Didn’t We Just Have Black History Month?
I think it was Dr. Cornel West who I heard say that February is “rent a Negro month.” He was referring to the number of invitations to speak he and other well-known Black folks receive in February to recognize Black History Month. He definitely wasn’t complaining, because he mentioned his lecture price is inflated in February due to the demand. To that I say, go get your money Dr. West.
The first thing I think about every first of the month is paying my mortgage. As I was driving into work on Monday, it took the Steve Harvey Morning Show to remind me that it was not only the first day of the month and the first day of the week, but the first day of Black History Month too.
I don’t really have anything planned for this Black History Month. I usually don’t have anything planned for any Black History Month. Unlike the folks who repeatedly watch “Gone with the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Ten Commandments,” or “A Charlie Brown Christmas” when they pop up on TV each year, I don’t look forward to rewatching “Eyes on the Prize” or “Roots.”
A common complaint among a lot of Black folks is how the same dozen or so historic Black people get recognized during Black History Month year after year. As I was driving home from work today, that thought entered my mind when I saw an electronic billboard shuffling a few of the big 12’s faces on the big screen with a single fact summarizing what each of them is famous for.
I almost slammed on my brakes on the snow-covered Conchester Highway when Booker T. Washington appeared on the billboard. Not that it was a surprise to see him recognized for another year, but the thing they recognized him for was unbelievable.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. THE FIRST BLACK MAN ON A U.S. POSTAGE STAMP.
It was like looking up a common word in the dictionary and going straight to the seventh definition. Bizarre.
I have to come clean. I’ve adopted a couple old Black guys as my go-to Black History Month icons. Every February, I read up on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Paul Robeson. They never cease to amaze me. So much of American Black history is wrapped up in those two guys. I suggest you find a Black history person or two to call your own. Don’t let the billboards influence you.
I also find myself wondering: Didn’t we just have Black History Month(s)?
The summer of 2020 was rife with Black awareness as the mainstream did anything it could do to quell those “riots.” They got rid of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben; they discovered Juneteenth; Walmart unlocked Black hair grease on its shelves; Confederate statues came tumbling down and NASCAR banned the Confederate flag; HBO got rid of “Gone with the Wind”; the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, and other medical organizations declared racism a public health crisis; the NFL commissioner admitted that Colin Kaepernick may have had a point; and Netflix created a whole new category called Black Stuff (or something like that).
It would take the whole month of February to catch up with all the Black history that was created, disrupted, cancelled, and promised during the summer of 2020. If someone made a TV show out of that, I’d watch it.
Stefan Roots blogs at Chester Matters.
