__________________________________________________
Loading ...
Enjoy this video tribute to Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known as the Father of Black History Month. Learn more aboout the History of Black History Month.
Tags: African American History Month, Black History Month, Carter G. Woodson
As I speak around the country on Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, I frequently hear the question: “What do you think about Black History Month?”
The question comes from my African American friends, many of whom are split both ways. Some think Black History Month is a net positive for African Americans, while others believe it is a net negative. That question also comes from my non-African American friends, who are equally split, and for various reasons.
The Father of Black History
To answer the question intelligently and fairly, we need to understand the history of Black History Month. With these compelling words, African American historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) explained his purpose for founding what in 1926 was known as Negro History Week.
“We should emphasize not Negro history, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.”
A decade before he conceived of Negro History Week, Dr. Woodson launched the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (1915). He was motivated by the belief that publishing scientific history about the Black race would produce facts that would prove that Africa and its people had played a crucial role in the development of civilization. As a Harvard-trained historian, Woodson believed that truth would prevail over prejudice.
Based upon his conviction, Woodson established The Journal of Negro History in 1916. However, a decade into his work, he recognized that scholarship alone was not defeating the race problem. Unfortunately, many White historians were not promoting the truth even when they read its riches.
It Takes a Community
If the scholarly community would not be moved by truth, then how could the legacy of Black achievements ever become appreciated? Dr. Woodson began to urge Black civic organizations to promote the achievements that researchers were uncovering.
Woodson prodded his fraternity brothers at Omega Psi Phi to take up the work. In 1924 they responded with the creation of Negro History and Literature Week, which they renamed Negro Achievement Week.
Within a year, Woodson knew that the Association had to expand its program. They reorganized their goal: popularizing the truth of Black achievement. The Association had to reeducate Blacks as well as Whites, and its doors had to be opened to all, not just to historians and scholars.
When the Association announced Negro History Week for 1926, Woodson was overwhelmed by the response. Black history clubs sprang up, teachers demanded materials to instruct their pupils, and progressive Whites, not simply White scholars, stepped forward to endorse the effort.
So Why February?
People ask, “Why February?” Some African Americans say, “Yeah, first they give us just one month. And then they give us the shortest month of the year!”
It wasn’t “they.” It was our African American friend Dr. Woodson who selected a week in February for the initial Negro History Week. Why?
The week in February included the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Lincoln, of course, issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Frederick Douglass had been one of the great African American leaders of the previous century.
From a Week to a Month
By the time Woodson passed away in 1950, Negro History Week had become a central part of African American life. Progress was being made in bringing more Americans to appreciate the African American legacy and to embrace the celebration.
However, people recognized the need to devote more time to Black history. The nation was coming to recognize the importance of Black history in the drama of the America story. So, in 1976, fifty years after the initial celebration, the first Black History Month was celebrated. Since 1976, all American Presidents have issued Black History Month proclamations.
So Now We Know the Rest of the Story
Here’s what we’ve learned about the history of Black History Month.
1. Original Need: There existed in the 1920s a horrible imbalance in historical study. Most history was written by “White guys” about “dead White guys.”
2. Original Motivation: Dr. Woodson and other African American scholars recognized this imbalance. In response, they did not want to emphasize “Black history.” They simply wanted a factual, scholarly study of Blacks in history. In fact, they insisted that what we needed was not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national, racial, and religious prejudice.
3. Scholarly Disappointment: Being a Harvard-trained historian, Dr. Woodson assumed that the truth would set us free. He believed that when White historians saw the facts of history—that all people of all ethnicities have made sterling contributions to civilization—that their biases would die. He was wrong.
4. Spreading the Word: Seeing the failure of White historians to face the facts, Woodson and others now realized that it would take a community. The average, everyday citizen needed to be educated in the historical truth of the beautifully diverse nature of the history of civilization. Thus was birthed what we now know as Black History Month.
5. Historical Clarity: For those who say, “Why should Blacks have their own month?” we need to answer historically. “Minorities needed their own month to begin to overcome the distortion not only of the other eleven months, but of the preceding 1,000s of years of recorded history.” Minority leaders like Dr. Woodson never insisted on the supremacy of any one race. They simply wanted to uncover the buried historical riches of any neglected cultures. (That’s the identical motivation that led to my writing Beyond the Suffering).
