Black History Month

February is Black History Month. Also known as African-American History Month, the observance honors the many contributions made to our nation by people of African descent.

Black History Month was established in 1976 but traces its roots to Carter G. Woodson’s efforts in 1926 to set aside a week for recognition and celebration. Woodson chose the month of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas.

Here are some great ways to commemorate, celebrate and learn more about Black History Month:

• CLICK HERE for ways to honor and celebrate Black History Month
• CLICK HERE to see how to celebrate Black History Month in the workplace
• CLICK HERE to see useful tips on how to talk about race

Diversity & Inclusion Committee Members

Rodney Nubin, Chair Socius

Artavia Clay, Socius

Rick Grimes, Professional Risk Solutions

Patrick Hanley, Socius

Hayley Phillips, Socius

Eric Shapiro, Socius

Nichole Ward, Socius

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries people were kidnapped from the continent of Africa, forced into slavery in the American colonies and exploited to work as indentured servants and labor in the production of crops such as tobacco and cotton.

By the mid-19th century, America’s westward expansion and the abolition movement provoked a great debate over slavery that would tear the nation apart in the Civil War. And though the Union victory freed the nation’s four million enslaved people, the legacy of slavery continued to influence American history, as it does to this day.

How did slavery start?

Hundreds of thousands of Africans, both free and enslaved, aided the establishment and survival of colonies in the Americas and the New World. However, many consider a significant starting point to slavery in America to be 1619, when privateers brought twenty African slaves ashore in the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia. 

Throughout the 17th century, European settlers in North America turned to enslaved Africans as a cheaper, more plentiful labor source than indentured servants (who were mostly poor Europeans).

Millions of enslaved people were imported to the New World during the 18th century alone, depriving the African continent of some of its healthiest and ablest men and women.

Slavery was never widespread in the North, though many of the region’s businessmen grew rich on the slave trade and investments in southern plantations. Between 1774 and 1804, all the northern states abolished slavery, but the institution of slavery remained vital to the South. 

The U.S. Congress outlawed the African slave trade in 1808, but the domestic trade continued to flourish, with the enslaved population in the U.S. nearly tripling over the next 50 years. By 1860 it had reached nearly 4 million, with more than half living in the cotton-producing states of the South.

In Our Own Words…

By Rodney Nubin, Chair

February is Black History Month. It is intended to be a celebration that observes the accomplishments, struggles, civil rights movement, and deep history of African Americans in the United States. For me, it is much more than that.

This month, in my eyes, is about remembering where we were (so we never repeat it) and continuing to march into a better future (so we create an even stronger America for all who come after us).

I also think about my own family (my kids). I think about how blessed my children are to be growing up in a world that is far better than the world my grandfather and father grew up in.

In 1962, my grandfather was the first African American to be hired at Pratt & Whitney (https:// prattwhitney.com) in West Palm Beach FL. Pratt & Whitney is an Aerospace and Defense company, so working there in the 60’s was a big deal. At the time, the Senior Vice President of P&W was a gentleman named William T Dwyer. My grandmother cleaned the home for Mr. Dwyer in Palm Beach, and as the story goes, this is how my grandfather came to know him. Mr. Dwyer offered my grandfather  the job as he wanted to try to start integrating his company and he wanted to hire someone he knew. Mr. Dwyer also wanted to hire a person of a certain temperament that he knew could stand up to the daily jabs. 

On my grandfather’s first day at P&W he drove up to the gate to be let in the facility The guard at the gate told him “We don’t allow your kind out here” and would not let him pass. So he went home. Mr. Dwyer called him later that night and asked why he never showed up for work. When my grandfather told him what happened, the guard was reprimanded. 

As he showed up for work the next day, he walked into a facility the size of two football fields with thousands of employees and not one face that looked like his. In the beginning of his career at P&W my grandfather was not allowed to use the same restroom as others. In a facility that size he had one restroom he could use. The rest room was purposely put far away from his work area just to torment him further. If there was an office meeting, he would not be invited to it. He ate alone in the lunchroom (no one would sit with him). There was one water fountain in the entire facility that that he could drink from. 

My grandfather worked at Pratt & Whitney for 30 years, until retirement. When he told me about his time at P&W, I just could not imagine going to a place for 30 years after starting off like he did. He told me that while it started off with no one wanting to talk to him, it ended with lifelong friends, everyone using the same men’s room, lunch buddies and no segregated water fountains.

This month, in my eyes, is about remembering where we were (so we never repeat it) and continuing to march into a better future (so we create an even stronger America for all who come after us).

I am proud of my grandfather for what he endured. I am proud of him because he never gave up. I am proud of him because he passed on that “never say die, never give up,” fight-through-all-adversity attitude to me. I am proud of him because he gave me a legacy to pass on to my kids. 

While we still have many hurdles to get over, we should be proud of the mountains we have climbed to get to where we are today. And when you want to give up, think of my grandfather, who woke up very day going to work in a hostile environment but NEVER gave up. 

JANUARY

• International Holocaust Remembrance
• Poverty in America Awareness Month 

FEBRUARY

• Black History Month 

MARCH

• National Women’s History Month 

APRIL

• Arab American Heritage Month
• Autism Awareness Month 

MAY

• Jewish American Heritage Month
• National Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 

JUNE

• LGBT Pride Month
• Juneteeth 

JULY

• French American Heritage Month 

AUGUST

• National Civility Month 

SEPTEMBER

• Hispanic Heritage Month