February’s Black History Month is a great time to expand our knowledge and understanding of the significant impact that Black Americans have had — and continue to have — in shaping this country. Often whitewashed or having its truths and perspectives misrepresented (sometimes deliberately), Black history in the United States is frequently viewed as a sidenote within a White narrative.
Black history is complex, varied and nuanced. It traverses oppression, racism, resilience, resistance, excellence, identity, power, love and joy (all resonating through the past and into today). It needs to become an all-year-round, central part of the curriculum that no longer devalues the impact that Black Americans have had. Progress and greatness in this country are not down to a few exceptions, there are many vital contributors that have played their part in moving this country forward, including some you may not have heard about before …
Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) was the first Black person in America to publish a book of poetry. Enslaved at the age of about seven, Phillis was traded and sold in Boston, Massachusetts, to John Wheatley as a servant for his wife, Susanna. Her incredible wit and intelligence were notable, so much so, that the Wheatley family decided to teach her how to read and write. A mere 16-months after being bought into domestic servitude, Phillis could fluently read English, Greek and Latin and started lessons in theology, mythology and Ancient history. Her first and only published book in 1773, ‘Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral’ was critically acclaimed and served as a pushback to the untrue, yet commonly peddled belief, that Black People were intellectually inferior — a preface signed by 17 prominent White men stating that Phillis was the author of her book had to be included in the print, for example. Phillis’ work was so influential within the colonies that she was asked to meet with George Washington (then the Continental Army Commander) after she sent him several poems to share her support for American Independence (while also actively opposing slavery). Phillis Wheatley was a leading Black voice in literature — you can find out more about her life and work here.
Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was an early civil rights leader, suffragist, educator and investigative journalist. Born into slavery, Ida found work as a teacher at 16 years of age to provide for her remaining 5 siblings after her parents and one brother died of yellow fever. In 1892 she became editor and co-owner of ‘Free Speech and Headlight‘, a hugely influential Memphis-based Black newspaper that championed the fight for racial equality, civil rights and an end to White violence. It was here she reported on lynchings in America and aimed to document and expose this kind of racial terror used against the Black community. This exposĂ© outraged many local White people who then lead sustained threats against her life. They were so relentless, Ida had to move to Chicago for her own safety. It was there in 1913 that she set up the Alpha Suffrage Club, the first Black female group of its kind in Chicago, to make sure African American women were an active voice within a movement that centred White women and their fight to win the right to vote. There is so much more to discover about Ida B. Wells and the many things she accomplished in her lifetime — you can find out more about this incredible, fearless and driven woman here.
Claudette Colvin (1939-present) was just fifteen years old in 1955 when she was handcuffed and arrested for refusing to surrender her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus for a White woman — nine months before Rosa Parks did the same. Expressing her views clearly that she had paid her fare and it was her constitutional right to sit in her seat, Claudette became the first Black person to actively challenge the citywide segregated bus ordinance that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. A fierce proponent for civil rights and a Youth Council NAACP member, she was overlooked as a figurehead for the movement because of her young age (which lead to her significance going largely unnoticed for decades) — you can find out more about her protest here.
Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) was an openly gay civil rights movement leader and gay rights activist. He organized the historic 1963 March on Washington, attended by approximately a quarter-million people, where Martin Luther King, Jr (MLK) gave his famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. It was Rustin, a lifelong pacifist who impressed upon MLK in 1956 at a meeting about the Montgomery Bus Boycott that nonviolence should be a foundation of their approach to the civil rights movement (which was adopted). Rustin’s exceptional skills at strategizing, policy-making and supervising events became critical to mobilizing vast numbers of people within the movement, a tactic that proved important in affecting the most change — you can find out more about Bayard Rustin’s life and work here.
KimberlĂ© Crenshaw (1959-present) is a full-time law professor, civil rights activist and leading scholar in constitutional law, race and gender equality and critical race theory. The principles of intersectionality were established by Crenshaw over 30 years ago to focus on how issues of race, religion, class, sexuality, ability and gender, for example, often converge to create varying types of discrimination or privilege. Being a Black, gay woman, for example, possesses a number of distinct identities (race + sexuality + gender) that encounter their own prejudices (racism + homophobia + sexism) which overlap and generate diverse lived experiences of oppression. The theory of intersectionality realizes that addressing underlying societal problems cannot be achieved if the varied systems of oppression that uphold them are regarded as singular and separate. Crenshaw’s work has pushed forward our understanding of how deeply connected social issues are — you can find out more about her work here.
There is a lot more to be shared about the people included here (this was just a quick introduction). If you’ve not heard of any of these trailblazers before, I would encourage you to follow the links provided throughout this article and pursue your own research into their lives and work. There is so much to learn, honour, celebrate and commemorate during Black History Month, this is just a start …
Further Info:
6 Myths About The History of Black People In America – Vox
Digital Black History Events – Smithsonian Magazine (several events available throughout February that are admission free but may require registration)
The 2021 Black History Month Virtual Festival – ASALH (many free events available and open to the public)
Contact the Department of Education (US) or find your Representatives to call for Black History to be taught nationwide at all educational levels as an evidence-based, robust, nuanced and well-resourced year-round core curriculum subject.
transatlantic | notes 
They were incredibly brave. So inspiring.
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100% agree — remarkable and worthy or recognition.
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Excellent post! I really enjoyed your informative, yet concise summaries for each figure! You have a great writing for fact based writings by the way – each summary was interesting to read!
