African Americans fight Against Oppression, Violence, & Discrimination, while Raising Awareness throughout the African Diaspora

Here are some questions to think about as you are reading this piece of history. What were the causes of the Great Migration and the effects of it? Did the Great Migration from Southern states spark a positive change for African Americans as they traveled West? What types of racial violence did African Americans have to endure during their fight for equality and rights as American citizens? What were some reasons for this racial violence towards African Americans? Was there any acknowledgement from any American Presidents to end racial violence and fight for African Americans rights or equality?

Following the Civil War African Americans as a family and community had to stay together for survival. This time period was called the Reconstruction era. Racial violence plus discrimination continued to rise in Southern states. Jim Crow laws enforced legal racial segregation and violence towards African Americans up until the 1960s. Jim Crow laws implemented the “separate but equal” social systems in order to keep public schools, transportation services, drinking fountains, restaurants, and public restrooms segregated. Jim Crow laws were also implemented to keep African Americans from voting booths. Restricting African Americans from voting made it easier for to keep African Americans disenfranchised legally. Voting is one-way laws can be challenged and changed. So, many attempts were made to keep African Americans as legal slaves with no rights or equality. Jim Crow laws forced large numbers of Southern African American families to move North and West for better opportunities sparking the Great Migration. Jim Crow laws, racism, segregation, lack of employment, inadequate job training, and a denial of proper education followed African Americans during this migration to Northern and Western states. Something had to be done regarding these ongoing issues that African Americans faced daily as growing families with expanding communities.

Violence was one major cause for African American families to migrate. Some families went West because slavery still was not a distant memory. All one had to do was walk outside and see that not much had changed since the ending of the Civil War. Slavery was a means of control, fear, forced and free labor, meant for the profit of the slave master. This was the reality and social system that was the law before the Civil War. Segregation and Jim Crow laws were put in place following the Civil War. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that Southern white slave owners had a difficult time accepting the fact that they no longer could survive. Nor rely on using fear to control African Americans for free labor and free profit. The same slave owners could not accept that these newly freed slaves were supposed to be granted rights and equality.

In 1877, the Federal Government withdrew army soldiers from Southern cities and states. The withdrawal of Federal troops in Southern cities caused racial violence to erupt in large numbers with little to no repercussion. Southern whites resorted to violence to assert their dominance over African Americans without any fear or regard of the law. Because Southern whites were usually the law officers and judges in the towns where they wanted to use violence to keep African Americans living in fear. Lynching was one choice of violence used by Southern whites. Enforcing white supremacy with the use of a rope and tree. Lynching enforced white supremacy in three ways; first it was a murder based on color and race. Second, any crime committed against white women at the hands of African American men was an excuse for lynching not a reason. Third, lynching was and is a national crime that needs to be addressed. The statistics of the number of lynchings shows that most victims are African Americans. Thus, making lynching murder based on color and race.

The Ku Klux Klan a white supremacist organization began shortly after the Civil War ended in Tennessee. The Ku Klux Klan is a racist political mob whose main purpose is and was to suppress the votes of African Americans by using intimidation and murder. In the year 1882 there were 52 lynchings. By the year 1892 the number of lynchings rose to more than 200. There were over 3,284 men, women, and children that were lynched in the quarter century following the Civil War. White men and white women only had to say that an African American man raped a white woman. That meant he was then convicted to death by lynching. There were times when white women would retract their claims of being raped but the accused was already dead by lynching. Lynchings were a public affair in Southern cities and states. Lynchings were looked upon as family gatherings for all to witness the death of an African American by the Ku Klux Klan. This was all to keep African Americans from voting for equality and rights as American citizens.

In Humphreys County, Mississippi. Reverend George W. Lee was murdered, simply for attempting to register African American voters. Something that I find shocking is that African Americans outnumbered whites in Humphreys County, Mississippi. The ratio of African Americans to whites was 2: 1. The number of registered voters dropped from 22,000 to 8,000 within a year of the murder of Reverend George W. Lee. Even though African Americans had a larger population, they were still victims of violence at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan and local politicians. Through all of this racialized violence there was no acknowledgment from the president due to fear of losing votes. African Americans began to distrust the government. African Americans came to the realization that their votes did not matter even when they were the larger population.

African American journalist Ida B. Wells led a crusade like anti-lynching campaign beginning in 1891. Her mission was to bring awareness to and stop lynching in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1897, Ida B. Wells was removed from a train for sitting in the whites only section. She sued the train company and won the judgment but lost on an appeal. Ida was a brave woman; she was an editor of a newspaper named Free Speech. Ida B. Wells published numerous articles about the lynching of three African American men. Shortly after her life was threatened. Ida’s home and office were set on fire by the Ku Klux Klan. Ida B. Wells moved to New York City, New York where she continued her work as a journalist. Ida B. Wells continued to publish her newspaper while leading the anti-lynching campaign for another ten years. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) joined her fight. Shortly after the United States Military Intelligence named Ida B. Wells “The most dangerous Negro agitators in the country.

The Southern economy collapsed following the culmination of the Civil War. The Southern economy relied on the free and forced labor of African Americans under the system of slavery. The Southern economy failed without the forced and free labor of African Americans. It was said that “The negro is our only way and best form for domestic labor.” So, the mission was to stabilize a cheap labor force while continuing white supremacy in Southern states. The passing of the 15th Amendment prohibited voting rights based on discrimination based on race. Southern states also added qualifications such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and the grandfather clause to keep African Americans from voting booths. Confederate states also passed Black Codes.

