Feature
February’s
Black History Month is set aside to recognize central role of African Americans in U.S. history Story by Janet Marcel Photo by Lawrence Chatagnier The month of February has been officially designated by every U.S. president since 1976 as Black History Month, an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans (www.history.com). According to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the theme for 2021 Black History Month is “The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity.” The black family has been a topic of study in many disciplines—history, literature, the visual arts and film studies, sociology, anthropology and social policy. Its representation, identity and diversity have been reverenced, stereotyped and vilified from the days of slavery to our own time. The black family knows no single location, since family reunions and genetic-ancestry searches testify to the spread of family members across states, nations and continents. Not only are individual black families diasporic, but Africa and the diaspora itself have been long portrayed as the black family at large. While the role of the black family has been described by some as a microcosm of the entire race, its complexity as the “foundation” of African American life and history can be seen in numerous debates over how to represent its meaning and typicality from a historical perspective—as slave or free, as patriarchal or matriarchal/matrifocal, as single-headed or dual-headed household, as extended or nuclear, as fictive kin or blood lineage, as legal or common law, and as black or interracial, etc. Variation appears, as well, in discussions on the nature and impact of parenting, childhood, marriage, gender norms, sexuality and incarceration. The family offers a rich tapestry of images for exploring the African American past and present (ASALH). In an effort to help individuals grow in their understanding of African American Catholicism and its impact on the local and national church, as well as on themselves, Christine 30 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • February 2021
Christine Streams, liaison for African American Catholics Ministry, speaks at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Thibodaux. Streams serves as the bishop’s liaison for African American Catholics Ministry in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. She says she sees her role as helping different ethnic groups in the diocese work together. “Through the process of evangelization, I want to establish programs for education/ formation, and assist with empowering African American Catholics to share their unique gifts and step into roles of leadership. But I also want to invite people of all ethnicities to sit at the decision making table, and be accountable and responsible for making decisions together.” Locally, the Finding Our Roots African American Museum on Roussell Street in Houma was established in February 2017. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-Noon and 1:30-3:30 p.m., and offers group and individual tours, as well as tours for students and senior citizens. “The museum tells the stories and experiences of our journey from the shores of Africa to the southern region of Louisiana,” says Streams. “It focuses on the route of African Americans to the new world through slavery and how we survived.” According to the museum’s brochure, it tells the unfolding story of events through exhibits, visuals, early life, music, reconstruction, Civil Rights, education, inventors, musicians and the lasting history of the African American people of Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary and Assumption parishes, and beyond. Nationally, in November 2020, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C., already the highest-ranking AfricanAmerican Catholic in U.S. history, became the first African American cardinal in the history of the Catholic Church in an installation ceremony in Rome. According to Vatican News, by elevating Archbishop Gregory to the highest ranks of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis continues to play close attention to racial
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