ASB is helping to celebrate Black History Month this February! Black History Month is a month to celebrate the achievements and importance of African Americans American history which takes place in February.
Each week, we will be looking at a different prominent African American here starting with Rosa Parks. Additionally, Bradley will be annoucing a quote from the person every few days on everyone's favorite morning annoucements!
Week 5: Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant was born in 1978 in Philadelphia, he was recognized as the best high school basketball player and later was eventually drafted and traded onto the Lakers. There, he led the Lakers team to win 3 consecutive championships and was declared an all-star in his second season. Over his 20 year career, he was an 18-time all-star, 2008 most valuable NBA player, and fourth in all-time scorers. He sadly died in a helicopter crash in 2020 but is still remembered as one of the greatest players of all time and for his other numerous accomplishments.
Week 4: Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth was a Women’s Rights Activist, abolitionist, and author. She was born in 1797 in New York and escaped slavery in 1826. She then preached about abolitionism and equal rights for everyone throughout most of her life, moving thousands of people with her powerful speeches, and even gained an audience with Abraham Lincoln. Historians have since regarded her as one of the most famous human rights activists of that time.
Week 3: James Baldwin
James Baldwin was a novelist and playwright whose books and passion on the subject of race in America made him an important voice in the 1950s and 1960s. He was born in 1924, growing up in poverty in Harlem. Baldwin eventually moved to Paris for 8 years, followed by another period of moving around until finally coming back to the USA in 1957 where he became a very active participant in the civil rights movement sweeping the nations with his books such as Nobody Knows My Name and Another Country which examine racial and sexual issues. Though his later books did not have quite as much success, he was nonetheless a very important voice in the civil rights era.
Week 2: Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929 and championed civil rights and justice through nonviolent methods for most of his life. In 1955, he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted for 382 days, and helped end segregation in buses via a verdict from the Supreme Court. Even though his house was bombed and he was arrested and abused, he continued. Martin Luther King Jr. then spent the next 11 years traveling 6 million miles and speaking thousands of times for protests and peaceful actions against injustice. He then became the youngest person, at 35, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and was sadly assassinated in 1968.
Week 1: Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was born in Alabama in 1913 and lived in Montgomery which was governed by Jim Crow Laws for much of her life. In a now-famous incident in 1953, Rosa Parks courageously disobeyed orders to stand up from her bus seat to make room for a white man. She was then placed into custody, and this sparked a movement to boycott the buses. She then worked with E.D. Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr. to organize the boycott, which was a major success. Even after, she still continued to travel and support civil rights movements for the rest of her life.