National Action for Black Descendants of Slaves
Black history month should be more active than passive so, I want to challenge people to reassess the meaning of this time of year that we call Black History Month. Learning is a passive activity, there’s a lot more that we can offer ourselves as a community if we chose to evolve the narrative around the month of February and it’s relationship to Black representation and culture.
On Feb. 7, 1926, Carter G. Woodson, initiated the first celebration of Negro History Week that would extend to include the entire month of February as Black History month. Knowing that the one single week in February was not nearly enough time to cover the ever growing history states and facts that highlight African descendants of slaves’ contributions to the United States culturally, socially, athletically and especially economically. But even with this extension of the celebration through the full month, it’s become a running century-old joke that the month of February assigned to Black celebration is the shortest month of the year and as a result is nowhere near enough time to fully learn about the extensive history that our ancestors have contributed to the country that has stolen so much from them.
In response to this ongoing issue I challenge our country to consider Black History month as more than just a time of learning about black history facts and stats. The task of learning more black history should be an ongoing one that every American embarks on throughout the entire year. Black History within the United States is a part of American History as whole, and as a subject should be respected as such. History lessons that feature prominant Africans shouldn’t be restricted to the “Civil Rights” era of our history classes. Every American can grow and advance their understanding of this country by learning more about the contributions that African descendants of slaves have made on society.
Rather than be limited to celebrating February as Black History Month, I’d like to shift the focus of this month to Black Action Month in order to advance the social justice causes of Black Americans and other similarly marginalized minority groups. The act of elevating Black History month to focus on appreciation rather than historic regurgitation would create a platform for Black Americans to advocate for themselves around a central theme that the United State consistently refuses to address, a call for retribution. The United States has a love-hate relationship with African descendants of slaves because our wealth, our labor and our culture are essential aspects of American society that Amerikkka is willing to kill over (literally) as a result of any attempt at disruption. With Black voices being elevated and given a platform, calling out specific aspects in need of change and presenting solutions that target Black communities would be more acceptable and more likely to advance during the month of February, even revolutionary concepts would be more palatable for the masses accept. February is an opportunity to educate and advocate strategically.
Black Action Month envelopes history but instead of restricting our activities during the month to learning facts and figures, we also pivot are focus from learning towards giving. This way in addition to expanding our knowledge we also task individuals with being responsible to give back to African descendants of slaves, not through charity or favor, but in gratitude and retribution. A impactful organizer that I follow, @Talayatheehoodhistorian, posted a Black History Month Giving Calendar targeting non-Blacks with wealth privilege to financially support Black leaders. Throughout each day of the ongoing weeks tasks are listed to guide supporters from Giving to Black transition fund to Subscribing to Black creators on platforms like YouTube, Patreon and Only Fans. The calendar is packed with impactful suggestions that should be uplifted regularly. Actions like these, rather than re-sharing tired facts, are ones that we should be promoting throughout this month.
Today nearly everyone is willing to learn about black history in February, but with all of the invaluable contributions we’ve proven as a community we still struggle to normalizing United States payment of retribution. February can become a time of year where we consistently expose this overdue step that America must take. February should become a time where our call for retribution is consistently interjected. February must become a Time where we point at America’s ongoing dependence on Black culture as an essential aspect of America’s economic future.
February, being strategically positioned, just after the Western New Year is the perfect time to set a standard where we refuse to allow America to forget how it expedited its position as a World Power. There aren’t many moments in the Western calendar that we control, but this short month of February is one where our voices are sought after, when we’re called on to present, to speak, to create and when we’re finally given platforms. Instead of waiting until the pressurized period of an election or sitting on our hands as skeletal bills slowly creep through the legislature, it’s essential that we direct a narrative around the purpose for February. Let’s initiate a call to evolve Black History Month into Black Action Months centered around a call for retribution in the United States.
It’s absolutely beautiful that our ancestors carved out an entire week in the year where negroes could breathe a little more restfully and bask in the glow of their massive impact on society. It’s even more beautiful that our ancestors took that week and extended it through the entire month, but now it is our responsibility as forced Americans to call out where America has continually failed. We are here and our perspective is valuable, we cannot allow ourselves to be silenced around this issue and must continue to evolve the month to fit our agenda as Black descendants of slaves who have never been restored by the government for more than a century of stolen labor and inhumane abuse. We will continue to resist against ongoing repression until the day that we are all completely free.
