I ask this question as we are now nearing the end of this month of reflection. How would you define this month, that has been set to celebrate the accomplishments of people with African descent?

This question should invoke something in you, no matter what ethnicity you are. Most were introduced to the accolades of the pioneers of black history month either through school or by society. With the advent of social media, and the internet there is limitless resources available to research this topic.

Since I asked the question let me tell you how I define black history month.

I look at this month as an opportunity to reflect on the many endeavors that people of African descent have accomplished in this country.

People often ask me, what do you know about the history of Black People? To which my reply is only what I have studied and seen with my own eyes.

A lot of people in this modern age can only seem to name entertainers or athletes as those that have had any impact on Black History. If we peer a little deeper we will find that there is so much more to the story than that, not excluding that entertainers and athletes have done an outstanding job themselves in defining Black History.

People can almost automatically name Harriet Tubman for her role in the Underground Railroad or Frederick Douglass and his abolitionist movement back in the 19th century.

How many remember that he was also an author and accomplished speaker, or that he held an office in the US Government that led to him having conversations with both Presidents Lincoln and Andrew Johnson in regards to black soldiers and the black plight leading up to President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Harriet Tubman was also a great abolitionist herself, as you know she escaped slavery and fled north to Philadelphia. Pennsylvania was a free state at the time and it was from here that she utilized the network of the Underground Railroad to travel back into the South and liberate other enslaved blacks at great personal peril to herself.

Along the way she met fellow abolitionists John Brown and Frederick Douglass. Here’s a little bit of trivia history for you both Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were both born in the state of Maryland.

Those are two great examples of where the movement now at this point started. We would be remised if those were the only names we mentioned though.

I’m going to list in the paragraph a host of black inventors and what their contribution to society was.

Upon looking at this list see if there are any products you use today and reflect, and think what would you do without them. Here’s the list: 1949 -Frederick M. Jones – Air Conditioning Unit , 1791 – Benjamin Banneker – Almanac, 1945 – Charles Drew – Blood Plasma Bag, 1971 – George T. Sampson – Clothes Dryer, 1878 – Osbourn Dorsey – Door Knob & Stop, 1867 – Alexander Miles – Elevator, 1872 – Thomas Marshall – Fire Extinguisher, 1898 – Lydia O. Newman – Hair Brush, 1887 – Sarah Boone – Ironing Board, 1896 – George W. Carver – Peanut Butter, 1905 – Madam C.J. Walker – Straightening Comb.

Out of those inventions there are things that you use everyday and if it wasn’t for the vision of these individuals some of things we as people take for granted would not be available for us to use.

Take Peanut Butter, if it wasn’t for Mr. George Washington Carver we would not have this treat that is enjoyed by billions of people around the world and 10 of millions right here in this country, (sorry to those with allergies to peanuts), most people don’t know that Carver was more than just peanuts, although that’s what he is most noted for. He was another former slave who persevered through being denied opportunity left and right, to become a botanist, chemist and scientist.

This led to Carver becoming a professor at Tuskegee Institute, running the school’s Agricultural Department. Any woman that has ever used a straightening comb owes a thank you to Madam C. J. Walker, who created the comb and specialized products for African American hair. Walker (Born Sarah Breedlove) was the first of her family to be born free from slavery.

Which is also a first in this article as all others mentioned were born into slavery and had to flee to escape the oppression. Breedlove had a troubled youth, including being orphaned, and overcoming a scalp disorder which caused her to lose hair. It was here that she first experimented with products, and with the help of her husband adopted the more famous pseudonym of Walker, proceeding to become the first American female (of any ethnicity) millionaire.

As time has gone on so have the accomplishments, I’ve talked about freedom fighters and inventors. There are also educators and literary achievers as well.

Earlier I mentioned that George Washington Carver became a professor at the prestigious Historically Black College – University (HBCU’s as they are also referred to) Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University).

