mutaurō

Mutauro - A moral turning point or catalytic moment of change—a decisive shift in consciousness, direction, or action that alters the course of an individual, community, or history.

A moment when language was taken,

but rhythm returned.

From my archives.

Still speaking.

Still true.

— Dr. Pamela Cone

Unapologetically Phenomenal

There are moments in history when remembering becomes more than reflection, it becomes responsibility.

In 1926, historian Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week to correct the deliberate omission of Black contributions from American history. He understood that a people disconnected from their history are vulnerable to erasure. What began as a week of remembrance, anchored in truth and resistance—has, over time, grown into what we now observe as Black History Month.

Now, one hundred years later, we stand in a centennial moment.

This is not merely an anniversary; it is an accountability marker. A call to safeguard truth, to widen the narrative rather than narrow it, and to remember with intention. Because when history is forgotten, distorted, or silenced, identity suffers, and so does our collective understanding of who we are and how we came to be.

In this moment, remembering is no longer optional. It is necessary. It is sacred. It is our responsibility.

We say their names not as a ritual, but as resistance. Not as nostalgia, but as necessity. Because forgetting is never neutral. Silence always makes room for erasure.

Throughout Black history, names have been lost, buried, rewritten, or dismissed, sometimes intentionally, sometimes through neglect. Contributions minimized. Sacrifices overlooked. Service unacknowledged. And yet, the work was done. The ground was broken. The path was made passable for those who would come after.

Scripture reminds us that God does not treat remembrance lightly.

When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River into promise, God did not allow the moment to pass undocumented.

“And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your

God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you

a stone upon his shoulder…

That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask

their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off

before the ark of the covenant of the Lord… and these stones

shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.”

Joshua 4:5–7 (KJV)

God instructed Joshua to mark the crossing, not because God would forget, but because people would. The stones were not decorative; they were declarative. They were placed so future generations would ask, “What does this mean?" The answer would carry history forward. In the same way, the names we choose to commemorate are not merely names; they are stones. Stones that cleared the way before us. Stones upon which we now stand.

Studying African American history did not give me something new; it returned something that had been buried. It reconnected me to a lineage of resilience, brilliance, faith, and cultural grounding that had always been mine, but had too often been muted for the sake of acceptance.

That journey of remembrance led me back to William “Bill” Reed, the first emancipated man on my father’s side. As a free man, he came to own three hundred acres of land in Mississippi. On that land, he built a store and established a place of worship. He was not merely surviving freedom, he was shaping it. Building economy. Creating community. Anchoring faith. He is not simply a name in my family history. He is my heritage.

He is the story into which mine is brilliantly woven—threaded through time with purpose, promise, and continuity. His life is a living stone, placed against the rushing current of history, declaring: We were here. God brought us through. The cost was real.

In this centennial moment of Black history commemorations, the call to remembrance feels especially urgent. My daughter, Dr. LaJoya Reed Shelly, names this responsibility with clarity and conviction:

“As we mark one hundred years of Black history commemorations, let us recommit ourselves to truth-telling. Let us resist the narrowing of history and the silencing of voices. Let us remember that when Black history is erased or distorted,

all of us lose access to a fuller understanding of

our shared past and our shared evolution as humans.”

Dr. LaJoya Reed Shelly

Her words remind us that remembrance is not only about honoring those who came before us, it is about protecting the value of the lives in their story.

So we say their names!

We say the names of those who fought wars they were not honored for. Those who educated children when teaching was forbidden. Those who built institutions with no guarantee of protection. Those who prayed, organized, resisted, and endured—often without recognition in their lifetime. Their names are our stones. Each one is placed carefully so that when future generations ask, “What does this mean?” We will have an answer. Because remembrance is holy work. And legacy, once named, refuses to disappear.

A Prayer for Truth, Memory, and Healing in This Time

Father in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

We come to You in a time of deep division in this nation.

A time when truth is contested,

history is edited, and the temptation to erase what is uncomfortable

is disguised as unity.

We bare witness that this land has not always told the truth about itself.

We bare witness that stories have been silenced, names have been omitted,

and suffering has been minimized for the sake of financial gain and omission of guilt.

But You are not the God of comfort without truth.

You are the God who says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

We know Jesus is the Truth that was made flesh, the Word who entered history,

We know He is the Light no darkness can erase.

So we ask You now

Expose every false narrative.

Confront every willful forgetting.

Disrupt every attempt to rewrite what You have allowed to be marked in time.

Give us courage to remember rightly.

Not with hatred.

Not with vengeance.

But with honesty.

Teach us that reconciliation without truth is not healing, it is only avoidance.

That peace built on denial is fragile.

And that unity demanded without repentance is not of You.

Lord, guard the stories of those who labored, prayed, built, fought, taught, and endured

when this nation did not see them as fully human.

Let their lives stand as testimony, not footnotes.

Strengthen those who are weary of explaining their humanity,

who are tired of defending their history, and who feel the weight of being asked to forget.

Make us faithful stewards of memory.

Bold teachers of truth.

Humble listeners.

Courageous witnesses.

May we lay our stones of remembrance firmly, not to glorify ourselves, but rather testify to what You have brought us through. And may future generations look upon them and ask,

“What does this mean?” And may we be ready to answer, truthfully.

We lay this at Your feet.

In the name of Jesus Christ!

Amen.

Black History IS World History

WE SAY THEIR NAMES!

