[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 22, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S2977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise today to add my voice to 
those who have already spoken in recognition of February as Black 
History Month. Since 1926 this nation has designated February as the 
month in which we honor the achievements and contributions of African-
Americans to our history, our culture, and our future. One could also 
say that February is the month in which we honor our Nation's unsung 
heroes--from the African-American soldiers who have often received no 
acknowledgment for fighting in the American Revolution to the African-
American poets and authors often excluded from literary anthologies. 
The history of African-Americans is the history of what this country 
has come to mean to so many people around the world. It is the history 
of possibilities, of dreams, and of the equality of all human beings. 
It is the story of insurmountable odds overcome and of challenges yet 
to be faced.
  Mr. President, my own State of Maryland has been blessed to be the 
birthplace and home of countless outstanding African-Americans. 
Maryland was a bedrock of the Underground Railroad which helped many 
African-Americans find their way out of slavery to freedom. In fact, 
Harriet Tubman, the African-American woman credited with leading more 
than 300 men, women, and children to freedom on the Underground 
Railroad was a Marylander. The history of Maryland is replete with the 
contributions of African-Americans, many of which have gone 
undocumented and unrecognized. Black History Month affords us an 
opportunity to honor our heroes both past and present, and to remind 
ourselves of the many national heroes whose faces do not adorn currency 
or postage stamps and whose stories are not told in history books or 
encyclopedias.
  During this month of celebration, one of the three great African-
Americans receiving special honor across the Nation is Frederick 
Douglass, a man whose life symbolized heroism. Born on Maryland's 
Eastern Shore in 1818, Frederick Douglass escaped slavery to become one 
of the leading abolitionists of his time. For Frederick Douglass it was 
not enough that he won his own freedom; he spent his life fighting for 
the freedom and advancement of millions of other people. His life, like 
the lives of many of the other men and women honored during Black 
History Month, was a life of triumph against overwhelming odds. One 
only has to visit the birthplace of Frederick Douglass and take a 
moment to imagine it without the nearby highway, automobiles, and 
convenience stores in order to have an inkling of the challenges which 
faced a slave seeking freedom. Not only was there the challenge of 
escaping an isolated plantation and the constant fear of recapture and 
torture, but also the challenge to self-educate, find work, and build a 
new life away from all that was familiar.
  The history of African-Americans, however, does not begin or end with 
slavery and the Civil War. Long after the end of slavery, African-
Americans continued to fight for freedom and all of its rights. It is a 
struggle which has inspired people around the world to fight for their 
freedom. Mr. President, I utter the name of Frederick Douglass not only 
to honor the man who was known as Frederick Douglass and who achieved 
so very much with his life, but for all nameless thousands who like 
Frederick Douglass achieved so much from so little--people who gave 
their lives so that their children and grandchildren might have better 
lives, people who have helped to define the real possibilities of 
freedom and equality in this Nation.
  Mr. President, as we near the end of this month, I hope that each of 
us will take a moment to remember the lessons of Black History Month 
and to carry them with us throughout the year as a reminder of all that 
is truly possible. Two hundred years ago, how many Americans would have 
imagined a Thurgood Marshall or an Alice Walker? Black History Month is 
a time to celebrate--to celebrate all of the great achievements of 
African-Americans, to celebrate how far this country has come, and to 
remind us of how much further we have to go.


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