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February is Black History Month, We Look at Black First

Roselyn Payne Epps: First African-American elected national president of the American Medical Women’s Association in 1991

February is designated as Black History month. It is for the remembrance of the events in the history of the African Diaspora. I therefore wanted to use this post to highlight the achievements of Blacks in the areas of Science & Medicine and Sports, dubbed Black First

1) Black First in Science and Medicine:

  • Roselyn Payne Epps was the first African-American elected national president of the American Medical Women’s Association in 1991.
  • Charles Henry Turner (1867-1931) became the first person to prove that insects can hear and distinguish pitch.  He was a Zoologist and held a doctorate from the University of Chicago.
  • Joycelyn Elders became the first African-American and first woman US Surgeon General in 1993.
  • Frederick D. Gregory was the first African-American to pilot a spacecraft. In 1985 STS-51B/Spacelab-3 launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 29th with Colonel Frederick D. Gregory as pilot.

2) Black First in Sports:

  • Althea Gibson – was the first African American to play in and win Wimbledon and the United States national tennis championship. She won both tournaments twice, in 1957 and 1958. In all, Gibson won 56 tournaments, including five Grand Slam singles events.
  • Don Barksdale – a basketball star at UCLA became the first African-American named consensus All-American in 1947.
  • Fritz Pollard — was the first African American to play in the NFL. Later in his career he became a coach and also continued to play running back. In 2005 he was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
  • National Basketball Association (NBA) – In the 1950-51 NBA season Chuck Cooper became the first black player to be drafted when he was chosen by Boston; Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton became the first to sign an NBA contract when he signed with New York, and Earl Lloyd became the first to play in an NBA regular-season game because the schedule had his Washington team opening one day before the others.
  • Willie O’Ree — was the first African American to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). He had a short career that was started in 1958 with the Boston Bruins. His career ended in 1961 and the next year that an African American played in the league was 1974 when Mike Marson was drafted by the Washington Capitals.

During this month, I will be presenting  “Blacks First” in other areas.

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Journey to Canada, a Refugee’s Story

 Twenty-three years ago, Madut Majok arrived in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, where his life consisted of guarded compounds and food rations. Today, he is a Canadian citizen, university graduate and civil servant.

He relishes the opportunities he has earned in his adopted country and feels that he has integrated into Canadian society. However, one minor detail still puzzles him. With a smile, he says “I still do not understand the level of politeness here—if I am at the mall and I step on someone’s toes, they say sorry instead of me saying that…and that always takes me off guard.” Social intricacies aside, the future is wide open for Madut—a future that seemed impossible only a few years ago.

 

Born in 1978 in rural South Sudan, Madut had a childhood plagued by violence and war.  By 1983, the second Sudanese civil war had broken out and many villages were burned down, crops destroyed and cattle killed. Thousands of villagers from Madut’s town were forced to flee when the attacks intensified in 1987.

 

His family chose to seek protection within Sudan in the garrison town of Wau. In the ensuing chaos, eight‑year‑old Madut became separated from them and had to join a small group of villagers on the dangerous two month trek to Ethiopia. 

He arrived at a United Nations refugee camp, located near the border, very ill from infected wounds sustained along the way. After a three-month recovery, Madut was transferred to another camp specifically for children and unaccompanied minors, where he stayed until 1991.

 

When war broke out in Ethiopia, those in the refugee camps were told that they were no longer safe. Madut had to flee again—a journey that took him to Pochalla, a town near the Sudan-Ethiopia border. He spent nine months there before embarking on another journey that finally brought him to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya in 1992, where he spent his next 10 years.

 

“Conditions at the camps were difficult at times,” says Madhut. Food was distributed every two weeks but lasted only eight days; many would go for days without getting enough water to cater for essential needs. 
School, set up in the camp, saved him. “Had I not gone to school in the camp,” says Madut, “I never would have competed in the Student Refugee Program.”

Madut focused on his studies, knowing that education could be a way out of the refugee camp. He applied to the Student Refugee Program run by World University Service of Canada in 2001 and was selected to attend Dalhousie University. 

In 2006, after four years in Canada, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in International Development Studies and Political Science. That same year, he became a Canadian citizen.  Today, Madut is studying for his Master’s degree while working for the Foreign Credential Referral Office at Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 

“After living on handouts, the ability to provide for yourself and the freedom to determine your own future is the first goal,” he says. As for his future, Madut says he has many goals. “Now that I have a job, I want to raise a family…and progress in my career. I would say that I am very lucky.”
“You need strong mentorship—people who believe in your ability and, at the same time, who realize that you are learning how your potential can be developed. Canada has given me this.”
 
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