Has Black History Month Run Its Course?

THERE is still a lot of African Americans that do not know that we gave mathematics and physics to
the world. THIS should be a black history moment.

Sent by jerry a. Myers | 3:03 PM | 2-1-2008

Africans in the americas history should not be limited to one month of the calendar year. Unless, one of African descendant is living and acknowledging their individual histories daily and comparing them against the histories of other Africans struggles against neocolonialism, colonialism and racism daily a month becomes meaningless. Otherwise, as an African one becomes aligned in terms of their values and value systems to the euro-american centric prevasive norm. The struggles of the Africans in Panama, Peru, Haiti, Brasil, Guyana, Kenya, Libya, Senegal, Oman, Saudi Arabia, New York, Detroit, Oakland, Los Angeles, Miami, France, UK, Espana, Italia whereever are very much the same. The euro-american school curricula of the US is not interested in African affairs as such since the US school curriculum as well as the US populace has yet to come to the table to deal with and acknowledge and apologise to the African populace for its slavery legacy and all of its current economic disparity based on race presumption and class.

We need 14 months of 30 days of African histories daily to reverse the mis-aligned equilibrium.

Sent by K Mjumbe | 3:52 PM | 2-1-2008

The Black History of America

At dawn, walking my dog, I see the black history of America.
Its a cup of warm lye thrown into the face of democracy
by an outraged, jealous ex-lover of hypocrisy.
It disfigures my thoughts while we walk on the red soil following the print
of the tractor's tread beside the stubble of a mowed cotton field. Finding a raccoon???s indent
I stop and I look down the rows. I see the beginning of dark woods,
and darker intent in the tall pines in the distance while he finds the coon???s obscure scent.
I wonder if I run real fast, as fast as I can down these rows, and into the woods
will I then be free from the black history of liberty?

???We worked from ???can???t see??? to ???can???t see??? on bended knee???
is part of oral history where cotton???s kingdom rose from the soil
Of low country South Carolina counties as far as the eye could see.
This moment becomes a raucous blue jay bouncing on a limb of emancipation???s tree.
I wonder if Jesus heard the master???s prayer as well as the slave???s ardent plea?
Did John Newton???s Amazing Grace pay for his soul???s freedom or is it burning
where Mourning Doves woo the wind from their hidden trees?
Tell me, how do you learn to talk to a man as though he???s only property?

We walk where wind-felled pine, split, shows its white wood???s pearls.
Drops of sap glisten in the early light like each has collected bright worlds.
Something rustles in the brush, catches our attention. We stop. I hold my breath
waiting for the sound of hunting hounds. I drop. My heart swirls, beats once, then,
it too stops to listen. I finger their coin and cough aloud with traitorous intention.
Harriet beats me to her trigger. I lay there, another dying niggah.
Before I pass I hear her say: ???Why???d you lead them to us? Ya gotta pay.???
I pull myself from dreamed death???s embrace and wonder how I found that place.
We leave those woods at a faster pace. I watch a flock of crows mob a hawk. I pray.

The black history of America continues growing like shadows each day on a
tree-lined southern road, like unchained slaves gathering above the Amistad???s hold,
like flickering tongues of fire caressing kerosene???s cross, like all we???re losing, like all we???ve lost.

If February is meant to be the month to celebrate being free then let it be,
but if it is only a moth that flies to the candle of America???s black history then set it free,
away from candle???s flame and America???s dark destiny.

George Edward Buggs

Sent by George Edward Buggs | 4:52 PM | 2-1-2008

Just like a lof of holidays and days or months of commemoration it has been commercialized and has lost some of it's value. But there is no doubt that black history has been overlooked and continues to be overlooked and until that history is available for all of the masses to know then it is important to keep Black History Month alive.

Sent by BC Planning | 6:29 PM | 2-2-2008

I do not think that Black History Month has run its course. I think it is absolutely critical to designate a certain time frame to provide history lessons and give credit to the many African-American contributions that go unrecognized all year long.

I recommend that African-American history be taught and celebrated all year long, but being that that is not the case, Black History month is important. It is necessary to shed light on the many inventions, creations, and contributions of many African-Americans. I think the "shallow ritual" of Black History Month does not do very much justice to celebrating accomplishments by African Americans. Indeed it is vital to recognize Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Mary Mcleod Bethune, and the many others.

However, we should challenge one another and go on to dig up facts that are overlooked, facts that highlight who built the Mall on Washington, facts that tell us about the origins of humanity being in Africa, and the misuse of facts that remind us that without knowing the history of who we are and where we come from keeps us locked up, locked in, and locked out.

Sent by Rahwa Neguse | 10:04 AM | 2-4-2008

I would not have a problem with questioning the relevancy of Black History Month if these same folks that criticize it for being limited and/or commercial would step up and take the fight to their children's school districts or at least read to their children at night. To me the question is not the month and should it still exist or be expanded, but what are we doing to educate our children about their history everyday? Are we holding conversations at the dinner table about our history and more importantly the history we lived through? Are we taking the time to read with our children and discuss our responsibility to the path blazed by our elders?

Actually, the more I think about it, we are failing Black History Month by not standing in the footprints that Carter G. Woodson left.

Sent by MahoganyBooks | 1:54 PM | 2-7-2008