The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) has announced the Black History Month Theme for 2008: "Carter G. Woodson and the Origins of Multiculturalism." This year, educators and leaders across the country will celebrate and commemorate the contributions of Harvard-educated historian, Carter G. Woodson, a pioneer in the establishment and study of African American historiography.Born from parents who were ex-slaves and could not read or write in Virginia, he was determined to attend school and earn a college degree. The turning point in his life was when none of the courses he studied included the history of Black Americans. When he pursued doctoral studies at Harvard University, he established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASALH) and "Negro History Week" as a way to share cultural and historical knowledge about Black people around the world. His work with white scholars helped neutralize the racial stereotypes and historical ignorance that negatively labeled African Americans for many centuries.
Today, Negro History Week has expanded to the entire month of February. Similar Black heritage celebrations have arisen and expanded in Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. More communities are researching and learning about their own cultural backgrounds from scholars, journalists, archivers and educators who have continued to make the study and teaching of African American history more accessible than ever.
"...Carter G. Woodson did most to forge an intellectual movement to educate Americans about cultural diversity and democracy. For the sake of African Americans and all Americans, Woodson heralded the contributions of African Americans and the black tradition. In 1915, he established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and by the time of his death in 1950, he had laid the foundation for a rethinking of American identity. The multiculturalism of our times is built on the intellectual and institutional labors of Woodson and the association he established. He should be known not simply as the Father of Black History, but as [a] pioneer of multiculturalism as well." -- ASALH
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Black History Month: Not just History for History Sake
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Educator, Entrepreneur, Author and Activist, created “Negro History Week” (now known as Black History Month) for the purpose instilling in Blacks a true value of self based in a real and accurate study of Black Life and History. He believe that if Black students were raised up and educated in an environment that taught the significant Black contributions to the civilized world, (in the areas of economics, politics, government, science, mathematics as well as the Arts),that it would not only create in them a love for self and kind, but that it would also make them better citizens.
Dr. Woodson in “The Mis-Education of the Negro” showed that Blacks were not educated to be citizens, they were mis-educated to be tools of service to his once slave master. Therefore the Black perspective of Government and Politics in general was never based on a proper perspective of either. You can’t truly demand that which you don’t believe you are entitled to. If Blacks however, had an education that taught them of the great kingdoms and forms of government created by Blacks on which this modern government is based, then the proper motivation to engage politics could exist. Then, the demand for proper representation could be pursued from a historical as well as legal basis.
According to Dr. Woodson, Black’s needed a concentrated infusion of information based in Black History in America and most certainly abroad. Knowing that the prevailing attitude of Whites towards Blacks and Blacks toward themselves would not allow a complete overhaul of the educational system to reflect the above, He chose to create a period of a week, for that infusion. This week was not just to study history but to study how daily Black Life could be used to better understand the educational concepts being taught in the classrooms. It would be used to teach math and science based on Black life in the field, with local fruit carts, on railroads and plants. It would be used to teach from within ones’ own environment.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s own life was based in two forms of education. The one which was given him by the finest institutions in America and France, and the one which he gave himself through studying Black Life and history during his travels. From the latter, he found a wealth of information and resources from which he drew to write articles and publications. He would eventually become known as the “Father of Black History” in America. This was not a title he gave himself. He knew well and had studied the Works of W.E.B. DuBois and Drusilla D. Houston, who had written and published extensively on Black History. It was Dr. Woodson though, who would take their research and his own and transform it into a national movement of study within the Black communities. Dr. Woodson kept at the forefront of his life, “…history as a constructive force FOR THE DEVELOPMENT of Black people…” not just history for history sake.
It is in that spirit we should engage “Black History Month” and engage life.
Anthony Stewart
Narrator, "The Mis-Education of the Negro" Audiobook
http://www.themiseducationofthenegro.com
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