by Love & Struggle Team
Celebrate Black Excellence!
As we embark into Black History Month 2021, let us never forget the resilience of Black folks to “still be here” to forge an existence in a land that never wanted them. We thank Dr. Carter G. Woodson for creating “Negro History Week” in 1926 which later grew into Black History Month. We must always lift up our past, reflect on the lessons learned as a people and fight for the liberation of the Universal Black Family here in the United States.
Each day of this month, we will provide a Black History Month Quote for the restoration of the collective mind, body and spirit of the Black Masses.
“…no group moves en masse to a predetermined goal. There are advances and retreats, brilliant victories and stunning defeats. The battle goes on for decades against rain and fire and storm and hate. There are mountains to climb and rivers to cross and enemies on all sides – and – within. Individuals rise from the masses; a group breaks through here and there, but the people flow on like a great slow-moving river. Like a mass of sluggish hot lava, like a flock of sheep or a thundering herd of cattle, the people advance and retreat, break through and are thrown back. Dark nights follow dark nights and the valley of the mind, where all great battles are fought, reverberates with the screams and groans of the dying and defeated. The people halt on a dry level place and regroup; stragglers drop out; the timid go over to the enemy; straws are clutched, dope or drink or god or sex, each man or woman clutching according to different lights. In the rear, the leaders confer. New maps are drawn, new roads are made and scouts are dispatched. Men rest on their arms for a spell, drop their guards and are hurled back by violent counterattack. The battle begins again and goes on, night and day, day and night.”
Lerone Bennett Jr
African American Scholar
1928-2018
Lerone Bennett Jr was an African-American scholar, author and social historian, known for his analysis of race relations in the United States. His best-known works include Before the Mayflower (1962) and Forced into Glory (2000), a book about U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He served as the executive editor of Ebony for almost forty years. His written work deftly explored the history of race relations in the United States as well as the current environment in which African Americans strive for equality.