[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H442-H446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Davis of Kentucky). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Watt) is recognized for the time remaining before midnight, 
approximately 42 minutes.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, it 
is a great pleasure for me to lead this annual Special Order of the 
Congressional Black Caucus in honor of Black History Month. The theme 
for this year's African American history month is ``Celebrating 
community, a tribute to black fraternal, social and civic 
institutions.'' And it is dedicated to exploring the impact that these 
civic organizations have had on the evolution of African American life 
and history.
  A word or two about the history of Black History Month. The 
celebration of Black History Month started in 1926 as the vision of Dr. 
Carter G. Woodson who, out of frustration from not finding references 
to black history in any of our history books, launched an initiative to 
highlight the many outstanding contributions of African American people 
throughout the history of the United States. This year we are 
celebrating the 80th anniversary of Black History Month.
  Initially, black history started off as a 1-week event during the 
second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two men who 
greatly influenced black people in this country, Frederick Douglass and 
Abraham Lincoln. However, as time passed, it was clear that one week 
was not sufficient to highlight the achievements of black people and 
eventually the celebration became known as Black History Month.
  Mr. Speaker, this year during Black History Month, we are celebrating 
the institutions, fraternal, social, civic and religious, that have 
been so vital in our progress, the many national organizations and the 
community and grass-roots organizations around the country that have 
been and continue to be the backbone of the African American community. 
Often times these organizations have stepped in when the Federal, 
State, and local governments have failed to provide the necessary 
services, and for that they are to be commended, most recently in the 
aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I have often said that Black History Month is 
about the future, a time to assess and acknowledge that there is no 
place for complacency and no time to rest. For that reason, the 
Congressional Black Caucus continues to focus its agenda and our 
efforts on closing and eliminating disparities that continue to exist 
in every aspect of our lives.
  It is now my pleasure to recognize some of my colleagues to help us 
celebrate this Black History Month celebration. I yield to the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, let me just commend Mr. Watt as 
chairman of our Congressional Black Caucus for providing leadership in 
this important celebration and observance of the great and 
extraordinary contributions that African Americans have made and 
continue to make in America and throughout the world.
  No race of people has come through the ordeal and the circumstances 
of slavery, of Jim Crowism, of racism, of de facto segregation, and in 
spite of all these obstacles made extraordinary contributions in every 
field of endeavor: business, medicine, the arts, sports, politics, 
business.
  Today we are here to highlight especially the role of fraternities in 
our community. Nowhere is that more particular than within the African 
American community, for the African American fraternities were brought 
about not as a result or a need for social edification or for 
frivolity; but those fraternities that came about in the African 
American community came about because of great need at a time of 
extraordinary struggle and circumstance within the African American 
community.
  Such was the case with all of our fraternities and certainly with the 
fraternity that I am a member of, which is the first fraternity and the 
oldest fraternity, the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. I would like to 
spend just a few moments talking about this fraternity because this was 
the first fraternity, and its development exemplifies all fraternities 
and the importance of their contribution.
  In 1905 in Ithica, New York, a group of African American students at 
Cornell were so devastated with the racism and prejudice at that 
institution that they found themselves in, that half of the six refused 
to come back in 1906;

[[Page H443]]

