In celebration of Juneteenth I did an Instagram post that listed 10 inventions that you may not know were invented or co-invested by Black Americans.
Lisa Gelobter, if you like GIFs and streaming service Hulu, you should thank her
Ever played with a Super Soaker? Thank Lonnie Johnson for making you wet or helping you get friends wet
Love that PC and color monitor along with printers, keyboards and mice, maybe let Mark Dean know how much you appreciate all he did with the IBM team years ago with the original PC
That caller ID that lets you know who is calling, fiber optic cables, all due to work that Shirley Jackson did
Had a family member who needed cataract surgery, thank Patricia Bath
I know I feel safer with my home security system, but I did not know I had Marie Van Brittan Brown to thank, another black female who also wanted to feel safe in her house
Squeamish about donating blood but you do it anyway because it helps others, I present to you the ‘Father of the Blood Bank’, Charles Richard Drew
Wow, those traffic lights that tells us to start slowing down, proceed with caution and has probably saved untold number of lives. You need only thank Garret Morgan
But let’s get to my question…Do racists eat peanut butter? Because if they do, maybe now’s a good time to tell them that it was created by George Washington Carver. Yeah, that sticky, sweet, sometimes creamy, sometimes filled with nuts thing that you put on what is undoubtedly the most famous American sandwich ever, the PB&J…yeah that…yep, was invented by a black man.
I find joy in discovering things new and old where blacks had a hand or led the invention of things and products we use or consume. It’s AWESOME to me…but if you’re a racist does that peanut butter stick in your craw? just a little bit? And if they didn’t know about these inventions having a black history and someone told them, do racists stop driving, using security systems, never get hospitalized, donate all their technology and stop eating peanut butter?
Anyway, just my musings. Tell me your thoughts.