stamp, and a keynote address by loyola university maryland professor karsonya wise whitehead. a'lelia: it is my pleasure to introduce broderick johnson. please quiet down and join me in welcoming mr. john jarvis. >> good afternoon. it's a great honor to be here with you at this incredible to celebratecheon the contribution of african-americans to the memory of the united states of america. gardner, sylvia cyrus. in two, the national park service are celebrating our centennial. year centennial theme is hallowed ground. this year's theme is directly connected to the national parks it prompts us to reflect on the legacy of national -- african-americans. when i became the director in 2009 i made it a priority of the national heart service to use our parks to create civic dialogue to reawaken history and create new memories. we are encouraging all americans to find your parks. find that hallowed ground that resonates with you. those hallowed grounds can include national parks such as carter g woodson and washington, d.c.. [applause] in could find your park selma to montgomery national historic trail. or the frederick douglass toward little rock central high or george washington carver. for tuskegee airmen. parkswe love our existing that detail the african-american experience we realized that if african-americans went out looking they might not find their parks because they are missing important stories in places. obama toched president use his powers under the antiquities act to use -- create new parks. we identified the hallowed ground at fort monroe, virginia where general benjamin butler issued the contraband decision. it at atified courthouse in delaware that ratified the constitution. we identified the hallowed ground of maryland plantation from which harriet tubman repeatedly led fugitive slaves via the underground railroad to freedom. we identified a modest home in ohio where colonel charles young , national parks superintendent and buffalo soldier stood up against discrimination in the military. [applause] hallowed ground in the south side of chicago in the community where president obama hung his community organizations for the pullman porters while still subject to discrimination and race is in. -- racism. unionized in creating what we know today as labor day. president obama has designated these five new national monument as part of the national park system. for many of us there is no more hallowed ground than the national mall. on august 20 2011, president obama dedicated the dr. martin luther king jr. memorial on the national mall as part of the national park system. [applause] these are not just african-american history, they are american history. together on working these for a long time. to firmly state that slavery was the cause of the civil war. [applause] been a to the has restoration of the woodson home. currently we are completing the first stage of a $3.2 million renovation of the home with additional financial services to and from the national park foundation and we are working to have that competed this year -- completed this year. stop by and see my mentor, bob. -- rob stanton. bob stanton.n -- [applause] -- the oldest private hbcus in the united states. she reminded us about truth. the national park service is here to learn more about the african-american legacy from you so that we can all have a clearer view of the world. i'm very proud to be a partner and for the national park service, every month is black history month. so go out there and find your part. thank you. [applause] thank you very much. so much important work the national park service is doing. thank you for your leadership. it's really important. now it is my pleasure to welcome mr. broderick johnson, assistant to the president of the united states, canada and secretary -- , and chair ofary the my brother's keeper task force. please come to the podium. and he is my close friend, michelle johnson's husband. [applause] broderick: thank you, thank you. good afternoon. first, let me thank you. you remember me from when i had a 'fro. i had hair, but now i keep it closely cropped, as they say. thank you my dear friend of all these years. you do a great job, including being the mc here today. for the past seven years, the people in this room have been great supporters and friends, president obama, the first lady, and this administration. from day one, asalh has partnered with the president and the first lady, and we are incredibly grateful for everything you've done for this administration, for our community, and for making african american history month at the white house very special, every single year. i would especially like to thank your president, dr. evelyn brooks higgenbosom. we look forward to working with you. your executive director, sylvia cyrus, and the entire asalh board. it is notable that this is a 29 day february. we will make good use of that extra day this year. the president expects nothing less. from my earliest days, african americans have been central to the making of america. we were the slaves to corey the stones to build the white house during we were the soldiers who fought for our nation's independent, and to hold this union together, and for the freedom of others around the world. we are the scientists and inventors who helped unleash american innovation. we stand on the shoulders of not only the giants in this room, but the countless, nameless heroes who marched for equality and justice for all. we have profoundly shaped american culture, music, art, literature, sports. i am proud to honor this rich heritage. as you all know, black history month should not be treated as if it were