Cultural confidence is demonstrated by being sure of oneself, cannot be bought, and is strengthened by embracing one’s complete history. It is created and supported through continual self-discipline and self-knowledge.

The culture of black history has been comprised of several different dynasties, empires, and kingdoms. At its peak (prior to European colonialism), it is estimated that Africa had up to 10,000 different states and autonomous groups with distinct languages and customs.

However, when presented in a public school system, among our kids, it’s presented as if descendants of Africa were always the losers. Furthermore, it’s presented as if our existence on a plantation in the United States is sort of the beginning of our journey.

When African-American trailblazers are being celebrated, names like Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, and Jackie Robinson always come up and are revered and regarded as sources of pride in African-American households.

However, it seems logical to me that we should add others like Mansa Musa, Malcolm X, Nefertiti, Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, and Empress Kandake Of Ethiopia to that standard list of knowledge within our households and classrooms as it relates to black history.

The contributions of African Americans to world history have been largely forgotten and unacknowledged.

How many students learn that in 1969, Dr. Clarence “Skip” Ellis was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. in computer science?

Are our girls given the opportunity to be inspired by physicist and mathematician, Katherine Johnson, who was key to the success of Project Mercury and the Apollo 11 mission? Johnson is, in fact, best known for calculating the trajectories for many NASA crewed missions. When NASA began using digital computers, she helped confirm the accuracy of the computer calculations.

Both Johnson and Ellis should be standard figures taught in our STEM / STEAM classroom curriculum, along with a host of other African-American pioneers in technology.

Almost everyone knows what the Global Positioning System (or GPS) is and how it has changed the way people navigate the world. Yet, not everyone knows about African-Amerian mathematician, Dr. Gladys West, and the pivotal role she played in birthing the GPS. In 2018, the Air Force finally recognized Dr. West’s contribution in programming for what ultimately became the GPS orbit.

What everyone knows as the Murphy bed, or fold-down bed, had a precursor. Before the Murphy Bed, an African-American woman named Sarah E. Goode invented the cabinet bed in 1885. Born into slavery in 1850, Goode went on to become the first African American woman to be granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, for her invention.

In 1888, Matthew A. Cherry invented the tricycle, a three-wheeled vehicle that is to date being used for commercial transportation and deliveries in several countries, as well as, for shopping and exercise. Cherry also invented the streetcar fender, a piece of metal that was attached to the front of the streetcar to act as a shock absorber, which has since been modified and is now used on most transportation devices.

Nathan “Nearest” Green, who was an African American master distiller, is known as the master distiller who taught distilling techniques to Jack Daniel, as in Jack Daniel Tennessee Whiskey.

Today, Dr. Hadiyah Nicole Green dedicates herself to fighting cancer as a response when her aunt and uncle, who raised her, both died from it. While working towards a doctorate degree in Physics, Green began reading about how technology could be used to kill cancer cells. She then dedicated numerous years of her life to hands-on work and research. The end result was the development of a laser technology using nanoparticles that destroyed cancer cells without affecting healthy cells.

Maxwell Chikumbutso is a 27-year-old Zimbabwean, who invented the world’s first-ever green power generator, which can produce electricity using radio frequencies. He has designed and built an electric-powered vehicle and hybrid helicopter which uses six different types of fuel. Having dropped out of school, he has no formal training in technology or science, just revelations of blueprints and visions which he has used to formulate his inventions.

Twenty-one-year-old, Iddris Sandu, is the unconventional tech guru from Los Angeles who has accomplished many incredible feats, including being responsible for algorithms that have made Uber, Instagram, and Snapchat what they are today. At the age of 15, he designed an app for his high school that gave students turn by turn directions to navigate their classrooms. By the age of 18, he was already consulting for Snapchat before landing at Uber, where he created a software (Autonomous Collision Detection Interface) for its self-driving cars.

People of African descent have proven to be one of the most educated and successful groups through various initiatives taken. Be it in healthcare, business, and technology, the community of African descendants continues making an impact that is helping to reshape the culture and technology of the world. However, our school students must be exposed to them in order to be inspired by them.

Our aim should always be to level the playing field between traditional teaching of inventors versus the myriad of pioneers and innovators of African descent in the past, present, and those that will exist in our future. This is why black history should not, and cannot, be acknowledged within only one month.

DeWayne Johnson is a business owner, investor, keynote speaker, and advisor. He has an M.S. in Management from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in Engineering from Georgia Tech.