Henry Hampton — American Activist born on August 19, 1940, died on November 22, 1998

Henry Hampton was an American filmmaker. He was the son of surgeon Henry Hampton Sr. and Julia Veva Hampton. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Hampton would later move to Boston where he founded his film production company Blackside, Inc., in 1968. It became one of the largest minority-owned non-theatrical film production companies in the U.S. during the mid-1970s and until his death in the late 1990s. Hampton and his company produced over 80 programs including documentaries, television spots, and other media productions... (wikipedia)

On the one hand, there is no reason that a black person needs to live a portion of his or her life being concerned about the people of color around him. On the other hand, if you don't you're crazy.
What drives people to public service is a sense of possibility. If you haven't sensed that possibility you don't get started in the same way, you don't feel you can have an impact.
If you're black in America, race is a factor in your life. Start with that assumption.
Food might be more immediately important than history but if you don't understand what's been done to you - by your own people and the so-called 'they' - you can never get around it.
Everybody needs history but the people who need it most are poor folks - people without resources or options.