separate from our collective american history. or boiled down to a greatest hits compilation of moments and their heroes. the well-meaning attempts to do that in classrooms and corporate ad campaigns, but we all know african-american history is about more than just a few events. it is about the shared experiences of all african-americans, and how those experiences have shaped, challenged, and ultimately strengthened our entire nation. it is about taking an unvarnished look at the past so that we might create a better future. it is a reminder of where we as a country have been, and where we still need to go. that bridge between the past, present, and future, is why we hosted a generational roundtable of leaders and the white house to discuss today's efforts to reform our criminal justice system. the president hosted that meeting at the white house. the meeting included icons of the movement, like reverend cj billion, and congressman john lewis. some of the up-and-coming changemakers, using new tools to try to change history. i was privileged to be at that meeting with an incredible getting together of the young to be liens, and those from our past. including those who lived through bloody sunday. they heard the courageous, incredible, ct vivian tell the president how historically monumental this presidency is, and how the first family could not help but be moved to tears. i thought about the reverence courageous efforts in selma in 1965, before the march across the bridge. how he faced the vicious, violent and hateful sheriff clark who hit him and bloodied him. but he would not stop. he continued to demand the right to vote. they could not help but sit in the roosevelt room, this incredibly courageous man of 91 years, and to see that as one of the great historical moments in our country. i can also tell you, equally powerful, the fathers and mothers of the movement see how it is going today. it grew out of church basements and word-of-mouth or it was the power of young people's example. thanks to technology and social media, today's leaders are building a new, inclusive movement that has mobilized people of all backgrounds to stand up for change, equal opportunity in education, to a criminal justice system that is smarter and more effective, and most of all, more just. that is a thing about america. our democracy takes all of us. while our elected officials are important, and the supreme court appointment the president will make is important -- [applause] -- everything comes down to the constant perseverance of citizens like you, and whether we exercise the right to vote that so many fought for. this nation is a work in progress. there is only the gap between where we are and where we aspire to be. you all know this to be so true. what makes us all americans, is that we have fought wars, half log, organize unions, staged protest, and forged mighty movements to close the gap and pull ourselves closer to our highest ideals. we made the effort to form that more perfect union. as long as we keep at it, not just on one day or one month, but every single day, i have no doubt that we will live up to the promise of our founding ideals. all of our children, no matter who they are where they come from, will have the opportunity to achieve their dreams. i share the my brothers keepers task force. we visit communities, more than 200 such communities across the country now. i was in miami yesterday. the entire county of miami-dade is now a my brothers keepers community. this is where the work can be so important and so moving. i was able to meet with a group of young people. including an 8 year old wearing an in memoriam t-shirt. i asked him who the two people were. he said jesse was 10, who was shot in the back of his head, and the other was 12 when he was shot. that young boy and others what they want to do another life, growing up in liberty city, many of these families live well below the poverty line. we asked these young people, what do you want to do in life? not one of them said i won't get to 21 or 15, every single one of them said they want to go to college someday. they want to grow up and go to florida state, and grow up to be lawyers and doctors and entrepreneurs. [applause] and they were also full of hope. it is justifiable hope. what moved me the most was a young woman who said, i asked what would you like me to take back until the president? they have every reason to believe the president wants to know what they have to say. this young woman said, tell him we will miss him. but to be able to say to her, we will all miss him, and we will all miss the first lady in their current roles, they are not leaving us. they will find new ways to lead this country and the lead us to a better place. [applause] thank you very much for everything you do, and for having me here today on the behalf of the president. i would like to read the proclamation on african-american history month issued by president obama this year. national african-american history month, 2016, by the president of the united states of america. a proclamation. "america's greatness is a testament to courageous individuals who, in the face of uncomfortable truths, accepted that the work of perfecting our nation is unending, and strive to reach freedom to all. for too long, our most basic liberties have been denied to african-americans. today, we pay tribute to countless goodhearted citizens, along with the underground railroad, who stood up, and sat in to right the wrongs of our past, to extend the promise of america to all our people. during national african-american history month, we recognize these champions of justice, and the sacrifices