02/07/2026
I Am Black History: How It Started (👉🏾 recorded narration in the comments).
Activism is in my blood. I was raised in a home where politics, justice, and social issues were part of everyday conversation. Our living room held three tall bookshelves—our family library—filled with the works of Amiri Baraka, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Toni Morrison, and other Black writers and thinkers. These were not books I discovered later in life; they were required reading while I was still in elementary school.
My mother was an avid reader who made sure I didn’t just read these works—we discussed them. She taught me who the authors were, why their voices mattered, and how their words fit into a larger struggle for dignity and liberation. My father, whose first of three degrees was in history, carried a deep passion for American History. Summers at home often came with assignments, discussions, and impromptu lectures. History was not something I memorized; it was something we interrogated.
I also learned early that social consciousness requires action. I still remember the day my mother was arrested for protesting a Denny’s that was discriminating against Black and Hispanic customers. That moment made something clear to me: awareness alone is not enough. If you see injustice, you speak up. And if necessary, you put your body, your voice, and your reputation on the line.
So yes, I was nurtured to be socially conscious. But more importantly, I was raised to act.
What I came to understand later is that my commitment to justice did not begin with my parents—or even with me.
My story of activism stretches back more than a century, to my great-grandparents and extended family—the Saunders, Johnsons, Rahmings, and Rolles—who immigrated to the United States from the Bahamas. Over the course of this month, I will share their stories and the reasons they came. Each journey holds lessons about courage, survival, and the pursuit of opportunity in a country that promised much and delivered unevenly.
Today, I begin with one ancestor whose life continues to shape how I understand leadership and resistance.
Alexander Rahming (1884–1922)
Alexander Rahming was born on February 24, 1884, in Nassau, Bahamas. As a young man, he emigrated to the United States, eventually settling in New York City after marrying his wife, Alice Dean. In Harlem, Rahming emerged as a political activist, organizer, and powerful public speaker during one of the most transformative periods in Black American history.
Rahming was deeply involved in the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), serving as president of its New York City chapter—the largest in the world. In this role, he worked alongside UNIA founder Marcus Garvey and radical socialist Hubert Harrison. He became widely known as a “street scholar” or “stepladder orator,” part of a generation of self-trained Black intellectuals who brought African and African American history directly to the people.
On Harlem street corners during the World War I era, Rahming delivered speeches that educated newly urbanized Black communities about African history, Pan-African philosophy, and the global dimensions of racial justice. These gatherings were often described as both the “university and the church of the streets,” spaces where working-class people could learn, question, and imagine new futures for themselves.
Rahming did not shy away from controversy or confrontation. He was an outspoken critic of police brutality and led organizing efforts in response to violent assaults against Black residents in Harlem. In 1918, he publicly mobilized the community to demand the transfer of a New York City police officer known for targeting Black residents, calling on Harlem citizens to sign petitions and demand accountability.
He also understood that the struggle for Black liberation extended beyond U.S. borders. In a 1921 pamphlet, Rahming explored how African Americans might position themselves in the event of a war between the United States and Japan, critically examining American racism, global power dynamics, and the contradictions Black Americans faced when asked to defend a nation that denied them full citizenship. He recognized the Black freedom struggle as both racial and economic—a fight against racism and exploitation alike.
Alexander Rahming remained a key voice in the UNIA until his death in 1922, at just 35 years old. Though his life was brief, his impact was profound. He used his voice to educate, organize, and challenge systems of power—leaving behind a legacy of courage, intellect, and unapologetic advocacy.
When I look at my own life—my leadership, my insistence on equity, my refusal to be silent—I see him.
This is not just family history.
It is inheritance.
It is responsibility.
I am Black History.
👉🏾 link to narrated version is in the comments.
