Wednesday, February 3, 2010

We're Celebrating Black History Month

When Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week in 1926, he realized the importance of a theme to focus the public's attention on the lives of African Americans.

This year the National Black History Theme for 2010 is "The History of Black Economic Empowerment."

Our display for Black History Month shows wonderful drawings of important African Americans, such as Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Leader; Edmonia Lewis, Artist; and Charles Richard Drew, Medical Researcher - just to name a few.

We also have a display titled "Remember When?" showing newspaper articles about some of our local famous people, such as Debora Boyd, Willie F. Ryce, Joseph H. Brevard, John Whitaker, and Brad Bailey - just to name a few.

You can find these displays in the long white hallway between the Ellen Payne Odom Genealogical Library and the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library.

This is also the birthday month for Toni Morrison, Roberta Flack, Sidney Poitier, Hank Aaron, and Michael Jordan - just to name a few. But especially for one of the most famous African Americans, Rosa Parks, a great pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement, whose birthday was February 4th.

Why not take some time and visit your library to find that special book you want to read about some of our great African Americans? We have Black authors such as Maya Angelou, Richard Wright, Henry J. Young, Nikki Giovanni, and Walter Mosley - just to name a few. And we have them here, waiting for you.

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