My first recollections of Black history commemorations are from my elementary school, Bunker Hill, in Northeast Washington, D.C., during the early and mid-1960s. At that time, the national recognition of Black history was a one week event in February known as “Negro History Week.” Fortunately, my teachers at Bunker Hill Elementary School did not limit our lessons about Black history to that one week. These teachers were resolute in including Black history and culture throughout the curriculum.
We learned about slavery and the Civil War, as well as about the heroism of abolitionists such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. We were made aware of the Civil Rights Movement and the landmark case Brown v. The Board of Education and Thurgood Marshall who argued it before the Supreme Court. And we were introduced to Black poets like Langston Hughes and many other artists of the Harlem Renaissance. While I was acutely aware of the pain and sadness behind a great deal of our history, these amazing teachers were able to share it with us and at the same time help us to appreciate the greatness of the men and women who survived the traumas, the inspiration their survival represented, their faith in the fight for freedom and equality, and the power in the truth of our history.
This is the gift I found in Black History. Because of their intentional and sensitive coverage of our history and culture, I developed a lifelong passion for all things relevant to Black history and it would become a formative part of my self-awareness and esteem as a Black American. This passion has taken me on a remarkable journey of discovery and curiosity about my history as a Black American, throughout my education and in my lifelong appreciation of Black history and literature.
This month I will celebrate Black History Month at The Catholic University of America, located just a few blocks from Bunker Hill Elementary School where it all began for me. At Catholic University where I am now a member of the faculty, I will be able to participate in many activities and events on campus commemorating Black History Month. Our university, like so many other universities, has looked back to research and capture its own Black history, some of which is painful as well as triumphant, including the university’s intentional and troubled integration of the campus in 1969, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and in our wonderful connection to Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, a Catholic University alumna, whose legacy includes calling the Catholic Church to embrace racial inclusion in its leadership and to recognize the rich diversity that its members bring to the Church.
This year’s activities are particularly exciting and supported by many different sectors of the campus community as sponsors and co-sponsors of events. The first event, co-sponsored by our Schools of Arts & Sciences, Canon Law and Theology and Religion, will host a conversation on Feb. 1 with author Rachel Swarns about her bestselling book, The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church. Swarns’ research traces the family history of a Black woman who came to the colony of Maryland on a ship from England in the 1600s as an indentured servant; after which her papers of indentureship were destroyed and her freedom denied under colonial Maryland law legalizing the lifetime enslavement of Black people. Because her story would be remembered by her descendants, we learn about them, the Jesuit community that enslaved and sold them, and the pathway to reconciliation and reparations between Georgetown University and her descendants.
On Feb. 8, our Campus Ministry, Center for Cultural Engagement and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will celebrate the life of St. Josephine Bakhita, patron saint of Sudan and human trafficking victims, with a feast day Mass. Kidnapped from her home in Sudan by Arab slave traders as a child in 1877, Bakhita would be tortured, sold and traded many times over. Her final destination of enslavement would end in Italy, where she would be baptized into the Catholic Church and ultimately freed through litigation with the assistance of the Canossian Sisters of Venice. Bakhita would later become a Canossian sister; she has been noted for “her gentle spirit, sweet smile and kind words of encouragement” to everyone she met. This day of commemoration will include an ecumenical prayer service in recognition of the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking. We are excited that representatives of the Lyke House Catholic Center at Atlanta University and the Bowman Scholars of Spelman College will join us in prayer and song.
Our Black Student Alliance members have scheduled a number of events too, including their annual campus-wide discussion of the Black student experience to further greater understanding about the dynamics of race and culture on campus, a field trip to the Smithsonian’ National Museum of African American History and Culture, and a Rhythm and Blues Heartthrobs Karaoke event. The final event sponsored by our Black Student Alliance will be their annual Black and White Tie Gala, this year’s theme is “Full of Life: Deserving of Our Flowers.” Of course, the celebration of Black History would not be complete without artistic expressions of the Black community, which will include Go-Go music, West African Dancers, a Caribbean Steel Orchestra, and a program celebrating Black literary voices.
These are just a few of the ways that I will celebrate Black History Month. And, as I have done every February, I will take a moment to give thanks for the remarkable elementary school teachers who first exposed me to Black history and the gift of understanding the Greatness, Inspiration, Faith and Truth of our story in America.
(Veryl Miles is a professor of law and special assistant to the president at The Catholic University of America.)
