Black History Month Creation and Overview

Black History Month Creation and Overview Black History Month is a month set aside to learn, honor, and celebrate the achievements of black men and women throughout history. Since its inception, Black History Month has always been celebrated in February. Find out how Black History Month originated, why February was chosen, and what the annual theme for Black History Month is for this year. Origins of Black History Month The origins of Black History Month can be traced back to a man named Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950). Woodson, the son of former slaves, was an amazing man in his own right. Since his family was too poor to send him to school as a child, he taught himself the basics of a school education. At age 20, Woodson was finally able to attend high school, which he completed in just two years. Woodson then went on to earn a bachelors and masters degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912, Woodson became only the second African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University (W.E.B. Du Bois was the first). Woodson used his hard-earned education to teach. He taught both in public schools and at Howard University. Three years after earning his doctorate, Woodson made a trip that had a great impact on him. In 1915, he traveled to Chicago to participate in a three-week celebration of the 50th anniversary of the end of slavery. The excitement and enthusiasm generated by the events inspired Woodson to continue the study of black history year-round. Before leaving Chicago, Woodson and four others created the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) on September 9, 1915. The following year, the ASNLH began publication of the Journal of Negro History. Woodson realized that most textbooks at the time ignored the history and achievements of blacks. Thus, in addition to the journal, he wanted to find a way to encourage interest and study of black history. In 1926, Woodson promoted the idea of a Negro History Week, which was to be held during the second week of February. The idea caught on quickly and Negro History Week was soon celebrated around the United States. With a high demand for study materials, the ASNLH began to produce pictures, posters, and lesson plans to help teachers bring Negro History Week into schools. In 1937, the ASNLH also began producing the Negro History Bulletin, which focused on an annual theme for Negro History Week. In 1976, the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Negro History Week and the bicentennial of the United States independence, Black History Week was expanded to Black History Month. Ever since then, Black History Month has been celebrated in February around the country. When Is Black History Month? Woodson chose the second week of February to celebrate Negro History Week because that week included the birthdays of two important men: President Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). When Negro History Week turned into Black History Month in 1976, the celebrations during the second week of February expanded to the entire month of February. What Is the Theme for This Years Black History Month? Since its inception in 1926, Negro History Week and Black History Month have been given annual themes. The first annual theme was simply, The Negro in History, but since then the themes have grown more specific. Here is a list of the most current and future themes for Black History Month. 2014 - Civil Rights in America2015 - A Century of Black Life, History, and Culture2016 - Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memory2017 - The Crisis in Black Education2018 - African Americans in Times of War2019 - Black Migrations

