Black History Month

Black History Month is celebrated each February in the United States with concerts, rallies, parades, parties and other festivities to commemorate the contributions of African Americans who changed the world. Much progress has been made toward equality and against racial discrimination since Dr. Carter G. Woodson launched “Negro History Week” in 1926: We elected our first By Melanie Maxwell black president, Barack H. Obama, to two terms in office, and Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman to launch a television network. Still, there is much more work to do. Here are some quotes from accomplished African American leaders.

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

» Frederick Douglass (1818–1895)

Journalist, civil rights activist, author and one of the most powerful leaders of the 19th century anti-slavery movement, Frederick Douglass worked as an advisor to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and later became the first African American citizen to hold a government position.

“I grew up like a neglected weed — ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it.”

» Harriet Tubman (1820–1913)

Born into slavery in Maryland, Harriet Tubman escaped to become the most famous “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, risking her life to lead hundreds of family members and other slaves from the plantation system to freedom on this elaborate secret network of safe houses. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition during the Civil War. She helped the Union Army during the war, working as a spy among other roles.

“The different ness of races, moreover, is no evidence of superiority or of inferiority. This merely indicates that each race has certain gifts which the others do not possess.”

» Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950)

Known as the “Father of Black History,” Carter G. Woodson was an African-American writer and historian whose launch of “Negro History Week” in 1926 evolved into “Black History Month,” which is celebrated internationally today. Born in New Canton, Virginia, Woodson dedicated his career to AfricanAmerican history, becoming the second African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard and eventually appointed as dean at Howard University and the West Virginia Collegiate Institute. He wrote more than a dozen books, including the 1933 “The Mis-Education of the Negro,” as well as literature for elementary and secondary school students. He also established the “Journal of Negro History” in 1916, the “Negro History Bulletin” in 1937, and formed the African-American-owned Associated Publishers Press in 1921.

Smooth Jazz News salutes the pathfinders of African-American equality “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” “The time is always right to do what is right.”

» Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

(1929–1968) Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist who, through his activism and inspirational speeches, led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. He played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens. Dr. King also created the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together: black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young, old; gay, straight; men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance under the same proud flag to this big, bold country that we love. That’s what I see. That’s the America I know!”

»President Barack Obama

(Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Aug. 4, 1961) Barack Obama is a Harvard Law School graduate who became an Illinois senator, and then the the first African American to be elected as president of the United States. In 2012, he was re-elected to a second term.