lets celebrate black history month together

i was speaking to my good comrade lexie robinson and she reminded me that this month is black history month. how could i have forgotten this? im a little disappointed in myself for that mental slip-up. in order to make it up to myself, and to you, lexie and i decided to learn more about black people. some things we may already know. some things may be a new crumb for our minds. either way, we will learn, remember, and cherish every piece of information that gets posted here, or anywhere else for that matter. today, i will be posting three black history pioneers and lexie will be posting two on her blog here. let us begin with

Jan Ernst Matzeliger.





Jan Ernst Matzeliger was born on September 15, 1852 in Dutch Guyana, which is now known as Suriname. His father was a Dutch engineer and his mother black Surinamese slave. in 1883, he patented his invention, which was a shoe lasting machine which not only sped up the production of shoes a considerable amount, but it also slashed the prices of shoes nearly in half. By making a shoe by hand before Matzeliger's invention, one could produce up to 50 pairs of shoes a day. Matzeliger's shoe lasting machine produced anywhere between 150 to 700 pairs of shoes a day.

all this from a black man from the caribbean. not too shabby.