Black History Month is celebrated in February because it is the month of Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays. It has nothing to do with it being the shortest month of the year. It was solely picked to honor these two pioneers for abolishing slavery in the United States.
Carter G. Woodson has been remembered for being a forerunner in establishing the honoring and recognition of African Americans’ contributions to the history and foundation of the United States. He founded and established February as Black History Month. Many people felt and still feel that we had no impact on founding and establishing the United States. Though these feelings and attitudes may still exist blacks, African Americans, or Aboriginals had some of the most pivotal impacts on history, medicine, technology, agriculture, etc.
I will mention three more African American pioneers whose contributions to the advancement of fields in the US and currently used abroad impact us in positive ways still today. I am going to start with Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks was an innovator and pioneer in the advancement of cancer research.
Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman born on August 1, 1920. In 1924, when her mother died, she moved in with her grandfather. Henrietta married her husband, David, in 1941. David took a steel mill job at Turner Station in Maryland, which was booming due to the demand from World War II. Because David was doing so well, he sent for Henrietta and her children to join him close to where he was working at Turner Station in Maryland.
Years later, in February 1951, at the age of 31 years old, before the pregnancy of her fifth child, Henrietta started having complications and pains in her body. Several months after her fifth child was born, she was encouraged to go to a gynecologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Upon going to be checked by the specialist, the doctor found out that she had a tumor and, through further testing, that she had cervical cancer.
The issues that Henrietta was having in her body would later make her a pioneer and innovator in the advancement of cancer research. This occurred when they tested Henrietta’s cancer cells. Usually, the cancer cells die in other patients after a short while. Henrietta’s cancer cells doubled every 20 to 24 hours and did not die like other patients’ cells studied at Johns Hopkins Medicine. This rare phenomenon that was going on in her body led to the discovery of immortal cells, or Hela cells. This discovery supported the ability to study the effects of toxins, drugs, hormones, and viruses on the growth of cancer cells without experimenting on humans. This shaped the study of cancer research for many years to come. Henrietta died at the age of 31 despite efforts to treat her cervical cancer, but her legacy lives on.
Granville Woods
Granville Woods was an African American pioneer in engineering. He is also known as “Black Edison.”. Granville was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1856. He was born to free parents during this time in the United States. Granville received little formal education in his youth. This did not stop him from obtaining a lot of experience that would lead him to become a great inventor. He worked as a railroad engineer in a railroad machine shop, as an engineer on a British ship, in a steel mill, and as a railroad worker.
When Granville was in his twenties, from 1876 to 1878, he lived in New York City and began taking courses in engineering and electricity. He would discover that this was his niche. His first invention would be the inductor telegraph, which he created after gaining experience and knowledge working for Dayton and the Southeastern Railway Company.
Granville was called the “Black Edison because his patents were mainly for electrical devices, including his second invention, an improved telephone transmitter. The creation of the “induction telegraph,” or block system, in 1887 allowed men to communicate by voice-over telegraph wires, ultimately helping to speed up important communications and, subsequently, preventing crucial errors such as train accidents. These contributions were very innovative and changed the Railroad industry in many ways that are still used today
Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni is a renowned female African American poet and writer. Nikki was born on June 7, 1941, in Knoxville, Tennessee. She was revolutionary in her efforts to carry the narrative and heart of the civil rights movement. Nikki used her voice, writings, and influence to give a voice to those who felt silenced and their struggles hidden. She has always been an advocate for African American female writers and poets.
Her written work includes Black Feeling Black Talk (1968), and the New York Times best-selling Bicycles: Love Poems (2009). She has written several works of nonfiction and children’s literature and made multiple recordings, including the Emmy-award nominated The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection (2004). Her most recent publications include Make Me Rain: Poems & Prose (2020); Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid (2013); and, as editor, The 100 Best African American Poems (2010) to name a few. Nikki Giovanni has been an advocate for the black voices of women in the world of literature for most of her career. She has always been willing to give a voice to the hidden struggles of black women. She never kept silent about her struggles that were commonplace for so many other black women like her.
African American pioneers and innovators have impacted the United States in influential ways. This is what makes Black History Month so Beautiful!!
References
Biography.com editors. (2021). Granville woods biography. retrieved February 20, 2024. https://www.biography.com/inventors/granville-t-woods
Editors of the encyclopedia. (2024). Nikki giovanni. retrieved February 20, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikki-Giovanni
Etheridge, L. Britannica., (2024). Henrietta lacks: American medical patient. retrieved February 20, 2024 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henrietta-Lacks
John Hopkins Medicine. (2024). The legacy of henrietta lacks. retrieved February 20, 2024 https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henrietta-lacks
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