As we reflect upon all that has brought us to celebrate this year’s Black History Month, we cannot help but remember all those who gave so much of themselves for the betterment of others. From William Garrison, founder of The Liberator, which called for the emancipation of all slaves in 1831, Joseph Cinque’ who later led a revolt aboard a slave ship and John Quincy Adams who acted as his defense attorney, the prominent abolitionist speaker Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman of the underground railroad, John Brown, a white abolitionist, and countless others since like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. to all those who are fighting for equality still today, nearly four hundred years after the first slave ship arrived to America.

Why it is taking so long for change to come about in our world, I do not know. What I do know is that change, thankfully, has come. In both small and big ways, we find change and growth in both the people and events not only throughout our history, but also in the lives of Black Americans today. We see acceptance and hope, and we see individuals like Oprah Winfrey, President and Michelle Obama, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Denzel Washington, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela, and countless others who are working for change.

Over the past few decades, Black History Month or African-American History Month as it is also called is not only celebrated in America, but also in Canada and the United Kingdom. While it actually began as Negro History Week in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, it has since become a holiday of importance to a great many people, black, white, and otherwise. We are seeing change and growth, no matter how small or big it appears and no matter how long it takes to come about. Take comfort dear friends, as change does occur, but it comes in its own time and way. The key to living more easily throughout it all lies in knowing that change is the only constant in our lives. Pray not for this or that, but for change to come through both wisdom and love.

Sources:

• History.com
• Wikipedia

Related Blog Posts:

• In Memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Friends of Color

Tags: Black Americans, Black History Month, waiting on the world to change