Today as Black History Month is coming to an end once again, I am musing about this practice of months. They are meant to help raise awareness, which is good. They often result in reducing awareness for the rest of the year, which is not good. I’ll remind you in July to look for Black-led and …
[Continue reading] Black History Month is over…being Black is not
Last year, we heard a lot in the news about the Starbucks incident with the two Black men who were arrested for being in the café, while waiting for a friend. The issue? Being Black – and what this meant for the Starbucks employee who called the police. We then heard a lot about unconscious bias, …
I have an issue with Black History Month. I have written about how everything Black happens in February and is forgotten for the rest of the year. I have written about “firsts” and what they say about how far we have (and haven’t) come. And last year I wrote about the lessons we could learn …
Two weeks ago, I wrote about why we don’t talk about Black present or future, and mused about whether we are helping all people to learn from Black History when we talk and teach about it. A few things have happened since then that I need to share: Musings on Black History from 4- and …
[Continue reading] Black History Month – further Colonization?
I am not a fan of Black History Month. For one, it becomes a month crammed with everything Black/African/Caribbean and then we don’t see much of it the rest of the year. You can read other musings here. But this year, I have another angle that adds to my disdain. I recently had a conversation …
Ah Black History Month.... I have just returned from a vacation in Barbados with my family. There is an election going on and one of the newspaper articles while we were there was about why there were no White people running this time. In contrast, on our first day back I was listening to G98 on …
Ugh. Black History Month. For the next 22 days, venues across the city will pack as many Black, Black-focused, Black-directed events as they can on stages, and behind podiums and microphones. For this month I can easily jam my social calendar with plays, movies, interviews, readings, musicians, …