Black Codes forced formerly enslaved African Americans to sign yearly work contracts or else be sent to jail for vagrancy. Black Codes dictated when, where, and how much formerly enslaved African Americans could work. Black Codes were a legal form of indentured servitude. Indentured servitude was a 17th – 19th century labor system. Indentured servitude made individuals often times European immigrants’ contracts to work without wages. Indentured servitude contracts lasted anywhere from 4 to 7 years. Indentured servitude contracts forced these immigrants to not only work without wages, but they were an exchange for room and board as a passage to the American colonies.

African American families had to deal with forced and free labor, segregation, violence, and Black Codes. These were all laws put in place by the American government in order to keep African Americans at the bottom of totem pole in society. African Americans were kidnapped then transported to distant lands based of the color of their skin. Thus, creating the Africa Diaspora. Strip Africans of their religion, names, language, culture and history. Segregation kept America separated from sharing public spaces. In private African Americans had to endure violence and brutalities in the homes and forced shared spaces they had no choice in sharing with white slave owners. Jim Crow laws existed for close to 100 years with the intention to marginalize African Americans denying them freedom, equality, justice, and rights. Voting was the best option African Americans had collectively in order to change their situations, but these laws were put in place to make sure that the task would be as difficult as possible.

Frederick Douglass once said, “Slavery is not abolished until the Black man has the ballot,”. This quote is very powerful. What it means to me is that there is no way for African Americans to be truly free unless they can vote. Voting is what makes a democracy a democracy and this is the system that America set its principles in while it was being established. These rights were not meant for African Americans. They were meant for white men, white women, and immigrants first. Leading up to the next system of profit that was implemented by The Freedman’s Bureau called sharecropping.

The Freedman’s Bureau was supposed to redistribute confiscated confederate land to previously enslaved African Americans. In the book The Second American Revolution author Eric Foner writes, “Most Republicans were unwilling to go this far, but they did insist that blacks should enjoy the same opportunities as whites to compete for advancement in the economic marketplace”. But instead, President Andrew Johnson gave the previous owners their land back leaving the formerly enslaved with no land and limited to no opportunities. The formerly enslaved had nowhere to go so they went back to the same plantations where they were once enslaved. Sharecropping is a type of agricultural farming that allows families to rent small plots of land from landowners. In return the farmers would give a portion of their crop to the landowner at the end of each year. Sharecropping was problematic for the formerly enslaved for several reasons. The first reason being that the formerly enslaved did not own farming tools, so they had to rent them on credit from landowners for a fee. The second reason is that the formerly enslaved depended on the crop yield and if they did not meet the requirements they would be indebted to the landowner. Debt to the landowner meant that the formerly enslaved had to stay and work on the land for no profit leading to being in more debt. If the formerly enslaved failed to pay their debt. They would be sent to prison. Or someone could pay their debt leading the formerly enslaved back into slavery once again.

Four leading factors that led to the Great Migration of African Americans to Northern states, and Western states from Southern states included violence, Jim Crow laws, Black Codes, and sharecropping. White Southerners did not react well to the migration of thousands of African Americans to the North and West. Because that meant their farms had less workers. Less workers meant that white Southerners had to do the same labor that they once were getting for free. After realization that much of the Southern economy depended upon the cheap labor force of African Americans. Southern whites began discouraging the migration of African Americans to Northern and Western states. Stories of success through economic opportunities gave Southern African Americans the courage to travel North or West. The first migration from Southern states to Northern and Western states took place between the 1880s and the 1890s just before World War 1. Violence along with the invention of better machinery helped agriculture. Better machinery cut the cost of labor which made job sourcing harder African Americans from farming jobs. The instability in the agricultural job market made the economy unstable for everyone especially African Americans. Economic instability drove millions of African Americans to Northern and Western states.

In 1910 over 90 percent of African Americans lived in Southern states. By 1940 that percentage dropped to 77. African Americans migrated to large cities Like Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York, and Los Angeles. In those cities African Americans found jobs in the auto, meat packing, steel and iron industries. African Americans earned 4 times as much as they would have earned working in these industries in Northern states and Western states than they would have earned in Southern states. The migration to Northern states and Western states made urban life in America look different. Southern African Americans that migrated to Northern states and Western states were nicknamed the Exodusters as they continued to fill larger cities. African Americans had to come together for mutual support because prejudice and racism forced them into racially segregated areas. In Northern states and Western states African Americans were less vulnerable to the extremes of racial discrimination and attacks from white Americans. In Northern states and Western States African Americans had better access to educational opportunities. Better access to educational opportunities meant there would be better opportunities for economic growth and development. In Northern states and Western states African Americans were able to vote without the fear or threat of violence. Without the fear or threat of violence African Americans were able to form their own political organizations.

Consumer markets had an economic rebirth as African American were able to pay for services received from established African American professionals in the new urban communities they moved into. Shortly after this economic rebirth African Americans began to see a new potential for economic freedom due to the higher wages they were earning. Urban factories were filled with African American workers changing the lives and culture for these communities. African American men found jobs on railroad yards, shipyards, steel mills, and meat-packinghouses. African American women found jobs as domestics in the homes of middle-class working professionals and hotels in the tourist, entertainment, and service industry.

