Black History Month~Unknown Influential Black Figures
Asalam alaykum! February is black history month and I feel like I have always heard about amazing figures like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Dr and Malcom X. They are all inspirational people who fought for civil rights and did make change for black people to thrive in society. So I did some research and I wanted to learn more about people who paved the way for people of color that we haven't heard of.
I do have a Tik Tok where I am posting about this so check it out here:https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeL1sSEt/
A little know black historical figure is the man himself who came up with Black history month! His name is Carter G Woodson and he was considered a pioneer in African American history. He taught himself English fundamentals and arithmetics and he finished high school in 2 years. He also got his Bachelors degree from Berea College in 1903, a Masters Degree from the University of Chicago, and a Doctorate Degree from Harvard University. (What a smart guy!) He was upset that black history was ignored in history books so he began to start writing about them. He created the organization The Study of Negro Life and History and a publication called the Journal of Negro History. In 1926 he came up with Negro History Week which in 1976 turned into Black History Month. He had chosen the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two influential men in history, Fredrick Douglass who became a abolitionist and civil rights leader. As well as Abraham Lincoln who signed the Emancipation Proclamation which abolished slavery in America. Resource: https://www.cnn.com/CarterGWoodson
Ella Baker is another key black historical figure. She did a lot to fight Jim Crow Laws, segregation in public areas and fought for the freedom to vote. She was the granddaughter of slaves, her maternal grandmother was once whipped for refusing to marry a man the slave owner chose for her. She graduated as valedictorian from Raleigh’s Shaw University in 1927. She was a part of key influential civil rights groups such as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). Baker helped organize many events despite pushback from other leaders to hear her advice coming from her as a woman. She helped coordinate the Freedom Rides, the Mississippi Freedom Summer, and many other boycotts. Her work truly should be more widely appreciated and spoken about ! Resource: https://time.com/ella-baker/ Donate : https://ellabakercenter.org/donate/
So what most people don’t know is that there was a woman before Rosa Parks that refused to give up her seat in a segregated bus! Her name was Claudette Colvin was only 15 years old and she had learned in school that day about the injustice colored people experience under the Jim Crow Laws. They told her to give up her seat to a white man and when she said no it was her constitutional right to sit there and she had paid for her seat, they arrested her. Many other women did the same thing but they were fined and it didn’t gain national attention. Claudette was the first to be arrested for it and she is alive today and recalls that she told herself she was not getting off that bus voluntarily. At school they had been learning about Harriet Tubman who helped slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad and Sojourner Truth who was a civil rights abolitionist and women’s rights activist. She said she also recalls when they were studying black history at school that they weren’t allowed to try on shoes in stores, they had to draw their foot on a paper bag and bring it to the store to buy shoes. She remembers being frustrated about all the oppression they were facing. Claudette also amongst other three women, challenged bus segregation laws in court and successfully overturned these laws in both Alabama and Montgomery. Claudette is 81 years old and at the time of being interviewed at 69, she was asked why she thought Parks got national attention and she didn’t. She said she felt it was because Parks was a grown woman and she was a teenager plus Parks had the middle class look and was the secretary of the NAACP.
Resource: https://www.npr.org/before-rosa-parks-there-was-claudette-colvin
Jane Bolín was the first black woman judge in America. She was one of two black students who attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts where racism was a danger. She still graduated in 1928 as a top scholar despite being told by a guidance counselor that there was no opportunity for women in law “especially a colored one”. She then later attended Yale Law School and became the first black woman to earn her law degree from Yale. She also became the first black woman to join the New York City Bar Association. She was turned down by many law firms in the area due to her race and gender. She didn’t give up and in 1937 became Assistant Corporation Counsel of the city of New York becoming the first black woman to be hired by this office. In 1939 she became a judge of the Domestic Relations Court (Family Court). She was able to break down racial barriers and segregation by helping child care agencies get funding to accept children no matter their race. She ended the practice of assigning probation officers based on race. Bolin was reappointed by several mayors and served several ten year terms. She did not retire until the age of 70 and even then she kept going. She continued to advocate for children’s rights and volunteered in the New York Public Schools system and served on the New York State Board of Regents. Truly an inspirational woman!
Resource; https://www.essence.com/feature/jane-bolin
Dr Rebbeca Lee Crumpler was the first African American woman to become a doctor and get her masters degree. She was raised by her aunt in Pennsylvania and growing up her aunt took care of many sick neighbors. This may have been the reason she decided to go into the medical field. Around 1852 she began her career as a nurse for eight years in Charlestown, Massachusetts. In 1860 she was admitted to the New England Female Medical College and she graduated in 1864 and was the only African American woman to graduate from here. She wrote a book called “Book of Medical Discourses” in which she wrote “It may be well to state here that, having been reared by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, whose usefulness with the sick was continually sought, I early conceived a liking for, and sought every opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others.” Dr Crumpler practiced in Boston after the civil war ended in 1865. She felt like in Richmond she could properly care for and study the diseases women and children were facing. She worked in a population of over 30,000 colored people from all different classes but mainly the poor and needy. She worked amongst other black doctors to provide care to freed slaves who otherwise had no access to medical care. She worked with the Freemen’s Bureau despite the racism her and her colleagues experienced in the South. The book she wrote “Book of Medical Discourses” was one of the first to be published by an African American. Even near the end of her career where she lived in Beacon Hill she was practicing outside the neighborhood helping any sick child that came her way.
