Ever wonder why February is designated as Black History month? Or when it was so designated? Although not officially recognized as such until 1976 by President Gerald Ford, its origins go back to historian Carter G. Woodson who established “Negro History Week” in 1926.
Woodson, the son of former slaves, worked first in coal mines, then was graduated from Berea College, the first racially integrated college in the South, went on to the University of Chicago and finally Harvard, earning a Ph.D. in history. He taught at Howard University in D.C., which had been established by the First Congregational Society for the education of black clergy.
Black History Month is but another example of the compartmentalization of American society. In Mach there’s Women’s History Month, in September Hispanic Heritage Month, and so forth. It seems that perhaps we need to consider integrating all aspects of our Nation to help us see ourselves as one people, much as the soldiers from New Hampshire and South Carolina learned to do during our American Revolution.
Prayer for the Day
Knowing that we all have our origin in you, O God,
Help us to see ourselves as one human creation;
Deliver us from our need to cling only to those like us,
Realizing that we are one people under one flag.
Grant that we may care for one another as you call us to do,
Erasing false distinctions of color and faith.
In the name of the One who embraces us all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Intersectionality has given many advocates a way to frame their circumstances and to fight for their visibility and inclusion.
Kimberle Crenshaw Williams, UCLA School of Law
We must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately.
Benjamin Franklin to the Continental Congress, 1776
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
Righteousness and peace will kiss each other
Faithfulness will spring up from the fround,
And righteousness will look down from the sky
Psalm 85: 10-11