When the United States formerly entered World War 1 in April 1917. 370,000 African American men served in the war. African American women had to enter into the industrial factories where they manufactured consumer goods and hardware that needed to be used for the war. Unlike the wages African American women earned working as domestics before the war. Wages African American women earned working in industrial factories were higher than wages earned working as domestics. While working in industrial factories, African American women worked less hours. Working less hours in industrial factories meant African American women had more time to be with their children.

While in a foreign land fighting in the war African American men were constantly harassed and insulted by white American soldiers. There was a system within the military that was similar to Jim Crow that white American military police enforced. These United States military laws on foreign soil prohibited African American men from walking and talking to French women. In France during World War 1, African American men were growing more conscious that they were risking their lives fighting for democracy in a foreign land. It was in France when African American soldiers experienced some sort of racial equality. A cause for the growth of consciousness African American soldiers was credited to African soldiers fighting for France in the same war. When African American soldiers returned home from the war, they were willing to do the same in the United States. Out of fear of this new consciousness that African American soldiers were returning home with. White Americans again grew violent and began attacking African American soldiers that recently returned home from military duty. Riots erupted during the summer of 1917 in East St. Louis and Illinois as white Union workers attacked African American workers. The mob of white rioters burned African American neighborhoods causing damage to property. In the aftermath of the rioter’s attacks, hundreds were dead and injured. There were over 26 riots that took place during the summer of 1917 in cities all over the United States. The migration to Northern states and Western States created a new experience of what it meant to be African American. This new experience created a more urban, a more militant, a more political, and a more economically conscious African American.

Formed in Harlem, organizations such as the United Negro Improvement Association led by Jamaican born immigrant Marcus Garvey “A black owned corporation, owning and operating a chain of businesses, groceries, hotels, restaurants, laundries, small factories and a shipping company the Blue Star line, this multimillion- dollar corporation was both an impressive capitalist venture and a cultural movement expressing racial pride and the rhetoric of social progress”. As written in The Harlem Renaissance Between the War. Marcus Garvey appealed to African Americans because he was speaking about the racial discrimination and white supremacy caused by the African Diaspora. Marcus Garvey helped to create a racial consciousness through racial solidarity that he felt was needed for African Americans to take social action in order to change their situation like economic disparity and racial violence. Marcus Garvey was not the only prominent leader that emerged during this time. Having opposed rhetorical stances, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois are 2 more leaders that emerged to unite the African Diasporic fight against economic disparity and racial violence. Advocating for integration for African Americans, W.E.B. Dubois advocated for advancement into American politics and economics. W.E.B. Dubois advocated for the development of an intellectual elite. W.E.B. Dubois named this intellectual elite the “talented tenth” of African Americans that would provide more leadership for the race. Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Virginia, then rose to prominence as an educator and political leader. As written in Populism, Industrial Unions, and the Politics of Race, during a speech in Atlanta, Georgia. Booker T. Washington declared that “it was necessary for African Americans to accept the developing Southern system of racial segregation”. Booker T. Washington was assuring the Southern population that if they just let African Americans live in peace with stable jobs and an adequate education that they would not resist the system of Jim Crow. Many African Americans believed that this would invite more violence towards them. Written is his book The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Dubois challenged Booker T. Washington’s approach to ignoring violence and injustice while not agreeing that African Americans should only learn practical skills that would prepare them for the work force as the only way for African Americans in achieving social equality. Despite Booker T. Washingtons’ attempts to negotiate with white Southerners regarding racial violence. Race riots and lynchings of African Americans continued to rise at high rates. In September of 1906 in Atlanta, southern whites became enraged about the voting rights of African Americans and began burning and killing random African Americans in African American communities. When the violence ended 10 African American men and women were killed and 60 others were wounded.

In Springfield, Illinois a violent rioting white mob wreaked havoc in the city for 6 days. The violent rioting white mob beat and killed African Americans forcing hundreds of African Americans to leave the city. White supremacy was the reality of American politics in the early 20th Century. Minstrel shows and blackfaces depicting racial stereotypes and racist caricatures of African Americans was normal advertising for growing corporations and small businesses abroad and in the United States. Blackfaces and racist caricatures were printed in magazines, marketing advertisements, music, motion pictures, on food packages, and other household products. African Americans had to live and learn from these racist advertisements because there was no denouncing of the depictions nor any acknowledgment from any politician or president.

In Northern states and Western states African Americans were able to express racial pride and self-assertion economically and politically. The era of the “New Negro” began to emerge with the rise of African American intellectuals, writers, artist, and musicians. This emergence of intellectual and cultural expression sparked the Harlem Renaissance. Economic growth in African American communities during the 1920s helped to shape a new cultural rebirth. The cultural rebirth in Harlem shaped the sound of music that spread through urban communities all over the country. The sound and music used incorporated improvisational elements of blues and southern folk music. The new sound that emerged was named Jazz. Southern migrants took their culture to the North and filled the dancefloors of New York City. The New York City nightclubs drew whites into Harlem where they would enjoy the entertainment being performed by African American musicians. Paul Robeson and Florence Mills grew to fame by performing in Broadway shows. Jazz was a cultural phenomenon, but some African American middle-class families did not approve of the new sound calling it provocative. The disapproving African American middle-class believed the musical culture reinforced racist stereotypes that they were trying to shed the negative image of.

