Black History Month
Black history month was called “Negro History Week” and was started by Carter G Woodson (in 1926) to commemorate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Fredrick Douglas (February 14). And in 1976, “Negro History Week” was expanded to a month and was renamed “Black History Month”. Carter G Woodson created “Negro History Week” to combat the constant denigration and misrepresentation of African-American culture.
Now in 2016, Black History Month is officially celebrated in February in America and Canada, and it’s celebrated in England in October. Many people think there shouldn’t be a month for any people’s history, and others believe every group of people should have their historic month. I’m indifferent regarding this topic because I do agree that every group deserves their own heritage month. But on the flip-side, black history is a unique situation, because first of all, we were stripped of our original name, and our native language was taken from us as well. Furthermore, we are the only race of people that has to go to another group of people to validate our history. So, I fully understand both sides of the argument.
Now, we’re in a situation where we’re reliant on mainstream media to educate us on what black history is, and the narrative is always, ”You were our slaves, and we set you free”. “You had the civil rights movement”, “You invented peanut butter, and you’re good at sports and entertainment”, “We created the Egyptian empire (and we mysteriously disappeared), and everything after that is trivial unless we validate it.” And nothing can be further than the truth; before our focus turned to becoming athletes and entertainers, we were doing other great things worldwide. Adolf Hitler had the quote “The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.” In other words, make up a big lie and be consistent and relentless, and you will eventually rewrite history, and this will forever keep people confused. That still happens today; self-taught scholars are trying to enlighten us about our past, while others are still holding onto the propaganda that has been pumped into our psyche from birth.
We’re living in an era of information being at our disposal, and ignorance is never an excuse. Your history is your history, and you should never allow anyone with a hidden agenda to tell you who you are. So, instead of supporting propaganda movies like Gods of Egypt, explore other aspects of black history besides slavery or entertainment. They say to know your future, you have to look at your past. We should all focus on our past greatness to aim for a future of greatness.