Black History Month is a reminder of the contributions and sacrifices made by our African American ancestors. It's a time of remembrance and display of appreciation for our achievements in America in the past and present. It's also a time to reflect on our ongoing struggle for equality, justice, and reparations and the role I as a Black person play in our survival.
The celebration of Black History Month provides an opportunity to recap, revisit, remember and learn untold stories in Black history and to gain a deeper understanding of the impact we continue to have on world history. But as we celebrate let this be a reminder that the school is not responsible for educating our families on our story. It is the role of you the mother and the father to instill the history of our people and the passion for our freedom into your children and surrounding family.
Forewarning: Black Americans and African Americans are synonyms and are used interchangeably throughout the article to refer to a Black individual that descends from enslaved African slaves in the USA.
In addition to those individuals, groups like The Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, SCLC and SNCC played significant role in the Civil Rights Movement and helped to bring attention to issues of police brutality, terrorism motivated by anti-Black racism, and anti-Black racial discrimination. While they didn't agree and in retrospect some may have been misguided, they all played a pivotal role in shaping the Black community and America at large. We must not only celebrate the lives of these leaders, we must carry the baton to progress our society towards one of justice.
It was African American people that produced and handled goods such as cotton, sugar, tobacco created the wealth that contributed to the initial growth of a developing American economy. It was African Americans innovation that lead to the Cotton Gin which led to huge productivity gains in cotton separation. According to some estimates, New York received 40% just on US cotton revenue through the money that its financial firms, shipping businesses and insurance companies earned. And by 1860, the British economy was more dependent on slave labor than it ever had been, and on an unprecedented scale. It is stated that the European capital amassed from slavery was vital in the early years of the Industrial Revolution.
There were plenty of Black farmers, Black sharecroppers, Black laborers, and Black soldiers such as the Buffalo Soldiers. There were also plenty of Black professionals and businesspeople. Although many were cheated out of their achievements and written out of the history books they too helped to the prosperity, freedom and security of the US.
Prior to violent actions carried out by White mobs, there were Black Meccas and Black enclaves of working class, middle class, and well-to-do Black Americans with their own economies, wealth, and communities. Black Wall Streets such as the one in Greenwood District, Tulsa and independent Black towns like Oscarville, GA which is now Lake Lanier. Allensworth, another former Black area, is considered to be "the first and only California town to be founded, financed and governed by Black Americans." Stories such as this should remind us of our great contributions and how creating the society that we we deserve is within our capabilities.
It is the responsibility of us, the Black mother and father to give our family a sense of purpose and belonging in the world. It is also pivotal that we inform each other about history and share knowledge so that we can all progressively operate on the same page. With knowledge, pride, unity amongst ourselves, and a mission, more groundbreaking history will be in the making.
It is my hope that your passion for our story, our beauty, and lives in the USA extends beyond the month of February into a daily exercise. An exercise where we raise children that honor who we are, recognize who we are, and grow to be the proud leaders of tomorrow. This February I'm reminded of how far we have come but also more importantly, how how far we have to go. After the celebration is over and after the history lessons are taught, it's time for us to honor the ancestors by getting back to work.
6ZEROS will continue publishing Black History Month content through out February, stay tuned.
The celebration of Black History Month provides an opportunity to recap, revisit, remember and learn untold stories in Black history and to gain a deeper understanding of the impact we continue to have on world history. But as we celebrate let this be a reminder that the school is not responsible for educating our families on our story. It is the role of you the mother and the father to instill the history of our people and the passion for our freedom into your children and surrounding family.
Forewarning: Black Americans and African Americans are synonyms and are used interchangeably throughout the article to refer to a Black individual that descends from enslaved African slaves in the USA.
From Negro History Week to Black History Month
Black History Month's roots began in 1926 when Black American historian Carter G Woodson established Negro History Week. Woodson believed it was important to teach Black history because "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated." A little more than 40 years later, Black educators and students proposed the creation of Black History Month which was officially recognized by the US government in 1976. Since then it has been a time to properly celebrate Black History in America and educate future generations on our story. But what does Black History Month truly show us?Black History Month Shows That America's Promise of Freedom Was Made True by Black Leaders
Throughout history, there have been many prominent Black figures who have helped to shape the course of Black history and to advance the cause of equality, freedom, security, opportunity, and justice for Black people such as James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Stokley Carmichael (also known as Kwame Toure), Dr. Frances Cress Wessing, Nat Turner, Fred Hampton, Thurgood Marshall, Medgar Evers, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, Marcus Garvey, Fredrick Douglass, Huey Newton, Dr. Claud Anderson, John Horse, Khalid Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and many more. Without the bravery of these individuals the American story would have continued to be the outright fascist nation it was for so long towards Black folks.In addition to those individuals, groups like The Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, SCLC and SNCC played significant role in the Civil Rights Movement and helped to bring attention to issues of police brutality, terrorism motivated by anti-Black racism, and anti-Black racial discrimination. While they didn't agree and in retrospect some may have been misguided, they all played a pivotal role in shaping the Black community and America at large. We must not only celebrate the lives of these leaders, we must carry the baton to progress our society towards one of justice.