Join the Conversation
1. Now that you know the history, what is your view of the original need for Black History Month?
2. Do you believe that Black History Month is still needed? Why or why not?
Dr. Carter G. Woodson
Tags: Beyond the Suffering, Black History, Black History Month, Carter Woodson
Would you like to read a fair and balanced discussion of the history and controversy surrounding Black History Month?
You can here.
G. Carter Woodson, Founder of the Modern Black History Movement
It’s a brief, focused discussion of a vital topic that will be in the news for the next 28 days.
• Learn how and why Black History Month was launched.
• Engage in the conversation regarding whether or not one month focused on Black history is a net positive.
Continue reading here.
The 40-Day Journey of Promise
To celebrate Black History Month, I’m continuing The 40-Day Journey of Promise—running from MLK Day to the end of Black History Month.
Today’s post shares a powerful depiction of the legacy of African American salvation by faith through grace. Don’t miss it. Visit here.
Join the Conversation
What do you think? Is designating one month for the celebration of Black history a net positive?
Do you long to grow in your ability to relate across cultures?
Do you long for church community that’s truly a taste of eternity (Rev. 7:9-10) where we’ll worship together forever in unity and diversity?
Then join the journey!
Join the Journey
Join me on a forty-day intercultural journey of promise.
I’ll be blogging during the forty days from Martin Luther King Day on January 18, 2010, to the end of Black History Month on February 28, 2009.
Our focus will be: The Journey: Forty Days of Promise—Learning Life Lessons from the Legacy of African American Christianity.
I know, technically, that’s forty-two days. February 27 and 28 will be days of reflection on the previous forty-day journey.
The Big Idea
Each day we’ll enjoy a stirring narrative from the heroes and heroines of Black Church history.
Then we’ll ponder applications of this remarkable legacy to all of our lives today—regardless of our ethnicity, nationality, race, or cultural background.
Every post will include discussion questions so that in your family and your church you can ponder the implications for your lives and ministries.
Bonus for Joining the Journey
As an added bonus, I’ll select five people who commented the most during these 40 (42) days to receive an e-copy of the entire Forty Day Adventure.
Your Head Start on Our Journey of Promise
The Journey is your appetizer. If you’d like the full course meal, go here to learn about, read a sample chapter from, and purchase your autographed copy of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction.
Join the Conversation
1. What does the Church today need to do to reflect the multi-ethnic diversity commanded (Col. 3:10) and illustrated (Rev. 7:9-10) in Scripture?
2. What are some of the reasons that Sunday morning remains the most segregated hour in America?
Beyond the Suffering
Tags: African American Church, Beyond the Suffering, Black Church, Black Church History, Black History, The Journey
African American Sisters of the Spirit African American sisters of the spirit like Elizabeth Keckley, who ministered to the grieving Mrs. Lincoln, and Octavia Albert, who ministered to the soul-wounds of ex-enslaved African Americans, vividly demonstrate how to move beyond suffering to healing hope. Their courageous, hope-based spiritual care is a small sampler, an appetizer, if you will, of a great breadth of wisdom for soul care and spiritual direction contained in the history of women in the African American Church. While space allows just this sampler, history is filled with powerful and empowering examples of African American feminine sustaining, healing, reconciling, and guiding. Elizabeth Keckley: A Voice of Hope Picture the scene. It’s Civil War America. Women have no right to vote. Across the South, blacks have no rights whatsoever. President Lincoln is assassinated. His widow, Mary Lincoln, is devastated. To whom does she turn? To a black woman. To Elizabeth Keckley. In the story of her life Behind the Scenes, or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House, Elizabeth (1818-1907) explains, “. . . I have been intimately associated with that lady [Mrs. Lincoln] in the most eventful periods of her life. I have been her confidante . . . I have written with the utmost frankness in regard to her—have exposed her faults as well as given her credit for honest motives.” Given the inauspicious beginnings of Elizabeth’s life story, her spiritual friendship with Mary Lincoln is staggering. “My life has been an eventful one. I was born a slave—was the child of slave parents—therefore I came upon the earth free in God-like thought, but fettered in action.” How did a black woman of that cultural era become confidante to the slain President’s wife? Elizabeth expresses her understanding with Christian humility. “God rules the universe. I was a feeble instrument in His hands. . .” The Rest of the StoryPart I: Elizabeth Keckley:
A Voice of Hope
Note: Taken from Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith. For more information on this stirring book, please visit: http://bit.ly/YmaM1
For the rest of the story, please return to this blog for part two . . .
