Page 2 The Skanner BLACK HISTORY EDITION February 21, 2018
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Opinion
Frederick Douglass. Con-
doleezza Rice. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Clarence Thomas. Ida
B. Wells. Shirley Chisholm.
All of these leaders will re-
ceive renewed national atten-
tion during this Black History
Month. And all have some-
thing else in common: their
emphasis on education.
None of these leaders would
have been able to achieve the
remarkable victories or over-
come the incredible obstacles
they faced without an educa-
tion.
I share their passion for ed-
ucation equality. I’ve fought
for it all my life.
My own battle started in
1961, when I joined 25 other
Black students to integrate a
segregated junior high school
in Richmond, Virginia. And
it hasn’t stopped since. I fer-
vently believe all children —
no matter their race, religion,
income, age, or address —
have an equal right to receive
an excellent education.
That’s more than opinion.
It’s the law of the land. In the
landmark Brown v. Board of
Education ruling that ended
school segregation, Chief Jus-
tice Earl Warren wrote, “It is
doubtful that any child may
reasonably be expected to
succeed in life if he is denied
the opportunity of an edu-
cation. Such an opportunity,
Kay Coles
James
Pres., The
Heritage
Foundation
where the state has under-
taken to provide it, is ‘a right
which must be made available
to all on equal terms.’”
Nearly 65 years later, how-
ever, it’s painfully obvious
that education in America
remains very unequal. Too
many schools are failing their
students. Schools that squash
children’s dreams, beat down
their hopes, and diminish
their expectations have cre-
ated a crisis in the Black com-
munity. Today, in many large
U.S. cities, more than half of
all African American stu-
dents never graduate high
school.
All children deserve to get
the tools they need to make
their dreams come true. But
high school dropouts typical-
ly don’t have them. As a result,
it’s much harder for them to
get a job, much less earn what
those who do graduate make.
They’re also more likely to
commit crimes and be victim-
ized by crime. Far too often,
the dreams they once had
turn into nightmares.
I was fortunate. Even though
I was kicked, punched, and
stuck with pins during the
integration battle, I was able
to attend a better school. Too
many kids today don’t have
that chance. Instead, anti-re-
form forces block them from
going to better-performing
schools.
Who are the anti-reform-
ers? A determined cartel of
teacher unions, education
bureaucrats and career pol-
“
All children
deserve to get
the tools they
need to make
their dreams
come true
iticians. They make a lot of
money from the current
system in the form of union
dues, salaries and political
contributions. And they view
any attempt to change that
system as a threat and anyone
seeking to advance education
equality as their enemy.
Just ask U.S. Secretary of
Education Betsy DeVos. Testi-
fying before Congress, DeVos
explained her goal is “ensur-
ing that every student has an
equal opportunity to receive
a great education.” But rather
than be hailed for seeking the
equality promised decades
ago, she’s being attacked by
those who want things to stay
just as they are.
If you are wealthy, connect-
ed, or elected, chances are
your child goes to or gradu-
ated from a great school. But
if you live in a poor urban
neighborhood, your child is
much more likely to go to a
failing school, a school where
more than half of all students
can’t read or write well, have
low math scores, face the dai-
ly threat of bullying and vio-
lence and won’t graduate.
Do these sound like “equal
terms” to you?
I say — no more! The crisis
of failing schools has afflict-
ed too many Americans for
too long, and it will never
end so long as we continue to
deny every child their equal
right to an excellent educa-
tion.
And so I call on all caring
Americans to join me in this
fight. It’s a part of our heri-
tage as a people — and of our
inalienable rights as citizens
of this nation.
Kay Coles James is president
of The Heritage Foundation.
You can follow Kay on Twitter
@KayColesJames.
The Hidden History of Black Nationalist Women’s
Political Activism
(THE
CONVERSATION)
Black History Month is an
opportunity to reflect on the
historical contributions of
Black people in the United
States. Too often, however,
this history focuses on Black
men, sidelining Black women
and diminishing their contri-
butions.
This is true in mainstream
narratives of Black nation-
alist movements in the Unit-
ed States. These narratives
almost always highlight the
experiences of a handful of
Black nationalist men, includ-
ing Marcus Garvey, Malcolm
X and Louis Farrakhan.
Contrary to popular con-
ceptions, women were also
instrumental to the spread
and articulation of Black na-
tionalism — the political view
that people of African descent
constitute a separate group
on the basis of their distinct
culture, shared history and
experiences.
As I demonstrate in my new
book, “Set the World on Fire,”
Black nationalist movements
would have all but disap-
peared were it not for women.
What’s more, these women
laid the groundwork for the
generation of Black activists
who came of age during the
Keisha N.
Blain
University of
Pittsburgh
Civil Rights-Black Power era.
In the 1960s, many Black ac-
tivists — including Ella Bak-
er, Fannie Lou Hamer, Robert
F. Williams, Malcolm X and
Stokely Carmichael – drew on
these women’s ideas and po-
“
secretary and co-founder.
Her efforts were invaluable
to the success of the associa-
tion, which became the most
influential Black nationalist
organization of the 20th cen-
tury. The organzation’s earli-
est meetings were held at the
home of Ashwood’s parents.
When the organization’s
headquarters relocated from
Jamaica to Harlem, Ashwood
was actively engaged in its af-
fairs.
In addition to serving as
general secretary in the New
Contrary to popular conceptions,
women were also instrumental
to the spread and articulation of
Black nationalism
litical strategies.
So, let’s use this Black His-
tory Month to begin to set the
record straight.
The Universal Negro Im-
provement Association
In 1914, when the Jamaican
Black nationalist Marcus Gar-
vey launched the Universal
Negro Improvement Associ-
ation, Amy Ashwood — who
later became his first wife —
was the organization’s first
York office, Ashwood helped
to popularize the Negro
World, the organization’s
official newspaper. She also
contributed to the financial
growth of the organization,
relying on her parents’ mon-
ey to meet some of the grow-
ing expenses.
In 1922, months after Gar-
vey’s divorce from Amy Ash-
wood, Amy Jacques became
Garvey’s new wife — a posi-
tion she used to leverage her
involvement and leadership
in the organization. During
these years, she helped to
popularize and preserve her
husband’s ideas. When her
husband was imprisoned in
1925 and later deported — on
trumped-up charges of mail
fraud orchestrated by the FBI
— Amy Jacques Garvey over-
saw the organization’s day-to-
day activities.
In the aftermath of Garvey’s
1927 deportation, women
helped to popularize Black
nationalist politics. With lim-
ited financial resources and
resistance from the FBI, these
women asserted their polit-
ical power in various cities
across the United States.
The Peace Movement of
EthiopiaDuring the Great De-
pression, Chicago was one of
the key cities where black na-
tionalist women organized.
In 1932, Mittie Maude Lena
Gordon, a former member of
the Universal Negro Improve-
ment Association, established
an organization called the
Peace Movement of Ethiopia
which became the largest
Black nationalist organiza-
tion established by a woman
See ACTIVISM on page 3
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