It is well established that African Americans disproportionately suffer from the major chronic conditions that impair health and result in death . We have recently seen these tragic consequences held with the coronavirus pandemic . During February , programs should highlight these realities and ways to improve the quality of health indices that affect African Americans . Moreover , while honored in February , the celebration of African American accomplishments and achievements should be a yearround , daily preoccupation until the injustices and oppression of people of African descent find the dignity and worth to which they are entitled as citizens of this country and as children of God !
I am Reverend Dr . Michael Blackwell , Historian , sharing with The Soultown Magazine . I want to thank Carter G . Woodson for for having SOUL ! ,
COVER STORY t h e annals of American history in the twentieth century . Educated at Berea College , the Sorbonne , the University of Chicago , and Harvard University , he was a prolific scholar . He dedicated his life to depicting the sociocultural conditions of Black people in the United States and demonstrating how many overcame extrinsic impediments to make notable achievements in various fields .
In 1937 , he inaugurated the Negro History Bulletin . His dedication to the cause of scholarship on Black history inspired a host of historians of all hues to enlighten citizens on the multifarious contributions of African Americans to the lifestyle cherished in this country . Negro History Week was extended to a monthlong observance in 1976 , during the fiftieth anniversary of the celebration .
Woodson considered himself a radical in his day , for he was willing to risk ostracism and hatred for his belief in the humanity of all people . He felt that Christian churches and their members abdicated their responsibilities to love their neighbors . Woodson implored local branches of the NAACP to fight more to enlist new members and help those in need and those exploited by the structural racism pervasive in the United States . He believed it was mandatory for all people of achievement to ensure that African Americans could participate fully in the warp and woof of society and culture . This perspective is central to the thesis of his most famous book , The Mis-Education of the Negro , published in 1933 .
Today , the Association for the Study of African American Life and History offers thematic approaches on an annual basis to Black History Month . The theme for 2021 is “ Black Health and Wellness .”
REV . DR . MICHAEL BLACKWELL Historian mdbwell @ gmail . com
The Rev . Michael D . Blackwell , Ph . D ., was born in Philadelphia and raised in Bridgeport and Stratford , Connecticut , during the classic Civil Rights era of the 1960s . He was profoundly affected by the life , thought , and legacy of the Reverend Dr . Martin Luther King , Jr . He is published in the areas of African American religious thought , peacemaking , the nonviolent direct action of Martin Luther King , Jr ., community building , and social change . Currently , Blackwell is retired . He worked for twenty years as Director for Multicultural Education at the University of Northern Iowa ( UNI ) in Cedar Falls , where he coordinated the programs and activities of the Center for Multicultural Education .
FEBRUARY 2022 • Celebrating 5 years in our communities . THESOULTOWNMAGAZINE . com 3