Black History Month

By Serena and Isheba

     Black History Month is a month that recognizes the history and accomplishments of African Americans. It was first announced by the name of "Negro History Week" by Carter G. Woodson in 1926. It was celebrated in the second week of February because Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass's birthday fell in the same week. Once popularity grew, people of all races had more interest in black history. It wasn't until decades later in 1976, the federal government acknowledged Black History Week and changed it to Black History Month by the Black United Students at Kent State University. Now thirty-seven years later, we still acknowledge the accompishments of African Americans in the United States and the United Kingdom. Here are some important figures who changed our society for African Americans:

• Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland in 1820. Born into slavery, Tubman was beaten by masters. When she was a child, she suffered a harsh head wound from a heavy metal weight. Later this injury caused her seizures, narcoleptic attacks, headaches, and vivid dreams sent from God. Later in 1849, Tubman escaped from Maryland to Philidelphia to rescue her family from slavery and bring them back to Maryland. And over a span of ten years, Tubman traveled a total of 19 trips and brought over 300 slaves to freedom. She got so many people by using the Underground Railroad. She "never lost a passenger" as Federick Douglass once said.
• Malcom X, or El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an African American Muslim minister and civil rights activist. At the early age of 13, his mother sent to a mental hospital and a series of foster homes. A rumor said that Malcom's father died because of white supremacists; and on top of that, his uncle was lynched. Later in 1946, Malcom was sent to prison for breaking and entering. When in prison, Malcom joined the Nation of Islam. After his parole in 1952, he became leader of Nation of Islam. But the head of the group led him to go out of the country in March 1964. During his "vacation", Malcom traveled through Africa and the Middle East. Once he came back home, he founded the Muslim Mosque Inc. and the Orginization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year after in February 1965, he was assassinated by three members of the group. We thank him for spreading the idea of integration and black supremacy.
• Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. In 1955, he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King also organized the 1963 March on Washington where he spoke his "I Have A Dream" speech. On October 14, 1964, King recieved a Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, the SCLC also orgainized the Selma to Montgomery marches. In the last years of his life, he moved his movement to Chicago to expand his focus on poverty and the Vietnam War. But sadly on April 4, 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee allegedly by James Earl Ray. The man convicted may have been framed or have acted together with government agents. But his assassination lead to riots around the country. We'll all know King for his efforts to make people of all nationalities come together as one.

• Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. He is the first African American President,  and is of the Democratic Party. He was re-elected and will serve for another four years. In 2009 Obama won the Noble Peace Prize. He was awarded this prize for, "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."  
• Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Robinson played for the Dodgers and ended racial segregation, that regulated black players to negro leagues. Jackie won MLB Rookie of the year in 1947, National League Most Valuable Player in 1949, and was also inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1962. In 2004 MLB adopted a new tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day," where all players on all teams wear #42. He helped establish the Freedom National Bank and in recognition of his actions, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congress Gold Medal.
• Rosa Parks was a woman who the United States Congress called the, "mother of the freedom movement." In 1955 Rosa Parks refused a bus driver's order to give up her seat to a white passenger, when their section overfilled. Rosa was arrested for her actions of civil disobedience. Her acts of defiance helped the Montgomerty Bus Boycott go into place.
• Gabby Douglas was a member of the U.S. Gymnastics 2012 Summer Olympics team. She was the first African American woman to become the individual all-around champion. She is also the first American to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. At the 2012 World Olympics she was a member of the gold winning U.S. team.

Without these national heros, African Americans would not be treated how they are today. By the actions caused, African Americans can live freely without slavery and division. These are all honorable members in our history today.