February is Black History Month, John, a time to recognize the shoulders we stand on and the Black Americans who paved the way for us. 

We often think about people like Frederick Douglass. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rosa Parks. Septima Clark. Shirley Chisholm. Barack Obama. Kamala Harris.

Rightfully so, but as a history buff and a former history teacher, I like sharing little-known facts and celebrating the unsung heroes of Black history. The organizers who raised bail. The ones who provided food and shelter. The students who, like me, sat down at drugstores and lunch counters.

This month, I’m thinking of people like James T. “Nooker” McCain -- my Pony League baseball coach who lost his job as school principal for refusing to accept secondhand supplies from a white school.

People like Lewis Latimer whose filament kept on Thomas Edison’s invention of the lightbulb and lit up the world.

People like Robert Smalls who escaped slavery in Charleston by commandeering a Confederate ship and surrendering it to Union troops. He went on to serve in the South Carolina legislature and in Congress.

I want to hear who you are celebrating this Black History Month and why, John. Whether it’s someone in politics, sports, the arts, or even in your community, I want to hear about them.

Thank you,

Jim