Once upon a time…
My sisters (including the sister/cousin) and I crashed a cruise with my mama and her sisters
Because BIH! Y’ALL *THOUGHT* Y’ALL WAS GOIN’ TO THE CARRIBEAN WITHOUT US.
To be fair, they hardly ever saw us.
We spent a majority of the cruise at the beach or drinkin’ or drinkin’ at the beach and occasionally we shopped.
But I’m pretty we shopped because we got ran outta the water by jellyfish. Don’t ask.
Just know that if you go to Haiti, it’s beautiful and the people are very nice (SHUT UP. You know who you are)
And they have jellyfish the size of small animals.
We had a great time. Aside from the jellyfish incident.
People who cruise are generally super nice; everybody is there to have a good time.
Especially the Librarians I met. MAN, those librarians could party.
HOW do I know they were Librarians? They were wearing matching shirts.
They were on vacation! They were in the ship casinos and the bars and the clubs partying it up. Woo!
AND THEN. I ended up in line with one of them, and this lady turned to talk to me only…
I did not understand a word the lady said. NOT ONE!
I was so confused!
So was she!
I was wearing a similarly colored shirt to hers, so I think she thought I was with their party.
I was not.
And then I got a GOOD look at her shirt.
And it did NOT say LIBRARIAN.
IT SAID LIBERIAN.
Oops.
ANYWAYS. Today is the VERY! FIRST! DAY! of February, so…
That’s right, kids! Welcome to your first BHFOTD.
And since I like firsts on the first, let’s talk about Wilmot Collins. First Black mayor of Helena!
Wilmot Collins, Liberian-born American (who is also a Libra and I don’t care if that’s not important to anyone but me) and FIRST black person to be elected mayor of any city in the history of Montana since statehood** He defeated four-term incumbent mayor James E. Smith (R) in the 2017 mayoral election on November 7, 2017. I wonder why the incumbent lost*** ::insert thinking emoji here::
Collins fled his native Liberia for Helena in 1994, as a refugee from the First Liberian Civil War. He had petitioned for refugee status to join his wife, who had moved to Montana two years before he did. He subsequently became a United States citizen, and worked for the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, specializing in child protection. For two decades, he has been a member of the United States Navy Reserve. Through the years, Collins and his family have faced their “fair share” [::side eye:: Fair Share?] of racism, saying, “people marked our home with ‘KKK’ and ‘Go back to Africa.’” Others tried to burn his car. But he wasn’t deterred to run for office to help ALL Helena residents.
“It bothered me a lot as a former refugee myself to hear some of the things being said about refugees [by trump – yes. I removed the capitalization. Eff that guy. ],” Collins said. “But what I think the community is saying is, ‘we don’t care about the color of your skin, your creed, your sexual orientation, we are looking for the best possible candidate to move us forward’ and they believed I was the one.”
So there you go. Look at Black people WHO ARE ALSO IMMIGRANTS making history. And ALSO making Black History.
Sorry today’s fact was so long. I never know how much I’m gonna say until I start sayin’ it.
Hope you enjoyed today’s BHFOTD! And if not, I’LL BE HERE ALL MONTH.
* Hi there new folks (if there ARE in fact, new folks), one stereotype I like to uphold is that this particular black person likes music (and watermelon but that’s a story for another day). That means that I’ll add music to these facts whenever I feel like it. AND I PICK WHATEVER KIND OF MUSIC I WANT. And I do love me some MCR. Please to enjoy with me. Or not. But since I write the fact Ima do what I want.
** In 1873, pre-statehood Montana elected the first black mayor of any city in the territory of Montana with the election of E. T. Johnson, a black barber from Washington, D.C. Johnson’s victory occurred before Montana had become a state or Helena had been officially incorporated as a city. So. It took Montana 144 years before they elected another black person to bring the total to TWO.
*** sarcasm font = comic sans font
Yeah I said it 