IN BLACK RESISTANCE CELEBRATION OF DAVID WALKER: EMINENT DANGER

[ATTENTION: THIS IS A 2006 RE-POST OF "THE BLACK FIST: EVERYDAY BEST & BRIGHTEST BLACK HISTORY SERIES. EVERY YEAR IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST WE, THE BLACK FIST ORGANIZATION CELEBRATE "BLACK RESISTANCE DAY" & THE LIVES OF HISTORIC BLACK MEN SUCH AS NAT TURNER, GABRIEL PROSSER AND THE BROTHER YOU WILL READ ABOUT TODAY, BRO. DAVID WALKER. AGAIN JOURNEY BACK WITH US IN TIME TO CELEBRATE & STUDY THE LIFE OF THIS GIFTED BLACK REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER & LITERARY AUTHOR IN HIS FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY. ENJOY!] In our first installment of "The Black Fist Black History Best & Brightest Series", We are going to explore the life of David Walker. David Walker was a man well-educated and way beyond his time. He wrote a very bold controversial book called "Walker's Appeal" , at a time when blacks were not even allowed to learn how to read and write. This Black man David Walker begins our "Best & Brightest" series. General Nikki X likes to call this one...."Eminent Danger." DAVID WALKER 1796-1830 David Walker's objective was nothing short of revolutionary. He would arouse slaves of the South into rebelling against their masters. His tool would be his own pamphlet, David Walker's Appeal. . ., a document that has been described as "for a brief and terrifying moment. . .,the most notorious document in America." The son of a slave father and a free black mother, David Walker was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, perhaps in 1796 or 1797. In accordance with existing laws, since his mother was a free black, David Walker was also free. This freedom, however, did not shield him from witnessing firsthand the degradations and injustices of slavery. He witnessed much misery in his youth, including one disturbing episode of a son who was forced to whip his mother until she died. Walker travelled throughout the country, eventually settling in Boston. But even in that free northern city, with its prevalent discrimination, life was less than ideal for its black residents. Still, Walker apparently fared well, setting up a used clothing store during the 1820s. In Boston, Walker began to associate with prominent black activists. He joined institutions that denounced slavery in the South and discrimination in the North. He became involved in the nation's first African American newspaper, the Freedom's Journal out of New York City, to which he frequently contributed. By the end of 1828. he had become Boston's leading spokesman against slavery. In September of 1829 he published his Appeal. To reach his primary audience -- the enslaved men and women of the South -- Walker relied on sailors and ship's officers sympathetic to the cause who could transfer the pamphlet to southern ports. Walker even employed his used clothing business which, being located close to the waterfront, served sailors who bought clothing for upcoming voyages. He sewed copies of his pamphlet into the lining of sailors' clothing. Once the pamphlet reached the South, they could be distributed throughout the region. Walker also sought the aid of various contacts in the South who were also sympathetic to the cause. The Appeal made a great impression in the South, with both slaves and slaveholders. To the slaves the words were inspiring and instilled a sense of pride and hope. Horrified whites, on the other hand, initiated laws that forbade blacks to learn to read and banned the distribution of antislavery literature. They offered a $3,000 reward for Walker's head, and $10,000 to anyone who could bring him to the South alive. Friends concerned about his safety implored him to flee to Canada. Walker responded that he would stand his ground. "Somebody must die in this cause," he added. "I may be doomed to the stake and the fire, or to the scaffold tree, but it is not in me to falter if I can promote the work of emancipation." A devout Christian, he believed that abolition was a " glorious and heavenly cause." David Walker published a third edition of his Appeal in June 1830. Two months later he was found dead in his home. Although there was no evidence supporting the allegation, many believed that he had been poisoned. Later scholarship suggest he died of tuberculosis, the same disease that killed his daughter. Well folks what do you think of that? Was our hero David Walker murdered -Or - Did he indeed die of tuberculosis? The Black Fist has always had a strong belief for years that David Walker was indeed murdered for his Appeal and the outspoken boldness within his writings that the black man should rise up on his white oppressors and fight to be free. Free from the chains of slavery. You can read Walkers Appeal today. It is sold in most black owned and operated book stores or you can buy it online. Give us your comments and thoughts about the life, works, writings and death of Bro. David Walker. He will always be remembered by The Black Fist as one of our "Best & Brightest", Everyday Black History Heroes! STAY TUNED FOR OUR SECOND INSTALLMENT COMIN' BLACK ATCHA SOON. RIGHT HERE ON THE "ONLY OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE BLACK FIST", THE BLACK FIST BLOG! BLACK FIST, BLACK POWER, BLACK NATION!!!