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| Black Stamps. October, 2007 |
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| Will your face be on a stamp someday? |
I am sure none of the people posted above ever expected to be on a U.S. Postal Stamp. Will you be?.
The rumor mill has always worked overtime at a frantic pace. But now with the wonders of the Internet, instant messaging, and E-mail unfounded assertions fly around the world at the speed of light.
Consider the rumor that the United States Postal Service is going stop making the Black Heritage series featuring the likenesses of famous African-Americans because the stamps dont sell as well as the stamps featuring white Americans.
Heres what USPS has to say about the rumor that has been floating around since 2005:
Discontinuing the series? Destroying the stamps? No way! Just more of those untrue Internet rumors.
A recent Internet rumor saying the Postal Service is discontinuing the Black Heritage series is another one of those untrue yarns that the Internet is sometimes famous for, as is the rumor that the Postal Service is destroying current Black Heritage series stamps.
The fact is that the Black Heritage stamp series is one of our most popular. We have no plans whatsoever to discontinue it. The Postal Service remains as strongly committed to honoring the historical achievements and contributions of African Americans on stamps as we've always been
The last stamp issued in the Black heritage series was Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz songstress and actress. So far the USPS has issued 30 Black Heritage Stamps so far. The names come from all walks of life; politics, civic rights leaders, sports, entertainment, science and medicine, education and the military. Here are stamps in the order of their issuance. Do recognize the names?
Harriet Tubman (1978)
Martin Luther King (1979)
Benjamin Banneker (1980)
Whitney Moore Young (1981)
Jackie Robinson (1982)
Scott Joplin (1983)
Carter G. Woodson (1984)
Mary McLeod Bethune (1985)
Sojourner Truth (1986)
Jean Baptiste DuSable (1987)
James Weldon Johnson (1988)
A. Phillip Randolph (1989)
Ida B. Wells (1990)
Jan E. Matzeliger (1991)
W.E.B. Du Bois (1992)
Percy Lavon Julian (1993)
Dr. Allison Davis (1994)
Bessie Coleman (1995)
Ernest E. Just (1996)
Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. (1997)
Madam C. J. Walker (1998)
Malcolm X (Malik El-Shabazz) (1999)
Patricia Roberts Harris (2000)
Roy Wilkins (2001)
Langston Hughes (2002)
Thurgood Marshall (2003)
Paul Robeson (2004)
Marian Anderson (2005)
Hattie McDaniel (2006)
Ella Fitzgerald (2007)
But, wait theres more. The USPS also honors African-Americans in their normal issuance of stamps. The list includes historical events such as:
End of segregation in the military through Executive Order 9981;
Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education, which ended segregation in public schools;
Montgomery Bus Boycott, following Rosa Park's refusal to give up her bus seat to accommodate a "whites only" rule;
Little Rock Nine as the first blacks to attend a previously "whites only" high school;
March on Washington, where a quarter million Americans witnessed Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech;
Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibited discrimination in public accommodations such as hotels, restaurants and theaters;
Historic 50 mile, five day march from Selma to Montgomery, AL where 25,000 people petitioned the governor to end discrimination; and,
Voting Rights Act of 1965 that strengthened the federal government's ability to prevent local and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote because of their race.
http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2005/sr05_016.htm
The African-Americans featured in the United States Postal Service Black Heritage stamps series in the image above are from left to right:
Paul Robeson
Marian Anderson
Arthur Ashe
Hattie McDaniel
Thurgood Marshall
Malik el Shabazz (Malcolm X)
Ella Fitzgerald.
Will your face appear on a US postage stamp someday?
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