Black History, Memorandum

Whenever Black History is mentioned in everyday conversation, on television, or in a newspaper or magazine — history is reminisced to the familiar tune of King Jr having a dream, Parks at the front of the bus, and X by any means necessary.

Black History, however, goes far beyond the names of those we learn during our childhood and it goes far beyond the struggle of Blacks that has been watered down into made for television movies on BET.

History is a narrative. A story of acts, ideas, or events that will or can shape the course of the future; and there are so many stories in Black History that have yet to truly be shared.

While doing research for a journal article, I discovered a narrative about the 25^th Infantry Bicycle Corps; the original Buffalo Soldiers. From Fort Missoula, Montana (a place familiar to me as it is home to my friends at Freeman Transport) — the 25^th made history by simply riding a bicycle.

Written as a memorandum, my recent contribution to the Freeman blog takes a brief look into how the men of the 25^th Infantry Bicycle Corps rode into Black History with the turn of their pedals.

Heart, Like A Wheel

One of my new obsessions lately is to acquire rare and interesting books about bicycling. One book in particular, C.R. Woodard’s Scientific Training for Cycling, had been on my list for some time.

Originally published in 1951, Woodard’s notions about cycling, training and fitness would prove valuable to even todays competitive cyclist.

The chapter on Women in Cycling stood out among the rest given the ideas that C.R. Woodard was pioneering during a time when women in the 50s were returning to the household after starring as Rosie the Riveter in the second world war.

My latest contributor piece, Heart Like A Wheel (on the Freeman Transport site) delves into why C.R. Woodard believed women were just as competitive in cycling (if not more so) than their male counterparts.

He was definitely on to something. Marinate.

DYKC?™ #23 — Human Powered Zero

Gather round, as I run it down, and lay out the tragic tale of a boy, his bike, and his Tour de France broken dreams.

[audio:http://doyouknowclarence.com/podcasts/DYKC/dykc23.mp3%5D

Subscribe to DYKC?™ on iTunes or via RSS
Download the audio source for this episode of DYKC?™