The Journal of Ashanti Bankole

I have so much to be thankful for and I am so proud. I sit here and think about my heritage and what my people before me went through getting to America. Today, I am a free woman because of what they endured. I have so many liberties but they were not so lucky. Many of my ancestors were brought here against their will. They were brought here as slaves to serve the European white families. Too many Africans were taken from their homes to be sold into slavery. For many years, my people were beaten and treated very cruelly working in the fields and serving others. These slave trades allowed America to prosper and expand but ruined our villages in Africa.

During most of the 17th and 18th centuries, slavery was the law in every one of the 13 colonies, North and South alike, and was employed by its most prominent citizens, including many of the founders of the new United States. The importation of slaves was provided for in the U.S. Constitution, and continued to take place on a large scale even after it was made illegal in 1808 (Learning Page, 2005). Even after slavery was illegal, many Americans challenged and resisted the civilization of my people. To think that so many African Americans were just trying to have something of their own, land and a family, and others were just trying to belittle them. My ancestors worked hard to make a living but were still not seen as an equal to the white man. The Underground Railroad was the saving grace for so many African Americans. Many activists were working undercover and planning daring raids to free fugitive slaves from kidnappers and lynch mobs. This was a grueling process but to many of my ancestors it was the only way to freedom.

War broke out in 1861 with the North fighting the South. African Americans enlisted to fight with the North against slavery. By the end of the war four years later, more than 186,000 African American soldiers had served, including several officers, making up 10 percent of the Union army. More than 38,000 lost their lives, and 21 were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (Learning Page, 2005). This was a great turning point for my people. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 gave freedom to all enslaved African Americans. We had been recognized and allowed to fight beside our opposition and then given our freedom. The Union prevailed but the loss of so many of our people would not be forgotten.

Over the next several years, Africans would gain more liberties but face many hardships along the way. Even with our freedom, many Africans were denied work and had to work for less pay. African American children would finally be allowed public education but everything was segregated. In 1870, black men were finally given the opportunity to vote and let their voices be heard. This was another great day in our history and by 1875, 11 African Americans had been elected to the U.S. Congress (Learning Page, 2005). This country was definitely changing for the better and my people were so proud. Our happiness wouldn’t last long. With the creation of groups like the Ku Klux Klan and other lynch mobs, in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, many African Americans picked up from the South and moved North and out West to escape the tyranny brought on by segregation. Blacks were not allowed to eat in the same facilities or to drink from the same fountains. Many of blacks were even kept from exercising their right to vote.

In the 1960’s, with the help of saviors such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, segregation was abolished and African Americans finally began to come into their own. These two men are two of the greatest heroes to my people. We cannot thank them enough for what they did to lift my people up and give them their freedom and liberties. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 protected all citizens from discrimination and segregation in nearly all areas of public life, including education and employment, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed the right to vote (Learning Page, 2005). There were still those who didn’t like us and still treated us badly but this was a huge success for my people. We could go anywhere we wanted and we had the right to vote without others stopping us. It was still a long haul for my people to gain respect and to be treated as an equal.

Our history is a long and hard road and even today there are those who still disrespect us. I am proud to be African American and can’t help but think of all the hardships my people went through so that I can sit here today, free! All the liberties I have today, I have to thank them for. I can own my own home, go to college, vote, and be a successful black woman because they have paved the way for me! I will look back at this journal entry often, celebrate my heritage and know how grateful and lucky I am to be African American and to be free to decide my future!

References

Learning Page (2005). African Immigration. Retrieved May 10, 2009, from http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/alt/african.html