they made to bring us to this point. we honor the contributions of african americans since our country's beginning, and we recommit to reaching toward a day when no person is judged by anything but the content of their character. from the revolutionary war, through the abolitionist movement, marches across selma and montgomery, african-americans have remained devoted to the proposition that all of us are created equal, even when their own rights were denied. as we rejoice in victories won by men and women who believed in the idea of a just and fair america, we remember that throughout our history, our success has been written by bold individuals, willing to speak out and change the status quo. refusing to accept our nation's original sin, african-americans bound by the chains of slavery broke free and headed north. for many, it was antithetical to our country's inception of human rights and dignity. they fought to bring their moral imaginations to light. when jim crow mocked the 13th amendment, a new group of men and women galvanize and organize, with the same force of faith as our ancestors. bringing attention to disparities that continue to plague our society that mirror the nonviolent tactics of the civil rights movement, while adapting to modern times. let us also not forget that those who made the ultimate sacrifice, so that we can make our voices heard, by exercising our right to vote. even in the face of legal challenges, every eligible voter should not take for granted what is our right to shape our democracy. [applause] we have made great progress on the journey for ensuring our ideas ring true for all people. today, african-american high school graduation and college enrollment rates are at an all-time high. the african-american unemployment rate has been halved since this recession peak. more than 2 million african-americans gained health insurance, thanks to the affordable care act. [applause] the incarceration rates for african american men and women fell during each year of this administration, and are at their lowest point in over two decades. [applause] and yet, challenges and obstacles stand in the way of becoming the country of vision of our founding. and we would do a disservice to all who came before us if we remained blind to how the path of justice has shaped the present. there is a disproportionate amount of prisoners that are african-americans. we must reform our criminal justice system to make sure it is more fair and effective. we have seen unemployment rates decrease in many communities, particularly those of color, continuing to express more opportunities. too many young people and women feel like no matter how hard they try, they may never achieve their dreams. our responsibility as citizens is to address inequalities and injustices that linger. and we must secure our birthright freedoms to all people. as we mark the 40th year of national african-american history month, let us reflect on the sacrifices and contributions made by generations of african-americans, and let us resolve to continue our march, so everyone knows that the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and that pursuit of happiness. i therefore, barack obama, president of the united states of america, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the constitution, and the laws of the united states, do hereby proclaim february 2016 as national african-american history month. [applause] i call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities. i hereunto set my hand this 29th day of january, in the year of our lord 2016, and the independence of the united states of america, the 240th, barack obama." thank you very much. [applause] a'lelia: thank you so much, broderick. we are going to miss this family in the white house. but they will continue to do many great things. and we are going to miss you in the white house, broderick. before you were a daddy, you were rooting for this role. he was president of the local chapter of 100 black men, and so many other things. broader, thank you. [applause] help me welcome ronald stroman, who helped me unveil a new commemorative stamp. ronald: good afternoon. it is my privilege to be here to unveil the 2016 black history month stamp for the founder of the african methodist episcopal church, bishop richard allen. [applause] a man whose spiritual journey to christianity, and whose secular journey to freedom have no parallel in american history. a man of such unshakable sense of mission, that even in his 20's, he could see a barren parcel of land in philadelphia, and tell those who could hear, on this rock i will build my church. bishop allen was a freedom fighter, long before that term was coined. born february 14 1760, he began a lifelong struggle for equality by convincing his master that slavery was immoral. in three years, purchasing his own freedom for the princely sum of $2000. he did not stop there. in 1787, he founded the free african society which helped supply free men with money and other material support, and allow local philadelphia government to have a african-american burial ground. in 1794, he was the first african-american in america to have writings against racial injustice copywritten. in 1804, he founded a society or the education of youth. he wanted to counteract the negative stereotypes that white society had imposed upon african-americans. he opened his home to noted abolitionist of the time, people like david walker and morris brown, and indeed, frederick douglass, described the debt they owe bishop allen. he was a freedom fighter, he combined activism with an african ethic in the context of the methodist