*Note: For The Journey: Day Twenty see my earlier post today.
Day Seven: From a Week to a Month
Now that we know why Dr. Woodson selected a week in February for the study of Blacks in history, let’s discover how the week morphed into a month.
By the time Woodson passed away in 1950, Negro History Week had become a central part of African American life. Progress was being made in bringing more Americans to appreciate the African American legacy and to embrace the celebration.
However, there was a recognition of the need to devote more time to Black History. So, in 1976, fifty years after the initial celebration, the first Black History Month was celebrated.
The nation was coming to recognize the importance of Black History in the drama of the America story. Since 1976, all American Presidents have issued Black History Month proclamations.
Is one month enough? Is one month still needed? Now it’s time to move from the history to the controversy.
Stay tuned . . .
The Journey: Forty Days of Promise
Day One: The Journey Begins—From Victims to Victors
Join me on a forty-day intercultural journey of promise. I will be blogging, Lord willing, during the forty days from Martin Luther King Day on January 19, 2009, to the end of Black History Month on February 28, 2009. Our focus will be: The Journey: Forty Days of Promise—Celebrating the Legacy of African American Christianity.
I know, technically, that is forty-one days. February 28 will be a day of reflection on the previous forty-day journey. Each day I will highlight a stirring narrative from Black Church history. Then I will ponder application of this legacy to all of our lives today—regardless of our ethnicity, nationality, race, or cultural background. I will also include discussion questions so that you can individually, in your family, or corporately in your church ponder the implications for your life and ministry.
Day One: The Journey Begins—From Victims to Victors[1]
Free born Africans were ripped away from spouses, parents, children, village, and culture by capture. Stripped of everything, overnight they were transformed from farmers, merchants, scholars, artisans, or warriors into possessions. Without family, without status, they were treated as merchandise, as things—a mere extension of their captors’ will.
James Bradley portrays the dehumanization of capture in all its horror in a letter that he wrote in 1834 while a student at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati. “I think I was between two and three years old when the soul-destroyers tore me from my mother’s arms, somewhere in Africa, far back from the sea. They carried me a long distance to a ship; all the way I looked back and cried.”
Without a doubt, free-born Africans were victims of an inhumane institution. Yet, they were also victors wrestling to maintain their humanity and personhood. But how? In the midst of soul-destroyers, where did they find soul-deliverance? Their “Capture Narratives” tell their tale and provide our answer.
Born Free
“I . . . acknowledge the mercies of Providence in every occurrence of my life.” These words from the pen of the Christian Olaudah Equiano might seem trite until we realize that they introduce the narrative of his harrowing kidnapping and enslavement.
Equiano was born free in 1745 in the kingdom of Benin on the coast of Africa, then known as Guinea. The youngest of seven children, his loving parents gave him the name Olaudah, signifying favored one. Indeed, he lived a favored life in his idyllic upbringing in a simple and quiet village where his father served as the “chief man” who decided disputes and punished crimes, and where his mother adored him dearly.
Bathed in Tears: Weeping with Those Who Weep
At age ten, it all came crashing down. “One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both; and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, tied our hands, and ran off with us into the nearest wood: and continued to carry us as far as they could, till night came on, when we reached a small house, where the robbers halted for refreshment, and spent the night.”
His kidnappers then unbound Equiano and his sister. Overpowered by fatigue and grief, they had just one source of relief. “The only comfort we had was in being in one another’s arms all that night, and bathing each other with our tears.”
Equiano and his sister model a foundational principle of sustaining empathy: weeping with those who weep. Far too often we rush in with words, and far too often those words are words of rescue. Our hurting friends need our silence, not our speeches. The shed tear and the silent voice provide great enrichment for our spiritual friends.
