Black History Month

Black History Month…One Month or All Year?

A friend of mine recently stated that Black History month was “nigga month,” because Black History is or should be celebrated all year long. I don’t necessarily agree with the choice of wording, but I can understand their point.

Black History should be embraced everyday, especially by African Americans. It’s funny how there were and still are an abundance of African Americans who contributed to the growth of America, and only a few of them are recognized in the shortest month of the year. Oh wait, it’s a leap year, so there’s an extra day this February. The main two historical figures that we are consistently taught about or recognized are Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. Granted, these two individuals were extraordinary and served as inspiring catalysts within the African American communities, and in American in general. There were so many more great leaders who played major roles in the developmental shaping of African American societies. Our African American children are never taught in school about Stokely Carmichael, Amiri Baraka, or Angela Davis, for instance.

Out of my own curiosity, I went online and did a search for great African American leaders. I came across this site called infoplease.com. This site gives you general info on African Americans, including short biographies on five-hundred notable African Americans. This list included names like Aaliyah, Brandy, Chingy, Chamillionaire, Destiny’s Child, and the list goes on alphabetically. I think it’s wonderful that America thinks enough to include these musical artists, whether the music is good or bad, but these are not the leaders that our children should be learning about. I love music in all aspects, but this may be the problem with our youth today. The kids today can recite a lyric from any song with no hesitation, but ask them how many African American inventors there were, or who the Greensboro Four were. I bet they can’t answer that question. Even ask them who Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, or Count Basie was, and how they contributed to the music industry.

I have observed in several African American classes that consisted of students from all different races, that Caucasian kids know more about “Black History” than Blacks. Something is truly wrong with this picture. These students are adults, not children in elementary or junior high school. Not one individual is truly capable of knowing all of history, and the people who have shaped our world. You don’t even have to go to the library any more or read books to find information. There is a host of credible knowledge right on the world wide web. It’s not just our teachers either that are eliminating Black History from our children, it’s the parents as well. A lot of times, learning has to start from the home. There’s no excuse for the parents to not know about these things as well. Yes, most parents work one or two jobs, and have numerous tasks to handle in a course of a day. We have to learn to take time out for knowledge. Knowledge is never-ending. All these reading programs that have been implemented for kids, should be implemented for parents too. Knowledge is power.