Within the African American community class colorism played a major part of the division amongst African Americans. Colorism played a role amongst African American musicians. Mixed-race African American musicians separated themselves from dark complexioned African Americans. In The Harlem Renaissance between the Wars, the author writes, “Shade of skin color had significance in the social structure of all African Americans, but historically, it was much more important in the South than in the North, particularly in the lower South”. The division of color amongst African Americans created a social hierarchy within the society of African Americans because they were already oppressed. Colorism is counterproductive for African Americans because they were already in a fight against white supremacy and racism in America and the Diaspora of Africans globally.

The passing of the 18th Amendment in the United States Constitution made the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol illegal. The passing of this law created an illegal market prohibiting the sale of alcohol in nightclubs. Organized crime controlled the production and sale of alcohol. White criminals ran large operations with little resistance from the law, while African American criminals were arrested at higher rates than their counterparts. During this prohibition of the sale of alcohol, crime and politics were close. Criminals had to pay politicians for protection in order to continue the illegal activities. In return, politicians would use criminals to gain more political power for their votes. African Americans had little to no influence in political matters at national levels because Congress nor any President recognized racial discrimination, disenfranchisement, lynching or any racial violence.

Finally in 1920, Republican President Warren G. Harding made a call for all Americans to stand against social equality for the races and to oppose racial amalgamation. Racial amalgamation means the interbreeding of different ethnicities or mixed races becoming one. President Warren G. Harding died in office leaving Calvin Coolidge as his successor. President Calvin Coolidge also failed to recognize the issues in the United States regarding race and discrimination. Due to all of the events following the Civil War the political party of choice for African Americans was the Republican party. Why? Because President Abraham Lincoln was part of the Republican party. African Americans supported President Abraham Lincoln because he opposed slavery. The Southern Democrats favored slavery in all territories and its expansion of the United States. In Southern states African Americans were violently attacked by Southern Democrats when they attempted to vote for change. During the 1920s the Republican party attempted to gain the votes of Southern whites. In turn African Americans began questioning their own allegiance to the same party. President Herbert Clark Hoover did nothing to gain the votes of African Americans. His first wife Lou Henry Hoover supported anti-lynching and was a friend to African American woman philanthropist Mary McLeod Bethune. President Herbert Clark Hoover hired African Americans as his advisors on racial matters. In the election of 1932 about 1 in 4 African American voters in Northern states voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Electing Franklin D. Roosevelt for a second term in 1934 after previously being President in 1901 to 1909.

The Great Depression began in 1929. In 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt created programs for a modern system called welfare under the New Deal. The New Deal provided low-income public housing, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, and the Congress of Industrial Organization. These programs enabled African American youth to be able to continue their education or receive skills for employment. Under the Works Progress Administration, African Americans were able to hold Federal government jobs. These programs were popular amongst the African American community. African Americans began to realize that they were often last to receive assistance from this program. Why? Because if they got any assistance, it would often times go to poor whites first.

Violence, segregation, lack of economic opportunities, and racial discrimination in Southern states caused the migration of African Americans into Northern states and Western States. Not long after the arrival into these states, racial violence and discrimination continued. Collectively African Americans were able to create several cultural rebirths and racial pride. Fighting in wars domestically and abroad raised the consciousness of African Americans by recognizing they were fighting for the democracies for all African peoples affected by the African Diaspora. The migration to Northern states and Southern states created some positive movement in the right direction economically, politically, and the education which unified Africans and African Americans globally in the Diaspora of Africa. The new political African American gave way to the next generation of leaders that continue to fight against oppression and the freedom of all disenfranchised globally.

Art shows in Historic Downtown Riverside “Reactions to Art by Sophia”

You may know about my love for art being that I am a connoisseur of many sorts. I still chief for sport. I also make sure to take a pause in between spliffs to give dope artist their flowers. I met Sophia during the Summer of 95′ in the year 2025. She let me know that this was her first solo art exhibition and how excited she was for this opportunity. I did my best to let her know that she deserved to be in this space at this moment in time because her art sets her apart from the crowd. Sophia let me know that she studies Art & Business at San Francisco State University. I tried my hardest to get her to think about transferring to the University of California Riverside. But she said that she is loyal to the soil in the bay. We talked about what it means to be Faithfully Golden. I asked Sophia, “how often does she take walks on the Golden Gate Bridge and if she’s a fan of any Bay Area sports teams?”. Just as we were getting into our Bay Area Sports Hall of Game conversation. We both remembered that we were at her art show. So, I kindly asked her to “show me around her art show”. Sophia’s art literally filled up the entire gallery. I was inspired, refreshed, and in awe of her skills. Since meeting Sophia, I told my entire family and all of the homies plus their families to go check out her art show. They each let me know that they were just as blown away as I was. They also wanted me to say this to her. “Sophie you are the illest”. Here is my reaction to your art Sophia. Much love & Respect. One thing I would say as an artist to another studying artist is to “make sure you maintain healthy and good study habits. Eat yummy foods and continue to do your thing”. I cannot wait to see the art that you create when we speak and see one another again. Bless

This art installation took place during the Summer of 95′, 2025 in Historic Downtown Riverside, California.

