28 Days

Today is the 1st day of Black History month. It is a month aimed at celebrating the culture and history of those people who are of African descent. As we all know, Africans were sold (often by other Africans) into slavery to Europeans during much of the middle portion of the last millenium. The Europeans would take these slaves on a horrendous trip across the Atlantic Ocean in slave ships to the Americas. Along the way, hundreds of slaves would die, and their bodies would be thrown overboard. Only the strong survived, giving rise to the notion of black people being physically strong and superior (and maybe even the idea of athletic superiority).

Once the slaves reached land, they would be auctioned off individually and given new names. Families were split apart and sent to separate plantations, often hundreds of miles away from each other. For many of them, their daily duty was to pick cotton from sun up until sun down. They weren't allowed to eat or sleep in the same quarters as their slave owners or any other "white people." They were given the last of the food that the white people had to eat. Often the scraps, like the pig intestines (chitterlings or "chitlins"), were all they were given to eat.

Sometimes a slave could move up from just working in the fields into cleaning the plantation home, or taking care of menial tasks for the slave owners. These kinds of slaves were often light-skinned and treated a little better than the other slaves. They were given the name "house-niggers." It comes as no surprise that they were treated a little better than other slaves and appeared light in skin tone once you realize that they were the children of the Slave-Owner and one of the female slaves that he raped.

Certainly there were some slave owners that were better than others (if you can consider a slave owner good at all). However, many times even the slightest mis-step with any of them could send a slave owner into a violent frenzy. Beatings, whippings and lynchings were common place. Black people were literally considered to be animals; savages (giving rise to the belief of black men being sex-mongers...they were just like beast in the wilderness that only sought to mate). Unfortunately, that's how they were treated, no better than wild animals.

Now, what I've pointed out may seem like an archaic problem from the 1700's. Indeed, when this country was founded, Black people were merely considered property (much like a lamp, sofa, or housepet), and Black men were only considered to be 3/5ths of a man. However, routine lynchings (especially in the Southern United States) did not end until the 1970's; long after the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th/14th/15th Amendments, and years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr (as well as many other major figures in the Civil Rights movement).

The remarkable thing about Black people is that no matter what has come against them, they have emerged stronger than before each time. Extremely resilient and ever evolving in order to meet the challenges that society poses for them. Today, not only are many of the top athletic and musical entertainers Black people, but Black people have found their way into Politics, Major Corporations, and numerous Diplomatic/Foreign Relations positions (to name a few).

And certainly as you sit there reading this, probably half (or maybe even more than half) of the things that surround you were invented (or first patented) by Black people. For example, that light in your room was first created and perfected by two Black men (Thomas Alva Edison and Lewis Latimer). But you probably already knew that, so try this one on for size. The first patents for the Curtain Rod Supporter, as well as the Curtain itself belong to Black people (William S. Grant and S.C. Scranton, respectively). Honestly, the list is endless, from the Medical Sciences (blood transfusions) to the very mundane (ironing boards), all invented by Black people. I'll stop there for now.

Anyhow, to get an idea of what slaves had to go through in coming to the United States and the new life they encountered here, I'd suggest the series "Roots," written by Alex Haley. To see what a horrendous problem rampant, pointless lynchings were only a few decades ago, I'd suggest seeing the movie "Rosewood" starring Don Cheadle, Jon Voight and Ving Rhames (and based on a true story). Finally, if you want a comprehensive account of the Civil Rights Movement of the 50's and 60's, I heavily suggest the "Eyes on the Prize" series (which I hope someone will take the initiative of updating very soon). These three films give great depth of understanding to the struggles of Black people in this country, and make us to know how far we've come while helping us to see how much farther we still need to go as far as equality is concerned in this country.

Here and there, throughout the course of these 28 days, I hope to highlight some people, events and occurrences as they relate to Black people in honor of this month. I do hope you will join me in celebrating this very significant month in American History.

-Maelstrom