This piece was written by a student at Hollenbeck Middle School as part of a 7th-grade class project.
Black History Month is celebrated every February to highlight and celebrate important African American figures. Some are famous for fighting for equal rights. Others for educating new generations on how not to be racist. I’ve chosen to highlight three important African American figures who have impacted American history.
RUBY BRIDGES
At the age of 6, Ruby Bridges attended an all-white school in the South. On November 14th, 1960, she was escorted by four federal officers into segregated William Frantz Elementary School. This was due to hundreds of white Americans gathering to protest her attendance at the school, yelling and calling her names. The US President at the time sent federal officers to protect 6-year-old Ruby from the violence.
This moment in history became so important that 44th US President Barack Obama had a painting of the scene in the Oval Office during his presidency, and he even met with Bridges herself. Ruby Bridges is important because she desegregated Frantz Elementary School and for her bravery that helped other kids and their parents do the same.
Her dream was to teach younger generations to stop judging others by their skin color and race and for everyone to be treated equally. She has written several children’s books to make it easier to teach new generations how not to discriminate so other kids don’t go through the same experience as her.
HARRIET TUBMAN
Harriet Tubman was an enslaved woman from the South who became a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad during the 1800s. The Underground Railroad was not an actual train track. Instead, it was an organization of people that secretly helped African Americans gain their freedom by guiding them to northern states like Pennsylvania. Having already experienced slavery, she risked losing her freedom but didn’t want others to experience what she went through.
Harriet Tubman is important to Black History Month because she guided more than 300 hundred slaves into freedom by going back and forth. At that time, trying to escape was punishable by death. Tubman showed the world that one person can make a huge difference. Like 6-year-old Ruby, Harriet inspired courage and determination.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most famous when it comes to Black History Month. He is most known for his famous Washington D.C. speech in 1963. He participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and organized the televised Selma March. His actions helped pass the Civil Rights Act in 1964, which outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. He also won a lot of awards and recognition all over the world for his nonviolent activism.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was to get equal rights because he didn’t want his community or other people of color to be mistreated, stating in a speech he hoped to “…one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”.
We can all celebrate people of different backgrounds because of the actions of people like these individuals who gave it their all to achieve their dreams. Black History Month is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the achievements that African Americans have made for this country and inspire new generations to come.
