Black History Month

It would seem to me that in the year 2005, we shouldn’t need Black History Month. Black people have finally been assimilated into every aspect of this country, from “the Streets,” all the way to Capitol Hill. The efforts of many mighty men and women have finally paid off in appreciably noticeable ways.

Yet today we celebrate their efforts and struggles as an entire people exclusively. Now doesn’t it seem a little unfair to only celebrate the history of Blacks in this country if indeed we are a “melting pot?”

Well, I actually wrote a blog on that topic, but it was way too long and I didn’t want to bore you with the expanse of my thoughts and observations on that topic (trust me, they were plentiful and far-reaching). So I’ll just give you that backside of the whole argument that I was developing in that un-posted blog.

In my last year in Undergrad, I took an upper level English class. One of the papers that I wrote was up for class critique. I took the class critique opportunity to write about a significant occurrence in US history. I wrote about Emmet Till. And if you don’t know who he is, “google” his name and read about him (and shame on you).

Anyhow, it turns out that my paternal Grandmother is from the town that Till was murdered in, and was actually in town the day that he was murdered. So I interviewed her about the incident, and incorporated the interview into my essay (I would post the essay here, but I think it is a good enough piece that I may publish it one day).

I deliberately left Till’s name out of the essay. Upon class critique, one young lady remarked that she thought it was silly that I left his name out because “everyone knows who you’re talking about”. Well, it turned out that only 3 of my classmates (in a class of about 20 College Juniors and Seniors) knew who Till was, and of his importance in the Civil Rights movement.

It is with this reality in mind that I believe that Black History Month is as necessary today as it was when Carter G. Woodson first came up with the idea. Black people have been on this soil for well over 400 years, and yet not nearly enough attention is paid to the many ways Blacks have influenced this nation. Sure, we are taught a few major names, events and faces, but from the traffic signal to the Court House, Black people have played a way bigger role in World History than those sorry 7th grade US History books give them credit for.

However, I think it is important that everyone, Blacks included, understand the messages that the leaders of the Civil Rights’ movement were trying to send when they gave their lives. This country doesn’t belong to any individual or group from any particular race, religion or belief; all people should be equally and fairly treated.

When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, he was leading a Poor People’s campaign (no matter if Black, White, or Green). When Malcolm X was assassinated, he had left the separatist views of the Nation of Islam, embraced a more orthodox form of Islam, and believed that people of all skin colors could co-exist (such as he witnessed on his Hajj to Mecca). And certainly, the hundreds of Black “warriors” that were lynched, beaten and murdered (some merely trying to learn to read, and some trying to vote) never sought to separate themselves from this nation; they just wanted to be included as part of the number.

So I think the goal of Black History Month, as we know it today, should be to expand upon the notion of equality. Injustice yet exists today in major ways in this country. From religion to sexual orientation, and even race (yes racial profiling and discrimination are still major issues in this country even after the Civil Rights Movement of the 50’s and 60’s). The struggle isn’t over, but we need to open our eyes as to how injustice is being implemented today, and fight it from that perspective.

As my Grandmother noted when I interviewed her about Till, “if you don’t know where you came from, you won’t know where you’re going.”

-Maelstrom

Here's a website where you can read of some of the many inventions that were created by Black People:

http://www.black-network.com/inventions.htm