Statement of
Dr. Portia Shields
School of Education, Howard University
National Council For Black Families and Child Development
Before The Task Force on Libraries And Memorials of The
House Administration Committee
Washington, D.C.
June 13, 1985

It is a pleasure to be here today to testify on the resolution (H.J. Res. 142) to establish a memorial in Washington, D. C. to honor the more than 5,000 Black persons who served in the American Revolution because this action is in keeping with the goals of the organization I represent, The National Council for Black Family and Child Development (NCBFCD). The 13 year old Council is devoted to promoting the well-being of Black children, their families and communities. NCBFCD is composed of human service providers who relate intimately to Black family members from before birth throughout their lives: counselors, social workers, educators, health care specialists, ministers, day care providers and teachers.

Our goals are to:

1. share information of concern to Black families and children among states and communities.
2. promote Black involvement in planning and implementing programs which serve them.
3. provide expert information and recommendations to Government on issues of concern to Black families and children.
4. encourage Blacks to develop their own programs.
5. foster pride among our Black children in their own heritage and culture.

Each year we plan a national conference to be held at a predominately Black college or university and provide training and reinforcement projects to enhance Black family development and unity. At that time, we also honor outstanding leaders who support the, progress for Black families -- leaders like Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Parren Mitchell, and former Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm.

My testimony today addresses the positive impact that this planned memorial can make upon all but especially Black families. Nearly all Black families are painfully aware of the neglectful, if not intentional, policy of denigrating their status in the United States--from the disregard of human life during slavery and the post Civil War period--to having to walk miles to inferior schools, if available, while whites rode to tax financed superior ones. We were relegated to picking cotton and chopping tobacco for a mere subsistance wage, unable to vote, sit in a movie theatre, ride a bus or eat at the counter in a ten-cent store. Blacks were unable to "officially" fight for America and when that right to die for Her was reluctantly granted, they returned, many as heroes, only to be subjected to the indignity of continued racism.

Black children and their parents may not have read the latest report from the Children's Defense Fund which chronicled the fact that over the past 5 years, Blacks have lost ground in employment, earning power, and education. They, however, witness, perhaps in their very own neighborhoods, the rise in female-headed households; teenage pregnancy, joblessness, poverty and the resulting destruction upon the family unit.

This cancerous phenomenon was impervious to the glorious triumphs, heroic deeds of Blacks - those who served in the American Revolution. Because of a system that magnifies our estrangement from the American mainstream rather than equitably acknowledges that our American roots run as deep as those Americans whose ancestors boarded the Mayflower, Blacks are unaware of and alienated from this era. That Blacks, both slave and free, fought valiantly for the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for themselves, their families, and even for their masters has gone unnoticed.

Today it is difficult for many Black families to conceptualize Jesse Jackson's popular slogan: "I am somebody", because they lack the role models in their communities. Models outside their immediate environments are perceived to be non-germane to their dilemma. You see, almost half of us live outside the traditional family structure.

According to the 1980 Census, the fastest growing minority in the United States, Asian Americans, are better educated, have higher earning power and lower employment than whites. To what do they attribute their success? Strong family ties (The family is everything) and the emergence of successful role models.

On the one hand, Black families are admonished to stay together as a viable unit, but daily they observe families in various stages of deterioration. On the other, they are promised that if they remain in school and get a good education, they'll gain entry into the elusive mainstream. Blacks, however, see limited numbers achieving this goal or receiving this expected reward.

Perhaps now, as experts grapple for ways to relieve this debilitating stress which affects all families, but blacks most, is an opportune time to introduce black family role models -- men, women and children -- who participated in The Revolution.

Enslaved without family, they served the only one they knew, the masters. If slaves were separated from their kinfolk, they fought for the promise of freedom for their relatives. If free, they defended their land and the safety of family members just as their white counterparts. Black and white families fought side-by-side, enduring grave danger, to preserve the family unit. This all families need to know.

Teachers, most critical to the educational development of young children, hear platitudes about developing pride and self-awareness to promote learning but receive precious little direction to inculcate these values in Black children. Education experts decry the importance of youngsters being able to identify themselves in books. Yet of the 25 publications written for children and young adults on as important period as the American Revolution, few before 1960 contained even pictures of black patriots. Fewer still made reference when pictures of blacks were included.

A Black memorial will inextricably bind the historical account of family unity in troubled times for Americans with a story virtually heretofore untold.

We are familiar with the irony of Crispus Attucks, the first to die in the Boston Massacre, one of the major events leading to the War. But now, thanks to Lerone Bennett, Sidney Kaplan, Benjamin Quarles, Florence and J.B. Jackson, to name a few, we meet Peter Salem, Salem Poor, Lemuel Haynes, Samuel Craft, and many, many more. Now we know that there were Black Minutemen, black Green Mountain Boys, Blacks at Lexington, Blacks at Concord, Blacks at Bunker Hill, Yorktown, and the Battle of Rhode Island, some of whom earned their freedom and land so they could provide for the well-being of their families. We can share with black families that in addition to identified black heroes, there were at least 5,000 other role models in The Revolution. To be sure, some were soldiers, sailors, and spies but blacks performed gallantly in other critical roles: felling trees to obstruct enemy advance, building fortifications, transporting munitions and supplies, repairing roads, and doing an array of other supporting tasks.

Whether or not history books portray blacks performing these deeds in picture and story is currently subject to whim and care of author, illustrator, or publisher. A memorial, however, canonizes the contributions of Blacks in the Revolution and will remain in perpertuity for all parents to share with their children and will motivate teachers to include the roles played by Blacks as well as whites in their lessons.

In 1985, Blacks are as far from the family traditions of their African ancestors as they are from the "American Dream". A monument to Black patriots, to be sure, will not, in itself, reverse this situation, nor will welfare, or the few limited job training programs which some hail as remedies.

Nevertheless, now more than before, Black families need a concrete example of a meaningful nexus to America: to learn if they did not know before that their ancestors made a significant contribution to this country which is recognized and valued. In other words, like other ethnic Americans, while they are far from the Motherland, they are indeed home, they belong here.

Most importantly, it must be promulgated that, as their ancestors fought for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as early as 1775, so also must they continue in 1985, for the struggle is not over. As Eleanor Holmes Norton said recently of the black family needs, "Most important is passing on the enduring values that form the central content of the Black American heritage: hard work, education, respect for family and, notwithstanding the denial of personal opportunity, achieving a better life for one's children." This memorial will inspire Black families to embrace this responsibility to be, as their ancestors during the American Revolution, brave, steadfast, determined to survive, and willing to participate in their own survival.

This memorial symbolizes a reuniting of Black families with their forefathers in what was, and is, clearly a continuing struggle, but also in their many triumphs as well. It will demonstrate that the Government of the United States respects and appreciates these valiant efforts. Hopefully, it also will encourage the Government and the private sector to join with other black advocacy groups in developing and sponsoring effective programs to assist Black families as they help themselves towards the promise of America--a better life, a greater sense of liberty, and ultimate happiness.