religion, founding the methodist episcopal church that made him legendary. after he purchased his freedom, he became a preeminent preacher being drawn to the religion in large part, because the methodist with the largest anti-slavery religion in the country, after quakers, at the time. church leaders asked him to expand the black congregation. the st. george's methodist church -- within one year of coming to st. george's, he had expanded it from a four, to 50. african increasingly became an influential part of the church. you know how the story goes. it is ok when you have a couple of you around, but when a critical mass of african-americans started to form, things started to change. the leadership of the church started to find fault with richard allen. they told him his preaching was a little too emotional, and he needed to tone it down. there were white complaints that blacks were mingling in with the white. the fact that the methodist vigorously opposed slavery, and believed inequality for their congregation. the methodists practiced a moral relativism. they supported segregation, but not slavery. alan initiated a confrontation with the white church leadership, by having black church members sit in large numbers in the so-called white pews. when white members tried to forcibly remove black members from the pews, allen led a walkout of the church. it allowed him to found his own denomination. [applause] 1.i would like to emphasize, is that it really was the tireless work and support of the african-american women that allowed his church to survive. led by his wife, flora, who unfortunately died early, and his second wife, sarah. these women were, the real foundation of the church. richard allen desperately needed their support because the methodist church leadership did not relinquish power easily. they took richard allen to court. they got the best lawyers in philadelphia, who argued that it was really under the leadership and control of the methodist church. they hired the most esteemed lawyers, and the case went all the way to the supreme court. and on january 7, 1850, in the case of green versus african-american episcopal society, the pennsylvania supreme court ruled in favor of richard allen, concluding that the ame church was a free and independent corporation. and the methodist church could not control it. but the methodist leadership was not finished, as you know. they give up power with difficulty. they tried to auction the land on which the church was built on june 20 2, 1850. there was a sheriff's order to sell the church in the land. wealthy landowners came up and down the east coast to buy that land. at that time, philadelphia was the largest city on the east coast. it was as if he was trying to buy a parcel of land in new york city right now. these wealthy landowners came to purchase the land at the auction. that day, there was another man at that auction. a man whose skin was a little darker than anyone else's. a man whose hair was a little coarser than anyone else. a man whose skin was a little rougher than anyone else. a man who did not come to make money, a man who was there because he just wanted to do the will of god. and he was there that day. that man's name was richard allen. and they thought they could bid and bid on that parcel of land. but when the auction was over, the owner of that parcel of land was richard allen. he purchased that parcel of land with $10,000. this is the man we have come to honor today on our stand. with that, i would like to invite dr. higginbotham and jonathan jarvis of the national parks service to unveil our 2016 black heritage stamp. [applause] a'lelia: thank you very much. and i think i heard you preaching a little bit. [laughter] i think that was something new, a new dimension. thank you. i just tried to log on and do a little tweeting. i can't get on because so many of you are tweeting. we have exceeded the number. that is a wonderful thing. these stamps are so wonderful for preserving our history and teaching our youth about on whose shoulders they stand. i think i am right, in saying they remain among the postal service is most popular items. so please stock up on them, whether you go to usps.gov, usps.com, you don't have to wait a minute you do that. or go to your neighborhood post office. and now, i have the pleasure of introducing our keynote speaker for this afternoon, dr. karsonya wise whitehead. and we are big facebook and twitter followers of each other. dr. karsonya wise whitehead is associate presser of communication and african american studies in loyola, maryland. she is the director of the center for education, research, and culture, and the author of three books, including "letters to my black sons, raising boys in a post-racist america," and "the carter g. woodson lectures." significant for asalh, she is a k-12 history teacher, an award-winning writer and history lecturer, an award-winning baltimore middle school teacher, and maryland history teacher of the year. as well as a three-time new york emmy nominated documentary filmmaker. so many lives. [applause] she had spoken for the past three years on the black history month panel. she wants you to know she is a wife and the mother of teenage boys. i think broderick's wife was being interviewed on the diane rehm show, and someone said something about being afraid to do things, and that is having currency now. you can read more of her in the program, she received a distinguished alumni peace award. please help me welcome dr. karsonya wise whitehead. [applause] karsonya: thank you very much. i am deeply honored to be here in a room with people dedicated to advancing african-american