I grew up on "Black History Month", otherwise known as the twenty-eight days of February carved out of the year to shine a light or celebrate on Black pioneers, innovators and visionaries whose contributions have added to the everyday fabric of "American", or rather United States (since America is a continent), life. Things we take for granted such as the traffic light, blood plasma, engine lubricators and lawn sprinklers, or more recently, the Super Soaker.

Something else we take for granted is what is actually true about African Americans in the United States of America. Just recently a study debunked the notion that Black fathers aren't involved in their children's lives. I was interviewed on national television on this subject two years ago and was ignored when I suggested there was no "black fatherhood crisis."But honestly it's hard to know what to believe when the entertainment industry props up overpaid minstrels to present slices of a culture (and all cultures for that matter) as a culture in it's totality.

I grew up being taught at home about the greats who've walked this planet and share complexions and hues similar to my own. Somehow this caused me to see the exceptions exactly as they are: exceptions. But in 2014 it's a new day in age and storytellers have seemingly infinite powers of persuasion and penetration into society's psyche. Social media is a hot bed for racists, race baiters and racism chasers. And the news is whatever the people who press "Publish" say it is. But what about the truth? The video below seeks to explore the answers to this question by supplanting the mainstream narrative with some very quantifiable realities:




Episode 2 Airs Monday, February 10, 2014. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

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When I was growing up, Black History was an everyday experience.

Miles Davis

How many times have you heard that before?

Well the truth of it is that I come from artistic DNA. Whether it is food, carpentry, photography, sculpting... the list is actually endless. My point is we show and tell rather than just tell. Notable figures in Black & American History line the walls of my parents' home and my old bedroom. So I saw it and learned it everyday. Not just in February or at school.

Coming into February I wracked my brains over what could I share that was any different or more meaningful for Black History Month here on the blog. Then it dawned on me that I have Pinterest now. Although it was around last year, I wasn't using it then.

For Black History Month and beyond please visit my Black History Board on Pinterest, I'd love your thoughts and feedback. I plan continually updating it so that it is a repository of history that stretches beyond a mere 28 days in February.

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Thoughts? Please, let me know in the Facebook or Disqus comment sections below.

I spend a lot of my time talking with my daughter. She is still young enough to provide a fresh perspective on life that is free from the framing of a news outlet or a political agenda.

So yesterday when we got into a conversation about slavery --- presumably because her school is celebrating Black History Month, she asked me, "Why did they do that? Why were those people so mean to them just because they didn't have the same skin as they did?"

Her question was so impassioned it sounded more like a plea --- Daddy, please tell me how this could have happened?

As much as Black History Month has been about those who have broken down barriers and created things that have made the world a better place it is also about those who are alive and well and securing their places in history. That being said I'd like to shine my light on actor/musician Tray Chaney, a dedicated Dad and an advocate for reading and early education. He is using Hip Hop and social media to promote positive living and thinking about things that normally aren't discussed for fear that "it won't sell."


Well Tray is making it sell.



The Radical Readers single is available now for download on iTunes.

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Thanks for reading! To learn more about me, you can read my story.

What do you know about Madame C.J. Walker? Not Mary K., Madame C.J. Walker.

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Thanks for reading! To learn more about me, you can read my story.

The Duke. Enough said.

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Thanks for reading! To learn more about me, you can read my story.

Besides being a neighbor (well he owned a home on the next block) while growing up, tennis star, Authur Ashe was ahead of the curve. He is a classic example of grace and showmanship on and off the court.

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Thanks for reading! To learn more about me, you can read my story. Follow me on Twitter @EPayneTheDad.

When it comes to the rights of African Americans in this country, yes there is Martin (Luther King) and there is Malcolm (X). But they weren't the only ones, not only were they not the only ones, but their efforts would have been in vain were it not for the mettle of men such as deceased Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Although he is no longer with us, his shadow he cast looms large and the hole he left in the fabric of life remains unstitched.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. His father, William Marshall, instilled in him from youth an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law. After completing high school in 1925, Thurgood followed his brother, William Aubrey Marshall, at the historically black Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His classmates at Lincoln included a distinguished group of future Black leaders such as the poet and author Langston Hughes, the future President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and musician Cab Calloway. Just before graduation, he married his first wife, Vivian "Buster" Burey. Their twenty-five year marriage ended with her death from cancer in 1955.*

A Chronology of Justice Marshall's Accomplishments

1930: Mr. Marshall graduates with honors from Lincoln U. (cum laude)

1933: Receives law degree from Howard U. (magna cum laude); begins private practice in Baltimore

1934: Begins to work for Baltimore branch of NAACP

1935: With Charles Houston, wins first major civil rights case, Murray v. Pearson

1936: Becomes assistant special counsel for NAACP in New York

1940: Wins first of 29 Supreme Court victories (Chambers v. Florida)

1944: Successfully argues Smith v. Allwright, overthrowing the South's "white primary"

1948: Wins Shelley v. Kraemer, in which Supreme Court strikes down legality of racially restrictive covenants

1950: Wins Supreme Court victories in two graduate-school integration cases, Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents

1951: Visits South Korea and Japan to investigate charges of racism in U.S. armed forces. He reported that the general practice was one of "rigid segregation".

