Black History Month: Celebrating OUR History and Reminding Us of Greatness

I was reflecting on Black History Month and I thought I would share a something that reminds me that Black History Month is not Just about the history of African Americans in the US. It is a proud history, one with some mistakes and harm. It is also a celebration "overcoming" and trying to make things right by celebrating champions, heroes, and people who contribute to OUR history.

?Before starting my “retirement” career teaching at Clemson University and now Anderson University (SC) , I ran consulting firms and served in executive roles in healthcare organizations leading hospital strategy and human resources functions. In healthcare we celebrate many heroes, who just happen to be African American from the doctor, Dr Charles Drew, who improved blood transfusion to Dr. Ben Carson, one of the greatest neurosurgeons of our time. In one of my past organizations, during Black History Month, we had a posting/interview each day from a different employee or executive identifying a hero. It was away to not just focus on events, but to celebrate specific people who made our country, not perfect, but great.

We would provide a short, simple interview by one of one of our executives or employees from a communications team member and it would shared across internal communications and social media. It was a gentle reminder that Black History Month isn’t a “thing” or an event, but its OUR history, woven into the American psyche like freedom, liberty, God;?It should be celebrated. The sharing of heroes also raises the awareness for people in our organizations of history that might have been forgotten (or hidden). Below, I have attached my last posting below as a sample. I think if would be great if other organizations began this practice of recognizing or sharing heroes as a way to inspire us in the workplace and remind us that there or voices that shaped out nation from all races. It is a way to remind us of WHO WE COME FROM.

?I hope it is useful and stimulates some thoughts and inspires other leaders to do something similar in their workplaces.

Interview with Dr Richard Ray on Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman, Aviator, Pioneer, Obstacle-Breaker & Hero

?Communications Director: Dr. Ray, thanks for being with us and sharing your Hero of the Day.

?Dr. Ray: My pleasure. I think it is great that we are reminding our staff of some really important people who have trailblazed. To be clear not African American trailblazers, but American Trailblazers. So often we like to divide people into boxes and categorize them – doctors vs nurses, administrative vs clinical, poor vs rich, and so forth. A hospital is not operated by ONE of these groups, it is all of us working together to make things better. While will do celebrate African American voices during this month, we must remind ourselves that while we celebrate people with a certain history, we should also remember that it is ALL of OUR history that is celebrated.

?Communications Director: Cool, So what voice or person are you celebrating today and why?

?Dr. Ray: there are s lot to choose from in healthcare and here in Albany, GA, but I have decided to celebrate Bessie Coleman.

?Communications Director: Who is BESSIE COLMAN?

?Dr. Ray: Bessie was a pioneer in aviation. She was the first African American woman with a pilot's license, the first African American woman to fly a plane, and the first American with an international pilot's license. She was also an entrepreneur and avid learner.?She lived from?January 26, 1892?to April 30, 1926.

Her family was sharecroppers like mine and Ms. Coleman worked in the cotton fields. Her dad was half Cherokee and her mother was African American. Her dad wasn’t around but her very strong, hardworking mom taught her kids that learning was important, but often they had to miss school to pick cotton. She saved money and paid for her first year of college.

When she dropped out of school after a semester, she returned home, working as a laundress. She went to beauty school, and became a manicurist. After WWI, her brothers regaled her with tales of French women flying planes in World War I. She tried to enroll in aviation school, but was turned down. It was the same story with other schools where she applied. She was encouraged her to go to France to study flying there. She got a new position managing a chili restaurant to save money while studying French at the Berlitz school. Bessie Coleman was accepted in a flying school, and received her pilot's license—the first African American woman to do so. After two more months of study with a French pilot, she returned to New York in September, 1921. There, she was celebrated in the Black press and was ignored by the mainstream press.

Wanting to make her living as a pilot, Bessie Coleman returned to Europe for advanced training in acrobatic flying—stunt flying. She found that training in France, in the Netherlands, and in Germany. She returned to the United States in 1922. She announced her intent to start a flying school for African Americans, and began recruiting students for that future venture. She started a beauty shop in Florida to help raise funds. She also regularly lectured at schools and churches.

Bessie Coleman landed a movie role in a film called?Shadow and Sunshine, thinking it would help her promote her career.?She walked away when she realized that the depiction of her as a Black woman would be as an uneducated, tattered-clothes wearing, bent over, subservient person that would reinforce negative stereotypes of black people.?She walked away because she was proud of who she was and people like her who struggled, overcame and made a new way. She later died in a plane crash and nearly ten thousand peopled attended her funeral, but mainstream media ignored it.

Communications Director: Wow, that is really interesting that she did so much, but we don’t know about her.

?Dr. Ray: And she is someone we should know about. She broke a lot of barriers, she raised her own money for flight school, she taught herself French so she could attend flight school. She challenged a system that said she could not fly. She dedicated her life helping others overcome obstacles. She defined her path and did not let ignorance, bias, prejudice, or the government stop her. A real Hero, A real Inspiration.

?Communications Director: Well, thank you for your time, Dr. Ray. Very informative. I am going to share story with my teenage daughter tonight.