As countries throughout the Americas celebrate ‘African American History Month,’ United States Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship is remembering the life of the African American astronaut killed in the space shuttle Colombia tragedy.
Michael Anderson was among seven astronauts who were killed Saturday, only 15 minutes from the space shuttle’s planned touchdown more than 200,000 ft over Texas. The 22-year-old space shuttle disintegrated, taking with it the lives of the seven crew members.
“We will not forget the contribution of those brave souls who were lost on the space shuttle,” Mr. Blankenship told reporters Monday. “They gave their lives so that all of us could enjoy a better life here on earth. This is not the first time that tragedy has struck our space program and we hope that we all will be able to gather our thoughts, move forward and we would not face this tragedy in the future.”
He acknowledged that African Americans continue to play a significant role in the scientific aspects of the American dream. Ambassador Blankenship’s remarks came during an announcement that the College of the Bahamas (COB) and the U. S. Embassy will jointly observe Black History Month.
COB President Dr. Leon Higgs relayed his sympathy over the incident and said that the whole world has perhaps been struck by the devastation. “What a sense of deep loss because apart from human lives being involved, the information and scientific research the space shuttle would have been doing would have affected the whole world,” Dr. Higgs said.
The theme for this year’s Black History Month, is ‘The Souls of Black Folk: Centennial Reflections.” Officials announced that a forum will be held February 24 at COB’s auditorium, beginning at 7 pm. The featured speaker will be Dr. Deidre L. Badejo, Chairperson of the Department of Pan-African Studies at Kent State University, Ohio.
Dr. Higgs said that the Bahamas plays an important role in the African diaspora.
“Whether you are a Black American or Bahamian, our roots all started in the same place,” he said. “We are all one people from the same origin. So we at COB as an academic institution, see it as part of our duty, our heritage, to ensure that our children, our people, and our community are also aware of the contributions that black people in the United States and The Bahamas and all over the world have made to our existence.”
The Bahama Journal
