Happy (Belated) Birthday to Carter G. Woodson. Born on Dec. 19 to formerly enslaved parents, Woodson dedicated his life to the promotion of Black history. He established Negro History Week (now Black History Month) and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

Woodson earned various education degrees. In 1912, he earned his PhD in History from Harvard, making him the second Black American (only following W.E.B. Dubois) to graduate with a PhD from Harvard; and the only person of enslaved parentage to earn a PhD in the field of History from any institution in the United States.

Woodson, who passed away on April 3, 1950, gets mentioned here because his advocacy for education remains in play. Many persons who offer Op-Eds and letters to the editor here, never mention education as remedy of deplorable physical, psychological, and emotional traumas that afflict many residents. Learned men and women, political leaders, and social watchdogs have abandoned the one initiative that identifies as a game changer for life. Without a vibrant and successful education system, Trenton will remain mired in mediocrity, unable to extricate victims lodged in slow-sand existences. Education lists as kryptonite to poverty.

While political systems and education advocates fail to serve as catalysts for successful learning, parents hold responsibility for assuring their children get smart. Woodson made this observation about education.

“Philosophers have long conceded that every man has two educators: that which is given to him, and the other that which he gives himself. Of the two kinds the latter is by far the more desirable. Indeed all that is most worthy in man he must work out and conquer for himself. It is that which constitutes our real and best nourishment. What we are merely taught seldom nourishes the mind like that which we teach ourselves.”

Finally, congratulations to Jordan Dotson, a Black senior student-athlete at Harvard University. In February, 2022, Dotson endured disappointing circumstances while playing basketball for Burlington Twp. High School. Montgomery High students who had learned Dotson had signed to become a student-athlete at Harvard, berated the teen with a “Harvard dropout” cheer. (Ahh, the haters).

Carter Woodson would find pride in the impending Dotson graduation at Harvard, although education at Mercer County Community College, The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College), Rider University, etc. remains as much as a success. What a person accomplishes after college graduation matters most.

From Woodson to Dotson, education exists as the one success that positively changes lives.

Education. Education. Education.

L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at LAParker@Trentonian.com.