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February 1st, 2024- Prince Hall (1735-1807) #VRABlackHistory 2024

"A quest to ensure that Black people understood their past was at the heart of the creation of Black History Month...If you think you have no history, it’s like being rootless...It’s unnatural. If you think your people don’t have history, you can do nothing. The point of Black History Month is so you can understand your history.”

- CeLillianne Green, author of “A Bridge: The Poetic Primer on African and African American Experiences.” Washington Post. February, 1st, 2022 https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/02/01/carter-woodson-miseducation-negro-schools/

On February 1st, 2024, we honor Prince Hall of Boston, who was not only a registered voter of his day, but a staunch abolitionist and civil rights activist who used the power of petitions to effectively petition the government to gain rights for Black people.

This article is written by Caitlyn Caitlyn Arnwine (formerly Caitlyn Cobb) in 2017 and updated last in 2023 with the quote at the beginning.

NEW #VRABlackHistory 2024, February 5th, 2024- Octavius Valentine Catto (1839 – 1871): A Black History Hero Forgotten No More

Today, February 5th, 2024, we honor Octavius V. Catto. "Octavius Valentine Catto (1839 – 1871) was one of the most influential African American leaders in Philadelphia during the 19th century. Inspired by the Civil War, Catto became an adamant activist for the abolition of slavery and establishment of equal rights for all men, regardless of race. He successfully fought for the desegregation of Philadelphia’s public trolleys and ratification of the 15th amendment to the Constitution, which bars voting discrimination on the basis of race . In addition to his work as a Civil Rights activist, he was also an educator , scholar, writer, and accomplished baseball player – helping to recognize Philadelphia as a Negro baseball league focal point...Catto was only thirty-two when he was shot and killed outside of his home on Philadelphia’s South Street on October 10, 1871, the first election day that African Americans were allowed to vote. His activism and efforts to get African Americans to the polls led to his murder – a violent action that was seen as a result of widespread intimidation by whites to deter the black vote."

February 6th , 2024- Past American Insurrections (1867 and 1875) #VRABlackHistory 2024

Today, February 6th, 2024, we remember past American insurrections that occurred in 1867 and 1875. Deadly violence has plagued the African-American quest for racial justice since the end of the civil war. Sadly these insurrections oftentimes resulted in the destruction of Black voting power. We must recognize this true line of violent history of the past to the violent history of the present.

February 7th, 2024- The First National Conference of the Colored Women of America (August 1895) #VRABlackHistory 2024

Today, February 7th, 2024, we honor the First National Conference of the Colored Women of America. Held in August 1895 in Boston, Massachusetts, representatives from 42 African-American women's clubs gathered at this three-day organizing and strategy conference, the first of its kind in the United States. The goal of the conference was to create a national organization for Black women after Black women expressed via poll responses the need for such an organization in the early 1890's. The final tipping point was in 1895 when "an obscure Missouri journalist named John Jacks sent a letter to the secretary of the British Anti-Slavery Society, Florence Belgarnie. In the letter, Jacks criticized the anti-lynching work of Ida B. Wells, and wrote that black women had 'no sense of virtue' and were 'altogether without character'...