We are the history makers…

As you know, February is Black History Month, and in celebration, I’m writing articles that research various famous Black Americans or persons of African ancestry, while also posting my usual doll-clothes-sewing related blog posts.

However on Fridays this month, I want to feature everyday people of African heritage. Why? Because we are the makers of history — you and I — everyday people.

Not all of us make it into the history books, but that doesn’t mean our kind deeds and exceptional moments go unnoticed.

I’ve posted about her before, but the person who comes to mind for me, personally, is a little girl named Cherry.

When I was in fifth grade, my parents got divorced. I moved from a small town in Washington to Lodi, California, where I didn’t know anybody.

My only friend at my new school during my sixth grade year was a Black girl named Cherry, who I will never forget for her kindness and her warm friendship. She helped me understand how bike locks worked and why I needed one. She talked to me about boys, Star Wars, and to no one’s surprise, dolls. She ate lunch with me.

I was new at school, and it was hard for me to make friends. I’d only attended a Seventh-Day Adventist school up until sixth grade, so my nerdiness was palpable. Nobody else reached out to me. Just Cherry. I think she also felt like a fish-out-of-water in that school.

It was the 1970’s, and California had passed desegregation laws known as “bussing laws.” Because of these new laws, Cherry rode a school bus from inner-city Sacramento out to suburban Lodi every day.

While desegregation made its way into history books, my friend Cherry did not. I have no idea where she is today.

However her friendship and kindness taught me that African Americans are valuable to every community. This isn’t something my white, racially-biased father would have instilled in me. I learned it first from Cherry.

And today I’m proud to celebrate Black History Month on my website. I’m not a Black person myself, but I see Black people making history in their own way all around me. Not all of them make it into the history books. In fact, very few people do.

But every kind deed should be acknowledged in some small way, if possible, and every single person helps create the history of future generations, as it unfolds all around us. Cherry and I were part of the history of bussing laws, even though our names are never mentioned in the history books. But somehow, we desegregated ourselves. We became fast friends, and in some small way, we were a part of that desegregation history.

On Fridays this month, I want to feature real-life people like Cherry. People who are small-scale creators online. People who are doing their everyday jobs. People who are probably not going to make it into the history books.

But as the world events take center stage, some of these people are entertaining us. Others are opening a door for us. Still others are in public service, making sure people get from Point A to Point B. But each one of us is part of that history as it unfolds.

Feel free to leave a comment.

For my free sewing tutorials, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1.

Here are 3 ways you can help support my website and YouTube channel:

1. Leave a comment on any blog post on my site (it helps other people find my website)
2. Leave comments on my YouTube channel (it also helps with search engine optimization)
3. Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already

To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.