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If there is one thing I want Black children – and all children, for that matter, to understand is that Black History did not start nor end with slavery. Our legacy goes back to the beginning of mankind. A Black child in America is bombarded with all kinds of negative stereotypes of Black people daily in films, television, print, and digital media on a daily basis. We are often the first one killed in a movie, as if it is some perpetual retake on Crispus Attucks. We are also overcast as criminals or people lacking moral character who can think for themselves. And if we don’t die in a movie for a white person, then we are in some form of entertainment. We are rarely ever the heroes. The truth is, though, that few have demonstrated more heart and soul here in North America than Black people. Despite being some 13% of the population and in light of all kinds of traps, Maya Angelou wrote that still we rise. Given the courage of Harriet Tubman, Maggie Lena Walker, Chief John Horse, Nat Turner, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, and countless others, it is imperative that children are taught about Matthew Alexander Henson from Calvert County, Maryland. He was the first man to reach the North Pole. Our children must know about Benjamin Banneker from Baltimore County who memorized the plans for Washington, D.C. and who was vital to the protection of this land. Children – especially Black children – need to understand that their ancestors’ blood, sweat, and tears built this country and that it is just as much theirs as anybody else. We are descendants of greatness … in every discipline imaginable. A Black man even fathered Russian Literature. Black people, too, led empires. We, too, have royal blood. We, too, have a lineage older than all others because mankind started in the annals of southern Africa with the San Bushmen. We have studied the stars longer than anyone. We are scientists. We are physicians. We are engineers and astronauts, too. This is our purpose: to inform, to educate, to inspire. This is how we aim to help make the world better.
