Some may ask, “Why do we have a special month set aside for Black History? Why not a White History Month?” Well, for starters, ever since Blacks were taken from their homeland of Africa during the Black Holocaust of Enslavement and forced to work free labor for over 300 years, black history has been filled with stereotypes, lies, and misperceptions. White history is what is taught everyday of the year, so there is no need for one month.
February is Black History Month and is an annual observance of the past achievements and current status of African Americans. The idea for an observance honoring the great contributions of African Americans led to the establishment of Negro History Week in 1926. It was proposed by Carter G. Woodson, a black historian known by many as the Father of Black History. Black History Week became known as Black History Month in 1976.
Many people, black and white, still do not know much about black history because the history of black people is often left out of school textbooks and history encyclopedias. First of all, scientists have proven that Africa is where civilization began.
There are many black inventors who are not well-known, but we use their inventions everyday. Here is a short list, just to name a few: Elijah McCoy, who was awarded 57 patents, invented the lubricator for steam engines (where we get the phrase Real McCoy); Frederick M. Jones invented the air conditioning unit; L.R. Johnson invented the bicycle frame; Lewis Latimer invented the electric lamp bulb; Alexander Miles invented the elevator; L.C. Bailey invented the folding bed; W.B. Purvis invented the fountain pen; Sarah Boone invented the ironing board; L.A. Burr invented the lawn mower; George Washington Carver invented peanut butter and other uses for the peanut; J. Standard invented the refrigerator; Garret Morgan invented the traffic light; Richard Spikes invented the automatic gear shift; Charles Drew invented the blood plasma bag; and the list goes on.
I could go on and on with thousands of inventions, but I’ll let you look those up. Please take this time during Black History Month to learn more about the achievements of black people to the world and don’t stop at February. Learning is a life long process.