http://www.vsu.edu/student-life/student-activities/campus-ministry/index.php

UCM FLOW, Foster 311 PO Box 9200, Petersburg, VA (2026)

02/26/2025

Join us today in Foster Hall 312.

02/25/2025

May 9, 2010: Lena Horne died of congestive heart failure. She was 92.

Ms. Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was a dancer, actress, Grammy-winning singer, and civil rights activist.

Ms. Horne’s career spanned over 70 years, appearing in film, television and theater.

She joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of 16 and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood.

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT:
In 1941, she sang at Cafe Society and worked with Paul Robeson.

During World War II, when entertaining the troops for the USO, she refused to perform “for segregated audiences or for groups in which German POWs were seated in front of Black servicemen”, according to her Kennedy Center biography.

Because the U.S. Army refused to allow integrated audiences, she staged her show for a mixed audience of Black U.S. soldiers and white German POWs.

She also worked with Eleanor Roosevelt in attempts to pass anti-lynching laws.

Ms. Horne advocated for human rights and took part in the March on Washington in August 1963. ✊🏾❤️🖤💚 💛

02/24/2025

Today we don’t forget to speak your name. It was 5 year ago, that your life was snuffed out, and we still mourn individually and collectively. We mourn your future that you never got to experience, we mourn what you could’ve been, we mourn how your life was taken away from you, we mourn because you dear are our son, you are our uncle, you are our brother, you are our nephew, you are our cousin, and you are our friend. Here we are again 3 years later with unanswered questions. we remember and we cry because we love you, your family loves you. It is hard beyond measure, and we won’t ever forget to speak your name. 🧡🖤♥️💛💚

02/20/2025

Age 87 (Interviewed in 1937) Former slave.

“I was born March 23, 1850 in Kentucky, somewhere near Louisville. I am goin’ on 88 years right now. I was brought to Missouri when I was six months old, along with my mama, who was a slave owned by a man named Shaw, who had allotted her to a man named Jimmie Graves, who came to Missouri to live with his daughter Emily Graves Crowdes. I always lived with Emily Crowdes.”

The matter of allotment was confusing to the interviewer and Aunt Sally endeavored to explain.

“Yes’m. Allotted? Yes’m. I’m goin’ to explain that, “ she replied. “You see there was slave traders in those days, jes’ like you got horse and mule an’ auto traders now. They bought and sold slaves and hired ‘em out. Yes’m, rented ‘em out. Allotted means somethin’ like hired out. But the slave never got no wages. That all went to the master. The man they was allotted to paid the master.”

“I was never sold. My mama was sold only once, but she was hired out many times. Yes’m when a slave was allotted, somebody made a down payment and gave a mortgage for the rest. A chattel mortgage. . . .”

“Allotments made a lot of grief for the slaves,” Aunt Sally asserted. “We left my papa in Kentucky, ‘cause he was allotted to another man. My papa never knew where my mama went, an’ my mama never knew where papa went.” Aunt Sally paused a moment, then went on bitterly. “They never wanted mama to know, ‘cause they knowed she would never marry so long she knew where he was. Our master wanted her to marry again and raise more children to be slaves. They never wanted mama to know where papa was, an’ she never did,” sighed Aunt Sally. 💚♥️🧡🖤💛

02/20/2025

February 25, 1991: 20-year-old PFC Adrienne L. Mitchell becomes the 1st African American woman to die in the Gulf War.

PFC Mitchell was killed along with the 28 American soldiers when an Iraqi Scud missile struck military barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia. 3 days later combat ended.

She served 5 months and 10 days overseas before she was killed.

HER PARENTS REACTION:
“Well, I feel numb and I don’t feel like eating anything,” Sammie Mitchell, Adrienne’s mother said, her tone quiet. “I just don’t feel like doing anything. And the body’s beyond recognition. So I’ll never get to see her again.”

Adrienne’s father, Frank Mitchell served in the military himself but says he tried to talk his daughter out of joining. Frank said Adrienne had plans on attending UCLA and didn’t want any student loans. She had hoped to become a lawyer.

HONORS:
🎖On May 31, 1995, in Mitchell’s hometown of Moreno Valley, California, the city dedicated a park to Private Mitchell.

🎖In November 2015, Moreno Valley rededicated the park to PFC Mitchell.

