We have come to the end of Black History Month but not without casualties. Allow me to explain why I make such a statement… in a moment. But first, a little… well… history. Black History Month in the United States and Canada is celebrated in February. The U.K., Ireland, and the Netherlands celebrate Black History Month in October. Carter G. Woodson, a scholar who earned a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University and eventually joined the faculty at Howard University, becoming Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, is credited with starting Black History week in 1926. Professor Woodson established the event to be held the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. President Gerald Ford officially recognized the entire month of February as Black History month in 1976.

So, why do I speak of there being “casualties” in this month of celebrating Black History?  I am referring to the current U.S. administration’s disdain for diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is for this reason and this reason only that the first black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown was summarily dismissed three years into a four-year term. The cuts being made by the current administration are as follows: Department of Education - 74 employees let go; 60 of them are Black; Department of Health and Human Services – 1300 new hires were laid off; 20% of the workforce are Black; the Department of Veterans Affairs – 1000 employees lost their jobs; 24% were Black. This is not a complete list of the government agencies and employees that have been or will be affected by this brutal attempt to demonstrate power and the shortsighted, ill-informed methods by which it is wielded.

As I was writing this on the last day of Black History Month, the President of the United States was making an absolute fool of himself in a meeting with The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. You probably have seen this display of incompetence by the current U.S. President and his lap dog Vance. The embarrassment suffered by the United States of America on the world stage by these two incompetent fools is epic.

 Remember we are in this together; as the great Desmond Tutu said, “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

A belated Happy Black History Month. As the philosopher Mr. Rogers said, “You always make each day a special day, by just being you.”

Peace

Al Obert

The New Colossus

Emma Lazarus

1849 –

1887

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”