Today is evidently the first day in February, Super Bowl Sunday, the birthday of the great African American poet Langston Hughes, and last but certainly first, the first day of Black History Month also known as African Heritage Month. Nationally and internationally this month has the tendency of being the only month where public institutions like schools and churches would dedicate their lessons, programs and events towards the accomplishments, achievements and contributions of people of African descent. This month is the shortest month of the year, and in a short month like this I unequivocally believe that the month is too short for anyone to cover all of the accomplishments that African people achieved across the world.
Black History month was originally created by the great African American intellectual by the name of Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Dr. Carter G. Woodson was the second African American to graduate from Harvard University, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and the author of the globally recognized, classic book by the name of "The Mis-Education of the Negro" in which he wrote in 1933. In 1926, he founded the celebration and called it "Negro History Week", which was in the second week of February to commemorate and acknowledge the birthdays of Frederick Douglass (February 14, 1817) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809). In 1976, the month was federally recognized as Black History Month. The month is generally used for classroom teachers to teach or inculcate to children the accomplishment of Lincoln to so called "emancipate" Black people from slavery, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and other abolitionists and freedom fighters to help cease and jeopardize slavery, the hundreds of inventions from the peanut by George Washington Carver, Rosa Parks being a Black woman from the South rebelling against the segregation rules of the South by sitting on front the bus, Dr. King and other Civil Rights Leaders who fought for integration and now Pre. Barack Obama being the so called "fulfillment of King's dream".
At the end of the day, as this is taught in class plus promulgated and disseminated through the media, the majority of the people who are oblivious to the accomplishments think that us Black people are only good for our accomplishments for the victory of integration and recognition in American society from the horrendous, nefarious, degrading and detrimental moments that we have experienced during slavery. Even though we accomplished the civil rights to have equality with white people in society to even go as far to having an African American president, there is still subjugation, subordination, police brutality, hate crimes, mis-education, and segregation amongst Black people as there were during the Civil Rights Movement and even before that!
Also, because of the mis-usage of Black History Month, people also think that our history started during slavery when exactly and actually, our history started with mankind! Our history resonates with the inventions of civilization, writing, reading, communication, political science, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, architecture, economics, science, religion, technology, etc. All of these inventions started in Africa from African people but this information is for the most part dissimulated and unknown, even for the most part during Black History Month!
Generally, mainstream America teaches us that our history started with us being illiterate, barbaric and uncivilized Africans being stolen from the jungles of Africa and sent to America. Our history started in Africa and if you read books like "Nile Valley Contribution to Civilization" by Tony Browder, "Africa's Gift to America by J.A. Rogers, "Stolen Legacy" by George G.M. James, "They Came Before Columbus" by Dr. Ivan van Sertima, "The Destruction of Black Civilization" by Lerone Bennett, Jr. and others, you will learns that the Greeks, Persians, and Western Europeans who enslaved our people stole from us our history and used it during their present to build phenomenal and powerful civilizations so that they could control us in the present and tell us that we didn't accomplish anything! This is why it is our job to study and read from intelligent and politically/ culturally conscious authors about the truth about our history so that we won't take Black History month for granted and so that we could acquire a true knowledge of our history and ourselves.
We need to learn that an African man by the name of Menes in 3100 b.c. merged or integrated Upper and Lower Kemet or Chem to create the empire that we learn today as Ancient Egypt also, we need to learn that the original Egyptians taught the world renowned Greek philosophers Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Homer, Herodotus, and others about the true essence of righteousness in civilization and in divinity. We have to learn that Moses was an Black man, Hannibal was an Black man, the musician, Ludwig van Beethhoven was a Black man, Imhotep from Egypt was a Black man, Cleopatra was a Black woman, the great poet Aesop (who's name is a Greek name translated from the Archaic period in Ancient Greece to Ethiop which means of African descent) was a Black man and according to the "Holy Bible" in the book of Revelations, Jesus was a Black man! We also need to learn that the brilliant astronomer and intellectual by the name of Benjamin Banneker who was appointed by Pres. George Washington to design Washington D.C was a Black man! Through slavery, exploitation and subjugation, our people have been mis-educated, and in order to "make a slave" you have to control their mind first and consequently, their body will controlled. Today, us Africans in America and abroad are for the most part slaves to this society because we have been mis-educated, and if we don't know where we come from, than we won't know where we're going. Once we view Africa as the citadel and birthplace for civilization, learn our culture, heritage and history, than us Africans will gain race pride which will unite us together to bring camaraderie, confraternity, peace, power and progress within the Black community. The great historic and iconic leader Marcus Garvey even said; "Liberate the minds of men, than ultimately you will liberate the bodies of men." The solution for Black America and the Pan-African community is not just a Black president and a "Black History Month" but for us to do our work to educate ourselves so that we could have a knowledge of ourselves.
In closing, lets not take Black History Month for granted and think that just because we have a month devoted to like 1% of our history that we have accomplished something. Also we can't just have a Black History Month, but everyday in our lives should be Black History Days where our life will be dedicated to the re-education of ourselves as a people. The old saying is "If you want to hide something from a Black man, than put it in a book." For 400 plus years, they have hidden the knowledge our ourselves. Don't take our history nor this month for granted, and our history bears credence that our ancestors contributed to the development of almost this entire world!
So Black man and woman, don't just have a Black History Month, but live a Black History Life, by repeating the positive aspects of history today, to make a better future for the posterity of Black people across the world.
Peace.
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