So February flew by. Already had my first midterm in American literature where I had the joy of navigating the Sun Also Rises and the descriptions of Black bodies, only Hemingway preferred to use the N word. Good times. Anyway, I thought a recap was in order to celebrate the good and the interesting about this BHM.

1. SNL Videos

I started this month out by sharing this SNL skit that cracks me up. It was interesting to see who liked and reacted to the video. I’m not sure if people were afraid to do anything because it might be misinterpreted or if they thought that this was distasteful and race-baiting. It was not. It was me trying to start the month off with a video that I’d been waiting to share for like 8 months that I thought could break the ice.

2. Cristi Jones wins Best Mom Award

This was a joy to stumble across on Facebook. Cristi Jones dressed up her adorable five-year-old daughter as a heroine in Black history every day, and the results are amazing. This little nugget is sure to walk away from February with a greater understanding of her heritage. I love them all too much to choose a favorite, but that Angela Davis ‘fro is amazing, but then again how dapper is her Josephine Baker?

3. Remy Ma Drags Nicki Minaj

With Remy Ma’s release from prison, she’s dropped a diss track that covers some of her long-held grudges with Nicki Minaj, who got famous while she was out of the scene. "Shether" is almost seven minutes of pure edge snatching. Still, the jury is out the reception, is Remy Ma simply slut shaming or continuing in the tradition of rap diss tracks? Is that even possible in a gendered world? Grab your popcorn if you love drama.

4. Black Diaspora films about more than enslavement.

Fences, Queen of Katwe, Get Out, Hidden Figures, and coming soon, Black Panther

I am so overjoyed with the quality and quantity of the movies coming out celebrating our heritage and our history. Not only that, these amazing actors are finally getting the respect they deserve and the opportunity to play more than someone gritting their teeth through yet another slave/thug/best black friend role. Little Black diaspora kids today get to see themselves as dreamers, chess geniuses, not dying in the first ten seconds of a horror movie, scientists that send astronauts to the moon, superheroes. That is huge. That’s five more movies than I had growing up and I am here for it.

5. Representing in the ensembles

These are amaze-balls. I wore them three days straight and got so many compliments on them. Plus it felt good to represent, as I have discovered that hair scarves are difficult to wrap, and I need a bit more practice before I can leave my apartment in them.

6. Discovering African music

I wanted to listen to more Black/African Diaspora music, and out of everything, this is my favorite song. The imagery of the music video is gorgeous, the bright blues and metallic jewelry, the animals, the hot shirt guys dancing, and a darn catchy beat too.

So that's my personal favs of 2017 in BHM. I hope everyone learned a little something and here's to March, which just so happens to be National Women's Month.