history. i am so excited to be here, because i know i am standing on the shoulders of all those who have come before me. and i am standing taller because of them. asalh is a great organization by any standards. and they have held up the banner of black history for 100 years. as we turned the corner into the new century, we do stand with our heads held up high, because we know we are going to tell the world about black history. that is our challenge, and that is our goal. i also want to thank our newly elected president, dr. higginbotham. it is amazing to be up here with you. and i also want to thank sylvia cyrus, who i found out this week, other than carlton g woodson, she is the longest director of asalh. i want to speak you today about our theme. how the fights in african american history, and i want to suggest to you that we are standing on holy ground. the land on which our blood is mixed with the soil. in 1848, black people have grown up with this country. he said we are born american, and we belong. we cannot be forced to leave because we built this on our backs. i say to you, langston hughes added to that. america never was america to me, and yet i share his hope, that america will be. this nation is our holy ground. and we recognize the places where we stood our ground, where we chose to go forward, rather than backward. we are fighting now for justice in this land, with a cry for young brothers and sisters coming up. we have to remember that the fight for justice is a long one. we have been fighting this for so long, since 1853. dr. king said it in 1965, many of you remember when they asked him in selma, alabama, they said how long? he said, not long, because truth will rise again. and they said dr. king, how long before we get what is coming to us? he said, not long, because no lie can live forever. and they said, what about us? he said, not long. the universe bends toward justice. but justice has taken a long time to get here, and we have to keep sending this and working as hard as we can. dr. king said, the universe is on the side of justice. i am just wondering if we are all on the same side of the universe, because justice is not playing out the way i think it should. we are living in a time when black people are being shot for the crime of moving and breathing and being black in this country. this is a crisis point. and we have a great responsibility. if you have lived in the history or studied it, then you are the keeper of our historian legacy. why are you not pulling more young people into this? it is not their grandfathers movement. we know that black lives matter, standing on the shoulders of the civil rights movement. they are not two separate things. we are built to survive and struggle and we must share this knowledge to ensure that the next generation does not get lost. if we don't teach them about black history, then how will they ever know? i stand here today, after my father's work. and we are caught in the network that dr. king talked about. whatever affects one directly affects another. we are all tied to what is happening in this country. it is a holy ground, and we have to pay attention. even though the media is marking the deaths of black lives, no one is keeping track of how we are living it out. no one is keeping track of what it means to see stacks of bodies, black bodies after black bodies, killed and choked, kept under. spines broken, necks snapped. there is a cost that we have to pay, by seeing these images, one after another, play out on our televisions and phones, on the internet, in our faces. the cries of black lives matter, caught up in the notion that all lives matter. that sounds to me like white lives matter. i am confused, as nobody said any other lives matter until we said black lives matter. so we have to keep pushing for that. i like to suggest you that there are three tools that we need in our arsenal. three tools we pull out when we need to fight. the first tool is commitment. that is laced with passion. i think of the 1992 olympics, some of you might remember that. i don't remember anything but derek redman. remember he snapped his hamstring and he stood up and began to hobble around. people tried to help him, he waved them off. a man broke through the stands, that man was his father. they asked, why didn't you stop? and he said i came to barcelona to finish a race and not just to start one. he said i did not even know i was going to finish until my father came out and carried me. we are where we are today because our ancestors carried us. that survival instinct is embedded within us. [applause] it carried us in 1619 when the first 20 africans arrived on the shore. they had no idea what they were in the midst of building. it carried out almost 200 years of slavery, whips on the backs. it carried out through the civil war, abolition, jim crow. we taught our children how to survive. we are a long-lived and stubborn people, and we survive. the great depression, vietnam, reaganomics, we will survive donald trump because we are a strong-willed people. [applause] we survived lynchings and cross burnings, and being terrorized for trying to re-claim what is ours. we have survived because we are strong-willed, and we are stubborn. i think of my grandmother, when obama was first elected it she laid prostrate on the floor. the last president she saw, was someone who looked like her. [applause] i think that is an amazing thing to think about. that first tool is commitment. i think about, that quote, lord, we ain't what we want to be, but thank god we ain't where we used to be. but commitment is that first will. the second tool is courage. i believe the