TJ joins the country in celebrating the historic accomplishments of African Americans.
Black History Month is not only about celebrating the advances the African American community has achieved, but it is also a time to remember the hardships it went through in order to accomplish them. February 12, 1926 Dr. Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week. It is said that Woodson chose February for the births of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas. He was hoping to celebrate the past, not to necessarily gain another time of celebration; but in February of 1976 Negro History Week evolved into Black History Month.
Woodson not only created Negro History Week but also founded the Association for Study of African American Life and History Inc. He was the son of two former slaves, and from a young age he worked in a coalmine in Kentucky. He was a man who believed in equal rights for everyone. He started the true appreciation for everything African Americans – and other supporters of the movement for equal rights – had to go through to get to where they were in his day. With an even bigger job in equal rights in the new 21st century, African Americans are still doing things to recognize Black History Month.
At TJ we have the Black Student Alliance (BSA). This club is a place where all students can come together and discuss what they can do to help the black community. “We are small in numbers, but we have taken giant steps,” said Danny Showers, BSA’s teacher sponsor. BSA is a student-run club that is showing people that this generation cares about the past; about what all the joy that they felt every time they broke through a racial barrier.
Showers is making an alliance with nine different Historically Black Colleges and Universities across America. “I am also planning on putting out a call to host a National Conference of all the HBCU’s on the U.S. next summer. We would like to have it at the Denver Convention Center. This will be a way to connect the colleges and universities to the students,” added Showers.
BSA is making sure quotes from famous civil rights activists, as well as facts about Black History Month, are being put on the daily announcements. Also, the group went to the MLK Parade, and they are decorating the bulletin board behind the security desk. “Black History Month is important because it is important to embrace our heritage and remember those who fought for us to be equal. BSA is sending a message that it’s okay to be a part of change. We hopefully are supporting groups like M.E.C.H.A. to do something similar,” said Shanora Ali, the President of BSA. She believes that having BSA at TJ shows students what they can do in their community to empower the next generation of African Americans to be proud of their heritage and their history, taking another step forward in equality. The BSA hopes that Black History Month lets every race know what happened previously, and for the current generation to not repeat the discrimination and hatred that happened in the past.
Every year the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) chooses a theme to be celebrated in the African American community. This year the ASALH chose Black Economic Empowerment. The ASALH chose this theme to celebrate the strength and empowerment black people have gotten from this program. Based in New York, The National Urban League is there to help support their economic growth. They have now broadened their program to over 35 other states. The National Urban League has helped more than two million people.
“Black History Month recognizes and celebrates black people for the important things they have done and it shows how great we are as a people,” said Jamee Veasley an African American student at Thomas Jefferson. She said that this month has so many different meanings to different people, yet the main reasons to celebrate Black History Month is to remember the hard working people in history, and to continue the fight for equal rights; to remember this as a time to celebrate the African American freedom from slavery and the civil rights struggle that activists like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. gave their lives to fight for.
