Mike Levin: “I am very pleased to commemorate African American History Month. Each year, doing the month of February, we remember and…”

“I am very pleased to commemorate African American History Month. Each year, doing the month of February, we remember and reflect on the rich and extraordinary achievements of African Americans. We also remember and reflect on the suffering, degradation and brutality of slavery, which cannot be repaired, but the memory can serve to ensure that no such inhumanity is ever perpetrated again on American soil. We remember and celebrate the brave and determined African American conductors of the Underground Railroad, like Harriet Tubman. In 1849, Tubman escaped from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and became known as "Moses" to her people when she made 19 trips to the South and helped deliver at least 300 fellow captives to liberation. We remember and celebrate John Parker of Ripley, Ohio who frequently ventured to Kentucky and Virginia to help transport by boat hundreds of runaway slaves across the Ohio River; and William Still, Robert Purvis and David Ruggles who in the 1830s organized and stationed vigilance committees throughout the North to help guide slaves to freedom destinations. And we remember and celebrate James Fairfield, who went into the deep South and rescued enslaved African Americans by posing as a slave trader, risking his life and property. We remember and celebrate the City of Detroit in my home state of Michigan where the Underground Railroad assisted over 40,000 slaves in reaching freedom in Canada.”