Black History Is Everyone’s History
Black History Is Everyone’s History
Editor: As 2022 Black History Month ends it is important to acknowledge the contribution of black Americans to the arts, sports, science, technology, and innovation. Let’s celebrate their amazing contribution to our country and support the rights of all citizens to participate in the American Dream in all its promised dimensions.
By Wes & Anna Hessel
A Black Mark Not On Our History
As Black History Month comes to a close, let us acknowledge those African Americans that have made a positive impact on the United States and the world. We all recall as children eating peanut butter spread on crackers as we learned about George Washington Carver, but little other significant Black history has been taught in our schools. African-American contributions to our society remain mostly hidden; not celebrated, or taught in schools. Black history has little representation in curriculums, what a shame; it should be an integral part of our education, just as it has been an integral part of life and history. History and culture of African-Americans needs to be taught, alongside other cultures, including the typical Western European WASP and Greco-Roman past. Nothing is done in isolation, certainly not improving the world.
Black History Is More Than A Month…
Founded by historian Carter G. Woodson to honor the attainments of black men and women, it originally began as a week-long celebration known as “Negro History Week” in February of 1926, a week in which the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass occurred. Dr. Woodson was himself the son of a slave and although he did not begin his high school education until the age of 20, delayed by his need to earn a living in West Virginia coal mines, he went on to study at Berea College, the Sorbonne, and the University of Chicago. He eventually earned his PhD at Harvard, only the second African American to achieve this, his predecessor being none other than W. E. B. Du Bois.
…But It’s A Start
This year’s theme, ‘Black Health and Wellness’, is sadly appropriate. The disproportionate infection rate of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need for improved health and wellness services in African-American neighborhoods and communities. “Food deserts” where fresh local fruits and vegetables are unavailable coupled with the lack of health care availability, are major examples of the issues highlighted. But this isn’t the whole story – for example, alternative care systems such as those provided by midwives, birth workers, doulas, herbalists, naturopaths, and so on, as well as care access provided by faith-based institutions, points to a community conscience, culture, and ingenuity of Black peoples of various cultures.
On The Other Hand…
So many injuries and injustices are yet to be known, let alone addressed. The lyrics of our own National Anthem was written by an attorney who had little, if any, respect for Black people. At least 300 black Tulsa citizens were massacred by their jealous white neighbors in actions sanctioned by the city of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma governments. On May 31st and June 1st, 1921, the Tulsa area of Greenwood, commonly known as “The Black Wall Street”, was almost completely destroyed by bombings, burnings, and white mob rioters. Information about the good and the bad must be told. We must continue to educate about the atrocities of slavery and racism, and the important roles Blacks have played and continue to play in the fabric of our lives and our shared history.
Nothing New
Various peoples of Africa were brought to the “New World” as slaves; where they were bought, traded, exchanged, sold, and treated like the property they were considered to be; not the persons of rich culture and tradition they had been, in another world. Many believe that the “first” African slaves came to the Jamestown, Virginia colony near the end of August 1619. But slavery in North America had started much earlier, when the Spanish brought slaves to St. Augustine (now Florida), as early as the town’s founding in 1565. The city is considered the oldest European-founded continuously-inhabited settlement in what is now the mainland 48 states.
Color Inside The Lines
Mistreatment of people of color in our nation is certainly nothing new – it is a long history of subjugation and then after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, suppression and subversion of human rights. Yet African-Americans time and again have been and continue to be instrumental in our history and innovation.
Interestingly . . .
The first documented black man in North America was Juan Garrido. Garrido was not a slave, but was rather a conquistador that came to the continent as a member of Ponce de León’s infamous expedition in search of the fabled Fountain of Youth. He arrived in Florida with the explorer in 1513.
Early Black Power
The earliest Black people of note were primarily former slaves who stood up and spoke out against slavery, and racism; or did something about those issues. Dred Scott, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Booker T. Washington each set an exemplary example of leadership in human rights. Black Americans have been pioneers in every area of our life and culture: agriculture (George Washington Carver), learned study (W.E.B. Du Bois), music (Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Nat King Cole), poetry (Langston Hughes), law (Thurgood Marshall), activism (Rosa Parks), and sports (Jackie Robinson). These were just some of the great contributors to America born before 1920.
“Carvered” Out A Niche
For each of the well-known, there are many more contributors to our nation’s progress. In addition to the prolific work of “Doctor” Carver, Garrett Morgan invented an improvement for sewing machines, an early chemical hair straightener, the forerunner of the modern gas mask, and the first automatic, three-aspect traffic signal. Before him, the first African-American to receive a patent, Thomas L. Jennings, had created an improved method of dry-cleaning delicate garments. Elijah McCoy was granted a mere 57 patents, one of which was for that beloved grass watering device, the lawn sprinkler. Another was the basic idea of the portable ironing board. Sarah Boone added the familiar shape of what we use today for our pressing engagements.
Hot And Cold
Alexander Miles designed the earliest mechanism for automatic doors in elevators. Lewis Latimer drafted a better railroad car bathroom, then improved on Edison’s vacuum interior light bulbs, deriving the carbon filament of the standard incandescent fixture. The idea of the self-propelled street sweeper was patented by Charles B. Brooks, as well as an early ticket puncher which collected the little pieces from the holes it made. Alice H. Parker created the first natural gas central furnace. Frederick McKinley Jones came up with the refrigeration units found on the tops of trucks transporting perishable items. James E. West worked with his Bell Labs partner to invent the foil electret version of the microphone, a significantly cheaper one to produce than the condenser models before it.