Black History Month Shows That The Country Sits On a Foundation of Our Hard Work
The White House we see today, was mostly built by enslaved Black Americans that were never compensated for their labor like the European immigrant workers were. Biddy Mason, a former slave, became known for her herbal medicine, nursing skills, entrepreneurship, and community work as well as helping to build Los Angeles, California as one of its first real estate moguls. Did you know that enslaved Black men and women helped build the wall from which Wall Street was named?It was African American people that produced and handled goods such as cotton, sugar, tobacco created the wealth that contributed to the initial growth of a developing American economy. It was African Americans innovation that lead to the Cotton Gin which led to huge productivity gains in cotton separation. According to some estimates, New York received 40% just on US cotton revenue through the money that its financial firms, shipping businesses and insurance companies earned. And by 1860, the British economy was more dependent on slave labor than it ever had been, and on an unprecedented scale. It is stated that the European capital amassed from slavery was vital in the early years of the Industrial Revolution.
There were plenty of Black farmers, Black sharecroppers, Black laborers, and Black soldiers such as the Buffalo Soldiers. There were also plenty of Black professionals and businesspeople. Although many were cheated out of their achievements and written out of the history books they too helped to the prosperity, freedom and security of the US.
Prior to violent actions carried out by White mobs, there were Black Meccas and Black enclaves of working class, middle class, and well-to-do Black Americans with their own economies, wealth, and communities. Black Wall Streets such as the one in Greenwood District, Tulsa and independent Black towns like Oscarville, GA which is now Lake Lanier. Allensworth, another former Black area, is considered to be "the first and only California town to be founded, financed and governed by Black Americans." Stories such as this should remind us of our great contributions and how creating the society that we we deserve is within our capabilities.
Black History Month Shows the Importance of Black Invention and Ingenuity
The impact pioneers such as Madam CJ Walker and Frederick McKinley Jones have had in American history is incalculable. There was Lewis Howard Latimer, who invented an improved process for creating the carbon filaments used in incandescent light bulbs. Another Black inventor was Garrett A. Morgan, who invented the 3-Position traffic signal in 1923 and also patented a breathing device that would later be called the gas mask. Patricia Bath, who was the first Black American woman to receive a patent for a medical invention, specifically a method of removing cataracts using a laser. There was also George Washington Carver who created over 300 peanuts products, Marie Van Brittan Brown who invented the 1st home security system, and many more.The African American Impact in Medicine
There were also many contributions by Black people in medicine. It was Dr. Daniel Hale Williams who became the 1st surgeon to perform open-heart surgery on a human in 1893, which was successful. Dr. James E. Bowman is widely recognized as the creator of the world's first Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program, which was established in 1966 at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. This program was a ground-breaking development in the field of emergency medical services, as it provided an organized and standardized system for responding to medical emergencies. Freedom House Ambulance Service of Pittsburgh, PA was the first emergency medical service in the United States to be staffed by Black paramedics with medical training beyond basic first aid.The African American Impact in Technology
Black people have also made a significant impact in the fields of information technology (IT), computing, and video gaming. One early pioneer in computing was Mark Dean, who helped design IBM’s first personal computer and later became the first Black vice president at IBM. It was also Gerald “Jerry” Lawson who led the development of the team that developed the Fairchild Channel F gaming console, in 1976, which featured the industry’s first removable game cartridge as well as an 8-way digital joystick and a pause menu, that paved the way for future gaming systems like the Atari, SNES, Dreamcast and more.The African American Impact in Entertainment
Black Americans have made a landmark on the world of entertainment. One of the earliest Black filmmakers was Oscar Micheaux, who was born in 1884 and began making silent films in the early 1900s. Micheaux was a pioneer in many ways, not only because he was one of the first Black filmmakers, but also because he used his films to address the issues of race and discrimination that were so prevalent at the time. Black filmmakers and directors such as Spike Lee, Melvin Van Peebles, John Singleton, F. Gary Gray, Ryan Coogler, Hype Williams, and Jordan Peele have won critical acclaim and widespread recognition for their groundbreaking work. Dave Chappelle and Richard Pryor are widely considered by many to be among the Top 5 comedians dead or alive. Black TV series such as Sanford and Son, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Fat Albert, The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, In Living Color, and The Boondocks helped flavor our television screens and impact the culture.The African American Impact in Music
Ragtime, blues, country, gospel, jazz, disco, funk, go-go, rhythm and blues (R&B), soul, neo-soul, house, rock and roll, and hip hop music were created by Black Americans, specifically Black DOACS (Black Descendants of American Chattel Slavery). Black American musical pioneers such as James Brown, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, Frankie Knuckles, George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic, Bo Diddley, Big Mama Thornton, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and countless other Black artists helped shape and influence the world of music. They have inspired and paved the way for many artists, including non-Black artists of yesterday and today. Even the first punk and grunge music was created by an all-Black punk band named Death, a mixed grunge band called Bam Bam which had a Black female lead singer, and a few other early, but lesser known bands with Black artists.What Black History Month Means to Us All
Black History Month is often used as a source of motivation and personal development for the African American community to reflect on African American culture, heritage and to acknowledge the contributions of their forefathers. It is imperative that Black families teach their own children the history, the culture, and the struggles because the school system will not do it for them.It is the responsibility of us, the Black mother and father to give our family a sense of purpose and belonging in the world. It is also pivotal that we inform each other about history and share knowledge so that we can all progressively operate on the same page. With knowledge, pride, unity amongst ourselves, and a mission, more groundbreaking history will be in the making.
It is my hope that your passion for our story, our beauty, and lives in the USA extends beyond the month of February into a daily exercise. An exercise where we raise children that honor who we are, recognize who we are, and grow to be the proud leaders of tomorrow. This February I'm reminded of how far we have come but also more importantly, how how far we have to go. After the celebration is over and after the history lessons are taught, it's time for us to honor the ancestors by getting back to work.
6ZEROS will continue publishing Black History Month content through out February, stay tuned.
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