Black American Heritage: Observing Start Of Black History Month

Dozens gathered inside Springfield City Hall on Saturday to reflect on the many victories which emerged from the Civil Rights era, while not neglecting the fact that to many in the black community, the struggle continues.The crowd of nearly 50 was as diverse as the collective of people represented by the term "black community." There were people of various ages, professions, and a variety of countries of origin. But everyone came together to raise the Black American Heritage Flag and to kick off Black History Month.

At the center of the celebration was Dr. Ruth B. Loving, a 99-year-old city resident who is as well known for being the mother of the Civil Rights fights in Springfield as she's known for being a fiery, yet sweet and brilliant fixture in Western Massachusetts.

                                  

              

         

           

              

"It's been a long, long road and here we are. For 28 years we've been renewing what a great man Martin Luther King was," Loving said. "For 28 years we've flown this flag. But for the African-American community, the black American community, it's still a struggle. Despite having a black president, which I never thought I'd live to see, we're still fighting for the equality, the dignity." 28th Annual Raising of the Black Heritage Flag in Springfield

The 28th Annual Raising of the Black Heritage Flag ceremony was held at Springfield City Hall. City Councilor Bud L. Williams was the master of ceremonies which was well attended Saturday morning.

Black History Month's origins can be traced back to 1926 when the second week of February, chosen to honor President Abraham Lincoln, was first designated "Negro History Week." Carter Godwin Woodson, a Virginia native who came to be known as the father of black history, first introduced the concept to a mixed response around the Untied States.

But despite the reluctance to observe the week universally, black communities across the country fought against the odds to get the week recognition in the places they lived. Negro History Week becoming Black History Month was a slow transition, first suggested by black students attending college at Ohio's Kent State University in 1969. But it wasn't until 1976, the United States Bicentennial, when the federal government via then-President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month.At the ceremony on Saturday, the Black American Heritage Flag, as designed in 1967 by Melvin Charles and Gleason T. Jackson in Linden, N.J., was raised high above city hall, thanks to the hands of Loving, who will celebrate her 100th birthday this May. City Councilman Bud Williams served as the master of ceremonies, calling on various people in attendance to come up and speak throughout the event.

State Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, was among an older generation of leaders in the black community urging the younger generation to actively seek the knowledge of their shared history in America."Marcus Garvey said that people without knowledge of their history and culture are like trees without roots," Swan said. "And anyone who has tried their hand at gardening knows that a plant can't live without its roots."

Helen Caulton-Harris, Springfield's director of health and human services, also addressed the crowd, specifically telling the black students of Westover Job Corps in attendance that they need to learn their history, for one day, the baton will be passed to them.In Springfield, city schools all recognize Black History Month with events and lessons centered around furthering the understanding of just how far the country has come considering its beginnings when slavery and institutional degradation of black people was commonplace.

 Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick reflected on a story about how the 1934 American Legion Post 21’s junior baseball team from Springfield traveled to North Carolina for a championship game only to find that their sole black player, Ernest “Bunny” Taliaferro, would not be allowed to play."Instead of playing for a national championship, they left and came back to Springfield," Warwick said. "And they say it wasn't that they did the right thing, but rather that it was the only thing to do."

The team's legendary story is also the subject of a new children's book, "A Home Run for Bunny," written by Springfield College professor Richard Andersen. Springfield Public Schools announced last week that the book will soon be available in every elementary school library in the city, so the next generation will better understand the struggle of those who came before them.