Re-Thinking Black History Month
Black history did not start in 1619
The great Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey said, “A people without the knowledge of their history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.” Knowing your history is knowing your struggle. To know your past is to know your culture and traditions. History, for any group, is the foundation upon which to build nations, families, and futures. Black history is recognized more in February than any other time, but schools and the media overwhelmingly focus on the transatlantic slave trade and the civil rights era. The message is the same, African American history began with slavery, Abraham Lincoln, and ended somewhere with the great Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights movement. There may be a sprinkle of Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey, but nobody can argue how limiting Black History Month has become.
Where do we begin?
In the 1800s, European and American leaders referred to Africa as a continent without history. As absurd as it may be, this view still prevails and affects how Black History Month is recognized today. Over 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean from West African ports. Most African Americans are descendants of West Africa, and Africans from this region accomplished amazing feats. They were among the first in the world to forge and smelt iron and produced some of the greatest kingdoms of the middle age. The mighty empires of Ghana, Mali, and the Songhai of the 6th through 16th centuries rivaled or surpassed most European Kingdoms as they grew to immense wealth over hundreds of years. Their armies rode on horseback with weaponry and discipline advanced for that time. This region was also the home of Timbuktu, an African learning center with thousands of manuscripts and centuries of African writing on math, science, medicine, and more. For instance, Mansa Musa, the Malian Emperor, remains the wealthiest human ever to walk the Earth. Scholars guess his net worth surpassed $400 billion! During a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 AD, he famously traveled with 60,000 armor-clad soldiers on horses and camels and 12,000 enslaved people wearing Persian silk. Emperor Musa spent and gave so much gold while passing through Egypt that he suppressed the economy for over a decade.
We can go even deeper into history, thousands of years, and look in awe at the Nubians of Kush in East Africa. A kingdom known to have male and female rulers, they created one of the greatest empires in antiquity. Here’s a fun fact about how amazing these black people were. In 8th century BC, the Assyrians chased the biblical King Hezekiah of Judah out of Israel. King Taharqa, a black Nubian ruler, came to his aid and defeated the Assyrians. His exploits are recorded in archaeological records, and the man is even mentioned in the Bible for saving Jerusalem! I have yet to hear a mention of Taharqa in February though over 700,000 of his descendants were transported across the Indian Ocean to the Americas from the region he once ruled.
Stories after 1619
Suppose we stick to American slavery and onward. In that case, we rarely highlight the thousands who resisted captivity. Such as the intelligent and charismatic Denmark Vesey, an educated, free black man from South Carolina who, in 1822, used his influence to recruit enslaved and freedmen and developed a strategy to free thousands. Close to executing a brilliant plan, Vesey was captured after a co-conspirator informed white leaders. Vesey and his followers were executed, but his actions were so daring and well-planned that they terrified the south. Records showed when the capturers walked them to their execution, they showed no fear. They only asked to see their wives before their deaths.
Ida B Wells should be a recognizable household name. A black woman and founder of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club created a newspaper addressing civil rights and women’s suffrage issues. Images of Wells holding a rifle circulated throughout the nation, as she once said, “A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.” Ida B Wells was outspoken while risking her life in the process.
Viola Liuzzo is a rarely heralded civil rights icon. A housewife and mother of five, she was a passionate NAACP activist who refused to sit back and watch the brutal treatment of black Americans. Luizzo packed her bags, kissed her family goodbye, and traveled to Alabama to support the voting rights movement. Driving exhausted after a night of shuttling marchers to their homes, members of the Ku Klux Klan stopped her car and shot her in the head. At 39 years old, Liuzzo is the only white woman to lose her life supporting the civil rights movement. She is as much a part of black history as anybody.
Why is this important?
We are entering a strange time in America. Black history is being hidden and hijacked by politics and ideologies, and Black History Month, already improperly recognized, further reflects our divisions. Can we rethink how we recognize Black History Month? Though I understand a month is not long enough to teach the history of any group of people, I believe black history should be recognized throughout the year as part of American and African history. However, if we are going to focus on a month, let’s do it right. Why is this important? Please remember the words of Garvey.
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