[BlackRose1042]

So I signed up to be sent emails every day including historical works and history for Black History Month. I plan to share those here!

Day 1:
Dr. Carter G. Woodson created what we know today as Black History Month, but also used independently published media to center the contributions of Black people throughout history in public discourse. Diversifying education and media is just as important now as it was then, and I hope today's work encourages you to keep pursuing new sources to learn and unlearn with.
Title: Excerpt, The Negro History Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 1

Creator: Woodson, Carter Godwin (1875-1950), editor

Date Created: 1937-10

Publisher: Association for the Study of Negro Life and History

Rights: Credit: Museum of African American History, Boston and Nantucket, F2011.0024

Medium: Newspaper


The "Negro History Bulletin,” started in 1937, was a monthly printed newsletter created by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. It provided a comprehensive overview of Black history during a time where traditional education prioritized anti-Black sentiments.
About Dr. Carter G. Woodson:1875-1950
An educator and scholar, author and historian, Dr. Carter G. Woodson devoted his life to the preservation and education of Black history. His time spent pursuing higher education taught him that the official school curriculum was designed to uphold anti-Black sentiment, only contributing to the inequities in society.

 

He is most known for establishing Negro History Week in 1926, which led to the appointment of Black History Month that we celebrate (and often commercialize) today. Woodson chose the second week in February because it contained the birthdays of two major influences in Black life at the time: Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). Related: Born into slavery, Douglass didn’t know his exact birth date, but he chose to celebrate on February 14th
Portrait of Dr. Woodson, Library of Congress


But that’s only one of his many contributions. He also founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, an organization committed to “collecting records pertaining to Black America’s past and disseminate the truth about African American history” (Willing to Sacrifice” Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History, and the Carter G. Woodson Home, NPS). The organization was later renamed the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in 1973, and is referred to as ASALH for the remainder of this article.
 
At the request of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cook College, advisor to President Theodore Roosevelt, and the first woman president of ASALH from 1936 to 1951 (Women’s History), the ASALH published the “Negro History Bulletin,” a monthly newsletter curated by Black leaders that provided a comprehensive overview of Black history. The resource was designed to provide middle and high school teachers with enough context to create lesson plans for their students. The February 1941 issue, for example, highlights Black history in Central and South America (JSTOR). This work was accompanied by a series of Negro History clubs for Black educators and other individuals passionate about learning their history, annual conventions, and celebrations to honor Negro History Week (“Carter G. Woodson, White Philanthropy and Negro Historiography, JSTOR).
Now referred to as the Black History Bulletin, this publication is still produced and distributed by the ASALH. But its mission remains the same. The publication centers articles on “articles on all aspects of Black history, especially those written with a focus on (1) middle school U.S. history; (2) high school U.S. history; (3) teacher preparation U.S. history methods” (ASALH website). You can purchase the latest Black Family Theme Bulletin Vol 83 #2 2020 on their website.
 
To this day, independent reporting and publishing is still a critical component of preserving and distributing Black history in America. The rise of digital newsletters (like the one you’re reading) makes it easier for journalists, historians, and educators to disseminate useful information directly. Google Docs has proved to be a powerful way to share actionable resources related to protests. Physical bulletins, often referred to as zines, are disseminating critical information on systemic injustices (consider this series on youth incarceration, curated by Mariame Kaba of Project NIA and Lisa Lee of the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum). 
 
And it’s necessary because many school curriculums today still fail to provide a comprehensive overview of Black history in the U.S. The growing pushback against teaching accurate history in schools is leading to changes in curriculum that will take years to undo. The work of Dr. Woodson is a reminder that we have to continue intentionally centering Black history beyond Black History Month.

"We should emphasize not Negro history, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate and religious prejudice."-Dr.Carter G. Woodson (1926)

Reflection Questions:

1. 1. What Black-led media organizations are you subscribed to? How many Black journalists, educators, historians, etc. are you learning from each month?2. How can you continue to center Black history in your own education each month? For your children, peers, colleagues, etc?

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Day 2: The Resurrection of Henry Box Brown
Henry Brown was a public speaker and magician whose story and work was critical for the end of slavery in the 19th century. While enslaved, he had himself shipped North in a wooden box to escape.
The resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia, who escaped from Richmond Va. in a bx 3 feet long 2 1/2 ft. deep and 2 ft wide, a lithograph by Samuel Rowse published in 1850

About Henry Brown:

Henry Box Brown was born enslaved on a plantation in Louisa County, Virginia and forced to work at a tobacco factory in the city. His pregnant wife and three children were enslaved on a neighboring plantation – until one day, Brown heard the news that they were to be sold away to a plantation owner in North Carolina.

 

Mourning their loss, Brown was adamant about securing his freedom. He got in contact with the Underground Railroad, a network of Black people and white abolitionists who created pathways for enslaved people to find freedom up north. Many believe that the Underground Railroad worked through secret, underground passageways, but that wasn’t common. Instead, they found various routes to transport people up North undercover. More often, the Railroad inspired enslaved people to forge their own escape. A small, growing pathway at the time was using the mail system. So, they devised a plan to ship Brown up north in a shipping box that was just 3 feet long, 2 1/2 feet deep, and 2 feet wide (Library of Congress).


“Much of what we call the Underground Railroad was actually operated clandestinely by African Americans themselves through urban vigilance committees and rescue squads that were often led by free Blacks.”

