(Fwd) What if ?

[KE Hones]

>
>
> --- Forwarded mail from l...@gene.COM
>
> From: Lisa Tealer <l...@gene.COM>
> Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 06:51:36 -0700
> reply-to: l...@gene.COM
> To: aai...@gene.COM, aaib...@gene.COM
> Subject: What if ?
>
> I saw this on Baydrum and wanted to pass it along. Please share with
> others.Food for the soul. -Lisa
> ************************************************************************
> WHAT IF THERE WERE NO BLACK PEOPLE IN THE WORLD?
>
> This is a story of a little boy named Michael (SevenX), who woke up one
> morning and asked his mother, "Mom, what if there were no Black people
> in
> the
> world?" Well, his mother thought about that for a moment, and then
> said,
> "Son, follow me around today and let's just see what it would be like if
> there
> were no Black people in the world." Mom said, "Now go get dressed and
> we
> will
> get started."
>
> Michael ran to his room to put on his clothes and shoes. His mother
> took
> one
> look at him and said, "Michael, where are your shoes, and those clothes
> are
> all wrinkled son. I must iron them." But when she reached for the
> ironing
> board it was no longer there. You see Sarah Boone, a black woman,
> invented
> the ironing board and Jan E. Matzelinger, a black man, invented the shoe
> lacing machine. "Oh well, she said, please go and do something to your
> hair."
> Michael ran into his room to comb his hair, but the comb was not there.
> You
> see, Walter Sammons invented the comb. Michael decided to just brush
> his
> hair, but the brush was gone. You see, Lydia O. Newman, a black female,
> invented the brush. Well, this was a sight, no shoes, wrinkled clothes,
> hair
> a mess, even Mom's hair without the hair care inventions of Madame C.J.
> Walker, well you get the picture. Mom told Michael, "let's do our
> chores
> around the house and then take a trip to the grocery store." Michael's
> job
> was to sweep the floor. He swept and swept. When he reached for the
> dust
> pan, it was not there. You see, Lloyd P. Ray, a black man, invented the
> dust
> pan. So he swept his pile of dirt over into a corner and left it there.
> He
> then decided to mop the floor, but the mop was gone. You see, Thomas W.
> Stewart, invented the mop. Michael yelled to his Mom, "Mom, I'm not
> having
> any luck." "Well, son," she said, "let me finish washing these clothes
> and
> we
> will prepare a list for the grocery store." When the wash finished she
> went
> to place the clothes in the dryer but it was not there. You see, George
> T.
> Sammon, a black man, invented the clothes dryer. Mom asked Michael to
> go
> get
> a pencil and some paper to prepare their list for the market. So
> Michael
> ran
> for the paper and pencil but noticed that the pencil lead was broken.
> Well,
> he was out of luck because Hon Love, a black man, invented the pencil
> sharpener. Mom reached for a pen, but it was not there because William
> Purvis, a black man, invented the fountain pen. As a matter of fact,
> Lee
> Burridge invented the typewriting machine and W.A. Lovette the advanced
> printing press. Michael and his mother decided to head out to the
> market.
> Well, then Mike opened the doors he noticed that the grass was as high
> as he
> was tall. You see the lawn mower was invented by John Burr, a black
> man.
> They made their way over to the car and found out that it just wouldn't
> go.
> You see, Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift
> and
> Joseph Gammel invented the supercharger system for internal combustion
> engines. They noticed that the few cars that were moving were running
> into
> each other and having wrecks because there were no traffic signals. You
> see,
> Garrett A. Morgan, a black man, invented the traffic light. Well, it
> was
> getting late so they walked to the market, got their groceries and
> returned
> home. Just when they were about to put away the milk, eggs and butter
> they
> noticed that the refrigerator was gone. You see, Hon Standard, a black
> man,
> invented the refrigerator. So they just left the food on the counter.
> By
> this time, Mike noticed that he was getting mighty cold. Mom went to
> turn
> up
> the heat, and what do you know. Alice Parker, a black woman, invented
> the
> heating furnace. Even in the summer time they would have been out of
> luck
> because Frederick Jones, a black man, invented the air conditioner. It
> was
> almost time for Mike's father to arrive home. He usually takes the bus.
> But
> there was no bus, because its precursor was the electric trolley,
> invented
> by
> another black man, Elbert R. Robinson. He usually takes the elevator
> from
> his
> office on the 20th floor, but there was no elevator because Alexander
> Miles,
> a
> black man, invented the elevator. He also usually dropped off the
> office
> mail
> at a near by mailbox, but it was no longer there because Philip Downing,
> a
> black man, invented the letter drop mailbox and William Barry invented
> the
> postmarking and canceling machine.
>
> Mike and his mother sat at the kitchen table with their heads in their
> hands.
> When the father arrived he asked, "Why are you sitting in the dark?"
> Why?
> Because Lewis Howard Latimer, a black man, invented the filament within
> the
> light bulb. Mike
> quickly learned what it would be like if there were no black people in
> the
> world. Not to mention if he were ever sick and needed blood. Charles
> Drew,
> a
> black scientist, found a way to preserve and store blood, which led to
> his
> starting the world's first blood bank.

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[Erik D. Mueller-Harder]

I definitely appreciate the intent, and many or most of the attributions
might be spot on, I don't know.

But do we have any idea _who_ invented the comb and the brush? Mind, I
suspect it's fairly likely that they _were_ black, but wouldn't it have
been ten thousand years ago at the very least?

Just curious....

-- Erik Mueller-Harder
Trustee, South Hampton Public Library
Volunteer, Barnard School library, South Hampton, NH
Owner, Praxisworks: Computing solutions for the humanities

On 1/7/99 at 9:37 am, KE Hones <kho...@muse.sfusd.k12.ca.us> wrote:

> I saw this on Baydrum and wanted to pass it along. Please share with
> others. Food for the soul. -Lisa
> *********************************************************************

> WHAT IF THERE WERE NO BLACK PEOPLE IN THE WORLD?
>

> [snip] Walter Sammons invented the comb.... Lydia O. Newman, a

> black female, invented the brush.

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