but three did and others joined them in 1906 and they came together to 
form the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Seven African American men, seven 
African American men that we affectionately refer to as the 7 Jewels: 
Brother Callis and Brother Chapman and Brother Jones and Brother 
Kelley, Brother Murray, Brother Ogle, and Brother Tandy. Seven.
  There is something about that number seven. That is God's number, the 
number of completeness. As we know, we had to march around the walls of 
Jericho 70 times. The Bible says you must forgive your neighbor 70 
times 7. There are 7 days in the week; 7 holes in our head: nose, two 
eyes, two nostrils, two ears. Seven is completeness. And that is why I 
believe that these fraternities were God's gift at an important time 
that they came on the scene. Before the civil rights movement, before 
the others, these men formed the organization and came to produce some 
of the outstanding leaders in all fields. Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. 
DuBois and Thurgood Marshall were all members, as were Duke Ellington 
and Adam Clayton Powell and Martin Luther King, Jr. Scores and hundreds 
of leaders in every sphere and activity of life were there.
  So as we celebrate Black History Month, let us celebrate it where it 
means the most. And if these members of our fraternity were here, they 
would say to us in their words, those very precious words that, well, 
my brothers and my sisters, you see, life for me ain't been no crystal 
stair. It's had tacks in it and splinters, boards torn up. No carpet on 
the floor, bare. But all the while, I's been a climbing on and reaching 
landings and turning corners, and sometimes going in the dark where 
there ain't been no light. So, boy, don't you stop. Don't you sit down 
on the steps because you finds it's kinda hard. Don't you fall now 
while I still going. I still climbing on, honey. And life for me ain't 
been no crystal stair.
  Life was no crystal stair for those who started our African American 
Greek fraternities and sororities. But because they had that vision to 
keep going, they made an impact on the lives of African Americans, on 
the lives of the people of the United States of America, and on the 
lives of the people of the world. On this Black History Month we are 
say thank you to our Greek letter organizations, the African American 
fraternities and sororities who have helped us so greatly.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Bobby Scott).
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from North 
Carolina for organizing this Special Order so that we can give 
appropriate recognition to black fraternal, social, and civic 
organizations.
  African Americans have been in the forefront of significant change in 
American society, and many of those leading the fight were members of 
very distinguished organizations with the support of those 
organizations.
  I share membership in Alpha Phi Alpha with my distinguished colleague 
from Georgia and six other Members of Congress. As my colleague 
mentioned, Alpha Phi Alpha was the first collegiate black fraternity. I 
am proud to be a long-time and life member of Alpha Phi Alpha. And 
since its founding in 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha and all black fraternities 
and sororities have supplied a voice and vision to the struggle of 
African Americans and people of color around the world.
  For example, one of the long-standing programs sponsored by Alpha Phi 
Alpha is ``Go to high school, go to college.'' Another is ``A voteless 
people is a hopeless people.'' They encouraged education and voter 
registration. More recent projects for Alpha Phi Alpha is Project 
Alpha, promoting responsibility among African American males in all 
aspects of health care.
  Before the formation of college fraternities, the very first African 
American fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi, was formed in 1904 in Philadelphia 
by a group of physicians and dentists. This organization was created 
for college and professionally educated African Americans including 
college presidents, Congressmen, cabinet members, and nationally 
prominent figures such as W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King, Jr. I 
am also a member of Sigma Pi Phi.

                              {time}  2330

  There are countless other organizations that have existed for the 
purpose of improving economic status, spiritual well-being, and civil 
rights of all Americans. The Free African Society was founded in 1787; 
the National Negro Business League was founded in 1900; the National 
Afro-American Council in 1903; the Niagara Movement, the forerunner of 
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, 
was well under way by 1905.
  The members of these and many other organizations have addressed the 
most serious moral challenges facing Americans today. The contribution 
of African American social and civic organizations has included 
everything from scholarships to social reconstruction. The members of 
these organizations have confronted the handicaps, the restrictions, 
the persecutions, the prejudices, the inequities in the opportunities 
faced by people of color.
  Thanks to the relentless efforts of African American member 
organizations, there are more people of color today in corporate, 
Federal, State and municipal offices than ever before. The work of 
members of Alpha Phi Alpha, Sigma Pi Phi and other organizations has 
had a huge impact over the last 100 years, but our work is far from 
over.
  In the 21st century, we will continue to work for political, economic 
and social change. It is imperative that all fraternal, social and 
civic organizations in the African American community continue to 
provide service to African Americans as a whole and the United States 
in general.
  Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of Black History, was born in 
Buckingham County, Virginia, to former slaves. He reminded us of the 
importance of commemorating African American contributions when he 
stated, ``If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, 
it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it 
stands in danger of being exterminated.''
  As we celebrate African American History Month, let us recognize the 
achievement and traditions of African Americans and let us never forget 
the members of black fraternal, social, and civic organizations that 
pursued unchartered paths and paid for the freedom that we hold so 
dear.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from North Carolina 
for organizing this Special Order so that we can recognize these 
organizations appropriately.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia for his 
eloquence, and let me just add a few comments while we are waiting for 
one other Member to come and join in this Special Order.
  I actually tend to agree with one of our recent actors who started to 
question the whole concept of Black History Month, not because it is 
not important to all of us, but because the accomplishments of African 
Americans are so profound and so diffuse in every aspect of our lives 
that it is quite obvious that the same thing that happened with Black 
History Week, that we found that there just was not sufficient to do 
justice to those accomplishments, is now happening to Black History 
Month. A month is not sufficient to do justice to a discussion and an 
emphasis and a highlighting of those accomplishments.
  So, as we continue to celebrate Black History Month, we should 
continue to recognize that Black History Week, which became Black 
History Month, in and of itself is a recognition that we simply have 
not done what we should be doing throughout our history to acknowledge 
the important contributions that African Americans have made.
  We could spend hours here on the floor, had we the time, on any of 
the subjects which are the title of this Black History Month: black 
fraternities, African American sororities, social organizations, civic 
institutions, religious institutions. We could spend days talking about 
the sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha, which my wife happens to be a member 
of; Delta Sigma Theta; the Zetas. The whole list of sororities, they go 
on and on. Most of them sprang out of a need for service, a recognition 
that there were not social responsibilities, but civic and important 
unfinished business that needed to be attended to. Organizations of 
various kinds, headed by powerful women in our country, the Council of