Function by Thrive DaSun from new album *Tell Ah Ras* produced by Playa Haze

Word around the section is that they party too much in the Riv. It has also been said that they take their music and art too serious. But 1 thing for certain. When it’s time to step out, they know how to FUNCTION properly. Because they both are grown men who have been writing, recording, and performing their original sounds for a few decades now. Thrive DaSun drops a lot of knowledge bombs while flowing on Playa Haze productions. Thrive DaSun & Playa Haze wants you all to know the way they speak while stepping in the Riv. So, here are some words of advice. Come correct. Because everyone just wants to have a great time. The message is clear that Thrive DaSun & Playa Haze wants you to remember is that their intentions while perfecting both of their crafts is that this is all about Respect, Peace, Love, & Unity. They both also want to give major props to the whole squad. 007, Ris, Zeek, & Muu did their thidang on this recording and mix. Bless.

Who is Ras Tafari Makonnen?

Wake up. World at War today. This is a journey through History, my life in art and education.

Institutionalized racism continues because we have forgotten our history. War sells because the fear is real, so dread. History and news headlines affect people of all walks of life. History and news headlines can shape one’s view of society when a message is clear enough to see their own reflection in the mirror. These views on society can have lasting effects if the focus remains with the intention to learn from history. So why not learn yesterday’s history today in order to recognize racism today and tomorrow. You can always try again if today’s history lessons are forgotten tomorrow. Racism has survived several waves through time and history. In modern times this racism has been marketed to consumers as a mask that one can put on during a time of war or presidential elections. This mask is capable of cultural erasure, separation from time, name, family, heritage, land, religion, and history. Every time you put on this mask the same thing will be forgotten. Because you have forgotten your history and bought into this new wave of institutionalized racism. The anecdote for institutionalized racism can be found by saying and remembering one name from now on for the rest of history. And the rest is history. Repeat after me. RAS TAFARI MAKONNEN!
October 4, 1963, during the 18th session of the General Assembly League of Nations Geneva Convention. Emperor of Ethiopia Ras Tafari Makonnen gave a message the world should never forget. The message was an attempt to stop Italian Leader Benito Mussolini from committing genocide and crimes of war against the indigenous people of Ethiopia. Ras Tafari Makonnen was a name uttered during a class lecture when I was a student at Emerson
Elementary School in Riverside, California. The lecture was about World History, Government, Economics, Globalization, & World Trade. During this lecture my class learned about the events leading to World War II.
Throughout my studies and development of the man that I am today. The name Ras Tafari Makonnen is as important to me as it was since that class lesson in elementary school. Ras Tafari Makonnen born July 23, 1892. Served as Emperor of Ethiopia during the years 1930 to 1974. As Emperor of Ethiopia Ras Tafari Makonnen built and opened school’s while modernizing his growing country. The teachings and philosophies of Ras Tafari Makonnen are a direct reference to the Lion of Judah. The Lion of Judah is one of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Ras Tafari Makonnen taught Ethiopians, Africans and all Africans that were separated from the continent of Africa a way of living a life that transcends past mental slavery through emancipation with literacy and education.

New music video by Thrive DaSun- 4 tha Funk

For the Funk: Thrive DaSun

Credits- studio engineer 007

Producer- Playa Haze

Thanks to my best friend…my favorite girl…she knows who she is. while out at the beach celebrating the accomplishment of earning my Bachelor of Arts degree. she called me. i let her know that I was with a special woman. she was angry and in a bad mood because she needed some legal advice. i declined to meet her where she was. she continued to call my phone becoming angrier each time i declined her phone call. the last time she called my phone. my special woman told me to answer and just hear what she has to say. so, i answered, “I am at the beach…?” she replied, “it is a personal legal matter that she needed some direction on how she can settle things from her end. I replied. I am only doing this because of our shared understanding in our unconditional love. and because you have to get back to work teaching the babies. 🔥🌊🫶🏾

The Legend of inLAandia

i tried running…then I turned bac and…blazed her with a kiss….shit. Growing up, my mother often reminded me of how our neighborhood has always been a thriving community where everyone is part of an extended family. That community is located between Box Springs Mountain and Mount Rubidoux. It extends, but for now. This story begins At the top of Box Springs Mountain…..the city connects everyone because it is localized around the University of California at Riverside, it was established in 1954 at the end of 8th street which is now called University Avenue. At the bottom of Mount Rubidoux in the same direction as the University is Evergreen Cemetery. Which also happens to be some type of local legend that has also worked. as a promotional tool that began when the city population began to grow. Evergreen cemetery as it is today also serves as a place of rest for one of the city’s founders…there’s sooo many others with countless and generous families that have carved and paved their way into this cities industrial age. but for now we will mention John W. North, Citrus Farmer Elizabeth Tibbets, and my Grandfather David J. Hernandez. 

