Resisting the strong impulse to write about the Trump Impeachment and the Black Community this week, and too depressed to write about Mr. Laker-for-Life, Kobe Bryant, I succumb to re-investigating the creation and work progress of the 2018 creation of the H.R. 1242 Commission of 400 Years of African-American History.
In virtual ignominy, what, if anything, has this Congressionally-mandated group done in the two brief years of its existence? Its mandate ends in July, 2020, so its short life span did not provide much time for anything substantive on a national level. In fact, except for the reporting and op-ed pieces in Our Weekly, one can be sure that virtually no one west of the Mississippi even knows this group exists, let alone what it is doing.
The 400 Year Commission (HR 1242 Commission) was situated inside the U.S. Interior Department, as part of the U.S. Park Service. That alone cemented its virtual invisibility. That, and the non-notoriety of its 15-member board of commissioners doomed the 1242 Commission to both shadow status and the huge possibility of insignificance. Only the luster of Dr. Lonnie Bunch’s presence on the commission (the new head of the Smithsonian’s bevy of national libraries, and the founder of the National African-American Museum) has thus far saved it from that fate.
That’s not to say the 1242 Commission lacks some other heavy hitters among its members; it just has received almost no public news coverage outside of the East Coast and parts of the South.
Meanwhile, as the purpose of the commission is to: recognize and highlight the strength and major cultural contributions of Africans in America the last 400 years; acknowledge the impact of ante-bellum slavery, slave-based laws and the Jim Crow environment on African life in this country; encourage civic and other organizations to take part in commission-generated public events; and help to coordinate scholarly research about the arrival of Africans into America, the following activities hosted by the HR 1242 Commission are in furtherance of those purposes.
On June 12, 2019, at the U.S. Capitol, the Commission presented “Let’s Talk About Our Dream: A 400 Year Journey of Trials, Triumphs and Trailblazing,” as a collaborative pageant of 400 years of African-American history and progress, stressing a journey towards racial equity and healing.
Seven days later, on June 19, 2019, “Juneteenth,” the Commission presented the second part of “Let’s Talk,” as a public celebration of “The International Day of Drumming and Healing.” The event was held at the Fort Monroe National Park Monument in Virginia, and was marketed nationally, though most news sources never picked it up.
The Commission has also held three public meetings and between now and the next six months must finalize its duties by producing a massive report on how to nationalize news, information and scholarship about African-American history and contributions throughout the entire United States, particularly in packets that can be used in schools, civic organizations, and other areas of the public.
Whether that will result in a reasonable expenditure of the $6 million dollars Congress allocated for the project no one yet knows.
Though several commissioners, including the chair, Rev. Rex Ellis, have requested an extension of the HR Commission’s operational time, the members have been informed by the Interior Department that it would take another act of Congress to re-authorize the Commission’s mandate. That is not likely to happen.
Anyway, now we know somewhat more about the Commission’s activities, and can judge whether the effort was worth it or not. For the fight over bringing Ethnic Studies as a requirement into California and other state schools, the HR 1242 Commission to Study the 400 Year History of Africans in America may prove very useful.
As a forerunner for getting HR 40—the African-American Reparations bill—passed, however, the HR 1242 Commission appears to be useless, and possibly irrelevant.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO).
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