[[Page H444]]

Negro Women, I mean we could go on and on and on with the list of 
organizations, social and civic organizations, that have grown out of a 
need to emphasize and uplift the community so that perhaps what was 
previously referred to in the prior Special Order here, about the 
Preamble to the Constitution, really would be made a living, viable 
document, equality and justice for all. Many of these organizations 
sprang out of that.
  We could spend a week, a month or two talking about the churches, the 
religious denominations, the AMEs, the AME, African Methodist Episcopal 
Zion denomination or the African Methodist Episcopal denomination, 
which formed because African American people either were not welcome in 
the white religious institutions or because those religious 
institutions were not providing the kind of freedom of expression or 
the level of equality. Even though they were talking the talk, they 
were not necessarily walking the walk throughout our history.
  So all of these things are extremely important. Perhaps we do not do 
justice to any of them in the short period of time we have this 
evening, but we should never forget that all of them are extremely 
important.
  Again, Black History Month is not only about reflecting on the past, 
it is about the challenges, the lack of equality that exists today that 
we must continue to confront going into the future. We should never 
lose sight of that.
  With that, I see that my colleague from the great State of Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee) has arrived, and so I will now yield to her for her 
expressions in this Black History Month Special Order.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the chairman of 
the Congressional Black Caucus for being enormously astute to ensure 
that there is a marker in the history pages of the Congressional Record 
that Members of Congress, and particularly Members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, rose to ensure that we commemorated African American 
History.
  There has been some controversy on this month over the years. Most 
recently, one of our more respected actors made mention of a very 
valuable point, that black history, African American history need not 
be commemorated in one month. In fact, it is American history, and I 
frankly agree with those words. I think it is important, however, that 
we take the opportunity to let others know that we have not forgotten.
  In the course of reading and reviewing what remarks I might make this 
evening, I came across a very interesting book entitled, ``The African 
American Bookshelf,'' that categorizes or catalogs, ``50 Must Reads 
From Before the Civil War Through Today,'' and I wish to share briefly 
some of the words and stories in this book, but the first I would go to 
is of more recent vintage, which talks about COINTELPRO.
  One would argue, how does that relate to the issue of African 
American history. The COINTEL was the counter-intelligence program, and 
it was the program utilized in the early parts of the civil rights 
movement, moving into the black student movement, the Black Panthers, 
and frankly, it was an effort focused on black activists who were 
perceived to be agitators, a small piece of African American history 
that was rarely focused on. In fact, Martin Luther King was the target 
of COINTELPRO, and rather than understand the movement and understand 
the voice of Dr. King, who spoke eloquently about nonviolence, this 
program was a program that ignored the value of the movement and viewed 
them as threats to America's security and democracy.
  The COINTELPRO's treatment of Martin Luther King described, and 
detailed in the COINTELPRO paper, is the most egregious example in what 
was attempted in his case. It belongs in television fiction, where 
shadowy government forces are at work, that no one can discover 
ironically a conspiracy theory had been used all too often in such 
drama. In essence, Dr. King, in this instance, was considered an enemy 
of the State.
  The issue of lynching as well plays a very large part in our history. 
I know that today we pay tribute to many of our civic organizations, 
sororities and fraternities and our organizations that captured the 
sentiment of African Americans, such as the NAACP, the Urban League, 
the many fraternities and sororities, 100 Black Men, the National 
Council of Negro Women, the Congress of Black Political Women, many 
organizations that have created a pathway for African Americans to walk 
across very troubled waters.
  But we must also weed in and out of those very great historical 
perspectives of those organizations to know that they, too, lived 
alongside challenges like lynchings in the early 1900's, and in this 
book, it recounts the stories of what lynching actually meant. In fact, 
we have heard some people call it an act of terror. Why? Because it was 
an effort to terrorize southern blacks on plantations and in the rural 
south right after Reconstruction in order to stop the progress that had 
been made through reconstruction and in moving into the 20th century.
  So, as we reflect on black history, it is important to look forward 
and then, of course, to travel down memory lane.
  What I most want to say about our civic and civil and fraternities 
and sororities as organizations, I pay tribute to you because you are 
primarily the infrastructure of our community. When there is a need, 
these organizations are called upon. When there is a fight for social 
justice, these organizations are called upon. When, for example, we 
engage in a legislative strategy, such as the reauthorization of the 
Voter Rights Act, we call upon these civil and civil rights 
organizations to help formulate the strategy and begin to ignite the 
excitement among the community to draw them together.

