[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 32 (Thursday, February 27, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CELEBRATING OUR HISTORY

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                             HON. MIKE ROSS

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 2003

  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to help commemorate a month-long 
learning experience that all of us as Americans should join in 
celebrating. This month we focus on recalling and embracing a unique 
part of our American History and the roles of African Americans in 
shaping what our country is today. History teaches us that every 
culture and every society endures good and bad, and it is essential 
that we continue to learn from our past.
  From slavery abolitionists like Harriett Tubman to civil rights 
activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--even students like the 
Little Rock Nine who showed unimaginable courage--we have much to learn 
from the lives of these past and present leaders. They leave quite a 
mark on the pages of our history books and in the fabric of our 
country.
  During this month, it is important that we seek to learn more about 
historical Black figures; it is important because it shows us what 
great contributions they made even during an era when many people 
thought Blacks had nothing to offer. Quite to the contrary--the African 
American community has given us some of our greatest writers, 
inventors, athletes, philosophers, musicians, and spiritual and 
community leaders during dark times in our history.
  It is during this month that Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Toni 
Morrison, and baseball great Hank Aaron celebrated their birthdays. It 
was during this month in 1870 that the 15th Amendment was passed, 
granting Blacks the right to vote. And this year, during this month, 
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Anderson, who was lost on the Space Shuttle 
Columbia, died as a pioneer and a living symbol of the progress African 
Americans have made and the successes yet to come.
  Black History Month celebrates people and events that were 
disregarded for long periods of time. It's time we remember. It's time 
we make Black history our history.

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