forbes-self-made-250-the-greatest-living-self-made-americans/?utm_campaign=ForbesMainFB&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook&utm_medium=social
📸: Emma McIntyre/WireImage via Getty Images

Teen sprint sensation Gout Gout just delivered a jaw-dropping performance, clocking 19.67 seconds in the 200m to smash his own national record and set a new under-20 world mark.

The 18-year-old’s time at the Australian Athletics Championship is even faster than what Usain Bolt ran at the same age, putting the rising star firmly on the global radar.

With plans to compete at the World U20 Championships, and more speed still “in the tank,” the teenage phenom is already hinting this record may not last long.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Former NFL Player Warrick Dunn has helped over 250 single parents become first-time homeowners. He grew up in a single-parent household in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His mother, Corporal Betty Smothers, was a Baton Rouge police officer who served for 14 years, according to CBS News. On the morning of January 7, 1993, his mother was moonlighting as a security guard at a local bank when her life was taken in the line of duty during an ambush, Warrick said.

After her death, Warrick took on the role of head of the household for his five siblings. In his autobiography called Running for My Life, he wrote, "It used to be that she was the mom and I was the father figure of the house. Now it was just me, and I had to make these kinds of decisions and take action." In 1997, Warrick was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and his head coach was Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dungy. In Warrick's first week as a rookie, Coach Dungy encouraged all of his players to give back and said, "If you are going to live here, you need to be part of the community."

That message stayed with Warrick and inspired him to start Warrick Dunn Charities. Because he knew what it was like watching his mother struggle, he wanted to help single parents have a place they could call home. Since then, the program has helped single parents across 16 states make down payments on their first homes, according to the nonprofit. They also provide furnishings and help with grocery assistance. One of the most important lessons Warrick learned from his mother was "to never lose sight of where all blessings come from, and the responsibility we have as human beings to look after and serve one another."

(Photo: Courtesy of Warrick Dunn Charities | NFL)

Before the world gave Black voices a stage… a Black woman stepped forward and made the stage listen. There was a time in America when a Black woman’s voice was expected to stay inside the walls of a church. Not on grand stages. Not in opera halls. Not in front of presidents or royalty. But Sissieretta Jones did not accept that limitation. She did something far more powerful. She opened her mouth… and forced the world to hear her. A CHILD BORN INTO POSSIBILITY AND LIMITATION AT THE SAME TIME Sissieretta Jones was born in 1868 in Portsmouth, Virginia, in a country still figuring out what freedom for Black people actually meant. Slavery had ended. But opportunity had not arrived. She grew up in a home filled with faith and music. Her father was a minister. Her mother sang in church. That environment mattered, because before she ever saw a stage, she understood something deeper. Music was not just performance. It was expression. It was identity. It was survival. And very early, her voice stood out. Not just beautiful. Not just strong. But undeniable. CHOOSING A PATH THAT WAS NEVER MEANT FOR HER Sissieretta did not take the expected route. She chose opera. That choice alone was radical. Opera in the 1800s was a European art form, dominated by white performers and reserved for elite audiences. It was not a space where Black women were welcomed. But she trained anyway. She studied technique. She practiced relentlessly. She developed control, range, and emotional depth. Because she understood something important. If she was going to enter that world, she could not be average. She had to be exceptional. WHEN HER VOICE REACHED BEYOND BARRIERS By the 1890s, Sissieretta Jones was performing across the United States and Europe. And people could not ignore her. Audiences were stunned by her ability: her control over high notes her emotional delivery her command of the stage She became known as “The Black Patti,” compared to Adelina Patti, one of the most famous opera singers in the world. But even that name tells a deeper truth. She was so extraordinary… that the world could only understand her by comparing her to someone it already respected. STANDING ON THE WORLD’S BIGGEST STAGE In 1893, she performed at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This was not a small performance. This was one of the largest global events of the time. And there she stood. A Black woman. In the 19th century. Capturing the attention of international audiences. She sang for presidents. She performed for royalty. She filled spaces that had never imagined her presence. WHEN TALENT WAS NOT ENOUGH But no matter how powerful her voice was… Racism followed her. Opera companies refused to cast her in leading roles. Not because she lacked ability. But because the system could not accept her in those positions. This is the part of the story that matters most. Because it reminds us that talent alone does not break barriers. Systems resist. Even when excellence is undeniable. BUILDING HER OWN STAGE WHEN DOORS STAYED CLOSED So Sissieretta Jones made a decision. If the stage would not open for her… She would create her own. She formed the Black Patti Troubadours, a touring company that brought high-level performance directly to audiences across the country. This was more than entertainment. It was independence. She controlled the production. She reached audiences on her own terms. She created opportunity where none existed. And for years, she became one of the highest-paid Black performers in the world. That is not just success. That is ownership in a system designed to deny it. THE QUIET DISAPPEARANCE HISTORY OFTEN CREATES But history has a pattern. It celebrates Black excellence in the moment… And then slowly lets it fade. As time passed, opportunities declined. The spotlight dimmed. Sissieretta returned to Rhode Island, living a quieter life far from the stages she once dominated. When she passed away in 1933, the world did not fully honor what it had witnessed. Her name began to disappear. WHY HER STORY STILL MATTERS Sissieretta Jones was not just an opera singer. She was a pioneer of presence. She proved that: Black women could master the highest levels of artistic expression excellence could exist even in exclusion when systems deny access, creation becomes resistance A LEGACY THAT STILL LIVES Today, when we see Black artists on global stages… Opera houses. Concert halls. International platforms. We are witnessing something built over time. Built by people like Sissieretta Jones. Women who stepped into spaces they were never meant to enter… and performed anyway. SEE HER NAME. SAY IT FULLY. Because history almost lost her. And that is how it happens. Not all at once. But slowly. Quietly. Until someone speaks the name again. She did not wait for permission. She did not shrink her voice. She sang until the world had no choice but to listen. Her name is Sissieretta Jones. And her voice still carries… even through the silence history tried to leave behind. These stories are created with care, time, and research. If you’d like to help support this work, you can do so here: Every coffee helps me keep creating.

An 18-year-old from Georgia, Rawlin Lee Tate Jr., made history as his high school’s first Black male valedictorian after taking 21 AP courses and earning a 4.7 GPA. He secured over 1.3 million dollars in scholarships and chose to attend North Carolina A&T to study mechanical engineering. 😊

Germantown Jazz Festival
April 24 @ 10:00 am - April 26 @ 10:00 pm
https://germantownjazzfestival.com/