[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______


                        HON. BARBARA B. KENNELLY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 24, 1994

  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Speaker, each February we commemorate the 
achievements and history of African-Americans. This year, I sponsored 
an essay contest in Hartford, inviting high school students to tell me 
what Black History Month meant to them.
  The entries I received from the high schools in my congressional 
district were marvelously impressive. These essays were both thoughtful 
and thought provoking. They were well written and exemplary of a 
generation that is shaping our Nation.
  I heard from Terry-Ann Mitchell who drew on the inspiration of Maya 
Angelou and the lessons we can learn from history. Terry-Ann wrote 
about the lasting impression she has of a sophomore CORE class which 
taught her about Benjamin Banneker, Crispus Attucks, Harriet Tubman, 
Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass.
  Trina Scott wrote that we should also remember the past and study its 
lessons. She wrote that a month is too short to commemorate black 
history--it should be celebrated every day of the year because each day 
someone tries to make the creed ``All Men Are Created Equal'' a 
reality.
  April Krausz wrote that we need to take the time to study the lives 
of people who may not be famous, but have shaped the lives of others. 
She wrote about Biddy Mason, who became a successful businesswoman 
after fighting for her freedom from slavery. She described the 
remarkable lives of sisters Sadie and Bessie Delany, whose lives are 
wondrous. April also described the great influence her teachers have 
had on her life.
  Miriam Mercado described Black History Month as a time to teach about 
African-Americans and a time to break with the status quo. She also 
talked about the common bond of many people--African-Americans, Puerto 
Ricans, Native Americans, and West Indians.
  These essays honored Black History Month and I so enjoyed reading 
them. I would like to commend these students for their work. Their 
parents and teachers should all be proud.
  I would like to insert in the Record the two essays which were 
selected by an independent panel as the most outstanding of all these 
entries.
  The first is by Weaver High School student Monique Nelson. The second 
is by Hartford High School student Laquanda Plantt. I ask that both be 
reprinted in their entirety.

                  What Black History Month Means to Me

                          (By Monique Nelson)

       For me, Black History Month is yet another month of the 
     year for celebrating my African heritage. It has no special 
     meaning to me as it does for others because I do not need the 
     nation to appoint a special month of the year to allow me to 
     celebrate the history of my ancestors who have contributed so 
     much to this nation; nor do I need the nation to reinforce 
     the idea that I should be proud of who I am. I am an African 
     American and I have known that since the day that my eyes 
     opened. I have always been proud of who I am or else I would 
     not have managed to be where I am today. I do not need a 
     ``Black History Month'' because I have ``Black History Day'' 
     year long.
       I have not always had the same perspective on Black History 
     Month as I do now. While growing up in Hartford, CT, I 
     remember marching in a line to my school's auditorium to 
     attend our annual Black History Month assemblies. During 
     these assemblies, I remember thinking Martin Luther King and 
     Rosa Parks were the only reasons for celebrating Black 
     History Month since each assembly that I can recollect was 
     fully centered around Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks; this 
     led me to conclude that these celebrations were about them. I 
     believe this is the same perspective that many elementary 
     school kids still have today. Some may think that the only 
     African Americans that have contributed something to the 
     nation are these two and we all know this is not true because 
     African Americans have made many other contributions to this 
     nation's success. Not only do I not currently support the 
     manner in which Black History Month is celebrated but I think 
     that the message it sends is detrimental. The message is 
     distorted, leaving many people with the impression that there 
     have only been a few Blacks that have changed the history 
     of America. Black History Month celebrations have always 
     failed to recognize African Americans such as Madame C. J. 
     Walker who was America's first Black millionaire 
     businesswomen, Lemuel Haynes who was the first Black man 
     ordained minister in the United States, or Ida Gray who 
     was the first Black woman to earn a Doctor of Dental 
     Surgery degree.
       I also feel that there should be recognition given to 
     African American achievers in our own community such as 
     lawyers, teachers, doctors, business owners, and even drug 
     dealers or addicts who have turned their lives around for the 
     better. Given recognition to others in our race who have made 
     it against the odds uplifts us socially, psychologically and 
     spiritually. There are many African Americans who succeed or 
     who are trying their best such as a single parent or a 
     struggling student but they never receive the recognition 
     that they should, so they sometimes lose hope. This hope 
     diminishes because one might start to question one's purpose 
     of life. If we celebrate who we are everyday, there would not 
     be any room for loss of hope. Because I fully understand all 
     of the achievements of African Americans and how important 
     they are to this nation, there is no question of who I am. 
     This is why I have ``Black History Day'' year long. Everyday 
     I praise myself for what I have achieved and recognize others 
     for what they have or are trying to achieve; this in return 
     builds my self-esteem.
       Therefore, in my opinion, Black History Month as it is 
     presently celebrated needs to be eliminated. There is a need 
     to reform the present day celebration of African Americans 
     because it has sent mixed messages about the history of Black 
     achievers. The history and success of our people need to be 
     put in our everyday school curriculum instead of recognizing 
     and celebrating a few achievers once a year. No one else in 
     this country will celebrate who we are and what we have 
     achieved until we do so ourselves everyday. This is the 
     message that needs to be instilled in young African 
     Americans. If this message is instilled in young African 
     Americans they will seek out their history and they will be 
     able to celebrate Black History year long.
       For me, Black History means another month, another week, 
     and another day of celebrating who I am; a proud African 
     American. I have always been proud of who I am and I do not 
     need twenty-eight days to reinforce this. Celebrating my 
     African heritage everyday, I have come to realize that there 
     is no way one can succeed without having self-confidence and 
     a feeling of self-worth and this can only come from knowing 
     who you are and from where you have come.

