WHAT BLACK HISTORY MEANS TO ME…

By: Pastor Robert M. Dix Jr..

Every year the month of February is set aside as a month-long acknowledgment/ celebration of the impact and accomplishments of African-Americans in the History of our nation. Originally established as Negro History Week in 1928 by Carter G. Woodson with the organization The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, the aim was to encourage people of all ethnic and social backgrounds to discuss the “Black Experience.”

The older I grow, the more I’ve come to appreciate the rich heritage of “Black History.”

As a father and even more as the Senior Pastor of an African-American congregation, I am compelled to share it with this generation to convey that we have come a mighty long way as a people. As I recount the conversations I had with my grandparents and parents, and many of the men and women I’m blessed to know who lived through the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, through the periods of the great migration (moving from the south), and the Civil Rights Movement, I become the conscience of the fact that they struggled, that we might enjoy a better life than they did. When I hear of the stories of young men dropping out of school, with only the options of military, factory work, or hustling; our young women many finished high school but landed jobs in daily work, secretarial, or the telephone company aka Ma Bell, my heart aches when I see and hear of young people today refuse to take advantage of the many opportunities.

And so, my response to “What Black History Means to ME” is it is an opportunity to encourage this generation of young black leaders that THEY CAN BECOME WHATEVER AND WHOMEVER THEY WANT TO! When we look back over the History of our people, we can answer the age-old question of whether African-Americans can make a difference?... with the words of our first Black President, Barack Obama “YES WE CAN!” The only thing we need to do is to push for the whole History of this nation to be taught; and passed on… and it starts with us. The “whole” historical record of the United States reveals that from its birth, every hero or person of great significance to White-Americans, right next to them is a strong African-American who made just as big or more significant an impact. From the Revolutionary War to the Ukraine Conflict, you’ll find us:

•You can’t teach about George Washington without teaching about Crispus Attucks.

•You can’t teach about Abraham Lincoln without teaching about Frederick Douglass

• You can’t teach about Albert Einstein without teaching about George Washington Carver

• You can’t teach about John F. Kennedy without teaching about Martin Luther King Jr.

• You can’t teach about Robert Kennedy without teaching about Malcolm X

•You can’t teach about Eleanor Roosevelt without teaching about Rosa Parks

•You can’t teach about Elvis Presley without teaching about Michael Jackson

• You can’t teach about Steven Spielberg without teaching about Tyler Perry

• You can’t teach about Martha Stewart without teaching about Oprah Winfrey

•You can’t teach about Bill Clinton without teaching about Barack Obama

• You can’t teach about Hilary Clinton without teaching about Condoleeza Rice

• You can’t teach about Nancy Pelosi without teaching about Kamala Harris

Black History is me… Black History is you…