Writing and remembering
our past
Delivered by Janis F. Kearney at Chicago's Wright College
February, 2003
Good Afternoon. It's wonderful to be
here…an, I'd like to say a special thank you
to the Wilbur Wright College administration, to
Sandra Kubick; and Jackie Paget, and certainly to
president Guengerich, for having me here,
today.
I feel especially honored to be here on the day
that you recognize your essay writers. And,
as most
of you probably know, writing is not only my
passion; but it's my life, and has been
a part of
every facet of my journey -- from the cotton fields
of the Arkansas delta, to the
white house, and now,
here in Chicago.
Today marks the fifth in a series of lectures
I'm doing at Chicago City Colleges this
spring…and
each time I speak to one of the
colleges, I learn more about the important role
this institution plays
in this state and this
region. I am so impressed that Chicago City
Colleges has taken a lead in educating
such a
diverse group of students, from so many varied
backgrounds. And, I applaud Chicago City Colleges
for their mission and the very important need they
are fulfilling in this state.
I hope you'll indulge me to touch on a subject
that, in one way or another, is affecting all of
us, today. As
we move into the 21st century,
America and the world face tremendous challenges.
It began with the 9-11
tragedy; and escalated into
our own war on terrorism.
And, now, today, unfortunately, we stand on the
brink of a war with Iraq. Along with this, is the
fact that,
none of us -- not even our leaders - can
say for sure what will happen from one day to the
next.
But, as someone who tries to be an eternal
optimist, as well as a realist, I see this as "the
best of times
and the worst of times." the
September 11 tragedy forced us as individuals, and
this nation, to reflect upon
where we go from
here…what a quality life really means for us;
and what we do, from this point on, to
leave a
better world for those who come after us.
While most of your most pressing concerns are
passing your core courses, cramming for finals, and
graduating
on time; there will certainly be a role
for each of you to play in this new world.
Today, not just American history, but world
history is so much more important in your
education; and, we should
be encouraging it, as
early as elementary grades -- that is, if we are to
be successful participants in this new
global
society.
Many of you will be looked to, to improve upon
our environment, to increase our quality of life,
and enhance our
relationships abroad. and, the more
knowledge about this country -- and, the world,
around us -- you have, the
better prepared you will
be to contribute to this new world -- whether your
education ends, here, or you are moving
on to the
next institution.
And, finally -- on this point: just as 9-11 must
not be used by America, as an opportunity to ignore
individual
rights; black America must not allow
this new environment to serve as an excuse for us
to forget our own heritage,
and those who lived and
died, for the freedoms and opportunities we now
enjoy. One great historian said: Those who
fail to
remember their past, are destined to repeat it.
Those very values that moved our ancestors from
slavery
to full citizenship, are time-tested
values, and don't depreciate or change depending on
what else in going on in this
world.
Because, you see, some of the same questions that were being asked almost 80 years ago when Dr.
Carter G. Woodson
founded black history month -- is
still being asked, today: "Is there really a need
for black history month, given the
advances of the
black community, and the more important issues and
complexities involving our nation, as a
whole?"
And, of course my response is a resounding yes.
Yes, because we are yet a long way from resolving
the problem of racism,
whose root is in the 400
years of indentured servitude and slavery. And,
while diversity is good for America and the world,
we must not forget, or overlook its unique and
complex history with the African American
community. We are far from the
place where we can
talk about ending black history month.
Remembering, honoring those hundreds of
thousands of heroes, whose shoulders we now stand
on, is what black history month
is about; and what
it should be about. And, we're nowhere close to a
time when we can ask the question: Is it
necessary?
For the next few minutes; I'd like to talk to
you about: Writing, and Remembering. I can not
begin to tell you how important
it is that you
grasp the English language, and the basic
techniques and writing. But, I can promise you that
if you leave here
with that knowledge firmly inside
your brain; the sky is the limit. For writing,
being able to articulate your thoughts, your
feelings through the written word is invaluable to
your future success. Civil societies are often
measured
based on their communications skills.
Writing and articulating your thoughts are the
basis of communication -- you can hardly
do one
well, without doing the other just as well.
