Black History Month
By
John C Abercrombie
Negro history week was started in 1926 by Carter G Woodson. The celebration of Negro history was designated for the second week of February, as a tribute to two important people in Negro history.
One of those people was Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States during the American Civil War which ended with the eradication of Slavery in America. For this reason, Lincoln is held in high esteem. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is February 12th.
The second person to be honored was Frederick Douglass an abolitionist, writer, statesman and well-known and respected orator. He was born a slave but escaped while in Maryland. He had a very strong, long held belief that fought against the common perception that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Because of his great oratory and writing skills many people have difficulty believing that he had been born a slave. This demonstrates much of the reason that Negro History Week is so necessary. Frederick Douglass’s birthday is February 20.
As you read this article terms Negro and Black refer to people of African descent. For purposes of this article either term is therefore used interchangeably.
Woodson noted that African-American contributions were “overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed” by writers of history books. History teachers can’t teach material that they have never been exposed to. Woodson believed that race prejudice was the logical result of tradition, the inevitable outcome that results from instruction to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the process of mankind. We know of many accomplishments of Negroes thanks to the work of Carter G Woodson and others like him.
With the absence of knowledge to the contrary, many people falsely believe that Negroes have not contributed to the progress of society. Contrast this with the depiction of Blacks in movies, on radio, on television and in written literature and you come up with a caricature that is negative and grossly misleading.
Based on the stereotype, one is led to believe that the Negro is inferior, which is just wrong! If we study history, we find that from the beginning of this nation through today that people of Negro/African heritage have contributed greatly to this country. Not only militarily but in the areas of medicine and science, areas of entertainment and sports, as well as pure academic pursuits.
In addition to the lack of information available on the accomplishments of people of Negro/African heritage, many laws and practices have been enacted that greatly increase the difficulty of success and even survival in this country and others around the world.
The celebration of Negro/Black history month has not lived up to the expectations of Carter G Woodson. Primarily because as first envisioned Negro History Week would be a time when all people would get together to celebrate those facts learned throughout the year. So, the week was never intended to stand alone but to be a beacon to the great knowledge that we had learned throughout the year.
In earlier days it was much easier to become disenchanted with Negro History Week because we continued to speak about the same people year in and year out, ignoring a huge body of work that deserves to be part of the discussion of American History.
This site http://amazingblackhistory.com/ is dedicated to providing information that many people have never been exposed to. We continue to add articles throughout the year however doing the year 2019 February will see a new article each day throughout the month.
Join us, read the summary information and delve deeper as we provide additional material most often in the form of videos and a large supply of books that can be used to educate and entertain yourself.
In 1970 Black United Students and Black Educators at Kent State University knowing that a large body of work needed more time and emphasis, worked to found Black History Month, February 1, 1970.
Many of us believe that knowing a fact or two is all that is required to know and understand Black History but this is a gross over simplification. Without knowledge of the underlying facts, it is impossible to fully understand or appreciate the Black experience.
My experience in working with White people who have never known Black people was puzzling at first. There would be comments like “you ain’t like the rest of them.” Puzzled because it made no sense to me who “them” was, until I realized that by not knowing any Black people, their opinion of what “we” were like was based on stereotypes, stories that always made us the butt of the joke, inferences that we were intellectually deficient. Hearing of experiences of people that were based on the same misinformation. This together with the lack of positive information has left us both in a difficult situation.
The lack of empathy, the lack of positive information, the failure to consider it all in the light of reality leaves us not understanding each other. The lack of understanding, and empathy leaves us in a difficult situation and reluctant to open a meaningful dialogue.
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You have at your disposal information on the reasons for Black History month. To further enhance your education, we ask that you review the following books.
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Black History Month – Who Invented it and why ** The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Part1
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The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861
A History of the Education of the Colored People of the United States from the Beginning of Slavery to the Civil War The Education of the Negro
ABH – Education of the Negro Prior to 1861
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Another fantastic way to be exposed to all manner of information and entertainment. Although Kindle books can be read to you, it is with an outstanding text to speech rather than a 100% human speech. I love both this and Kindle because if I am listening to a speaker or watching someone, I can often have access to the book within a minute or so to listen at my convenience. Worth a try! Also, great Tech Support. *Unlimited reading from over 1 million eBooks *Unlimited listening to thousands of audiobooks *Read on any device *Membership plans are also giftable
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Part 2 The shock of the true story that has formed the treatment of Blacks is the focus
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Cell Phones and Accessories
It is amazing the number of books you can carry with you on your cell phone. Have a complete library at all times, using the Amazon link below
ABH – cell phones and accessories
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This one of the best known of Woodson’s books The Mis-Education of the Negro
The Mis-Education of the Negro is a book originally published in 1933 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The thesis of Dr. Woodson’s book is that blacks of his day were being culturally indoctrinated, rather than taught, in American schools. This conditioning, he claims, causes blacks to become dependent and to seek out inferior places in the greater society of which they are a part. He challenges his readers to become autodidacts and to “do for themselves”, regardless of what they were taught
ABH – The Miseducation of the Negro
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Computers Tablets and Components
We have seen the importance of knowing history and the effects of the law. It is possible by being connected to a variety of sources of enlightment and entertainment. One of the best is found using our Amazon affiliate link below
ABH – Computers Tablets and Components
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Part 3 The fight to transform the treatment of Blacks, including education and some of the many spokesmen and workers of the cause
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Computer Warranties and Services
Maintain your equipment in great working order using the link below
ABH – Computer Warranties and Services
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Carter G. Woodson in Washington, D.C.:
The Father of Black History An in-depth look at the iconic African American scholar’s life in—and his contributions to—our nation’s capital. The discipline of black history has its roots firmly planted at 1538 Ninth Street, Northwest, in Washington, DC. The Victorian row house in “Black Broadway” was once the modest office-home of Carter G. Woodson. The home was also the headquarters of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Woodson dedicated his entire life to sustaining the early black history “mass education movement.” He contributed immensely not just to African American history but also to American culture. Scholar Pero Gaglo Dagbovie unravels Woodson’s “intricate” personality and traces his relationship to his home, the Shaw neighborhood and the District of Columbia.
ABH – Carter G Woodson in Washington DC
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Servers
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Part 4 A look at the role of voting and also of schools and education
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African Heroes and Heroines
Eurocentric narrative of African history popular in the West at the time, Carter G. Woodson’s African Heroes and Heroines delves into the rich and complex political, military, and economic history of the African continent with the objective eye of a scientific observer. Intended for upper level high-school students, Woodson presents a fair biographical treatment of African leaders through history as figures of equal – if not greater – intelligence, prowess, and strength as the heroic leaders canonized in the histories of other races. While the popular histories of Africa in America had represented Africans as disorganized,
ABH – African Heroes and Heroines
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Routers
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Slavery did not end in 1865 and here is proof Video,
“Slavery By Another Name” shows how the justice system has been involved.
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The New Jim Crow:
Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Once in a great while a book comes along that changes the way we see the world and helps to fuel a nationwide social movement. The New Jim Crow is such a book. Praised by Harvard Law professor Lani Guinier as “brave and bold,” this book directly challenges the notion that the election of Barack Obama signals a new era of colorblindness. With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control—relegating millions to a permanent second-class status—even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness. In the words of Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, this book is a “call to action.”
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Scanners
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The Life and Legacy of Carter G Woodson – Dr. Greg Kimathi Carr.
This video revels so much about the inner working of Dr. Carter G Woodson.
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