                              {time}  2345

  Most recently, we have discovered a new phenomenon called the State 
of the Black Union, which was established by Tavis Smiley and is in its 
7th year, another vehicle to capture the intellectual thought and the 
practices of not only the civil and civic organizations but also 
individual philosophers, academicians, physicians, and emerging 
leaders. I am very grateful that this last one was held in Houston, 
Texas.
  I cite this because I believe more and more we must confront the 
theory that black history should not be relegated to one month; but, 
frankly, we should be engaged in the thinkings of our history all 
throughout the year and continue to press the envelope, if you will, 
that more and more curricula should be including black history.
  And let me just say to you that what I have discovered over the 
recent years is that black history in our schools' curricula around 
America, African American history, is not moving up; it is being dumbed 
down. Some would say it is because of the cost cuts that many school 
districts have to make, that they are cutting music and cutting the 
arts and many times cutting athletics and that the teaching of black 
history has taken a back seat. We must be more than sensitized to the 
fact that there are young people today, no matter what their race or 
color, creed or religion, that are being educated in America's schools 
with no iota, no understanding whatsoever of this rich history of 
African Americans, not even the sense of our early slave history and 
how we first came to this country in bondage.
  Many of the freedom fighters at that time, from Harriet Tubman to Nat 
Turner to Sojourner Truth, and the list of abolitionists, including 
Frederick Douglass, who established the framework of freedom, our 
children today are not learning about that particular history. That is 
much cause for pause. So I hope as Members of Congress rise to the 
floor of the House to commemorate the African American history here in 
America that we will also have a consciousness, as we have in the past, 
and that our voices will be heard that it is unacceptable that the 
teaching of black history is not on the upsurge, on the rise, but yet 
on the decline.
  One of the issues, of course, that we hope will come out of the fact 
that we are commemorating African American history, is that 
respectively we will all be challenging our school districts and making 
an assessment of what children are learning because of the value, the 
importance, if you will, of learning that kind of history.
  The idea of freedom also is an early idea, and I want to cite again 
some of the early freedom fighters, like Harriet Tubman. I have a 
little silver pin that is an F that stands for freedom. Harriet

[[Page H445]]

