As we look back on all of the accomplishments and contributions of African-American people across the world. One must consider that African-American people have survived the test of time. African Americans should be proud and very grateful to their mighty ancestors for all of their struggles and not giving up on freedom and justice. Sometimes we forget about all of the sacrifices that were made by African Americans in order for them to be recognized as full citizens of the United States of America. African-American people fought in the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. You would think that African Americans would be very bitter and refuse to fight for the United States. However, African-American people became some of the most loyal patriots of the United States of America.
The scars of slavery will never completely heal and it's very important to realize that an injustice was done to people of African decent on the shores of America. Looking back on the journey from Africa to the United States were millions of African people, who were forced into the bottom of slave ships and kidnapped from their homeland. These same African people were treated like cattle or livestock, sold for rum and sugar, picked cotton, raped, lynched, and treated like non-humans for over 400 years. Out of adversity comes greatness.
People like Fredrick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, and many more African-American leaders emerged to help African people work on their liberation from slavery. Subjecting people to slave conditions and depriving people of the basic human rights to read or write is very damaging to a people's self-development over time. In spite of all the constraints placed on African slaves, they were able to persevere. The African slaves had a vision of freedom because they were free in their homeland. The American people should always be grateful for the many contributions that former African slaves made to this great country.
There were times when most people would give up and just roll over but the spirit of the African people would not allow them to surrender. Surrender meant giving up on the next generation and everyone should want to make things better for their offspring. I'm not sure how the African slaves held up under such extreme conditions but only God knows what he had in store for them.
If people would take a serious look and this dark period in American history, I'm sure everybody would have a deeper appreciation for the former slaves. To rise up and become intellectuals, property owners, inventors, doctors and lawyers, to build strong families, and become preachers and entertainers when everything was taken away from you in the beginning represents what's real about Black History Month. Black History Month provides everybody in the world with a window into the lives of African-American pioneers and pacemakers that had overcome adversity on all levels. That's why Black History Month is real!