Viewers from around the Island and across the country joined over Zoom for a morning of music and celebration as part of the fifth annual Martha’s Vineyard Collaborative Black History event.
In a presentation hosted by the charter school, Caroline Hunter described how a small grassroots effort grew into an international revolution that helped end apartheid.
As the result of interest shown at a meeting Monday night, the Island now has a chapter of its own of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The news of the Smithsonian Institute including Oak Bluffs in an exhibit in the National Museum of African American History and Culture is spreading and creating much excitement. People are proud that our small town will be nationally acknowledged for its contributions to black history, appropriately enough with this announcement in February.
Celebrated as a vacation spot for many whose contributions are highlighted during Black History Month, Oak Bluffs is also proud of lesser-known black entrepreneurs who established successful businesses.
The League of Women Voters of Martha’s Vineyard are hosting its annual Black History Month breakfast on Saturday, Feb. 2, at Howes House in West Tisbury. The event will feature Dr. Virginius Bray Thornton 3rd. The topic of his talk will be Women of Interest: Past, Present, and Future.
February is Black History Month. It was first established in 1926 by Dr. Carter Woodson, a professor at Tulane University, who “strongly believed that documenting black history and educating the public were both vitally important ingredients to the progress of race relations and the progression of the lives of black Americans.” As a class, most of us believe that Black History Month is very important and that there should be more celebration and respect paid to black Americans. Today there has been a tremendous change for all citizens of America.
