Black history month was started by educator, philosopher, scholar, and historian Carter G. Woodson. He started the event as Negro History Week in 1926, during the second week in February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two of the most influential black rights activists in history. It has then expanded to what we now know and refer to as Black History Month.
Black History Month is and will continue to still be relevant. Sadly, we live in a society where people say things like, "I don't even understand why we're still celebrating MLK day, or Black History Month." We live in a society where people ask if it really even matters anymore and the answer is yes. It does matter and it will continue to matter.
I don't think that we can just forget that people were held in such captivity that they were only considered three-fifths of a person in this country. People were considered less than a human being solely because of the color of their skin. The truth of the matter is that racism and social injustice continue to exist today. Racism and social injustice aren't just things of the past, they're completely present, but our actions today can determine whether they'll continue to be something in the future or not.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
We have a long way to go, but we also have much to celebrate. We can celebrate the courageous men and women who have taken conversations containing race, social injustice, police brutality, and many other subjects to a new level and who have been bold enough to be activists in spite of adversity.
Black excellence is more than a trending social media hashtag, it's a fortitude of extraordinary accomplishments. It's defying the odds, such as Haben Girma has done by becoming the first deaf-blind student to graduate from Harvard Law School. It's Akon lighting Africa. It's becoming the first African-American woman to become the United States attorney general like Loretta Lynch. It's acts such as DeAngelo Williams' purchasing of 53 mammogram tests for women in honor of his mother. It's men and women who have taken a stand, such as Martin Luther King Jr. It's leaders such as Patrisse Cullors-Brignac, co founder of Black Lives Matter. It's fearless young women like Charlene Carruthers, the national director of the Black Youth Project 100. It's people in past history and people today who prove that this topic continues to be relevant, but it's also every black person in America because, "Black people shouldn't have to be particularly extraordinary to be treated with basic human respect."
That's why this still matters. There's a greater issue going on here, whether you'd like to believe it or not. Today, we have a chance to make a statement and stand up for social justice and equality. Today, we have the opportunity to rise up against differences and consciously know that racism and social injustices still exist, but to also know that we can be part of the movement of change that puts an end to it. Today, we have the opportunity to celebrate black history month with gratitude, whether we are African-American or not. Today, we have the chance to stand up for something that is greater than ourselves. So, yes, it still matters and I will continue to express that. Will you?
