“A Century of Commemoration, 250 Years of America, and the 150-Year Silence We Must Break.” We’re not rewriting history. We’re revealing it.

I will keep this short and brief. It did not escape me that, as I was giving the first remarks for Black History this year in Patton Township, a nearby city in the city of brotherly love, history was being removed. How ironic, as I was giving the remarks below about how our country missed out on 150 years of telling the excellence of its citizens, the ugly cousin of hatred, silence, reared its shadow on our doorstep again.

I want to be clear and direct- 'The Brave' Shares All Of Our History!

When you remove the panels that hide our history, you reveal the truth that built this nation. 250 years of America. 100 years of Black History commemorations. 150 years unrecognized. You can say we are the home of the brave, yet cowardly behind false narratives. 250 years of a nation. 100 years of commemoration. 150 years of brilliance overlooked. The math has never lied...America cannot tell its story without us.

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Black History Proclamation 2026- Terry Watson’s Remarks. 

"A Century of Black History Commemorations," celebrating 100 years of organized observances of Black history.

Each February, we pause to reflect on the contributions and impact African Americans have had on this country, nationally, locally, and in every community in between. This year, we mark a century of these commemorations, a century that shows how organized effort can inform, inspire, and empower.

And because this year also marks the 250th anniversary of this nation, I want to begin by channeling the spirit of Thomas Fuller, the “Human Calculator,” an enslaved African whose extraordinary mathematical gifts astonished the world.

So let’s look at the numbers.

 250 years - 100 years

If my math is correct, that's 150 years.

One hundred and fifty years during which Blackness, in all its brilliance, excellence, and innovation, has not been recognized.

And one hundred and fifty years during which our heritage, patriotism, and undaunted service have not been fully acknowledged as foundational to this country.

What an opportunity lost.

I am reminded of the first casualty of the American Revolutionary War: Crispus Attucks. The first to fall. The first African American hero of this nation. Attucks stood among fifty patriots confronting British troops when gunfire erupted. He was struck twice in the chest during what became known as the Boston Massacre. His sacrifice symbolizes the 5,000 African American soldiers who fought for America’s independence, yet his name rarely finds its way into our classrooms or our textbooks.

One hundred years ago, Carter G. Woodson and Minister Jesse E. Moorland understood the necessity of ensuring that our history, America’s history, is told in its totality.

So with this year’s theme, “A Century of Black History Commemorations,” I am encouraged. Encouraged that this proclamation reminds the residents of Centre County that the story of freedom and independence in this country cannot be told without us. Our history cannot be celebrated without us. And those who choose to remember America without the contributions of Black Americans remember a country built on false narratives, a country willing to perish.

I will end with a quote from one of my favorite writers of all time, Richard Wright. 

“We black folks, our history and our present being, are a mirror of all the manifold experiences of America. What we want, what we represent, what we endure is what America is. If we black folk perish, America will perish.”

Reference:

1. Fauvel, J., & Gerdes, P. (1990). African slave and calculating prodigy: Bicentenary of the death of Thomas Fuller. Historia Mathematica, 17(2), 141–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/0315-0860(90)90050-N 

2. Kachun, Mitch, 'The Dustbin of History: Crispus Attucks and American Amnesia, 1770s–1840s', First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory (New York, 2017; online edn, Oxford Academic, 20 July 2017), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199731619.003.0003, accessed 27 Jan. 2026.

3.  Kelly-Gangi, Carol. Essential Black Wisdom. 2018, p. 51.

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Terry Watson is a professional speaker, author, and trainer specializing in disability equity in education, racial justice, and law enforcement. Mr. Watson has more than 20 years of experience in higher education. He is the founder of Strategies for Justice, the host of Moses' People Speak, and the author of the award-winning book Welcome to the Sick Mind of a Sane Person: Deconstructing Racism and White Supremacy.