An Experience Like No Other...

Ahh the month of February... It's a month made for university students and lovers! Many university student's are filled with anticipation as they count down the days until their one week break from the madness that is school. During this week, many dedicated and hardworking students take this time at home to catch up on readings for their classes, while reading ahead a few chapters to prepare for the rest of the semester. Plus, if they're anything like myself, they'll throw in some leisurely reading on the side. Afterall, it is "reading week"!

And of course, the 14th marks the day where people can celebrate (or repudiate) the beauty that is love, by over indulging in lovey-dovey Hallmark cards (which are so over-priced!), stuffed Build-A-Bears, fattening chocolates and candy, and flowers that die within days. But then again, nothing says Valentines day like dried up vegetation! P.s I'm not bitter or anti-Valentines day, if that's what you were thinking :)

But there is another event that's bigger than reading week, and even more historic than Valentine's day, and that is Black History Month. The entire month of February is dedicated to the remembrance of influential African American people throughout history, such as, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Booker T. Washington, Sidney Poitier, Jackie Robinson, and more recent figures like Maya Angelou, Oprah, and of course, Barack Obama (just to name a few); who broke down barriers, overcame the struggles of slavery and segregation, and paved the way for African American generations to come.

Now, there are many directions in which I could take this post, especially with the controversy that seems to be surrounding Black History Month in the 21st Century. There have been disagreements and debates about an entire month being dedicated to the African American race alone, which some consider to be unfair. Others, such as Morgan Freeman*, however, contest BHM because reducing the entire African American history to one month is "ridiculous". There are also issues centred around the current relevance of Black History Month, and whether or not it is as widely recognized or celebrated as before, especially amongst younger generations. Although these present great discussion questions, I actually wanted to focus on the founder of BHM because I recently discovered the man behind BHM, and I don't think too many people are aware of this extraordinary man.

So here is some history on Black History for interested readers:



What is now a month, first started out as one week. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the son of former slaves, single-handily founded what was called Negro History Week, in 1926. Woodson chose the second week of February because it celebrated the birthdays of two important men who greatly influenced the history of black people: former U.S President, Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and abolitionist, Frederick Douglas (Haney, 2007).

Woodson would spend his childhood years working in a Kentucky coal mine, until the age of 20, when he enrolled himself into high school. The bright young man earned his diploma in 2 years, and then his Bachelor of Literature degree at Berea College in Kentucky. Later, he attend the University of Chicago and received his M.A, and from there, he went to Harvard University to receive his Ph.D in history, becoming the 2nd African American to earn a doctorate degree. The first African American was another civil rights activist and co-founder of the NAACP, a man, by the name of W.E.B DuBois.

Dr. Woodson's drive and inspiration stemmed from his observations that there was a lack of documentation on the history of black people in history books and textbooks, and in the rare occasion where African Americans did figure into the picture, they were often misrepresented, stereotyped, or denounced because of their inferior position in society. Woodson wanted to refute "the canards that black people aren't as intelligent as other races and are more prone to criminality and dancing" (Kelly, Newsweek, 2010). Unfortunately, not to say that nothing hasn't changed, but this is obviously one stereotype that remains engrained within black communities. But continuing on...

After recognizing this niche, Dr. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH),now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, in 1915, where he, and fellow members, would research the history of black people in American, and world, history. Collections from this archive would be published in the Journal of Negro History, which is still being published today, but is now the Journal of African American History, and distributed to teachers, schools, communities, and clubs, to promote the significant contribution African Americans had within history (bio., 2010).

Dr. Carter G. Woodson passed away in 1950, but his contribution and his legacy to the African American people remain to this day, albeit, not as well-received as it once was. For some reason, BHM has taken a shift from being an uplifting, pride-filled month for Black people, more so for Americans than Canadians, but regardless, it seems to have become something demeaning and oppressive. Maybe because Barack Obama has accomplished the unimaginable, Black people feel we are finally equal? Or maybe because the tradition has been around for so long, people feel they already know all there is to know about Black history, which is unfortunate for my children because by the time their in school, perhaps BHM will be nonexistent. I hope this isn't the case, but I'm sure there will be, no, there MUST always be, other avenues for people to learn the history and the historic figures of their race. Whether you're Black, European, Indian, Spanish, Asian, Scottish or Arabic; whether you have one day, one week, one month or no months, to glorify the influential people that made a difference for your nation, or for your race, in the end, it's really about all races and all cultures and ethnicities becoming aware of the fact that, throughout some point in history, we've all suffered from slavery, oppression, racism, discrimination and inequality, which makes us more alike, than different. But without men like Dr.Woodson, we wouldn't know we shared this commonality. If BHM should be abolished, we must continue to teach ourselves and others, especially younger generations to come. So I encourage everyone to "keep hope alive", and continue to "have a dream"!

Sources:

*Morgan Freeman Clip on 60 Minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO214IFRW1M

bio. http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/history/black-history-month.jsp

Kelly, Raina. "The End of Black History Month?". Newsweek, 2010.

Haney, Elissa. "The History of Black History". Infoplease, 2007.