History is The Story Beneath The Story

DUKES FANS: “There are so many men and women who hold no distinctive positions but whose contribution towards the development of society has been enormous.” Nelson Mandela “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people working consistently can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead The above quotes have been important to me since I first came across them years ago. They point out the fact that while our history books and history courses often focus on important people, most of what those people accomplished that made them “historical” would not have been possible without the actions, support and involvement of tons of people whose names we will never know. When I taught American and world history, I often told students that history is about story-what happened, why did it happen, how did it happen, and most importantly, who were all the ordinary people involved? How were they affected? What did they do leading up to the big event? Or just after it? To me, that is where the power and beauty of history rests. As the Margaret Mead quote states, it is the actions of groups of people and not just 1 “great person’ that makes history and makes change. We may symbolize or personify the story through a great person, but it is the work of groups and of the "ordinary” folk that played a huge role in making it possible. Kings, generals, and Presidents plan and try to make things happen, but it is the willingness of many ordinary people ,working together, that can lead to an event occurring. Yes, many times the events or actions are ones with which we disagree or did not wish to happen. But the involvement of the ordinary people was essential. And that involvement is especially essential to those things we support and need, particularly in the area of justice and social change. There are unknown folks and backstory beneath any historical event, and we need to realize and acknowledge that. Take the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, for example. People know about Rosa Parks’ refusing to sit in the back of the bus and being arrested on Thursday, December 1, 1955. But most people do not know that she had worked with the NAACP for years, was not the first black woman arrested in Montgomery for sitting in the front of a bus, and that she had, in fact, set out to get arrested. Most people also do not know that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was not really associated with the people who helped organize the initial meeting which led to that famous boycott. It was labor leader E.D. Nixon who tricked King into hosting that first meeting about Ms. Park’s arrest because King was new in town and the powers that be in Montgomery did not know him, and therefore, had no plans on how to deal with him. And the first boycott meeting happened, in fact, not because of King, but in large because of the actions of one of my favorite unknown heroines-Jo Ann Robinson. A long-time member of the Montgomery Women’s Council, a black group that had been advocating for change in the Montgomery transportation system for several years, she, several friends, and family members hand mimeographed-not XEROXED or photo copied-HAND MIMIEOGRAPHED- some 30,000 fliers Thursday December, 1st that were placed in churches, given to high school students, and placed in barber shops and other places on Friday, December 2, calling for people to initiate a one day boycott of the bus system on Monday, December 5th. It was the success of that Monday boycott that led to the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association and the full- blown Montgomery Bus Boycott that we think of today. I mention all of this because Monday, January 20th is an opportunity for many of us to be a part of groups working in small ways to help make things better. That Monday is Martin Luther Kings’ Birthday, and the Philadelphia area is home to the largest collection of service opportunities in the nation happening on that day. The idea is that ordinary citizens on that day can try to live out some of the ideas in the Mandela and Meade quotes about what it takes to make change. Global Citizen 365 is the organizer of many volunteer opportunities that help communities. If you are interested, please go to Global Citizen 365 to find places where you can be a part of those committed people helping to bring change. In these small ways, we can be a part of history. https://volunteer.globalcitizen365.org/kingdayoverview?layoutViewMode=tablet