Negro History Week
How Did It All Started?
For my article on African American History Month, I decided to investigate
who was the person behind that made the decision that African
History had to be remembered. So I found that person was Carter G. Woodson.
He was son of two former slaves James and Eliza Riddle Woodson, but that didn’t
stop him from getting his PhD on history from Harvard University. In 1915,
Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland co-founded the Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History (ASNLH). The organization was the platform that
launched his mission of the importance and awareness of Black history.
I believe that by doing this he wanted to show the people how much did African
people contributed to the development of our civilization. He could also have
done it so people wouldn't forget how they had fought for what they want it;
while I was reading this article I discovered that to make people more aware of
the Black history, Woodson and his ASNLH peers started the
celebration of the “Negro History Week” which later on expanded to a month. I always had tough that the Black History Month was
originally an idea that came from the government in a way to honor many other heroes
that made history for their people, so their people would have a voice to
identify with. However it was them who decided that they need it to let people know
how as any other “normal” person
they did too, had to work extra hard to keep a roof over their heads and families’
heads, to bring a piece of bread to the table, and still remind faithful that
someday their stories would be told.
Another person I came across while doing my research
was John Hope Franklin, who grabbed my attention because he won the John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity. This prize consist on recognizes
and celebrates work of the highest quality and greatest impact in areas that
advance understanding of the human experience. The prize is awarded for
lifetime achievement in fields of humanistic and social science studies that
are not included in the Nobel Prizes. The reason I decided to keep researching about this other hero is because he was honored an amazing price for his knowledge about humanity and not only the knowledge of it but the understanding of it too. Also because he wrote many books such as Mirror to America, relating to the Civil Rights. To me I believe he gave the perspective of how being an African American was, and to show that he was gave that award show his fully comprehension of human nature, but mostly it shows his comprehension of the reason of why the human nature decides to take action.
Is really astounding how there was only one week of black history and then change it to one month. I didn't know that there was a month for black history.That's good that Carter G. Woodson showed to people how much they contributed.
ReplyDeleteGreat research and article about African Americans!
ReplyDeleteI also really like your sentence "had to work extra hard to keep a roof over their heads and families’ heads, to bring a piece of bread to the table, and still remind faithful that someday their stories would be told."
Nice job :)
Wow! Create research and details on both men, Cater Woodson and John Hope Franklin. Isn't clear how needed this month is to focus on contributions of African Americans? There's so much more than what we read in our textbooks!
ReplyDeleteI don't know the black history was just only one week, and now is the whole February.
ReplyDeleteMarch is an Irish-American Month, and I wonder if there are such accomplished and influential promoters of the ethnic group as C.G. Woodson and J.H. Franklin (Could it be Frank McCourt with his memoir Angela’s Ashes? A very good read about his teenagehood in a new country). Anyway … I like your motivation for a successful search!
ReplyDelete