Did I happen to mention that Tuskegee Institute was founded by a Black man by the name of Booker T. Washington? Born a slave in Virginia, Washington put himself through school and became a teacher, along the way he had to take many odd jobs to put himself through school.

In 1875 Washington graduated from Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute then attended Wayland Seminary in DC. In 1881, Alabama legislature approved funds for a “colored” school, the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Washington was offered the job to run this school by General Armstrong, a man who also offered him a job to teach at the Hampton school.

He took the opportunity and ran with it and Tuskegee University is one of the more prominent names among HBCU’s. Maya Angelou, has inspired many a poet and creative writer, including the person writing this article. If not for her works such as “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, who knows if people of color would have the courage to put their feelings and thoughts to paper and share with the world.

Angelou also published a Pulitzer Prize nominated collection of works. She wrote a poem called “On the Pulse of Morning” which she recited at President Clintons inauguration. Angleou wrote many autobiographies and won numerous awards for her literary prowess. She will be remembered for paving the way for young poets and writers of all race, creed, or nationality.

It’s very hard to have an article about black history and not include the above two men somewhere in your story. Most if not all people have heard some story about these two individuals so I will not restate everything but it still needs to written and spoken about for record and impact.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Minister Malcolm X, to me men with the same goal, but different methods toward achieving that goal. Most people are aware that Dr. King stood for a nonviolent solution to solving the Civil Rights Movement, which would lead to his famous “I Have a Dream” Speech that he delivered on the Mall in Washington D.C. Along with leading the march Selma to Montgomery Alabama, so that the voices of the oppressed could be heard. Dr. King’s legacy and accomplishments are immortalized with a monument built to him in Washington D.C.

Not far from where he gave his speech. Malcolm X’s path was different from Dr. King’s, but none the less impactful.

His was more of a “By Any Means Possible” approach which seemed to resonate with quite a few persons. This approach was fostered by his time within the Nation of Islam, which had a role in shaping his thoughts.

After meeting with Elijah Muhammed, and coming to believe in his teachings. Malcolm adopted the anti-establishment view, which would not rule out violence in achieving it’s goals. This view was in line with a lot of militants at the time.

His charismatic and magnetic personality led many to follow him and the teachings of the Nation. His influence is unmistakable to this day. You can see some of the “By Any Means Necessary” ethos in some of todays protests.

Early on I talked about how a lot of young people associate Black History with athletes and entertainers, but even then only know of those athletes and entertainers of the here and now.

Which is mostly due to nobody sitting and telling them about the ordeals athletes and entertainers went through back in history. The freedoms and liberty they see their favorites have wasn’t always that way.

Jackie Robinson was the first recognized minority to integrate baseball, mostly because he was a great player, also because he had the temperament to handle what would come his way.

That said he still endured the horrors and tragedies of racism and racists, but because of his journey black people were allowed to play the sport that was the nations pastime. No longer was it a sport that kids of inner cities could only play in the streets while dodging cars, they could now dream of making it to the big time.

Bill Russell the most decorated winner in basketball history, he won at every level, high school, 2x Champion (consecutive) at San Francisco University, 11x NBA Champion. The last stat is the one I will draw your attention to, because those championships were won in Boston, a place not known at the time for being kind to him, as other teams erect statues to their all-time greats, here is an individual who people ignored in the city all they while he was the anchor of bringing the city 11 titles in 13 years.

Yet he still fought on and continued to win and fight for rights his own way. Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) is now one of the most revered and respected athletes around the world.

For a time that wasn’t always true, as his views on the Vietnam War and his religious beliefs made him an enemy of his own country. While he was heavyweight champion of the world, he was drafted to fight for the US in an unpopular war.

Rather than abide and go, he stated it was against his religion and that the people of Vietnam had done nothing against him, unlike the people who were sending him off to war were doing to people like him back home.

With that he was stripped of his belts and convicted by the Supreme Court, and also suspended from boxing, having to miss more than 3 years of his career because of the suspension. He held fast to his beliefs and returned to boxing and prominence once the conviction was overturned.