Learning Together from Our Great Cloud of Witnesses
1. How could your people ministry grow if you empathetically bathed others in your tears?
2. How could your people ministry grow if you applied the truth that your hurting friends need your silence, not your speeches?
[1]Excerpted, modified from, and quoted from Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. Purchase your copy at 40% off for only $10.00 at www.rpmministries.org.
A Brief Break from Horrible Hardships
Booker T. Washington discussed his memories of Christmas in The Booker T. Washington Papers. Washington noted that Christmas was the favorite holiday of the year for most slaves. It allowed them a respite from the horrible hardships and an opportunity to join as families to celebrate together.
During the Christmas season for slaves in Virginia, the slaves ceased to work for up to ten days. Some slaves received a present from their master. Washington recalled that a master who did not give his slave presents was looked down upon by other masters.
[i]Family Love Remembered at Christmas Time
Though everything fought against them, enslaved African Americans battled gallantly to maintain family cohesion—a cohesion that provided a sturdy platform from which to handle life courageously and to celebrate Christmas even during the horrors of enslavement.
Jennie Hill was born and enslaved in 1837 in Missouri. Florence Patton interviewed the ninety-six-year-old Hill in 1933. During her interview while talking about Christmas memories, Hill adamantly resisted the notion that enslaved families lacked closeness. “Some people think that the slaves had no feeling—that there was no heartbreak when the children were torn from their parents or the mother taken from her brood to toil for a master in another state. But that isn’t so. The slaves loved their families even as Blacks love their own today. . .”
[ii]Will Adam’s father, a foreman on a Texas plantation, always came home exhausted after a long day’s work. However, he never failed to take his son out of bed and play with him for hours.
[v]Satan longs to blind African Americans to their legacy of family love. He wants all of us to believe that hardships make it too hard to love. These Christmas reflections from enslaved African Americans teach hardships do NOT make it too hard to love.
Friends,
RPM Ministries is please to announce the launch of another new, power-packed, one-day seminar: Heroes in Black Church History: Learning Life Lessons from the Legacy of African American Christians.
In just one day, your church or para-church group will be introduced to over 250 years of amazing African American men and women of faith.
All of it condensed into a creative, engaging, empowering summary contained in 15 pages of notes, over 100 PowerPoint slides, and an interactive experience.
Your people will leave motivated to develop multi-cultural relationships and equipped to sustain, heal, reconcile, and guide one another by following the legacy of past African American Believers.
If you are interested in creating a competent, caring, multi-cultural community in your congregation, contact me for more information.
Bob
PS: Here’s a summary of the goals and an outline of the day.
Christians of All Races Will:
*Be empowered by the founding fathers of the African American church about how to be a godly male leader.
*Be equipped by the heroic sisters of the spirit of the African American church to be a powerful female spiritual friend.
*Be enriched by past African American husbands, wives, fathers, and mothers concerning how to nurture and enjoy godly living in the home.
*Be enlightened to apply proven ways to help people find healing hope in the midst of deep pain by identifying with past African American believers.
*Be enabled to minister more effectively in cross-cultural settings by uncovering the buried treasure of wisdom contained in the legacy of African American soul care and spiritual direction.
*Be encouraged to skillfully practice the historic soul care arts of sustaining, healing, reconciling, and guiding.
*Be enthused to build healing communities where Christians find courage and comfort in God and each other.
Schedule:
8:00-8:45 Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:45-8:55 Worship
8:55-9:00 Greeting and Prayer
9:00-10:30 Session One: So Great a Cloud of Witnesses: Following the
Ancient Paths
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:00 Session Two: Watered with Our Tears: Communal Comfort
and Family Faithfulness
12:00-1:00 Lunch Provided
1:00-1:10 Worship
1:10-2:30 Session Three: The Old Ship of Zion: Uniting in Christ
2:30-2:45 Break
2:45-4:00 Session Four: This Far by Faith: Embracing the Lost
Spiritual Legacy
4:00 Closing Benediction
4:00-4:30 Optional Book Signing
You are currently browsing the archives for the Black History category.
RPM on Twitter |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
