By Megan SaylesAFRO Workers Writermsayles@afro.com
The Affiliation for the Examine of African American Life and Historical past (ASALH) held its 99th Annual Black Historical past Luncheon in Washington D.C. on Feb. 22. The gathering carries on the legacy of the group’s founder, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who established Negro Historical past Week in 1926. Woodson’s purpose was to focus on the customarily unnoticed accomplishments and contributions of Black individuals. Finally, the idea caught on and, later, developed into Black Historical past Month in 1976.
Dr. Karsonya “Kaye” Whitehead, president of ASALH, spoke to attendees, welcoming them to the occasion, which has lengthy served as an area to replenish the power wanted to combat for human and civil rights all year long.
“We descend from individuals who selected to outlive,” stated Whitehead. “We, as Black individuals, have survived a lot within the nation. We survived the Center Passage and we survived slavery. We survived the whips and we survived the lashes. We survived our households being separated and our kids being taken away from us. We survived popping out of the Civil Battle…we survived Jim Crow.”
(AFRO Picture / Alexis Taylor)
“We survived the lynchings and the burnings and the crosses on our yards. We survived them killing all of our leaders,” she continued. “We survived anyway…We survived all of that and we’re nonetheless standing on the opposite facet. As a result of now we have survived all of this, we are going to survive this second.”
This 12 months’s Black Historical past Month theme honored African Individuals and labor, illuminating how each free and enslaved Black individuals performed main roles in constructing key industries, fueling financial activism and organizing the nation’s labor unions.
The luncheon occurred at a time the place federal companies and personal firms alike ban range, fairness and inclusion (DEI) on the federal stage and slash the federal workforce with mass lay-offs. It featured a panel dialog with Dr. Greg Carr, division chair for Afro-American research at Howard College; Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the Nationwide City League; and Christine Sampson-Clark, govt committee member of the Nationwide Training Affiliation (NEA).
“On this city, we see hard-working civil servants, who’ve given their lives and careers, being indiscriminately thrown to the facet,” stated Morial in the course of the panel. “We see threats to undermine these companies throughout the authorities that have been the fruits of the motion, just like the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Division, the Equal Employment Alternative Fee and the Division of Labor that held federal contractors accountable.”
Morial took time to make clear Black employees’ historic impression on the combat for racial justice.
Following the 1896 Plessy V. Ferguson Supreme Court docket resolution, which upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation, skilled associations performed an integral function in organizing for civil rights. This included advocating for higher working circumstances for Black laborers.
One group was the Brotherhood of Sleeping Automobile Porters, the primary all-Black labor union within the U.S. Led by A. Philip Randolph, the union referred to as for higher therapy of African-American railroad porters and maids.
Morial stated the present actions from the White Home are an try and reverse the progress that these advocates fought and, at instances, died for. He inspired Black individuals at present to observe within the footsteps of their ancestors.
“Perceive that is an assault on civil rights and on progress,” stated Morial. “It’s greater than firing staff and attacking DEI and transgender individuals, it’s an assault on the final 70 years. We have now a generational duty— to our kids and our kids’s kids— to do every little thing we will to sluggish it down and cease it.”
The luncheon featured Ebony McMorris, the White Home correspondent for City Radio Networks, as mistress of ceremonies. The viewers additionally heard from Mary Frances Berry, the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought, Historical past, and Africana Research emerita on the College of Pennsylvania, and writer of the guide “Slavery After Slavery.”
AARP was a cultural sponsor for the luncheon, selecting to face by their range, fairness and inclusion initiatives as different main firms again away. The lads of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.’s Third District served as heritage stage sponsors, together with members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.’s Life Membership Basis. Members of the fraternity gave a complete of $20,000 in funds to ASALH on the luncheon.
Historical past stage sponsors included the Nationwide Training Affiliation, John Ashley, Blacks in Authorities and the D.C. Lottery. The African American Museum in Philadelphia additionally helped carry the occasion to fruition as a preservation stage sponsor, with the Bernie L. Bates Basis, Anthony Cade; Edna Medford; the Menkiti Group and Keller Williams Capital Properties sponsoring on the hero stage. Valerie Mahomes and Northern Virginia Wealth Administration donated on the competition stage.
Each the AFRO American Newspapers and the Washington Informer served as media sponsors for the luncheon.
This system was positive to incorporate youth, as 15-year-old Sarea Manson, a sophomore at Woodson Excessive Faculty, delivered a rendition of James Weldon Johnson’s “Carry Each Voice and Sing.” There was additionally a tribute to the mother and father of Myles Amadi Gresham, a former ASALH volunteer, who was killed on April 25, 2024 on the age of twenty-two.
All through the occasion, attendees have been reminded of the significance of ASALH’s mission: creating and disseminating data about Black historical past.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian, expanded on the necessity for the group’s work.
“There’s nothing extra harmful than a nation that forgets, and it’s typically African-American tradition that’s been forgotten. ASALH makes positive that folks will perceive that this historical past shapes us all,” stated Bunch. “Whereas it’s tales about African Individuals, it’s actually the quintessential American story. What ASALH helps us understand is that each one of us are formed by the notions of spirituality, optimism and hope that come out of the African-American neighborhood.”
In a time the place the instructing of Black historical past is more and more being censored, challenged and restricted, this mission turns into much more essential.
“The notion of erasing historical past is an actual downside,” stated Bunch. “It’s incumbent upon these of us who care to boost the problem and ensure the books are out and the shows are there as a result of this historical past is just too essential to be erased.”
