This month is the official month we celebrate Black History. Some ask why do we need an entire month? Well, unfortunately, if we didn’t have the month, kids and adults would never learn about people from our rich past. We are survivors, fighters, educators, scientists, philosophers, freedom fighters, professional business men & women, athletes, entertainers, founders, inventors, etc. and yes even president.

SheliaGoss.com will be featuring women past and present that have contributed to Black History in some way or another.

We can thank Carter G Woodson for initiating what is now an official celebrated month of Black History.

Dr.Carter G. Woodson was born in 1875 in New Canton, Virginia, the son of former slaves James and Elizae Riddle Woodson. His father helped Union soldiers during the Civil War, and he moved his family to West Virginia when he heard that Huntington was building a high school for blacks. Coming from a large, poor family, Carter Woodson could not regularly attend school. Through self-instruction, Woodson mastered the fundamentals of common school subjects by age 17.

To read more about Carter G. Woodson, click here.

Today, I honor my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and the many women that came before them. Each one of these ladies made an important impact not only in my life, but in their communities through service and making a stand for justice.

I recall a story my grandfather told me about his grandmother, my great-great grandmother. She came from Africa. Made her way to the shores of America on a slave ship via Virginia. She walked from Virginia to Louisiana. Owned by the Prudes. Bred children–some she was able to keep and then there were others that were taken from her–sold into slavery just like herself.

Thanks to my mom, I was able to learn about the many contributions to Blacks in our nation, not just during Black History month, but all year through and that’s what we need to do for this new generation. Celebrate Black History daily.

Color-Free
© 2008 by Shelia M. Goss

The color of my skin shouldn’t define me
Because when I go out of this country,
American is all they see.

My Brown-sugar, Caramel, Ebony, Hershey-chocolate,
Mahogany, Mocha, Vanilla complexion
Is only an outer shell.
You have to dig Deeper,
If you want to know
What’s embedded in my mind.

My skin color might hint to my Races
Past struggles and pain,
But don’t lose the fact that we’re
Individuals and not all the same.

One day I hope we can all
Be one big happy family
In the meantime, I’ll leave a legacy
To the younger generation.

Show by example on how to get through
Life’s complications.
I will teach them how to love
Through my own interactions.

I will show them how to give
And not wait for someone’s reaction.
I will encourage them to dream and not
Let society dictate who they can be.

I will show them the benefit of believing in
Oneself, but most of all in a Higher Being.

I hope to see the manifestation of my vision
A society that’s COLOR-FREE.

For fun, answer today’s quiz question in the comment field:
Who escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849 to become the conductor of the Underground Railroad?

Harriet Beecher Stowe
Angela Davis
Harriet Tubman
Rosa Parks

Today would have been Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday (1929 – 1968). Although Dr. King spoke against racial injustice over forty years ago; sadly, we are still dealing with racial injustice today:

Excerpts from the “I Have a Dream” speech:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

“Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

To read more about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, visit wikipedia.com.

Fast forward to 2007/2008 and here we are dealing with some of the same issues of the past.

In this day and time, we shouldn’t be dealing with racial issues, but we are.  In this day and time, our children should be free to live in a society that will accept them on their merits, not the color of their skin.

Whether you’re Black, Hispanic, White, etc…it shouldn’t matter. What should matter is your character? How can we develop the character of our kids if we’re always having to explain the ignorance and hatred of some people’s actions?

Do you think our society will ever be color-free?

To add some food for thought, here’s a poem I wrote on the subject.

Color-Free
© 2007 by Shelia M. Goss

The color of my skin shouldn’t define me
Because when I go out of this country,
American is all they see.

My Brown-sugar, Caramel, Ebony, Hershey-chocolate,
Mahogany, Mocha, Vanilla complexion
Is only an outer shell.
You have to dig Deeper,
If you want to know
What’s embedded in my mind.

My skin color might hint to my Races
Past struggles and pain,
But don’t lose the fact that we’re
Individuals and not all the same.

One day I hope we can all
Be one big happy family
In the meantime, I’ll leave a legacy
To the younger generation.

Show by example on how to get through
Life’s complications.
I will teach them how to love
Through my own interactions.

I will show them how to give
And not wait for someone’s reaction.
I will encourage them to dream and not
Let society dictate who they can be.

I will show them the benefit of believing in
Oneself, but most of all in a Higher Being.

I hope to see the manifestation of my vision
A society that’s COLOR-FREE.

www.sheliagoss.com