There are more stories in black history than Harriet Tubman, Tamir Rice and Martin Luther King Jr.
February is about uplifting the black community. February is a time for the celebration of black excellence. Rather than obsess over the suffering of black history, honor the expansive — not exhaustive — list of accomplishments the black community created for humanity. February is time to honor all of the forgotten black heroes in the world. To all of the many black heroes to come, do not let black history continue to be erased, ignored and forgotten.
In Honor of:
Shirley Jackson — inventor of caller ID, fiber-optic cable and touch-tone telephones.
Charles Drew — inventor of the blood bank.
George Crum — inventor of potato chips.
Garrett Morgan — inventor of gas masks and stop lights.
Lisa Gelobter — inventor of online videos and shockwave.
Janelle Monae — black and queer singer and songwriter, creating space for trans folk.
Lewis Latimer — drastically improved the light bulb to make it accessible and safe.
Jan Ernst — revolutionized the shoe making process, making shoes affordable for all.
Elijah McCoy — more than 57 inventions, including lawn sprinklers.
Mark Dean – inventor of the personal computer.
Dr. Patricia Bath – first black woman to receive a medical patent ever, for laser eye surgery.
Have questions? We have answers! Send your questions via email to lgbt@ohio.edu oroulgbtcenter@gmail.com; via Tumblr at oulgbtcenter; via Twitter @oulgbtcenter with the hashtag #qaqueer; or post/message to Facebook oulgbtcenter. So bring it on, do it to it and query a queer.
Destiniee Jaram is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University and is the Query a Queer writer for Ohio University’s LGBT Center.
