Celebrating Black History ✊🏾
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We answer a listener's question: What is a filibuster? ✊🏾 Let's continue our celebration of Black History Month with Five Fascinating Facts! 🦇 Why did an elderly fruit bat suddenly become internet famous? 🛰 How does a satellite orbiting the Earth monitor climate change from outer space? 🦎 Plus! The Trivia Question of the Day!
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📝 Sign up for The Ten News-letter!
✊🏾 Discover 5 ways you can celebrate Black History Month virtually in 2021!
🛰 Explore the Earth from outer space aboard the Sentinel-6.
🗣 Go on, unlock the fascinating history of the filibuster
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Transcript
[00:00:00] Various Voices: [00:00:00] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:00:06] From Senate speeches to sneaky smugglers! In the next ten minutes., we'll get the lowdown on what's up in the world. I'm Bethany Van Delft and this is The Ten News.
You may have noticed lots of grownups talking about something called a filibuster lately. Our friend Emerson in San Jose, California, asked The Ten to explain what that's all about. Well, Emerson, here's your answer! The filibuster is a rule that lets senators give a speech for as long as they want to in order to delay or block a bill they disagree with from being passed.
They can literally just keep talking about absolutely anything for as long as they want. [00:01:00] Senators have recited Shakespeare, and even read cookbooks during a filibuster! That is ridiculous. And the only way to stop the filibuster is with a super majority vote - that's 60 senators now, which hardly ever happens. The longest single person filibuster went on for 24 hours, and eigtheen minutes. Are you kidding me? Right now, Democrats and Republicans, each hold 50 Senate seats. Since Vice President Harris, a Democrat gets to cast the tie-breaking vote, Democrats have control of the Senate.
So it's not surprising that while lots of Democrats think we should get rid of the filibuster rule, Republicans really want to keep it around. And that debate is why you've been [00:02:00] hearing so much about it lately.
Do you have a question about something you'd like explained? Email us at hello at thetennews.com.
You already know we celebrate Black History Month every February, but why? Our correspondent Pamela Kirkland has Five Fascinating Facts about Black History Month.
Pamela Kirkland: [00:02:23] Fact Number 1: It all started when historian Carter G. Woodson, and a group of prominent Black leaders decided there should be a week long celebration of Black achievement in 1926. They decided on the second week of February because it was the same week of the birthdays of Frederick Douglass who escaped slavery and spent the rest of his life, speaking out against it. And President Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, eventually ending slavery in the United States. In the late 1960s during the Civil Rights movement, the idea to turn that week of [00:03:00] celebration into a month long celebration was born!
Fact Number 2: Carter G Woodson is known as the "father of Black history." Born in December, 1875, Woodson was the son of enslaved people who grew up working in coal mines and quarries Because he was working at a young age, he wasn't able to go to high school until he was 19 years old, but he graduated in just two years and went on to earn a Master's Degree in History.
His ultimate goal was to write Black achievements into U.S. hIstory and he deserves a lot of credit for the month long celebration of Black history that we all know now.
Fact Number 3: While the idea of celebrating Black history caught on, Black churches and Black newspapers were crucial to spreading the idea into communities. Carter G. Woodson's association was busy asking schools and educators to include Black History week into [00:04:00] what they were teaching, but churches and Black papers, we're doing a lot of that work too.
Fact Number 4: In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially designated the month of February Black History Month. A pretty significant year too! 1976 was also the celebration of the American Bicentennial or America's 200th birthday. President Ford said Americans should seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.
Fact Number 5: The United States, isn't the only country to celebrate Black History Month! Countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands all have months to honor the culture and achievements of people of African descent. And as much as we celebrate Black history, we're not just talking about stuff that [00:05:00] happened a long time ago.
You've been hearing a lot about COVID-19 vaccines. Well, did you know the idea of vaccines was introduced to the United States by an enslaved African man in the 1700s? Fast forward to today. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett is one of the lead NIH scientists for COVID research. And Dr. Corbett worked directly to develop and produce the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
So remember, Black History is about more than just celebrating one special month.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:05:38] Coming up next, it's the science spotlight. Although we've known about climate change for decades, it can be hard to convey the impact it'll have on our planet since its effects aren't immediate. Thankfully, there are people working to combat that problem for future generations. [00:06:00] Just take the Sentinel Six Michael Freilich satellite! Launched on November 21st, 2020 by network of organizations, including NASA and the European Space Agency.
This incredible satellite is currently orbiting the Earth, collecting important data about climate change, like never before. The spacecraft monitors things like: sea levels, quality temperatures, CO2 levels, and vegetation, in order to show researchers how climate change is reshaping Earth's coastlines.
Wow, that's really extensive! Researchers hope better understand the ways in which Earth's climate is changing so policymakers can work to combat it based on their findings. They'll even be able to do simpler things with the information, like making weather forecast more accurate. That's encouraging.
So how long will it take? The Sentinel - Six is expected to be in [00:07:00] orbit for five and a half years. That seems like a long time, but thankfully the spacecraft is so advanced, it can provide data in real time. So researchers can immediately beam the info from space. Do you want to know the coolest part? You can get involved.
Thanks to NASA is web-based app, Eyes on the Earth, we humble earthlings can virtually climb aboard the spacecraft and watch as the satellite collects the critical data in real time. You can find the link on our website to give it a try. Let's hope the Sentinel -Six finds the critical info they need to help make the world a little bit better and safer place for future generations.
Tracy Leeds Kaplan: [00:07:56] Hey parents and awesome guardians. I'm TracyLeeds Kaplan Executive [00:08:00] Producer of The Ten News. I'm Owen. And I'm your son. How would you like to know the future?
Owen Kaplan: [00:08:12] At The Ten News on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, there we drop a few clues on upcoming episode in emoji.
Tracy Leeds Kaplan: [00:08:21] What's your favorite emoji?
Owen Kaplan: [00:08:23] Maybe the scream emoji.
That's fitting.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:08:28] And now, Trivia on The Ten!
A man in Austria was stopped by authorities last month for trying to smuggle what in his suitcase?
Was it A) 74 live chameleons, B) 25 stolen museum artifacts or C) 17 elderly bats. Did you guess it? The answer is [00:09:00] A!
Though chameleons are known for their ability to blend in and hide, they couldn't hide from airport security's x-ray machine. The man was fined and the chameleons were taken to an Austrian zoo. Auf Wiedersehen, little lizards.
Time is up! That's the end of The Ten for today, but you can catch new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and in collaboration with Next Chapter Podcasts and distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News writing team is led by Editorial Director Tracy Crooks with contributions from Stephen Tompkins and Pamela Kirkland.
The creative producer is Jenner Pascua. Marketing is led by Jacob Bronstein with social media and web support by Stephen Tompkins. Editing and sound design by Pete Musto under the Production Direction of Jeremiah Tittle. Executive producer Donald Albright and show creator [00:10:00] Tracy Leeds Kaplan rounds out the team.
If you have questions about the show, a story idea, or a fun fact you want to share, email us at helloatthetennews.com. And don't forget to subscribe, rate and review The Ten News on Apple podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. It really makes a difference. I'm Bethany Van Delft.
And thanks for listening to The The News. Catch you next time.
