Blak Iz Blak: The Rebirth Of Black History Month

“The Way Franz Fanon put it, you lucky I ain’t read Wretched yet.” — Blak Iz Blak by the Mau Maus

I attended virtually all-white schools. During this time, Black History Month (BHM) was the bane of my existence because these teachers had no concept of what being black in America meant. Consequently, they had no way to convey that to their students. Either they were not interested in sheltering and protecting their black students or did not know they needed their support; I believe it was a mix of both. Perhaps, some of them did not even want to acknowledge BHM, but felt an obligation to do so. It was a disconcerting time because we were all still living in The Dream.

In the 80s and 90s, we thought if we did not talk about the barriers erected by white men to impede the progress of black people, then those impediments were not real. I now know that 40 % of all white people have zero black friends, while 55% have one black friend. I believe that most of my teachers fell in the latter category. Accordingly, their concept of being black in America was determinately shaped by portrayals of black people in the cinema and television. These negative stereotypes inevitably seeped into the classroom content. Further isolating young black children because we also witnessed the same harmful portrayals of black people. Unarmed with the knowledge and resources to push back, black children like me just grimaced for the entire month. These harmful…