b'BLACK HISTORYSome of You Dont Know Our HistoryBy Dr. Nathan O\'Neal members, who waited in hiding after having beentoteachablackpersontoread).Whileridinga notified of the scheme in advance.streetcar in Philadelphia, he was ordered to give up Theyweren\'tintheclearhis seat to a white passenger; I n honor of American History, I\'m about to blowyet, though, because they stillSmalls left the car, rather than your mind by telling you about the one of the mosthadtosailpastanumbersuffertheindignityofbeing badass historical figures you never learned about inofConfederatecheckpointsforced to ride on the overflow school. If you have heard of him, then you probablyontheirwaytofreedom.Butplatform.Whenwordgotout already know who I\'m talking. If you haven\'t, you\'reSmallshadaplanforthat,thatadecoratedheroofthe not going to believe that nobody ever told you abouttoo: he had been watching theCivil War had been humiliated this guy. I\'m talking about Robert Smalls.captain and learning the handthusly,itpromptedaback-Robert Smalls was born into slavery on a Southsignals he used at the check- lashthatledtotheintegra-Carolinaplantation.Asayouth,hewaspermit- points.Donningthecaptain\'stion of public transportation in ted to go to Charleston and work, though he wasuniform and trademark strawPennsylvania. forced to send most of his wages back to his master.hat, he guided the Planter pastButRobertSmallsSTILL HebegantakingjobsatthedocksinCharlestonfive Confederate harbor forts bywasn\'tfinished.Heentered Harbor, and later on some of the ships that cameimpersonating the captain andpolitics,servingintheSouth andwentfromtheport.BythetimetheCivildisplaying the correct signals.Carolinalegislaturebefore Warcamearound,Smallshadbecomeanexpe- Bythetimeanyonerealizedbecoming one of the first black riencedseaman,sohewasassignedtosteerathe Planter had gone missing,peopleelectedtotheU.S. Confederate Navy vessel called the Planter, baseditwastoofargonetocatch.HouseofRepresentativesin out of Charleston. The crew consisted of a few whiteHehadhiscrewreplacethe1874. And he remained active officers and a number of slaves.Confederateflagsaboardtheinpubliclifeintothe20th Smallswenttogreatlengthstoshowtheship with white ones, and theycentury; in 1913, he prevented Confederates that he was trustworthy and content;wereinterceptedbyaUnionDr.O\'Neal the lynching of two black men they never knew that he was hatching an elaboratevessel who saw the white flagsaccused of murder in his town plan to escape from slavery and deal a blow to thejust before they were about toby warning the mayor that the Confederacy,andthathehadsecretlyrecruitedfire.local black population would burn the city to the mostoftheenslavedcrewinhisplot.ThenoneThe Union sailors were perplexed by the sight ofground if the mob was not stopped. night, when the Planter had docked in Charlestonan all-black crew, until Robert Smalls came forwardAnd the plantation where Smalls had grown up a with a shipment of heavy guns aboard, Smalls putand shouted, "Good morning, sir! I\'ve brought youslave? He purchased it after the war, and lived there his plan into action. When the officers went ashoresome of the old United States guns, sir!" He thenuntil his death in 1915. The monument at his grave for the evening and left the ship in the care of theasked the Union sailors to give him a United Statesisinscribedwiththisquote:"Myraceneedsno enslavedcrew,Smallsledtheminhijackingtheflag to raise on the Planter.special defense, for the past history of them in this vessel. They made one stop at another set of docksRobert Smalls\' story would be amazing if it endedcountry proves them to be the equal of any people topickupthefamiliesofSmallsandothercrewthere, but it doesn\'t. After receiving a large sum ofanywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the prize money for his delivery, he entered service inbattle of life."the Union Navy as a pilot on several vessels, includ- And that is the story of the great American hero ing the repurposed Planter. In this role, he removedRobertSmalls,knownbytoofewpeopletoday.I mines that he had helped lay as a slave, and par- hope this inspires some folks to learn more about ticipated in a number of sea battles.his impressive life, and the life of others, and the Duringonebattle,thefightinggrewsointensetrue history of our great country.that the captain of the Planter hid in the interior of the ship and ordered the crew to surrender. Fearing that the black crewmen would be enslaved or killed if captured, Smalls refused to surrender; instead,Smalls led them in hijacking the hetookcommandoftheshipandnavigatedthe Planter through the Confederate onslaught to safe- vessel. They made one stop at ty. Because of his bravery, Smalls was promoted to captain himself, becoming one of the highest rank- another set of docks to pick up ing and highest paid black officers in the Civil War. Smallsleveragedhisresultingfameintosocialthe families of Smalls and other activism,throwinghissupportintoaninitiativecrew memberstoeducateformerslaves,andbecomingliterate himself (in most Confederate states, it was illegal 1.Chicago Mass Choir -6.Deitrick Haddon - T.i.m.e.My Soul Says Yes 7.Luther Barnes - 2.Melvin Crispell Iii -Look To The HillsI\'ve Got A Testimony 8.Myron Butler - 3.Mali Music -My TributeThe Book Of Mali 9.Clark Sisters - 4.Ricky Dillard -The ReturnChoirmaster 10Micah Tyler - 5.Lecrae - Restoration New Today2 SEPTEMBER 2020 BOCNEWS.com'