A Series of essays....
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| DRIVEWAY CHALK ART BY MY GRANDCHILDREN, DATED APRIL 3, 2020, DURING THE INITIAL MONTHS OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. |
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
A Select List of February Monthly Holidays and Observances:
- Chinese New Year
- Groundhog Day
- Valentine’s Day
- President’s Day
- Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday
- Black History Month
- American Heart Month
- Friendship Month
- Library Lovers Month
- Chocolate Lovers Month
- National Dental Month
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, coupled with the personal confinement of this COVID-laced world we live in, we have learned how to be a bit more creative when it comes to celebrating this year. Yes, a bit less adventurous, yet more open-minded and realistic allowing us to see and love the world in a much deeper sense while retaining the romantic value of a heart-shaped box of chocolates and freshly cut roses.
I’ve always been a hopeless romantic and can visualize its potential in everything, every place, and everyone I know or hope to meet one day! You might say it began with formal tea parties with stuffed animals which grew into tiny, porcelain tea cups adorned with hand-painted roses and filled with water poured from a matching teapot to be shared with my friends on a sunny front porch in late June. When I close my eyes the smell of ginger delights my senses as I recall the crisp snap of the tea cookies we’d eat with our cuppa tea.
As a young wife I would create a full Bed-and-Breakfast feast for my husband on weekend mornings when we’d sit and discuss our future and where we hoped to travel to when financially possible. Oh, I was definitely the dreamer, the romantic back in the day while Dan struggled to maintain the realism required to keep us stable with feet planted firmly on the ground. Thank goodness!
In our own way, Dan and I kept our dreams alive, our goals intact, and learned throughout the years how to mesh our ideas together and create a life that satisfied both of us. Eventually, this included two daughters who broadened our circle of love and helped shape our close knit family for many years.
Today, I find it highly appropriate that this special day of sharing love is sandwiched right in the middle of the shortest month of the year and serves to anchor, balance if you will, Black History Month. Carter G. Woodson, known as the ‘Father of Black History,’ dedicated his career to the field of African American history and lobbied extensively to establish Black History Month.
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DR. CARTER G. WOODSON |
Dedicating himself to the field of African American history after being the second African American to receive his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, Doctor Woodson authored numerous books during his career which include A Century of Negro Migration (1918), The History of the Negro Church (1921), and The Negro in Our History (1922). You might say he was a bit of a romantic and a dreamer, as well!
Biography Newsletter notes that Doctor Woodson “lobbied schools and organizations to participate in a special program to encourage the study of African American history, which began in February 1926 with Negro History Week and choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglas and President Abraham Lincoln.” The program was soon expanded and renamed Black History Month.
It wasn’t until fifty years later that President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976. He called upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Growing up a young, white female in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, the plight of the Black Americans touched me in one way or another every day of my life. You see, for some reason I can’t totally explain, I never saw humans categorized by their color or religion. Eventually, I did come to the realization that others did. Perhaps it was my strict Catholic upbringing by many diverse and honorable nuns who taught that God does not see His children through a lens of color or stigmatized by a particular religious belief. May God bless these ladies with His love and grace!
Alongside the Black achievements throughout history we were taught in school, it was the Black struggle that etched its mark on me, especially in the early 1960’s. The peace, love, and kindness displayed by Dr. Martin Luther King and his close followers helped to meld the radical Black groups, fists held high in pride and protest, with the gentle nature of Doctor King and his beliefs of how to genuinely portray the Black struggle with head held high and ideals held even higher!
Did I fully understand the blending of Woman’s Rights, Black struggles, and the beginnings of Gay Rights emerging as the common threads weaving their way through an unpopular war being played out in a country called Viêtnam? My entire college career was based upon and centered around all of the above struggles with the hope of achieving progress by embracing their cause and understanding their history.
I have always embraced being a product of the 1960’s and influenced by the particular circumstances of each cause presented to my generation. Sadly, after centuries have passed, we continue to struggle with all of these issues while time has proven that multiple generations have unsuccessfully passed through the eye of the needle and into the Kingdom of Acceptance and Love.
Today, I remember that little girl passing out small cups of tea and plates of cookies to her friends on a sunny afternoon and cherish the memory of an innocent moment dictated by a splash of etiquette and whimsy. How proud she would soon be to know that her ultimate ideals will include the betterment of ALL lives while holding on to the notion that this knowledge can and should be shared with everyone.
Because of my beliefs and the passing of time, I already knew how life was filled with strife and adversity; to love and be loved leaves us vulnerable, susceptible to temptation, and being wounded both physically and emotionally. But, who knew that the month of February could contain so much knowledge, history, celebration, and love all crammed into the shortest month of the year?
As I make the coffee and bake an apple Dutch Baby pancake for my particular Love this Sunday morning, I will remember the little girl, college student, young wife and mother, career woman, and friend I’ve become to others via the passing of time. I will be grateful for the numerous accomplishments, as well as the personal strife that have served to shape the person I am today.
We have so much to be proud of during this month. I encourage you to take time to rejoice in the dedication of people like Carter G. Woodson for keeping the achievements and struggles of Black people alive and strong. Be prepared to stretch this one month of Hope and Love throughout the remaining eleven months of the year and share the positive results with those you love every day of your life. Let’s make each day another Valentine’s Day and give Groundhog Day a bit of a rest.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Stay safe and healthy and protect the people you love. This defines Romanticism for me.
Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
Photos Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