As I stand here and tell you how very important
writing skills are to your education, and to your
future; in the spirit of this
month, I should also
tell you that there is a responsibility that you
and I have to create our own history; to
document,
and preserve our stories; thereby, passing them down through the generations, to our
children, their children, and those that
come after them.
So, today, in honor of black history month; I am
addressing two very important needs: one, is the
broader need for you to learn,
and embrace the
king's English -- no matter what it is you end up
doing with your life; to study and practice good
writing and
communication skills in every facet of
your educational career, and your life; and, to use
these skills to learn more about
yourself -your
strengths your weaknesses, your dreams and
goals.
Writing is such a multi-faceted tool, and once
you learn it -- it will never stop repaying you in
personal pleasure, in securing
jobs and even
promotions.
But, along with this responsibility to gain the
broader knowledge of communications and writing; I
should also encourage you, as
African Americans, to
write your own histories.
Now, I'm almost 100% sure that there aren't a
lot of you that spend your free time thinking about
how you can best document and
preserve your
history…it's just not something I'd expect
young college students to think much about, day to
day. You surely
have much more pressing things on
your plate -- like passing finals, and
graduating.
I'm also sure that most of you aren't interested
in becoming writers, documentarian, or historians.
But, that's okay -- that's
not a prerequisite.
Whatever your career plans, you can -- as writers
-- participate in the African American legacy by
writing
yours and others' stories. For the fact is:
a legacy will be written and documented, whether
you choose to do it or not. And, that
legacy
becomes a part of how we as a people, as a culture,
as a race, will be measured.
The question is: whether you will be a
contributor to that legacy or not. As a writer, a
documentarian, you can be…you should be.
Remember the wise saying I cited earlier, it
applies here, as well: A people, a race, or a
culture who doesn't know their past, are
likely to
repeat it.
So very often, the past we read about, the past
we've seen in television documentaries and movies,
fail to portray our true history...
fail to tell
the whole story. It is up to you who choose to
write; and, those of you who are coerced to write
-- to assure that our
stories, the whole story is
documented from this point on. And, it is my hope
that we are at a point in time where we no longer
have to
rely on others to create our histories.
Allow me to speak just briefly on my own life
history, if you will. My life journey took me to an
incredible venue for documenting history.
Each of
us will have to find our own niche…mine just
happens to be creative, and non-fiction writing.
Books and writing have been
a part of my life for
as long as I can remember -- since my father taught
me to read at the age of five, and transferred his
love of books
and the written word to me and my
siblings. Of course, the fact that my family was so
large, and we were so very poor, we learned very
early
in life to value those things in life that
had little or nothing to do with material wealth.
We learned the power of the written word.
Whether
it's good or bad is debatable, but certainly, there
is power in the written word. What is documented,
because somebody took the time
to put it to paper,
becomes valuable and creditable.
A writer or an author becomes a historian, in a
sense, simply by writing a story on their own life,
on another's life, or simple fiction
about life.
Their thoughts, opinions, and insights
automatically become part of history. Fair or
unfair, the power in that is that generations
will
measure you or that person being written about --
based on what is written, what was documented. Do
you see where I'm going?
While my story may not be any more valuable or
any truer, or authentic than your story -- the
value comes from the fact that I had the foresight,
and took the time to write it down, to document it
-- thus, preserving it for future generations.
Now, I won't stand here and tell you that I
understood this whole concept as I sat at my
daddy's knee falling in love with the written word.
No, to
be truthful, I simply grew up in a household
that valued books, and learning about the past. I
began to honor, and understand the value of history
during my adult years, and that interest turned
into a passion.
When I graduated from my high school in Gould,
Arkansas -- my class was made up of 41 students. Of
course the total population for my hometown was
1,600 people -- and some people thought that was
pushing it. During the late sixties and early 70's,
when I attended high school, the American history
and world history we were taught included very
little African American history. It just was not a
part of our high school curriculum.
