Black History is History

I'm at the Black Engineer of the Year Award Conference in Philadelphia and it's been a heck of an experience for me. It's given me a real opportunity to pause and reflect on how dramatically the US has advanced for the better in the past 50 yrs on race relations and minority opportunity.

But the highlight for me so far has been meeting three of the Centennial Seven. In 1900, the US Navy's submarine force was officially born. In 2000, for the 100 yr anniversary, the Navy decided to find out how many black officers had, in the course of those hundred years, earned the honor of commanding one of our submarines. There were seven. These men, all but two of whom retired as Captains or higher, have become known in the submarine community as the Centennial Seven. The other two remain on active duty, one of whom just became the first black 4-star admiral in Navy history.

It was a genuine honor talking to and learning from these three remarkable men. It's one thing to hear about impressive individuals. It's quite another to actually meet them.

Anyone else here had an opportunity to meet any famous historical figures?

(I know there was a Black History thread but it just wasn't going in the direction I'd like to go and it only lasted a day )

 

That's awesome.



And no, I haven't met any important historical figures. Thanks for rubbing it in.

 

Colin Powell. Oprah. Maya Angelou. Mike Singletary.

 

Does George Clinton count?

 

YES

 

I almost met Carl Brashear. He was a guest speaker at our university shortly before he passed....and I had the flu.

 

Nice. I shook General Powell's hand. Didn't get a chance to actually talk to him, though.


One of the things I learned was that VADM Melvin Williams' father, who joined the Navy as a steward, spearheaded a program to eliminate the "Steward" rating when he was a Master Chief at the Pentagon. That rating was one of the last vestiges of institutional racism in the Navy, being made up entirely of Blacks and Filipinos, most of whom saw very little advancement. By merging the Steward rating with a similar, but predominantly white-only rating into the Mess Specialist rating, the disparity in advancement opportunities between the minorities and whites vanished within 2 yrs.

 

Last scion of one of the most powerful/wealthy colonial families in Sudan. He died last year.

Thatcher, for a few seconds.

Robin Williams, for even less.

Oh, did you mean specifically "black" famous people?

Um, then I guess the closest would be Thatcher, given how much people have blackened her reputation.

 

I've met lots of regular black people and it's always a thrilling experience. I think I would die if I met an actual famous one.

 

Well, I meant historical figures. I wouldn't call Robin Williams a historical figure

But Thatcher? That's pretty damned cool. I would have loved to meet her.

 

...the ****?

 

wow this thread is almost as bad as the one i started

good job souderwan

 

Well, not to brag, but James Madison is my godfather. So, yes, I suppose you could say I have met some historical figures through him.

 

Oh neat! I've met lots of scuba-diving black people, but I would probably die if I met a regular one!

 

As a scuba diver, I can honestly say that I have never met any black scuba divers. Both of my wetsuits are black though. I've met Michael Moore twice. He's an honorary black man from what I understand. I knew former Houston Oilers player Woody Campbell as a kid, does that count?

 

turns out black history is name-dropping i guess??

 

This may be the most offensive thing I've read. Ever.

 

He called himself that during the speech he gave. I really wish I could remember the context.

 

And to think I believed I thought as little of him as possible. Who knew?

 

Uh, Kim Kardashian? Yes, that would be the most important historical figure I've met.

Sorry civilization!

 

Billy Dee Williams.

NOT at a convention, btw.

 

Context? WTF does context matter. It's not like he ever quotes anyone else within their context