🎖PFC Adrienne L. Mitchell All-American VFW Post 2122 is named in her honor. It’s located in Los Angeles, California. 🧡♥️💚🖤💛

02/18/2025

April 12, 1968: Lil Bobby Hutton’s funeral was held at the Ephesians Church of God in Berkeley, California.

About 1,500 people attended the funeral.

Bobby Seale had a heartfelt message at the funeral: “Bobby Hutton was an living example of infinite love for his people ... and their peace and freedom.” Looking down at the open coffin, he added, “We salute you, Bobby.”

It was preceded by a news conference held by Seale at the site of the shooting.

A large rally was held afterwards at Lake Merritt near the Alameda County Courthouse. Over 2,000 people were attendance, which included a eulogy by actor Marlon Brando.

Robert James Hutton, known as “Lil’ Bobby”, was the treasurer and 1st recruit to join the Black Panther Party. Alongside Eldridge Cleaver and other Panthers, he was involved in an ambush on Oakland police that wounded two officers.

Hutton was killed by the police under disputed circumstances. Cleaver stated Hutton was shot while surrendering with his hand up, while police stated he ignored commands and tried to flee. 💚❤️🧡🖤💛

02/17/2025

February 22, 2023: Zandra Ioan Flemister, 71, died due to a respiratory failure that was related to Alzheimer’s disease.

She is survived by her husband of 42 years, John Collinge, and their son, Samuel Collinge.

Flemister was the 1st Black woman to have been hired by the US Secret Service.

During her time at the Secret Service, she guarded the families of US presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

“Flemister was a trailblazer and “inspired a future generation of agents,” the Secret Service’s director, Kimberly Cheatle, said in a statement about her death.

She left behind her legacy that includes her fight with Alzheimer’s, and a lawsuit that details the widespread racism and discrimination she suffered during her tenure at the federal agency known for protecting presidents.

“I … wanted to be a trailblazer for other African-American women,” she would say later about her Secret Service career. But it’s important to note that statement was contained in an affidavit forming part of a class-action lawsuit that saw more than 100 Black agents and former agents detail a culture of racist discrimination in the Secret Service.

Flemister started her work at the Secret Service in 1974, 4 years before her transfer out to the foreign service – which in part protects Americans abroad – in 1978.

Her career blossomed after she transferred to the foreign service. She would go on to become the supervisory consul general in Pakistan, and after that she earned selection to the senior foreign service in 2006.

About then, unbeknownst to her, the Alzheimer’s with which she contended was setting in.

By 2010, her symptoms were serious enough that she had to request retirement at the relatively early age of 59. 💚❤️🧡🖤💛

02/15/2025

◾️pictured Officer Leslie Dean Jones beats a youth during the violence that erupted in Memphis during the Sanitation workers march, 16-year-old Larry Payne is in the background in the white shirt◾️

March 28, 1968: According to multiple witnesses, Larry Payne emerged from a basement in the Fowler Homes housing development, Officer Jones pressed the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun into Payne’s stomach and fired, killing him.

Payne reportedly had his hands up prior to his killing and had asked the officer not to shoot.

AFTERMATH:
Martin Luther King Jr. called Payne’s mother, Lizzie Payne, on the phone to console her after her son’s murder and vowed to come visit her. He was murdered 7 days later.

FUNERAL:
There was a 5-hour wake the day before the funeral.

On April 2nd over 600 people attended Payne’s funeral at Clayborn Temple.

Striking sanitation workers, clergy members who supported the strike, and national tv reportere were all in attendance, as well as the students and faculty of Mitchell Road High School where Payne was enrolled prior to his death.

Payne’s mother had to be led from the church because she was so full of grief.

The Washington Post quoted her as saying: “They killed you like a dog.”

GRAND JURY:
Jones claimed that Payne was holding a large butcher knife when he emerged from the basement, a statement denied by witnesses to the killing.

The Shelby County grand jury did not press charges and the Department of Justice declared that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Jones when investigating him for civil rights abuses. ♥️🧡💚💛🖤

02/14/2025

March 4, 1944: Fannie Barrier-Williams died. She was 89.

Frances “Fannie” Barrier Williams was an educator, political & women’s rights activist, She was the 1st Black woman to gain membership to the Chicago Woman’s Club.

ACTIVISM:
🖤Associating with both Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington she represented the viewpoint of Black Americans in the Illinois Women’s Alliance and lectured frequently on the need for all women, but especially Black women, to have the vote.

