This text was written by Quintessa Williams for Phrase In Black.
Once we take into consideration the transformative energy of schooling, Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s title and influence stand out.
Referred to as the “Father of Black Historical past,” Woodson’s exceptional contributions to Black historical past proceed to tell and encourage generations of students and college students. On what would’ve been his 149th birthday, we honor Woodson’s life, legacy, and influence.
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A Lifelong Ardour for Training
The mere imparting of data shouldn’t be schooling. Above all issues, the trouble should lead to making a person suppose and do for himself.
Carter G. Woodson, 1933
Born on December 19, 1875, Woodson’s journey started in Virginia because the son of previously enslaved dad and mom. His dad and mom’ emphasis on schooling as a method of liberation sparked his ardour for studying. In opposition to important odds throughout the Jim Crow period, Woodson earned his grasp’s diploma from the College of Chicago in 1908 and a doctorate in historical past from Harvard College in 1912—changing into the second African American to take action, after sociologist and activist W.E.B. Du Bois.
In 1915, recognizing the erasure of Black individuals and their accomplishments from mainstream American historical past narratives, Woodson based the Affiliation of the Research of African American Life and Historical past, a company devoted to finding out and appreciating Black historical past. A decade later, Woodson would go on to ascertain Negro Historical past Week, which finally advanced into as we speak’s Black Historical past Month.
Woodson wished to combine Black historical past into commonplace American schooling, making certain that Black and white college students noticed Black heritage as worthy of studying.
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The Mis-Training of the Negro
While you management a person’s considering you should not have to fret about his actions.
Carter G. Woodson, 1933
In 1933, Woodson printed “The Mis-Training of the Negro,” — a searing however profound critique of the American schooling system’s Eurocentric bias and its damaging influence on Black college students.
He argued {that a} curriculum that distorted or minimized Black historical past led Black college students to internalize detrimental perceptions about their self-worth and potential. Almost a century later, “The Mis-Training of the Negro” nonetheless resonates in trendy discourse about fairness in schooling.
Honoring Woodson’s Legacy
For me, schooling means to encourage individuals to dwell extra abundantly, to be taught to start with life as they discover it and make it higher.
Carter G. Woodson, 1933
Nearly 150 years after his delivery, Woodson’s imaginative and prescient continues to encourage generations. In 2024, as college students, educators, and advocates face challenges, together with makes an attempt to limit classes on systemic racism and ban books by Black authors, efforts like Freedom Colleges, Afrocentric curriculum, and the inclusion of Black voices in historical past textbooks embody Woodson’s enduring values and beliefs.
Whereas the combat for instructional fairness persists, his advocacy reminds us that schooling should function a device for empowerment and liberation.
