Every year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) celebrates black history month with reflections at an annual luncheon. The topic is generally the annual Black History Month theme and it is followed by a keynote speaker and reflections from ASALH leadership.
This year is no exception with a dynamic speaker, Lerone Bennett, Jr., author and editor emeritus of Ebony Magazine who shared reflections about the qualities evident among African American military leaders. How timely to acknowledge the contributions of African Americans in this arena.
But, even more fascinating to me is the relevance of strategic leadership regardless of military involvement. Let’s briefly take a closer look.
To think about African Americans who reflect master military strategies, we can look at legendary Harriett Tubman and her mission bringing slaves into freedom. We can see how she strategically planned her journeys traveling through the night along the Underground Railroad.
Tubman was even known for carrying a shotgun forcing those seeking freedom to press on regardless of fear or trepidation. What is even more fascinating is that without military training she maximized contacts and resources along her way and made more than 100 trips back and forth never losing a “passenger” en route to freedom.
The ASALH luncheon and Black History Month give us a remarkable opportunity to consider someone like Tubman who used her cunning leadership skills to maneuver during drastic times. Let’s take our hats off to reflecting all those African Americans who have taken to make contributions.
-Dawn McCoy, author of Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider’s Guide to Success
