1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: The original one hundred, Carter G. Woodson was playing chess. 2 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 2: I didn't know. 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: Welcome Back, Know it All to season five, one, two, three, 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: four five of the most anticipated podcast on the Black 5 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 1: Effect podcast Network, especially in February. 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 2: In title t I didn't. 7 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: I didn't know. I am your host, be dots and 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: boy oh boy, A lot has changed since last February. 9 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 2: Where to start? First order of business? 10 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: I won mister Alumni Winston Salem State University twenty twenty five. 11 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 1: It was a fundraiser for scholarships and I raised over 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: sixteen thousand dollars. My platform was a dollar in a dream. 13 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: I just asked everybody I came across to give one 14 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: dollar four quarters twenty niffolks. I was trying to show 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: the power of group economics and collaborative efforts, and it worked. 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: I wear my crown everywhere gas station basketball game, just 17 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: aimlessly walking around the house with a WSSU row bone 18 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: and my crown. But whens in Satom State University got 19 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: thirty three thousand alumni, but there's only one mister alumni, 20 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: and I am he. 21 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 2: As for the podcast, Man, we have grown. 22 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: Starting last March, we started dropping weekly episodes that's right, 23 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: and it's not just about Black history. 24 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 2: It's anything that I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either. 25 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: I threw myself twenty yards off of scooter in the 26 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: Dominican Republic. The locals came out and poured gasoline on 27 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: my open wounds. 28 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 2: I did an episode about it. 29 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,559 Speaker 1: Held a Dominican Republic and Haiti were once one big 30 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 1: island called Hispaniola. 31 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 2: I did an episode about it. 32 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, there's a phenomenon that says 33 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: about three hundred to two hundred million years ago, all 34 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: of the continents North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, 35 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: they all existed as one single continent, Pangaea. 36 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 2: I did an episode about it. 37 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: Look since last February, we dropped like forty new episodes. 38 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: Catch up on them for listeners of the podcast I 39 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: Didn't Know. 40 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 2: Maybe you didn't either. 41 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:12,959 Speaker 1: We'd call you a know it all, not because you 42 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: know it all, but because you'll want to know it all. 43 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 2: So welcome know it All. Back to season. 44 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: Five of I Didn't Know, Maybe you didn't either, And 45 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: this season is special because it's the one hundred year 46 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: celebration of recognizing Black History Month. 47 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 2: In February they're right. 48 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: One hundred years ago, in nineteen hundred and twenty six, 49 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 1: Carter G. Woodson founded Black History Week, And to kick 50 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: off the very first episode of season five, I've got 51 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: three of the most useless facts you'll never need, never 52 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: not a day in life about Carter G. 53 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 2: Woodson. 54 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: Disclaimer this segment is titled three Useless Facts, but trust 55 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: and believe these three facts are very important and will 56 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: be very useful throughout the episode. 57 00:02:58,880 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 2: Carry on. 58 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: First, did you know that the man responsible for Black 59 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: History Month, which started his Black History Week, didn't even 60 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: start high school until he was twenty years old. Your 61 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: second useless fact, that same gentleman, before he was a 62 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: scholar at Harvard, he was a coal miner. He would 63 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,639 Speaker 1: be reading of the other coal miners in West Virginia 64 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: about politics. And your third useless fact. When W. E. B. 65 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: Du Bois had saw what that gentleman had built, he 66 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: called it the single greatest achievement of the Harlem Renaissance. 67 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 2: Did you know all of that about Carter G. Woodson? 68 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 2: Because I didn't. 69 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: I didn't know. 70 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 2: Maybe you didn't know. 71 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: I didn't know. 72 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 2: Maybe I didn't know. 73 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. 74 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 2: I didn't know. I didn't know. 75 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: First of all, Black History Month wasn't a gift. It 76 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: wasn't a favor. It wasn't America saying, you know what, 77 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: let's include you all. Nah. Black History Month was a counterattack. 78 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: See in nineteen twenty six, a historian named Carter G. 79 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: Woodson launched something called Negro History Week. I'm sure you're 80 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: familiar with that, but even that name tells you what 81 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: time it was. At that time, American history books either 82 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: ignored Black people completely or mentioned us once briefly as 83 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: a problem. 84 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 2: Carter G. 85 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: Wasn't confused. He was strategic. He understood something very dangerous. 86 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: If you control the story, you control the future. So 87 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:40,359 Speaker 1: instead of begging universities to teach Black history, instead of 88 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: waiting on approval, instead of arguing with folks committed to 89 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: misunderstanding who we were, he built his own infrastructure. 90 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 2: Carter G. 91 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life 92 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: and History, the Journal of Negro History, and Negro History Week, 93 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: and it was placed deliberately in February to align with 94 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln's birthday, much to the dismay 95 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: of many black people like. 96 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 2: To say, hey, give us the shortest money. It's still 97 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 2: try to spider us. 98 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: Carter G Woodson picked that month specific. That wasn't a coincidence, 99 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: That was chess. He knew schools wouldn't teach it, textbooks 100 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: wouldn't print it, and America dang shure wouldn't protect it. 101 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: So he said, fine, we'll preserve it ourselves. And here's 102 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: the part that I didn't know, and maybe you didn't either. 103 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: Before Harvard, before the PhD, before the books and the awards, 104 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: Carter G. 105 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 2: Woodson was a coal miner in West Virginia. He would 106 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 2: read to. 107 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: The other miners about politics, about tariffs, about the gold standard. 108 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: I know they was out there, confused as hell on 109 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: not understanding the word. Cardig g Woodson was out there 110 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: time bout, but he was learning from men who had 111 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: survived the Civil War, men who told him about their 112 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: trials and their battles for freedom and equality. The man 113 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: didn't even start high school till he was twenty, and 114 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: he finished in two years because he had already taught himself. 115 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: Then Berea College, then the University of Chicago, then Harvard, 116 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: where his own advisor believed and wrote that the Negro 117 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:09,720 Speaker 1: was inferior. 118 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 2: Carter G. 119 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: Woodson earned his degree anyway, second black man to get 120 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 1: a PhD from Harvard, and the only person in American 121 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:24,159 Speaker 1: history whose parents were both enslaved to earn a PhD 122 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: in history. Rewind that and listen to that again, the 123 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: only one. And when W. E. B. D. Boys, the 124 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: first black man to earn the Harvard doctor, saw what 125 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: Carter G Woodson had built, he called Negro History Week 126 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: the greatest single achievement of the Harlem Renaissance era. Now 127 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: fast forward to twenty twenty six, one hundred years later, 128 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: and black folks still being ignored completely or mentioned once 129 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: briefly as a problem. But we still celebrating what a 130 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: coal miner built in his spare time. And I didn't know. 131 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: Maybe you didn't either, I didn't know. No doo 132 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 2: H