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The
Celebration of Black History
Month, and its Importance to
African-American Youth
Monday,
February 02, 2009
Legends
By
Edmund Zar-Zar Bargblor
It
is the time of the year when
African-American scholars and
political leaders will re-echo
the contributions
African-Americans have made to
the development of the United
States and the world in
general. In essence, this is
time of the year when all
blacks, be they African-
Americans, Haitians,
Liberians, Nigerians and all
people of color need to
reflect on their African
heritage, culture and how far
they have come in
understanding the struggles
and sacrifices others have
made during the days of
yesteryears in America.
When
discussing the importance of
Black History month, the
legacy of slavery still holds
a haunting place in our
collective memory. For
Africans residing in the
Diaspora, especially those in
America, this is an
opportunity to understand the
impact of slavery on the lives
of African-Americans and how
this experience has impacted
their perceptions about the
continent of Africa and its
peoples.
The
African experience in America
is a duality, the negative
attributes of slavery and its
positive counterparts of human
progress /development.
Like any other human
experience, there are
conditions that entails
negative and positive
expressions - realities that
continue to intrigue the minds
of men.
Conditions that
appeared to be negative in
nature might interestingly
have positive manifestations
which man fails to initially
comprehend.
History,
in my view, provides a story;
a narration of human events,
and the possibility to learn
from the mistakes of others
whose past activities continue
to impact and sometimes
influence human actions in
contemporary times. A month to
celebrate Black History in
America, indeed, is a
time to reflect on the
contributions of Blacks to the
advancement of human
civilization. It also a time
to promote events
that disseminates
information to American youth
about the importance of the
History of African-Americans.
The story of African-Americans
is a significant attribute of
the American story. Blacks’
contributions have been
exceedingly overlooked in
American secondary school
curriculum.
Elissa
Haney, in her article, The
History of Black History,
pointed out that Americans owe
the celebration of black
History Month, and more
importantly, the study of
black history to Dr. Carter G.
Woodson.
Dr. Woodson was born to
parents who were former
slaves; he spent his childhood
working in the Kentucky coal
mines and enrolled in high
school at age twenty. Elissa disclosed in her article that Carter G. Woodson graduated within two years and later went
on to earn a PhD from Harvard
University. Dr. Woodson
accordingly, chose the second
week of February for Negro
History Week because it marks
the birthdays of two men who
greatly influenced the black
American population, Frederick
Douglas and President
Abraham Lincoln.
His
hopes to raise awareness of
African-American's
contributions to civilization
was realized when he and the
organization he founded, the
Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History (ASNLH),
conceived and announced Negro
History Week in 1925. The
event was first celebrated
during a week in February
1926.
Another
American writer, Shauntae
White, wrote an article
entitled Black History Month, the Origin, “the celebration was
expanded to a month in 1976,
the nation's bicentennial.
President Gerald R. Ford urged
Americans to ‘seize the
opportunity to honor the
too-often neglected
accomplishments of black
Americans in every area of
endeavor throughout our
history.’ That year, fifty
years after the first
celebration, the association
held the first African-
American History Month. By
this time, the entire nation
had come to recognize the
importance of Black history in
the drama of the American
story. Since then each
American president has issued
African-American History Month
proclamations. And the
association—now the
Association for the Study of
African American Life and
History (ASALH), continues to
promote the study of Black
history all year.”
The
month of February for most
African Americans is indeed
very special. This month has
its significance in black
American History. It has been
recorded that:
.
February
23, 1868
Dr. W. E. B DuBois,
renowned civil rights leader
and co-founder of the NAACP
was born.
.February 3, 1870
The 15th.
Amendment was passed, granting
blacks the right to vote.
.February
25, 1870
the first black US
senator, Hiram R. Revels
(1822-1901), took office.
February
12, 1909
the
National Association for the
Advancement of color People
(NAACP) was founded by a group
of concerned black and white
Americans in New York City.
February
1, 1960
In what would become a
civil-rights movement
milestone, a group of black
Greensboro, N.C., college
students began a sit-in at a
segregated Woolworth’s lunch
counter.
In
my years of teaching, students
continued to manifest the need
to learn more about the
history of African Americans. African
American
African-Americans
have made great progress over
the years, the election of
Senator Barack Obama as
America’s 44th.
