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| This is a story of a little boy named Theo, who woke up one morning and asked his mother, "mom, what if there were no Black people in the world?" Well, his mother thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Son, follow me around today and let`s just see what it would be like if there were no African Americans people in the world." Mom said, "Now go get dressed and we`ll get started." |
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| Theo ran to his room to put on his clothes and shoes. His mother took one look at him and said, "Theo, where are your shoes? And those clothes are all wrinkled, son. I must iron them." However, when she reached for the ironing board, it was no longer there. |
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| You see Sarah Boone, a black women, invented the ironing board, and Jan E. Matzelinger, an African American man, invented the shoe lasting machine. |
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| "Oh well," she said, "please go and do something with your hair." Theo ran in his room to comb his hair, but the comb was not there. You see, Walter Sammons, an African American man, invented the comb. |
| Theo decided to brush his hair, but the brush was gone. You see Lydia O. Newman, an African American female invented the brush. |
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| Well, this was a sight: no shoes, wrinkled clothes, hair a mess. Even Mom`s hair, without hair care inventions of Madam C. Walker, well, you get the picture. |
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| Mom told Theo, "let`s do our chores around the house and then take a trip to the grocery store." Theo`s job was to sweep the floor. He swept and swept, and swept. When he reached for the dustpan, it was not there. You see, Llyod P Ray, an African American man, invented the dustpan. |
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| So he swept his pile of dirt over in the corner and left it there. He then decided to mop the floor, but the mop was gone. You see, Thomas W. Stewart, an African American man, invented the mop. Theo yelled to his Mom, "Mom, I`m not having any luck." |
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| "Well son," she said, "let me finish washing these clothes, and we will prepare a list for the grocery store." When the wash finished, she went to place the clothes in the dryer, but it was not there. You see, George T. Samon, an African American man, invented the clothes dryer. |
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| Mom ask Theo to go get a pencil and some paper to prepare their list for the market. So, Theo ran for the paper and pencil but noticed the pencil lead was broken. Well, he was out of luck because John Love, an African American man, invented the pencil sharpener. |
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| Mom Reached for a pen, but it was not there because William Purvis, an African American man, invented the fountain pen. |
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| As a matter of fact, Lee Burridge invented the typewriting machine and W. A. Lovette the advanced printing press. Theo and his mother decided just to head out to the market. |
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| Well, when Theo opened the door, he noticed the grass was as high as he was tall. You see, John Burr, an African American man, invented the lawn mower. They made their way over to the car and found that it just wouldn`t go. You see, Richard Spikes, an African American man, invented the automatic gearshift, and Joseph Gammel invented the supercharge system for internal combustion engines. They also noticed that the few cars that were moving were running into each other and having wrecks because there were no traffic signals. You see, Garrett A. Morgan, an African American man, invented the traffic light. |
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| Well` it was getting late, so they walked to the market, got their groceries, and returned home. Just when they were about to put away the milk, eggs, and butter, they noticed the refrigerator was gone. You see, John Standard, an African American man, invented the refrigerator. So, they just left the food on the counter. |
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| By this time, Theo noticed he was getting mighty cold. Mom went to turn up the heat, and what do you know? Alice Parker, an African American woman, invented the heating furnace. Even in the summertime, they would have been out of luck because Fredrick Jones, an African American man, invented the air conditioner. |
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| It was almost time for Theo`s father to return home. He usually takes the bus, but there was no bus, because its precursor was the electric trolley, invented by another African American man, Elbert R. Robinson. |
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| He usually takes the elevator from his office on the 20th floor, but there was no elevator because Alexander Miles, an African American man, invented the elevator. |
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| He also usually dropped the office mail at the near by mailbox, but it was no longer there because Phillip Downing, an African American man, invented the mail box, and William Barry invented the postmarking and canceling machine. |
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| Theo and his mother sat at the kitchen table with their heads in their hands. When father arrived, he asked, "Why are you sitting here in the dark?" Why? Because Lewis Howard Laimer, an African American man, invented the filament within the light bulb. |
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| Theo quickly learned more about what it would be like if there were no African American people in the world, especially if he was sick and needed blood. Dr. Charles Drew, an African American scientist, found a way to preserve and store blood, which led to his starting the world`s first blood bank. |
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| Well, what if a family member had to have heart surgery? This would not have been possible without Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, an African American doctor, who preformed the first open heart surgery. |
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| So, if you ever wonder, like Theo, where would we be without African American people? Well, it`s pretty plain to see. We would still be in the DARK! |
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