true mark of courage is being able to stand up in the face of incredible odds. there are moments in life where you have to decide who you are going to be, and whether you have the ability to be race-free. speak out when you see something that should not happen. can you be courageous in that moment? king said that freedom is earned, and you win it in every generation. if you are not willing to die for, you should take freedom out of your vocabulary. freedom is something we have to fight for in every single generation. this is one of my favorite stories. my youngest son and 13 was playing upstairs in his room. you know what great time it is when your kids can entertain themselves. you get a moment to think about some things. a second later he yells out god bless you, amir. i said, you're by yourself? he said, sometimes when you're by yourself you have to bless yourself. and i said yes, you do. even if you're by yourself you have to bless yourself because they don't know what you are capable of. you have to be able to bless yourself. when they try to break the backs of our children, we got to be able to bless ourselves. i put god bless you, you are going to make it on my mirror. we will support love and light. are you able to bless yourself? are you able to be what we have been waiting for? stand tall, the torch is now yours. can we give that torch to our young people and support wisdom, math, science, history, english, and survival. can you go forward with that? my father told me that during the civil rights movement, the cops would raid the headquarters of the naacp, and the lights are go off, and they would grab the hand of the person to the right and the left and they would start to sing. i would be buried in my grave and meet the lord, that is courage in the face of fear. the first tool is commitment, and that second tool is courage. the first tool i believe we need to have, we have to have faith. we need to believe in something bigger than ourselves. i have to be transparent with you. when i was younger, i was absolutely convinced that the world was awful and people were too stupid to figure it out. it took me a while and i learned the hard way, that the world does not revolve around me. it revolves around the sun. but i don't have to be the sun in order to shine. you have to have faith that there is something bigger than what is in front of us. yet the push of against the wall of racism. and believe me, we will get it. but we have to knock down everybody in the way. there is the notion that when you come to the end of all that you know, you are getting ready to step off in the darkness. you will be having something really strong to stand on. this notion of faith has carried us. we understand that we have been beaten and starved. we have been disenfranchised and disempowered, overlooked, ignored, underpaid, underrepresented. but we have survived anyway. i have been keeping a list on my wall where i add new names. eric garner, john crawford, michael brown, ezel ford, dante parker, tanisha anderson, tamir rice. i do it so i won't forget. freddie gray, sandra bland, laquan mcdonald. i do it so i can add their names, and have a piece of them in this moment that will remain. and we will move forward. it is good to new that somewhere, someone is paying attention. i recognize as a black woman in america, every time my sons walk out the door, i could be tamir's mother, i could be trayvon's mother, i could be eric garner's wife. i could be that person. what keeps me going, what allows me to get back up every day, and say i will face this once again, is this notion of faith. that there is something bigger than me. because survival is our legacy. surviving every day in the system is our goal. you have got to have commitment. let's finish this race we have been running. you have to be courage and be able to bless yourself. you have to have faith that there is something bigger than you. there is a place that exists beyond our current reality and broken promises, beyond poverty, crime, illiteracy, police brutality. this place at this moment only exists in our dreams. the place we can get to buy shifting genius, by taking off our shoes and realizing we have work to do. and we understand, if we don't tell them about history, they will never know. today, i challenge you in the spirit of carter g. woodson, richard allen, rosa parks, and the spirit of those who fought for justice, who pushed for change, who gave their lives to this country, because they believed something better was waiting on the other side. i challenge you to join with me. leave them to that space. that space we helped to co-create. as you lean into this space, asalh grab the hand of the person to the right. and grab a hand of the person to the left, because we can get there, but we have to get there together. god bless you, asalh. thank you. [applause] >> i am a history buff. i do enjoy seeing the fabric of our country and how things -- how they work, how they are made. >> i love american history tv. >> i had no idea they did history. that is probably something i would really enjoy. american history tv gives you that perspective. >> i'm a c-span fan. a panel of historians and authors looks at the 150th anniversary of reconstruction and examines the challenges paste -- faced in the post-civil war era of rebuilding the union. they talk about the role of the freedmen's bureau, carpetbaggers, and the importance of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. the new york historical society hosted this event. we join this discussion in progress. and if i may add, what followed slavery would be black codes. and so every southern state