February | 2021 | The Gamutt || WebMag

As we CLOSE out Black History Month 2021, we must speak on the LEGACY of RACISM in the UNITED STATES! I came across this ARTICLE that we just have to talk about because it speaks VOLUMES!!!

In 1926, Carter G Woodson started “Negro History Week” to rectify the fact that Black people “were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them”.

Woodson chose the second week of February because it coincided with the birthdates of President Abraham Lincoln and the slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass. In 1970, Black educators and students at Kent State University began using the entire month of February to celebrate and recognize Black triumphs and tribulations. US presidents started to formally designate February as Black History Month in 1976. In recent years, other countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Ireland have formally recognized and celebrated the history of the African diaspora.

But the reality this Black History Month is that there are still numerous obstacles to real racial equity. Continue reading #BlackHistoryMonth MOMENT: Grappling With The Full Legacy of Racism In The United States! [details] →

We are CLOSING OUT Black History Month 2021! The MONTH seemed to just FLY BY!

We will CONTINUE to champion and CELEBRATE the GREAT CONTRIBUTIONS to this COUNTRY and BEYOND by MY PEOPLE!

Before the MONTH is out we have to RECOGNIZE the HARDWORKING BLACKS that helped to REBUILD this COUNTRY–LITERALLY.

Let’s talk about CONVICT LEASING. Convict leasing was a system of penal labor practiced in the Southern United States. Convict leasing provided prisoner labor to private parties, such as plantation owners and corporations (e.g. Tennessee Coal and Iron Company). The lessee was responsible for feeding, clothing, and housing the prisoners. Continue reading #BlackHistoryMonth Moment: #ConvictLeasing-Remembering African-Americans that REBUILT the South! [details] →