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It’s
That Time Again
By Van G. Garrett
Last
February feels like a blur that transpired eons ago. A lapsed time
since I lectured extensively about the limitless contributions
African-Americans have made since their forced emigration to
America. It also seems like an eternity since my students asked me
the famous question, “Why do black people have to have a
month-long celebration to learn about their history?”
At
any rate, it is another Black Heritage Season, one that is sure to
be festive and informative as it attempts to address questions of
its merit and its conception.
In
1926, historian and educator, Dr. Carter G. Woodson determined
America should have a week to commemorate the exceptional strides
Negroes made nationwide. Negro History Week which later became
Black History Month occurred to
highlight the achievements of Negroes, as well as pay homage to
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, men Woodson felt impacted
Negroes the most. This revolutionary tribute was designed not only
to educate the Black populace but to educate the world.
Black
History Month, in bold candor, announces monumental feats like:
W.E.B. Du Bois becoming Harvard’s
first Black Ph.D., Booker T. Washington organizing Tuskegee University,
J. Standard inventing the refrigerator, Garrett A. Morgan
inventing the traffic signal, Mary McLeod Bethune founding the
Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls
(now Bethune-Cookman College), Phillis
Wheatley writing the first volume of poetry to be published by an
African-American, Paul Cuffe paying
$4,000 in 1815 to transport 38 African-Americans to Sierra Leone,
and Tunis Gulic Campbell writing the
first American-published book on hotel management.
This
small offering is but a fraction of the rich continuum of artists,
athletes, scholars, and authors that have been trailblazers not
only for the Black race but for the human race as well.
People
of color have been resourceful, knowledgeable, and determined,
before the exodus from Egypt, the antebellum era, slavery, and
post-slavery, the Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights and modern
times. This unyielding and resounding Black presence has shown its
resiliency in every facet of society, proving Blacks are no longer
separate, but equal and worthy of celebration.
The
African-American influence in literature, music, art, and film has
provided a culture that is widely studied, imitated, and
appreciated. Major colleges and universities now offer courses
that study hip-hop (a Black music form) as a form of literature;
Broadway has lauded plays and performances written, produced, and
directed by African-Americans; and the drummers that supplied the
backbeats for this year’s Grammy’s are people of color. It is
obvious former second class citizens have become mainstreamed.
As
I reflect on the strides my ancestors and contemporaries have made
I experience a wonderful pride. However, I wonder if my students
make the correlation of legacy and accomplishments. I wonder if my
pride is misconstrued as being discriminatory. I wonder. At any
rate I hope my students will at least have an idea of why Dr.
Woodson saw a need to recognize his peers and ancestors.
I
hope they understand it’s a pride thing, not a racist thing that
should be celebrated by all races, "for if a race has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible
factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of
being exterminated" (Dr.
Carter G. Woodson).
* * * * * Van G. Garrett, a writer,
photographer, and teacher from Houston, TX can best be described
as a “contemporary courier of creativity.”
Garrett, a 1999 graduate of Houston Baptist University,
has a BA in English (with an emphasis in creative writing) and
Mass Media (with an emphasis in print) which he has utilized as
demonstrated by his various publications and honors.
He was awarded the Danny Lee Lawrence prize
for poetry in 1999, a 2002 Callaloo
Creative Writing Fellowship for poetry, and his poems have
appeared in Rolling Out,
Life Imitating Art, Swirl,
Drumvoices Review, Curbside
Review, Shanks’ Mare, Urban Beat,
E! Scene and
elsewhere.
His photography has appeared in Source, has been contracted by Capitol Records, and has been on
display at the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston.
v.g.garrett@usa.net
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AALBC.com's 25 Best Selling Books
For July 1st through August
31st 2011
Fiction
#1 -
Justify My Thug by Wahida Clark
#2 -
Flyy Girl by Omar Tyree
#3 -
Head Bangers: An APF Sexcapade by Zane
#4 -
Life Is Short But Wide by J. California Cooper
#5 -
Stackin' Paper 2 Genesis' Payback by Joy King
#6 -
Thug Lovin' (Thug 4) by Wahida Clark
#7 -
When I Get Where I'm Going by Cheryl Robinson
#8 -
Casting the First Stone by Kimberla Lawson Roby
#9 -
The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth by Zane
#10 -
Covenant: A Thriller by Brandon Massey
#11 -
Diary Of A Street Diva by Ashley and JaQuavis
#12 -
Don't Ever Tell by Brandon Massey
#13 -
For colored girls who have considered suicide by Ntozake Shange
#14 -
For the Love of Money : A Novel by Omar Tyree
#15 -
Homemade Loves by J. California Cooper
#16 -
The Future Has a Past: Stories by J. California Cooper
#17 -
Player Haters by Carl Weber
#18 -
Purple Panties: An Eroticanoir.com Anthology by Sidney Molare
#19 -
Stackin' Paper by Joy King
#20 -
Children of the Street: An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery by
Kwei Quartey
#21 -
The Upper Room by Mary Monroe
#22 –
Thug Matrimony by Wahida Clark
#23 -
Thugs And The Women Who Love Them by Wahida Clark
#24 -
Married Men by Carl Weber
#25 -
I Dreamt I Was in Heaven - The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang by
Leonce Gaiter
Non-fiction
#1 -
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning
Marable
#2 -
Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans
#3 -
Dear G-Spot: Straight Talk About Sex and Love by
Zane
#4 -
Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny
by Hill Harper
#5 -
Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What
You're Going Through by Iyanla Vanzant
#6 -
Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey
by Marcus Garvey
#7 -
The Ebony Cookbook: A Date with a Dish by Freda
DeKnight
#8 -
The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors by
Frances Cress Welsing
#9 -
The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter Godwin
Woodson
#10 -
John Henrik Clarke and the Power of Africana History by Ahati
N. N. Toure
#11 -
Fail Up: 20 Lessons on Building Success from Failure by Tavis
Smiley
#12 -The
New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by
Michelle Alexander
#13 -
The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life by Kevin Powell
#14 -
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
#15 -
Why Men Fear Marriage: The Surprising Truth Behind Why So Many Men
Can't Commit by RM Johnson
#16 -
Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American
Millionaire by Carol Jenkins
#17 -
Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority by Tom
Burrell
#18 -
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
#19 -
John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism by Keith
Gilyard
#20 -
Alain L. Locke: The Biography of a Philosopher by Leonard Harris
#21 -
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife by
Carleen Brice
#22 -
2012 Guide to Literary Agents by Chuck Sambuchino
#23 -
Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul by Tom Lagana
#24 -
101 Things Every Boy/Young Man of Color Should Know by LaMarr
Darnell Shields
#25 -
Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle
Class by Lisa B. Thompson
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
* * * * *
Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
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1965
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1980
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____ 2005
Enjoy!
* * * * *
The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 8 July 2008
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