Whitney Tech News

Students Perform Living Biographies
Eli Whitney held a multicultural assembly on Friday, February 20, 2009 to celebrate the contributions of minorities to American culture. Some of the highlights of the day were students performing a dance to celebrate the contributions of Hispanics and people of Caribbean descent, a multicultural hip-hop group consisting of white, black and Hispanic members rapped for the audience, the Nation Drill squad and Drum corp. performing and to celebrating the accomplishments, struggles and successes of African Americans in the United States. Also several students from Ms. Coughlin’s class performed living biographies during the Multicultural Assembly at Eli Whitney THS.
Harriet Tubman – Quiana Horry Born Araminta Ross, circa1820, Harriet Tubman was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the U.S. Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue over seventy slaves using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. “I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.” Harriet Tubman passed on March 10, 1913
Sojourner Truth – Sharonda Barnes Born Isabella Baumfree in 1797, Sojourner Truth was an American slave, abolitionist and women's rights activist. During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army. “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Sojourner Truth departed this life on November 26, 1883
Frederick Douglass – Malcolm Pina Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey on February 14, 1818, Frederick Douglass was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. Douglass' best-known work is his first autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, published in 1845. “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.” On February 20, 1895 Frederick Douglass passed away.
Madame CJ Walker – Zachary Colon and Alexandria Osborne born Sarah Breedlove, Madame CJ Walker was an American businesswoman, hair care entrepreneur, tycoon and philanthropist. Madame Walker developed and marketed a hugely successful line of beauty and hair products for black women She was the first female, black or white, who became a millionaire by her own achievements. “I want to say to every Negro woman present, don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them!” Madame CJ Walker passed away on May 25, 1919
Langston Hughes – Marcus Pina Langston Hughes was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist Hughes is known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He was a role model for African Americans of his time as well as future generations. He advocated black racial pride instead of assimilation, but the most important technical influence was his emphasis on folk and jazz rhythms as the basis of his poetry of racial pride. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” Langston Hughes died on May 22, 1967
Emmett Till – Robert Young Born July 25, Emmett Till was a fourteen-year-old boy from Chicago, Illinois who was murdered in Money, Mississippi. According to several statements, Emmett Till was dared by another boy to flirt with 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, a white female, whose husband owned a local grocery and meat market. Some accounts say Till “wolf whistled” at Bryant; others say he grabbed her hand and asked her for a date; still others say all he did was say, "Bye, baby" as he left. Till's body was found swollen and disfigured in the Tallahatchie River three days after his abduction. Till’s mother fought to have Emmett’s casket remain open during his funeral, she was quoted as saying, “I wanted the world to see what they did to my baby." The murder of Emmett Till was noted as one of the leading events that motivated the American Civil Rights Movement. Emmett Till passed on August 28, 1955
Muhammad Ali – Matthew Watkins Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942, Muhammad Ali is a retired American boxer and former three-time World Heavyweight Champion. He won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in the light heavyweight division Muhammad Ali is the only man to have won the linear heavyweight championship three times. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
Black Panthers – Devin Butler, Dan Davis, Dave Jackson, Rob Polite originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, the Black Panther Party was an African-American organization established to promote Black Power and self-defense through acts of social agitation. Founded in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale on October 15, 1966, the organization initially set forth a doctrine calling for the protection of African American neighborhoods from police brutality, in the interest of African-American justice Warren Kimbro, a New Haven native, was a member of the Black Panther Party. Mr Kimbro passed away on February 3 this year.	Toni Morrison – Alexus Telford Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on February 18, 1931 Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize-winning American author, editor, and professor. Among the best known are her novels The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. She opened the door for black writers at a time when such opportunities were hard won, and she blazed the way to include themes and images in textbooks that made them significant to African American children. “If you're going to hold someone down you're going to have to hold on by the other end of the chain. You are confined by your own repression.”
Malcom X – Colin Hall born Malcolm Little, May 19, 1925 , also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an African American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist. He is credited with raising the self-esteem of black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage. He is responsible for the spread of Islam in the black community in the United States. “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965. Tomorrow marks the 44th anniversary of his death.	Barack Obama with Secret Service – Wilvin Cabrera, DeShawn Taylor, ArthurDziurzynski, and Eugene Rogers Barack Obama is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the Presidential office. He has worked as a community organizer in Chicago prior to earning his law degree, and practiced as a civil rights attorney in Chicago before serving three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. In 2004, He was elected to the US Senate. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”