Series explored health, wellness

Stories detailed how issues that impact Black communities still rage.

The six previous years of The Atlanta Journal-constitution’s Black History Month Series have always tackled big topics like Black midwives, the couple that challenged Georgia’s interracial marriage laws and Black culture and wealth in Atlanta. But we never had a centralized theme — until this year.

This year we followed the lead of Carter G. Woodson’s landmark organization, Association for the

Study of African American Life and History, which offers educa

tional guidance during Black History Month. We set out to focus on Black Health and Wellness, while also offering stories on the spectrum of the Black experience.

We kicked off the series with a story on Sickle Cell Disease, the genetic disorder once dubbed “The Negro Disease,” that disproportionately affects Black people and can lead to stroke, organ damage, pregnancy complications and a shortened life span.

But in this age of COVID-19, our first Sunday story looked at how Black people have fared and

faced the pandemic two years in. Our last Sunday story focused on HIV/AIDS in the Black community and served as a stark reminder that even during a pandemic, the horrible disease still ravages.

Between that, we told stories of environmental racism and how disadvantaged communities are suffering from unseen and untold health issues.

As part of this series’ legacy, we have always tried to tell stories that are not your standard Black History Month fare. That is especially important now in the middle of the growing conversation about critical race theory and what should and should not be taught in our schools. Some of our loyal AJC readers

and subscribers agreed.

One reader, who had never heard the harrowing story of how enslaved Black women were experimented on in the name of gynecology, wrote, “I am grateful for your giving us insight into

this “critical race theory.” And we dug deep, with our eye-opening story on how Black marine archeologists are navigat

ing the ocean floors in search of sunken slave ships and a look at how Atlantans of Haitian descent see themselves through the lens of the Haitian Revolution.

Wed by a King

For Valentine’s Day, it has been our tradition to tell stories of love and resilience and this year, we

met the Middlebrooks, who were married in 1961 by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Talented Tenth and the New Negro

We also explored the history part of Black history with stories on recounting Morehouse College and Atlanta University’s ties to the concept of the Talented Tenth and Alain Locke’s recognition and enlightened discovery of the New Negro and how

both of those concepts play out today.

Pioneers

With Black history, fortunately, or unfortunately, we are still marking the “firsts” a delicate category that answers the question of why they were important while begging the follow up of why did it take so long?

That is why Lo Jelks’ story as Atlanta’s first Black television reporter is so important, especially when you consider the fact that when he started they didn’t even put him on the air. Instead replacing him with a sign reading “Lorenzo Jelks Reporting.”

It is also why we must learn about Crispus Attucks, the first man to give his life for the American Revolution and Major Taylor, the first Black sports superstar, who dominated cycling in the late 19th century only to be lost in history.

Women

Women, Black women, often overlooked by their male counterparts, also got a share of attention this year.

Getting back to health and wellness we explored infertility in Black women and following the suicide of Cheslie Kryst, we looked at the mental health crisis facing Black women.

A junkyard and a drum master

On the entertainment front, we went back 50 years to re-watch “Sanford and Son,” the groundbreaking sitcom that broke barriers in television by changing the way audiences viewed Black entertainers while opening the doors for the flood of Black content we are witnessing today.

Kinda like professional wrestling, where Black wrestlers have dominated the Southern scene from the top ropes for decades.

We also went to school with Art Blakey, the mighty jazz drummer who trained and inspired a generation of musicians.

Of Hosea, Virgil and Tyler

We told the story of the long, bombastic life of civil rights icon Hosea Williams and the short, brilliant life of designer Virgil Abloh.

And we ended the series, as we always do, with a look toward the future. This time with hot photographer and image-maker Tyler Mitchell.

When we were done, more than a dozen reporters wrote 24 new stories for the series, with four stories running from our six previous years of archives, which have been indexed on our new Black History Month Page. Now, on to 2023. ASALH’S theme will be Anti-black Violence and Resistance.

COURTESY OF NY PUBLIC LIBRARY This portrait of Major Taylor was made in 1898. The first Black sports superstar, Taylor dominated cycling in the late 19th century, setting numerous world records between 1898 and 1899.

HYOSUB SHIN/HYOSUB.SHIN@AJC.COM A Valentine’s Day story in the Black History Month Series featured James and Gwen Middlebrooks, who were married 61 years ago by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

COURTESY OF ATLANTA ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS WSB-TV initially didn’t show Lo Jelks’ face on the air when he was first hired in 1967 for fear of a backlash from white viewers who didn’t want to see a Black reporter on the air.

COURTESY Members of the Alpha Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. at Butler University in 1924. Sigma Gamma Rho, founded in 1922, is the youngest of the four Black Greek sororities.

COURTESY OF FRANCIS WOLFF/BLUE NOTE RECORDS Art Blakey, shown in an image used as the cover for the 1960 album “The Big Beat,” trained and inspired a generation of musicians.

STEVE SCHAEFER FOR THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION Ellis Smith stands on his porch as workers remove dirt from a Westside lead Superfund site early last month.