AND YET THERE ARE MANY MANY MORE, WE HONOR THEM TOO

Black Historical Figures

Abolition, Civil Rights & Justice

Nat Turner – Preacher and abolitionist;

Frederick Douglass – Abolitionist, writer, orator -

Harriet Tubman – Abolitionist, Underground Railroad conductor

Sojourner Truth – Abolitionist, women’s rights advocate

Ida B. Wells – Journalist, anti-lynching activist

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Civil rights leader

Rosa Parks – Civil rights activist

Thurgood Marshall – First Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Fannie Lou Hamer – Voting rights activist

Ella Baker – Grassroots civil rights organizer

Malcolm X – Human rights advocate

Faith, Education & Thought

Carter G. Woodson – Historian, founder of Negro History Week

Howard Thurman – Theologian, civil rights spiritual advisor

W.E.B. Du Bois – Scholar, sociologist, activist

Pauli Murray – Legal scholar, theologian, civil rights activist

Benjamin E. Mays – Educator, mentor to Dr. King

Arts, Literature & Culture

Langston Hughes – Poet, Harlem Renaissance leader

Zora Neale Hurston – Author, anthropologist

James Baldwin – Writer, cultural critic

Maya Angelou – Poet, author

Gwendolyn Brooks – Poet Laureate

Augusta Savage – Sculptor, Harlem Renaissance

Science, Innovation & Leadership

George Washington Carver – Scientist, educator

Katherine Johnson – NASA mathematician

Mae Jemison – Astronaut

Charles Drew – Medical researcher (blood plasma)

Shirley Chisholm – First Black woman elected to Congress

Global Black Historical Figures

Africa

Nelson Mandela (South Africa) – Anti-apartheid leader

Desmond Tutu (South Africa) – Archbishop, peace activist

Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) – Pan-African leader

Thomas Sankara (Burkina Faso) – Revolutionary leader

Wangari Maathai (Kenya) – Environmentalist, Nobel laureate

Haile Selassie I (Ethiopia) – Emperor, global Black sovereignty symbol

Caribbean & Latin America

Marcus Garvey (Jamaica) – Pan-Africanist, Black nationalist

Toussaint Louverture (Haiti) – Leader of the Haitian Revolution

Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haiti) – Founder of Haiti

Frantz Fanon (Martinique) – Philosopher, anti-colonial theorist

Claudia Jones (Trinidad) – Activist, journalist

Europe & the African Diaspora

Olaudah Equiano (Nigeria/UK) – Abolitionist, writer - I studies about him

Mary Seacole (Jamaica/UK) – Nurse, humanitarian

Ignatius Sancho (UK) – Writer, abolitionist

Revolutionary War & Early America

Crispus Attucks – Widely regarded as the first casualty of the American Revolution

Peter Salem – Fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Civil War

Harriet Tubman

Robert Smalls – Escaped enslavement by commandeering a Confederate ship and later served in Congress

William Harvey Carney – First Black Medal of Honor recipient

World War I

Harlem Hellfighters – Decorated Black combat unit that fought alongside French forces

World War II

Tuskegee Airmen – First Black military aviators; shattered myths and segregation barriers

Doris Miller – Navy cook who manned anti-aircraft guns during Pearl Harbor

Benjamin O. Davis Sr. – First Black U.S. Army general

Benjamin O. Davis Jr. – First Black U.S. Air Force general

Vietnam Era & Beyond

Colin Powell – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of State

Vernon Baker – Honored decades later for heroism long denied

Women in Military Service

6888th - The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (“The Six Triple Eight”) - 855 Black women soldiers

Cathay Williams – First documented Black woman to serve in the U.S. Army (disguised as a man)

Hazel Johnson-Brown – First Black woman general in the U.S. Army

Marcelite Harris – First Black woman general in the U.S. Air Force

Global Black Military Figures

Africa

Shaka Zulu (South Africa) – Revolutionary military strategist

Thomas Sankara – Military officer and head of state

Menelik II – Defeated European colonizers at the Battle of Adwa

Caribbean & Diaspora

Toussaint Louverture – Military genius of the Haitian Revolution

Jean-Jacques Dessalines – Founder of Haiti, first Black republic

Europe

Samuel Sharpe – Though not a traditional soldier, his organized rebellion hastened emancipation

Education – United States

Founders, Scholars & Institution Builders

Carter G. Woodson – Founder of Negro History Week; architect of Black historical scholarship

Booker T. Washington – Founder of Tuskegee Institute

W.E.B. Du Bois – Scholar, educator, and intellectual architect of Black studies

Mary McLeod Bethune – Founder of Bethune-Cookman University

Benjamin E. Mays – President of Morehouse College; Mentor to Dr. King

Education & Civil Rights

Thurgood Marshall – Legal strategist behind Brown v. Board of Education

Constance Baker Motley – NAACP attorney in school desegregation cases

Pauli Murray – Legal scholar shaping education and constitutional law

Women Educators & Trailblazers

Anna Julia Cooper – Advocate for Black women’s education

Septima Clark – Citizenship Schools that taught literacy and civic education

Charlotte Hawkins Brown – Founder of Palmer Memorial Institute

Education – Global Black Figures

Africa

Julius Nyerere (Tanzania) – Philosopher of education and national development

Wangari Maathai (Kenya) – Professor, environmental educator, Nobel laureate

Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) – Advocate for education as liberation

Caribbean & Diaspora

Marcus Garvey (Jamaica) – Global Black education and consciousness movement

Frantz Fanon (Martinique) – Education as decolonization of the mind

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