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began with a work stoppage by railroad employees in West Virginia who were protesting a reduction in their wages. And that seemingly isolated  incident quickly turned into a national movement. Railroad workers walked off the job in  other states and seriously disrupted  commerce  in the East and Midwest. The strikes were ended within a few weeks, but not before major incidents of vandalism and violence. The Great Strike marked the first time the federal government called out troops to quell a labor dispute. In messages sent to President Rutherford B. Hayes, local officials referred to what was happening as â€Å"an insurrection.† The violent incidents were the worst civil disturbances since the Draft Riots which had brought some of the violence of the Civil War into the streets of New York City  14 years earlier. One legacy of the labor unrest in the summer of 1877 still exists in the form of landmark buildings in some American cities. The trend of building immense fortress-like armories was inspired by the battles between striking railroad workers and soldiers. Beginning of the Great Strike The strike began in Martinsburg, West Virginia,  on July 16, 1877, after workers of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad were informed that their pay would be cut 10 percent. Workers grumbled about the loss of income in small groups, and by the end of the day railroad firemen began walking off the job. Steam locomotives could not run without the firemen, and dozens of trains were idled. By the next day it was apparent that the railroad was essentially shut down and the governor of West Virginia began to ask for federal help to break the strike. Approximately 400 troops were dispatched to Martinsburg, where they scattered protesters by brandishing bayonets. Some soldiers managed to drive some of the trains, but the strike was far from over. In fact, it began to spread. As the strike was starting in West Virginia, workers for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had begun walking  off the job in Baltimore, Maryland. On July 17, 1877, news of the strike was already the lead story in New York City newspapers. The New York Times coverage, on its front page, included  the dismissive headline: Foolish Firemen and Brakemen on the Baltimore and Ohio Road Cause of the Trouble. The position of the newspaper was that lower wages and adjustments in working conditions were necessary. The country was, at the time, still stuck in an economic depression which had been triggered originally by the Panic of 1873. Violence Spread Within days, on July 19, 1877, workers on another line, the Pennsylvania Railroad, struck in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With the local militia sympathetic to the strikers, 600 federal troops from Philadelphia were sent to break up protests. The troops arrived in Pittsburgh, faced off with local residents, and ultimately fired into crowds of protesters, killing 26 and wounding many more. The crowd erupted  in a frenzy, and trains and buildings were burned. Summing it up a few days later, on July 23, 1877, the New York Tribune, one of the nations most influential newspapers, headlined a front-page  story The Labor War. The account of the fighting in Pittsburgh was chilling, as  it described federal troops unleashing volleys of rifle fire at civilian crowds. As word of the shooting had spread through Pittsburgh, local citizens rushed to the scene. The outraged mob set fires and destroyed several dozen buildings belonging to the Pennsylvania Railroad. The New York Tribune reported: The mob then began a career of destruction, in which they robbed and burned all the cars, depots, and buildings of the Pennsylvania Railroad for three miles, destroying millions of dollars worth of property. The number of killed and wounded during the fighting is not known, but it is believed to be in the hundreds. End of the Strike President Hayes, receiving pleas from  several governors, began moving troops from forts on the East Coast toward railroad towns such as Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Over the course of about two weeks the strikes were ended and  workers returned to their jobs. During the Great Strike it was estimated that 10,000 workers had walked off their jobs. About a hundred strikers had been killed.   In the immediate aftermath of the strike the railroads began to forbid union activity. Spies were used to ferret out union organizers so they could be fired. And workers were forced to sign yellow dog contracts that disallowed joining a union. And in the nations cities a trend developed of building enormous armories that could serve as fortresses during periods of urban fighting. Some massive armories from that period still stand, often restored as civic landmarks. The Great Strike was, at the time, a setback for workers. But the awareness it brought to American labor problems resonated for years. Labor organizers learned many valuable lessons from the experiences of the summer of 1877. In a sense, the scale of the activity surrounding the Great Strike indicated that there was a desire for a widespread movement to secure workers rights. And the work stoppages and fighting in the summer of 1877 would be  a major event in the history of American labor. Sources: Le Blanc, Paul. Railroad Strike of 1877. St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide, edited by Neil Schlager, vol. 2, St. James Press, 2004, pp. 163-166. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk, vol. 1, Gale, 1999, pp. 400-402. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Blogging and Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Blogging and Privacy - Essay Example Ellen Simonetti (2004), a Delta Air Lines flight attendant, for example, was fired after she posted some problematic photos of herself in uniform on her blog. Simonetti might want to show her blogger friends her daily life as a flight attendant through those pictures, but unfortunately, her pictures became a reason for losing her job. In general, visiting Simonetti's blog and looking up her pictures are exactly what most bloggers usually do. Yet, if someone would report her pictures to somebody without her permission, and so Simonetti might lose her job, this is certainly a violation of her privacy. If so, in what ways might Simonetti protect her personal information and privacy Regardless of any possible personal security issue, the number of blogs is still steadily increasing, and the purposes of using blogs is becoming more diversified from one blog to another blog. Hence, taking such diversity into account, bloggers must carefully consider the level of disclosure of personal information based on the content posted and the targeted audience. The rest of this analytic argumentative paper is organized as following. In the first two sections, two opposite tendencies of current bloggers towards their personal information, such as disclosing versus anonymity or hiding, are discussed with benefits and disadvantages. Then, in the next paragraph, it suggested way to efficiently manage such personal information problem in blogging will be addressed. Lastly, another helpful suggestion is explained while concluding this essay. Most of the bloggers reveal their personal information about themselves on blogs. Especially, young generation has a propensity to disclose their personal information. According to a research conducted by David A. Huffaker, Ph.D. student at Northwestern University, and Sandra L. Calvert, professor of Psychology at Georgetown University," Many teen bloggers expose their first name (70%), age (67%), and contact information (61%) as an email address" (2005, para.10). The reason why teen bloggers reveal such personal information often seems unintentional. This is just because their purpose of maintaining blogs is often to establish a close relationship with other bloggers. By sharing such type of personal information given above, the teen bloggers match the age groups that they want, and keep in touch with each other outside the blogs, too. From this point of view, blogs are an extension of the real world to teenagers in which they make more friends and share a matter of daily life. In addition to disclosing personal information, however, they also post diaries and photos which altogether have a chance of causing a security problem as which happened to Simonetti, a fired stewardess mentioned above. In regard to this issue, Mr. Henry G. Rhone, a vice provost at Virginia Commonwealth University, asserted that "[teen bloggers] have never had any problems with [their personal information and contents on their blogs], so they just assume that when they're online, they're safe" (quoted in Read, 2006, para. 17). As Mr. Rhone pointed out, Simonetti's case is rarely happened phenomenon for bloggers to realize its

