Black History is White History too because It is American History
Hello, Everyone!
As we come out of the Pandemic, slowly but surely, I know that holidays and celebrations are a few and in between. Celebrating Black History month is one of those holidays that seem to get more attention every year.
We as black people are still trying to learn about ourselves due to the loss of our African culture and heritage so to speak. These are 2 significant entities in that your culture speaks to a way of living and heritage in that the connection to Africa is lost and might not be truly found because of what I believe in being born to the land, air, and sea. The nature of the environment is a strong connection to heritage and so do bloodlines. Of course, this is what I believe and you don’t have to agree to any of it.
We as black and brown people have made the most significant achievement considering there were many push-backs that kept us from succeeding in the American system even to this present day.
Many of us today, and I say us, because I’m of the black race, American-Afro, and don’t know our history very well, but we are catching up little by little. By reading books and participating in the many arts, sciences, sports and politics, and other fields of learning, you learn who came before you. You will learn of many black and brown people of African descent have excelled immensely. Why was that? One reason is that many of the people of the so-called white race, did not want us to know and many of them kept the information hidden for so long, that the next generation of white Americans doesn’t know either. Some of people don’t want to know or want you to know your history. However, what we do know, is that white and black American history in this country is one history all mixed together.
One of the most important things, I’ve learned in life is that when you are in the midst of building or creating anything, you learn different ways of doing it or creating something even better. If you are a dress designer or a home builder, and even an artist, you will see things differently from anyone else. There it is, a new creation. Jazz music for example is also, one of those creations of music created by American-Afro that put it down to the world and for the world to hear. Some of our counterparts, white Americans, bounce on it and claim it as their own, but music belongs to no one. Some Latino, claim they discovered Jazz. Do we as American-Afros get credit for it? Not really, but because we have such a thing as Black History week, we are talking more about our black achievements. And yet, we’ve got to teach our children about the black American greats, continue to learn about Africa, and reach out to our ancestors in spiritual ways
Because, of this great divide in the American system, black families have indeed taken a step back into time and some are realizing for the first time what has happened to them and making sense of what is happening now to them. What we see is injustices in our lives in many ways by not having the full opportunity to move forward; that includes, housing, education, medical, political, athletics, environmental, and other avenues of learning and participation. Did you know before the movie, “Hidden Figures” that it was Katherine Johnson at NASA that made a most significant contribution to John Glen’s flight to the moon? I didn’t know that until the movie. Here’s a link to her story. Hidden Figures Katherine Johnson: A Real Star at NASA | Shortform Books And by the way, the NASA website has a website for children and adults called “Jet Propulsion” and all kinds of stem projects to do as well as valuable information about space. It is free to sign up. Perhaps one of your children or grandchildren will want to adventure into space research and learn a lot about it!.
I coined American-Afro as a name I believe is more suitable at this time in my life and hopefully, it will be a change for all black Americans to American-Afro in that we are Americans first in this country and African second. Why, because, that is what we have, what we are born into, and who we are. When you have lost your identity, what do you do? You create a culture of your own. Memory is something, that you lose unless you can remember. We can today, tell the history of each generation of what we have learned about ourselves and about the culture and life in African countries-especially if you know your roots from there. Ancestry networks can tell you which African Countries you are genetically connected to. There are pieces of our African culture that still exist in what we do, but we might not know or recognize it. It could be similarities in the foods we eat or a way of doing something. The most exciting part of it is that we have got to find those hidden parts and know that our ancestors still live within us and they are always there pushing us to true greatness and peace of heart in a spiritual way. We are truly the lost children of Africa. And. . . . a New People as well. There is no one on earth like us! An undeniable identity we created for ourselves. We are, I am.
This link might be of interest to you in what Mitch McConnell said when speaking about the Voting Rights Bills, and The Voting Act bill in relationship to blacks voting. Is there really a slip of the tongue in what he said. Do white Americans not think of Afro-Americans- as it stands- not American? Check out this link. Mitch McConnell slams ‘outrageous mischaracterization’ over his comment about Black voters (yahoo.com)
And so this is why it’s important to study, search, practice, and appreciate the blackness and greatness in us and to lead the world in ways that can grow and push this world forward into a joyful existence to be happy, well, and spiritually correct to all people of the world.
This world doesn’t belong to anyone, but your creations and creativity do. So make sure you keep what you have created. Do document, record, and go tell the stories of your family, of your country, and to yourself. Memory can be short or long-term, so write or record your family history in some way and talk to others about it. Whenever you go to the hospital for admission, what is one of the first things they ask you? Your family history. So, you see, history is very important.
Always learn something new every day. Black History is shared by many because the world does not always reflect on the good that people do. There’s got a balance of bad news and the good news about American-Afros. The media has a responsibility to balance the news, not just to sell newspapers bad news. Too much negative news is not good for anyone.
So, as we celebrate Black History Month, do celebrate it every day and know that you are of great value, you are loved, and you will succeed!
By, Thelma Harcum