Leroy William Vaughn M.D., M.B.A. is not only one of the world’s renowned ophthalmologists, but also one of the leading authorities on Black history.  Basketball is Michael Jordan’s game.  Black history and ophthalmology are Dr. Vaughn’s games.  Dr. Vaughn’s medical credentials and expertise as a diabetic eye specialist and as a remarkable surgeon make him one of the leading practitioners in his field.  His knowledge as an historian is equally as outstanding.

Dr. Vaughn’s patients swear by him for his medical skills.  Historians marvel at him because of his talents as a researcher and writer on the subject of Black history.  As a lecturer, he’s one of the most in-demand speakers in the nation.  Like magic, Dr. Vaughn can rattle off facts on Black history like an orator recites a speech he has practiced on delivering for days.  When it comes to reciting the roles Black people have played in world history, Dr. Vaughn has dazzled some of the most learned minds in America.

Confirmation of this fact can by found on the pages of this in-depth study on the subject.  For instance, did you know that a Black man with only a sixth grade education named Garrett Morgan (1875-1963) invented the first traffic signal, the gas mask, and marketed the G.A. Morgan Refining Cream, which was the first hair straightening product?  Did you know that Garrett Morgan made so much money from his hair cream that he was able to purchase an automobile? In fact, traffic congestion while driving his new car was motivation for Morgan’s traffic signal invention.

Did you know that in 1721 an African slave named Onesimus taught his “master” the age-old African technique for smallpox inoculation in which a pustule from an infected person was ruptured with a thorn and then used to puncture the skin of a normal person?  Did anyone ever tell you that the original Haitians were called the Arawaks or Tainos before Christopher Columbus and that they were very generous and could swim long distances?  Did you know that George Franklin Grant, a Black man, invented the golf tee in 1898 and patented it a year later?  Grant, one of the first two African American graduates of the Harvard Dental School, took a liking to golf.  He invented the golf tee because he didn’t like the way golfers had to mix dirt and water to make a mud mound for teeing off.  Did anyone ever tell you that a Black man named John Lee Love invented the Love Pencil Sharpener in 1897, the kind most first-graders take to school today?

Did anyone ever tell you that Dr. Charles Richard Drew was the discoverer of successful blood plasma storage techniques that made blood banks possible?  In 1941, the American Red Cross appointed Dr. Drew as the director of its first blood bank.  Did anyone ever tell you that the collective contributions of Black Americans to science is so extensive that it is not possible to live a full day in any part of the United States, or the world for that matter, without sharing in the benefits of their contributions in such fields as: biology, chemistry, physics, space and nuclear science?  Well, if you didn’t know these things, then keep on reading, and Dr. Vaughn will tell you about these and hundreds of other facts about Black history.

Other inventions patented by African Americans include the folding lawn chair, the doorstop, the ironing board with collapsible legs, and the bottle cap.  In fact, there’s a long list of inventions made by Blacks during an age dominated by Whites.  If Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Elgin Baylor had been born in the 18th or 19th century, we would never have known their names because of the concerted effort not to acknowledge the accomplishments of Black people.

Dr. Vaughn didn’t just decide to write a book on Black history.  This has been his passion and his life’s mission!  Academically, Dr. Vaughn has the knowledge and the talents to make his life’s work a reality on the pages of this book.  Dr. Vaughn was rooted and grounded in Black history as a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1969 after a two-year premedical study tour at the University of Vienna in Austria.  In addition to Dr. Vaughn, Morehouse College has produced some of the most prominent and learned scholars in the world including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, and Dr. Charles Finch.  Dr. Benjamin Mays, one of the world’s most noted educators and a mentor to Dr. King, was president of Morehouse College from 1950 until 1967, and set an extremely high standard for all Morehouse graduates.

Medically speaking, Dr. Vaughn is tops in his field.  He received his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, where he also received the Franklin C. McClain Award in 1972 as the most outstanding Black medical student in the nation.  He interned at the Department of Medicine in Chapel Hill, NC, and completed his Ophthalmology fellowship and research training at Harvard University’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital in 1979.  Dr. Vaughn was certified as a Diplomat of the American Board of Ophthalmology in 1978 after scoring in the top three percentile nationally on the written examination.  Moreover, he was named as an Associate Examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology’s oral examinations in 1984.

In addition to a brilliant scholar, Dr. Vaughn is also a community leader.  For giving his time and his talents to the community, he was honored by the late Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, L.A. County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, the State of California, and the Aesculapian Honorary Society et al.

Dr. Vaughn’s book should not only be required reading for Blacks, but for all people.  Most of society still believes what historian Arnold Toynbee wrote in his 1934 history book: “It will be seen that when we classify mankind by color, the only primary race that has not made a creative contribution to any civilization is the Black race.”  Dr. Vaughn sets the record straight on this lie and on so many other untruths about Black history.

Vernon E. Jordan better known as a civil rights fighter, businessman, lawyer, and “first friend” of President Bill Clinton vividly illustrates the essence of Dr. Vaughn’s book when he wrote in his book entitled “Vernon Can Read! A Memoir:” “Black people have done wonderful things for this country (saved its soul, in fact), and we have been an example to the world in the process.  That should never be forgotten, even as we continue to press ahead, in our many and varied ways, toward our future.  If we did so much when we had so little, think of what we can do now that we have so much more.”

Covered in Dr. Vaughn’s book are the ancient period, after Christ, after 1492 (Columbus), after 1776 (Independence), after 1865 (slavery), and after 1900 (20th Century).  If you really want to know about “Black People and Their Place in World History” then you should rush out and obtain a copy of Dr. Vaughn’s masterpiece before the sun goes down.

Brad Pye, Jr.

Formerly (for thirty years): Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper’s Sports Editor, Sports Director for KGFK, KACE, KJLH, and DKAY radio stations. 

Currently Brad Pye, Jr. is sports columnist for the following publications: Los Angeles Watts Times

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