Unsung Heroes
The first person who refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus.
Who is Claudette Colvin?
In 1955 she was 15 years old. The day Colvin held her own bus sit-in, her class had talked about the injustices they were experiencing daily under Jim Crow segregation laws. She once stated, "My head was just too full of black history, you know, the oppression that we went through," (npr.org)
"The judge strategically dropped two of the charges (for disturbing the peace and breaking the segregation law) but found her guilty on the third for assaulting the officers who arrested her. Since Colvin had only been convicted of assault, appealing her case could not directly challenge the segregation law. The community was outraged. Some people stayed off the buses. But Colvin was young and seen as “feisty” and “uncontrollable” by many adults and lived on the wrong side of town. Ultimately, civil rights leaders deemed her not the right kind of plaintiff to organize around." (rosaparksbiography.org)
What is now celebrated as Black History Month was first inspired in 1915 during a National Celebration for the 50th Anniversary of Emancipation in this city.
What is Chicago?
These countries celebrate Black History Month.
What are United States, Canada, UK, Ireland, and The Netherlands?
US & Canada celebrate in February, while UK, Ireland, and Netherlands celebrate in October.
The youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history.
Who is Amanda Gorman?
National Youth Poet Laureate and Harvard graduate.
Major organizer and leader of first primarily black labor union.
Who is Asa Philip Randolph?
Founded Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters labor union in 1925. After World War II, Randolph again took on the federal government by organizing the League for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation. That group's actions eventually led President Harry S. Truman to issue a 1948 executive order banning racial segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces" (biography.com)
The first official "version" of Black History Month was not a month-long celebration and it was established in this year.
What is 1926?
The theme of Black History Month for 2022.
What is Health and Wellness?
"This theme acknowledges the legacy of not only Black scholars and medical practitioners in Western medicine, but also other ways of knowing (e.g., birthworkers, doulas, midwives, naturopaths, herbalists, etc.) throughout the African Diaspora. The 2022 theme considers activities, rituals and initiatives that Black communities have done to be well." (asalh.org)
So many layers to peel back, but recognizing the crucial role that Black midwives have filled (since ancient times) in the healing and care for their communities, and the intentional eradication of those sacred practices that limited the passing on of traditions, sheds light on the ongoing disconnect and neglect felt by Black communities from health care institutions. (https://thenaabb.org/history/)
This scientist lead Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine team.
Who is Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett?
Ph.D in Microbiology and Immunology
First American to get Covid vaccine was Sandra Lindsey (pfizer)
The Counter Protester.
Who is Dion Diamond?
Participated in the Freedom Rides of 1961, but also was a really awesome protest heckler. "Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, Dion was a bit of a prankster, and spent much of his youth trying to, as he put it, 'crash segregated society'" (storycorps.org)
February is Black History Month in respect for the traditionally celebrated birthdays of these two men.
Who are Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass?
Feb. 12 and 14th- to keep traditions of celebrating, but inspire a broader celebration of Black knowledge, history and inclusion in school curriculum. (https://asalh.org/)
She is the first Black woman to earn an M.D. in the United States.
Who is Rebecca Lee Crumpler?
New England Female Medical College (1964 graduate, and only Black graduate of the college). No photos are known to exist of her. Published a book about women and children's health in 1883 called "A Book of Medical Discourses: Two Parts".(aamc.org)
These three founded the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013.
Who are Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi?
founded BLM after the acquittal of the man responsible for shooting and killing Trayvon Martin.
A key organizer for Selma to Montgomery marches and the 1st African American woman to seek a seat in Congress.
Who is Amelia Boynton Robinson?
Ran for congress. Key organizer of Selma to Montgomery marches, brutally beaten by police and left for dead during first attempt on 3/7 in 1965. Two days later, she participated in the 2nd march led by MLK. Finally completed the march on 3/24.
Arrested during voting drive, MLK witnessed her treatment and filed injunction against the sheriff. “It was one of the most brutal and unlawful acts I have seen an officer commit,” King said at the time. (washingtonpost.com)
Black history was not originally a month-long celebration and was first only recognized during this timeframe.
What is one week?
"'We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements.” (Woodson) Going forward it (Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH)) would both create and popularize knowledge about the black past. He (Woodson) sent out a press release announcing Negro History Week in February, 1926." asalh.org
This controversial federal act was passed to promote maternal and infant health/hygiene, but left an impact on Black lay midwifery practices.
What is the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act of 1921?
Targeted Black midwives in the South, regulated the practice of midwifery requiring education (by less educated nurses) and licensure. Escalated medicalization of childbirth. Reinforced race inequities in care and practice. reinforced unsubstantiated (and plain incorrect) belief that high infant mortality was the fault of Black, indigenous and immigrant midwives.
One of the darkest moments in US history was the systematic eradication of the African American midwife from her community, resulting in a legacy of birth injustices. Shafia M. Monroe, DEM, CDT, MPH
(shafiamonroe.com, lamaze.org)
Iowa (Horace Mann Towner) & Texas Reps proposed act.
This man is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Who is Bryan Stevenson?
a non profit organization, attorney that advocates for social justice. Shines spotlight on inequitable prison terms for black juveniles, critic of mandatory life sentences for juveniles.
This man was a major organizer of Civil Rights Movement and close advisor to MLK, he imparted the leader with his learnings of nonviolent protest.
Who is Bayard Rustin?
Studied Ghandi's philosophy of nonviolence in India. "King recognized the advantages of Rustin’s knowledge, contacts, and organizational abilities, and invited him to serve as his advisor, well aware that Rustin’s background would be controversial to other civil rights leaders. As King’s special assistant, Rustin assumed a variety of roles, including proofreader, ghostwriter, philosophy teacher, and nonviolence strategist." (https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/rustin-bayard).
He is known as "the Father of Black History".
Who is Dr. Carter G. Woodson?
Woodson dedicated his career to studying Black history and establishing what eventually became Black History Month.
2nd African American to earn Ph.D at Harvard and helped form the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). (asalh.org) Early scholar to study African diaspora (naacp.org)
In 1976, this demographic population advocated modern change to Black History Month and influenced it's National Observance decree by Pres. Gerald Ford.
What are College students/young intellectuals?
By the late 1960s, as young blacks on college campuses became increasingly conscious of links with Africa, Black History Month replaced Negro History Week at a quickening pace. Within the Association, younger intellectuals, part of the awakening, prodded the organization to change with the times. They succeeded. In 1976, fifty years after the first celebration, the Association used its influence to institutionalize the shifts from a week to a month and from Negro history to black history. Since the mid-1970s, every American president, Democrat and Republican, has issued proclamations endorsing the Association’s annual theme.
This woman was named "Top 25 Women in Higher Ed" and coined the term "intersectionality."
Who is Kimberlè Crenshaw?
"Co-authored the reports “Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected” and “Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality against Black Women,” raising awareness for the unique issues Black women face. Her groundbreaking work on intersectionality was influential in drafting the equality clause of the South African Constitution" (diversityinc.com)