"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : "NATIONAL NEGRO HEALTH WEEK" - Black America's Longest Recorded Health Movement, between 1915 - 1951

"A People without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots!" -Marcus Mosiah Garvey It would be remiss to speak about The celebration of "BLACK HISTORY MONTH" in America without mentioning "Booker T. Washington" and "NATIONAL HEALTH IMPROVEMENT WEEK," which later became known as "NATIONAL NEGRO HEALTH WEEK!" You see, not too long before his untimely death in November of 1915, Booker T. Washington launched the National Health Improvement Week, in response to Tuskegee Committee Reports regarding the declining health of Negroes in America. With that said, I find it extremely puzzling that while most Black Youth at the schools in our Black neighborhoods, in Monroe, Louisiana have heard much about the highly publicized "Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s,"very few of them know anything at all about "BLACK AMERICA'S LONGEST RECORDED HEALTH MOVEMENT IN AMERICA," during the time period from 1915, up until 1951! When Booker T. Washington started his health program to help raise the consciousness of Negroes regarding health, who knew that it would be the start of "A Nation-Wide Negro Health Movement" that would continue over three entire decades!" When the program began, it was duly noted in a Negro Newspaper that “Never before was there such a widespread co-operation of the races in a movement for the general good of Negroes in America." Additionally, the newspaper reported that there was astonishing support from the health departments in all of the Southern States. Furthermore, people of all races, classes, and all religious backgrounds supported Booker T. Washington's efforts to improve and extend the lives of Negroes. Interestingly, it was reported that between it's inception in 1915 and 1930, the program grew from a few hundred participants to "OVER 1 MILLION PARTICIPANTS!" In 1930, approximately 31 states had at least one community to participate in National Negro Health Week. Finally, it was reported that between the 1920s and when National Negro Health Week officially ended in 1951, not only was there a substantial increase in the health of Negro parents and their children, but among other things, "the life expectantly of Negroes increased at a greater rate than that of White Americans." In closing, all I can say is "DEJA'VU!" I said that to say this ; it's awful strange that some of the very same reasons that were used back in 1951 to end the Celebration of National Negro Health Week, are now being introduced by certain people as reasons to try and end the "CELEBRATION of BLACK HISTORY MONTH" TODAY!