Author Frances Presley Rice Releases Black Pride Commentary on African American Contributions

New commentary presents Black Americans as participants, builders, innovators, and leaders in the American story

TAMPA, FL, UNITED STATES, September 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Author and commentator Frances Presley Rice has released a new commentary centered on Black pride and the role of African Americans in the founding and development of the United States. Drawing on themes from her historical writings and her book, Black Trailblazers: Pioneering African Americans Who Shaped the Founding and Development of America, the commentary presents Black Americans not only as people who endured injustice, but also as active participants in building the nation.

The commentary traces contributions across multiple periods of American history. It highlights Black patriots of the Revolutionary era, including Crispus Attucks, James Armistead Lafayette, Peter Salem, and Salem Poor; public figures and institution builders such as Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, Robert Smalls, and Booker T. Washington; and innovators and cultural pioneers including George Washington Carver, Katherine Johnson, Oscar Micheaux, and Jackie Robinson.

Rice also examines the history of slavery and civil rights while emphasizing agency. The commentary describes how Black Americans resisted enslavement, served in the military, pursued legal remedies, established schools and churches, created businesses and civic organizations, voted, and held public office. It connects Reconstruction and the modern civil rights movement as periods in which Black Americans sought enforcement of constitutional rights and expanded participation in American public life.

“Black history includes suffering, but it cannot be confined to suffering,” Rice said. “Black pride also comes from knowing that African Americans fought for independence, defended the country, built institutions, advanced science, created businesses, shaped culture, and pressed the nation to honor its founding principles. These achievements belong at the center of American history.”

Economic participation is another theme. The commentary discusses the importance of education, property ownership, entrepreneurship, invention, and access to opportunity in the growth of Black communities. It also considers how major government policies affected Black Americans, including the burdens placed on many Black tenant farmers and sharecroppers when agricultural production was reduced during the Great Depression. These examples are presented as part of a broader examination of how law, public policy, and economic freedom influenced individual and community advancement.

The release of the commentary extends Rice’s work to encourage a fuller account of African American history. Its central premise is that teaching hardship without achievement leaves the historical record incomplete. By bringing together stories of military service, civic leadership, scientific discovery, enterprise, artistic accomplishment, and constitutional advocacy, Rice seeks to provide readers and educators with a broader framework for understanding Black history and American history.

“Young people should learn that they inherit more than a history of oppression,” Rice said. “They also inherit a record of courage, intellect, service, faith, perseverance, and accomplishment. That fuller history supports pride grounded in documented achievement.”

About Frances Presley Rice
Frances Presley Rice is an author, screenwriter, independent documentary producer, retired lawyer, and retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel. She is the author of two books, Black Trailblazers: Pioneering African Americans Who Shaped the Founding and Development of America and STEM Pioneers and Visionaries: A Compendium of African American Innovators and Inventors in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Rice is a commentator advocating for truth, integrity, and respect in public discourse.

Frances Presley Rice
National Black Republican Association
info@nationalblackrepublicanassociation.org

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