In fact, our teachers seldom mentioned African
Americans in any context other than slavery. So,
how would we have known the difference? These were
the state's official text books written for
students to learn about our country's history. How
would we have known to question the fact that there
was no mention of people like Carter G. Woodson who
founded black history month in 1926; Thurgood
Marshall, the great civil rights lawyer who became
the
first African American supreme court judge;
Rosa Parks, or Daisy Bates civil rights, two
outstanding civil right legends who made such a
difference in
our lives. And, believe it or not,
there was just scant mention of people like such
giants as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Frederick
Douglas. We were
spoon-fed African American
history, piecemeal, and often-times, distorted.
It was later that I began to research for
myself, and learn about the many contributions made
by African Americans.
But, to be fair, what should we have expected?
We didn't write the books. We didn't do the
research for the books; we weren't the historians
who documented
life on a day to day basis, which
was used to go in the books.
When we as a people depend upon others to
document and explain our past…to create our
histories; surely, we know it will be from another's perspective.
Which makes it that much
more important that we write our own histories,
document our own stories.
Just a few weeks ago, my husband and I were
visiting some friends of ours… whom we've
known for sometime. This was the first time we
visited their home.
It was a nice visit, but what was most amazing
to me out of the two hours we spent with them, was
the wonderful archives they maintained. How, this, over
the years, had become simply a part of their
everyday lives.
Their parents and grandparents had been victims
of the horrible Nazi regime, and this family had
memorialized that history, through photographs,
letters,
and other documents dating back to that
era, and before. There were rich, wonderful, and
horrible stories they chose to remember -- rather
than forget -- like
we so often, do. these Stories,
you see, helps legitimize their legacy.
This visit was an epiphany. It was a stark
reminder of the value of controlling one's own
history. It was a perfect example of just how
valuable, and necessary
the creation and
preservation of one's history and culture are to
future generations.
But most importantly, that visit highlighted the
difference between how this family honored their
past -- the triumphs, and the horror; and how, too
often,
African Americans fail to acknowledge --
thus, dishonoring, our own past.
One writer likened "recapturing our history,"
to: re-discovering ourselves.
While it is understandable that the years of
oppression our ancestors experienced, also produced
a kind of shame in their past; today, we should be
past that
shame. It is no longer acceptable that
we, as a people refuse to learn and value our
contributions as a culture and a race. It robs our
children of their rich
legacy.
Given our history of oppression as a race -- it
is understandable, but unfortunate that we have
depended so long, on the "goodness of others" to document our
histories, to tell our truths,
resulting quite often in a distorted view of us as
a people.
For too long, it has not been our eyes,
our conception of our world they speak from. And,
more than often, others' conception and ours have
been light
years apart. We must no longer use our
past as an excuse to ignore our own responsibility
to tell our own stories.
How then, do we today, assure that the world
recognizes our contributions, and honor our
culture? We begin today, by valuing, preserving,
and nurturing our own culture, our own history --
by valuing the written word; practicing the written
word; participating in the world of writing.
As I said earlier, my journey from the cotton
fields of southeast Arkansas, to the white house --
has centered on writing, creating stories,
documenting history.
From 1995-2001, I served in the Clinton
administration -- six of those years, I served as
Personal Diarist to the President -- the first time
anyone in history had held such a position.
My job, on a day to day basis, was documenting,
chronicling the Presidency of William Jefferson
Clinton -- an honor and a privilege, and one of the
most fascinating jobs anyone could ever hold. While
it may not seem like it, but my job, and the
mission I am encouraging you to take on, share a
great parallel. If there is one thing that growing
up on a farm with 18 siblings taught me, it was
that there are no two people alike, and there is no
one "right" way for all people to do any task.
In that same light, each of us can find our own
unique way to help write our histories. Mine just
happened to have been in the role of personal
diarist to the President. You see, I was very much
aware of my unique opportunity to not only document
American history and Presidential History in the
making -- but African American history, as
well.
I was in a position to record for future
historians, facts about African American's
contribution to the Clinton presidency that no one
will be able to erase or distort -- because I was
there, I watched this history in the making, and
more importantly, I documented it for the next
generation to see.
What a wonderful and rich piece of history that
will be for those who come after us. Students,
journalists and historians will learn of the
invaluable contributions African Americans made to
this country during the Clinton administration.
