By Jeneé Osterheldt
Boston Globe
“My name is Brandy Fluker Oakley and I want to celebrate New England Black History by celebrating Lewis Howard Latimer.
He was born in 1848 in Chelsea, Mass., after his parents escaped slavery in Virginia. He was an inventor and patent writer who invented the carbon filament for the lightbulb and the precursor to the air conditioner. He also drafted the necessary drawings to patent Alexander Bell’s telephone and served as a consultant to patent law firms. Latimer is an ancestor who sums up ‘because of them we can; without them we can’t.’
I’m grateful for the legacy of Black history that fuels me every day.”