Black
people of a certain bent are wont to observe wryly that Black History Month would be the shortest month of the year,
given that America has routinely given us the shorter end of the shortest
stick.
But I
dare say that had Carter G. Woodson known that what he birthed and christened
as Negro History Week back in 1926 would be enlarged and expanded into a full
month, he would have picked a month with 31 days.
Of
course, I think the reality is Black History is important enough to merit a
year round focus, especially among people of color.
I think
somewhere I have written about reading Carter G. Woodson’s fabulous Mis-Education of the Negro for the first
time.[1] I was in my mid-twenties,
possessed of an excellent formal education, but one that had omitted core
pieces of black — and therefore American — history. It was like discovering a
key to a mysterious and magical place that one has heard about but never seen.
I was discovering Woodson’s insights on the black condition 40 years after he
had written them, and they seemed as fresh as that day’s headlines. Scanning
them again today, another 40-odd years later, they seem fresher than the latest
tweet.
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.
— Carter G.
Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro
The American Legacy Mobile Exhibit
of black history was in town today, graced by the presence of its founder and
guiding light, Cleveland and Mt. Pleasant’s own Rodney J. Reynolds. It was a
special treat to see. Among the artifacts were a host of American Legacy covers
from its sixteen year print run, paraphernalia from Jackie Robinson’s rookie
year in the major leagues, and my personal favorite, a pair of fire-engine red
boxing gloves autographed by the Greatest himself, Muhammad Ali.
We managed to squeeze in an interview with Rodney, founder and publisher of the American Legacy brand, amidst his official host duties. We will report more fully on our conversation tomorrow, but we'll close tonight with his observation that African Americans "are still a community that is in search of itself."
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| Rodney Reynolds, American Legacy founder and publisher, with Cleveland Fire Dept. program director Bilal Akram, left, and Cleveland photojournalist James Wade |
[1]
I just
searched this site for it without success, but I did find this
piece, written exactly six years ago today. I especially commend it
to a new and very dear friend who recently commented obliquely on where I come
from.
