WFWP USA celebrates Black History Month 2021 with its theme “The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity”

“We cannot meet God from a position of reigning over others. He finds us when we are silently working for the sake of those in greater difficulty than ourselves.” -- Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon

The Women's Federation for World Peace USA is proud to acknowledge and participate in the annual celebration of Black History Month, also known as African American History Month, each year in February. Since its founding by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon in 1992, WFWP has continued to focus on issues that impact human rights and women’s dignity. The national theme this year to celebrate Black History Month is to reflect and show representation, preservation, identity and the impact of diversity for Blacks. 

As an African American woman, I have seen over a decade the effort WFWP leaders and members make to interact as sisters regardless of race, economic status, culture, political or religious ideology in communities around the world. Interracial Bridge of Peace Ceremonies establish sisterhood relationships between black, white, brown, Asian and Native American that would perhaps not occur in their everyday life. These relationships cross over barriers within families and help to cure the racial divide.

During his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, DC, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.”

Like Dr. King, I too have a dream that the spirits of women such as Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Shirley Chisholm, Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Cicely Tyson and others, will sit with today’s leaders: Vice President Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama, Stacy Abrams, Sheila Jackson Lee, Jacqueline Jackson, and all the first Black women breaking glass ceilings in business, science, sports, government, religion, the arts and medicine, including Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a viral immunologist and key scientist behind the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

I’m sure that our founder Dr. Moon would love to be present with these ladies, perhaps with tea, and share her experience in Africa. There, with thousands of Africans, she prayed at the “Door of No Return” for our Black ancestors subjected to slavery, and the rapid reconciliation among the races around the world. Mothers are the first teachers of love and peace that a child will encounter in life, and it is through the heart of a mother that we can heal. 

The achievements of African Americans are astronomical. In all walks of life, more than exceptional strides have been made, regardless of setbacks from inequality affecting schools, jobs, housing, medical care, and food insecurity. Yes, great accomplishments have been made, but we as women must stand together to ensure that all families have a chance to experience the American Dream. African American women must acknowledge and respect the legacy of those women who have passed on and those who currently meet challenges for all women.

We also want to acknowledge the origins of Black History Month, which takes us back to 1915 and the work of Harvard historian Carter G. Woodson. Fifty years after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, Woodson founded an association to promote the achievements of African Americans. Since 1976, the month of February has been designated as Black History Month, giving Americans the chance to learn details of our nation’s history. 

It is unfortunate that Black history was neglected or not fully presented for so long. We know that from the 1600’s, millions of Africans were put on slave ships bound for the United States and other countries. Human values of respect, compassion, and brotherhood, are not passed as legislation in Washington. The respect and value we have for each other, regardless of color, comes and is generated from the heart. 

I will conclude with another quote from Dr. King’s profound 1963 speech: “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” God bless you, my friends.