Black History: Albertnetta Hamilton

Black History Month is a very important one. My favorite person that we can celebrate this month is Hank Aaron. Hank is an incredible baseball player. He set glorious examples for all African Americans who wished to have an accomplished career in baseball. Hank Aaron is one of the best performers I know of.

The Negro Digs Up His Past by Arthur Schomburg is an article he wrote in 1925, in which he complaint that somehow through the years African American history has been questioned and denied as many claim that Africans have no history at all. He uses this paper to illustrate the importance of recording the collective accomplishments of African Americans and that we must at all costs save any evidence, so that things like this do not happen again in the future. He wants to make sure to leave no place for doubts that African Americans have a history and is irrefutable in the eyes of skeptics and the world. According to Schomburg, “Though it is orthodox to think of America as the one country where it is unnecessary to have a past, what is luxury for the nation as a whole becomes a prime social necessity for the Negro(Schomburg 231).” He emphasizes that blacks have to dig deep into their own history in order to hold their own against the current oppression. He wants to set the record straight and restore the history that was omitted, the history that was denied to them, a history that has somehow been stolen from them forever.

African American Studies is a very complex subject. To confuse African American studies with black history is a common occurrence. African American studies is much deeper and more profound than just Black history alone. There are many unanswered and unasked questions among the Black American culture which causes confusion and misunderstanding in modern day society. In unit one there were many themes, concepts, and significant issues in the discipline of Africana studies. Both W.E.B Du Bois and Vivian V. Gordan touched on many concerns.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines “African American,” as an American who has African and especially black African ancestry. Being born in the United States and being American I have always been classified as African American, because my skin was dark, my hair was tightly coiled and because my parents were black. As a black child growing up here believed I was African American because my parent were African. I knew Africa from the Lion King and National Geography. I knew of the music because it played on a loop in our Georgia home, when I was trying to watch Disney or Nickelodeon. I knew of the food, because I was made to eat it instead of McDonalds. So to me, Africa and Africans where distant, it belonged in the world of fairytales.

One of the most influential and inspirational women of all time was Rosa Parks. By one action she helped change the lives of a majority of African Americans and more importantly society as a whole. Rosa Parks sparked the attention of America when she refused to settle for the black (lower class)standards. Not only did she help change the lives for many African Americans but she helped equality for all men and women in the United States. By one brave women our world will be forever thankful.

During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American

Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.

Height has done, to me, is directing a movement called “Wednesdays in Mississippi.” She and other advocates on the National Council of Negro Women, would go to very small towns and meet with other black women. This is admiring because of the connections they were making. They all are role models for African-American Women. I review the inspirational, loving, and giving life of Dr. Dorothy Height and I am in complete awe. She is to be honored. Her character and accomplishments speak to me in numerous ways. Being African-American, a woman, an activist, a leader, and an advocate for change is so inspiring. I hope to one day reflect her in some sort. President Barack Obama has honored her name upon meeting her. In April of 2010, Dr. Height passed away. The greatest gift is that she is still honored and admired

Over the course of this semester, I was introduced to many people, ideas, writings, and discussions that sparked my interest and enlightened me on African American history. However, I feel like this was just the beginning of my journey of learning the history of my people, as there is still so much out there to be brought to the surface. Prior to taking this course, I was always ignorant on the topic of African American history and simply made the connection to slavery. Additionally, I was unaware of other black activist, movements, and struggles that I had the chance to witness for the first time in this class. I came to a realization of how deprived of this information I was, because other historic events have been deemed more important. A quote that stuck with me throughout the course that was made by Arthur Schomburg was, “... African history and negro history, are the missing pages of world history”.

There are many African American heroes who have contributed to my life; however, the one who impacted me most was Mildred Loving. Mrs. Loving was born in 1939 in Central Point, Virginia, a small town in the deep South. Racial bias was not an issue in this community because both black and white people were able to interact and form friendships with each other. As a result, Mildred and Richard were able to socialize and become friends. However, schools were not integrated, so they were unable to attend the same school.

My trip to the “National Museum of African American History and Culture”, gave me the opportunity to absorb the hardships and rigors African Americans experienced during difficult ages. I learned, in more detail, about the people who made an impact on the African American movement. For example, before the trip, I thought Ben Carson was merely an important figure and didn’t have a clear understanding of what his contribution was. In the Community Galleries, I discovered that Ben Carson that is known for being a distinguished neurosurgeon and for successfully separating conjoined twins. His accomplishments link to my goals of becoming a physical therapist because he was able to defy odds with immense dedication.

celebration of the achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role

The newspapers covered many of the social and political problems of the South because it was the best communication to the

Recently I attended an event on my college campus for women’s history month. The event I attended was held by a black women name Suzan Johnson Cooke, a presidential advisor, pastor, theologian, author, activist, and academic who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. At the event she spoke about her upbringings and all of her achievements. She explained where she came from, how she was raised, and her struggles of becoming the women she is today.

Famous people in the history of African Americans are Martin Luther King, other people such as inventors. A great website as a resource is “http:// blackinventor.com”. By celebrating Black history month, we can include art and crafts, games, songs, music, action rhymes.