” Empower yourselves with a good education, then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise.” ~ First Lady Michelle Obama

“The future promise of any nation can be directly measured by the present prospects of its youth.” ~ President John F. Kennedy

“I was raised to believe that excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression. ~ W. E. B. Du Bois

“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” ~ Carter G. Woodson

The origin of Black History Month can be traced back to 1915, when Carter G. Woodson founded its precursor, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which led to the initiation of Negro History Week in February 1926, President Gerald R. Ford’s 1975 “Message on the Observance of Black History Month, February 1976,  and Congress passing the law that designated February 1986 as “National Black (Afro-American) History Month.” Since 1996, American presidents have made Black History Month in February an annual event.

Ironically, after all this progress and the rich history of Black Americans and their contributions to the military, medicine, science, arts and entertainment (this year’s theme), and education and more, there are those today whose aim it is to erase American Black history, and change it to fulfill their own agendas. Such efforts dovetail with attempts to restrict the votes and freedoms of Black Americans.

But by restricting Black Americans’ access to voting, education, employment and more, we restrict all Americans from being recipients of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

For instance, when many Americans look at a Black child, they do not necessarily see someone who could find a cure for health challenges, from cancer to the common cold, or someone who might change their lives or the world for the better. But, indeed, they should, because they could.

Black History In The Making

On a recent edition of ABC’s The View, to mark Black History Month, Whoopie Goldberg featured two amazing African-American young people who are making history right now — both Black history and American history, for they are one and the same. And, if these brilliant students are not blocked at any points in their lives by small-mindedness and bigotry at any level, they stand to improve and even save the lives of millions of people of all colors, genders, ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations or identities, citizenship statuses or economic classes.

As The Three E’s contribution to Black History Month, I’d like to share with my readers what I learned from Whoopie and other sources about these two outstanding students.

Alena Analeigh Wicker

While many kids dream of what they want to be when they grow up, not many walk through the doors of medical school at the age of 15. But if they want to know what it’s like to experience that, they can ask Alena Analeigh Wicker, who was born in California and reared in Texas, actually is 15 and will start classes this year at the Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

This is ironic not only because of Ms. Wicker’s age, but also her gender and especially her race. We should all remember from our study of American history that on June 11, 1963, through the efforts of President Kennedy and the courage of two Black students, the segregated University of Alabama became desegregated. Our country has come a long way on racial issues over the 60 years since that moment, despite ongoing and intense efforts to reverse such progress, including recently.

But let’s back up a bit. Before her outstanding achievement of being the youngest Black person (and the second youngest person of any race) to be accepted to medical school, Alena’s journey has been remarkable.

According to The Washington Post and Wikipedia, among other sources: Alena’s mother pulled her out of elementary school twice, the first time because the principal said she could never get an A because of her skin color and the second time because she was bullied by a classmate because of her intellect. During those elementary school periods, Alena was homeschooled and also studied advanced high school-level courses. As a result, she graduated from high school at age 12, headed off to college, landed an internship at NASA, started a foundation called Brown STEM Girl, traveled, and learned multiple languages. And she was named one of Time’s  2022 Top Kid of the Year finalists.

Alena is not only brilliant, she is kind, generous and humble. She says she’s just a normal teenager! Her advice to others? “Don’t let anybody tell you ‘no,’ cause there were a lot of people who told me ‘no.’ Or I couldn’t do what I dreamed to do. And I also had that support system. They were there when I needed them. And they gave me that support to say, ‘don’t give up on your dreams.’ I had my mom who was my biggest support; she always gave me opportunities over things, and she believed in me.”

Heman Bekele

Wanting to change the world for the better is a dream of many a child and teenager. Turning that dream into reality is a challenge, and Heman Bekele certainly has risen to that challenge. A 14-year-old high school freshman from Annandale, Virginia, Mr. Bekele won the prestigious 3M and Discovery Education middle-school competition last year when he was in the 8th Grade with his innovative bar of soap! No ordinary cleansing item, if future clinical trials prove it to be safe and effective it is hoped that this soap might someday treat skin cancer in its early stages.

In an interview last November with ABC News, Heman explained, “People might not have the equipment or have the facilities to be able to treat this disease. A bar of soap is just so simple, so affordable, so accessible in comparison to these modern new skin cancer treatments.” The ABC article further reported, “According to Heman…when skin cancer cells develop, they weaken dendritic cells in the body that boost human immune responses, allowing the cancer to take over. He said SCTS contains agents that could potentially reactivate dendritic cells that help eliminate the cancer cells. ‘It does this as a sort of a compound-based bar of soap,’ he said. ‘It’s charged with different cancer fighting chemicals. And the main one, there is this drug called imidazoquinolines.'” Heman calls his soap, “Skin Cancer Treating Soap (SCTS).”

The National Cancer Institute states that skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, and the American Cancer Society reports that roughly 3 million Americans are diagnosed with one or multiple skin cancers each year. There are steps that everyone should take to prevent skin cancer, regardless of your skin color.

Heman was born in Ethiopia and moved to the U.S. when he was four years old. According to the ABC News article, Heman recalls the poverty there and how the people would work in the blazing sun for hours each day, so he wants to help people worldwide. With the curiosity, compassion and charisma that has been attributed to this remarkable young man, the world might have an approved, affordable, accessible and easy treatment for skin cancer in an early stage. And that might just be the beginning of how Heman Bekele will have a positive and powerful impact on America and the world.

What We Can Do?

Both Alena and Heman are exceptional students and exceptional human beings. So, to reiterate, restricting the freedoms of Black citizens or residents, or any group of people, runs the risk of overlooking the brilliance of its members. All youth deserve the support of communities, schools, individuals and their federal, state and local governments to ensure that they can fulfill their potential academically, professionally and economically.

So, as we observe and commemorate Black History Month, let’s resolve as a nation to do a better job in particular to ensure that Black youth have the support needed to succeed. Steps we can take include:

Early Education –  To ensure racial equality in early education, we should pay attention to the recommendations described in this McKinsey & Company report. We know how valuable early childhood education is for a child’s brain development in order to set the stage for achievement in school and higher education and lifelong learning. Access should not be just for some, but for all children.

Affirmative Action – Reinstituting affirmative action in college admissions should be reconsidered. Remember, it was originally implemented to eliminate discrimination against women and minority populations, including Black, Latino, Asian Pacific Americans, Arab and other Middle Eastern Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawai’ians, and Inuit and Alaska Natives.  And while affirmative action has been debated over the years — nothing is perfect — all things considered I agree with those who believe it is still needed. Colleges and government must do more to assure that discrimination against Black and other minority groups does not revert to the pre-affirmative action era.

DEIB – America must also continue its efforts toward equal opportunity, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in academia and the workforce, and the mastering of the principles of the Three E’s, etiquette, ethics and empathy, as it applies to every individual regardless of race or gender. As well, we need to stop the banning of Black history books and courses in libraries and educational institutions; Americans need to be educated on all American history.

When we take these steps, our nation will regain its footing in advancing enlightenment and progress and restore its dedication to preserving those “certain unalienable Rights” for everyone. For nearly two-and-a-half centuries this has been a goal toward which Americans have worked, fought and died, and much progress has been achieved. But we need to keep going; there is much more work to be done.

Until next time,

Jeanne

Recommendations for Further Reading:

Library of Congress Black History Month Research Guides

The 1619 Project – The New York Times, Kindle, Series, Series Review, Book Review 

Roots (1977) – The Book, The TV Series

The Souls of Black Folk, by W.E.B. DuBois