Tubman was the conductor on the Underground Railroad. She has an 
enormously important story, and she is an exciting personality because 
she helped to free any number of escaped slaves. In fact, she escaped 
in the summer of 1849.
  This was a time when America sold its soul for a cross of gold, even 
though William Jennings Bryan didn't make the expression famous for 
half a century later. True, there were white conductors of the 
Underground Railroad who gave their lives to see to it that black 
people were able to trickle out of slavery, but Harriet Tubman took 
this to heart. She became the general, General Tubman, who guided 
frightened slaves into freedom in the North. She did this continuously 
over and over and over again.
  I have read previously that when a slave was too frightened to go 
forward, she threatened that slave with his or her life: you die here 
or you go to freedom. So she was a strong personality that really 
captured the spirit of African Americans. Through all kinds of trials 
and tribulations, we have overcome the obstacles that have faced us.
  We now come upon the 21st century, and we have two important 
struggles right before us. One of those struggles includes the 
reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and I think it is 
imperative that we energize the populace, all walks of life, to begin 
to raise their voices in support of the work of this Congress, the good 
work of this Congress to move forward and reauthorize the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965.
  Then we have, in conclusion, one of the most challenging mountains to 
climb: to be able to heal and to bring back to normalcy the gulf 
region. That will be a smear on the pages of America's history in how 
that community and those communities were treated and how they are 
being treated. So it will go down in the pages of black history, 
because as we know, the faces of the individuals being shown during 
Hurricane Katrina were African Americans.
  We have challenges to go forward; but as we go forward in our 
challenges to make their lives better, to pass omnibus bill H.R. 4197, 
work done by the Congressional Black Caucus to make the Katrina 
survivors whole with housing, education, the environment, compensation 
and the right to return, we must do it in the backdrop of the history 
of a people who never turned away from suffering, never turned away 
from trials and tribulations, and never turned away from challenges.
  We have a history to stand upon. It is a history that America should 
cherish, and we should continue to honor it at the same time that we 
teach our children. And, frankly, I believe that if we are to embrace 
the history of all people, we will make America a better place to live.
  With that, I yield back to the distinguished gentleman.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Representative David 
Scott from Georgia, Representative Bobby Scott from Virginia, and 
Representative Jackson-Lee from Texas. There were a number of our 
Members who would have loved to have participated in this Special Order 
this evening. Unfortunately, it turned out that we were the fourth 
Special Order of the evening, and it is approaching midnight so they 
are not here.
  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to honor the memory of all of our great 
heroes and sheroes that have gone before, our organizations, our civic 
fraternities, sororities, churches who have contributed so much to our 
progress, but also recognize that there are many miles to go before we 
sleep.
  Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, our nation's history is interwoven with the 
accomplishments and contributions of African Americans--from Hank 
Aaron, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong to George Washington Carver, 
W.E.B. Du Bois, and Maya Angelou--and because of their efforts our 
nation is stronger. The African American community recently lost two of 
its leaders and as we mourn the passing of Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott 
King, we should be reminded that we must continue the civil rights work 
they devoted their lives to. What better way to celebrate the legacy of 
these leaders and all of those who have worked to ensure racial justice 
than by reauthorizing the expiring portions of the Voting Rights Act. 
The struggle for civil rights continues today and we must make certain 
that all citizens not only have the right to vote, but that their 
ability to vote is protected.
  Although the Voting Rights Act has been essential in protecting the 
voting rights of minorities, additional safeguards are necessary to 
ensure that every citizen is included in the election process. I remain 
committed to furthering the causes of the Civil Rights Movement and 
will work hard in the coming months to guarantee the right to vote for 
every citizen. I hope that this month we will celebrate the lives of 
all of the strong and determined men and women who have worked to 
ensure equality for all Americans.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, celebrating Black History Month is an 
opportunity to reflect upon the innumerable contributions that Blacks 
have made to the advancement of American society and culture. People of 
color whether from the homeland in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America 
or North America, they have been more than instrumental in shaping the 
social complexion of America and humanity.
  It was Carter G. Woodson in 1926 who initiated ``Negro History Week'' 
in the United States to promote ``a better understanding of the 
contributions'' of Blacks to human civilization. This noble effort 80 
years ago has been successful in informing people all over the world 
about the numerous contributions of Blacks. It has also aided in 
reshaping and negating distortions that historians have in many cases 
intentionally promulgated. Black History Month continues to amplify 
accurate depictions and narratives about a myriad of global endeavors. 
These undertakings have drastically improved the daily lives and 
landscape of the world.
  Individuals such as Pianky, the military genius and Black King of 
Nubia who conquered Egypt around 700 BC; Antar, the African-Arabian 
poet and story teller; and Abram Hannibal, the soldier and commander of 
18th century Russia to Chaka who led South Africa until his 
assassination in 1828 all exemplify and indicate historic contributions 
to society. ``Their presence and deeds underscore an essential reality: 
Blacks have been part and parcel of world history, from exploration and 
revolution to scientific and other achievements.''
  Other notable achievements encompass pioneering the making of iron, 
valuable works of art, carved stones into historic ornaments and 
statues, the conversion of oil-bearing plants for both medical and 
dietary purposes. Early contributions also include developing cereal 
and transformation of a wild plant into cotton which led to the art of 
weaving. Additionally, people of color are among the earliest farmers 
who produced wheat, groundnuts, yams and watermelon.
  Other accomplishments within the past 150 years, include performing 
the first open heart surgery, produced scientific evidence of cell life 
and metabolism, pioneered in blood plasma preservation, invented the 
inhalers used by rescue workers at disaster sites, created 
communication devices that allowed conversations between fast moving 
trains, invented machines that allowed for the mass production of shoes 
and improved the efficiency of lubricating systems used in large 
industry today.
  This impressive list is not exhaustive of all the global 
contributions of people of color. However, it illustrates the vital 
contributions to America and the world. As we think about democracy in 
this country, people of color have been at the fore in pursuing ``A 
more perfect Union.'' Consider Rosa Parks who refused to give up her 
seat on a bus, which sparked the Montgomery County Bus Boycott and the 
Civil Rights Movement. Also, it would be hard to think about American 
Democracy without Martin Luther King Jr. and his leadership and dream 
to bring the ideals of democracy into reality for all Americans.
  In his 1970 essay, ``What America Would Be Like Without Blacks,'' 
Ralph Ellison argued that ``Whatever else the true American is, he is 
somehow Black.''

