On Wednesday, Feb. 17, as part of Black History Month, Dr. Walter Kimbrough made an appearance at NEIU. The president of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas spoke on “the right to dream,” specifically highlighting post-race and post-black history.
The Chicago native was introduced to his audience by Robert E. Bedford, Assistant Dean of Students office, who described him as “truly intelligent” amongst other notables. Beginning with the “Obama effect» and its role on the African American community, Kimbrough did not fail to emphasize on how refreshing it was to see now President Obama win the majority vote in Iowa, a predominantly white state.
“President Obama is going to have the Columbus experience because he is going to discover America for what it is,” Kimbrough said while he explained how Obama’s election was very significant in black history.
“Too many people want the black population to forget their history, people want to manipulate history and finally people, especially youths in the Hip Hop generation, do not appreciate their history,” said Kimbrough. He engaged his audience with his rhetorical question, “So, are we post-race, are we post-black history?” Elaborating on his points, he made sure his audience understood that there can not be a present without a past therefore; history, no matter how painful, gruesome or traumatic it is, should never be forgotten.
He presented examples of case studies and experiences from slavery and the Jim Crow era and went further to illustrate how people manipulate history by extracting and overlooking what is important.
Reaching out, specifically to his young audience, Kimbrough expressed his disappointment in how many African American youth do not necessarily know the contributions of strong black men and women over the course of history.
“But they know Lil’ Wayne,” jokingly said Kimbrough. Making the “Negro Anthem” his personal forte, he gave examples of how even African American adults are clueless to what the Negro Anthem is.
Closing his address, he enforced upon everyone the duties of making history known, especially amongst the youth. Just as he began with the “Obama effect,” he closed with excitement of the Obama election and left the audience with a spitting image of what it felt like in his home.
“My baby boy’s name is Benjamin Obama Kimbrough,” Kimbrough jokingly said. In turn, honoring his role model Benjamin Mays and Obama, signifying something special is about to happen.
“We are not post-black history, we are still making history,” said Kimbrough while the audience clapped near the end of the presentation.
After the address, a question was asked by Bedford, concerning what the “Negro National Anthem” was. Soon after, a CD overhead played the Anthem. The song, by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson, highlighted lines such as, “We have come treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered. Out of the gloomy past, till now we stand at last.”