We are in the midst of many movements one being the #OscarsSoWhite movement in Hollywood. People are taking a position that Hollywood is not recognizing minorities contributions to the industry which could be true in the eyes of some. Our focus is on the pioneers of the past to the present though.

Sidney Poitier, the first black to win an Oscar for Best Actor in 1964. Mr. Poitier has been a shining example of what talent can do. He has worked as a stage and film actor and starring in many different roles. Poitier toured the country in the all-black production of Anna Lucasta.

His talents were so prominent that he starred in a movie that at that time shook the foundation of many thoughts, the film was called “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, where he was engaged to a white woman, and his fiancées parents were played by luminary actress/actor Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.

Poitier would also star in other roles and musicals which led to him co-starring with Dorothy Dandridge. Dandridge was the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress. She was a singer in Harlem’s Cotton Club and at the famed Apollo Theatre.

Here ability to break the standard for African American women in film, has been compared to many iconic integrations of American culture, including Jackie Robinsons. Dandridge starred in many films, in one such film titled “Drums of the Congo”, she got to play an African princess.

She was an international sensation, especially as a singer, she even sang with Desi Arnaz of “I Love Lucy” fame. It was the role in the film “Carmen Jones” that catapulted her into the stratosphere with contemporaries such as Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner, this role also led to her Oscar nomination.

Lastly we’ve come to the political portion of this article. The contributions of blacks to politics have not been numerous.

We mentioned earlier how Frederick Douglass held a high office in the Government a long time ago, but since then there haven’t been many blacks to hold a seat of political influence. I could have included Governor Douglas Wilder of Virginia, but chose not to in favor of the four above.

Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Also helped to end legal segregation, as he took on and won the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954.

Marshall studied law at Howard University, an HBCU located in Northwest Washington D.C. Before becoming a Justice, Marshall tried and won many cases defending persons of color, noted as a pioneering civil rights lawyer. Justice Marshall upon his appointment to the High Court, served for 24 years.

Nelson Mandela, born under South African apartheid, political prisoner, president, beacon for global peace.

Mandela’s fight for a peace and integration of black South Africans by the South African government should be mandatory reading for all. It was his will and determination and spirit that lead to the end of apartheid in the country.

Mandela’s efforts were rewarded in ways unimaginable when he was arrested and imprisoned in 1956. In 1993, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1994 he was elected as South Africa’s first Black President. The country would later go on to name July 18th, which was Mandela’s birthday, as “Mandela Day”, a day to promote global peace and to also celebrate his legacy.

President and Mrs. Obama, they became a reason why we wrote this article. Our 44th and current president, born to a white mother and Kenyan father, Ivy League educated, lawyer, former senator.

Here is a man who showed black people that you can be absolutely anything you want to be in this country, so long as you are willing to work for it and persevere through all levels of adversity and strife.

The President has won the Nobel Peace Prize, brought troops home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, cut a massive chunk of the national debt, created jobs, guided the country out of a recession and under his watch eliminated an enemy that eluded the previous administration for several years.

There have been struggles along the way, but as with the other Black inventors, educators, athletes and politicians he has endured and come out the stronger for it. First Lady, Michelle Obama has been a leading force for Black women alongside the President, she has held her position with dignity, poise and grace.

She has been a leading voice to stamp out childhood obesity through her healthy eating program. She has become a fashion icon for women to look up to and emulate.

She is a staunch advocate for military families, and many other charitable and humanitarian efforts. She to is Ivy League educated and practiced law, another example of what you can do if you work hard and strive for greatness.

I know that this article was extremely long and probably lost you along the way a bit, but the point was to spark an internal or external dialogue within you.

To give rise and answer to the question “How Do You Define Black History Month”, the notes about the people mentioned are to give some facts that might not have been known.

It would also hopefully give you the reader some insight on history, but to know that it may say Black History, but to others it’s just History. I hope you enjoyed the read.

by

Christian Parker