Today, it is crucial that we make a concerted effort to celebrate the positive contributions that four Black men have made to make life better for African Americans. We are experiencing constant attacks on our civil liberties by the new political administration in Washington, D.C. We are at a crossroads.
The Jan. 29 serious plane and helicopter crash at the Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. is one of the many examples of spreading rumors and political lies and blame. We are inundated with misinformation, racism, hatred, and allegations by using politics and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives as a scape-goat.
With the political climate in Wash- ington, D.C. and around the country, this should be a wake-up call for Black and brown people. All the gains that have been made for Black and brown people are slipping away from us. This article will showcase some of the accomplishments of four powerful Black men as we celebrate Black History Month.
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass
The first hero we are honoring is Frederick Douglass. He was a writer, orator, abolitionist, freedom fighter, spokesperson and civil rights leader. Douglass was born a slave in 1818 in a cabin in Maryland. He died as a free man in 1895 in Cedar Hill, Anacostia, Washington, D.C. Douglass helped to end slavery and gave African Americans a chance at a better life.
He was born Frederick Agustus Washington Bailey. After he escaped to New York in 1838, Douglass changed his name. He did not want his master to find him, so from that day on, he was known as Frederick Douglass.
Douglass was an avid reader. He read books and wrote one himself. He also started a newspaper called, The North Star. This was because run-away slaves would use The North Star in the sky to guide them to freedom.
Frederick Douglass believed that if people knew how horrible slavery was, they would fight to end it. In 1845, Douglass decided to write his autobiography. It was called “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave.”
The book was a big success and sold over 30,000 copies.
On July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, Frederick Douglass, orator and abolitionist, gave his most famous speech, entitled, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
After his famous speech, Douglass made a statement about the condition of Black people in this country. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who what rain without thunder and lighting. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be moral and physical, but it must be a struggle.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will.”
I am a life-long student of Frederick Douglass. Also, a proud graduate of Frederick Douglass High School in Memphis, Tennessee. I support the historical facts of who really freed the slaves. President Abraham Lincoln did not free the slaves. Lincoln was a politician who was more interested in winning the war between the North and South.
He sought out Frederick Douglass for assistance to have Black men lay down their life for his political expediency. Winning the war was more important to Lincoln’s presidency than the freedom of slaves in this country. With the powerful debates and strong encouraging conversations Frederick Douglass had with President Lincoln, on Jan. 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. It declared that all persons enslaved were free. It should be obvious to all readers, who really freed the slaves.
After this interesting and fierce relationship, President Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass stood as the two most influential figures in the middle of the 19th century. We must appreciate, respect, and share our rich history and the contributions Blacks have made in our community, city, state, and the world.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson
The second most powerful Black man we are honoring during this Black History Month is Dr. Carter G. Woodson. He was born December 19, 1875, in New Cantor, Virginia and died April 30, 1950, in Washington, D.C. Dr. Woodson has been called the father of Black History. He was one of the first scholars to study the history of the African diaspora and African American history.
He became the second Afri- can American, after W.E.B. Du-Bois, to obtain a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. He was an American historian, author, public school, and college administrator. Dr. Woodson believed that education and increasing social and profession- al contacts among Black and white people could reduce racism.
He actively recruited and engaged Black civic leaders, high school teachers, clergymen, women’s groups, and fraternal associations to improve the un- derstanding of African American history.
The time that schools have set aside each year to focus on African American history is Woodson’s most visible legacy. His determination was to further the recognition of the Black race in American and world history.
Dr. Woodson remained focused on his work throughout his life. His favorite statement was, “I am married to my work.” He continued to publish books concerning Black people that might not have been supported in the white market. Dr. Woodson was the founder of Negro History Month and founder of the Association for the study of Negro Life and History.
Dr. Woodson is the author of more than 16 books. The founder and editor of The Journal of Negro History and The Negro History Bulletin.
His most famous masterpiece is the book, “The Miseducation of the Negro” (1933).
His most famous quote is, “When you control a man’s thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his proper place and will stay in it. You do not have to send him to the back door, he will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. During a crisis in the Black and brown com- munities, history shows that it does not matter who is in power. Those who have not learned to do for themselves and must depend solely on others, never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning.”
