[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 10 (Wednesday, February 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S672-S674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, since 1926, we have designated 
February as the month during which we honor the contributions of 
African-Americans to our history, our culture, and our future.
  Of course, no month should pass without our giving attention to the 
historical legacy of America's African-Americans. However, this month 
is the time when we devote special attention to this legacy, which, in 
the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, has survived and enriched 
American life in countless ways.
  As it does each year, the Association for the Study of Afro-American 
Life and History (ASALH) has selected a theme for this month's 
celebration. This year's theme is ``African Americans and Business: The 
Path Toward Empowerment.''
  Mr. President, maybe more than any other theme, the question of 
African-Americans and business demands our attention and interest. The 
degree to which African-Americans participate in and benefit from 
America's commercial and business life may be the single best indicator 
of whether they have obtained the equality of opportunity and freedom 
for which they have long strived and to which they are entitled under 
our Constitution. We move toward full equality when uniquely gifted 
individuals--athletes, artists, entertainers, etc.--capture the 
public's imagination and because of their unique gifts transcend the 
limits placed on their race. We move even closer to this goal when each 
and every African-American has the opportunity to get a loan, lease or 
purchase property, open a business, develop a product, hire other 
African-Americans, and contribute to the betterment of his community. 
The ability of African-Americans to have these most basic avenues of 
opportunity and advancement open to them may give us the best sense of 
just how far we have progressed on the road to equality.
  Thus, any study of the history of African-Americans and business 
should highlight not only the many brilliant inventors and 
entrepreneurs who have made unique or major contributions to American 
history. It should also take note of the many average, hard-working 
people who have fulfilled, against

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great odds, the American dream of owning and operating their own 
businesses. Let me devote a few minutes to both these sets of heroes.
  On one hand African-Americans, and Americans in general, can boast of 
such great minds as Jan Matzeliger (1852-1889), Joseph Lee (1849-1905), 
Elijah McCoy (1843-1929), and Andrew Beard (1850-1910)--19th century 
inventors who helped revolutionize American industry at a crucial 
period in its development. They can boast of groundbreaking success 
stories such as Madame C.J. Walker (1867-1919), America's first black 
millionaire businesswoman, whose hair products company employed 3,000 
people, and Maggie Lena Walker (1867-1934), America's first female bank 
president. Mr. President, this list is merely a sample of the many 
African-Americans who have made unique contributions to American 
commerce, and who have helped lead us to the heights we occupy today as 
the strongest economic force in the world.

  On the other hand, let us also take note of the more modest success 
stories of the many African-Americans who at this same time owned and 
ran businesses, surviving not only economic hardship but a social 
system that left them short of funding, public support, and legal 
protection. Here I speak of the members--now long forgotten--of the 
Colored Merchants Association of New York City, formed during the Great 
Depression to sustain the city's African-American businesses against 
the shocks of that economic disaster. I speak here also of the numerous 
African-American newspapers established in the late 19th century, the 
first of which, Baltimore's Afro-American, is still published to this 
day.
  Mr. President, I submit that only when such stories of struggle and 
achievement are commonplace, and demand no particular attention, can we 
truly claim credit for eradicating completely the scourge of racial 
bias from our society.
  I think we are moving in the right direction. Between 1987 and 1992, 
when the last set of complete figures were available from the Census 
Bureau, the number of American businesses owned by African-Americans 
increased by 46%. In my own State of Maryland, the numbers are even 
more impressive. In Maryland during the 1987-1992 period, the number of 
African-American businesses grew by 14,080 to 35,578, a 65% increase. 
These figures, I am proud to say, make Maryland the State with the most 
African-American-owned businesses in the Nation. Moreover, two of 
Maryland's counties are among the top ten in the nation in terms of the 
number of African-American businesses based there. Clearly, more and 
more African-Americans are taking the path to empowerment that 
Americans of all colors and creeds should view as their birthright.
  Thus, during Black History Month, let us celebrate not only firms 
like Prince George's County's Pulsar Data Systems, a computer systems 
integration company that made $165 million in 1995, and was ranked by 
Black Enterprise Magazine as the fifth most profitable black-owned 
company in America that year. Let us also celebrate smaller enterprises 
like Grassroots II, an African-American bookstore in Salisbury, MD, 
which specializes in literature celebrating the African-American 
experience. Both these types of businesses--the smaller no less than 
the bigger --show us how far we have come as a nation and how far we 
still need to go.
  In closing, Mr. President, let me pay tribute to a Maryland-based 
African-American run ``business'' that deserves special mention this 
month. This business sought to lead African-Americans down a different 
path of empowerment--not economic empowerment, but intellectual and 
cultural empowerment. I speak of the black history calendar business 
run by C. Cabell Carter during the 1970's and 1980's. Mr. Carter, a 
retired schoolteacher who died in 1987, travelled throughout 
Baltimore's African-American community selling calendars that featured 
African-American artwork and highlighted on each day of the year a 
significant achievement in African-American history. He charged a 
nominal fee for each calendar, and, by most estimates, sold few 
calendars per year. I ask that a February 5, 1998 article in the 
Baltimore Sun about Mr. Carter be printed in the Record at the end of 
my statement.
  Mr. Carter did not create jobs, he was not known outside his 
immediate community, and he would hardly qualify as a prosperous 
businessman, much less a captain of industry. His achievement, however, 
was to make his fellow African-Americans aware of their rich history, 
and to instill in them the pride to be part of that history. It is my 
sincere hope that some of those with whom Mr. Carter spoke and to whom 
he sold calendars will be the ones that we in Congress will honor in 
future editions of Black History Month.
  The article follows:

