By: Marcia King-Gamble
www.lovemarcia.com
February is black History month. It’s also the month of love, and so I thought I’d get right to the heart of the matter with some little-known
facts about both.
This month’s blog was supposed to be about what touches my
heart; and there’s nothing that touches my heart more than learning something
new. So, here’s what touched my heart this month, and what I’d like to share
with you.
In terms of black history, I was amazed to find out that before
Rosa Parks there was 15-year-old named Claudette Colvin who refused to move to the
back of the bus. Claudette was thrown into jail. So why is Rosa better known, when
only nine months before, Claudette had done something similar? The answer…well
the NAACP and other black organizations felt Rosa, who was solidly middle class,
and also a secretary for the NACCP would be a better representative of the
cause.
Did you know that Martin Luther King’s iconic speech, I had
a Dream was mostly improvised? At some point Martin threw away the crafted
speech and adlibbed. The original speech was far more political and a lot less
historic. It had no reference to dreams.
I bet you didn’t know that the earliest recorded protest
against slavery was made by the Quakers in 1688. And did you know that of the 12.5 million
slaves that left Africa only 10.7 million survived the dreaded Middle Passage? In fact, less than 388,000 slaves arrived in the
USA. The vast majority, (4.7) million were sent to Brazil. Now doesn’t that explain
its beautiful people?
Another interesting fact I did not know, is that one in four
cowboys was black. It is even believed the real Lone Ranger was inspired by an
African American man named Bass Reeves. It seems that even back then the west
was far more liberal, and tolerant of diverse cultures.
We all know who Betty Boop is. But who would have thought that
in 1930, cartoonist Max Fleischer would create the Kewpie-faced sexy Betty Boop,
modeling her off black Jazz singer Esther Jones; better known as Baby Esther? Another woman, Helen Kane claimed it was modeled after her, but Esther was booping long before Helen came along.
Now onto what this month is better known for --------Valentine’s
Day and love. Did you know Cupid’s lover’s name was Psyche and their daughter’s
name was Voluptus? Voluptus means
pleasure.
Were you aware that Cupid’s mother was Venus? And that Venus was so
jealous of Psyche’s beauty she instructed Cupid to shoot Psyche with an arrow so
that she would fall in love with the most hideous creature. The irony of the story was
that it backfired, and Cupid ended up falling in love with Psyche. The rest is
of course history.
On a lighter note, did you know every Valentine’s Day more
than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold? It is also the second largest card giving day.
Christmas is the first.
And finally, were you aware that Valentine wasn’t just one
person, but two? A gruesome fact is that both men were executed on the same day
(February 14th) except different years.
And that my readers are
what’s touched my heart this February 2019th.
Be kind! Be grateful! And to paraphrase Bob Marley, you could be
loved! You are loved!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
About
Marcia King-Gamble
Romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble
originally hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the
same mesmerizing shade of blue. This travel industry executive and current
world traveler has spent most of life in the United States. A National
Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. Her free
time is spent at the gym, traveling to exotic locales, and caring for her
animal family. Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com
or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS Be sure to join her mailing list.
