By Jueseppi B.
Black History Moment: Dr. Carrol Waymon
Dr. Carrol Waymon, San Diego’s Civil Rights Hero
Friday, February 1, 2013 By Monica Medina
In 1924, Elijah J. Gentry, the president of the NAACP San Diego office wrote the following to a colleague in New York:
“Colored people (in San Diego) are not allowed in restaurants, nor to drink soda water in drugstores, nor can they rent bathing suits at any bathing house or beach in this city.” Furthermore, he continued, despite the perception of racial tolerance, San Diego was nonetheless “a very prejudice(d) city.”
Forty years after this letter was written, three college student Freedom Fighters in Mississippi, were gunned down for their part in helping African Americans organize and register to vote. The incident was denounced by many, but here in San Diego, which remained a segregated city, the reaction was different, recalls Dr. Carrol Waymon, a 2013 Local Hero honoree for Black History Month.
“The San Diego City Council didn’t think it had a racial problem,” he says. “But when the city got caught up celebrating the death of the three Freedom Fighters, the city exploded, and that set the tone that maybe we do have problems. “
Images courtesy of Special Collections & University Archives, Library & Information Access, San Diego State University. Dr. Carrol Waymon, “On Being Black in San Diego”.
Waymon, who a year ago became a co-owner of Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant located in East San Diego, has sage advice for the next generation. “Be what you want to be. Accept whatever the limitations are, but recognize that if you cannot be that because of barriers, interpret them in a different way. Don’t let anyone define you. Instead, see the world for what it is—a big beautiful globe that we’ve messed up for a long time—and change it. Find out how to change it and let nobody stop you.”
MONICA MEDINA, Director of Diversity, Engagement & Grants CONTACT | FOLLOW @KPBSEngage ON TWITTER
The rest of this amazing article can be found at KPBS.
Alyce Smith Cooper Interviews Dr. Waymon
Uploaded on May 1, 2011
Community Issues: A Tapestry of Concerns Executive Producer Alyce Smith Cooper interviews Dr. Carrol Waymon on her show about history and his background as a historic San Diegan.
Carrol Waymon in May of 2009
Black History Moment: Professor Chuck Ambers.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 By Monica Medina
Chuck Ambers, at the African Museum Casa del Rey Moro.
Take a walk down Congress Street in Old Town and you’ll pass shops selling souvenirs, jewelry, and postcards. You may see a restaurant or two. But, walk too quickly and you’ll probably miss the little house near the corner of Congress and Conde Street.
The house, which is actually a museum, has a most unassuming façade, but step inside and you’ll find a treasure trove of African art. Oodles of memorabilia that include African clothing, décor, coins, books, stamp collections, and other artifacts tucked into every nook and cranny of the 1,000 square foot structure. All told, the items on display represent 6,000 years of African history, collected from all over the world.
Known as the African Museum Casa del Rey Moro, the museum is the brainchild of Professor Chuck Ambers, a 2013 Local Hero honoree for Black History Month. As Executive Educational Curator, Ambers founded the museum 15 years ago, with one goal in mind: to ensure that every visitor know the significant contributions Africans have made throughout history.
The roots of Ambers’ interest in African history hail back to his youth, when he was attending Cass Technical High, a school for gifted students, and where one of his classmates just happened to be Motown’s own, Diana Ross. Back then, his plan was to work for one of the “Big Three,” otherwise known as Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.
Ambers’ museum is a celebration of all that is African—African Spanish, African-Mexican, and African-American. For this Local Hero honoree, building the museum from the ground up has truly been a labor of love, and all he wants now is for his legacy to grow and live on.
“I’m looking for the next generation to move the museum forward so that the museum will not die with me.”
MONICA MEDINA, Director of Diversity, Engagement & Grants CONTACT | FOLLOW @KPBSEngage ON TWITTER
The rest of this amazing article can be found at KPBS.
Casa del Rey Moro
Uploaded on May 17, 2010
Prof. Chuck Ambers takes us on a tour of early California history and the part Africans of many lands played in the settlement of this land. From Egypt to Brazil this globetrotting educator has amassed a large body of information.
A very special Hat Tip/Shout Out to Ms. MONICA MEDINA, for her excellent writing & research. Visit her post at KPBS.org
Filed under: Art, Black History, Causes, Celebrity, Education, Fun & Games, Good News, History, News, Photographs, Race, Racism, Stories, Videos, World News | Tagged: African American, Carrol Waymon, Dr. Carrol Waymon, Freedom Fighters, KPBS, MONICA MEDINA, Professor Chuck Ambers, San Diego, San Diego City Council, San Diego State University | 6 Comments »
Jueseppi B.
