Rosetta Madison Henderson, a native of North Carolina and a retired school teacher, remembers the struggles she underwent as a child during the pre-civil rights era in the American South. She also gave her opinion on where African Americans have reached in American society today. The memories are easy to recall for this 65-year-old retiree during this month, as February is African American History Month in the United States each year. On February 1, US President Barack Obama proclaimed February 2010 as African American History Month with this year's theme being "The History of Black Economic Empowerment in the United States." Henderson shared her experiences with the Guardian at the American Embassy, Information Resource Center at Marli Street, Port-of-Spain. She was born into a family of six in 1944 in North Carolina. The daughter of a factory worker and a mother who provided house keeping services for White people, she recalled how tough life was during that era.
"There were no high schools in North Carolina that would admit African Americans, so my dad found out about a boarding school. My older sister and I were able to attend this school in the late 1950s. It was all Black. "There was a bad incident where the White bigots burnt a cross on the campus because a White girl wanted to attend the school," she said. Henderson said despite state sanctioned discrimination, she said her family succeeded. "I went to one of the historically Black colleges, Barbara Scotia College in North Carolina. My dad said I was going to have it better than he did. So he worked so we all could go to college. Six of us went to college," she said. "You had coloured water fountains. If you went on a long trip with your family, there were no bathrooms." "They said the bathrooms were in the bushes. This was just the way things were. Despite this, we succeeded. There was drive, there was pride," she said.
She said recently she was in a Third Grade class doing a presentation with young children and she asked African Americans to raise their hands. She noted that some of the lighter skinned African Americans did not raise their hands, which she attributed to lack of cultural identity. "At first, nobody raised their hands. Yet most were Black. There was this little Black girl and when I asked her, she said she did not know she was Black–because no one had worked with her and let her know to have pride in her race," she said. Speaking about where African Americans have reached today, she said they have come a long way and she is optimistic about the future. "You have young Black American men who are willing to work harder because of President Obama. I came from a small town in the South and I've done well. Things were worse then than they are now. I'm proud to be African American," she said.
LEFT: ?Matthew Cassetta...US Embassy Public Affairs Officer.
Embassy-Black History Month
Naette Lee, director, Information Resource Centre, US Embassy, said the response to Black History Month in the US from local students has been overwhelming and said the centre has put a special focus on the annual observance. "We posted things on facebook. We've had book displays. We have had six schools in the past two weeks. One school looked at four films back to back. We have exhibits at Nalis," she said. Matthew Cassetta, Public Affairs Officer, US Embassy said Henderson has been made available to local student groups giving her experiences and her struggle for human rights and freedom, and will do so at Nalis as well.
