Photo By Dustin Q. Diaz | 150223-N-IL267-021 NORFOLK, Va. (Feb. 23, 2015) Mass Communication Specialist 2nd...... read more read more
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NORFOLK, Va. – Sailors and civilians assigned to Expeditionary Combat Camera (ECC) participated in an African-American History Month observance Feb. 23.
Members of ECC took turns during the presentation discussing African-Americans who have made an impact on civil rights in areas such as sports, science and government. For example, Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in professional baseball in 1947, and Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.
This year is the centennial celebration of the Association for the Story of African-American Life and History (ASALH), founded by Carter G. Woodson. He and ASALH conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925, which first took place during a week in February that encompassed the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford expanded it to a full-month observance 200 years after the Declaration of Independence.
“I gave an educational presentation about how African-American people and issues influenced society in the 1950s,” said Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kimberly Clifford. She focused on the Little Rock Nine, the first African-American students to attend a previously segregated school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, which was met with protests and hostility from the governor, the public and the Arkansas National Guard. “We are a media rating. How history is recorded, how it affects society: These are all learning tools on how we want to present and tell stories, and what stories are important to society overall."
“Understanding history is important. Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it,” added Clifford, a native of Anchorage, Alaska.
President Harry Truman fully integrated African-Americans into the military in 1948 and they comprise 17 percent of the Navy’s active-duty force today. In 1963, then-Lt. Cmdr. Samuel Gravely became the first African-American to command a Navy ship, and later, the first to become a naval flag officer and the first fleet commander, among other firsts. Last year, Adm. Michelle Howard became the first African-American woman to be appointed a four-star admiral and the first African-American and first woman to be appointed vice chief of naval operations.
Event organizer Personnel Specialist 1st Class Yulonda James said monthly cultural observances like this provide opportunities for personnel at ECC to share their experiences.
“Whether black, white, Asian, Hispanic: history is history and everyone plays a part,” said James, a native of Westlake, Louisiana. “Each month is set aside for a reason, but throughout the year, we all need to be recognizing history, period. And when we go out on missions and see other cultures, we need to bring back those stories and share them. Every picture on these walls has a story behind it. We’re all a part of history; it’s not just black history.”
For more information on African-American History Month, visit the ASALH website at http://asalh100.org/black-history-themes/2015-theme/.
ECC’s mission is to provide the Office of the Secretary of Defense, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, military departments, combatant commands and joint task forces with a directed imagery capability in support of operational and planning requirements through the full range of military operations.
| Date Taken: | 02.23.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.25.2015 12:35 |
| Story ID: | 155348 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Hometown: | ANCHORAGE, AK, US |
| Hometown: | LA HABRA, CA, US |
| Hometown: | WESTLAKE, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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