Black History Month isn’t enough — let learning last all year | Opinion

This month gives us great pause to celebrate the many contributions that African Americans have made to this country and communities across the world. It also marks the 100th anniversary of national Black History commemorations.

Historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson was the founding father of “Negro History Week,” the earliest iteration of Black History Month. The first such celebration took place in 1926. Woodson selected the month of February because it contains the birthdays of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation that eventually led to the passage of the 13th Amendment, which constitutionally “abolished slavery.”

For many years, published literatures of all types purposely omitted or distorted the accomplishments of African Americans. However, it was through Woodson’s scholarly works that a proper and accurate recordation of a people would be realized. After all, African American history is American history.

Woodson also established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, a research institute, in 1915, and The Journal of Negro History, an academic journal, in 1916.

Each year, a national theme is announced by Woodson’s research institute, now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. This year’s theme is “A Century of Black History Commemorations.” During this year’s commemoration, let us reflect on the sacrifices and contributions made by generations of African Americans, and let us resolve to continue our march toward a day when every person knows the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I recall growing up in New Orleans in the segregated South during the Jim Crow era. Under this system, African Americans had limited use of public libraries, even though they paid property taxes, which went toward providing public services.

Perhaps the reason we were banned from using the libraries — except on certain days — lies in this statement by noted historian Dr. John Henrik Clarke: “to control a people, you must first control what they think about themselves and how they regard their history and culture. And when your conqueror makes you ashamed of your culture and your history, he needs no prison walls and no chains to hold you.”

Unfortunately, many schools still offer a curriculum based upon Eurocentric thought that tends to exclude the contributions of many cultures in America. In doing so, these schools deprave and rob the minds of our young people of a clear sense of their heritage and who they are.

As the historian and author of “From Slavery to Freedom” Dr. John Hope Franklin said, “African Americans can never expect the public schools to teach us as much about our history as we want to know. We can urge them, we can press them to teach more, but I think that much of this lies with us.”

Therefore, African American History Month must teach African Americans and others about the history and culture of a great heritage.

Those schools that have moved into offering an Afrocentric and multicultural curricula are experiencing marked improvement in the self-esteem and academic performance of their students. An important note about Afrocentric or African centered education is that it does not seek to exclude, but to include.

When Shakespeare is taught, Langston Hughes should also be taught. When the works of Elizabeth Browning are examined, students should also read the writings of Dr. Maya Angelou.

The month of February should not be the end of the learning process for the year, but rather the beginning of a school year of learning.

Have you ever read a book written by an African American author? Have you requested your school to offer a course in African/African American history and culture? Do the books that you are assigned to read in your various classes contain materials on ethnic diversity?

At the recent Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast, Dr. Saul Jimenez-Sandoval, the president of California State University, Fresno, spoke of his visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He spoke of his amazement with the tremendous achievements and contributions African Americans have made and continue to make.

Jimenez-Sandoval asked a profound question: Why wasn’t I taught about these achievements and contributions?

In every area of society, African Americans have made their marks. The contributions are many and are deserving of recognition throughout the year. Remember the African proverb that says, “You are what you make of yourself, and not what others make of you.”

Dr. Robert S. Mikell is professor emeritus of Africana Studies at California State University, Fresno and the founder and director of the Africana Studies Research Center.