A message was sent a couple of weeks ago, to all the members of the group Daily Kos Fans of 90 for 90 and about 20 other Daily Kos groups as well.
Black History Month will be here in a couple of weeks and DK Fans of 90 for 90 would like to honor Dr. Reid by doing as many diaries as possible about Black history.
With over 500 members, we could do at least 2 to 3 diaries a day. (You know, 90 for the month would be a magical number and great goal!) Not all about Dr. Reid of course, though there is a lot to his life to write about. Not only was he the first Black Assembly member in VA since Reconstruction, he was also the first Black surgeon at Bethesda Hospital and the first Black surgeon in his Marine division.
Dr. Reid co-founded the Richmond Crusade for Voters. And that's just the tip of what he has done. His cousin is Hazel O'Leary Reid. She was the Energy Secretary for the Clinton administration and President of Fisk University.
Any and all Black history diaries are welcome, though members are invited to go outside the box a bit and write about, not anything you've learned in school, or the usual stuff that gets covered by the MSM every year. There are so many unsung hero's from the past and in the present quietly going about their vocation of making the world a better place.
DK Fans of 90 for 90 would like to focus on those unsung hero's, whether they be famous, never heard of, politicians, musicians, scientists, teachers, cooks, bottle washers, construction workers, truck drivers, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters. Brothers and Sisters.
All diaries will be done in honor of Dr. Reid of 90for90 and we'll come up with a logo for that to add to each diary. This is to be a surprise to him as was the community quilt that was made for him.
Please respond to this message with any diaries you'd like to write and maybe a tentative date. Remember we can't have too many though.
The response was...well, surprising and dismaying. Less than 10 people volunteered to write about Black History Month. Maybe folks feel that Black History Month is a cruel hoax. Perhaps they think we need a Black History Year, or Decade, or agree with me that it’s time for a Black Century.
Or there may be some confusion about history. The first definition of history in Webster's is:
1. Tale, Stories
There are others that follow in Webster's:
2.
a. a chronological record of significant events
b. a treatise presenting systematically related natural phenomena
c. an account of a patient's medical background
d. an established record
3.
a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events
4.
a. events that form the subject matter of a history
b. events of the past
c. one that is finished or done for
d. previous treatment, handling, or experience
Those are all great definitions and I think articles about Black History Month could be written using any of them. My favorite is the first though; tales and stories, that’s the history I find most interesting. I had a class in college that was called HERstory, rather than HISstory, and though it wasn’t as feminist as I thought it would be, it was a great class.
Mostly the focus was on written and spoken histories of people’s lives. Everyday people, not Generals and Majors. We read housewives diaries from the depression, and my Professor brought in 2 members of the Black Panther Party to tell us in their own words their experiences.
My goal is to observe Black History Month by writing a diary every day. If we are only going to get a month for this, and a short month at that, I’m going to make as much of it as I can. I’m probably going to focus on living Black History also, people like Dr. Reid Sr., who have accomplished so much in their lives and are still doing it. Still working for change. Not really needing to be in the Hall of Fame.
In honor of Dr. William Ferguson Reid Sr.