1954: Wins Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, landmark case that demolishes legal basis for segregation in America

1961: Defends civil rights demonstrators, winning Supreme Circuit Court victory in Garner v. Louisiana; nominated to Second Court of Appeals by President J.F. Kennedy

1961: Appointed circuit judge, makes 112 rulings, all of them later upheld by Supreme Court (1961-1965)

1965: Appointed U.S. solicitor general by President Lyndon Johnson; wins 14 of the 19 cases he argues for the government (1965-1967)

1967: Becomes first African American elevated to U.S. Supreme Court (1967-1991)

1991: Retires from the Supreme Court

1993: Dies at 84**

There was a recent article on the strategic role President Lyndon Johnson played in ensuring that Thurgood Marshall became the iron-clad Justice he is renowned for today. For more on that click here.

If there's anything that needs to be added to the above timeline please feel free to add to the accomplishments in the comments below.

*Source
**Source

E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

The Tuskegee Airmen: Then

In spite of adversity and limited opportunities, African Americans have played a significant role in U.S. military history over the past 300 years. They were denied military leadership roles and skilled training because many believed they lacked qualifications for combat duty. Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military. Civil rights organizations and the black press exerted pressure that resulted in the formation of an all African-American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They proved conclusively that African Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen's achievements, together with the men and women who supported them, paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military.*



The Tuskegee Airmen: Now



To learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen --- their history, their accomplishments and their current charitable efforts visit the Official Tuskegee Airmen website.

*Source

E.Payne is the author of the eBook Love Notes and wrote the popular parenting article I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

Sadly this was just about the best video I found on YouTube today covering the nuts and bolts of Black History Month.



What resources, if any, (examples: museums, plays, libraries, speaker series, etc.) are you tapping into this year for Black History Month?

E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

Yesterday evening I took the family to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. It was opening night/family night at the Fox Theatre and the place was packed. A record 4,200 were in attendance not only to see the first performance of a 4 day run here in the ATL, but also to witness history in the making --- 50 years of Revelations (the show's finale) and the last run of Judith Jamison, the heralded artistic director of the troupe after Alvin Ailey himself. She is retiring this year.

As my daughter bounced about on my lap, my wife sat beside me smiling and moving in her seat, and my son sat there begrudgingly appreciating the dancer's energy, I was reminded of my own past.

I've been going to see the Alvin Ailey Dancers since before I high school. I can't remember the exact why and how of it, but I know it was a school based activity that became an annual past-time for me up through high school. I've never had any qualms about men in tights. I think I was always to rapt with thoughts of "How are they holding themselves (or their partners) like that?" and "Damn, that dude is ripped." Because just in case you didn't know dancers are some of the most sculpted people walking the planet, right up there with gymnasts and swimmers. Watching them makes the average grunting gym rat feel silly for putting in so much time pumping iron while these people simply move their bodies with absolute precision and wind up looking like superheroes. This includes the women also.

As I watched I couldn't help but think back fondly on my own childhood being reared to know most if not all who preceded me. Inventors, artists, scientists, all lined the walls of my home. One of my uncle's was nationally renowned in the arts --- a sculptor, painter, and photographer. He actually designed the logo for the United Negro College Fund, something I never knew until his passing.

365 Days of Black History
Back then many were raised with the idea that there was more to life than being a professional athlete or a rapper. The influence of pop media culture didn't drown out the rule and final say of parents. It didn't even exist not too long ago. And for the kids who were being reared this way, we believed what we were being told. One of the best basketball players I knew growing up is a successful doctor in Chicago. One of the fastest track athletes who I had the agony of running alongside in high school is an architect. I took a liking to inventors and to this day I know who invented what, regardless of whether they got credit for it or not in a school text book. My father saw to it that I was informed. Black History Month was a formality, a highlighted 28 days of the 365 that were a part of my daily existence.

Black History month is more than some smattering of Martin Luther King, Jr. audio and video clips. It's Charles Drew, Benjamin Banneker, Elijah McCoy (the "Real McCoy"), Madame C.J. Walker - the original "Mary K.", William Purvis who invented the fountain pen, all the way up to most recently, Lonnie Johson - A ROCKET SCIENTIST - who created the "Super Soaker" a favorite at most summer time barbecues.

Black History Month for me is all about letting the little ones know who proceeded them so they know that they can do it too and do it in their own unique way, especially when someone else (no matter their color) tells them they can't or tries to laugh at their ideas. Beginning next week I am going to highlighting some of these people of my past, as they are an integral part of all our pasts and existences here in these United States of America and abroad.

Enjoy your weekend! If you haven't yet considered doing anything anything with the family for these short 28 days of Black History Month, check your local paper for some local happenings, turn on PBS and make the family sit down in front of the television for an hour or two, or check out the resources available online such as Biography Channel's Black History Month website. And as always please feel free to share your thoughts, comments or questions in the comments.

E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.