Hello All:
My Ohio based blogger/brother Carl Prather penned this in his blog; and it was so comprehensive and compelling, that I asked his permission to share it here. It's interesting because he contrasts two people who are the polar opposites of each other - Stacey Dash and my personal hero Carter G. Woodson. I am not changing a thing - this is Carl's own format, and since it's been working for him for at least a decade, I'm sure the colors and emphases have made very salient points stand out - I definitely don't want to deprive you of that. Enjoy - Gloria
by africanhistorynetworkAfrican American History Month And Downright Disrespectful To Dr. Carter G. Woodson And Our Ancestors
Posted on January 25, 2016
When uniformed African American celebrities publicly attack our history and our Ancestors we will Strike Back.by Michael Imhotep, TheMichaelImhotepShow.comSunday, January 24th, 2016, 9:36PM EST, Updated Mon. Jan. 25th, 11:40AM ESTListen to podcasts of The Michael Imhotep Show
On Wednesday, Jan. 20th actress turned right wing political commentator Stacey Dash appeared on Fox News where she made some very uninformed, disparaging comments about Black History Month now called African American History Month, BET (Black Entertainment Television) which she has appeared on multiple times on “The Game” which was one of their highest rated TV Shows, and the NAACP Awards etc. Here’s what she said:“We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration. If we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the [NAACP] Image Awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re Black,” Dash said during the conversation.”, as reported by TheGrio.comOn her Facebook Page she went on to add insult to injury by posting the video of the 2006 interview that Mike Wallace did with actor Morgan Freeman where he famously said, “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black History is American History”. He asked Mike Wallace “you’re going to relegate my history to a month”. I do a presentation called “Should African Americans Celebrate Black History Month: Exposing The Myths” where I shows this video clip to the audience and get their feedback. About half of the audience will agree with Morgan Freeman until I totally destroy and refute his uninformed, disrespectful comments with facts and evidence that most people don’t know.Desegregation Not Integration”, because the real fight was for “Morgan Freeman was also totally confused about what Racism is. Mike Wallace asked him “How are we going to get rid of Racism?”. Freeman responded, “Stop talking about it”. Are you serious? He said “I’m going to stop calling you a White man, (referring to Mike Wallace) “and I’m going to ask you to stop referring to me as a Black man”. Really? As old he was at the time of the interview he thinks referring to people as Black and White is Racism? Racism comes out of European White Supremacy which is an ideology that those who classify themselves a White are superior and can go around the world and conquer people, take their land and resources and do what they please.Racism is a system of advantage and privilege distributed based upon “Race”. Racism occurs when one race of people control the majority of the wealth, power, resources, benefits, privileges, jobs, access to education, etc. and they use it marginalize, subordinate and do harm to another race of people. You must first have Control of the resources to be able to distribute the resources based upon race through a system that you created. For more information please read my article “Dr. Joy Degruy Explains How White Privilege Raised Its Ugly Head In A Trip To The Grocery Store”.We also have to understand right from the beginning that contrary to popular belief African people are the Indigenous People of North, Central and South America and came to the territory we call The United States of America at least 51,700 years ago. Yes, that is not a typo. At least 51,700 years. Many of us have been taught that Africans first came to this territory, August 20th, 1619 when a Dutch warship brought 20 some odd Africans to Jamestown, VA. That did happen but there were already millions of Africans in this land.Along the Savannah River in Allendale County, South Carolina, University of South Carolina archaeologist Dr. Albert Goodyear discovered overwhelming evidence of an African presence because of artifacts that were found that date back at least 50,000 years ago. Dr. David Imhotep author of the ground breaking book “The First Americans Were Africans Documented Evidence” deals with Dr. Albert Goodyear’s findings in his book. (www.HistoricTruth.Info) For more information on this subject please read “Whoopi Goldberg & Raven Symone Show Their Ignorance Declaring They are Americans NOT ‘African Americans’: They Don’t Know That African People Were The First Americans”.Who Was Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson?What we today call African American History Month started in 1926 as Negro History Week created by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. He is known as “The Father of Black History Month” and “The Father of Black History”. He is credited with laying the foundation for the widespread adoption of Black Studies in American Colleges. He was also a co-founder of the Association for the study of Negro Life & History today known as The Association For the Study of African American Life and History (ASAALH). He was a scholar, historian, author, book publisher, college professor, educator and lecturer. Isn’t it ironic that his most well known book is “The Mis-Education of The Negro” in 1933. To understand African American History Month we must first understand Dr. Carter G. Woodson.Dr. Woodson was born on Dec. 19th, 1875 in New Canton, Buckingham County, VA and died April 4, 1950, in Washington, DC. He was born to James Woodson and Anna Eliza (Riddle) Woodson who were former Slaves in Virginia. Dr. Woodson was born 10 years after Slavery ended. He worked on their farm and later worked in coal mines in West Virginia to support his family. He did not go to formal school until he was about 19 or 20 years old and was largely self taught until then. His family moved to West Virginia where, at the age of