Tech In Black & Black
Mary Van Brittan Brown co-created with her husband a video surveillance through a door’s peephole setup with features that are now found today in many current security systems. You can thank Mark Dean for leading his team at IBM to develop the original PC, color computer monitors, and the first gigahertz speed processor chip. Dr. Patricia Bath became the first female African-American doctor to receive a patent in 1986 for a laser device used to treat cataracts.
On The Top Of The World…
There were many other pioneers of color. Matthew Henson was an early modern Black explorer. In 1891, he became part of a group headed by then-Lieutenant Robert E. Peary. They made multiple trips through Greenland. After several failed attempts together, he was with Peary in 1908 on the first successful trip to the North Pole, actually arriving at the top of the world before the famed explorer himself.
On A Wing And A Prayer…
Those of us in the Chicago area who have been to O’Hare Airport have encountered Bessie Coleman Drive. It is named for one of the first female aviators, an African-American woman who received her international pilot’s license in 1921. Jesse LeRoy Brown was inspired by Ms. Coleman and other early Black pilots, becoming one of the first African-American Navy pilots. He was a squadron leader in the Korean War until he lost his life in the line of duty. One of his white team members even crash-landed his own plane to try to help Brown, who had gone down and became trapped in the wreckage.
High Fliers
During World War II, many African-American men were part of the famed “Tuskegee Airmen”. This group of segregated fliers in the Army Air Corps distinguished themselves significantly. For example, Lt. Col. Lee Archer, together with his cohort Wendell Pruitt, were known as, “The Gruesome Twosome”, for their deadly efficiency against Nazi pilots. On one day in October 1944, Archer shot down three enemy planes in about 10 minutes while simultaneously bombing supply trains running between Slovakia and Hungary. In 1945, the airman received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts.
Right To Be There
Civil rights, of course, has always been an area where people of color have stepped up, and walked through the door. Most of us know of Malcolm X, as well as the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King. Many have heard of the persevering work of the late John Lewis, one of the leaders of the infamous “Selma” march, and his decades of faithful service as a U.S. Congressman, as well as Rainbow Coalition and Operation PUSH founder Jesse Jackson, or Al Sharpton. Some may not be as familiar with Medgar Evers, for example, whose dedicated work for equal rights regardless of race led to the ultimate sacrifice with his 1963 assassination.
Bureaucratic Barriers Broken
African-Americans have made steady strides in government, also. There is former four-star general Colin Powell, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in his last military posting, then the first U.S. Secretary of State of color. Condoleezza Rice was the first Black woman as National Security Adviser, then the first female African-American Secretary of State. Former U.S. Senator Barack Obama broke the highest barrier as our first President of color, followed by Senator Kamala Harris, who is now the first female, South Asian, and Black Vice President of the United States. Shirley Chisholm was actually the first African-American woman to run for President for a major party in 1972, after being the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1968.
Music To Our Ears
Many Blacks in the arts areas have made great achievements. There are, of course, the long list of legendary musicians: Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, James Brown, Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer, and Michael Jackson, just to name a few. Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison are three of the great authors of our time.
Stars of Stage And Screen
Sidney Poitier took home the first Oscar as a Black Actor, having previously been the first man of color to be nominated. Halle Berry was the first African-American woman to win an Academy Award. Movie and television screens have been dominated by Richard Roundtree, Morgan Freeman, Clarence Williams III, Don Cheadle, Forest Whitaker, Samuel L. Jackson, Wesley Snipes, Denzel Washington, James Earl Jones, and Laurence Fishburne, amongst many other excellent black actors. Actresses of color such as Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, Hattie McDaniel, Ethel Waters, Ruby Dee, Diahann Carroll, Pam Grier, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Cicely Tyson, Alfre Woodard, Viola Davis, and Queen Latifah have earned their names in lights. And Oprah Winfrey is the multi-talented actress, author, lifestyle and entertainment czarina, in a class of her own.
Sporting Excellence
Then there are the sports legends: Henry “Hank” Aaron, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Arthur Ashe, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, and Michael Jordan. The list goes on and on. One of the early greats was the famed track and field superstar Jesse Owens, winner of four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, despite the Nazi “white supremacy” shadow being cast. Before Owens, Eddie Tolan was the man to beat in the 100m and 200m sprints. In 1929, while attending the University of Michigan, Tolan had set the world record for the 100-yard dash at 9.5 seconds. He then went on to the national college championship for the 220-yard dash in 1931. In the Olympic trials for 1932, he placed second in the 100m and 200m races to fellow athletic giant Ralph Metcalfe, but won gold in both contests at the 1932 Olympics. Metcalfe was the runner-up to Jesse Owens in the 100m at the 1936 Olympics.
Black “His”-tory And “Her”-story
There are so many more who could and should be named, but space is finite. We cannot fail, though, to mention the latest African-American to make history. Chosen by President Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson has become the first Black woman to be nominated to our highest court. Hopefully the Senate will make the right choice and confirm her as the first African-American Supreme Court Associate Justice. No matter their area of expertise, Black people, both women and men, have been many of the innovators, motivators, and mover/shakers of this or another time, and will continue to be so until the end of time.
