By Lynn Kellogg
I am inspired and energized by Black History Month. It comes just after honoring Dr. Martin Luther King who always inspires with his vigilance and words, compelling one not to fall into “appalling silence” when confronted with inequities.
Additional inspiration comes from The Rotarian magazine’s comparison of Rotary’s values with those of King, and the Detroit Free Press coverage of the reopening of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station and its significance in Black history.
A long-time Rotarian, I’d never thought about the comparison with King, but it fits. Rotary’s focus is humanitarian service at home and internationally. Its values and actions are tested against a 4-way test calling for truth, fairness and benefit to all concerned, and building goodwill and better friendships.
King seeks the truth on injustice to expose it to “the light of human conscience” so it can be cured. In his I Have a Dream speech he referred to America’s “sacred obligation” to equal liberty and justice for all; a statement of fairness to all concerned. His Nobel Prize speech emphasized the importance of “learning the practical art of living in harmony”, reflecting goodwill and better friendship.
These thoughts blended when I read the theme of this year’s Black History Month: African Americans and Labor, followed by a Detroit Free Press article on the Detroit’s Michigan Central Station.
Where did Black History Month come from? The idea stemmed from the Association for Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), birthing the notion of a Black History Week in 1926. Black History Month was proposed by Black educators and Black United Students at Kent State in 1969. The first national celebration was February of 1970.
This year’s theme sets out to highlight and celebrate the potent impact of African American work through the decades, beginning with forced arrival into slavery to today’s highest levels of business and political leadership.
Renovation of the previously derelict Michigan Central Station, once the major train hub for the greater Detroit area and now a cultural hub, holds special significance in Black history. Its role is subject of a newly released PBS documentary “Great Migrations: A People on the Move”, a four-part docuseries telling the story of African American population migrations in the 20th and 21st centuries, emphasizing their impact on America’s development as a nation.
Henry Louis Gates, an award-winning Harvard University professor and creator of the docuseries references Michigan Central, which opened in 1913, as “a portal into the future, a place where rural Southerners became urban Northerners, building new lives in the proverbial promised land.” Of course, he confirms many of the promises weren’t fulfilled as racism and segregation, while not law as in the South, ran deep in the north as well.
Nevertheless, opportunities such as Henry Ford’s 1914 introduction of a $5-a-day wage, twice the minimum wage of that era, drew tens of thousands. Ted Ryan, archives manager for Ford states, “There’s no way to overstate the significance of the Great Migration to the history of Detroit. The population of Detroit in 1910 is 420,000…the population by 1920 is almost a million.”
The doubling growth set Detroit’s place as a manufacturing powerhouse, playing a crucial role making materials for U.S. and allied troops in World War II. The industries fueled Michigan’s economy and gave Black communities a pathway to the middle class, also encouraging political coalescing, which strengthened the civil rights movement.
The positive impact of African American labor on Detroit and Michigan’s growth and economy cannot be overstated.
These are troubled times of uncertainty once again. I am inspired by Black History Month, the resilience of those who have gone before and the interdependence of all efforts. Inspiration and hope come from Dr. King’s vision of a world anchored in justice, equality, and compassion, by Rotary, and so many other organizations and people who live by King’s words.
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
Lynn Kellogg is former CEO of Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Questions on age or independence services? Call the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 800-6542810 or visit areaagencyonaging.org. The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.