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Thank you! It was hard to summarize such great lives and work, and I’m cognizant of what I left out, but I hoped that what I did share would encourage readers to further delve into researching more about these incredible people. I’m so glad you stopped by!
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I loved reading this! So many incredible stories I had no idea about. Thank you for sharing these, I have some further reading to do! 🙂
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I’m so glad you enjoyed reading about these amazing trailblazers!
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I hadn’t heard of any of these people so this was really useful. I’m going to start reading up about Ida Wells.
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True trailblazers — I hope you enjoy finding out more about them. Thanks for reading!
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That was a wonderful read. These are absolute icons who deserve to be celebrated. They will never be forgotten. Thank you for this post.
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They are/were incredible and it was a privilege to learn/write about them. Thanks for stopping by!
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Wow! Thank you for sharing this post! So informative and I love that you included a lot of links to read more about it! Thank you for sharing x
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There is so much more to these incredible trailblazers so it was great finding some useful links to expolore further. Thanks so much for stopping by!
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Wow, an inspiring read! I had heard of Kimberlé Crenshaw but not the others. Incredibly brave people!
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So very brave and driven and immeasurably important — it was great to learn and write about them! Thanks for stopping by!
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Oh I loved this – so interesting to find out some more about the people history overlooked. They were so brave, and so inspirational as well with everything they undertook. Thanks for sharing!
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I agree — they are all so incredibly important and worthy of being known and shared. Their lives and work made an immeasurable difference. Thanks for reading!
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It was so filling to read about people mainstream media and history books do not reveal to us. I know of Ida B. Wells and Phillis Wheatley due to my usual perusing of my dictionary, but the others were new to me. Often history does not recognize it was people before Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks who inspired THEM to do what they did.
Thanks so much for sharing this powerful lesson.
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There are so many incredible people who inspired some other trailblazers and civil rights icons so they definitely deserve to be shared. Thank you for reading!
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Thank you for this wonderful introduction and the informative snippets of their individual stories. I’d only heard of Claudette Colvin prior to reading this x
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I’m s glad to hear you found it interesting and useful — some truly amazing trailblazers!
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I loved reading this and finding out about so many brave and inspirational people! Thanks for sharing!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed reading — thanks for stopping by!
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Could not agree more that school syllabuses need to be modified to reflect a broader understanding of different historical narratives. All of these figures were incredible, and I’m so glad you’ve brought them to a wider, deserving attention, lovely post
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Exactly — all of these narratives are part of how history shapes today and they must be included. These trailblazers were/are vital and they need their lives and work to be widely shared. Thanks so much for reading!
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This is such an interesting post. I’d never heard of any of these people, but they’re all incredible. It’s incredibly depressing how white-washed history is; education in the UK is no better, colonisation is BARELY mentioned and not in any sort of depth xx
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It’s unconscionable that the UK still has not fully reconciled with it’s colonialism and the devastating impact this had (worldwide). I hope that will soon change! I’m glad you found this interesting and informative — thank you for reading!
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Some great information, it’s evident you’ve done plenty of research into these figures! Lovely post, thank you for sharing 🙂
Anika |
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It was a great experience to delve into the lives and work of these amazing people! Thank you so much for stopping by!
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This was an incredible post. Thank you for sharing and educating me about these phenomenal people!
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I am glad you enjoyed reading it and found out about these incredible trailblazers!
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Beautifully written and summarised! I actually know all of these as I have studied them previously, but it is always good to research and look into the history. I am always fascinated by all history so thank you for this x
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It is encouraging to hear you already knew about the trailblazers highlighted here. It is good to know that more and more people are becoming aware of the historical importance of Black history. Thank you so much for reading!
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This is such an amazing post, and so well written. I hadn’t heard of any of these people before, so thank you for educating me xx
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I am so happy that you have found out about these great people — they deserve their accolades. Thanks for reading!
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I haven’t heard of some of these people so it was really interesting and insightful to read about them all – thanks for sharing xx
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I’m so glad that you found this interesting and you got to find out about these amazing trailblazers!
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What an interesting read! Although they are not popularly known, their life and work are so inspiring. Thank you for sharing. It was wonderful reading it.
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They are so inspiring, it was fascinating to learn about them and be able to share their incredible lives and work.
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My heart both ached and was inspired reading these stories. Thank you so much for introducing me to these amazing people!
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Mine too — it was incredible to delve into the research to write this article and find out more about these trailblazers!
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This is such an informative post! I only knew about Ida B. Wells involvement in the civil rights movement, and I recently learned about Claudette Colvin & how she refused to give up her seat before Rosa Parks, but she was overlooked because of her age. In my master’s program I learned about intersectionality, but I didn’t recall that KimberlĂ© Crenshaw was behind the theory. It was also wonderful learning about Phillis Wheatley & how she was the first black person in the US to publish poetry & Bayard Rustin & how he was openly gay & organized the March on Washington.
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It’s so great that you’ve encountered more and more about some of these amazing people. They were true trailblazers and deserve to be known for their work. I’m glad you got to find out about some you hadn’t heard of before too — thank you so much for reading!
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& thank you for sharing!
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Love this post! Kimberle Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality particularly inspired me when I was a student at UCLA. It puts so much lived experience into theory.
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Exactly! Her work on this is inspirational and groundbreaking that speak to many issues society faces today. I had to include her in this as she is incredible. Thanks for reading!
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