Dr. Benjamin E. Mays
The third Black male we are honoring is Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays. Dr. Mays was born Aug. 1, 1894, in Ninety Six, South Carolina. He died on March 28,1984 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was an American Baptist minister, civil rights leader, and an astute educator. Dr. Mays is buried on the grounds of the Morehouse College campus where he served as president.
Dr. Mays spoke early and of- ten against segregation and for education. He was a role model for two of his most famous Morehouse College students, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Howard Thurman, and many others. He served as the young students’ minister, mentor and advisor.
He was president of More- house College for 27 years, from 1940-1967. Dr. Mays gave the benediction at the close of the 1963 March on Washington where Dr. King gave his most famous “I have a Dream” speech. He also did the eulogy at Dr. King’s funeral in 1968.
Among his many books was the first sociological study of African American religion; “The Negro Church,’’ published in 1933; “The Negro’s God,’’ 1938; “Disturbed About Man,’’ 1969; and his autobiography, “Born to Rebel,’’ 1971. These books reveal a combination of sharp in- tellect, religious commitment, and prophetic conviction. Dr. Mays received over 56 honorary doctorate degrees.
He was inspired by Frederick Douglass, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Booker T. Washington. Dr. Mays became a Baptist minister, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and served as dean of Howard University School of Religion.
He was an advisor to three U.S. presidents, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter. Dr. Mays was a member and first African American president of the Atlanta Board of Education,1969-1981. During his tenure, he supervised the desegregation of the schools and appointed the first African American superintendent of schools, Alonzo Crim.
In 1950, Dr. Mays was recognized by the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper as one of the 12 most powerful men in America. He was honored for his numerous works in civil rights, religion, education, community, and race relations. Dr. Mays was the first living African American male to have a school and street named in his honor; Mays High School on Benjamin E. Mays Drive in Atlanta.
One of Dr. Mays’ famous quotes is, “It is not your environment, it is you, the quality of your minds, the integrity of your souls, and the determination of your wills, that will decide your future and shape your lives.”
Justice Thurgood Marshall
The final powerful Black male we are recognizing during Black History Month is Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He was born July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland and died Jan. 24, 1993, in Bethesda, Maryland.
Thurgood Mar- shall was a civil rights lawyer and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, from 1967 to1991.
Justice Marshall was the main lawyer to argue the most famous case in American educational history for Blacks: 1954 Brown vs Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. This decision declared that separate educational facilities for white and Black students were inherently unequal and unconstitutional.
Justice Marshall graduated in 1933 from Howard University Law School with honors and was first in his class. In 1938 he became the lead chair in the legal office of the NAACP. Two years later, he was named chief of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Ironically, from 1950 to 1975, more Black and brown people were educated in the history of mankind, living or dead. This tremendous growth was an alarming and frightening undertaking for whites. They were afraid that they were losing ground and feared they would be controlled and working for Black people in this country.
Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 is considered a mile- stone in American civil rights history. The case and the efforts to undermine the decision brought greater awareness to racial inequalities and the struggles African Americans faced. Because of Thurgood Marshall, the success of Brown v. Board of Education galvanized civil rights activists and increased efforts to end institutionalized racism throughout American society.
Some of Justice Thurgood Marshall’s many quotes are:
“To those of us who know that struggle is far from over, history has another lesson. It tells us how deeply rooted habits of prejudice are.”
“There’s not a white man in this country who can say, I never benefited by being white.”
“Equal means getting the same thing, at the same time, and in the same place.”
“The measure of a country’s greatness is the ability to retain compassion in times of crisis.”
“None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody, a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony, or a few nuns bent down and helped us pick up our boots.”
Finally, we need to clearly understand what celebrating Black History Month means to Black and brown people. Then, share with family, friends, and others what we have accomplished. We are honoring these four powerful Black men – Frederick Douglass, Carter G. Woodson, Benjamin E. Mays, and Thurgood Marshall. They were a true testament of the struggle for freedom and what they endured to survive in a racist society. This is a reason to share their contributions during this Black History Month for our children’s, children’s children, and the community at large.