Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Linda's Write Spot: Black History...

Linda's Write Spot: Black History...: Fact #22 Female science fiction author Octavia Butler was dyslexic. Despite her disorder, she went on to win Hugo and Nebula awar...

Black History...

Fact #22
  • Octavia Butler
Female science fiction author Octavia Butler was dyslexic. Despite her disorder, she went on to win Hugo and Nebula awards for her writing, as well as a "genius" grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

Linda's Write Spot: Many of our mothers and fathers inspired us to rea...

Linda's Write Spot: Many of our mothers and fathers inspired us to rea...: Fact #23 When African-American neurosurgeon Ben Carson was a child, his mother required him to read two library books a week and giv...

Many of our mothers and fathers inspired us to read and write even though they were illiterate

Fact #23
When African-American neurosurgeon Ben Carson was a child, his mother required him to read two library books a week and give her written reports, even though she was barely literate. She would then take the papers and pretend to carefully review them, placing a checkmark at the top of the page to show her approval. The assignments inspired Carson's eventual love of reading and learning.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Hot Springs Sentinel Record--February 22, 2014

New book for young children explains death in unconventional way



    Author Linda Pennington Black, of Hot Springs Village, has penned a new book to help adults explain death to young children.
    In “My Daddy is a Star,” a mother incorporates nature into her explanation of death to her young daughter, who can’t understand why her father was taken away.
    Zaliyah, a young girl, struggles to understand why her dad was taken from her so soon and so suddenly and turns to her mother for answers and consolation.
    Not knowing exactly how to explain death to a 6-yearold, her mother tells Zaliyah a story her mom once told her about the stars and angels to somehow make her understand about her dad. This unorthodox approach to an explanation is tailored for the young and seasoned.
    The author’s greatest passion and inspiration is writing for children. She is an award-winning poet and author of “The Adventures of Boots: The Giant Snowball,” an award-winner, “A Porpoise for Cara,” and “S.T.O.P. Bullying.”

Monday, February 17, 2014

Linda's Write Spot: Another piece of Black History

Linda's Write Spot: Another piece of Black History: In 1919, Alice Parker of Morristown, New Jersey, invented a new and improved gas heating furnace that provided central heating. You can view...

Another piece of Black History

In 1919, Alice Parker of Morristown, New Jersey, invented a new and improved gas heating furnace that provided central heating. You can view Alice Parker's patent below.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Linda's Write Spot: Did you know?

Linda's Write Spot: Did you know?: Thomas Jennings was the first African American to receive a patent, on March 3, 1821 (U.S. patent3306x). Thomas Jennings' patent was for...

Did you know?

Thomas Jennings was the first African American to receive a patent, on March 3, 1821 (U.S. patent3306x). Thomas Jennings' patent was for a dry-cleaning process called "dry scouring". The first money Thomas Jennings earned from his patent was spent on the legal fees (my polite way of saying enough money to purchase) necessary to liberate his family out of slavery and support the abolitionist cause.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Linda's Write Spot: Day 7 more Black History facts

Linda's Write Spot: Day 7 more Black History facts: George Carruthers helmed the group of scientists that created the far ultraviolet camera/spectrograph, used in the 1972 Apollo 16 flight ...

Day 7 more Black History facts


George Carruthers helmed the group of scientists that created the far ultraviolet camera/spectrograph, used in the 1972 Apollo 16 flight to the moon. His invention revealed new features in Earth's far-outer atmosphere and highlighted a variety of celestial objects from the perspective of the lunar surface. Carruthers was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame in 2003.

Bessie Coleman (1892 -1926)
Bessie Coleman one of 13 children born to a Native American father and an African American mother. They lived in Texas and faced the kinds of difficulties many Black Americans faced at the time, including segregation and disenfranchisement. Bessie worked hard in her childhood, picking cotton and helping her mother with the laundry she took in. But Bessie didn't let any of it stop her. She educated herself and managed to graduate from high school. After seeing some newsreels on aviation, Bessie became interested in becoming a pilot, but no U.S flight schools would accept her because she was Black and because she was female. Undeterred, she saved enough money to go to France where she heard women could be pilots. In 1921, she became the first Black woman in the world to earn a pilot's license.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Linda's Write Spot: Day 6

Linda's Write Spot: Day 6: I missed yesterday so I'm doubling up. Power outages everywhere. The banjo originated in Africa and up until the 1800s was considered...

