Black History All Year Long

By Barbara Starkey Goode & Jon Goode

When you first sit beneath a lamp and read that Lewis Latimer invented the modern light bulb, you may also be shocked to discover that the central heat that warms you as you read was developed by Alice H. Parker. Latimer and Parker, both Black, are overlooked and often forgotten Americans inventors and heroes.

The untold tragedy of course is that Latimer and Parker's inventions are but two of the multitude of inventions, ideas, and even personas invented and inspired by African Americans. (Did you know that The Lone Ranger and Betty Boop are both based on African Americans?)

THE MORE WE LEARN, THE MORE WE DISCOVER WE DON'T KNOW.

On February 7th, 1926 Carter G. Woodson initiated the first Negro History Week, which eventually led to the celebration of the first Black History Month in February of 1970 at Kent State University.

Carter G. Woodson's initial idea was to bring to the forefront recognition of the history and contributions of African American's in America.  Secondly Mr. Woodson emphasized the importance of elevating and celebrating Black figures whose accomplishments were (and are) all too often overlooked, discounted, or credited wrongly to others.

In 2021 the vision, idea and ideals that Carter G. Woodson laid out in 1926 are still just as valuable and important, perhaps even more so.

These revelations about the accomplishments of a people too often told that their history begins with slavery and chains, and ends with Lebron James dunking a basketball while Drake raps about it, are profound and necessary, both for us and our children.

FUTURE GENERATIONS NEED TO KNOW THAT THEY COME FROM GENIUS. 

They will hold their heads a bit higher and stand with their backs a bit straighter when they understand the fire that is their past will serve to light the path to their future.

The African American leaders, and teachers, of today and tomorrow hold the immense responsibility of ensuring that who we were, and are, is not lost. They, and we, stand on the shoulders of giants, and from that vantage point can take in more completely the story of us.

It's a story that can't be told in a month, or even two. It's a story that is as old as America itself and winds its way back to the cradle of civilization, to the day God said, Let there be light.

WE OWE IT TO OURSELVES TO LEARN AND BE INFORMED ABOUT THIS HISTORY, NOT JUST FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY BUT ALL YEAR LONG. 

There is not a day in the life of a single person in America that is not impacted and made better by the contributions and sacrifices of African Americans, some of which are long gone and almost forgotten. So there should not be a day that those contributions and sacrifices are not studied, resurrected, understood and shared.

This is why the elevation and centering of leaders and teachers, in the African American community and of the African American diaspora is important for all twelve months of the year.

It is so that these narratives, lessons, and histories can flourish and find home in the minds and hearts of the people of this nation.