The Best Black History Lessons Are Learned at Home
Last weekend, I had the honor of helping out at and attending the funeral of a local icon. Mr. T.K. Adams taught music in our school system for decades and led a community band for years after he retired. His wife Louise, whom he affectionately called “L.B.,” was my elementary school principal.
I never took a class from Mr. Adams — he taught at the other middle school in town during those years — but I knew him and respected him. And of course, I adored Mrs. Adams and still have fond memories of when she was principal.
I knew about the impact Mr. and Mrs. Adams have had on the community for over half a century, but I learned so much more about him at the funeral. It was a living black history lesson that unfolded before my eyes.
Mr. and Mrs. Adams came to Covington in 1959, at a time when segregation still rocked the South. He wanted to get a graduate degree from the University of Georgia, but it was still a segregated school. The state of Georgia paid him to go somewhere else for his Master’s in 1960 instead of UGA (and UGA would integrate a year later). But it was OK: Mrs. Adams received two degrees from UGA, and their son is a professor there today.
Tim Adams, their son, once asked his dad why they didn’t protest like other black people were across the South. Mr. Adams’ reply was, “We protest by working hard.”
Mr. Adams was a man of deep faith who was committed to his church family, and he helped lead the church in many ways, including helping raise funds for new facilities. His church roots ran so deep that several former pastors from the church came back to speak at the memorial.
At the funeral, the church gave out cards with Mr. Adams 4 Basic Guidelines and Life Rules:
4 Basic Guidelines
I like myself.
I can think for myself.
There is no problem so great it can’t be solved.
I can do it too.
Life Rules
Show up on time.
Be prepared.
Do assignments.
Respect your own and others’ life space.
We could all do well to live by those rules and guidelines.
I appreciated and cherished the black history lessons I learned last weekend, and I believe that we should learn more about local black history.
Our kids — and adults — need to learn more about local black history. Don’t get me wrong: national and historical heroes are important. We need to celebrate black history from Crispus Attucks to Clarence Thomas. From Harriet Tubman to Rosa Parks. From Jackie Robinson to Serena Williams. From the Tuskegee Airmen to Robert Henry Lawrence. From Martin Luther King to Tim Scott.
But don’t forget your local black history heroes. There are so many wonderful lessons you can learn when you study your local history, and that principle applies to black history heroes in your own community.
Haha169, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons