Black Lives Matter: From Enslavement to Engagement

Abstract

4 | BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 83, NO. 1 83 No.1 FOREWORD BLACK LIVES MATTER: FROM ENSLAVEMENT TO ENGAGEMENT By: Alicia L. Moore and La Vonne I. Neal Anunknownspeakeronceprovidedthefollowingcommentary about the policing of Black bodies in America: “If your Black skin is seen as a weapon, you are always believed to be armed, thus a threat to the lives of others.”Never could a statement be more pronounced than at this very moment in time. This is not toimplythatthebodiesofBlack peopleareexperiencinganew phenomenon, but that the implicit blows dealt by a widening window of social media have exacerbated the tense feelings of those who view it—and for some, it triggers the wounds of past discrimination and even past physical encounters. It is clear that the notion of a post-racial America is, in reality, a delusion. With Black bodies making up a disproportionate amount of America’s prison system, and an unrelenting feeling of otherness felt by students of color in the very educational institutions that should provide hope, knowledge, and safety, the culture and climate of engagement in society seem bleak. In other words, the fictitious narrative of postracialism collapses under the slightest level of scrutiny and illuminates a foundation of bigotry that was laid centuries ago. Subsequently, America’s Black children are experiencing the repercussions of a system that was not designed for their survival—neither in academics nor in life. Without active engagement, their hopes and dreams remain largely constrained by the expectations of an “American Dream” that was never meant for their success. The following questions should be asked: With over three hundred years of enslavement and state-sanctioned segregation, how do we move away from the inequities of the past? When African American history is often only discussed in schools within the context of slavery and only during Black History Month, how is the historical narrative of the vibrant culture, art, and significant contributions of African Americans to this country reaching children who so desperately need to hear it? What is to become of Whites who are never taught to see the humanity of those who are of color and whose lives matter as much as theirs do? How is the engagement with institutions that have racial inequalities built into the very hallways that should be pathways to the very type of freedom fought for by those who were enslaved? How are new chains that are meant to shackle the minds of young Black and Brown students broken? It is possible to resist further enslavement and to continue to create Black spaces of success within predominantly White institutions. In this edition of the Black History Bulletin (BHB), Harrison, Moore, Rogers, Booker, Smith, and Rono, in their article “The Sanctity of Black Spaces,” discuss the process of creating a Black student union at Round Rock (TX) High School and what having such a space means to the students who are involved. Similarly, in “Heroes Amongst Us,” RiceBoothe discusses the ways in which Black educators of the past have fought against racist institutions, both by directly attempting to dismantle them and by working for change from within, in order to allow their students a chance at success that they otherwise would not likely have been able to achieve. In “Combatting Enslaved Minds, Forging a New Narrative” by Ward and Blakes and “Pursuing Freedom: Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline” by Robinson and McCall, the authors lay a foundation for moving from the heinous legacy of enslavement to uplift, advocacy, and freedom. Thisissueisacelebrationofactivistsandactivism.Theauthors have promoted a shared vision of community engagement in the work of those who, in the words of then presidential candidate Barack Obama, “continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring, and more prosperous America.”1 It is a celebration of Black Lives that Matter. Notes: 1. Barack Obama, “A More Perfect Union” (speech, the Constitution Center, March 18, 2008), National Constitution Center, https://constitutioncenter.org/amoreperfectunion/. LA VONNE I. NEAL, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita and Retired Associate Vice President, Administration and Finance, Northern Illinois University; Email: lneal1@niu.edu ALICIA L. MOORE, Ph.D., is Department Chair and holds...