As I was saying, Carter G. Woodson (Dec. 19, 1875-April 3, 1950) was an African-American historian, author and journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History. He was one of nine children, born in New Canton, Va., to James Henry Woodson, a sharecropper, and Anne Eliza Riddle. Woodson’s thirst for knowledge sustained his education and became the foundation for his life-long pursuit—educating the world on the history of African-Americans. In 1916, Woodson founded the Journal of Negro History. By 1921, he established the Associated Publishers, whose sole mission was to publish works in Black history. The Journal, which covered the 16th through the 20th centuries, provided coverage in various aspects of the Black experience: slavery, the slave trade, Black culture, the family, religion, and antislavery and abolitionism, as well as articles on prominent African-Americans. It was Woodson’s mission to focus on the achievements of Black people, despite the adversity of slavery.
According to the American National Biography, “Woodson also pioneered in the study of Black religious history. A Baptist who attended church regularly, he was drawn to an examination of Black religion because the church functioned as an educational, political and social institution in the Black community and served as the foundation for the rise of an independent Black culture. Black churches, he noted, established kindergartens, women’s clubs, training schools and burial and fraternal societies, from which independent Black businesses developed. As meeting places for kin and neighbors, Black churches strengthened the political and economic base of the Black community and promoted racial solidarity.”
One of Woodson’s famous quotes from his book, “The Mis-Education of the Negro,” is “If you can control a man’s thinking, you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think, you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told, and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.”
This passage gives us a lot to think about. Surely, if Woodson can succeed, we can, too. Do we want to always and automatically go “through the back door?” No? Then what are you going to do about it?
February and Black History month would have no meaning at all if we didn’t stop to recognize and remember our beloved brother Malcolm X. Born May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, he was one of 8 children. Destined to travel to the depths of street life and rise to the heights of Black Nationalism, most, if not all, of what Malcolm X foretold then has become our reality today. From Alex Haley to Spike Lee, devout Muslims and Black Nationalists, Malcolm X has a different heartfelt meaning. One thing we can all agree upon is Malcolm X stood for human rights, the right to be treated like an equal human being, not inferior, less than or like an animal. In keeping with Woodson, Malcolm X would say, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” On how we, as a race should conduct ourselves: “Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone, but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.” (Yes, Malcolm X would send out a strong message. There was no “turn the other cheek” about him). In terms of humanity he stated, “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.”
For those who are not happy with who we are but envious and longing to be who we are not, Malcolm X said, “Envy blinds men and makes it impossible for them to think clearly.” While I believe Malcolm X provided wisdom to live by, I am a little perplexed as to how to totally embrace this statement: “You don’t have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being.” Those who come to my mind are Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Ramarley Graham. They were innocent Black men, acting in totality with the circumstance as intelligent Black men in that they weren’t hurting anyone, acting like animals or ignorant, and they lost their lives. There was no justice, no freedom, no solace.
Obviously, we have work to do, for as Malcolm X also proclaimed, “[We have] the God-given right to be a human being. Our common goal is to obtain the human rights that America has been denying us. We can never get civil rights in America until our human rights are first restored. We will never be recognized as citizens there until we are first recognized as humans.” The one quote I believe everyone knows regardless of race, class or gender is “A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.” Another is “Stumbling is not falling.”
As we carry on through the remainder of Black History month, find strength and inspiration in this final quote from Malcolm X, “Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next.”
The Commemoration of Absalom Jones took place at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, as it does every February to celebrate the life of a man who gave so much and received so little. Born a slave in Delaware, Jones was separated from his mother and six siblings at the age of 16. Taken by his owner to Philadelphia, Jones began to live an extraordinary life. He attended a Quaker school, where he learned to read and write and was introduced to the New Testament Bible. In 1770, he married a slave woman by the name of Mary King. Together, they worked to purchase their freedom. Jones’ story is fascinating, as was the service in which the preacher, the Rev. Canon Gregory Jacobs, who is married to Sheila Abdus-Salaam, associate judge on the New York State Court of Appeals, gave a rousing sermon. To be continued next week. Stay tuned.
Until next week … kisses.