Presidential Proclamation -- National African American History Month, 2014

NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH, 2014

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Americans have long celebrated our Nation as a beacon of liberty and opportunity -- home to patriots who threw off an empire, refuge to multitudes who fled oppression and despair. Yet we must also remember that while many came to our shores to pursue their own measure of freedom, hundreds of thousands arrived in chains. Through centuries of struggle, and through the toil of generations, African Americans have claimed rights long denied. During National African American History Month, we honor the men and women at the heart of this journey -- from engineers of the Underground Railroad to educators who answered a free people's call for a free mind, from patriots who proved that valor knows no color to demonstrators who gathered on the battlefields of justice and marched our Nation toward a brighter day.

As we pay tribute to the heroes, sung and unsung, of African-American history, we recall the inner strength that sustained millions in bondage. We remember the courage that led activists to defy lynch mobs and register their neighbors to vote. And we carry forward the unyielding hope that guided a movement as it bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice. Even while we seek to dull the scars of slavery and legalized discrimination, we hold fast to the values gained through centuries of trial and suffering.

Every American can draw strength from the story of hard-won progress, which not only defines the African-American experience, but also lies at the heart of our Nation as a whole. This story affirms that freedom is a gift from God, but it must be secured by His people here on earth. It inspires a new generation of leaders, and it teaches us all that when we come together in common purpose, we can right the wrongs of history and make our world anew.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2014 as National African American History Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.

BARACK OBAMA

ORIGINS OF HUMANITY SHADED IN WHITE

President Obama proclaimed that February is National African American History Month; yet there's not a significant amount of  in-depth discussions about the history behind the proclamation and African history in mainstream media.  

 

 

President Obama proclaimed February as National African American History month starting back in 2009, the year he was first inaugurated, yet we found for the most part, rather superficial discussions on the history of the proclamation.  [Please, if you see it referenced with a real in-depth discussion on websites, please leave the reference in the comment area.]

We wonder if our schools are discussing (in great depth) and recognizing the President's Proclamation, along with the other related Presidential Proclamations. 

 

The history behind  National African American History month and Presidential Proclamations regarding National African American History month is interesting.

There are those of us who know that a great deal of history and the origins of humanity have been sanitized and whitewashed through time.

It is for this reason, and the fact that Black History is marginalized in mainstream media and the schools our children attend, that we feel there should be schools (in addition to our mainstream schools) where children (esp. Black children) in grades 4 through 12 be taught African & Negro/African American history (perhaps the courses could be called African & Negro/or African American studies for grades 4 thru 12).  Feel free to discuss in the comment section.

Mr. Frank Russell Ross told us about Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop who was an exceptional historian, anthropologist, and politician who studied the human race's origins. We wanted to post one extraordinary video of an interview with Dr. Diop, however, we decided to  link to the interview instead.  Everyone should watch this video.

FOR THE PEOPLE INTERVIEW WITH DR. CHEIKH ANTA DIOP (AFRICAN ORIGINS OF HUMANITY)

His biography



Kingdoms of Africa.- Ethiopia.




FROM SEGREGATION TO SPACE NPR  (Former astronaut and current NASA administrator, Charles F. Bolden, shares awesome stories of his remarkable journey from segregated South Carolina, to the U.S. Naval Academy, to space.)

'Klansville, U.S.A.' Chronicles The Rise And Fall Of The KKK

 

BLACK HISTORY MONTH ... INFO PLEASE
 

 

AFRICAN AMERICAN SEARCH ON INFO PLEASE

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NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH

 

January 31, 2013

From the Whitehouse page:

"Presidential Proclamation: National African American History Month, 2013

By The President of The United States of America

A Proclamation

In America, we share a dream that lies at the heart of our founding: that no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter how modest your beginnings or the circumstances of your birth, you can make it if you try. Yet, for many and for much of our Nation's history, that dream has gone unfulfilled. For African Americans, it was a dream denied until 150 years ago, when a great emancipator called for the end of slavery. It was a dream deferred less than 50 years ago, when a preacher spoke of justice and brotherhood from Lincoln's memorial. This dream of equality and fairness has never come easily -- but it has always been sustained by the belief that in America, change is possible.
 

Today, because of that hope, coupled with the hard and painstaking labor of Americans sung and unsung, we live in a moment when the dream of equal opportunity is within reach for people of every color and creed. National African American History Month is a time to tell those stories of freedom won and honor the individuals who wrote them. We look back to the men and women who helped raise the pillars of democracy, even when the halls they built were not theirs to occupy. We trace generations of African Americans, free and slave, who risked everything to realize their God-given rights. We listen to the echoes of speeches and struggle that made our Nation stronger, and we hear again the thousands who sat in, stood up, and called out for equal treatment under the law. And we see yesterday's visionaries in tomorrow's leaders, reminding us that while we have yet to reach the mountaintop, we cannot stop climbing.
 

Today, Dr. King, President Lincoln, and other shapers of our American story proudly watch over our National Mall. But as we memorialize their extraordinary acts in statues and stone, let us not lose sight of the enduring truth that they were citizens first. They spoke and marched and toiled and bled shoulder-to-shoulder with ordinary people who burned with the same hope for a brighter day. That legacy is shared; that spirit is American. And just as it guided us forward 150 years ago and 50 years ago, it guides us forward today. So let us honor those who came before by striving toward their example, and let us follow in their footsteps toward the better future that is ours to claim.
 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2013 as National African American History Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh."

Related:

African American History Month