Memorial Day, an American national holiday dedicated to the memory of fallen US soldiers, is celebrated on the last Monday of May. Its beginnings however, started on the first day of May in 1865, when by a group of newly liberated Blacks in Charleston, South Carolina placed flowers on the unmarked graves of captured Union soldiers and held a parade to honor the dead.

• To learn more about what was originally known as "Decoration Day", check out the links to sources below:

• https://www.history.com/news/memorial-day-civil-war-slavery-charleston

• https://www.lx.com/black-legacy/dont-overlook-memorial-days-black-southern-roots/53453/

• https://www.live5news.com/2020/02/18/charleston-claims-first-memorial-day-celebration-with-african-americans-playing-significant-role/

• https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2022/05/28/freed-slaves-started-first-memorial-day-in-the-us/

• https://aaregistry.org/story/the-first-american-memorial-day-is-commemorated/

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Born in 1879, Mary Eliza Mahoney worked hard for nearly two decades to earn her nursing license, overcoming discrimination to become the first African American person to do so in the United States. To learn more about Boston-born and based Mahoney, read Mary Eliza Mahoney and the Legacy of African-American Nurses, watch a short bio on YouTube or check out the links to more sources below.

Sources:

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mahoney

https://www.essence.com/black-history-month-2019/mary-eliza-mahoney-the-first-black-nurse/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/19/obituaries/mary-eliza-mahoney-overlooked.html

https://nursing-theory.org/famous-nurses/Mary-Mahoney.php

https://www.biography.com/activist/mary-mahoney

http://ojin.nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/AboutANA/Honoring-Nurses/NationalAwardsProgram/HallofFame/19761982/mahome5552.html

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The first African American woman to earn a doctorate at M.I.T., Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson is responsible for the major advances in telecommunications research that led to the invention of the touch-tone phone, portable fax, fiber optic cables, solar cells, call waiting and caller ID.

To learn more about the current president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the oldest technological research university in the U.S., check out the links to sources below:

Strong Force: The Story of Physicist Shirley Ann Jackson

https://president.rpi.edu/president-biography

https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/shirley-ann-jackson/

https://www.news10.com/news/local-news/dr-shirley-ann-jackson-a-lifetime-shattering-glass-ceilings-in-math-and-science-for-black-women/

https://youtu.be/mKAgAdHaJw0 (National Medal of Science bio)

https://youtu.be/0CYQAQ1EPSo (Storied Women of MIT)

https://youtu.be/ATcTENr07U8 (An evening with Dr. Jackson NSTMF)

https://youtu.be/xvGPPE-09OE (Brown University Department of Physics bio)

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Jockey Oliver Lewis won the inaugural Kentucky Derby atop the colt Aristides on May 17, 1875. Lewis was one of thirteen Black jockeys in the fifteen-strong field.

But even though Blacks dominated horseracing in the late 1800s, by the early 1900s, they’d been pushed out of the sport, with James Winkfield being the last to win in 1902. After an almost 80 year drought, in 2000, Marlon St. Julien was the next Black jockey to compete.

To learn more about Oliver Lewis and the long history of African American people in horse racing, check out the sources below.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-Americans-and-Horse-Racing-1984952

https://kchr.ky.gov/Hall-of-Fame/Pages/Oliver-Lewis.aspx

https://www.derbymuseum.org/Exhibits/Detail/12/Black-Heritage-in-Racing

https://madamenoire.com/1314353/a-group-of-black-women-horse-owners-make-history-after-winning-their-first-kentucky-oaks-day-race/

https://biography.jrank.org/pages/2969/Lewis-Oliver.html

https://www.americasbestracing.net/videos/2022-celebrate-black-history-month-jockey-oliver-lewis

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=151711493456737

https://youtu.be/6kXTvHErwm8 (Kentucky Derby video on Black Jockeys)

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On Mother's Day 2022, we offer a quote from three-time Olympic gold medalist and international track star Wilma Rudolph on when you have a choice, always choose to believe your mother.

