2008 Woodie Awards
Black History Month: Celebrating a diverse campus
Brittany Raine
Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: News
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Black history month was started in February of 1926 because it marks the birthdays of Fredrick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, two men who had an immense impact on desegregation in America.
Many people contributed to the growth of the multicultural society that we live in today. Dr. Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, Colin Powell, and Jackie Robinson are four of the most influential figures of the last century.
Jason Roeder, senior, Independence, Minn., is an art major focusing on graphic design and illustration.
He created this piece in honor of this celebration of black heritage.
Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis in 1928 and is best known for being an African American poet, memoirist, actress and civil rights activist.
Angelou is best known for her autobiographical novel "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." She has directed, produced, acted and written for the stage, television and film.
Jackie Robinson was born in Georgia in 1920 and was the first African American Major League Baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Robinson was the Rookie of the Year in 1947, National League MVP in 1949 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. And his number 42 is not worn in American baseball because it was retired in 1997.
Jackie Robinson died in Stamford in 1972.
Collin Powell was born in 1937 in New York City and became the 65th Secretary of State. Powell was the highest-ranking African American government official in the history of the United States.
Powell's relationships with foreign leaders after Sept. 11 helped ease international tension concerning terrorism.
With the passing of Corretta Scott King on Tuesday, Jan. 31, the Martin Luther King, Jr. family legacy remains immortalized in American society.
Dr. Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta in 1929. King's stand of civil rights and equal treatment surfaced in 1955 with the Montgomery Bus Boycotts.
King's greatest non-violent demonstration was the March on Washington in 1963 for equal jobs and freedom for all. His "I Have a Dream" motivational speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial gained national recognition and respect.
On April 4, 1968 King was assassinated in Tennessee while preparing to lead a march in support of unfair work conditions for African American sanitation workers in Memphis.
All of these accomplishments, among the many, are certainly a cause for celebration.