ASALH South Florida

Thanks to all who supported ASALH South Florida’s Black History Month event. It was a wonderful, spirit filled night. Thank you to the panelists for your golden nuggets of knowledge about the various forms of miseducation - the whitewashing of African history, the power of language to distort and misdirect our understanding of ourselves and our environment, to the dangers of being miseducated about the connection between environmental pollutants and the healthcare crisis resulting from it. There were a number of powerful takeaways and calls to action.

Please look out for announcements and invitations to future ASALH South Florida events.

Hi FB family,

Although it has been over a week since we observed the anniversary of the murder of El Hajj Malik el Shabazz, this piece is worth reposting. Thank you to our chapter historian, Gene Tinnie, for sharing.

Greetings,

Today, February 21, 2026, marks the 61st anniversary of the shocking day when at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York, when a shotgun blast to the chest and a fusillade of bullets suddenly and senselessly ended the earthly life of "Our Black Shining Prince," just as he began to address an audience, including his wife and daughters, to share the vision and purpose of the newly founded Organization of African American Unity (OAAU), which he established as a means of elevating the struggle of African Americans for justice and equality in the U.S. by joining it to the global struggles throughout the African World and beyond for human rights and freedom.

In that tragic, traitorous moment, the world lost one of its most thoughtful, intelligent, dedicated, and visionary leaders, Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little 39 years earlier, who ultimately became El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Peace Be Upon Him), after making the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, from which he returned far more informed about the world beyond the U.S. borders than he had ever been, even with all of his diligent previous studies, leaving those whose lives he touched most deeply to carry his unfinished ambitious work forward.

To the more than 3/4 of today's population that is under the age of 60, Malcolm X can seem like a figure from ancient history, and all the more so because the historical record of his life has become so fraught with glaring voids and omissions, and, even more ominously, gross misrepresentations. Indeed, our now-middle aged and younger generations bear the additional burden of coming of age in an American culture that is increasingly focused on novelty: new things to have, to do, to be, and to buy, and has steadily pushed the notion that history is less and less important to know. So much so that now we have come to the point of even having laws and punishments in place to suppress and erase any knowledge of whatever traces of history might still remain in schools, libraries, and other places of public knowledge, especially regarding the righteous struggles and triumphs of oppressed people against their criminal oppression.

Yet, in spite of all such desperate efforts,some things do not change: Truth might be forgotten, ignored, denied, misrepresented, or whitewashed, but it cannot be eliminated: What happens in the universe stays in the universe forever, and we are clearly stronger, healthier, and more empowered by knowing those whole truths of the past that have made us who we are today instead of running in fear from facts and leading stressful lives of having to maintain and enforce fragile lies and myths.

Our present situation therefore makes it a necessity of survival and health for us to retrieve, learn, and share the true knowledge of our past in spite of all the obstacles. As the proverb says, "We have to know where we have been in order to know where we are going." Truth, not feelgood fairy tales, is knowledge which truly free people must know and pass on to our next and future generations, by learning from our mistakes and flaws.

We therefore have to read, study, learn from books and elders and peers, about the heroes and sheroes (most of whom were regular people, not famous) who passed the gift of earthly life to us with the opportunities we have, not to be "taken for granted." We have a birthright to knowledge, which requires each generation to make the quest for it. (Another proverb tells us that "If you are not learning about you, you are not being educated.")

On this day we can practice some of our timeless inherited wisdom, as we have always done, always must, and and always will by elevating the spirits and memory of Ancestors on their special days. Today we celebrate our beloved brother Malcolm, with the resolve that he will not ever be forgotten. Yet another of our traditional proverbs ("the living library of our people") reminds us that although we leave this life on earth, "We are only "dead" when no living person calls our name or remembers that we existed." This is why on anniversaries like this, of a person's homegoing, even if it is forced by criminal violence, we pause to remember, to learn from, and to give thanks for of that person's life. We affirm that his/her enduring presence in this physical world with material rituals and gestures, like lighting a candle, pouring a libation, placing offerings, and saying their name, as well as by remembering them in prayer, and sharing knowledge about them.

