A Letter From the Editor - Tony Henderson

A Letter from the Editor

Hello fellow Dreamers! Welcome Back! In this issue, we are Breaking Generational Curses in black history. I am so excited to celebrate another Black History month. And during this month of celebrating, we are often reminded about our enslaved ancestors who were forced onto ships and brought across the ocean from Africa. The last “slave ship” that came to America was the Clotilda, which arrived in July 1860. Congress had banned the importation of slaves in 1807, so this last trip was an illegal one. So, the ship was burned and buried in the sea, to hide the evidence of its existence.

We chose not to honor our generational curses, and we educated ourselves and each other. We became doctors, surgeons, educators, psychologists, engineers, pilots, and more. Some of our first Black Americans who earned these advanced skills were Hiram Revels, the first Black U. S. Senator, Lucy Stanton, was the first Black graduate from an Ivy League College (1850), Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first Black woman to receive an M. D. degree (1864). The first Black combat pilot was Eugene Bullard (1917), and the first Black generals in the military were Benjamin O. Davis (1940) and Hazel W. Johnson (1979).

There are many other “firsts” in Black/African American history, but these are examples of people who chose not to be deterred by the cultural restrictions of their times. As you read this “first issue” of this year, imagine yourself as being possibly the first in your generation to reach an amazing goal you have dreamed or thought about. This world is in your hands. Take full advantage of it.