871-word article. Monthly inspirational column is written by Evelyn M. Bingham, a retired entrepreneur and former owner of the first black-owned hotel on Mackinaw Island in Michigan.
 
PREVIEW:
February is typically observed as Black History Month. It is a time set aside when we think about and honor those people from our history who have made a direct impact upon us, or who have made significant contributions to our history as African Americans, and people in general.
 
Our ancestors, good and bad, honorable, and notorious, talented, productive, and ordinary, should all be sources of pride for us, for they are the foundations for who and what we are today. Their accomplishments can be a barometer for us expressing our potential and achieving our highest and loftiest goals.
 
It is of utmost importance, that we each assess our own lives, where we have been, where we are now and what our plans and aspirations are for the future, both short term and long-term goals.
 
If you are a parent, your goals are many, for they include those of your children as well as your own. Initially, our main goal should be to educate ourselves to reach the point where we, as adults and parents, can feel comfortable and intelligent enough to be confident that we are in the position to head our family and households. Not until we have truly paid the cost, to be the boss, can we command the respect of self, family, and others.
 
When we think of the past, and those who have gone on before us, it is a little sad when we see the accomplishments our parents and ancestors were able to make with little or no help, while being constantly inundated by all of the real deterrents to progress, such as racism, poverty, lack of education, and near absence of medical attention.  Our lives today do not compare!