To me Riverside has always resembled a nostalgic picturesque postcard of the Mission Inn with an orange in the background. You can find this postcard at CVS during Christmas season at the Riverside Plaza. What I mean is that the city has always seemed as if it was some extension of a Hollywood production with a dark secret. “Riverside is a borderland, a place where peoples, cultures, and political powers meet” (page 233). It was once home to the Tongvas, Luiseno, Cahuilla, and Serrano Indians. There was never a mission built in Riverside for Indigenous peoples during the mission occupations in Southern California. They were just displaced from their land and left with no options but survive in the city or run to Mission San Juan Capistrano or further north to Mission Santa Barbara. The Mission Inn downtown Riverside is not a mission, it’s a hotel built to resemble a mission to boost the economy as a tourist attraction. Climate, agriculture, and eugenics came to be a reason for the population growth for the city. That orange from the postcard is also part of the City of Riversides claim to fame. Spanish missionaries introduced citrus to California in 1769. But in 1873 a missionary came across a sweet, nearly seedless orange and sent samples of the tree to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C. Genevieve Carpio writes, “The discovery of the naval orange in its homeland of Brazil and its rebirth in Riverside began in some accounts of a traveling American woman, and in others as an adept observation by a U.S. consul” (page 33). Hence the postcard. Eliza Tibbets a Riverside resident was sent two small trees from Bahia, Brazil. She then grew the orange trees renaming them Washington Naval oranges for their resemblance to a belly button. One of the trees is still living today and is located on the corner of Arlington and Magnolia streets in Riverside. The planting of those naval orange trees exploded the citrus industry in Riverside making it the epicenter of the citrus industry. The citrus industry was an easy way for economic exploitation. By way of hard work with long hours and little pay. A cheap labor work force were the Braceros (Immigrant Mexican men), Mexican American women and Native American students attending Sherman Indian Boarding School. So that picturesque postcard is just a city-wide marketing campaign to get you to spend money downtown chasing after some traveling women.

My Grandfather David J. Hernandez was born in Riverside in 1940, he lived with his mother Frances Hernandez and grandmother Otilia Hernandez Lopez on Park Avenue Street two houses away from the corner of 14th street. “Black homes, small businesses, and churches concentrated from 9th Street south to 14th Street with Park Avenue serving as Eastside’s spine” (Claimingourspace). My grandfather worked at the Mission Innbefore he passed away at the age of 29 in 1970. He was married to my grandmother Eleonor Flanagan who gave birth to my father Desmond Hernandez. Her mother, my great-grandmother Gladys B. Drayton- Flanagan was born in Winter Haven, Florida in 1917 then moved to Riverside, California when she was 17years old in 1934. She moved to a house on 9th street two houses from the corner of Eucalyptus. During the 1950s my grandmother Gladys was a member of Orange Valley Masonic Lodge #13 where she was an Eastern Star. She also attended Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church where she was an usher until 1987. Orange Valley Masonic Lodge #13 was built on Park Avenue in 1905 by David Stokes, Aaron Wiley, and other Black investors. The building was a two-storystructure with rental spaces on the ground floor that operated as a grocery store, housing, a Black doctor’s office and more. The second floor was a gathering space for generations of Black fraternal and sorority groups, civil rights organizing, and for other events. Allen Chapel AME was the oldest Black church in Riverside founded in 1875 at the corner of Howard and 12th. The church served the Eastside community in the areas of self-reliance; politically, economically, and educationally as it also operated as a Freedom school. Booker T. Washington once spoke at the church when it operated as Second Baptist in 1914. Famous Cosmologist/ Entrepreneur/ Philanthropist Madam C.J. Walker a Black female millionaire spoke at Allen Chapel then had a reception at Orange Valley Lodge #13. A clear representation of church, social, and economic life in the community. 

Even though the city of Riverside is beautiful and has good marketing campaigns there is and has been racial division and open discrimination. “Riverside was founded three decades before President Roosevelt’s visit, as one of several colonies in Southern California” (Carpio page 23). There was a film premiere of the D.W. Griffith movie Birth of a Nation (The Clansman) in 1915. In 1924 there was a large ceremony by the Ku Klux Klan on the football field at Riverside Poly high, the only high school in the city at that time. In the 1940’s Stanley Beverly reported job discrimination in downtown Riverside where “whites only” signs still were in place even after a legislative banning. Stanley found that less than 3% of the Black population was locally employed in the citrus industry. Black residents had to find work on railroads in San Bernardino and Colton. There were no Black teachers teaching in the Eastside schools. In 1965, Lowell Elementary school mysteriously caughtfire. Residential discrimination continued in the city throughout the 1950’s with at least half of the city’s houses being limited for sale to white residents. Orders that were in place since the 1930s by the Victoria Association. 

The city of Riverside has a beautiful image to uphold for its economy. But it has a history that is tarnished due to its history of colonization of its Indigenous peoples. Aligning with the history of the state and other cities. Who am I to think of Riverside being any different. I sort of feel like it is one of the worse, because of it is capitalizing from the colonization of California Indians by building a make-believe mission as a hotel. The city of Riverside marketed genocide and the colonization of California Indians with the building of the Mission Inn Hotel.

I am third generation resident of Riverside and a product of the Eastside community. My family is a part of this history. It’spart of my history. I still sometimes make a few extra turns while on my way home. I drive down 9th street from Kansas then turn on Park Avenue then up to 14th street just to try to imagine the city as it was. I was raised on Ohio street, then moved to Douglass in the third grade and lived there for 30 years. I went to Emerson elementary, the second school built on the Eastsidein the year 1965 by Ralph Waldo Emerson. My life between these two mountains has no boundaries or limits because I thrive. The Eastside is my community

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Works Cited

Akins B. Damon, and Bauer Jr, J. William. “We are the Land; A history of Native California”. University of California Press. Oakland, California. 2021 by the Regents of The University of California

Carpio, Genevieve. “At the Sound of the Bells: How place and mobility make race”. University of California Press. Oakland, California. 2021. (pp. 33).

