My stepmother is an avid reader, a member of her local library’s book club and, up until the pandemic, frequently attended most of the library’s events. She surprised me when she mentioned she did not plan to support the library’s Black History Month activities this year. When I asked why, she stated she was tired of listening to repeated discussions about the same people – Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, George Washington Carver, Sojourner Truth, etc.
Her disinterest got me thinking. It’s true. There are so many other notable Black American heroes who rarely, if never, receive recognition for their contributions.
For example, take Ronald McNair, the son of my father’s good friend. Early in life, he took a stand when he refused to leave his hometown’s library because they wouldn’t let him borrow any books. Both the police and his mother were summoned to the library before he was allowed to leave with his chosen reading material.
McNair graduated valedictorian of his high school class, magna cum laude with a BS in engineering physics and received his Ph.D. in physics from MIT. He went on to gain entrance into the highly competitive NASA astronaut program and was the second African American to travel into space. Among his many distinctions and talents, he was also an accomplished musician.
Tragically, he was killed at age 35 in the 1986 Challenger explosion. He, along with the other crew members, posthumously received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 2004. He has been awarded numerous other public honors since his passing.
And what about Jane Bolin? She was the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School and became our nation’s first Black woman judge in 1939. She worked hand in hand with Eleanor Roosevelt to develop a program that addressed juvenile delinquency.
How about Robert Small? Born a slave, he later became a sea captain and a politician. He led a ship insurrection that freed him and others from slavery. It was this successful achievement that helped sway President Lincoln to allow African-American soldiers to join the Union Army.
And while I don’t claim to diminish Rosa Parks’ brave act, how much do we hear about Irene Morgan Kirkaldy and Claudette Colvin, who both refused to give up their bus seats to white passengers before Parks?
What about other notable figures such as Alice Allison Dunnigan, Wangari Maathai, Matthew Henson, Henrietta Lacks and William H. Hastie? Their contributions, along with many others, should be showcased.
When we think about it further, what do we know about those who are making history now? Black Lives Matter has been nominated for a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. Can you name the three women who started the movement? How will Black History Month choose to acknowledge Rosalind Brewer, Ursula Burns and Mary Winston, the only three African-American women chosen to lead Fortune 500 companies? Stacey Adams is renowned for establishing Fair Fight Action, which focuses on tackling voter suppression and was responsible for increasing voter turnout in Georgia. But do you know she was also nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and she’s a published romance novel author?
So many other African-Americans have made or are currently making history. These folks are worthy of a shout-out during Black History Month. Black Heroes Matter!
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