SEARCY, Ar. (LP) — Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history, so here are three very influential people who helped African Americans achieve the freedom we have today.
Martin Luther King Jr: Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929 to April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. He is known for helping boycott buses in Montgomery for equal bus rights and the freedom for Rosa Parks who said no to getting out of her seat when asked to sit at the back of the bus with the other African Americans. The end result ended with African Americans getting equal bus rights as White people but that’s the only thing he is known for. He is known for delivering the “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington D.C., being an advocate for nonviolent protest in the Memphis Sanitation Worker Strike in 1968, and being instrumental in establishing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, a civil rights organization that supports the philosophy of nonviolence. Martin Luther King Jr is an incredible man who was honored then and now.
Rosa Parks: Rosa Louise McCauley was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913. She moved with her parents, James and Leona McCauley, to Pine Level, Alabama, at age 2 to reside with Leona’s parents. Her brother, Sylvester, was born in 1915, and shortly after that her parents separated, but one day (December 1, 1955) , Rosa Parks was told to move out of her seat for a white person and Rosa Parks said, nah and was arrested for refusing what she was told which was the law (The Jim Crow Law) and caused African Americans to boycott the buses and she was later released and helped with the boycott. The rule was, no black people ride the buses until they got equal bus rules and it lasted almost to a year. The Bus lines weren’t making much money with the black passengers and they gave in. The African Americans got equal rights to buses. Rosa Parks is a strong and brave woman, she even helped spark the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks later moved away from Montgomery Alabama because her and her family were treated badly, so she had to get them to safety and lived a happy life with her family, even won a few rewards!
Harriet Tubman: Harriet Tubman was a slave until she ran away from her slave plantation and her twenties. After she escaped, she served as a conductor of the underground railroad to begin saving her fellow African Americans. She saved over 300 African Americans and never lost gone, but that’s not all she did. She worked as a Union Scout and spy during the American Civil War because she believed that a Union victory would be a major step toward the abolition of slavery. She served as a nurse and a cook during the time. Harriet Tubman also guided an armed assault during the American Civil War. After everything died down, Harriet Tubman lived with her family (the escaped slaves) and died peacefully around the people she loved and saved, March 10, 1913.
And these are the stories of three brave and courageous people who helped and saved many colored people’s lives by putting their lives aside for the sake of others, but the fight for equality is not over yet so think about what you can do to help the world become a better place.
