Black History Month 07

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Black History Month 07
We should emphasize not Negro History, but the
Negro in history. What we need is not a history
of selected races or nations, but the history of
the world void of national bias, race hate, and
religious prejudice. Carter Woodson (1875-1950)on
founding Negro History Week, 1926
Multicultural Packet
Cal Maritime Academy Vallejo Student Affairs
Diversity Office
Poster from Defense Equal Opportunity Management
Institute
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EVENTS CELEBRATING AFRICAN/BLACK AMERICAN
HISTORY MONTH

• CAL MARITIME
• February 20th Noon Ward Room Dr. Tim Lynch
  presents a brown bag luncheon paper in the Ward
  Room on black whaling master William T. Shorey.
• Feb. 27th 11 AM Peachman (Tech 146) Chief
  Engineer Bill Jackson-- the first black engineer
  in the US Navy and current chief on the SS Red
  Oak Victory in Richmond, will speak. A WWII vet
  who had two ships torpedoed out from beneath him,
  and who witnessed the bloody 1934 Longshoreman's
  strike in San Francisco, Jackson provides a
  historical and cultural perspective on important
  aspects of West Coast maritime history.
• SAN FRANCISCO
• African Americans and World War II Liberty
  Ships Slide program on the contributions of
  African Americans to the World War II ships. 2
  p.m. Feb. 11 and 18. Free. San Francisco Maritime
  National Historical Park, Hyde and Jefferson
  streets. [phone].
• Amiri Baraka Reads from "Tales of the Out and
  the Gone." 7 p.m. Feb. 19. City Lights Bookstore,
  261 Columbus Ave., [phone].
• Chanteys The African American and Caribbean
  Connection A performance and sing-along of sea
  songs of 19th century African American and
  Caribbean sailors and dock workers. Reservations
  required. 8 p.m.-midnight Sat. Free. San
  Francisco Maritime National Historical Park --
  Hyde Street Pier, Hyde and Jefferson streets.
  [phone].
• Maritime Routes of the Underground Railroad
  Slide program on the role of ships in the
  Underground Railroad. 1 p.m. Feb. 17. Free. San
  Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Hyde
  and Jefferson streets. [phone].
• African American Spoken Word Festival Featuring
  Eric Goines, Loretta LaRue, Duncan Fowler,
  Shakeel Ali, Tony Moses, Terry Moore, Larry Ukali
  Johnson-Redd, and Jackie Sue. 1-5 p.m. Sat. Koret
  Auditorium, Main Library, 100 Larkin St. (415)
  557-4400.
• SOLOANO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
• At 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, poet, storyteller
  and painter Lue Cobene discusses "Minkisi, Opele,
  and V v Geometries of Black Identity, Memory
  and History" in Building 600, Room 626. He
  teaches writing, literature, creativity and
  cultural studies, and is also researching,
  designing and prototyping digital learning
  systems.
• At 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, Karen McCord
  talks on "Civil Rights" in Building 600, Room
  626. She is professor of psychology and ethnic
  studies and speaks widely on women's empowerment
  issues, civil rights, mediation, nonviolence and
  sexual harassment. She is co-author of
  "Transformations Teen Mothers Journey To
  Success."
• Willard Wright will talk "The History of
  African-American Medical Schools from 1900-1910"
  at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27 in Building 600, Room
  626. He is Yuba Community College vice chancellor
  of administrative services, and former SCC
  administrator.