To learn more about Wilma Rudolph, read her 1977 autobiography Wilma: The Story of Wilma Rudolph, Wilma Rudolph: A Biography from 2006, the children’s book Wilma Rudolph: Athlete and Educator by Alice K. Flanagan, or watch the 1977 movie Wilma starring Cicely Tyson, Shirley Jo Finney and Denzel Washington on Vudu.

Sources:

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wilma-rudolph

https://olympics.com/en/athletes/wilma-rudolph

https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016444.html

https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/wilma-rudolph

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/13/obituaries/wilma-rudolph-star-of-the-1960-olympics-dies-at-54.html

https://youtu.be/BYQXYVwa4YE (biography mini bio)

https://youtu.be/FPVdpJZJi-o (epic Olympic moments)

https://youtu.be/Xnr0hu1skVY (interview)

Earlier this week, Karine Jean-Pierre was named the new White House Press Secretary from her current position as the Principal Deputy Press Secretary for the Biden Administration. Jean-Pierre will be the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ-plus person to serve in this position.

To learn more about Jean-Pierre, read her 2019 book Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America, watch her 2020 interview on the Today show and check out links to more sources below:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/us/politics/karine-jean-pierre-white-house-press-secretary.html

• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/karine-jean-pierre-on-her-mental-health-struggle-and-a-blueprint-for-activism

• https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/karine-jean-pierre-building-stronger-more-inclusive-america-n1269166

• https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a37223725/karine-jean-pierre-joe-biden-white-house-career-interview/

• https://youtu.be/BwS75k7ZE94 (MoveOn.org / Kamala Harris moment)

• https://youtu.be/znryYvNxSWw (Psaki and Jean-Pierre)

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On National Nurses Day, we acknowledge Ernest Grant, internationally recognized burn care and safety expert and the first male president of the American Nurses Association. To learn more about Grant, history of nursing as well as African American nurses, check out the links provided below:

Sources:

• https://www.nursingworld.org/ana/leadership-and-governance/board-of-directors/ana-president/

• https://nurse.org/articles/black-history-month-nursing-leaders/

• https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/nhhc/american-nursing-an-introduction-to-the-past/

• https://www.registerednursing.org/articles/african-american-nurses-making-history/

• https://www.chamberlain.edu/blog/a-celebration-of-10-famous-black-nurses-in-history

• https://www.nbna.org/history

• https://www.nbna.org/files/NBNA%20FALL%202019%20REVJAN07.pdf

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jan.14791

• https://aahc.nc.gov/resources/black-history-month-2021/black-history-month-2021-health-pioneers-interview-dr-ernest-j-grant

• https://youtu.be/zCnnciTWIjY (video interview with Ernest Grant)

If you like these Daily Drops, follow us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com, Amazon,Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating or review, share links to your favorite episodes, or go old school and tell a friend.

For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

Bridget “Biddy” Mason was born into slavery in 1818 in Mississippi but was able to secure her freedom in a California court after her owner tried to move her back East to Texas. Mason used her earnings from midwifery to buy property, establish the first AME church in Los Angeles, and build community as the wealthiest Black woman in LA.

To learn more about Mason and her legacy, check out biddymasoncollaborative.com, laconservancy.org to learn more about Biddy Mason Memorial Park in Los Angeles, read Biddy Mason: A Place of Her Own by Camille Gavin and Biddy Mason Speaks Up by Arisa White and Laura Atkins

Sources:

• https://www.nbclosangeles.com/local-2/descendants-of-biddy-mason-the-grandmother-of-la-want-her-honored/2832587/

• https://www.nps.gov/people/biddymason.htm

• https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/09/418616/open-hand-conversation-descendants-biddy-mason

• https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14756308/biddy-mason-california-black-history

• https://www.aclunc.org/sites/goldchains/explore/biddy-mason.html

• https://laist.com/news/la-history/biddy-mason-free-forever-the-contentious-hearing-that-made-her-a-legend-los-angeles-black-history

• https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-27-me-25048-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1H9m1KyFEyIncVYBAAUMX3Gv2zQLEWhLaVE5spnl0eg7JvGgclV6LM2-I