365 Day Black, ending the month of February but living the legacy daily! By L. Walker

This past Sabbath was the ending point for a few things but marks the beginning of evangelism, healing and the proactive pursuit to of a healthy spiritual and physical life, in March and beyond. AYS featured Pastor Davis, Ida Williams and Louis Johnson alongside saxophonist Mark Bunney which concluded the Sabbath School workshops, which began on Wednesday evening.

Each presenter was a powerhouse speaker; the congregation was hanging off of their every word. Pastor Davis, Ms. Williams and Mr. Johnson all recounted their early days living in the segregated south. Their stories parallel as they described the “Whites Only” bathrooms and separate water foundations. They gave hope for the future as they detailed for us how far African American in America has come.

Mt. Sinai is a legacy church, thriving in central Florida for over 100 years. Its congregation is predominately African American and being black in America is not a once in a year experience for the members.

Buffalo Soldiers: Remembering African American Soldiers For Black History Month

As Black History Month comes to an end, it is important that we remember the African-Americans who fought and died for America during its many wars. Few people know that the man credited to be the first one to die in the Revolutionary War was a Black man by the name of Crispus Attucks. During the War of 1812, Black soldiers helped defeat the British in New Orleans.

By the end of the Civil War, 10% of the union forces were Black. The 54th regiment, which was an all Black fighting unit, was immortalized in the movie “Glory” and fought a number of important battles, eventually losing more than half of their troops. Two of Frederick Douglass’s sons also fought in the Civil War and Harriet Tubman severed as a scout for the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers.

During World War I, Black soldiers were given full citizenship, although they still fought in segregated units. Many credit Black soldiers for bringing Jazz music to Europe and France.

In World War II, Black soldiers had an increased presence. The NAACP pushed for the War Department to form the all-black 99th Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps, otherwise known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee airmen were the only U.S. unit to sink a German destroyer. Like the 54th Regiment, the Tuskegee Airmen were immortalized in a movie of the same name.

The Marines first opened themselves to Black volunteers in 1942. To the dismay of the Marines only 63 African Americans joined.

Black officer, Lieutenant Colonel Campbell C. Johnson, decided that he would actively recruit Black Marines. Due to his efforts African Americans began joining the Marines at a rate of more than 1,000 a month in 1943.

Despite the opposition to the Vietnam war from Black leaders and athletes like Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali, many Black soldiers both volunteered and were drafted to fight in the Vietnam war. Colin Powell joined the ROTC at City College and would go on to be a Captain in Vietnam, later becoming a major. Powell would go on to be National Security Adviser (1987–1989), Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army Forces Command (1989) and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993) and eventually as Secretary of State for George W. Bush in 2001.

Another Black Vietnam veteran who would go on to success was Col. Charles F. Bolden. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1968, he became a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, flying over 100 sorties in Vietnam. Bolden’s flying skills made him an ideal candidate for NASA, which he joined as an astronaut in 1981. After a long and impressive career as an astronaut, President Barack Obama name Bolden the head of NASA.

THE POET: Gwendolyn Brooks by News One

“I could not have told you then that some sun
would come,
somewhere over the road,
would come evoking the diamonds
of you, the Black continent–
somewhere over the road.
You would not have believed my mouth.”

The above stanza echoes, poet and author Gwendolyn Brooks’ confidence in the potential of African-Americans. In 1950, Brooks was the first African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize. Brooks did more than illuminate the Black experience; she transcended racial boundaries, paving the way for transformative Black figures that would come after her.

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas on June 7, 1917. Six weeks later, her parents, David and Keziah Brooks, moved to Chicago, Illinois. As a teen, attending a leading white high school, Brooks was no stranger to racism and prejudice. She transferred from the all-black Wendell Phillips to the integrated Englewood High School. She graduated from Wilson Junior College in 1936. Brooks developed profound insight on racial dynamics, which later influenced her work.

