The present leaders of Washington DC and the Washington DC School System pushed hard to have the history of Black people "RESPECTED" as our leaders of the past are immortalized by the The US Postal Service in their highly coveted "Black Heritage Series Stamps".
From Wikipedia entry on Anna Julia Cooper:
During her years as teacher and principal at M Street High School, Cooper completed her first book, A Voice from the South: By A Woman from the South, published in 1892. Perhaps her most well-known volume of writing, A Voice from the South is widely viewed as one of the first articulations of Black feminism. The book advanced a vision of self-determination through education and social uplift for African American women. Its central thesis was that the educational, moral, and spiritual progress of black women would improve the general standing of the entire African American community. Cooper advanced the view that it was the duty of educated and successful black women to support their underprivileged peers in achieving their goals. The essays in A Voice from the South also touched on a variety of topics, from racism and the socioeconomic realities of black families to the administration of theEpiscopal Church.
The details of the ritual honoring the great Anna Julia Cooper leader of the "Preparatory High School For Colored Youth" upon a postage stamp.
What:
The U.S. Postal Service will issue a new 44-cent commemorative stamp honoring Anna Julia Cooper, a Civil Rights activist and former teacher and principal of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (previously Preparatory High School for Colored Youth and M Street High School) in the nation’s capital.
Who:
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, (D) District of Columbia
Yverne “Pat” Moore, Postmaster, Washington, DC
Gerald Austin, Principal, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Delores J. Killette, Vice President and Consumer Advocate, U.S. Postal Service
Malik Shabaazz, 2009 Graduate, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Carla L. Peterson, Professor of English, University of Maryland
When:
Thursday, June 11, 2009
10:00 a.m.
Where:
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
1301 New Jersey Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC
Background:
Educator, scholar, feminist, and activist Anna Julia Cooper (c.1858–1964) gave voice to the African-American community from the end of slavery to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Born into slavery, Cooper developed a love of learning at a young age. In 1887, three years after earning a degree in mathematics from Oberlin College, she was invited to Washington, D.C., to each at the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth (later M Street High School and today Dunbar), the nation’s largest and most prestigious public high school for African Americans at that time.
Noted for the breadth of her education, Cooper also earned a Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, in 1925. At the time, she was one of only four African-American women to earn a Ph.D. and the first black woman from any country to do so at the Sorbonne.
The 32nd stamp in the Black Heritage series features a portrait of Cooper by Kadir Nelson, who based his painting on an updated photograph.
Sadly and shamefully the Dunbar High School of 2010 does a poor job in educating Black children despite the fact that we are no longer called "colored", the impact of unchecked racism in our society are gone as we now have legal recourse and our right to vote has promoted "favorable people" beyond the halls of the once great "Preparatory High School for Colored Youth" into:
- The the seats of the School Board and Chancellor For Public Schools Of Washington DC
- The office of the Mayor of Washington DC
- The US Congress representing Washington DC
- The US President's Office - Representing the priorities of the nation
Today there is more talk about "DC State-hood" as the fix for all that ales this great American city AND talk of fears about White people becoming the majority once again than there is talk about the collapse about this iconic high school opened in 1870, right after the close of American chattel slavery.
In 1870 the people were conscious about the need to education "colored children" and thus their mission was evident in the product of this school. Black parents purposely moved their children into the district to partake of the school's superior education and disciplined environment.
In 2010 it is the product of the Dunbar High School and many of the schools surrounding it around the city and in Baltimore and Philadelphia that also give light to the priorities and consciousness of the people. In as much as the call for "quality education for Black children" is used as a driver for more political power, yet those who make the call are not forced by the Black rank & file to note how much of this key institution in our community they now control - it is clear to ME - that what is cast as a drive for "quality education" is not solely focused upon delivering quality education but upon using indictments to expand the political power and ideological disbursement of those who gain power but go unchecked by the Black masses who suffer yet still support these forces.
There is a definite cost that is born upon the backs of the Black community for the presence of these forces who operate inside of our consciousness nucleus but not for our interests. With this vantage point they are able to manipulate the focus of our people, keeping us continuously struggling for the interests that they want us to by tying our present GRIEVANCES in with a political activism movement who's "cattle fencing" directs those who fail to apply enough scrutiny to their efforts right to the slaughter house as intended.
The stamp that was made to honor the great Anna Julia Cooper can't overcome the gross disrespect of her memory that is embodied by the present conditions in the school that she had lead for so long.
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