Understanding Our History - Understanding Ourselves

We just finished Black History month, and I want to spend today considering some of those individuals who have lived their lives in ways that caused the world to change. Understanding history helps us understand ourselves. To understand who you are, you need to develop a sense of self. A large part of that is learning where you fit into your family, your community, your country and even the global community. Understanding history helps us to better understand our parents and our grandparents. History tells us how our people, nation, city, or community came to be everything that it is. But we can't just rely on history books because history books are always written by the conqueror or party who rules and is in control. So we need to put effort into learning history in more ways than just reading an assigned book at school. We need to find out where our ancestors came from. We need to listen to the stories that are grandmothers and grandfathers can tell us. We need to do our own research. The more that we can understand about our own histories, the greater ability we will have to understand and appreciate the legacies we may have inherited from those individuals who have come before us. We will be able to see the individuals who have paved a way for us to live a better life. Understanding their work can also inspire each of us to help build a better future for ourselves and for those who come after us.