By SAVANNAH TILLMAN
Student Writer
This year marks the 40 Anniversary of Black History Month. Since being officially recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976, every year since has taken a different point of view on the past.
Through-out the history of America, African Americans have overcome diversity and fought for the freedom and privileges they have today. With this idea in mind, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or the ASALH, named 2016 as the year of Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories. According to ASALH.org, from arrival of the Mayflower to the freedom of higher education, “It’s embedded in a narrative of the American past. These sites prompt us to remember and over time become hallowed grounds.”
“From the perspective of African American History in the educational curriculum, much of the knowledge and history of African American has not been told fully. The antiquity past of African Americans have been ignored completely,” senior Mass Communication student, Travis Harmon-Smith said.
In February 1926, founders of the Association for the Study of Negro Life, or the ASNLH, Carter G Woodson (Historian) and Jesse E Moorland (Prominent Minister) sponsored a national Negro History week. They picked the second week of February to coincide with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas. The memories of their history have stretched hundreds of years and it wasn’t until 1837, that their fight to pursue higher education started to pay off. The Institute for Colored Youth was created by Richard Humphreys and today has become Cheyney University, according to infoplease.com
Over the next two hundred years the advance in education brought about several more opportunities. In 1956 Wilberforce University started and was owned and operated by African Americans. President of the University, Daniel A Payne, became the first African American President in the country. Jumping a hundred plus years to 1960 where SNCC- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee began working against segregation and discrimination.
Then to 2012, when President Obama created the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. It is intended to improve the educational achievement of African Americans and give them an opportunity to complete high school, college, and embark on a productive career.
Colleges nationwide have many organizations that strive for the advancement of African American students. One of the top organizations is the National Black Student Union or also known as the Black Student Association. The BSU got its start back in 1966 at San Francisco State College (now University) by James Garrett. There are now hundreds of BSU’s spread out across the country. Various colleges and universities also offer classes that study the African American past, present, and future. In the Social Science Program at Northwestern, are two different classes offered: African American History and Social Diversity Class.
“We have come a long way; however, still have lots of room to grow and advance. With the election of President Obama we are taking a step in the right direction,” junior Mass Communication student, Taylor Morris said.