Though Black History Month started Feb. 1, for my family it started in January, specifically on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For many MLK days through the years, my brother and I watched "Our Friend, Martin,” a movie in which two teenage boys, one black and one white, go back in time and meet Martin Luther King at various points in his life. As a child this movie helped me to feel proud of my black heritage and to greatly appreciate the black leaders who fought against slavery, segregation and many other forms of racial oppression in America.
From visiting the MLK monument to doing black history projects in school, I enjoyed learning about these leaders in various ways. However, as I grew older, Black History Month became more pushed to side. My brother and I no longer watched our beloved MLK movie, and my history classes mainly focused on non-black people and events.
It was not until my second semester of college that I was re-educated on black history in my African-American Studies course. This class not only taught me more about familiar black figures, such as Booker T. Washington, but also taught me about some leaders I had never learned about, such as Angela Davis, who a Black Panther Party activist. By the end of the semester, I realized that I had not learned enough about black history before college.
I was very happy to discover that three of my courses this semester would be addressing black history as well. One of them is an African-American Studies class that focuses entirely on the black community, and the other two classes speak to the roles African-Americans played in American women's history and the development of intersectionality. Though I have learned about several amazing leaders so far, there are some that particularly stand out and personally inspire me, such as Ida B. Wells.
A fearless teacher, journalist, suffragist and activist, Wells is a leader who does not receive enough attention today. Wells’s vocal criticism of Jim Crow and lynching spurred her exile from the South. Nonetheless, Wells moved her work to the North and to the international stage. In addition to writing books and newspaper columns, she also formed women’s clubs and black organizations. During her tours throughout Europe, she gave a voice to the atrocities of segregation and lynching.
Because they did not like seeing a woman in leadership, several black male leaders tried to undercut Wells’s power, namely in the NAACP. Nonetheless, Wells continued to fight for what she believed in: women’s suffrage, anti-lynching laws and civil rights for all Americans. She also married a newspaper owner and had several children, showing that motherhood does not have to stop women from being activists. From death threats to government agents knocking on her door, Wells did not let anything stop her from crusading for justice.
While I had heard of Wells before this semester, one black organization I have only recently learned about is the Combahee River Collective. Founded in the 1970s, the CRC’s original leaders were black lesbian feminist socialists. Recognizing the racism and elitism of the second wave feminist movement, the CRC ultimately fought against the struggles that all women of color faced, no matter their race, sexuality or class. The organization also highlighted sexism within the black community and called upon black men to form solidarity with black women.
The CRC also implemented projects such as rape crisis centers and education programs to assist women of color. Being a minority in almost every identity category, CRC’s leaders did not have any privilege or resources to rely on; nonetheless, they did not let these disadvantages keep them from making their voices heard.
Unfortunately, Wells did not live to see an anti-lynching law or the Civil Rights Movement. Though she was alive when the 19th Amendment was passed, enfranchisement mainly benefited white women. The CRC formed after the Civil Rights Movement, yet it did not see much progress in its fight against sexual oppression. Nevertheless, both groups rallied other black people to follow in their footsteps, helping to make changes beyond their organizations and lifetimes.
Wells and the CRC not only personally inspire me, but also can inspire people of all colors and sexes today to help the oppressed. There are still many black people, as well as other minorities, who struggle in their daily lives, living in poverty and neglect. Though they are shown on the news, their thoughts and experiences often are silenced, and the microphone given to other people to speak for them. No matter which media career I choose to pursue, I want to give these forgotten people a voice. In the face of opposition, I want to refuse to back down. And like Wells and the black lesbian feminist socialists, I never want to change who I am.
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