Mary Eliza Mahoney, born free from slavery before the U.S. slavery emancipation, became a nurse and, against the odds, the first African American to earn a professional nurse license. She exemplifies greatness, hard work, perseverance, and empathy. Beyond her professional career as a nurse, she advocated for education, the care of black orphan children, and women’s rights.
Through her investigative journalism, Ida B. Wells-Barnett exposed the brutal reality of lynching. Wells-Barnett’s activism empowered African Americans to resist and organize against lynching. She encouraged community solidarity, boycotts, and legal challenges. Her legacy inspired future civil rights leaders.
Bessie Coleman was the first African American Woman licensed to pilot an aircraft defying racial and gender barriers in 1921. Her story lives on with the academy she wanted to open up, but unfortunately died before carrying it out.
February is not only about Valentine’s Day, chocolate, advocacy for the heart (American Heart Month), or the latest pop trend from Parks & Recreation, Galentine’s Day. This is a time to enhance our knowledge of the African Americans who helped shape this country and have been nearly missing from school history books.
There are so many historical African American figures that we need to make as popular as Benjamin Franklin and Amelia Earhart, who have not received enough recognition for how they shaped the culture and history in America. I truly love History and this is a blog where I write what inspires me to keep learning and be a better person.