At 13, Brooks’ first poem, “Eventide,” debuted in the American Childhood Magazine. By 16, the shy Brooks had compiled 75 published pieces. As a teen, she met two of Harlem Renaissances iconic poets, Langston Hughes and James W. Johnson, who encouraged her to read modern poetry extensively.

In 1945, Brooks won critical praise for her first published book of poetry in, “A Street in Bronzeville.” By the end of the decade, she had become a Guggenheim Fellow, and in 1950, Brooks became the first African-American to win the Pulizer Prize, for her book “Annie Allen.”

In 1962, John F. Kennedy invited Brooks to read at the Library of Congress poetry festival, she later began teaching creative writing at several notable institutions.

1967 marked a pivotal change in Brooks career; she attended a Black Writers’ Conference at Fisk University, where she said she rediscovered her Blackness. This consciousness is notably portrayed in “In The Mecca,” a long poem about a mother’s desperate search for her missing child in a Chicago housing project.

Gwendolyn Brooks was made poet laureate of Illinois in 1968, a title that she held until her death, of cancer, on December 3rd 2000, at age 83. Brooks’ resilience lives on far beyond Chicago’s South Side. Whether it was via ballads and sonnets or blues and rhythms in free verse, the poet’s words reverberate loudly. She once said that in order to create “bigness” one doesn’t have to create an epic. “Bigness,” Brooks proclaimed, “Can be found in a little haiku, five syllables, seven syllables.”

Black History Month Still Relevant -- for Now by Jeff Mays

As a young journalist in Dallas, I wrote a column for my high school newspaper discussing why Black History Month was no longer necessary.

I recently pulled the column from the dusty blue binder that one of my mentors, Rochelle Riley, a columnist for the Detroit Free Press, gave me to store my clips in way back when.

Aside from marveling at how young I looked, I was also amazed at what I wrote. I said that Black History Month was not necessary because black history should be taught all year round and that it was a significant part of American history.

Besides, I said, the month had been reduced to talking about how many uses for the peanut George Washington Carver had discovered. The answer: More than 100, including paint, fuel, plastic explosives.

The column was well received. I won the top individual writing award given to high school students in Texas, and it was a topic of discussion around my school for a day or so. (That's saying a lot for high school kids with attention spans shorter than the wick of a birthday candle.)

But as I look back on the article, it doesn't seem that black history has become an integral part of American history in the 17 years since I wrote that column. Even though we have an African American president and Oprah has her own television network, stereotypes about African Americans abound.

I read the message boards of this site and the venom that is spewed from some of the presumably white posters shows that they don't understand the contributions that African Americans have made to this country. According to some, all African Americans do is leach off of the system. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Not only did African Americans help build this country, but we have also served as a consistent moral voice, pushing this country to be far better than it ever would without us.

We fought for the idea that humans are not chattel. The women's liberation movement and now the gay rights movement looked back at the civil rights movement for not just inspiration, but strategy.

But bring up an issue like tax reform, health care reform or the state of race relations in this country and black folks always end up being disrespected. Our contributions to this country, despite the way we have historically been treated, are never taken in to consideration. Maybe America needs to be reminded once a year how worse off this country would be were it not for the contributions of African Americans.

"We don't honor it enough as a part of American history and world history," Judge Glenda Hatchett said about African American history. "The truth is, if we didn't do black history month in February, we wouldn't have the kind of emphasis we do on our accomplishments. Some think it's passé, but I strongly disagree."


Black History Month was founded in 1926 by Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and was originally only a week long. It was launched in the second week of February in acknowledgment of the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. In 1976, the United States' bicentennial, the celebration was extended to the entire month of February to allow more time for educational and celebratory events.

Riley argued in a column last year that confining black history to just one month was not a good idea.

"It's not that Black History Month is wrong; it is that it is misused. Having a special time to celebrate the contributions of African Americans to American history is wonderful, but when it is used as a substitute for teaching black history to all students all year round, we are stunting the educational growth of students of all colors and backgrounds." Riley said in an interview with Aol Black Voices. "Talk to students. See how many think that Martin Luther King Jr. freed the slaves," she added.