                     [CaribEditorial, Feb. 7, 2006]

              Important Role of People of African Descent

       The name Dr. G. Carter Woodson means little to most 
     Americans, West Indians or Africans. Indeed, only a minority 
     of people in Virginia, Woodson's birthplace, ever heard of 
     the former coal miner who graduated high school at the age of 
     21 years, but later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 
     1912, around the time when thousands of West Indians, 
     especially Jamaicans and Barbadians, were immigrating to 
     Panama to help build the world-famous canal.
       But, as more and more people, Black and White in the United 
     States, the Caribbean, Canada, Africa, and elsewhere observe 
     Black History Month, they are learning that it was Dr. 
     Woodson who initiated ``Negro History Week'' in 1926 in the 
     U.S. to promote ``a better understanding of the 
     contributions'' of Blacks to human civilization.
       Woodson's fledgling effort 80 years ago has since become an 
     international phenomenon, one in which millions of people, 
     Black and White, observe Black History Month. Caribbean and 
     African nations may have joined the observances a bit late, 
     but we believe in the old adage better late than never.
       For, in the process, Black History Month is helping to 
     shape our thinking and negate the

[[Page H446]]

     destructive effects of historiographies, which either 
     deliberately distorted or ignored the positive roles of Black 
     people in almost every aspect of life on the planet.
       Clearly, time has proven Dr. Woodson right.
       Undoubtedly, Black History Month is bringing to the fore 
     important and accurate narratives about the multifaceted 
     chapters Blacks have written in advancing global human 
     development.
       From their ancestral homeland in Africa to North America, 
     the Caribbean, Latin America, and other parts of the world, 
     people of color have been instrumental in improving the daily 
     lives of human beings everywhere.
       Names that run the gamut from Pianky, the military genius 
     and Black King of Nubia who conquered Egypt around 700 BC; 
     Antar, the African-Arabian poet and storyteller; and Abram 
     Hannibal, the soldier and commander of 18th century Russia to 
     Chaka who led and forged the proud Black nation of South 
     Africa until his assassination in 1828 dot the pages of 
     history.
       Their presence and deeds underscore an essential reality: 
     Blacks have been part and parcel of world history and were 
     present from exploration and revolution to scientific and 
     other achievements.
       Blacks from Africa pioneered in the making of iron, 
     fashioned precious stones into historic ornaments, statues, 
     and valuable works of art; and used oil-bearing plants for 
     both medicinal and dietary purposes. The developed cereal and 
     transformed a wild plant into cotton, thus opening up the 
     world to the art of weaving. They were among the world's 
     first farmers, producing wheat, groundnuts, yams, 
     watermelons, and possibly coffee.
       In the past 150 years, Black inventors and pioneers created 
     the key devices that perfected the overall lubrication 
     systems used in large industry today; invented the lasting 
     machine that revolutionized the mass production of shoes; 
     created the means to communicate between fast-moving trains; 
     came up with the inhalators used by rescuers at sites where 
     disasters have occurred; performed the first successful open-
     heart surgery; produced scientific evidence of cell life and 
     metabolism; and pioneered in blood plasma preservation, more 
     commonly called blood banks.
       These are but a handful of the exploits of Blacks, deeds 
     which were previously shunted aside but have since been 
     recognized through the study of history by and of Blacks. 
     Along the way that historical record gained prominence in 
     books, scholarly papers and presentations in classrooms, 
     libraries, newspaper and magazine columns, and in special 
     radio and television programs.
       If knowledge is power, then it stands to reason that we in 
     the United States, the Caribbean and Africa have much to gain 
     from the information and the results of academic and 
     scientific inquiry, which Black History Month and other 
     observances inspire.
       People everywhere owe Woodson a debt a gratitude for his 
     pioneering action that effectively promoted the 
     institutionalization of Black History as an academic 
     discipline and as a vehicle that has made us all aware of the 
     truth of the valuable contributions of Blacks to 
     international development.
       He was driven to act because he complained in the 1930s 
     that while white historians used textbooks to persuade 
     students and others that Blacks couldn't ``subject passion to 
     reason,'' they failed to teach them the authentic stories of 
     African achievement.
       Dr. Woodson argued, quite correctly, that the knowledge of 
     ``real history'' would liberate people of African descent 
     from mental slavery and inspire to demand social equality 
     while upsetting the ``oppressor in America and the colonizer 
     in Africa.'' Add the Caribbean to that equation and the 
     international scope of his efforts would become clear.

