5 Reasons to Recognize African-American History Month
On February 1, 2010, President Obama wrote an official Proclamation describing this month as National African American History Month. Here’s how our first African-American President describes the theme this year:
“In the centuries since African Americans first arrived on our shores, they have known the bitterness of slavery and oppression, the hope of progress, and the triumph of the American Dream. African American history is an essential thread of the American narrative that traces our Nation’s enduring struggle to perfect itself. Each February, we recognize African American History Month as a moment to reflect upon how far we have come as a Nation, and what challenges remain. This year’s theme, ‘The History of Black Economic Empowerment,’ calls upon us to honor the African Americans who overcame injustice and inequality to achieve financial independence and the security of self empowerment that comes with it.”
Well said, Mr. President. And just how do we recognize these leaders in business, in the arts, education, science—those who are showing just what it means to be “economically empowered?” And just what does it mean to set aside one month of the year to recognize the achievements of African-Americans? Today in Eduify we’ve chosen 5 Notable African-American Leaders whose accomplishments have informed not only other African-Americans, but other Americans and citizens worldwide.
5. Langston Hughes
Perhaps one of the greatest American poets of his generation, Langston Hughes wrote lyrically about the black experience in Harlem, New York, as well as commentaries about race and society. His work, which has often been associated with jazz and blues rhythms, laid the groundwork for what later became performance and slam poetry. More important than the form itself, his desire to describe his experience as an African-American set a precedent in American literature. He put it best in a 1947 essay entitled “My Adventures as a Social Poet”:
“…certainly, racially speaking, my own problems of adjustment to American life were the same as those of millions of other segregated Negroes. The moon belongs to everybody, but not this American earth of ours. That is perhaps why poems of the moon disturb no one, but poems about color and poverty do perturb many citizens. Social forces pull backwards and forwards, right or left, and social poems get caught in the pulling and the hauling. Sometimes the poet himself gets pulled and hauled—even hauled off to jail.”
4. Dr. Benjamin Carter
Dr. Benjamin Carter is a contemporary African-American doctor whose long list of achievements include being the first person to successfully separate Siamese twins in 1987. Dr. Carter was born in Detroit in the early 1950s, and was raised by a young single mother who, after noting his poor behavior and bad grades in school, assigned him her own homework assignments and encouraged him to participate more in school. Dr. Carter later went on to get degrees at Yale and the University of Michigan, where his dexterity as a neurosurgeon was first noticed. He became the first Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital at the young age of 32. Dr. Carter’s success has inspired a new generation of health professionals, many of whom he and his wife Candy support through their Carson Scholars Foundation.
3. Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to be elected to U.S. Congress in 1968, is best described in her own words (and the title of her first book): “Unbought and Unbossed.” Chisholm served in the House of Representatives as a Democrat from New York, and she championed causes such as education, daycare, inner city youth and city works programs. She became the first African-American woman to run for President of the United States in 1972, which became a revolutionary year in the world of politics, not only for African-Americans, but for minority groups in general. She ran against Patsy Mink, an Asian-American Congresswoman from Hawaii, and together the two women represented a new movement in American government: that of empowered, educated, intelligent women fighting on behalf of their states and the greater American community as well. She published The Good Fight in 1973, and was later the subject of the PBS documentary Chisholm ’72—Unbought and Unbossed.
2. Angela Davis
Angela Davis grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1944—a time and location that set the stage for her future involvement in the civil rights movement. Davis grew up in the South, but later won an opportunity to attend high school in New England. During her college years at Brandeis University, she seized opportunities to study French, philosophy and politics in France, Germany, and Switzerland. She was studying in France during the 1963 church bombings in Alabama, hate crimes that affected not only her personal and political ties home, but also triggered her activism in civil rights groups. Her political leanings and involvement with the Black Panthers later affected her career as a professor and academic. She was listed on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list in 1970 for an incident involving Judge Harold Haley, an accusation that was later lifted when there was not enough evidence to convict her of anything. Davis went on to become a prominent civil rights leader in California, working specifically within what she called the “prison-industrial complex.” She has lectured at UCLA, San Francisco State University, Bryn Mawr College, Stanford University, Syracuse University, and UC Santa Cruz.
1. Shani Davis
At 27 years old, Shani Davis has already flown around the world and the ice rink several times over. Just this past week, the Chicago native beat the world record for both the 1000 meter and 1500 meter speed skating events. Before Vancouver, Davis already had a gold and a silver medal from the Olympics in Italy in 2006. Although his focus is athletics, he has broken records not only in terms of his speed and technique, but also as the first African-American to place on the Olympic speed skating team in 2002. Davis represents many young African-American athletes of the twenty-first century, who aims not to be the first of his race to succeed in his chosen field, but simply to be the best, and leave it at that. He’s not done yet; the 2010 Olympics have just started!
There are African-Americans achieving great things in every field, just as there are people of every ethnicity, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation achieving just as much. That being said, February is a time to recognize leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Alice Walker, Richard Wright, and so, so many more, because it is crucial we remember their contributions to their fields, as well as to our country. Who inspires you? Let us know!
