Today marks the City of Buffalo’s annual Pan-African flag raising in recognition of Black History Month.
The flag raising serves to recognize the struggles and triumphs of past generations, Buffalo Poet Laureate Aitina Fareed-Cooke said. But it’s also a reminder to current generations not to be tied down by anger or difficult circumstances, she added.
“Regardless of your current condition, all you who breathe in what our lungs long for, it is still important for you to understand that you are already free," Fareed-Cooke said. "Free to unite and build, free to own, free and capable. Just know that you are free, free to choose, free to stand on business and demand change.”
It’s an opportunity to remember the milestone achievements to come out of Buffalo, whether that’s the NAACP’s predecessor – The Niagara Movement – founded in 1905 in Buffalo, or State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes being the first Black woman selected as the majority leader, Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said.
This year also marks the centennial anniversary of Black History Week, which was started by Carter Woodson the week of Feb. 7, 1926. It
expanded in 1970, when Kent State University celebrated the first Black History Month.
It’s important to recognize all Black History, even well before Africans were brought to the Americas as slaves, Fareed-Cooke said.
“Black history begins with God breathing into the dirt. Therefore, it begins with being birthed within the richness of African soil," she said. "Yes, imperfect people — human — with diverse histories, cultures. That's kingdoms and city-states who develop prosperous, prosperous empires.”
