ANTI-RACISM RESOURCES CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2022
[Image description: Graphic shows a black background with "Black History Month" lightly printed as a pattern. Superimposed on the background is a clenched fist in red, green and gold. Below the fist is parchment paper. Printed on the paper is "Anti-Racism Resources" in red, green and gold. Below that is a text box reading, "Celebrating Black History Month; NAAFA Community Voices Blog". Below that is a blue bar reading "naafa.org" and showing the blue NAAFA logo. There is a bottom border of green, red and gold colors.]
Compiled by Darliene Howell
Each month, we will be featuring educational resources on the NAAFA Community Voices Blog. Some resources will be historic information about systemic racism. Others will be resources on doing the internal work of understanding ourselves and how we play a part in that system. There will also be actions that can be taken to directly oppose racism. This month, we focus on Black History Month 2022 whose theme is Black Health and Wellness.
INFORMATION ABOUT BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Video
How a former enslaved person helped make Black History Month a national celebration - CBS Saturday Morning
President Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment and abolished slavery on February 1, 1865. That date would eventually lead to the Black History Month we celebrate each year, thanks in part to the efforts of a former enslaved person, Richard Robert Wright Sr. Michelle Miller explores how Wright’s own life story is just what this month is meant to honor.
Carter G. Woodson - biography.com
1875 - 1950
Carter G. Woodson was an African American writer and historian known as the 'Father of Black History.' He penned the influential book 'The Mis-Education of the Negro.
Black History Month has a theme…who knew? By Candice Marie Benbow
If you weren’t aware, Black History Month as celebrated in the U.S. has a theme. February, 2022 the theme for Black History Month is “Black Health and Wellness.”
The history of African Americans and organized medicine - ama-assn.org
The AMA Institute for Ethics invited a panel of experts to review and analyze the historical roots of the black-white divide in American medicine.
BLACK AMERICANS IN MEDICINE
Meet Onesimus, The Enslaved Man Who Saved Colonial Boston From Smallpox by Kiona N. Smith
Boston, 1721 - A smallpox epidemic that killed thousands is stopped thanks to a slave of a minister when he shared how to inoculate people against the disease.
Dr. James McCune Smith by Dr. Karen Winkfield
1811 - 1865
James McCune Smith was the first university-trained Black physician to practice medicine in the U.S.
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler - National Women's History Museum
1831 – March 9, 1895
Dr. Crumpler was the first African American woman to receive a Medical Degree (MD) in the U.S.
Mary Eliza Mahoney - National Women's History Museum
1845-1926
Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first Black professional nurse in the U.S. (1879).
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams - biography.com
1856–1931
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was one of the first physicians to perform open-heart surgery in the U.S. and founded a hospital with an interracial staff.
Dr. Charles Richard Drew - biography.com
1904–1950
Dr. Charles Drew was an African American surgeon who pioneered methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized the first large-scale blood bank in the U.S.
David Satcher, MD, PhD - Perspectives of Change
March 2, 1941 - Present
First African American named to head the CDC, and first African American man named U.S. Surgeon General, Health and Human Services.
Kizzmekia S. Corbett - The Franklin Institute Awards
Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett led a team that developed the COVID-19 vaccine and has been awarded the Benjamin Franklin NextGen Award. Citation: For her outstanding contributions to the field of viral immunology and vaccine development, including an mRNA-based vaccine to combat the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is, by no means, a complete list of the Black men and women that have contributed to the health and wellness of all Americans. Nor does it address the inequities in healthcare for Black Americans. We salute all of the Black doctors, nurses, and other healthcare practitioners that are using their brilliant minds and giving their talent to making a difference in our health.
If you have the ability to do so, please consider donating to local or national organizations that are working to bridge the healthcare gaps for minority populations.
Portrait of Darliene Howell, an older Caucasian woman with short white hair, wearing glasses.
Darliene Howell (she/her) has worked directly with NAAFA since her retirement in 2004; first as the recording secretary to the Board of Directors in 2007, then elected as the Chair of the Board and Administrative Director in 2015. She has been active in fat community 20+ years.