Perspective: Black History Month is for all of us – Deseret News

February is Black History Month. For decades, however, the accomplishments and inventions of African Americans were overlooked, forgotten, deleted, misrepresented, ignored, exploited and expunged. Because of stereotypes, bias and discrimination, African Americans were not regarded as people with intellectual prowess, aptitude and inventiveness. Black History Month is a time to recognize, reflect and celebrate the contributions, achievements and advancements of African Americans.
This is not, however, a month set aside whereby African Americans exclusively celebrate themselves. It is a month where everyone can come together and appreciate how African American inventions and activism have led to advances in most professional disciplines and society as a whole.
There are some notable inventors to include, like Bessie Blount Griffin, a World War II nurse who invented the feeding tube. There is Valerie Thomas, a NASA scientist who invented the illusion transmitter which enabled images to be viewed in 3D. Shirley Ann Jackson was the first African American woman to graduate from MIT with a Ph.D. She was a theoretical physicist who invented caller ID and caller waiting technology. Mark Dean invented the color monitor for PCs and was the co-inventor of the gigahertz chip.
While African Americans reflect on our accomplishments to society, we do so remembering the countless sacrifices of our ancestors. We remember how we survived the transatlantic slave trade, slavery, Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement. All of these experiences brought their own atrocities, barbarities and inhumanities with an agenda of free labor, oppression and profit.
Throughout heinous acts like shackled ankles and wrists, rape, lynching, selling us as property, changing our names and separating us from our families, we called out to God and he heard our cries. Our fight was with our owners, the government, our neighbors and even ourselves — not knowing who we were. Victories did not come swiftly or easily. They were arduous, hard-fought and blood-stained. Little by little, inch by inch, decade by decade, our resolve, resilience and resistance grew, and so did our confidence, competence and cohesiveness.
Our shared struggle, pain and wounds brought African Americans closer together. We leaned on each other for a safe place to escape torment, and we relied on one another to survive. Most times those were life’s only two options — run or die. Our skin color and features united us as a tribe, but our journey bound us for life.
Black history is an undeniably rich history where our contributions have made life easier for people all over the world. Black history is also a beautiful history of how strangers showed up as friends. White people mentored, sponsored, partnered, protected, advocated and supported African Americans during dark, deep-valley experiences.
There were notable and innumerable leaders who supported African Americans, not under duress or social threats, but because it was the right, moral and humane position to take. White founders of the NAACP include Mary White Ovington, Oswald Garrison Villard, William English Walling and Dr. Henry Moscowitz. President Gerald Ford formally recognized Black History Month in 1976. President George W. Bush signed the bill authorizing the construction of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney voted for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. These people and many others helped make the Black history tapestry of America one that reflects more boldness, honor and fortitude.
While African Americans have achieved many firsts — such as president of the United States, Supreme Court justice, governor, senator, congressperson, mayor, media mogul, etc. — we can also be assigned the descriptors of overcomer, survivor, resistor, antagonist, activist, advocate, inventor, barrier-breaker, innovator, pioneer, record-breaker and trailblazer.
Our history is literally filled with blood, sweat and tears for trying to be recognized as a full human being, a voter and a citizen. We have bowed, toiled and begged at the hands and feet of our oppressors. Yet, we maintained hope. We continued to rebound, progress, advance, invent, contribute and make a difference around the world. For these accomplishments, we celebrate our capacity and our culture. We thank our friends. We thank our God.

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