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What We're Celebrating
Individuals to honor throughout Black History Month
» AMERICA LONG HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A MELTING POT. People from all cultures, continents and walks of life have blended together to paint the canvas that is the United States.
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African Americans have played a significant role in forming the fabric of the United States, and every February we recognize the accomplishments of African Americans and give thanks for their contributions to medicine, the arts, sports, business, law, and much more. The following is a small sampling of the myriad African American individuals past and present who have made their mark on American history.
RYAN COOGLER
Ryan Coogler is the director of what has been dubbed the “biggest, blackest superhero movie” in recent history — and perhaps all time. Marvel Studio’s “Black Panther” took in $1.3 billion worldwide and became a cultural touchstone. Coogler proved he is a director of note, and the public is bound to see much more of his work in the future, including a potential “Panther” sequel.
ROBERT ABBOTT
Giving voice to African Americans in a different way, Robert Abbot was a pioneer of the Black press. He founded a weekly paper called The Chicago Defender, which would become one of the most important newspapers in history in the early 20th century. Abbott’s work would eventually pave the way for many other publications.
SERENA WILLIAMS
Serena Williams is arguably the greatest female tennis player of all time. Serena Williams has more than 20 Grand Slam titles to her name and is a face and advocate for working women. One of her more notable recent accomplishments is her successful return to the court just one year after nearly dying from complications that arose during the birth of her daughter — once again proving her mettle.
ALVIN AILEY
Alvin Ailey was a modern dance choreographer and pioneer. He also was a civil rights activist. He founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which became one of the most successful dance companies in the world. His company was an amalgam of faces and cultures, making it unique for its time.
MARY MCLEOD
BETHUNE
Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator, civil rights leader and advisor to five
United States presidents.
She turned to her faith and used her voice to be a pioneer for racial progress. Education long had been at the core of Bethune’s mission, and she founded two schools and later became one of few female college presidents.
ARETHA FRANKLIN
The world lost the “Queen of Soul” in 2018, but her influence and resounding voice live on. Her gospel-infused singing was born out of church choirs, and her famous No. 1 hit “Respect” helped become a soundtrack not only for women, but also the civil rights movement. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, Franklin’s influence could be heard through singers like Whitney Houston, Beyoncé and more.
Did You Know?
The history of African Americans has been shaped by many influential figures, including various civil rights activists. Ruby Bridges may be one of the youngest. At age six, Ruby Bridges became the first African American student to integrate the formerly all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. Although Bridges lived five blocks away from William Frantz Elementary School, she had to attend kindergarten several miles away at an all-Black segregated school. Bridges volunteered to take an entrance test to be able to attend the all-white school. The test was purportedly designed to be extremely difficult so that students would have a hard time passing it, and thusly New Orleans could avoid de-segregation if all the African American children failed the test. Individuals from the NAACP informed Bridges’ parents that their daughter was one of only six African American students to pass the test. On Nov. 14, 1960, she was escorted to class by her mother and the United States Marshals Service due to the presence of angry mobs outside the school. Bridges was the first African American student to attend the school and the first Black child to attend an all-white elementary school in the south. The first day of school proved poor as nearly all of the white parents at the school had kept their children home and Bridges spent the day with the principal. The ensuing days weren’t much better. Eventually, only one teacher in the school, Barbara Henry, formerly of Boston, agreed to teach Bridges. Bridges never missed a day of school that year, even though she ate lunch alone each day and no one played with her at recess. Her early foray into civil rights prompted Bridges to establish The Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and change through education.
Introducing Bakersfield Life Magazine’s
How-To Guide
March 2021 issue
How to guide
How to track your progress en route to getting healthy
Each January, many people resolve to improve their overall health in the year ahead. Such resolutions can serve as motivating factors that compel people to live longer, healthier lives.New Year’s resolutions have proven hard to keep. While it’s difficult to pinpoint how many people are successful with their resolutions, reports indicate that success is typically elusive. A recent report from U.S. News & World Report found that 80 percent of resolutions fail by February. One of the tricks to realizing a resolution is to continue making progress toward your goal. Finding ways to measure progress can make the difference between staying the course in the year ahead or having your resolution fall short.
SET SPECIFIC GOALS It’s essential that people who are hopeful that a New Year’s resolution will help them get healthier be specific when setting their goal. For example, it’s easy to determine if you’re on a path to success if you declare your intention to lose 10 lbs. rather than simply saying, “I want to lose weight.” If your goals are specific, you can set benchmarks throughout the year that help you measure the progress you’re making en route to achieving your ultimate goal. If you want to lose 10 lbs. and you’ve lost six by the end of June, that’s measurable progress toward your goal that can motivate you to keep going. TAKE A FRIEND ALONG FOR THE RIDE Friends also can serve as both measuring sticks and motivators en route to getting healthy. A partner who’s also striving to get healthier can make it that much easier to get to early morning or late night workouts. This person can make sure you’re up in the morning and let you know if it’s been awhile since you’ve shown the commitment necessary to achieve your goal. If your workout partner is more than halfway to his or her goal by mid-year and you’re lagging behind, you can compare routines to determine if there’s any tweaks you can make to increase your chances of being successful.
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING Strava is an internet service that tracks exercise and incorporates social networking. Strava helps millions of runners and cyclists track their workouts so they can see if they’re staying the course each day or falling short of their goals. Such services can be highly effective at tracking progress, but people aiming to get healthier also can use a notebook to keep detailed records of workouts, caloric intake and other factors that can help them get healthy.
VISIT YOUR PHYSICIAN Doctors can be invaluable resources as people try to get healthy. Schedule a physical early in the year and ask your doctor to help you set goals. Then schedule a follow-up later in the year to see how your efforts are affecting your overall health. Few things can prove as motivational as a good report from the doctor. Resolutions have a tendency to fall by the wayside. But with some effective metrics, people can make serious progress toward getting healthier in the year ahead.
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