Black History Month started on February 1 and ends on February 28. For some of us, this month is just another month or just plain February. For others, it’s a month full of determination, pride, bringing attention to the topic, and much more. In this article, I will be discussing some of the prominent African American figures from the past and present that represents determination, overcoming hardships, and more.
Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926):
Mary was born to freed slaves in Boston, Massachusetts. From a young age, she knew she wanted to be a nurse. Finally, at age 33, she had the opportunity. She was registered for the intense 16-month program for nursing at New England Hospital for Women and Children in 1878. Of the 42 students that entered the program in 1878, only four students finished. One of the four students that finished was Mahoney, making her the first African American to have a nursing license in the United States. She faced discrimination in the field and thus co-founded in 1908 the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN). Mahoney was honoured in many ways, for example, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York in 1993.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968):
Always an active civil rights worker for his race. As a matter of fact, he had a position at the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. From the beginning, Dr King was a natural leader. So in December of 1955, he led a non-violent African American bus boycott that lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, the supreme court declared the laws requiring segregation on the buses as unconstitutional. Yet, that was not an easy win for the African Americans or Dr King. His house was bombed, he was arrested, and he was a target of personal abuse. From 1957 to 1968, King Jr. spoke over 2,500 times, wrote 5 books, and travelled over 6 million miles. Throughout his career, Dr King was arrested up to 25 times and was assaulted at least 4 times. He received many honours, most notably the youngest man to receive a Nobel Prize for his time at the age of 35. Tragically, on April 4, 1968, Dr King was supposed to lead a march but was assassinated while standing on his motel balcony.
Patrisse Khan- Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi:
All three ladies co-founded the black lives matter movement.
- Cullors is an organizer, artist, and freedom fighter from Los Angeles, CA. She just finished touring her art that focused on highlighting the impact of state violence and mass criminalization in African American communities across America.
- Garza is a writer, public speaker, and organizer in Oakland. She is a queer African American who works to challenge the misconception that only cisgender African Americans males encounter police and state violence.
- Tometi is a writer, community organizer, and strategist. She is credited with online the platforms of the black lives matter movement.
Barack Obama (1961 – current):
Obama was the 44th inaugurated president, becoming the very first African American president of the United States in 2009. Obama grew up in Hawaii, he was raised by his Caucasian mother and his African American Kenyan father. Obama received his education from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. In 1992, Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago. Later in 1996, he was elected as Illinois State Senator and served for eight years. In 2004, Obama was elected to the US Senate. Then he announced his candidacy for president in 2007 and then won in the general election against Senator John McCain.
Robert Abbott (1870-1940):
Abbott was born in 1870 in Georgia to freed slaves. From 1892-1896, Abbott studied printing trade at Hampton Institute. He then earned a law degree from Kent College of Law, Chicago in 1898. Despite trying to establish law firms across the country, Abbott couldn’t practice law due to the racial prejudice in the United States. In 1905, he started the Chicago Defender, with the initial investment of 25 cents. Later, it became Chicago’s most widely circulated newspaper for African Americans and made Abbott a self-made millionaire (one of the first of African American descent).
Jesse Owens (1913-1980):
Born in 1913 in Alabama as James Cleveland Owens. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio when Owens was eight and a teacher misheard Owens name J.C. as Jesse. In high school, Owens had to work various jobs to help out his family while excelling at track. He tied the world record in the 100m dash while still in high school. Being that good, multiple colleges tried to recruit Owens. He ended up attending Ohio State University. Even with his talent, Ohio State didn’t provide him with a scholarship and was often separated from his Caucasian teammates. Owens had to eat in the African American sections when the track team travelled, couldn’t live on campus with the caucasian athletes and stayed at hotels who allowed African Americans to book rooms. In 1935, Owens got married and started a family. So during his senior year at the Ohio State University, he made the decision to quit school and find a job so he could provide for his family. In 1936, Owens competed in the Olympics in Berlin, Germany. During that time, Hitler wanted to prove that the Aryan Race was superior. Yet, Owens debunked that when he won four gold medals and set/ help set four Olympic records. In the end, even German fans were cheering for Owens. Out of Owen’s many honours, President Gerald Ford awarded him with the medal of freedom.
Mary Jackson (1921-2005):
Jackson first started her career as a math teacher at an African American school in Calvert County, Maryland. Later on, she got her dual degree in Math and Physical Sciences from Hampton Institute in 1942 and after a year of teaching, she moved back to her hometown to get a position at King Street USO club as a receptionist. After holding down three more careers after the USO club, Jackson got the job at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory segregated West Area Computing section in 1951. Through experience, praises from bosses and continued education, Jackson became NASA’s first African American engineer in 1958. In the same year, her co-written report, “Effects of Nose Angle and Mach Number on Transition on Cones at Supersonic Speeds” was published. She received many honours and gave back to her community in several ways. In the 1970s she helped young children involved in the science club at Hampton’s King Street Community Center build their own wind tunnel to conduct experiments with.
Now there are so many influential and important African Americans that were not mentioned and in order to give them all the praise and respect they deserve, a book would need to be written. So many prominent past and present African Americans have done so much for their community and more. To learn more, you can visit the Association For The Study of African American Life and History, The Undefeated 44, History.com, Biography.com, and more.
If you’d like to become an ally and get involveed you can donate to organizations, -such as Black Lives Matter- find events that bring attention to the issue, research problems in local African American communities and try to come up with ideas to resolve them and write a letter to your senator, etc. Here at Behrend there is the Association of Black Collegians (ABC), National Society of Black Engineers, Organization of African and Caribbean Student (OACS), and the Office of Educational Equity and Diversity Programs which you can find out more information about all of those on Behrend Sync.
Source(s): National Women’s History Museum; Nobel Media AB; Black Lives Matter; Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia; PBS; Ohio History Connection; NASA.
Images courtesy of Google Images