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Collective
Culture Movement
A Personal Manifesto - Black
History Initiative that
A Share With You
The
Birth of a Movement
In 2006, while contemplating a Black Heritage
Month Theme for Multiple Shades of You
Online (www.msoyonline.com), I was reminded
of my first visit to the Schomburg Center
for Research in Black Culture. On what
seemed to be an ordinary day I discovered
the extraordinary story of Arturo Alfonso
Schomburg. He was a Puerto-Rican born
black scholar; an amazing man who was
once told by his fifth grade teacher that
“Black people have no history, no
heroes, no great moments.” Because
of this statement and his insatiable thirst
for knowledge, Arturo began collecting
books and artifacts about people of African
decent. His personal collection became
the foundation of the Schomburg Center
and is in essence a testament to the need
for a Collective Culture Movement. [Read
More]
Black History a poem for the Collective
Culture Movement
by
LaShanda Henry
I am to be collected
Consumed and contemplated
Communicated, feared, and revered
Loved and hated
Highly debated across color lines and
social circles
I
am to be collected
Protected, printed and passed
Free at last to be told
Free at last to be changed and rearranged
Worn like old fashion
That never goes out of style
I’ll be the end at which every black
child’s future begins
I
am to be collected
Recycled and yet a-cyclically preserved
Conserved through the ever present perfection
of past
Accessible in a class
But best heard between my pepes in casual
conversation
Communication keeps me real and you realized
A gift to be re-gifted
A soul forever uplifted
I
am
to be
collected
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