Black History Month
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” John Lewis urged people that through every advance in the Black community, although there may be struggle, there is an opportunity for improvement in the quality of life.
Since 1976, every American president has designated February as Black History Month and endorsed a specific theme. The theme for 2023 is “Black Resistance,” which explores how “African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms and police killings.”
This theme presents “a call to everyone, inside and outside the academy, to study the history of Black Americans’ responses to establish safe spaces, where Black life can be sustained, fortified and respected.”
Here are some moments in Black history that illustrate Black Resistance:
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks is known for breaking Montgomery, Alabama’s segregation laws by refusing to concede her bus seat to a white man, for which she was arrested. Some believed she did so because she was “tired;” in fact, Parks clarified that, “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
Claudette Colvin
Nine months before Parks took a stand on a Montgomery bus, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin did the same thing, in the same city. According to NPR, Colvin was the first Black person “to really challenge the law.” Colvin is still alive today, at 83 years of age.
Maude Ballou
Maude Ballou served as a loyal secretary to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ballou managed King’s schedule, responded to letters for him, coordinated carpools during the bus boycott, and traveled with King and his family. In her 2015 interview with the Tribune, she expressed that she was aware of the risks of her job and had even seen the KKK watching her through her office window — but she didn’t worry too much, as she was a self-identified “daredevil.”
Kentanji Brown Jackson
In January 2022, Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer announced his retirement. Biden promptly replied that he intended to replace Breyer with “the first Black woman nominated to the United States Supreme Court.” And in June 2022, Biden kept true to his word, and Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court. She encountered endless resistance but met every challenge with professionalism and grace.
As we enter February 2023, the PMI Baltimore Chapter encourages you take time to reflect and celebrate African American heritage by unveiling and discovering Black history, attending planned Black History events, supporting black-owned businesses, donating to black organizations and charities, and more!
References:
• BLACK HISTORY THEMES – ASALH – The Founders of Black History Month
