Black history is also American history, former coach tells Gig Harbor City Council
“Black History Month is not just Black History Month, it’s American history,” former coach Maurice Hanks told the Gig Harbor City Council during a presentation last week.
Hanks, a Black resident of Fox Island and a former coach at Peninsula High School, had been invited to speak at the Feb. 8 council meeting by Mayor Kit Kuhn, who heard him speak at a Black Lives Matter event in June.
Hanks presented the stories of some lesser-known figures in Black American history.
“When it’s Black history month, you have the traditional people that everyone knows about: Muhammad Ali, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr.,” Hanks said. “Those are all wonderful, poignant people. However, there are some other people I felt had depth and breadth to add that people may not have known.”
Not all were famous
One of them was Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress. A onetime educator, Chisholm represented New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. She ran for President as a Democrat in 1973, becoming the first Black woman candidate for a major party’s nomination.
Hanks also ran down a roster of other little-recognized Black Americans.
There was the inventor of the three-light traffic light, Garrett Morgan; scientist George Carruthers, who created a telescope that identified molecular hydrogen in space; engineer Lonnie Johnson, who created the Super Soaker in his spare time while working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; entrepreneur Madam CJ Walker who became a self-made millionaire after creating a line of hair products for Black women.
He also cited Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells were the most important cell lines in medical research when they were used in research without her knowledge; the Harlem Hellfighters, who were an effective infantry regiment during World War I and World War II; the Tuskegee Airmen, who were the first Black aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps; golfer Charlie Sifford, who was the first Black player in the PGA, and others.
Hanks said there are more historic, yet still largely unrecognized, figures than he could ever hope to get to in his presentation.
“There are so many. We could go on and on. There are a lot of Black folks that did not get recognition,” Hanks said.
More than a month
Following the presentation, the mayor read a proclamation officially recognizing February 2021 as Black History Month to “emphasize Black history and its cultural contributions to American life.”
Hanks said he hopes to see greater recognition of Black history throughout the year, not just in a single month.
“You always have to be open to learning. When people are afraid of people because they’re different, that’s a problem,” Hanks said. “Black History Month is not just Black History Month, it’s American history. It’s about who we are as a people and if we don’t figure that out, we are doomed.”
Hanks said he still faces discrimination, such as being followed around in stores, despite being a long-time resident. He said attitudes need to change.
“People need to be more accepting,” Hanks said. “We have to look at people for who they are.”
In other business, the Gig Harbor City Council:
▪ Heard a presentation from South Sound Housing Affordability Partners (SSHAP) about affordablehousing. The nonprofit is seeking support from local governments to establish a countywide effort to come up with solutions to the affordable housing shortage. Gig Harbor is being asked to contribute between $4,000 and $4,500. Eleven other governments has signed on so far, said the presenters, John Howell and Marty Kooistra.
▪ The presentation provided a list of options for what SSHAP might do from customized individual support to legislative top down options. The nonprofit y said they hope to by June 2021 to get participation from all governments in the county to establish a community advisory board. Gig Harbor would have to consider if they would make a financial commitment annual of 4,000 to 4,500 dollars to participate.
▪ Discussed the ongoing need to build off of previous COVID mass vaccination events in Gig Harbor. The mayor said he was “extremely impressed” with how well it was handled. He said the city is researching additional locations that could serve as future sites for mass vaccinations.
▪ The mayor discussed the process of establishing a sister city with the town of Selca on the Island of Brač in Croatia. The mayor described a Zoom call with the town and said he will continue exploring a sister relationship with the city, from which many early Gig Harbor settlers emigrated.
▪ Moved to designate The News Tribune (TNT) as the official newspaper of the city for purposes of legal notices. This means city will no longer use The Peninsula Gateway, sister paper of the TNT, citing lack of flexibility due to the weekly publishing schedule that comes with an early deadline.
Reach Chase Hutchinson at chase.hutchinson@thenewstribune.com
