Soldiers, staff and visitors gathered at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center Clinical Assembly Room for the National African American History Month observance which paid homage to the late educator and civil rights activist, Booker T. Washington, Feb. 15.
The observance welcomed local community advocate, Debo' Anita Wakefield, to discuss the impact Washington's actions had in the early 20th century for African-Americans that followed and how some of those actions still impact Americans today.
While the observance focused on Washington's plight and accolades, diversity in the Army and in medicine was highlighted with a presentation of pioneering African-Americans and movements in medicine such as the desegregation of blood supplies after World War II.
"It's important to understand it's not just about one race, one culture or one creed, but everybody coming together under one unified purpose and force," said Sgt. Kristal Reese, noncommissioned officer in charge, Spc. Hugo V. Mendoza Soldier Family Care Center pharmacy. "(Observances) honor those who have come before us, paved the way and set the footprints in the sand, so that we can see those footprints and follow the same tracks."
This year's theme, "Success always leaves footprints," reiterated Washington's impact in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Washington believed in earning respect through cultural advancement which he did as founder of Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers, later known as the Tuskegee Institute. His support in educating African Americans led to many accolades including George Washington Carver's teachings and research in agriculture, and the school's well-respected aeronautical engineering program which eventually led to the U.S. military's selection of Tuskegee Institute as training depot for African-American pilots in World War II, later known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
Reese, a native of Augusta, Georgia, sees diversity as a necessary means to mission accomplishment in the military.
"How can we work together as a unified force if we're not in it together? Our country is a huge melting pot of different people so we have to be able to respect each other, our cultures and histories," said Reese. "We can't win the wars alone; it takes a team."
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