🖤Ms. Fannie helped found the National League of Colored Women in 1893 and its successor, the National Association of Colored Women in 1896. She was also among the founders of the NAACP and worked with Mary Church Terrell to create the National Federation of Afro-American Women in 1895.

🖤Ms. Fannie played a crucial role in advocating for the development of Provident Hospital, which opened in 1891. She adamantly lobbied for a hospital for Black people and run by Black people, particularly staffed with all-Black nurses, which would provided a much-needed employment opportunity for Black women.

LEGACY:
🏅In 2014, SUNY-College at Brockport named the Fannie Barrier Williams Women of Courage Scholarship after her. It is awarded to students with a 3.0 or higher GPA, and the requirements include an essay of their commitment to social justice. 💚❤️🧡🖤💛

02/13/2025

April 5, 1968: In a press conference, Stokely Carmichael predicts the outbreak of more violence across the nation in retaliation for “white America’s biggest mistake.”

“White America killed Dr. King last night. She made it a whole lot easier for a whole lot of Black people today. There no longer needs to be intellectual discussions, Black people know that they have to get guns. White America will live to cry that she killed Dr. King last night. It would have been better if she had killed Rap Brown and/or Stokely Carmichael, but when she killed Dr. King, she lost.”

Kwame Ture (born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael) was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement and in the global Pan-African movement.

He was a key leader in the development of the Black Power movement, first while leading the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, then as the “Honorary Prime Minister” of the Black Panther Party and last as a leader of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party.

BACKGROUND:
Carmichael was one of the original SNCC freedom riders of 1961 under Diane Nash’s leadership. He became a major voting rights activist in Mississippi and Alabama after being mentored by Ella Baker and Bob Moses.

Like most young people in the SNCC, he became disillusioned with the two-party system after the 1964 Democratic National Convention failed to recognize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party as official delegates from the state. 💚🧡❤️💛

02/12/2025

September 21, 1998: Florence Griffith-Joyner died in her sleep at home in Mission Viejo, California. She was 38.

The unexpected death was investigated by the sheriff-coroner’s office, which announced on October 22 that the cause of death was suffocation during a severe epileptic seizure.

She was also found to have had a cavernous hemangioma, a congenital brain abnormality that made Joyner subject to seizures.

Griffith Joyner’s family and supporters states that the autopsy cleared her of allegations that she used performance-enhancing drugs.

The Orange County coroner’s office noted that the autopsy records showed that she did not die from drugs or banned substances.

Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner was a track and field athlete. In 1982, Griffith graduated from UCLA with her bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Flo Jo STILL holds the record in the women’s 100m of 10.49 and women’s 200m of 21.34, which she set at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

LEGACY:
🏆A slightly larger-than-life statue of Florence Griffith Joyner is outside of Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills.

🏆The city of Mission Viejo dedicated a park at the entrance to her neighborhood in her honor. ✊🏾❤️🖤💚

02/11/2025

*I’m well aware it’s not the 29th but I celebrate her EVERY YEAR*

February 29, 1940: At 12th Annual Academy Awards. Ms. Hattie McDaniel became the 1st Black person to win an Oscar.

The award was for her role in ‘Gone with the Wind’, which went on to win 8 Oscars that night.

“Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, fellow members of the motion picture industry and honored guests: This is one of the happiest moments of my life, and I want to thank each one of you who had a part in selecting me for one of their awards, for your kindness. It has made me feel very, very humble; and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything that I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry. My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel, and may I say thank you and God bless you.— From McDaniel’s acceptance speech.

Ms. McDaniel received considerable attention from the press with Daily Variety writing, “Not only was she the 1st of her race to receive an Award, but she was also the 1st Negro ever to sit at an Academy banquet”.

She received a plaque-style Oscar, the type awarded to all Best Supporting Actors and Actresses at that time.

The Academy Awards took place at the Coconut Grove Restaurant of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

Ms. McDaniel and her es**rt were required to sit at a segregated table for two at the far wall of the room; her white agent, William Meiklejohn, sat at the same table. The hotel had a strict no-Blacks policy, but allowed her in as a favor.

The discrimination continued after the award ceremony as well as her white co-stars went to a “no-Blacks” club, where Ms. McDaniel was also denied entry. 💚❤️🧡💛🖤

UCM FLOW

02/26/2025

02/25/2025

02/24/2025

02/20/2025

02/20/2025

02/18/2025

02/17/2025

02/15/2025

02/14/2025

02/13/2025

02/12/2025

02/11/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category