President demonstrates that
Americans as a whole are
willing to advance the cause
of racial equality.
African-American
youth in particular want to
know their history and the
values of their fore fathers,
who paved the way for others
to advance the status of
African-Americans. In 1996,
MEE Productions Inc., in order
to learn more about the
attitudes of some students in
Los Angeles, Chicago and
Philadelphia conducted
research in an endeavor to
ascertain their feelings
regarding black history. The following are some of the key findings from the focus groups,
which resonated with the
diverse group of young people
who participated in the
project.
1.
Lack of knowledge of African
American history.
A significant majority of
focus group participants
exhibited a lack of knowledge
of African-American history.
Many did not know or were not
sure of the significance of
the Civil War or the
Emancipation Proclamation.
2.
Strong desire to know the
history.
Many youth lamented the
inadequate or nonexistent
African-American history that
they had received in school.
Others were embarrassed by
their own lack of knowledge.
Majority felt that it was
important for all young
people to know their history
because it lets them know
"who they were, where
they were at, and how they got
there."
3.
Preference for accomplishments
instead of horrors.
To the youth, the images of
slavery generally offered are
cruel, ugly, and hateful.
Participants were adamant that
they also wanted to learn
about the accomplishments of
African-Americans during this
period as well as stories of
slaves overcoming, and
thriving, or actively
resisting despite the horrors
of slavery.
As
we celebrate Black History
Month, let us be mindful that
many of these achievements
would not have been possible
without the educational
opportunities presented by
Historically Black colleges
and Universities.
These institutions are
a great source of
accomplishment and pride not
only for the African-American
community but for the entire
United States.
Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.; Thurgood Marshall, first
black Supreme court Justice,
and Babara Jordan, graduate of
Texas Southern University, who
was the first black woman
elected to the Texas Senate,
are a few examples of black
civic and government leaders
who attended
Historically Black
Colleges and Universities.
The
founding fathers of America
must be commended for their
vision of democracy that
continues to inspire the
world, especially African
nations.
Many Africans who
return home after completing
their studies in the United
States have taken up
leadership positions. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a
graduate of Lincoln
University, Pennsylvania, was
elected first President of
Nigeria.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, also
of Lincoln University,
returned home to Ghana and
became that country's first
President after British
Colonial rule in 1957.
American institutions of
higher learning including
Historically Black colleges
and universities continue to
transform the image of the
United States and the
African-American community
throughout the world.
As
an educator, I am constantly
reminded by the words of Her
Excellency, the Right
Honorable Michaelle Jean, and
Governor General of Canada who
alluded in her speech marking
the occasion of the
celebration of Black History
Month, February 15, 2006:
“We
have known the trials and
tribulations of exclusion, and
must work without pause to
loosen the grip of prejudice.
At stake are the present and
the future of our young
people, who must join us in
the journey. Many young blacks
identify with images of
poverty, violence and
isolation projected by pop
culture and fail to see a
viable alternative to a life
full of despair. The
statistics, unfortunately,
bear them out. They indicate
that blacks are less likely to
be hired for a job that
matches skills or less likely
to find suitable housing. They
are also liable to being
harassed or arrested for an
act they did not commit. This
discrimination sinks its
insidious roots in the soil of
ignorance and lack of
understanding. It has no place
in a society that prizes above
all the values of respect,
openness and sharing, which
are paramount for me.”
HAPPY
BLACK HISTORY MONTH TO THE
READER OF THIS ARTICLE,
and may the Dream
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
continues to live on in us:
“Let us
not seek to satisfy our thirst
for freedom by drinking from
the cup of bitterness and
hatred.”
Edmund Zar_Zar Bargblor,
is former Deputy Managing
Director of The National Port
Authority, Republic of Liberia,
and presently an Instructor of
Mathematics in the Providence
School system. He is a
recipient of numerous awards,
including one awarded
by Rhode Island’s Governor,
Hon. Donald L. Carcieri for Outstanding Community Leadership. He has written several
articles on Liberian,
professional and international
issues.
He can be reached at: Edmund.Bargblor@ppsd.org or
ZBargblor@aol.com
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