Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Should Black Americans celebrate Black History Month?

First off, it's amazing to note how fast the year is already going. It's going quicker than how many people change drawers (Don't know about all of you). We just finished with the month of January, and now we're in February. This month marks the celebration of Black History Month. Morgan Freeman, best know for helping Batman defeat the Joker, stated in a 60 minutes interview a few years back that, Black History Month was "ridiculous". He insisted that Black History ought to be celebrated all year round. Now, it's no secret we have the shortest month of the year to celebrate.

Black History Month actually started out as Negro History Week, from Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Dr. Woodson is famous for writing the book The Mis-Education of the Negro and created The Journal of African American History.
All of the achievements that Dr. Woodson made were during the darkest moments in American History. A time when black men/women were hanging from trees like fruit, and weren't even allowed in a restaurant to buy a cup of coffee. And while we live in the 21st century, there are those that contend that Black History Month is no longer relevant cause "we have overcome". Really, Negro? Really?

Well, I do agree with Mr. Fox...I mean Mr. Freeman on Black History being celebrated all year. The contributions of a people should not be delegated just to one month. Besides McDonald's tells us they celebrate Black 365. Our history books should incorporate the Black struggle and the tasks and challenges that we had to face. The capital of the United States, which is now occupied by an African-American president, was designed and built by Benjammin Banneker.

With that being said, if we say this about Black History Month, should we say the same thing to other groups of people that celebrate their history in a month, such as Hispanic Heritage Month, starting Sept. 15 to Oct.15 ? Or what about Filipino American History Month in October, Women's History Month and White History Month (Which I don't plan to commerate. I think we know how this History started.). So, in the end, I do feel we need moments in our lives to celebrate heritages and traditions, whether they are commerated for one month or for one year. The question of Black History Month's importance has served as a great challenge for some, and it looks like it will continue to be that way.

Peace Fam


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