Day 6

I missed yesterday so I'm doubling up. Power outages everywhere.

The banjo originated in Africa and up until the 1800s was considered an instrument only played by blacks.

 Jack Johnson (1878 – 1946), the first African–American heavyweight champion, patented a wrench in 1922.

 Engineer David Crosthwait, Jr. held 39 U.S. patents and 80 international patents pertaining to heating, refrigeration, temperature regulation and pump processes.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Linda's Write Spot: Day 4 Black history

Linda's Write Spot: Day 4 Black history: Otis Boykin  invented electronic control devices for guided missiles, IBM computers and pacemakers. He would receive almost a dozen patent...

Day 4 Black history


Otis Boykin invented electronic control devices for guided missiles, IBM computers and pacemakers. He would receive almost a dozen patents over his lifetime.


  1. Matthew Alexander Henson (1866-1955)
    Henson was the son of free-born tenant farmers, but his early life was difficult. He started his life as an explorer at the age of eleven when he ran away from an abusive home. In 1891, Henson went with Robert Peary on the first of several trips to Greenland. Peary was determined to find the geographic North Pole. In 1909, Peary and Henson went on what was to be their final trip, the one on which they reached the North Pole. Henson was actually the first to set foot on the North Pole, but when the two returned home, it was Peary who received all the credit. Because he was Black, Henson was virtually ignored.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Day 3


Henry Blair is believed to be the second African American to receive a patent. He invented a corn seed planter in 1834 and a cotton planter in 1836. Because he could not read or write, Blair signed his patent with an "X."

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable (1745?-1818)
  1. DuSable was a Black man from Haiti is who is credited with founding Chicago. His father was a Frenchman in Haiti and his mother was an African slave. It's not clear how he arrived in New Orleans from Haiti, but once he did, he traveled from there to what is now modern day Peoria, Illinois. Although he was not the first to pass through the area, he was the first to establish a permanent settlement, where he lived for at least twenty years. He set up a trading post on the Chicago River, where it meets Lake Michigan, and became a wealthy man with a reputation as a man of good character and "sound business acumen."

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Black History Facts

In 1897, Andrew Jackson Beard invented the Jenny Coupler, a device linking train cars together through a bumping process. The Coupler was a boon to the welfare of many railroad workers, who originally had the dangerous job of hooking moving cars together by hand.

Black Americans have been making contributions to America from the start, but like countless other Americans whose achievements have altered and enriched our lives, these Black Americans remain unknown. It's important, though, to point out their contributions because too often people don't realize that Black Americans have been making contributions to our country from its inception. In many cases, what they accomplished they managed to do against all odds, in spite of overwhelming obstacles. These people are an inspiration to everyone who finds him or herself in circumstances that seem impossible to overcome.


Saturday, February 1, 2014

Linda's Write Spot: A Little Humor

Linda's Write Spot: A Little Humor: Just a little humor to lighten your day. Lots of you may have read this at some time but it's cute and I'm sharing it.   ...

A Little Humor

Just a little humor to lighten your day. Lots of you may have read this at some time but it's cute and I'm sharing it.

 
"RETARDED" GRANDPARENTS
 
 
Written by a  third grader , on what his grandparents do.
 
After Christmas , a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following:
 
We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a big brick house , but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida . Now they live in a tin box that has wheels, but its strapped to the ground. They ride around on their bicycles , and wear name tags , because they don't know who they are anymore.
 
They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there , but they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool too, but they all just jump up and down in it with hats on. At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape.
 
Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts. Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night - early birds. Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.
 
My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and , says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too. When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.
 
PRICELESS