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Louisiana NRCS Black Emphasis Program
Robert Spears, Black
Emphasis Program Manager (BEPM)
(318) 627-9903
The Special Emphasis Programs are created to improve the recruitment,
job retention, and advancement opportunities of minorities, women and
people with disabilities in the workplace. Special Emphasis Programs
promote fairness and equity in the delivery of programs to our customers.
They also help to educate our workforce about diversity among various
races, genders, ethnic, and cultural groups so everyone has a better
understanding and appreciation of our differences.
Black Emphasis
Program (BEP) - The purpose of this program is to provide focus on issues
such as equal program delivery and employment, promotion, training and
career enhancement affecting Black employees and applicants in NRCS.
Black History
Jennifer Abbey, Soil Conservationist - Sebring, FL poster entry
has been selected as the First place entry in the Black Emphasis
Program 2008 Black History Month's Poster contest.
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2008 Black History Month Theme
Carter G. Woodson and The Origins of Multiculturalism
On February 12, 1926 Negro History Week was initiated by Carter
G. Woodson. Woodson was a pre-eminent historian and
founder of the Association for the
Study of Negro Life and History. He was concerned that the
contributions of Black Americans were overlooked or misrepresented
and began lobbying for Negro History Week as early as 1915.
Woodson chose February, it included the birthdays of
Abraham
Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick
Douglass (February 14). Woodson believed that both
dramatically impacted the lives of Black Americans. Woodson's
legacy is now the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life
and History. |
Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History
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During the dawning decades of the twentieth century, it was
commonly presumed that black people had little history besides
freedom from slavery. Today, it is clear that blacks have
significantly impacted the development of the social, political, and
economic structures of the United States and the world. Credit for
the evolving awareness of the true place of blacks in history can,
in large part, be bestowed on one man, Carter G. Woodson. And, his
brainchild the Association for the Study of African American Life
and History, Inc. is continuing Woodson’s tradition of disseminating
information about black life, history and culture to the global
community.
Known as the “Father of Black History,” Woodson (1875-1950) was the
son of former slaves, and understood how important gaining a proper
education is when striving to secure and make the most out of one’s
divine right of freedom. Although he did not begin his formal
education until he was 20 years old, his dedication to study enabled
him to earn a high school diploma in West Virginia and bachelor and
master’s degrees from the University
Recognizing the lack of information on the accomplishments of blacks
in 1915, Dr. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro
Life and History, now called the Association for the Study of
African
American Life and History (ASALH).
Under Woodson’s pioneering leadership, the Association created
research and publication outlets for black scholars with the
establishment of the Journal of Negro History (1916) and the Negro
History Bulletin (1937), which garners a popular public appeal.
In 1926, Dr. Woodson initiated the celebration of Negro History
Week, which corresponded with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass
and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, this celebration was expanded to
include the entire month of February, and today Black History Month
garners support throughout the country as people of all ethnic and
social backgrounds discuss the black experience. ASALH views the
promotion of Black History Month as one of the most important
components of advancing Dr. Woodson’s legacy.
In honor of all the work that Dr. Carter G. Woodson has done to
promote the study of African American History, an ornament of
Woodson hangs on the White House's Christmas tree each year.
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Carter G. Woodson
"If a race has no history, if it has no
worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible
factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being
exterminated."
--Dr. Carter G. Woodson |
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great man who worked for racial equality and
civil rights in the United States of America. He was born on January 15, 1929,
in Atlanta, GA. Both his father and grandfather were ministers. His mother was a
schoolteacher who taught him how to read before he went to school.
Young Martin was an excellent student in school; he skipped grades in both
elementary school and high school. He enjoyed reading books, singing, riding a
bicycle, and playing football and baseball. Martin entered Morehouse College in
Atlanta, Georgia, when he was only 15 years old.
After graduating from college and getting married, Dr. King became a minister
and moved to Alabama.
Between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over
twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and
action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles.
During the 1950's, Dr. King became active in the movement for civil rights and
racial equality. He participated in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott and
many other peaceful demonstrations that protested the unfair treatment of
African-Americans.
In 1964, at the age of 35, Martin Luther King, Jr., became the youngest man to
receive the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that
he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil
rights movement.
Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, TN.
Established Journal of Negro History
Woodson, always one to act on his ambitions, decided to take on the
challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. He
established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now
called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in
1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro
History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring
national attention to the contributions of black people throughout
American history.
Woodson chose the second week of February for
Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly
influenced the black American population, Frederick
Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
However, February has much more than Douglass and Lincoln to show for its
significance in black American history.
The Following Documents Require Adobe Acrobat
History of Black History (PDF; 26 KB)
Facts About African Americans - Links to Outside Sources
Last Modified:
05/28/2008
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