I always thought I had a fairly firm grasp on history. I grew up around my father who is an amateur history buff and History Channel documentaries were always playing from our TV. I took all the history classes that I could in high school, and yet when I came to college I realized there were gaping holes in my grasp on history. I am ashamed that I didn’t learn about the following five people until my first-year in college. I believe the following five individuals are some of the most foundational people in our nation’s history.
Please note that this is not meant to be a complete biography, but a reflection of the ease in which people from minority backgrounds can be erased from history. If you do not know, or are still uncertain about, the impacts of the following people, I urge you to do your own research. The dedication and devotion of these five individuals are poignant reminders of the strength of the human spirit.
Thank you to University of Puget Sound Professor Bristow for beginning to dismantle my ignorance.
- Harriet Tubman To be completely honest, I did learn about Harriet Tubman in elementary school. However, it wasn’t until college when I realized the sheer momentousness of her actions. Not only did she help slaves escape on the Underground Railroad 19 times (19 times! Simply escaping once on the Underground Railroad is a feat in itself) but she also worked as a cook, a nurse, a spy (A spy! Don’t say that isn’t badass), and as an avid abolitionist. Bottomline, Tubman deserves her spot on the twenty-dollar bill.
- Ida B. Wells - Again, before coming to college I had heard about Ida B. Wells in a limited capacity. I knew she was a staunch abolitionist, but I didn’t know the extent of her bravery. As editor of the black newspaper The Free Speech and Headlight, Wells exposed her own city of Memphis to the violence against black citizens, primarily through lynching. Although Wells' writing forced her to flee home and continuously placed her in danger, Wells never lost the audacity to write about the injustice around her.
- Anne Moody - Anne Moody is a name I did not hear before college. Whenever the Civil Rights Movement was covered in school, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were the only recognized black activists. While both MLK and Parks were undeniably powerful, influential and arguably deserve more credit than they receive, it is crucial to not overlook the countless other individuals that dedicated their time and risked their lives for the Civil Rights Movement. As a college student at Tougaloo (Mississippi) College, Moody helped organize the influential civil rights organization CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and participated in some of the largest sit-ins at Woolworth’s lunch counter. Because of her work and leadership with CORE, Moody’s life was threatened everyday and yet she continued fighting. I highly encourage everyone read Anne Moody’s autobiography Coming of Age in Mississippi.
- Zora Neale Hurston - Before this year I hadn’t even heard of the Harlem Renaissance writer, Zora Neale Hurston. However, her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God has quickly become my favorite book. Hurston’s writing is so poetic that one’s heart can’t help but cry and she also offers a perspective that is overlooked in 2017. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a masterpiece that can also change their life.
- Shirley Chisholm - As one who is interested in politics, I am perhaps most embarrassed that I hadn’t heard of the name Shirley Chisholm before this year. Calling her a pioneer of politics wouldn’t do this incredible woman justice. Chisholm was the master of "firsts": the first African American congresswoman, the first African American to run for president, and the first to run the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Chisholm didn’t win the democratic nomination (or the presidency) because America was (and still is) terrified of strong, empowered women; however, Chisholm remained adamant as she blatantly addressed this “Double jeopardy.” Her words resonate today, “In the end anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing - anti-humanism.”
