Editor: Sojourner Truth was an American abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women’s rights, and alcohol temperance. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, in 1797, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826.
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.
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.
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**At the close of Black History Month let’s take a look at ourselves and our country. DSM/Calamity**
As Black History Month comes to a close, we must actively insure that the true history of Black Americans is told. All of it. The dark and the glorious. How this story ends will be a predictor of how our nation embraces our black brothers and moves forward. We all recall as children eating peanut butter spread on crackers as we learned about George Washington Carver, but no other significant Black history was ever taught, at least any school I ever attended. African-American history remains mostly hidden and not taught in schools.
It is not a significant part of any school curriculums and it should be. An accurate depiction of the history and culture of African-Americans must become part of American history classes. Teaching a truthful history lends respect to those activities could over a generation change core attitudes. The history of blacks in America is our history, some dark and tragic, some brilliant and glorious. It is time we as a country accept that not all history worth being written down and taught was that of white men. The poem that became the lyrics of our National Anthem was written by an attorney who had little or no respect for Black people. We now must educate about the atrocities of slavery and the important roles Blacks have played and continue to play in our history and our future.
Various peoples of Africa were brought to the “New World” as slaves, bought, sold, and treated like the property they were considered to be, not the persons of rich culture and tradition they had been. The “first” African slaves brought to what is now the United States is typically thought to be a load of captives from what is now Angola, sold to Jamestown Governor George Yeardley and Abraham Piersey, the colony’s trade head, for food, near the end of August 1619.
Europe is not the first place that comes to most people’s minds when they hear the term “sex trafficking”. Europe is generally seen as a bastion of civility and progressive politics. Particularly by those who live outside of it. In the minds of many, the UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway are Western Europe. However, the continent is huge and varied
Russia is among the worst nations in Europe for sex trafficking. The Russian Federation is a massive nation made up of millions of people. The Federation covers 11 time zones and 2 continents. It is also characterized by decades of severe austerity and deep corruption. All of which make it a ripe spot for international sex trafficking. The secret nature of sex trafficking skews the statistics. Sex traffickers moved over half-a-million women and girls from Russia between 1992-2002. The average cost of each woman, $5,000.
Corrupt officials, Russian mafia, globalization and the inter-connectedness of that phenomenon, technological advances, cell phones, internet, and fast travel merged to facilitate human trafficking. The changing world has allowed the growth of an international network of criminals who use lies, drugs, imprisonment, debt bondage, exploitation, and abuse to create a criminal empire that rakes in billions of dollars annually through sex trafficking.
"If puppies and kittens don't make you smile, you might consider therapy." D. S. Mitchell 2015.
Self-isolating has forced us to turn even more to telecommunication and social media.
The Major Cause Of Sex Trafficking Is Poverty
Many great charities, here are a couple that I support: Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, ACLU, and Planned Parenthood.