Psychology. Creating a Personal Counselling Theory Essay

Psychology. Creating a Personal Counselling Theory - Essay Example Based on these 13 dominant counselling theories, I have formed my own personal counselling framework. My personal counselling theory is comprised of two of these dominant theories: Albert Ellis' rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT) and Alfred Adler's individual psychology. These two theories hold similar viewpoints in regard to defining, describing, identifying, explaining, and changing behavior. The context of both theories explained by Mosak and Ellis (as cited in Corsini & Wedding, 2005) stressed that Ellis believed emotional disturbances resulted by the person's view on the situation, and that his type of therapy, the therapeutic process, with one main intervention technique would change irrational beliefs into rational ones. Adler, also believed emotional disturbances resulted by inferiority feelings and his type of therapy, individual psychology, with various intervention techniques would encourage social interest. According to the "Nature of Theory" (n.d.) article there are four primary elements of a good theory: Philosophical, descriptive, prescriptive and evaluative elements. This paper will examine each element in regard to Adler's and Ellis' theories concluding with my personal views. This paper will identify and justify the theoretical frameworks that make sense to me and will integrate them into a cohesive personal theory. My personal way of understanding and describing the human condition and facilitating change will also be discussed. More specifically, this paper contains five sections, the introduction, the philosophical assumptions, the counselling experience, reflections and the closing. The First section, the philosophical assumptions, will discuss my philosophical assumptions as it relates to my theory. I will provide my personal views on the nature of humans, the nature of well adjusted functioning, the major causes of the problems, and the nature of change. I will incorporate my theories view on each level, and discuss how it relates to the four elements of a good theory. The second section, the counselling experience is comprised of two topics: my definition of counselling, and the process of beliefs limited to the counsellor client relationship. The first topic will include my original and revised definition of counselling. The second topic will be broken down into six subsections including counsellor and client roles, session structure, emphasis on past, present and future, emphasis on beliefs, the relationship of behaviors and emotions, the change process including resistance, interventions, the criteria and definition of success and contextual factors. In th e six subsections, I will incorporate my personal beliefs and reflections including strengths and weakness I may have in the area, my personal counselling theories stance in that area, and how it relates to the elements of a good theory. The third section will reflect on the limitations of my personal theory and explain why I am drawn to this theory from a professional and personal context. The last section will

Quotation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Quotation - Essay Example Actions, which might threaten or lead to loss of life contradict the right, and thus need condemnation (Freeman 5). All constitutions of the world recognize and respect the right to life and that any person who attempts or violates it faces stiff penalty. For instance, when a person kills another person, he faces life sentence for violating the right of the deceased to live. This is evident in several countries such as in the Middle East whereby tyrants who had been accused of mass murder of human beings got punished. Former Iraq president, Saddam Hussein was hanged for killing many people during his reign (Freeman 5). Therefore, since nobody provided right to life to a fellow being, he or she has no right of taking such right from another being by killing or threatening. However, there are some instances when such right is denied or when a person accused of killing a fellow human being is pardoned (Freeman 9). Such situation arises when the accused was trying to defend himself or he rself from murder by the deceased. This normally happen when in times of conflict such as war or when a person turns wild and desires to kill. Moreover, when a person kills the other, and thus turns to be a security threat to public, police officers kill him (Freeman 9). A good instance occurs during mass shootings which have characterized the U.S.A. and which have left many people grieving from loss of loved ones. A recent incident was the US school shooting in Brooklyn, Newtown. Consequently, all constitutions on earth recognize and respect the right to liberty of all human beings. People have a right to be free from all forms of bondage and slavery. Capturing or enslaving a fellow human being is currently an international offence condemned by all nations (Freeman 11). Unlike in the past when people were taken as slaves due to debt or as war captives, all constitutions of the world prohibit the act and even imposes heavy penalty on the offenders. Since God created human beings whe n they were not under the rule or authority of anybody, no person should be denied such right. Right to liberty ensures that people move around the earth doing as they wish with their freedom so long as they respect and accord the same to other people (Freeman 14). Therefore, people who capture their fellow human beings contradict the right to liberty. Such acts include those witnessed by illegal groups such as militants or pirates who capture sailors and keep or otherwise kill them. A good example is the capturing of sailors in Indian Ocean by Somali pirates who demand huge ransom in order to release the captives. This action is bad and illegal since it contravenes the captives’ right to move (Freeman 14). However, the right to liberty is restricted in some instances. Such instances include when a person commits a criminal offence, and thus convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. While serving a prison term, a person is denied the right to be free (Freeman 14). This is a fo rm of punishment directed at the prisoner in order to compel him to change from criminal activities. Human beings also have a right to lead a happy life on earth. Such freedom is God – given and thus, nobody should be denied (Freeman 27). God created human beings to be happy creatures and thus, should thank him for such right by worshiping him. Therefore, actions, which inhibit man from pursuing happiness on earth go against the right and thus, need condemnation. Thus, human beings have a

