errington_web_3798.jpg
Dr. Errington Thompson

by Errington C. Thompson, MD

February is Black History month. As a black author, there is some sort of unwritten rule that it is blasphemy not to comment on Black History in February. Well, I will not commit blasphemy this month.

In many schools, history is taught as a bunch of isolated facts. These facts are seldom related to reality. Students are forced to digest these facts.

Facts like – In 1885, Sarah E Goode invented a bed that folded into a cabinet. She was the second black woman to receive a patent. Garrett Augustus Morgan created a gas mask. Thomas J Martin patented the fire extinguisher in 1872. George T Sampson invented a close dryer that used heat from the stove in 1892.

Although Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the light bulb it would’ve been nothing without the carbon filament. The process for creating a carbon filament which burned in hours instead of minutes was figured out by Lewis Latimer. Granville T Woods invented the multiplex telegraph in 1887. He invented air brakes for trains. He also invented a device that picked up electricity from the “third rail” which made electric powered transit systems possible. Finally, Dr. George Franklin Grant invented the world’s first golf tee which was patented in 1899.

 

All of these individual achievements don’t really tell the story of
Black History. They don’t tell the story of how many minorities in
America thrived in spite of oppression. Henry Blair was never taught to
read or write. Yet he invented a corn seed planter in 1834 and signed
his patent with an X.

The story of Black history is the story of overcoming obstacles. It is a
story of excelling in spite of squalid conditions. Martin Luther King
wrote some of his most eloquent essays from a Birmingham Jail.

As we sit back today and see the people of Egypt taking to the streets
and asking for basic human rights – fair wages and equal treatment from
the government, it is hard not reflect back on the civil rights
movement.

We must remember that the civil rights movement did not happen one day
in 1963 when the Reverend Doctor King stood before a crowd of hundreds
of thousands and declared, “I Have a Dream.” We must remember that the
civil rights movement really started after World War II. It was when our
brave men came back from overseas that suddenly they were treated as
second class citizens, again. It was the integration of the armed forces
in 1948 which really started the civil rights ball rolling.

The NAACP saw enormous growth in the late 1940s. Roy Wilkins, president
of the NAACP, and Thurgood Marshall carefully planned a series of legal
battles which culminated in Brown versus the Board of Education in 1954.
It was hundreds of thousands of thoughtful, hard-working Blacks and
Whites which made up the civil rights movement which lasted more than 20
years.

Freedom, liberty and civil rights do not come easy. It did not come easy
in America and it will not come easy in Egypt. We must remember that
Martin Luther King, who was devoted to nonviolent change, led a series
of marches.

It is important that we do not forget people like Huey P Newton (founder
of the Black Panthers) and Malcolm X., who proposed “any means
necessary” in order to achieve the goals of civil rights for all, were a
significant counterbalance to the NAACP and the Southern Christian
Leadership Council (SCLC).

All these people came together to give people like you and me the
freedoms that we enjoy today. In Egypt, the people are going to have to
fight for change on all fronts. Nonviolent demonstrations in the
streets. They’re going to have to fight in the courts. They’re going to
have to fight in their legislature.

When I look at Egypt, I can see just how far we’ve come. When I look at
the latest job numbers (unemployment rate of 9%, 8.7 million Americans
have lost their jobs since December of 2007), I can see we have a long
way to go.

Black History is more than a series of names and events. Black history
is American story of triumph and tribulation. It is a story of a very
long struggle which should have meaning for all Americans.