As part of her effort to move Black history into the mainstream, Riley has started One America, One History. It is an effort to lobby states to "use textbooks that tell a full history of America and their states, not one that mentions a few historical contributions of black Americans, like commercials in a narrative," Riley said.

The goal is to have students discussing Harriett Tubman or Frederick Douglass in October and April, not just in February.

"We begin with textbooks and classrooms. We continue by studying and celebrating Black History Month all the time. I, for one, will be giving black history speeches in April," Riley said.


Riley is right. We need to acknowledge that African American history is American history. The African American narrative stretches to every aspect of this country, from before its inception to the election of Barack Obama as president. Our history cannot just be separated into slavery and the civil rights movement.

However, efforts to integrate Black history into American history have been difficult. The New York Times reported last year that New York's Amistad Commission, formed to "promote the teaching of black history in public schools," had yet to meet in the four years since the state legislature created it.

In 2002, William Payne, a former New Jersey state senator, sponsored legislation to incorporate black history into the state's educational core curriculum. The legislation created the Amistad Commission, named for the slaves aboard a cargo ship of the same name who won their freedom, to approve textbooks that show the role of African Americans.

It was the first Amistad Commission in the country and a few others have been created since. Teaching black history as part of U.S. history will allow African Americans to see themselves more in the founding and development of this country, said Payne.

"This will bring about a sea change in the mind of young people. Our kids drop out because they don't see themselves," said Payne. Our kids will have some sense of pride, and white kids will have their eyes opened."

But eight years after the legislation was passed, Payne said his group is still educating school districts and teachers about what the law requires.

"The idea is that American history be taught with the inclusion of and contributions African Americans have made throughout the development of this country, not as a separate Black History Month," said Payne, "It's not where I would like it to be because it takes a while for an idea to germinate and be implanted. We had to get people to understand what we were talking about because they said: 'We already have black history.' We had to overcome the misunderstanding of what we were doing and then the fear."

But Payne said Black History Month is still useful as a supplement.

Until we begin to take steps to truly integrate black history into American history, we need Black History Month to remind us.

The son of the slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King III agreed:

"Black History Month is absolutely necessary and will continue to be necessary until we change the curriculum in our school system," said King. "History is taught from a Western European perspective and excludes Asians, American Indians and Latinos. Until we are talking about every ethnic group in September, May and June, we still need a Black History Month."

And it's not just that George Washington Carver found a million ingenious uses for the peanut. He demonstrated the contributions that individuals of all races can make when given an opportunity. Born a slave, he also had to overcome tremendous adversity to achieve his successes. He fought for racial harmony. There are hundreds more African Americans like Carver who overcame great adversity to contribute to this country but are not studied anywhere.

"Black History Month is needed more than ever before," said Rev. Jesse Jackson "It can be a teaching moment. We must not romanticize black history. We must use it as a moment to fight for a black future in light of the history of inequity, the history of disparity and the history of denial.

So I guess my opinion has changed a bit since high school. I still think African American history should be integrated into U.S. history, but until we take some solid steps to do so, this country needs to learn more about Carver and his peanuts.

HOUSTON, Feb 09, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) –Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr., the first African American to walk in space, and ExxonMobil announced today that more than 1,500 middle school students will participate in free science camps this summer.

The ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps will be hosted in 30 universities across the country. The announcement came on the 15th anniversary of Dr. Harris’ historic space walk on Feb. 9, 1995 while aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.


“Much in my life has changed since that historic day, but one constant is my passion to make a difference with today’s students, especially kids who have similar backgrounds to mine,” Harris said. “This year’s summer science camps will give students a chance to learn about mathematics and science, more about themselves and about life on a college campus. Most importantly, campers learn that they have the power to achieve their dreams whatever they may be.”