For a fourth straight year, The Buffalo African American Museum has brought together people and organizations from every corner of Western New York in celebration of Black History Month.
Since 2023, “Together As One: The Journey Continues” has seen the collaborative creation of a digital guide to discover the region’s African American history as well as programs at cultural sites around the region.
At the Downtown Branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, there are displays showcasing people and places who’ve helped shape local history from an African American perspective.
The man behind the collaboration happens to be a man who has been on the front lines of observing – and making – African American history for 96 years. Buffalo African American Museum Chairman Clifford Bell, who’s been a community leader, elected official and activist for 70 years has a story that he feels compelled to tell.
“I feel it's a duty for me to share,” said the former Common Council member, who everyone calls Brother Bell. “There are so many people who paid and sacrificed to give us the opportunity to be where we are today. I'm one of those. I was in marches and all that in the '50s and '60s as a grown man. And so as a result, I'm trying to inspire others. And I do people say, if he can do it at 96, well, I can sure do it at a younger age.”
While Bell said it’s important to not put African American history in any kind of a box, he said what he has to offer is his lifelong following of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Bell and King were born in the same year, 1929.
“I stood at the foot of the statue when Dr. King made his speech,” said Bell, speaking about King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech. “Five buses of people left Buffalo to go to that one speech. We drove all night. We spent the whole day and drove right back.”
Stories like those, said Brother Bell, are more than just stories. The telling offers a glimpse at the kind of people, community, country and world needs.
“Young people need to know something about our history. Not only about just Black history, but American history. So don't be quiet. We don't talk enough to our children, share your experiences,” said Bell, because history holds the answers to our current challenges as well.
“Even though we're under a little pressure here today by new leadership, we're still a lot further ahead than we were until people were willing to sacrifice,” said Bell. “Silence is a supporter of all bad things. That's why the people in Minnesota are so powerful, not only because of what happened to them, which none of us felt was right, but because they're letting folks know, starting from the leadership down, this is not the kind of America that we want to live in.”
People of all races, said Bell, get a certain kind of view of African Americans and what they have or haven’t done. He says Black History Month helps focus energy on a truth that wouldn’t have a chance to come to light without the month-long focus. And that would be a loss for everyone.
Paraphrasing Dr. King, Bell said, “All men are caught in a network of mutuality tied to a single garment of duty. Whatever affects any one of us directly affects all of us indirectly.” Bell continued, “That is the inescapable reality of life. We're having things that are happening in America and other states and other sex other countries that are having an effect on all of us in our homes today. So you see how important relationships are. The more we know about each other, the more we understand the need to know even more.”
Even at 96 with his 70th wedding anniversary last year, Bell is still learning and has no intention of slowing down.
“I still got many more years of service to render at least four more until I'm 100. I'm already putting people's names down for my birthday party.”
The coordinated “Together As One” effort, led by the Buffalo African American Museum includes the following participating organizations: Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, African American Cultural Center, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, The Nash House Museum, Buffalo Niagara Freedom Station Coalition, Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, The Buffalo History Museum, The Coles House Project, Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, Mount Calvary Heritage Foundation, Calvary Baptist Church and Open Buffalo.
To learn more about exhibits and programs at all participating organizations, visit: www.bfloafricanamericanmuseum.org
