If we can reflect on the past, and celebrate the accomplishments of those who have gone on before, then there is only one thing left to do. That one thing is to imprint into the minds of our young that they have a blood stained banner of achieving against the odds to carry and failure is not an option for them. If they celebrated the achievements of Harriet Tubman, Mary Mcleod Bethune, Madame C.J. Walker, and Sojourner Truth, they would honor Black women and be ready to fight anyone, Black or white, who belittled them. If we reflected on the past we would know that we were the builders of America just as we had built great kingdoms in Africa, like Timbuktu and the Pyramids we built in Egypt, and Mesopotamia, and the great kingdoms of Ghana in Africa.

Recently I watched a program on the Christian television network honoring African American History and its relation to God. I watched as famed Florida lawyer, Willie Gary, told of the millions of dollars he had made and how he gives credit to those who went before him to pave the way so he could rise from a poor farm boy who struggled to get an education and become a great lawyer. Great, not because he has made a lot of money, but great because he understands that he must look back to say thanks to, and give honor to, those who sacrificed so that he could proceed forward. He is great because he understands that after looking back he has to reach back and bring someone else along. He said that the only time we should look down on someone is when we are looking down to grab hold of and pull someone up.

On that same show was the great basketball player, Meadowlark Lemon, from the famed Harlem Globetrotters. He reminded us that Athletes and entertainers are role models for our young whether they want to be or not. He told the reality and pain of being able to play ball and entertain in some towns, but not being able to eat in the restaurants. He told of having to change clothes and sleep on the bus because they could not sleep or eat in public hotels and restaurants, because of the color of their skin. They never gave up, they showed up, and with the talent that God gave them, they played anyway, with dignity, until people with names like Dr. Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Roy Wilkins, and thousands of others with unknown names joined the Civil Rights movement and they made things better.

Another guest on the show was an actor from the Martin Television Show. In response to the same question about whether athletes and entertainers were role models, he said when he was growing up, "A male with drooping earrings and funny colored hair was called a sissy, but because some entertainers today wear these things young people think it is Ok. That makes them role models."

This Black History Month, let’s celebrate our history as we build a new generation of heroes and role models for tomorrow’s history.

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