Why should you learn Black History?
Because our history is so much more than Africans captured, shipped via the Middle Passage then sold on the auction block to serve until death as someone’s human property. Our ancestors had a remarkable history in Africa and an even more remarkable history during and after slavery in America was abolished in1865.
Don’t be fooled by those who downplay our role in the making of America. We have, from the moment we stepped foot on the shores of America, contributed to this nation, be it by force on slave plantations that made white men rich, including presidents (at least 12 owned slaves) or by choice as free Americans. African Americans have contributed to every area of society from business, agriculture, education, government, science, to the arts, medicine, sports, and beyond. Even now, we are the trendsetters, the trailblazers, the movers and the shakers. We make America look “cool.”
Our history is full of awe-inspiring heroes who aided in the creation of a young nation seeking to separate itself from its oppressor. We are the brave in the land of the free. From the heroism of the Buffalo Soldiers during the Civil War to the courageous high school kids who made up the Little Rock Nine during the Civil Rights Movement.
Our existence in America embodies what it means to be a true American. We have had everything, including the kitchen sink thrown at us, yet we still rise. We have marched, fought, and died for our freedom, America’s freedom. We have demanded that America live up to its promise that all men (and women) are created equal. And we continue to fight for racial justice, equality, and the right to express our blackness proudly and loudly in this country that we call our home. Like it or not, this land is our land, too.
Our history is not just what happened to us in the past. Our history is now. I am Black history. Right now, black voices are breaking down walls and building bridges to opportunities. Right now, in neighborhoods across America is the next Harriett Tubman, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Sojourner Truth, Langston Hughes, Madam C.J. Walker, James Baldwin, Duke Ellington, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Stokely Carmichael, Huey P. Newton, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, etc.
And if you don’t know who all these people are, why not make this a teachable moment and learn your history? Because in their own way, each one of these folks have touched your life, made it better, and opened doors for you to grow.
Unfortunately, our role in the building of American has been vastly underrepresented in most America history books. If we are mentioned at all, we are usually condensed to a few paragraphs regarding slavery and how Lincoln freed the slaves. End of story.
When we tell our children that their history doesn’t matter, we are telling our children, Black children that they don’t matter. And this is not true. Without Black history there would be no American history. Our story is America’s story.
Our greatness, our power is in our people. There’s an old African proverb that says, “Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.” Together we are unbreakable.
OUR HISTORY MATTERS
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