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National African American History Month, 2007
Excerpts from Presidential Proclamation       Afr
ican Americans have been an integral part of
America for generations, and our Nation is
stronger because of their contributions. During
National African American History Month, we honor
the achievements of African Americans and
recognize our continued responsibility to strive
for equality for all our citizens. With grace
and determination, African American men and women
have shaped our Nation and influenced American
life. Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Rosa
Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr., advanced the
cause of civil rights for all Americans and
helped change the course of American history.
Educators Booker T. Washington and Carter G.
Woodson helped break down racial barriers in
education to provide opportunity for all people.
Americans have benefited from the achievements of
scientists like George Washington Carver. Artists
such as Pearl Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis
Armstrong inspired Americans and created some of
the most celebrated music this Nation has ever
produced. The theme of this year's National
African American History Month, "From Slavery to
Freedom Africans in the Americas," recalls
African Americans' long journey to justice and
commemorates the courage and persistence of the
heroes who called on our Nation to live up to its
founding promise. A century after African
American soldiers fought for their freedom on the
battlefields of the Civil War, African Americans
struggled peacefully for their rights in the
streets of Birmingham, Alabama, and on the Mall
in Washington, D.C. Courageous civil rights
leaders answered hate and discrimination with
love and dignity, toppled segregation laws, and
worked to make America a more just and hopeful
Nation. All Americans can be proud of the
progress we have made, yet the work for a more
perfect union is not done. As we celebrate
National African American History Month, we
reaffirm our commitment to build a society where
every individual has the opportunity to achieve
the promise of this great land. GEORGE W. BUSH
What northerners were saying now is they didn't
want slavery to be part of the future in the
West, because slavery would threaten their
values, their sense of a work ethic. They were
especially concerned that wherever slavery went
it tended to degrade the meaning of labor. It
tended to degrade the meaning of liberty
itself.... Was a civil war inevitable over
slavery in America? No. A war was not necessarily
inevitable over slavery in America, but a deep
conflict over slavery was. Any nation ... that
founds itself on the creeds of life, liberty, the
pursuit of happiness, the right of revolution,
the doctrine of consent and the doctrine of
equality, and yet develops one of the largest
systems of human bondage in the world, is living
a national life of contradiction. - David Blight,
historian
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The Fire Next Time by James BaldwinA national
bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The
Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave
passionate voice to the emerging civil rights
movement. At once a powerful evocation of James
Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing
examination of the consequences of racial
injustice, the book is an intensely personal and
provocative document. It consists of two
"letters," written on the occasion of the
centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that
exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack
the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The
New York Times Book Review as "sermon, ultimatum,
confession, deposition, testament, and
chronicle...all presented in searing, brilliant
prose," The Fire Next Time stands as a
classic. ISBN 067974472X Publisher Knopf
Publishing Group, February 1993
Good Reads!
Until the moment comes when we, the Americans,
are able to accept the fact that my ancestors are
both black and white, that on the continent we
are trying to forge a new identity, that we need
each other, that I am not a ward of America, I am
not an object of missionary, I am one of the
people who built the countrythere is scarcely
any hope for the American dream. If the people
are denied participation in it, by their very
presence, they will wreck it.
James Baldwin 1924-1987
Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy joined Mike Ditka and
Tom Flores as the only men to win Super Bowl
titles as both players and coaches. Dungy, a
former University of Minnesota quarterback, was a
backup safety for the championship Pittsburgh
Steelers 28 years ago.
Professional Football and Race Tony Dungy
and Lovie Smith are first and foremost great
coaches with their own unique styles. That
said, it has all been noted that for the first
time in its 41 year history, the head coach
that led his team to victory in the Super Bowl
was an African/Black American. This was
inevitable, as both head coaches were black.
Why do we care? In the scheme of things, does
it really matter what there race was? Isnt it
racist to make note of their race in discussion
of their wins when it was their coaching skill
and professional acumen that took them there? If
we examine history, we will find the answer all
of those questions. Although there were
many talented black assistant coaches and even
though the leagues rosters were filled with
African American players, head coaching
positions were essentially unattainable to
people of color until 1989, when Art Shell was
hired by the Oakland Raiders. He was the first
black head coach in the NFL. White coaches (even
those lacking credentials) were given precedence
over minority candidates for years.
Institutionally, it was believed that blacks were
not cut out for leadership positions like
quarterback and head coach. Getting the picture
yet? For years, Super Bowl berths eluded black
coaches because black coaches did not exist.
So then theres that final question is it
racist to focus on the skin color of Tony Dungy
and Lovie Smith? Hardly. Tony Dungy and Lovie
Smith would be great coaches no matter what the
color of their skin, nonetheless, it is
irredeemably unfair to say race doesnt matter,
when discussing a sport wherein racism has been
pervasive for decades? Race will no longer
be an issue when race is no longer a barrier to
opportunities, and there are no more Firsts to
accomplish. Bears head coach, Lovie Smith
expressed this same thought when he stated he
looked forward to the day when it is no longer
news that a Super Bowl team is coached by an
African American.