Rev. Johnny L. Barber, II, Th. M.
Moderator, Florida East Coast
Baptist Association
What would they say?
Carter G. Woodson, an American
historian, author, journalist and the
founder of the Association for the
Study of African American Life and
History, once stated:
“If a race has no history, it has no
worthwhile tradition, it becomes a
negligible factor in the thought of the
world, and it stands in danger of being
exterminated. The American Indian
left no continuous record. He did not
appreciate the value of tradition; and
where is he today? The Hebrew keenly
appreciated the value of tradition, as
is attested by the Bible itself. In spite
of worldwide persecution, therefore,
he is a great factor in our civilization.”
Every February in the United States
we celebrate Black History Month.
This is a time set aside to remember
and recognize important people as
well as events in the history of the Af-
rican diaspora. The history of African
Americans is rich and replete with
accomplishments that have made
changes in the very fabric of the Unit-
ed States and the World. When we
celebrate Black History we remember
people like Nat Turner who led a slave
rebellion in 1831; William Edward
Burghardt Du Bois, a scholar and ac-
tivist, who felt that African Ameri-
cans should fight for equal rights and
higher opportunities, rather than pas-
sively submit to the segregation and
discrimination; Booker Taliaferro
Washington an American educator,
author, orator, and advisor to presi-
dents of the United States; Harriet
Tubman an American abolitionist and
political activist who was born into
slavery. Tubman escaped and subse-
quently helped other enslaved people
escape using the network of antislav-
ery activists and safe houses known as
the Underground Railroad; Frederick
Douglass who was an American social
reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer
and statesman. Who after escaping
from slavery became a national leader
of the abolitionist movement; Medgar
Wiley Evers an African American civil
rights activist who lived with the con-
stant threat of death and was assassi-
nated in his driveway; Malcolm X an
American Muslim minister and hu-
man rights activist; Rosa Louise Mc-
Cauley Parks who was an American
activist in the civil rights movement
best known for her pivotal role in the
Montgomery Bus Boycott; and Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. who was an Ameri-
can Baptist minister and activist who
became the most visible spokesperson
and leader in the civil rights move-
ment. King is best known for advanc-
ing civil rights through nonviolence
and civil disobedience. These are just
a few of the influential people who
fought for freedom, justice, civil rights
and equality for African Americans.
It is through the feats of these he-
roes and sheroes that today, African
Americans are able to look and see
people of color holding political of-
fices. It is through their tremendous
sacrifices that there is legislation that
is in place that prevents discrimina-
tion and segregation against people of
color. It is because of their struggling,
fighting and protesting that people of
color now enjoy the freedoms to live,
work, play, go to school and even eat
where they desire. It is because of
them that people of color can look at
television, movies screens, in books
and magazines and see people who
look like themselves. Through their
unimaginable expense, what was be-
fore unthinkable, has become obtain-
able. In our lifetime people of color
have witnessed Thurgood Marshall
become the first African American
US Supreme Court Justice and Barack
Hussein Obama II become the first
African American President of the
United States of America.
The question that behooves the pres-
ent-day African American is “What
would they say?” If the abolitionist
Fredrick Douglas was able to speak
today on our behaviors and our ac-
tions after he looked at the United
States and declared in his speech
given on July 5, 1852 “What, to the
American slave, is your 4th of July? I