The Real Story Of The First “Aunt Jemima” And Why She Should Be A Role Model

Amid the wave of insane demands by the Leftist mob, such as calls for the defunding/abolition of police departments, the “social justice” mob is now after black people who appear on famous brands, such as Aunt Jemima’s pancake mix and syrup, and Uncle Ben’s rice. In an apparent effort of fighting racism, the Left is trying to do away with black characters on brands. Yes, they are just that stupid.
 
But with this stupidity comes the actual danger that it poses: they are eliminating not only part of this country’s history, as they were/are doing with the statues of various historical figures - from both people who were pro- and anti-slavery showing that either A) these protesters just want chaos regardless of politics or B) they don’t actually know any history or C) a bit of both - but they are also eliminating the legacy and memory of someone who honestly ought to be considered a role model for black people (and anyone, really, but particularly for black people).
 
As you could probably tell, I will talk about the story of the first “Aunt Jemima” and why she is an inspiration for everyone, particularly for black people.
 
The woman who would be recognized as “Aunt Jemima” was a black woman named Nancy Green. She used to be a slave, born in 1834, and eventually became “Aunt Jemima” when in 1890, the R.T. Davis Milling Company bought the formula of a ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour and sought a black woman to become a living trademark for the product. Davis found Nancy Green in Chicago and employed her to be said living trademark.
 
Nancy Green, at the time, was a cook for a family in Chicago, and helped raise the children of said family (African-Americans often were hired, after the abolition of slavery, by wealthy families to help raise the children, cook and overall be basically maids/butlers in the house).
 
Three years after she was first hired, the Davis Milling Company began “an all-out promotion of ‘Aunt Jemima’ at the World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago,” according to the African American Registry. Green demonstrated the pancake mix and made and served thousands of pancakes. “Green was a hit, friendly, a good storyteller, and a good cook. Her warm and appealing personality made her the ideal ‘Aunt Jemima,’ a living trademark. Her exhibition booth drew so many people that special policemen were assigned to keep the crowds moving. The Davis Milling Company received over 50,000 orders, and Fair officials awarded Nancy Green a medal and certificate for her showmanship.”
 
Green was signed to a lifetime contract to continue promoting the brand and be its face as “Aunt Jemima” (the name, by the way, was taken as “inspiration” by a vaudeville show where Chris Rutt, one of the people who made the formula and sold it to the Davis Milling Company, heard a song called “Aunt Jemima” sung by black singer Billy Kersands).
 
Unsurprisingly, this made Nancy Green very rich, making millions (for the time) and helping to organize a number of charities and programs from organizing the Olivet Baptist Church and “[h]er career allowed her the financial freedom to become an activist and engage in antipoverty programs,” according to Rush Limbaugh.
 
She was a missionary and an advocate against poverty and for equal rights. She helped many people in many ways.
 
Nancy Green was one of the many people who embody the American Dream. Making something of yourself out of nothing is the American Dream. This country is the only one where you can really start with nothing but the clothes on your back, and given the right amount of hard work, dedication, focus and savvy, you can make it far (kowtowing to the Left and being a particularly loud voice also helps, unfortunately).
 
Nancy Green was literally born a slave and she went on to make millions and be very wealthy for her time. She went from being considered property to owning property and having the financial freedom and muscle to help with causes she saw as valuable and important.
 
Now, I know what some might try and argue: “Wasn’t she given the opportunity to be rich by some white dude who wanted to use her as a living trademark? Isn’t that a bad thing for black people to view in a role model, needing the help of a white person to succeed?” To which I say a few things.
 
First of all, it’s not like Green was just given all her money. She had to work for it. She had to use her natural charisma, yes, but it’s not like success simply fell on her lap. She was given an opportunity by the owner of a company, but being given an opportunity, in and of itself, isn’t enough to get one to succeed. If I were given the opportunity to play for the Miami Heat, that doesn’t mean that I will become a superstar player and become extremely wealthy. I would need the right skill set and the dedication to work hard to succeed. That is the case for just about everything, including Nancy Green’s story.
 
Secondly, realize my earlier point that making something of yourself out of nothing is the American Dream. Nancy Green isn’t the only person to have done this. She’s not even the only black person to have done this. People like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Rush Limbaugh, Howard Schultz, Ben Carson, Oprah Winfrey, even George Soros, despite not necessarily liking the vast majority of these people, all embody the American Dream (regardless of whether they love or hate this country).
 
They all started with little to nothing and worked their way up to make something of themselves. Nancy Green is no different and someone who ought to be considered a role model for black people – a reminder that, even coming from what is considered the lowest possible place in the social totem pole, you can become a massive success in many different ways.
 
You see, something I have mentioned in the past is that African-Americans are being essentially “trained” by the Left to believe that their skin color will systematically predispose them to be discriminated against, racially profiled against and overall mistreated by others who do not look like them or think like them. They are taught, from a very young age, to live with a chip on their shoulder, believing the world, and this country in specific, to be automatically against them and there is little to nothing they can do to fight back.
 
That the only real way to success is by tearing others down and taking what is theirs as your own. That the people who are wealthy today are only as wealthy as they are because they stole and took from the little guy – which is themselves (many people, not just black people, are trained to think this way). Black people are taught that the system in the United States was created for the purposes of keeping black folk down, elevate white people and that your success was largely determined by the color of your skin.
 
And so, organizations and slogans like “Black Lives Matter” emerge, which are basically true (black lives do, indeed, matter and very few people would disagree, but this is because all lives matter), but exclude everyone else whose lives are theretofore assumed to either not matter or not matter as much as black lives.
 
Black lives matter because all lives matter. It’s not an either-or thing when talking about the idea itself. The idea that all lives matter naturally includes black lives. But many black people are basically forced to chant that slogan because they are taught to have a mindset of inferiority. The Democrat Party of the past is no different than the one from today: they still try to tell black people they are inferior beings to white people. The only difference is that they used to frame that inferiority as a good thing. But they still teach black people that they are inferior when they, in actuality, are not.
 
However, many black people do feel inferior and it shows. The way the Left frames things is how they cause so much damage. For example, what is being considered as the reason for PepsiCo to drop the “Aunt Jemima” brand is a TikTok video of a black woman claiming the character to be racist. A black woman is possibly the reason that another black woman’s story and legacy is essentially being eliminated. This is the damage the Left has caused to the black community over the past few decades: blacks eliminating the history of other blacks.
 
Black people feel inferior when they really shouldn’t. There are plenty of stories of great success by black people that should tell them they are not inferior. Even Charlamagne tha God (real name Lenard Larry McKelvey), who spoke with Rush Limbaugh about racial problems in America, believes wholeheartedly that this country is racist and is predisposed to put black people down, even though he himself has a net worth of $10 million and a yearly salary of $3 million for his show. He is someone who had a troubled past (multiple stints in jail for a number of things) and yet, he has made something of himself out of basically nothing.
 
He is someone who believes this country systematically keeps black people down despite himself being an example that that is not the case at all (and the fact that so many other black people are also wealthy shows that he is the example to the rule, not the exception).
 
Nancy Green, like Charlamagne, made something out of herself from basically nothing. She should be a role model for black people, particularly young black kids, that it is very possible for them to succeed in this country. And yet, her story and legacy are essentially being erased by Leftists claiming to fight for racial progress.
 
Nancy Green is an inspiration to anyone who wishes to succeed. I hope the damage the Left has caused to the black communities for centuries now will soon be undone. Only then, would we see true racial progress and justice.
 
Proverbs 16:3
“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”