twenty, Woodson enrolled in Frederick Douglass High School and completed four years of course work in two years and graduated in 1896. He was a very smart student.He then enrolls in Berea College in Kentucky and graduates in 1903 with a B.A. in Literature. He will then go on to travel to Manila, Philippines and becomes the General Superintendent of Education for Manila for the U.S. Bureau of Insular Affairs. He taught English, Health & Agriculture. In 1907 he travels to Asia, North Africa and Europe. He will return to the States in 1907 and enroll at the University of Chicago and graduates with another B.A. in 1907 and a Masters of Arts in 1908. For some reason they would not accept his B.A. from Berea College so he had to get a B.A. all over again which he did in 1 year.He will go on to teach at a high school in Washington D.C. from 1909-1919 and earns a Phd in American History from Harvard University in 1912. He becomes the 2nd African American to earn a Phd. from Harvard (the 1st was Dr. W.E.B. DuBois in 1895) and the 1st of Slave Ancestry because Dr. DuBois was born to free parents.The founding of The Association for the Study of Negro Life and HistoryIn 1915 there were celebrations because this was the 50th Anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment and the end of Chattel Slavery in 1865. Dr. Woodson attends a 3 week celebration sponsored by the State of Illinois commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Slaves being freed. There were exhibits that showed the progress that African Americans had made since the 13th Amendment of 1865. It’s at this 3 week celebration that Dr. Woodson got the idea to create an organization dedicated to promoting the scientific study of African American life and history before he left town. On Sept. 9th, 1915 he met with 4 friends at the Wabash YMCA in Chicago and formed the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). The co-founders were Dr. George C. Hall, James E. Stamps, William B. Hartgrave and Alexander L. Jackson.The Gale Encyclopedia Contemporary Black Biography for Dr. Carter G. Woodson said:The association was the first historical society devoted exclusively to research on the Black American. It was established to encourage scholarly achievement, to sponsor research projects, and to collect and preserve records documenting the Black past. At a time when few Blacks were invited to participate in historical conferences, the annual meeting of the association offered Black scholars an opportunity to present research papers before their peers. Even more importantly, the association began publication in 1916 of a scientific quarterly, the Journal of Negro History.In 1926 Dr. Woodson creates “Negro History Week” because as a historian and an educator he understood that our children did not know their history and many of their parents did not either. (Unfortunately that is still largely the case today) This was in spite of the great work that Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association did to teach our people their history the 1920s. This was also during a period of time where The Harlem Renaissance was at its peak and their was an interest in African American History and a new sense of racial pride. We can see this with African American men returning to the U.S. after WWI ends in 1918 and the creation of the “New Negro” and “Race Men”.Dr. Woodson chose the 2nd week in February to celebrate Negro History Week because it contains the birth dates of 2 people he felt were important in African American History, Frederick Douglass who’s adopted birthday was Feb. 14th and President Abraham Lincoln, Feb. 12th. Even more importantly he chose the 2nd week in February because of celebrations that were already taking place during that time.“Since Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, the Black community, along with other Republicans, had been celebrating the fallen President’s birthday. And since the late 1890s, Black communities across the country had been celebrating Douglass’. Well aware of the pre-existing celebrations, Woodson built Negro History Week around traditional days of commemorating the Black past. He was asking the public to extend their study of Black history, not to create a new tradition. In doing so, he increased his chances for success.”Dr. Woodson’s lifelong conviction was that a knowledge of history can significantly change society. By informing the American people of the achievements of African Americans in the United States and Africa, he hoped not only to build self-esteem among Blacks, but to lessen prejudice among whites.Dr. Pero Gaglo Dagbovie in his book “Carter G. Woodson in Washingtion, D.C. The Father of Black History” pg. 100-102 said:Woodson founded Negro History Week in 1926. He explained the reason behind the celebration in a pamphlet “widely distributed” months before the first celebration was to talk place during the second week in February 1926, in commemoration of Fredrick Douglass’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays. He exclaimed that Blacks knew “practically nothing” about their history. He ultimately believed that African Americans could benefit immensely from knowledge of their past and accomplishments of their Ancestors. He added that race prejudice was the byproduct of Whites’ beliefs that Black people had not contributed anything of worth to world civilization. He argued that if the historical record was set straight and that if the history of Black people were studied along with the achievements of others in schools, not only would Black youth develop a sense of pride and self-worth, but Racism would also be abolished. Woodson concluded: “Let truth destroy the dividing prejudice of nationality and teach universal love without distinction of race, merit or rank. With sublime enthusiasm and heavenly vision of the Great Teacher let us help men rise above the race hate of their age unto the altruism of a rejuvenated universe.”Negro History Week was the first major achievement in popularizing Black History and was unique in that it focused on the Black youth. Woodson realized that the mis-education of Black people began in their homes, communities and elementary schools. Woodson’s vision of Negro History Week