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SPOTLIGHT ON FOUR SEASONS 14 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2017 By Leighton McLaughlin The Four Seasons community, with its integrated housing and facilities, was made possible by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, said resident Roxie Elliott. Elliott, vice chair of the African American Culture Club (AACC), made the comment while talking about Black History Month, observed this month. The movement broke down barriers that kept the races apart and, "As we got to know each other we began to realize we're all here together — we live together, we perish together. "We are all just the same. The only difference is the color of our skin." Progress has been made, she said, but a lot more needs to be done. Black History Month, she hopes, will inform people about the struggles of the past and the work ahead. "Every year there is a theme,' she said. "This year the theme is 'The Crisis in Black Education.'" She said the crisis is not just in lack of educational opportunities, poor funding, facilities and supplies in predominantly black schools, but also the lack of money and impetus to go to college. Elliott hopes the History Month observance will inspire young blacks — and adults — to go to college, to continue their educations and find the opportunities that education opens. She also hopes to find people and organizations to come up with ideas to get more black kids in college, she said. Elliott is a graduate of Elmhurst College in Illinois and had a long career with United Airlines before her retirement. She said she hopes the observance will emphasize how important it is to get an education. It "encourages excellence that helps our community and our country" across racial lines. Black History Month began as Negro History Week, founded in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, the son of a slave, who became a professor and writer at Howard University, Harvard University and others. He was the second black, after W.E.B. Du Boise, to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. The observance is to commemorate the achievements of black Americans and their central role in U.S. history – matters largely ignored in the history books of his time, Woodson felt. In 1976, under the Ford Administration, Black History Month became official. Woodson selected February for the observance because Abraham Lincoln and black orator and abolitionist Fredrick Douglass were born that month. Elliott said many young blacks think the struggle for civil rights is over. "'Oh that's ancient history,' they say." "It's hard to get them involved" like their parents and grandparents were, she said. "For us, it was a necessity." For its part, the AACC plans to show a film on Feb. 6 about black history then have a discussion of its content. Because the Lodge BLACK HISTORY MONTH RECOGNIZES THE STRUGGLES OF THE PAST & WORK AHEAD continued on following page

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