They will be amazed to learn how often African
American leaders visited the President, and sat at
the table as life-defining decisions were being
made about our world. They will be amazed to see
how the President reached out to our do-ers and
thinkers before making final decisions on policies
and initiatives that affected our lives.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to historians
such as Carter G. Woodson, John Hope Franklin,
David Levering Lewis - visionaries who documented
and recorded our experiences, and our stories from
"our" point of view -- beginning with the slave
experience, the struggles of the civil rights era,
and our struggles for social and educational
equality.
These men and women laid the groundwork, giving
us an invaluable framework to work from. Without
the details of our many, many years of struggles, a
person arriving on this planet for the first time,
would likely say that ours has been a fast progress
- from slavery, to running Fortune 500 Companies
today.
It is only with ongoing, consistent
documentation of our realities, can we know the
struggles, the steps backward, and the bloodshed
that went into this slow, but eventual progress.
This brings us to the subject of two men who are
now apart of African American history because they
had the foresight to document their amazing lives
for the sake of history. George Dawson, an
illiterate resident of Texas, enrolled in school at
the age of 98 years old, and four years later
published the story of his life.
His autobiography tells the story of a grandson
of slaves, born in a log cabin in Marshall, Texas
in 1898. As a young man, he toiled at menial jobs
and endured racism all of his life. George Dawson's
truth is now a part of African American history.
Though Mr. Dawson died in 2001; his proud legacy
will serve as a "lesson for life", for generations
to come.
In another piece of history, a man by the name
of Michael Shiner, an ex-slave who lived and worked
in Washington, D.C. -- recorded life in the capital
city for 50 years -- at a time when 90% of all
blacks in this country, were illiterate from;
between 1813-1869. His diary ended just years after
he was given his freedom.
That journal was purchased, in 1906, by the
library of congress -- thus, becoming a page in
both American history, and African American
history. His observations of the war of 1812, while
he worked as a child laborer on the Washington navy
yard; his story of how he used his earnings from
the navy yard to purchase his freedom; his
encounter with President John Quincy Adams, while
working as a boat crewman,; and, later, with
Abraham Lincoln just one day before his
assassination. All of this amazing history is now a
part of our rich legacy.
It is Because of the value of these truths, that
we, as a people, must never shirk from our
responsibility because of shame, or neglect of our
past…the shame would be if we failed to
document our lives and our culture for those coming
after us.
There are other pioneers, writers who have done
outstanding jobs of documenting African American
history, who deserves our mentioning here.
Newspaper and magazine publishers who, many times,
risked their lives, and their families' lives to
tell the true story of our experiences. Right here
in our own backyard, we have historic newspapers
such as the Chicago Defender, and Johnson
Publishing Company's Ebony, and Jet magazines.
Crisis Magazine -- NAACP's primary
communications vehicle for almost 100 years,
continues to chronicle racial injustice, violence
and struggle in a way that no mainstream
publications ever would. It was this magazine that
played such an important role in documenting such
important and pivotal periods in our history, such
as the Black labor struggle; the sit-ins of the
1940's in southern college cities; the freedom
rides through the south; the historical
desegregation struggles of the south; The
Montgomery Bus Boycott, of which Reverend Martin
Luther King, Jr. , wrote, "…historians in the
future generations, will have to pause and say,
`there lived a great people -- a black people --
who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins
of civilization…"
But, once we get past the pioneers, the famous;
the institutions that are helping document and
define our legacy, it comes back to each of us --
and our individual responsibility to help define
these times we live in, this country, and our
legacy. Whether your path will lead to creative
writing, radio or broadcast journalism; or
television… …what area you choose as your
career path, doesn't matter. What does matter, is
whether you commit to helping write our
stories…leaving a richer legacy. I want to
leave you with this challenge: Find your niche in
this important mission to write your own story,
thus helping in your unique way to define and shape
the African American legacy.
The responsibility of how the next generation
views our past is in our hands. And, unlike the
past, the opportunities are immense.
Toni Morrison wrote that our pasts are
infinitely more important than our futures. You can
help shape our future, by making it your personal
mission to document and preserve your stories --
whether for commercial use, or for family archives.
The first order of the day is to perfect your
writing, and the next is to write your own
history…you owe it to yourself, and for those
who come after you.