In the United States, Black History Month is observed in February. But, as a country so diverse, the United States should recognize, honor, and celebrate daily its diverse ethnicities that make up this great nation and contribute to its economic superpower and preeminence. Black History month is a time to reflect and celebrate the rich and complex history of Black people in America – a history marked by struggle, resilience, and occasional triumph. Before the arrival of the first shipment of captured and enslaved Africans in 1619, as documented in “The 1619 Project”, early humans (Africans) migrated out of Africa and populated other continents. Black people, both past and present, have been crucial in building the foundation and shaping this nation. Despite the extraordinary and enormous contributions of Africans to the history, culture, and economic development of the United States, Black people are still fighting for equity and justice.
We honor the bravery of those who resisted enslavement of African people for decades, the vision of Black Icons like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks. We celebrate Black leaders who had the courage to march for civil rights and equal wages from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Congressman John Lewis and others. We celebrate Black inventors like Thomas L. Jennings (1791 – 1859), a formerly enslaved African who lived in New York and who invented an early method of dry-cleaning process, which he patented in 1821. Up to the nineteenth century, the average person could not afford shoes. Jan Ernst Matzelinger (1852 -1889) a person of African descent changed that and the shoe manufacturing industry when he invented an automated shoe making machine, making shoes easily affordable to Americans. Granville Tailor Woods (1856 -1910), a Black mechanical and chemical engineer, held more than sixty patents in the United States. One of his notable inventions which he patented in 1887 was the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph that helped moving trains to transmit and receive messages from train stations. Wood’s invention assured a safe train travel system in the United States. Garret Augustus Morgan (1877 – 1963) invented a smoke and safety hood for firefighters in 1912 which he patented in 1914. Morgan invented and patented a three-position traffic light signal, which is the precursor to the red, yellow, and green traffic light signal used today.
Medical inventions and patents by Black people in America have changed the lives of Americans. Percy Lavon Julian (1899 – 1975), a steroid chemist researcher invented chemical synthesis of medical drugs from soybeans, making it possible to produce massive-scale steroids from plant compounds in the early 2oth century. His work laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry’s production of cortisone, sex hormones, and birth control pills. Dr. George Alcorn (b. 1940), a pioneering physicist, engineer, and an inventor with over twenty inventions, invented and patented the imaging X-ray spectrometer which allows the accurate detection of radio signatures. Dr. Frank Erdman Boston (1890-1960), a Black surgeon from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, opened the Elms Terrace Hospital in Lansdale, PA, now a major hospital and part of the Abington-Jefferson Health System, and designed the insignia of the Emergency Ambulance Service which is still in use. Dr. Patricia Bath (b. 1942), a Black ophthalmologist revolutionized the field of ophthalmology when she invented the Laserphaco Probe, a procedure for cataract surgery, which she patented In 1988.
Coalition4Justice celebrates all the Black Icons, heroes, leaders, inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and athletes who have left their indelible mark on American innovation, culture, and history. History is about chains of events and their impact on society, and how we carry the lessons forward. Black people’s struggles for equity, inclusion, and justice continue today and with urgency. By learning from history, we empower ourselves to build a future where all people and all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, class, gender orientation, feel a sense of belonging and can thrive.
As we celebrate Black History Month, let us not only remember but also ACT – by uplifting voices, challenging injustice, hate, and racism, and striving for a world where the promise of freedom and equality truly belongs to everyone.
Dr. Bernadine E. Ahonkhai
Founder & CEO, Coalition4Justice
Writer & Author – “UNTOLD HISTORY: Africans in the American Diaspora, Origins, Past, and Present Contributions” (2024)
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