WJBC Forum: Peace, love, and soul!

Don Cornelius attends the Annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards Nominations. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Here’s a 5 question quiz.

What was the name of one of the longest running T.V. shows in America? Who was the singer that made the song, “At Last” famous? Who was one of the first black women to work at State Farm in the 1940s?

Who was the black man that built an amusement park just south of Miller Park? Who was the first black producer and owner of a nationally syndicated TV franchise?

The answers are: 1.) Soul Train 2.) Etta James 3.) Caribel Washington  4.) Richard Bell of Bloomington and Danvers, and 5.) Don Cornelius.  How did you do? Unfortunately or fortunately, the month of February, was specified as “Black History Month” to bring attention to the fact that black people have made contributions to society in all walks of life.

While it is great that people may get their awareness raised during February, the bigger reality is that black history is a natural and huge part of American and world history and should be included all year. How much did you learn about these contributions while you were in school? In the last 2 months, some icons in black history have died.

My forum featured Caribel Washington last month. On January 20^thEtta James, the legendary rhythm and blues singer,died. She was most known for her song, “At Last.” Ms. Lee overcame poverty, personal pain, and addiction to reach stardom.

On February 1^st, Don Cornelius,who was the producer and owner of the T.V. show, “Soul Train” died. The show ran. from 1970 to 2006. More recently seen as the creator and producer of the BET Awards show, Soul Train was designed to do for soul music and black audiences what American Bandstand had done for popular music.

Stars like Gladys Knight, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin were provided a venue to present their music to national audiences. The infamous “Soul Train dance line” became popular at weddings, celebrations, and even bar mitzvahs. Back in the day, blacks couldn’t see themselves on T.V., nor could other races see blacks on T.V.

Ironically, when people became exposed to black people on shows like “Soul Train”, they watched to get the latest ideas on clothing styles, hairdos, and dances. They also got a chance to see black people in roles other than servants or acting comical.

I was 16 when this show first appeared, and one of the things I loved was the ending when Cornelius said, “Peace, love, and soul!”

I’m Camille Taylor for the WJBC Forum.

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Camille Taylor, Counselor at Normal Community High School, has been an educator in this community for 33 years. She is active in the community currently serving as a church elder and board member for both the Baby Fold and the YWCA. She has been recognized by the YWCA as a Woman of Distinction for education, a Martin Luther King Jr. award winner for the City of Bloomington, a Distinguished Alumni by the College of Education at Illinois State University, a Human and Civil Rights award winner for the Illinois Education Association, and the H.Councill Trenholm Award recipient from the National Education Association for her work with diversity. She lives in Bloomington with her husband, Arthur, and is a mother and grandmother.

The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Townsquare Media.