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, every February, Americans 
celebrate Black History Month. This tribute dates back to 1926 and is 
credited to a Harvard scholar named Carter G. Woodson. The son of 
former slaves, Woodson dedicated his life to ensuring that black 
history was accurately documented and disseminated. In an effort to 
bring national attention to the contributions of black Americans, 
Woodson organized the first annual Negro History Week in 1926. He chose 
the second week of February in honor of the birthdays of pivotal black 
supporters Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. From Jackie Robinson 
to Tiger Woods, Harriet Tubman to Barack Obama, Black History Month 
pays tribute to inspirational African Americans from the past, as well 
as those who will continue to make history well into the future.
  For 1 month, people of African descent in America are recognized for 
their contributions. The irony of recognizing and paying tribute to 
people of African descent in America is that we are recognizing all 
people of the Earth. Africa represents all people of the world. Every 
person born since creation, every person alive today, and every person 
born in the future was, is, and will be of African descent. The gift 
Africa has provided the world is humanity and civilization.
  Be that as it may, Black History has been presented and accepted as a 
fragmented afterthought. It is celebrated for 1 month and/or mentioned 
with a couple of lines in a text or Social Studies course outline. In 
most instances, the references begin with slavery and end with the 
Civil Rights Era and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A question I ask high 
school students is, ``What were slaves before they became slaves?'' 
Their response, 90 percent of the time, is ``nothing.'' It appears many 
of our youth believe their ancestors fell out of the sky as slaves.
  Black History is world history. Old and new research on Africa and 
its place in human history has proved that Africa is the birthplace of 
mankind and was, for many centuries, in the forefront of 
human progress. African or Black History must be looked at anew and 
seen in its relationship to world history as only the history of the 
first and second rise of Europe. Yet, the history of Africa was already 
old when Europe was born. Until quite recently, it was rather generally 
assumed, even among well-educated persons in the West, that the 
continent of Africa was a great expanse of land, mostly jungle, 
inhabited by savages and fierce beasts. It was not realized that great 
civilizations could have existed there, or that great kings could have 
ruled there in might and wisdom over vast empires. Today, many of us, 
as the descendants of queens and kings of Africa, refuse to identify 
with the Motherland of all people. We begin with 1619 and slavery. We 
identify with 370 years of physical and mental bondage as opposed to 
three thousands years of uninterrupted civilizations. Our story is 
everyone's story. Our story begins with the worshipping of one God, 
builders of the pyramids, and builders of the first cities and 
universities.

  To reverse our fall from being builders of pyramids to project 
dwellers; to reverse our fall from being controllers of our own destiny 
to caretakers of someone else's destiny; and to reverse our unraveling 
as a whole people will necessitate knowing who we are and what we 
represent. Our future as a people, community, and world is related to 
the past. Back to the future--Black History not for a month, but for a 
lifetime!

                          ____________________