                  What Black History Month Means To Me

                          (By Laquanda Plantt)

       Being born an African-American is a privilege. I have come 
     from a long line of African-Americans who had to endure a lot 
     of pain and suffering in order for me to enjoy what I do 
     today. Many brave blacks died to ensure us of the freedom 
     that we have today. Slavery was a horrible institution. 
     Blacks were saddled with the labor such as sharecropping and 
     picking cotton. They also had to cook and clean. Most of all, 
     they were denied an education. What good was being able to 
     read and write going to do for a slave? If a slave didn't do 
     as he was told, the slave would be severely beaten with a 
     whip. Learning about this makes me appreciate more my freedom 
     to study and learn.
       One thing I have learned as a result of reading during 
     Black History Month is that not all Blacks were slaves. Based 
     on a letter I read by John Rolfe to Sir Edwin Sandys, I 
     learned Blacks first came with the Spaniards in 1619, and 
     that it was the Spaniards who were the real founders of the 
     United States. This is a little known fact, but I know it 
     because I read it as part of an assignment for Black History. 
     One of the earliest free Negro settlers was Austin Dabney, a 
     hero of the Revolutionary War. I learned also that several 
     Blacks were in the Lewis-Clark expedition which left Virginia 
     in 1803 to go to the Pacific. A member of the expedition, 
     Pompey another Black man, had Pompey's Pillar in Montana 
     named after him.
       Still another thing I learned was that George William Bush, 
     a black man, is really the founder of the State of 
     Washington. A friend of the Indians, he led the first party 
     of white people there from Missouri in 1843. Thanks to his 
     friendship with the Indians, he made it possible for the 
     whites to live there in peace. George Washington (1818-1905) 
     was the founder of Centralia, Washington. Born a slave in 
     Virginia, he started West and reached Washington after a 
     3,000 mile journey. Countless contributions have been made by 
     Blacks in all areas of American History.
       Because of the Black History Month, I have had the 
     opportunity to read and learn about Black Americans in all 
     aspects of life, and doing so makes me proud to be a Black 
     American. It also makes me want to make significant 
     accomplishments on my own so that somewhere in history, 
     others will read about me and marvel.

                          ____________________