Thomas Jennings had the answer. He called it "dry-scouring." It paved the way for what we call dry cleaning. It's now a global industry.
Jennings was working as a tailor in New York City when he invented a unique method of removing dirt and grease from clothing that left the items looking good as new.
New Yorkers know alternate side parking days make way for street cleaning.
But, did you know the street sweeper was invented by an African American man in Newark?
Charles B. Brooks came up with the first self-propelled street sweeper in 1896.
It is technology we still use 125 years later.
They are two Tri-State trailblazers who changed the way we clean our clothing and our streets.
RELATED: Dr. Jewel Plummer-Cobb blazed a path for Black women in higher education
MORE ABC 7 UNITE
See more stories at abc7NY.com/unite
[Ads /]
SEND STORY IDEAS TO EYEWITNESS NEWS
Watch Here & Now
Here & Now episode archive
RESOURCES
We are also publishing resources in a range of areas, which will grow and can be found below:
Ways to Help
Black Lives Matter
Black Voters Matter Fund
NAACP
National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY)
Black LGBTQIA + Migrants Project
Teaching the Next Generation
Black Lives Matter at School
Creating Space To Talk About Racism At Your School
[Ads /]
Teaching for Black Lives - Rethinking Schools
Black-Owned Bookstores in New York and New Jersey
Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn)
Grandma's Place (Harlem)
Sister's Uptown (Manhattan)
Source of Knowledge (Newark)
The Lit. Bar (Bronx)
The Little Boho Bookshop (Bayonne)
Books
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Podcasts
[Ads /]
1619
Black Wall Street 1921
Jemele Hill is Unbothered
Still Processing:
Movies
American Son: Available on Netflix
If Beale Street Could Talk: Available on Hulu
Just Mercy: Available on Amazon Prime
Selma: Available on Amazon Prime
The Hate U Give: Available on Amazon Prime
When They See Us: Available on Netflix
Documentaries
13th: Available on Netflix
America Inside Out with Katie Couric: Available on National Geographic
Becoming: Available on Netflix
I am Not Your Negro: Available on YouTube