2008 Woodie Awards
What's the Real Deal?
An honorable observance
Ta-Kara Roquemore
Issue date: 2/12/07 Section: Voices
History has taught us a lot from the past and present. We have learned from our mistakes. And we as a country and as individuals might be learning from them still.
The film era has ushered in reels of lessons, humor, truth, and justice. It is the movie It's a Wonderful Life that I believe teaches us the most about life. In this movie we are able to peer into the main character's life. With the help of Clarence the angel, we see what life would have been like without George intervening in his small town affairs. Essentially Clarence shows us George's future. We see how the little things he does for those around him amount to major life-changing moments.
The movie is timeless and can be used at any given point in our lives. For instance, let's say Clarence steps into my life. And I said, well, Black History month really doesn't matter. It's not that important. Instead of taking me out of the lives of my family and friends he goes even further. He shows me how our country the land of the free exists no more.
With a snap of his finger I transition back to my life and see that because certain events didn't transpire, we are trapped as a nation in a sea of disarray. As a result, I am grappling with the fact that my civil rights aren't taken seriously, nor other minorities'.
As he takes me further into the future I notice Black History month doesn't exist. Carter G. Woodson, Harvard Scholar and African-American, , doesn't declare it to be Negro History Week on February 12th in 1926. He doesn't knowingly pick this particular week in February that coincides with Frederick Douglas's and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays. Thus, it's not on its way to being known as Black History Month.
Becoming an historian and discovering he wants to do something about black history missing from the textbooks is out. Therefore, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) is not established in 1915. Woodson is not inspired to write about them in our nation's history.
The film era has ushered in reels of lessons, humor, truth, and justice. It is the movie It's a Wonderful Life that I believe teaches us the most about life. In this movie we are able to peer into the main character's life. With the help of Clarence the angel, we see what life would have been like without George intervening in his small town affairs. Essentially Clarence shows us George's future. We see how the little things he does for those around him amount to major life-changing moments.
The movie is timeless and can be used at any given point in our lives. For instance, let's say Clarence steps into my life. And I said, well, Black History month really doesn't matter. It's not that important. Instead of taking me out of the lives of my family and friends he goes even further. He shows me how our country the land of the free exists no more.
With a snap of his finger I transition back to my life and see that because certain events didn't transpire, we are trapped as a nation in a sea of disarray. As a result, I am grappling with the fact that my civil rights aren't taken seriously, nor other minorities'.
As he takes me further into the future I notice Black History month doesn't exist. Carter G. Woodson, Harvard Scholar and African-American, , doesn't declare it to be Negro History Week on February 12th in 1926. He doesn't knowingly pick this particular week in February that coincides with Frederick Douglas's and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays. Thus, it's not on its way to being known as Black History Month.
Becoming an historian and discovering he wants to do something about black history missing from the textbooks is out. Therefore, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) is not established in 1915. Woodson is not inspired to write about them in our nation's history.
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