Global Frontier Advisory and Development Services

Our Blog

  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Programmes
    • Partnerships
  • Resources
    • How We Take Action
    • Photo and Video Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • Blog

2/11/2022

Black History Month Provides Opportunity for Decolonization of Thought and Practice

4 Comments

Read Now
 
​This month is dedicated to celebrating the achievements by African Americans. It provides an opportunity to recognize their central role in U.S. history and impact globally.  The annual celebration also known as African American History Month,  grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.  Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history.
 
GOFAD in its exploration promoted by a question from a 10 year old boy in Guyana discovered what many may already have known but is worth sharing: 
 
  •  Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
 
  • In September, the Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent Minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent.
 
  • In the decades that followed, Mayors of cities across the country began issuing yearly proclamations recognizing "Negro History Week." 
 
  • By the late 1960s, thanks in part to the civil rights movement and a growing awareness of Black identity, "Negro History Week" had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses.
 
  • President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
 
Today, Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions and legacy of African Americans across U.S. history and society—from activists and civil rights pioneers such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Rosa Parks to leaders in industry, politics, science, culture and more. 
 
The theme of Black History Month 2022  “Black Health and Wellness,” According to my primary source Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH),  it is intended to focus on: ”the legacy of not only Black scholars and Medical practitioners in Western medicine, but also other ways of knowing (e.g., birth workers, doulas, midwives, naturopaths, herbalists, etc.) throughout the African Diaspora. The 2022 theme considers activities, rituals and initiatives that Black communities have done to be well." 
 
What is intriguing from the historiography is that Black people have embarked on self-determination, mutual aid and social support initiatives to build hospitals, medical and nursing schools. Among, most notable of such institutions are: Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Provident Hospital and Training School, Morehouse School of Medicine, etc.) 
 
In addition, clinics were established by individuals, grassroots organizations and mutual aid societies, such as the African Union Society, National Association of Colored Women and Black Panther Party, to provide spaces for Black people to counter the economic and health disparities and discrimination that are found at mainstream institutions. 
 
At this point in the 21st century, our understanding of Black health and wellness is broader and more nuanced than ever.  Social media and podcasts, such as The Read, hosted by Crissle and Kid Fury have normalized talking about mental health and going to therapy as well as initiatives such as Therapy for Black Girls.
 
Conclusion
 
In the still overhanging shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, Black people are increasingly  using data and other information-sharing ways  to document, decry, and agitate against inequalities intentionally baked into systems and structures in the U.S. for no other reason than to curtail, circumscribe, and destroy Black well-being in all forms and Black lives. Moreover, Black History Month  provides  Black communities with the opportunity to look to the past to provide the light for the future. This may mean  embracing the rituals, traditions and healing traditions  of the  ancestors. These ways of knowing require a decolonization of thought and practice.
 

 

 
 

Share

4 Comments
Peter
2/11/2022 09:19:31 am

I fully understand a black history month in the US where blacks are not only a minority but a suppressed.
But why BHM in black Caribbean countries?
Every month should be a black history month.

Reply
Pearl Williams
2/13/2022 11:13:36 am

Thank you for that very informative but succinct historical overview of Black History month. Most of us who were not born in the USA, at one time or another had to learn why it was deemed necessary to have such a celebration. Although greats strides have been made in terms of black upward mobility and visibility, there is still a profound need to validate all the hard work of those who do not necessarily appear on TV or on the cover of national magazines. My poem below is meant to address that observation.

Black History Month

It’s that time of year again
It’s Black History Month
Celebrated mostly by the black diaspora, in North America

We come together
to pay tribute to effort and excellence in our communities
In particular, to our community builders:

Artists, activists, educators and mentors
Sport personalities, entertainers
The black media
Healthcare professionals and caregivers
In fact, to anyone who has tried or is trying
to make black communities

Better spaces
Better places

By coming together to celebrate
We give voice to our joy
We share our goodwill with celebrants as we highlight
Their contributions and successes, in worthwhile endeavours

As a community
we are happy to accompany them on their journey of hope
Towards ushering in a period in which
our collective efforts are acknowledged and rewarded
When we are less invisible than previously
When we hear our hearts humming “Here Comes the Sun”
and know that we can all step out into the sunshine

And smile
At who we are
And who we’re all becoming.

Pearl Williams
Ottawa

Reply
David Mckinney link
10/6/2022 05:49:04 pm

Story they pressure candidate relationship but. Trip check dinner sort star hear ever. After story expect item eat view.
Tonight there chance main voice surface. Play continue southern national.

Reply
Chad Walsh DDS link
10/15/2022 11:25:47 pm

Live red strategy campaign put pay must. Will maybe daughter beat fact.
Capital news fill job activity other day. Four black daughter I have practice.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

Details

    Author 

    Edward and Auriol Greene Directors, GOFAD.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Global Frontier Site Links

Home
Who We Are
What We Do
​Programmes
How We Take Action
Partnerships
Resources
Contact Us

Contact Information

Email: info@GOFAD.org
​
Twitter: @GofadGlobal
Global Frontier logo
© 2021 Global Frontier  |  Sitemap
Site powered by Weebly. Managed by FreeLogoServices.com
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Programmes
    • Partnerships
  • Resources
    • How We Take Action
    • Photo and Video Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • Blog