--David Blight, Passages to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in History and Memory

On the day of his escape, Brown spent 27 hours inside the box, which traveled over 300 miles north to Philadelphia via wagon, ferry, and railway. Because many people didn’t know there was a person inside, the box was handled roughly, sometimes being flipped upside down. But he finally made it, arriving in the safe hands of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia and 

William Still, a freed Black man who was known as one of the leaders of the Underground Railroad movement (PBS).
 
Henry Brown could have disappeared; savored his freedom and recovered from his journey. But he didn’t. Instead, he used his story as a testament to ending slavery in the U.S. He adopted the middle name "Box" as a testament to what he overcame and traveled across the Northern U.S. and Europe outlining the horrors of enslavement and the reason for freedom. A drawing of himself emerging from the box, often referred to as The Resurrection of Henry Box Brown, acted as a powerful piece of anti-slavery propaganda in the U.S. As the Library of Congress states, "the box itself became an abolitionist metaphor for the inhumanity and spiritual suffocation of slavery" (LOC),

Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself, 1849, Smithsonian

In 1849, he published a first-hand account of his journey. Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown became a powerful narrative recounting the horrors of slavery. Later in his life, he evolved into a magician, disappearing and reappearing out of the same box that liberated him alongside other illusions and magical feats. His work as a performer granted him the freedom to travel and gain economic independence, eventually buying property in Canada and starting a new family. His legacy didn’t just help to end slavery in its form during that time, but created opportunities for other Black entertainers to perform.
Reflection Questions:

1. 1. Henry “Box” Brown used performance as a way to educate people and encourage them to take action. Consider: Which artist(s) do you admire today? What does their work educate people on? How does their art encourage others to take action?2. Henry “Box” Brown’s narrative was powerful because he told his direct, individual experience with a violent system. Why is it important to listen to those directly impacted by systemic issues? How does their experience differ from those in power?

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Day 3: Mississippi Goddam By Nina Simone
“Missisippi Goddam,” written and performed by Nina Simone in 1964, is a testament to the injustices of the Civil Rights Movement and the moment Simone was spurred into public civil rights activism.

About "Mississippi Goddam":
Two critical moments in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s inspired Nina Simone to write “Mississippi Goddam”:
 
On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was shot and killed by a white supremacist. An NAACP field secretary and civil rights activist, Evers worked hard to encourage African Americans to register to vote. He was also instrumental in raising awareness of the Emmett Till murder case. Like many civil rights leaders of that time, Evers became a target for those who opposed racial equality and desegregation (History).
 
Months later, on Sunday, September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed by members of the Ku Klux Klan. As a result, four young girls – Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair – were killed*, and an additional 20 people were injured (Southern Poverty Law Center).
 
In response, Simone channeled her cathartic rage to write and compose this song in under an hour (Story of Song). “Mississippi Goddam” marks a pivotal moment of her career because initially, she shied away from “protest music.” According to American Songwriter, she said, “I didn’t like ‘protest music’ because a lot of it was so simple and unimaginative it stripped the dignity away from the people it was trying to celebrate. But the Alabama church bombing and the murder of Medgar Evers stopped that argument, and with ‘Mississippi Goddam,’ I realized there was no turning back.”

 
 First you get depressed, and then you get mad. And when these kids got bombed, I sat down and wrote this song. And it’s a very moving, violent song cause that’s how I feel about the whole thing."--Nina Simone

The song caused an uproar and was banned in several Southern states. Simone’s daughter Lisa Simone Kelly describes how boxes of records would return from radio stations around the country cracked in half in a documentary (The Atlantic). Television censors would not let her say “goddam,” so the word was bleeped out every time it came up in the lyrics. But Simone continued to perform it defiantly, never hesitant to show the emotions it brought up at the moment. She also changed the lyrics to fit the current injustices throughout the years, so it always directly reflected the times (Library of Congress).
"Mississippi Goddam" by Nina Simone during Recording session: Live in Antibes, July 24-25, 1965,

But more importantly, this song became a rallying cry for a restless generation. After a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall in 1964, Jet magazine reported Nina Simone left the audience “with a lot to smoke in their pipes” and that the song “Mississippi”  (the second word of its name often censored in TV and print) was a high point. In a significant moment, Simone performed the song at a concert during the historic Selma March, rallying the crowd from a stage built from coffin crates (Daily Beast). An excerpt from that performance can be viewed on YouTube. 
 
And this song became one of many protest songs that Simone penned and performed during her time. Songs like “Backlash Blues” (written by Langston Hughes) and “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” call for the necessity of Black liberation. Simone wrote and recorded “Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)” in response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And, Simone also recorded and released her own version of “Strange Fruit,” made famous by Billie Holiday and featured in this collection.
 
In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" (jazz.fm). But Simone also contributes this song to the beginning of her professional descent, noting that her records and booking opportunities decreased as her political activism increased. 

1. Reflection Questions1. Consider what music can tell us about that time in history. Create a playlist of songs that have defined 2021 for you.2. Consider: What privilege(s) may you benefit from that allows you to advocate for change while still maintaining your professional career? What have you been forced to sacrifice for the movement for civil rights? How does that compare to those throughout history?3. What are the most defining moments of 2021 for you? What have you done to channel your emotions into change?

Additional Learning:

• *Four girls died in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, but a fifth girl was present and survived. Sarah Collins Rudolph still suffers from the physical and emotional damage of that day, and is still fighting for restitution. The Alabama governor only issued an apology last fall (NBCW). Read her story in the Washington Post.
  
  
• WATCH: What Happened, Miss Simone? is a 2015 American biographical documentary film about Nina Simone (Netflix).