Carpio, Genevieve. “At the Sound of the Bells: How place and mobility make race”. University of California Press. Oakland, California. 2021. (pp. 23).

2

who wants to stand in front?

My Indigenous philosophy in developing identity while coming to terms with land separation in modern times. Lots of things remain the same while some things changed rapidly. How can one realize family in a land where they want the mixing pot to stay separated. Break the egg mix the yolk.

The whitewashing of Red skinned Indigenous peoples is an ongoing issue. Native American women are a threat to colonialism and heteropatriarchy societies. For Native American tribes, bands, and reservations healing to begin. One must be able to connect all the different angles of how this systematic attack takes place. I say take place because Native American reservations are still under attack of the Federal government. Even if Native American tribes, bands and groups are federally recognized or unrecognized. What can be done regarding this issue? What should be done regarding this issue? Or should we stand on the side and watch the division of humanity continue. If we do that colonization wins. 

The colonization of Native Americans took part over several different waves before society recognized that Indigenous population numbers were decreasing while settler colonialism was growing. Native American women were the first targets of colonization because Native American women were a threat to patriarchal systems through colonization. Todecolonize Native feminism, one must first recognize that colonialism and heteropatriarchy is threatened by the relationship between Native American men and Native American women. Native American sovereignty begins at homewith the relationship between Native American men and Native American women. This balance is a direct threat to colonialism and heteropatriarchy. ​

Colonialism and heteropatriarchy social systems wants theauthority to control the gender and sexual orientations of others. Colonialism and heteropatriarchy sexualize Native American women and uses it against them and Native American men. If you can destabilize that relationship between Native American men and Native American women, then it will be easy for colonization to work thus replacing it with a heteropatriarchal social structure. Pretty much one of the sources of today’s illness in society. As with other unjustly ghettoized fields like ethnic studies, black studies, and black feminist studies, Native feminist theories are meant to have a much wider audience and active engagement (Arvin et al. 2013, p. 12). If you can recognize that settler colonialism and patriarchy are not events, but they are structures of European society then you will understand why Native American women are still under attack. Settler colonialism is a persistent social and political formation in which newcomers/ colonizers/ settlers come to a place, claim it as their own and do whatever it takes to disappear the Indigenous people that are there. (Arvin et al. 2013, p. 12). 

More awareness regarding Native American issues should be in the for front of media and news outlets. This will bring more attention to this issue. There can be a call to action to implement the necessary steps to break down the fences of colonization, settler colonialism, and heteropatriarchal socialsystems. If we stand on the side and watch then how can we truly reclaim our Native Identities that we have been separated from due to the systematic destabilizing of these Native American tribes, bands and groups. If we do not want to claim any relation to Native American tribes, bands, or groups then can we truly call ourselves an ally in support of our fellow sisters and brothers in the struggles fighting against social injustices?

The history of the Indigenous Peoples of California starts here in the Inland Empire in the mountains of San Jacinto. I think of the Cahuilla creation story. A young man takes on different forms of his forefathers who have protected this land from times beginning to no end. Throughout the story the young man takes on the form of different animals learning each characteristic of that animal that coincides with the season. Gathering only the necessary tools to sustain for the season. Leaving the rest to replenish itself. This young man is not over gathering for greed. He takes what he needs and leaves the rest so it will be able to continue to grow. It’s sort of like a homage to mother earth and all the creatures as a sign of respect. A healthy ecosystem that can continue to sustain.

New music video by Thrive DaSun-upstream

Tell Ah Ras the album will be released soon

Celebrating the life, art and legacy of Stan “The Man” Davis.

Shirrawn Davis, the daughter of artist Stanley Davis. At the Civil Rights Institute in Downtown Riverside, California. January 31, 2025.

I was introduced to the art Mr. Stan “The Man” Davis created around the year 2003 when I was a sophomore at John W. North High School. Some memories of Mr. Davis that I have are while grocery shopping at Stater Bros on Iowa St. where I would be with my mother. He was often accompanied by his daughter Shirrawn Davis and her mother Mrs. Lily Davis. My mother would then tell me that he was a really talented baseball player. I can still remember the smile that would follow on his face after the compliment. In the years following while in my sophomore year at North, I was introduced to art by Stan “The Man” Davis as airbrushed murals of loved ones on t-shirts. Something that I appreciated most about the art by Mr. Stan “The Man” Davis was the realism of his pieces. They looked as if they are photos regardless of the canvas that was used.