This is what we are honored and blessed to do today for Malcolm X (as he is best known) / El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, as we gratefully acknowledge the knowledge, power, and inspiration he bequeathed to us. The timeless wisdom teaches us that by honoring his memory, we honor ourselves, and all of our future generations, who, in their turn, will, thank, honor, and revere what we have done.

Much research needs to be done to fully appreciate the life and legacy of a person as complex as Malcolm, but the attached collection of quotes by him might serve as an effective introduction.

Peace and Power, Love and Light, and the Blessings of Brother Malcolm's legacy to all,

DGT

Repost - original from our chapter historian Gene Tinnie

Today is the anniversary date of the Boston Massacre on March 5,1770, regarded as the beginning of the American Revolution , in which Crispus Attucks became the first martyr among four others in the cause of American Independence from British rule.

Please see the attached document which provides some background information and invites us to learn more, and please feel free to share.

DGT

A Background Note for This and Other Entries:

In the course of this year we can expect to see and hear a lot of hype and hoopla amidst much discussion, positive and negative, around "America 250," the year-long Semiquincentennial observance of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

At best, this observance is a "Teachable Moment": an occasion that gives us "cause to pause and reflect on the cause and effect of the past that has made us, and the future we are making." We are invited to do this as a Village, in which everyone who has something to say is respectfully heard (an African proverb reminds us that even "When the fool speaks, the wise person listens," and learns), as a "nation" still-in-the-making, and as a human species on planet Mother Earth amidst the rest of life, including the rest of humanity.

It cannot be doubted that we have been destined to live in a truly remarkable country, unlike any other that has ever been: a fairly new nation, full of promise and new beginnings, gifted with an abundance of brilliance and strength drawn providentially from a multitude of peoples, cultures, and languages around the globe (including, not to be forgotten, those of the Indigenous First Nations of this continent).

Yet at the same time we comprise a nation that is still a recently born deeply troubled child, wrestling with its origins of having been conceived in an indefensible act of r**e and violence: the spiritual legacy of Columbus, who did not sail the ocean blue to spread enlightenment, social, justice, peace, democracy, and equality, but for whom, onthe contrary, the "new" lands and peoples that he "discovered" were merely objects to be exploited for maximum profit and greed, but also were to be feared and controlled because the natural response to all of life to such unhealthy and destructive imbalance is always to resist and oppose it.

Those two sides of our nation's history provide the background for many efforts and opportunities unfolding around the country to make the most and the best sense out of what "America 250" has to offer.

To that end, we might be reminded that American history did not begin in 1776 but is in fact the full history of this land from its beginnings, and of everything and everybody that was ever a part of it. "The Land Remembers": Its every contour and feature tells the story of the forces, including the human presence, that have shaped it.

In this light, it is also noteworthy that in modern history 2026 is also the quincentennial year of the 1526 first European (Spanish) attempt to establish African slavery on the North American mainland, in the land that was claimed as "la Florida," which included modern-day South Carolina and Georgia. The Africans successfully revolted and escaped to freedom, and the colony failed. That development of 500 years ago was 93 years before the 1619 arrival of the first captive Africans in the English colony of Virginia, and 250 years before the Declaration of Independence.

It might be added that, based on both Indigenous people's and early European explorers' accounts, there was also a much older, free African presence in the Americas long before the so-called "Transatlantic slave trade."

Aided by modern technology, we are indeed in a Time of Awakening to knowledge that had long been hidden or forgotten, but this Awakening also challenges us to be rigorous and demanding in our quest for true knowledge, rejecting feelgood myths and misrepresentations, as truly free people must, especially in today's world of communications rapidly being dominated by Artificial Intelligence, which has no accountability to true facts byond what it is fed.

In such times as these, we are fortunate to be very well served by the wisdom bequeathed to us by wise predecessors, such as the late Malcolm X/El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, one of the most misrepresented figures in modern history, who wrote, “I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”

(We are equally reminded that there are those amongst us who regard Truth to be, in the famous words of N**i Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, to be "the enemy of the state, "and of their power.)

