Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all across the nation. Hopefully you all celebrate this wonderful day and have something to give thanks for. Here in Pennsylvania at my household we are thankful for my recent pay raise that has allowed my family minimal wiggle room economically. Although we are lower middle class, we still get by and my wife has recently been looking for a part time job as my children begin to get older and hopefully attend an African-American school. This is an exciting time for my family as we enter a new, more successful chapter of our lives.

Model T

My neighbors recently just purchased one of Henry Ford's Model Ts. It is rumored Ford is using an assembly line, and this is promising for me as I hope perhaps one day my family could afford a vehicle. I dream that the middle class, even lower middle class like myself will be able to enjoy luxuries in life.

I Don't Want to Work in a Factory

This whole work for your pay stuff in the new factory in Philadelphia is a little bit out of hand. They treat us laborers like trash and all of the management assumes we are the dumbest thing next to rocks therefore they herd us like animals and attempt to keep us "focused". As if there is anything else in a big rectangle with no windows and a bunch of machinery that is distracting us. Also, because I am an African-American man I get passed over quite often for jobs. The factory will lay off workers during a slow period and I always struggle to get rehired. But, for all my gripes and complaints, it is possibly the best paying job I could get considering my status other than my former part time teaching job. It is a give and take job, that I am not necessarily so sure about giving myself to.

Carnegie comes to Philly

The entrepreneaur and tyrannical man himself, Andrew Carnegie has set up his first plant here in Philadelphia. Although he personifies the true rags to riches story that I, Malcolm Gaye hope to one day live, one cannot help but notice the wrongs Carnegie does and the monopoly he runs in our country. How is it that one man can run an entire industry and control all the wealth especially in an industry as large as the steel industry? It is no wonder that all the wealth in this country runs through few people. But perhaps his factory will be a good thing for the city and surrounding towns like my own. It will draw workers and business and turn Philadelphia into the great hub it has been. Also it will only draw more help and minds to our school of all black collegiants.

Let's Move!

In regards to the uprising of reform movements, I cannot help but be an active member of the abolition movement. As a fellow, FREE, black man I look to my southern brothers and hope that one day we can all be together, free. I propose, perhaps not radical reform but a moderately paced movement to eventually unite our country and it's people. Are all people not created equal according to the minds and pens of Jefferson and Washington when they wrote our Declaration? It is simple to me and others like Douglass and Truth, all men, black, white, or yellow are equal and should be treated so in this great country of ours.

Telegraph in Philadelphia

Word has just come from Philadelphia that a telegraph has been received from Pittsburgh. The message was in regards to an influential mayorial decision in Pittsburgh. This exchange of news as it happens is enlightening and revolutionary.

The possibilities of this technology, if advanced, are endless and I am engaged to hear what my African-American students think about this new way of exchanging information across distances. For the first time, information can be spread around the world as it happens. This could possibly change the world, thank you Mr. Samuel F.B. Morse for your brains and efforts.

Response to the Erie Canal

The newspapers have been reporting the completion of the great canal, the Erie Canal connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and then in essence to the Atlantic Ocean.

Personally this story has no relevance to me, and quite frankly it makes me bitter to see the government continually spending their money in the wrong places, addressing non existant problems. With it's completion, the canal will surely increase and improve trade, but in turn it will further tatoo slavery and the concept of it into our country's skin.

As a teacher, I must acknowledge the superb technological feat that is the canal. And the benefits of its creation appear to be endless, once again another engineering feat that has further connected our country.

Who Am I?

Hello all,

My name is Malcolm Xavier Gaye. I am 27 years young. I live in the small town of Havertown, Pennsylvania. I am only a short (approximately one hour) ride outside of the bustling city of Philadelphia where I have begun working at the Institute for Colored Youth as a part-time teacher.

My wife of 8 years, La'Quisha and I have two children, DeAndre (age 4) and Babila (age 7). As Babila approaches the age of schooling I hope to some how manage to get him an education, for education is the key to freedom and success. My father, Marvin Gaye, was a slave who escaped his way to freedom before I was born and he implemented education upon me.

Quite frankly, I am very fortunate for my job and oppurtunity. It allows my family to live a decent life, but by no means do we have any perks. I am very active in the abolitionist community and I am working my way up the anti-slavery activism totem pole.