While in my undergraduate studies at the University of California Riverside during the Fall quarter of 2024. I took a course of the History of the Inland Empire/ Los Angelos. This class sparked my interest for a number of reasons. What I did not expect was for the course content to be pretty much a confirmation of a lot of history that I was exposed to while growing up in Riverside, Ca. So, to say I was excited about what was to come. The Professor, Dr. Catherine Gudis and I established a solid line of communication following the first lecture. The first slide she showed was of the neighborhood I grew up in. It had two photos of Park Avenue and one downtown. The first was a photo of some gentlemen sitting in chairs outside of Orange Valley Masonic Lodge #13. The other photo was of some African American women all wearing matching outfits in a line posing in the street. The last photo struck me with much excitement because it was a photo of close to 50 if not more African American men and women standing on the stairs in front of Allan Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church all dressed in suits, and fine clothes. Some wore fezzes and gloves. The photo was very distinguished and sticking of Black excellence from the same community that I grew up in. Following the lecture, I shared with Dr. Gudis that my great grandmother Gladys Drayton Flangan was part of that same lodge and church when she first moved to Riverside, Ca. from Winter Haven, Florida in 1934 when she was 17 years old with her younger niece Esse Mae Cunningham. I did well in the course. Following that quarter, in January, Dr. Gudis approached me with an opportunity for my involvement with contributing to the Inland Empire Civil Rights Institute archive. I accepted this opportunity.

In the weeks following, I invited close friends to come share personal stories of loved ones and to share some history of community leaders. The most perfect person and representative of my community stepped up to share a personal story of her father. Why do I say that she is the most perfect person and representative of my community? Look at what she does for work at the Riverside Superior Court. Look at the professionalism she conducts every day in her line of work. Not only is she an advocate for the silenced but look at the legacy she upholds. I thank you. And salute you. Shirrawn Davis. Thank you for sharing the work and art that your father Stan “The Man” Davis created. Not only was Mr. Davis an amazing artist, but he was talented in sports and extremely educated. Mr. Davis was the holder of a master’s degree in art where he also was a teacher and professor. Enjoy some art pieces by Mr. Stan “The Man” Davis.

Riverside Sports Hall of Fame.
Jerry Tarkanian, a legendary basketball coach that began his coaching career at Riverside City College from 1961- 1966 leading the team to 3 Consecutive State Championships.
Bobby Bonds & son Barry Bonds, both from Riverside, Ca. Bobby played 14 seasons from 1968- 1981. He was a 3x All Star and 3x Gold Glove Award. Barry Bonds played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball. His career highlights include 14x All Star, 7x National League Most Valuable Player, 8x Gold Glove Award, 12x Sliver Slugger Award, 3x National League Hank Aaron Award. 2x National League Batting Champion, 2x National League Home Run Leader, National League RBI leader, His San Francisco Giants No. 25 was retired. Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame, San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame.

What’s Your Perspective Art Installation at the Riverside Arts Musuem

Lady-Byrd… “green heart emoji” followed by a cancer crabbIE patty and those butterfly freckles. Much love “ghetto?!? SUPERSTAR! You’re so much more than that…remember that next time when you feel that shift of the time. Flap your wings with love at the rate of which you decide to travel…You know how I felt walking in and out of the Cheech Marin Museum in downtown on that hot Winter day in January 2025. Ras Royal gave his thumbs up once Big Bruh Bruh swooped the two of us from the coffee shop across the street from where we departed…was that the last time we were….? I held on for as long as I could….anywho…here WE thRIV3 in el Sol todos Los Dias. Dar gracias ah Dios. Todos Los Dias. And that’s WORD AS BOND oo7 from my perspective. Sooo…whatchu want? Whatchu gunna do widdit?!?

Summa time in the RIV! This art installation is called “What’s Your Perspective?” Perspective is defined as the art of drawing solid objects on a two-dimension surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point. Perspective is also defined as having a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something, a point of view. This exhibition is curated by Mariah G, Johnathon Arthurs, & Malik Laing.

If you have been to this museum, then you should be familiar with the atrium that sits right in the middle as you are walking through the entrance. The art is located on the back wall and is visible as you walk through the doors. You may or may not have noticed the pillars that gives it a Greek Coliseum feel.

In this exhibition the artist decided to give their perspectives from their points of views in the areas of family, life, community, and hard work with love. I caught Artist Johnathon Arthurs at the opening ceremony. Hazer stopped at the DJ booth to kick knowledge with Dropdead. I saw Gudis and Lisa. The two women who made this event happen. Big ups. Respect to all of you.

If I could play a song that wasn’t by thRIVee Sun I would Q up Rome Streetz Kiss The Ring. Probably that track reversible. Conductor got busy on that jawn. Why would I say RomIE?! I guess cuz this show resembled to me the falling or continuing falling of Rome or Babylon as I&I Ras chant em. This show was fresh and hip. Just like the sounds on that one Streetz Album Kiss The Ring!

I first played this album by Rome Streetz in October after I copped the Accord. I was freshly back on campus in pursuit of my undergraduate degree. From the intro I knew Kiss The Ring was that shit. From start to finish shit was dumb. I rocked out then saw Dun in LA at the Terrodom in February. What can I say…not disappointed at all. Hazer did math with Darko from FlatBush, Fredro, 2Duecy11, Chuck, & Chace that night. I ran into my Aye A- Like Big Bro AA across the street after I copped a shirt from RomIE. I passed AA a fresh pull of my spliff as he pulled out a rare picture he caught of FLY GoD & Stovito while in Buffalo. Easy math. It was 9:57 as we peeled off to Sam’s Haufbrau.

Fast forward to this show. Bang! Bang! Bang! Falling of Rome B. In the RIVeee downtown dun. Here’s a glimpse.