Peace and Power, Love and Light to All.

📚✨ Black History Month Spotlight: Dr. Niara Sudarkasa

Born in Fort Lauderdale, Dr. Niara Sudarkasa was a brilliant scholar, anthropologist, and academic leader whose life’s work reshaped higher education. A prodigy who graduated high school at just 14, she went on to break barriers as the first African American woman to teach at Columbia University and later held influential academic appointments at New York University and the University of Michigan. In 1986, Dr. Sudarkasa made history once again as the first African American woman president of Lincoln University, becoming a powerful example of leadership, scholarship, and excellence. Her legacy continues to inspire generations of students, educators, and scholars to pursue knowledge, leadership, and transformative change.

— Honoring Black history, preserving culture, and sharing our stories with Friends of AARLCC.

✊🏾📜 Black History Month Spotlight: Ethel Mizell Pappy & the Mizell Legacy

Ethel Mizell Pappy was born into a powerful legacy of resilience, faith, and community leadership in Dania Beach, Florida. One of fourteen children raised by pioneers Isadore S. and Minnie Mizell, her life reflected the values instilled by a family committed to education and collective progress. Her father, Isadore Mizell—the son of formerly enslaved parents—migrated to Broward County in 1907, where he became a farmer, community builder, and advocate for Black education. He founded the Dania School for Coloreds and helped establish St. Ruth Baptist Church, creating institutions that nurtured opportunity, faith, and stability for generations. Through Ethel Mizell Pappy and her family, the Mizell legacy remains a cornerstone of Black history and cultural endurance in South Florida.

— Honoring Black history, preserving culture, and sharing our stories with Friends of AARLCC.

Mis-Education as Environmental Injustice ASALH South Florida invites you to an evening of truth-telling, cultural grounding, and community dialogue.

Join the ASALH South Florida Branch for a thought-provoking Community Forum, “Mis-Education as Environmental Injustice,” where scholars, organizers, and community voices come together to explore how systems of mis-education contribute to environmental harm and inequities in Black communities.

This important conversation reimagines education as a space for justice, resistance, and collective responsibility, rooted in history, lived experience, and pathways toward liberation.

📅 Learn more and register: https://asalhsouthflorida.com/events/

Please join us:

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: A Century of Black History Commemorations: A Fireside Conversation on Legacy, Memory, and the Road Ahead. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: A Century of Black History Commemorations: A Fireside Conversation on Legacy, Memory, and the Road Ahead. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

Today in Florida History: January 23, 1873!

Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs became the Superintendent of Public Instruction on this date. Gibbs would serve in that post until his death on April 14, 1874. Gibbs was born free in Philadelphia on September 28, 1821, and was the third African American student to graduate from Dartmouth College in 1852 and the second to deliver a commencement address at any college in the country. He later moved back to Philadelphia, becoming the pastor of the First African Presbyterian Church and helped runaway slaves heading north, as well as supporting abolitionist movements. Gibbs decided to move south in 1864, aiming to help the newly freed slaves, arriving in Florida in 1867 and starting a private school in Jacksonville. While in Jacksonville, Gibbs became more involved in politics and was appointed Secretary of State under Governor Harrison Reed after losing a bid for the U.S. House of Representatives. Gibbs’ only son, Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs, was a member of the 1886 Florida Constitutional Convention and served multiple terms in the Florida House of Representatives.

If you believe in supporting and preserving Black history, then you definitely need to tune in to ASALH-TV! 📺

ASALH-TV features some of the best programming and discussions celebrating our rich culture and legacy. Join over 7,000 subscribers as we prepare to commemorate 100 years of honoring our history and culture.

You don’t want to miss this milestone celebration!

Tickets to the luncheon are sold out! But you can still attend our virtual events throughout February, attend our FREE and Open to the Public Authors' Book Signing, or join the waitlist for Luncheon Tickets!

📺: https://www.youtube.com/
🎟️: https://asalh.org/black-history-month/media-toolkit/