The importance of keeping customers for as long as possible, in what Essay

The importance of keeping customers for as long as possible, in what is seen often as a short-term approach to sales - Essay Example This is the main concern of the so-called consumer relationship management (CRM) models today. Vogt defined CRM as a customer-focused business strategy designed to optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction. (p3) Shanmugasundram (2009) also posited that it is a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring, retaining and partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer. (p9) Unarguably there are numerous meanings and interpretations of CRM. Nonetheless, they all agree that a CRM strategy is always characterized by a quest to establish a relationship with a client in such a way that it contributes to the competitive advantage of the organization, which ultimately results to profitability. The simple logic is to make the customer happy so that the sales keep on coming. How does it work? As previously mentioned CRM strategies are diverse and varied. Sometimes, its distinction depends on the industry using it and sometimes it depends on specific needs and market trends. However, the fundamental principle emphasizes the importance given to people - naturally, there are the consumers but also, there is an emphasis given to the employees. According to Shanmugasundram, the principle is all about building enduring relationships that can lead to a profitable business organization and that both consumers and employees are fundamental to their achievement. This is expressed in the following model. Fig. 1: CRM Model (Shanmugasundram, p9) The model is pretty much straightforward: there are four crucial elements involved: Leadership, Delight, Loyalty and People. The model, as demonstrated above, puts the People at the center, with all the rest of the elements working together seamlessly for their benefit. The model ultimately aims for customer satisfaction. This is important because it has already been proven that satisfaction and a number of resulting variables, including customer loyalty lead to the probability o f purchase at different price points. This is also highlighted by the fact that only 26 percent of purchase decisions of consumers are influenced by advertising and that factors such as personal experience and referrals are more frequently cited. (Rai 2008, p145) Francis Buttle (2008) explained that, â€Å"a satisfied customer is more profitable than a dissatisfied one. If satisfaction declines, customers become more reluctant to buy unless prices are cut. If satisfaction improves the opposite is true.† (p47) This point is further reinforced by The American Customer Satisfaction Index Model (see fig. 2). Fig. 2: The American Customer Satisfaction Index Model (Buttle, p47) CRM and Technology An important variable in CRM models and strategies is the use of technology to achieve its objectives. CRM, in this context, becomes what Foss and Stone called as the methodologies, technologies and e-commerce capabilities used by companies in managing customer relationships. (p3) The adva nces in technology, particularly in communications, transportation and logistics have empowered organization to add value to their products and services. For example, an organization can use databases as part of the wider CRM strategy to build and keep accurate and up-to-date information about its customers. (Canwell and Sutherland 2003, p249) By doing so, the organization is able to analyze customer behaviors and expectations and develop better products

Biomedical Informatics Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Biomedical Informatics - Thesis Example his study that it is sometimes necessary for more important information, such as a chest X-rays, physical examination, and health and occupational histories, to be made available in order to make a diagnosis. Lung diffusion capacity testing (DLCO) is a noninvasive test which is used to measure the movement of gases (most specifically oxygen) through the lung into the bloodstream. The single breath diffusing capacity test is the most common way to determine DLCO, whereby the subject is required to blow out as much air as he or she can so that only the residual gas is left in the lungs. Moreover, the subject is requested to take a deep breath in order to completely fill up the lungs. The subject is then requested to hold his or her breath for a very short period of time. The subject is then finally requested to exhale. The analysis of the gas that has been blown out will then be carried out in order to determine how much went into the bloodstream through the lungs (De Boer, 2010). 23 Pulmonary function tests (abbreviated PFT), which are also known as lung functions tests, are tests which are used so as to provide measures of gas exchange, lung volumes, flow rates, and respiratory muscle function. These tests determines the quantity of air that the lungs can hold, how fast air can possibly be moved in and out of the lungs, as well as the lungs’ ability to add oxygen and remove of carbon dioxide into and from the blood respectively. According to Goldman (2005) and De Boer (2010) the pulmonary function tests have the ability to diagnose diseases of the lungs, to measure how sever the lung problems are, and to monitor the treatment of the lung diseases. Since the spirometer was first developed in 1846 by Hutchinson, measurements of the dynamic volumes of the lung as well as of maximal flow rates have been employed to detect and quantify the diseases which affect the airways and lung parenchyma (White, 2004). The lung function may be determined by the use of tests