                  Taking Black History to the Streets

               (By Elmer P. Martin and Joanne M. Martin)

       Historian Carter G. Woodson began Negro History Week in 
     1926 (now Black History Month), but over the years many 
     average citizens helped popularize the February observance.
       One such local person was the late C. Cabell Carter, a 
     Baltimore schoolteacher who spent much of his retirement 
     years in the 1970s and '80s peddling black history calendars 
     he created, and serving as a sort of street-corner historian, 
     preaching to everyone from drug dealers to church leaders 
     about the importance of knowing their history.
       Mr. Carter charged a nominal fee for the calendars that 
     featured black and white renderings of ancient African 
     royalty and historical African-Americans of note. Virtually 
     every day on the calendars was marked with a significant 
     event in black history.
       Mr. Carter probably sold 1,000 calendars a year. Any 
     proceeds were used to finance the production of the next 
     year's calendars and black history postcards. Once, he self-
     published a thin paperback of profiles of black historical 
     figures.


                            widely traveled

       With his tall, thin figure always immaculately dressed in a 
     starched, white, buttoned-down shirt and tie, and frequently 
     a jacket or suit, Mr. Carter was a well-known figure in 
     Baltimore's black community who traveled all over the area 
     selling his calendar. You were as likely to see him outside 
     Lexington Terrace housing project as you were to find him 
     traversing Morgan State University.
       Amazingly, he did all his travels--in good weather and 
     bad--using public transportation. When he was cautioned not 
     to go into dangerous areas, he shrugged off such suggestions. 
     After all, he was on a mission to educate his people, which 
     meant he had to go wherever his people were.
       Mr. Carter sought to ``liberate''  black history from 
     academia and take it to the streets. He said it was 
     important for black youth to know that their people had a 
     rich history long before coming to this country. He wanted 
     to fill the gaps left by many history books.
       While Mr. Carter spread the word about black history, he 
     didn't spend a lot of time talking about himself, so details 
     of his background are sketchy.
       He was born Dec. 5, 1912, and graduated from Hampton 
     Institute (now Hampton University). He taught for years at 
     Carver Vocational School, where he became a leading advocate 
     for instituting black studies and black history in the public 
     schools.
       His wife apparently died years ago; his only child, a son, 
     could not be located at the time of Mr. Carter's death, Aug. 
     8, 1987.
       We came to know Mr. Carter when we established the Great 
     Blacks in Wax Museum in 1983. He volunteered his services and 
     became one of our founding board members. He loved taking our 
     wax figures on the road for exhibits to such places as 
     Mondawmin Mall.
       Mr. Carter said he developed his love of history while 
     serving in the Army's 92nd Infantry Division during World War 
     II, where he received the Bronze Star for bravery in action.
       Faced with extreme racial prejudice and segregation from 
     fellow soldiers and others, Mr. Carter read black history to 
     keep from succumbing to feelings of inferiority and 
     bitterness. The therapeutic results persuaded him that all 
     black people should become acquainted with their history.
       Toward that end, he spent considerable time collecting 
     newspaper clippings, visiting libraries and engaging in other 
     activities in an effort to amass historical data for his 
     files, which he would in turn share with others.


                         an eccentric character

       Although some people regarded him as a bit crazy for 
     approaching hardened youths on street corners, such youths 
     were generally disarmed by Mr. Carter's easy smile, his 
     sincerity, his low tolerance for foolishness and the great 
     confidence he had in their promise and potential.
       Mr. Carter often said, ``It is a sad day when the elders 
     are afraid of their own children. I refuse to ever get in 
     that state.''
       Mr. Carter also started the Reading Improvement 
     Association, a community-based literacy program. His work did 
     not go unappreciated. At his funeral, some 300 people from 
     all walks of life packed a small cemetery chapel to pay 
     tribute to that wonderfully unusual man.
       The West Baltimore resident died penniless at age 74. His 
     landlord, not realizing the importance of Mr. Carter's 
     collection, had it

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     gathered up and thrown away. So there's little left of Mr. 
     Carter's work except a few calendars and a few copies of his 
     book, ``Black History Makers.''
       But, during Black History Month, we recognize such little-
     known figures as Mr. Carter, as well as the celebrated.
       Mr. Carter would have liked that.

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