was optimistic, strategic and long term. He wanted this modest, week long celebration to serve as a steppingstone toward the gradual introduction of Black History into the curricula of all levels of the U.S. educational system. He hoped that Negro History Week would evolve into “Negro History Year,” as he affirmed from time to time. Woodson consistently instructed those observing the week that they needed to diligently prepare for the celebration months in advance and that after mid-February, they needed to continue acknowledging the role of African descendants in world history. “Negro History Week should be a demonstration of what has been done in the study of the Negro during the year and at the same time as a demonstration of greater things to be accomplished,” Woodson instructed school teachers. “A subject which receives attention one week out of the thirty-six will not mean much to anyone.”What is important to note is that Negro History Week was NEVER designed to be the only time that we studied our history or the only time it should be taught in school. He felt that the week long celebration should be a time that school children show what they knew about the history they had been studying all year long. It was also a time for reflection on our history and what had been accomplished in the U.S. by African Americans and on the continent of Africa. One of the misconceptions of African American History Month is that it is supposed to deal with history from 1619 to present which is why each year people bring out the same 15-20 sanitized Negros to celebrate because they are are non-threatening to Europeans.Many people don’t know that each year ASALH creates a theme for African American History Month and provides some type of resources for teachers and parents. When we look at some of the early themes of Negro History Week now called African American History Month we see that there was also a connection to African History.Early Themes of Negro History Week
1928 – Civilization: A World Achievement1933 – Ethiopia Meets Error in Truth1935 – The Negro Achievements in Africa1936 – African Background Outlined1960 – Strengthening America Through Education in Negro History and African Culture1971 – African Civilization and Culture: A Worthy Historical BackgroundAfrican History and the accomplishments of African people were originally part of this cultural celebration. Unfortunately today, many people who teach our children in school and those who have African American History Month celebrations don’t know this and they just focus on history from 1619 to present. This has to stop.In 1976 during the 50th Anniversary of Negro History Week we expanded it to a monthly celebration and renamed it Black History Month. This walso during the bicentennial year celebration of the as U.S. and President Gerald Ford did an addresses recognizing “Black History Month” as a national celebration and encouraging Americans to celebrate it. It was also officially recognized by the U.S., Government as a national celebration.What is very interesting is that most of the naysayers who are against African American History Month such as Stacey Dash, Morgan Freeman and many European Americans or White people don’t know that many other ethnic groups have their own monthly cultural celebrations. Mike Wallace didn’t know this when he interviewed Morgan Freeman in 2006.When you study the history of the various monthly cultural celebrations you will see that they were all started either in 1976 or afterwards. Other ethnic groups saw our cultural celebration and they wanted one also. They will embrace theirs but many African Americans who suffer from ignorance and self hatred will run away from what we created.Dr. Woodson hoped for a day when the history and contributions of African Americans and African people would be incorporated into the school curriculum year round so there wouldn’t be a need for African American History Month. I don’t think he would have know it would have grown like it has and other ethnic groups would develop monthly cultural celebrations also.Hopefully this article has helped to clear up some of the misinformation regarding African American History Month, who created it and why. Remember, it was never designed to be the only time of the year we study, teach or learn about our history.Here is an excerpt of my presentation “Should African Americans Celebrate Black History Month: Exposing The Myths”. For more information dealing with African History, African American, podcasts of my show and DVD presentations from Michael Imhotep please visit www.AfricanHistoryNetwork.com. Michael Imhotep is a talk show host, researcher, lecturer, writer and founder of The African History Network. He is the host of The Michael Imhotep Show on The Empowerment Radio Network and can be heard Monday-Friday, 10pm-12midnight EST on www.TuneIn.com or the TuneIn Radio App and search for “Empowerment Radio Network”. Visit his website www.AfricanHistoryNetwork.com for more information about his lectures, DVDs, our history and podcasts of the show. You can follow him on Twitter @MichaelImhotep and his Facebook FanPage, “The African History Network”. He is available for interviews and lectures. He is a strong advocate of African Americans reclaiming their history, culture and controlling the economics, education and politics in our community. He is featured in the upcoming documentary, “Black Friday” which deals with African Americans controlling our $1.2 Trillion economy and creating generational wealth. Visit www.AfricanHistoryNetwork.com for more information. Share this
Black History Monthy Begins On Monday February 1, 2016- but we live Black History every day of our lives whether we know it or not - Now is the time to start honoring ourselves; and not allowing those who don't respect us any space in our environment. Make sure that the teachers who teach your children are teaching from the standpoint that Dr. Woodson laid out nearly 90 years ago. Make sure you and your children know your history - because it's tied in to your future - . KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
NOW THAT YOU KNOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria
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