Resource: https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/
Black history month continues on and black history should always be celebrated. This is the last video of my series but I’m going to keep sharing unknown black historical figures on my Tik Tok.
Ella Baker is another key black historical figure. She did a lot to fight Jim Crow Laws, segregation in public areas and fought for the freedom to vote. She was the granddaughter of slaves, her maternal grandmother was once whipped for refusing to marry a man the slave owner chose for her. She graduated as valedictorian from Raleigh’s Shaw University in 1927. She was a part of key influential civil rights groups such as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). Baker helped organize many events despite pushback from other leaders to hear her advice coming from her as a woman. She helped coordinate the Freedom Rides, the Mississippi Freedom Summer, and many other boycotts. Her work truly should be more widely appreciated and spoken about ! Resource: https://time.com/ella-baker/ Donate : https://ellabakercenter.org/donate/
So what most people don’t know is that there was a woman before Rosa Parks that refused to give up her seat in a segregated bus! Her name was Claudette Colvin was only 15 years old and she had learned in school that day about the injustice colored people experience under the Jim Crow Laws. They told her to give up her seat to a white man and when she said no it was her constitutional right to sit there and she had paid for her seat, they arrested her. Many other women did the same thing but they were fined and it didn’t gain national attention. Claudette was the first to be arrested for it and she is alive today and recalls that she told herself she was not getting off that bus voluntarily. At school they had been learning about Harriet Tubman who helped slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad and Sojourner Truth who was a civil rights abolitionist and women’s rights activist. She said she also recalls when they were studying black history at school that they weren’t allowed to try on shoes in stores, they had to draw their foot on a paper bag and bring it to the store to buy shoes. She remembers being frustrated about all the oppression they were facing. Claudette also amongst other three women, challenged bus segregation laws in court and successfully overturned these laws in both Alabama and Montgomery. Claudette is 81 years old and at the time of being interviewed at 69, she was asked why she thought Parks got national attention and she didn’t. She said she felt it was because Parks was a grown woman and she was a teenager plus Parks had the middle class look and was the secretary of the NAACP.
Resource: https://www.npr.org/before-rosa-parks-there-was-claudette-colvin
Jane Bolín was the first black woman judge in America. She was one of two black students who attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts where racism was a danger. She still graduated in 1928 as a top scholar despite being told by a guidance counselor that there was no opportunity for women in law “especially a colored one”. She then later attended Yale Law School and became the first black woman to earn her law degree from Yale. She also became the first black woman to join the New York City Bar Association. She was turned down by many law firms in the area due to her race and gender. She didn’t give up and in 1937 became Assistant Corporation Counsel of the city of New York becoming the first black woman to be hired by this office. In 1939 she became a judge of the Domestic Relations Court (Family Court). She was able to break down racial barriers and segregation by helping child care agencies get funding to accept children no matter their race. She ended the practice of assigning probation officers based on race. Bolin was reappointed by several mayors and served several ten year terms. She did not retire until the age of 70 and even then she kept going. She continued to advocate for children’s rights and volunteered in the New York Public Schools system and served on the New York State Board of Regents. Truly an inspirational woman!
Resource; https://www.essence.com/feature/jane-bolin
Dr Rebbeca Lee Crumpler was the first African American woman to become a doctor and get her masters degree. She was raised by her aunt in Pennsylvania and growing up her aunt took care of many sick neighbors. This may have been the reason she decided to go into the medical field. Around 1852 she began her career as a nurse for eight years in Charlestown, Massachusetts. In 1860 she was admitted to the New England Female Medical College and she graduated in 1864 and was the only African American woman to graduate from here. She wrote a book called “Book of Medical Discourses” in which she wrote “It may be well to state here that, having been reared by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, whose usefulness with the sick was continually sought, I early conceived a liking for, and sought every opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others.” Dr Crumpler practiced in Boston after the civil war ended in 1865. She felt like in Richmond she could properly care for and study the diseases women and children were facing. She worked in a population of over 30,000 colored people from all different classes but mainly the poor and needy. She worked amongst other black doctors to provide care to freed slaves who otherwise had no access to medical care. She worked with the Freemen’s Bureau despite the racism her and her colleagues experienced in the South. The book she wrote “Book of Medical Discourses” was one of the first to be published by an African American. Even near the end of her career where she lived in Beacon Hill she was practicing outside the neighborhood helping any sick child that came her way.
Resource: https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/
Black history month continues on and black history should always be celebrated. This is the last video of my series but I’m going to keep sharing unknown black historical figures on my Tik Tok.
Thank you for reading! May Allah bless us all !
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