Black History Month

As I sit in my cube this morning, the calendar on my desk shows the month of February. My first thoughts are that 1) this year is already moving fast and 2) it's Black History Month. But why am I not excited or inspired? I know I should be because this is supposed to be a period of time in which the achievements and contributions of African-Americans past and present are celebrated. But as the mid-point of this short month approaches, I look at myself as black person and I feel the same way I did last month. What gives? I know I'm not the only one. None of my black friends have made any mention of being excited about BHM. I have received just one email in reference to BHM events. I admittedly have not even browse the net and local newspapers to find information about events related to BHM. I'm not in any way not appreciative of what my ancestors have done in the past and the doors they've have opened for blacks because of the sacrifices they made. But looking at the state of BHM in 2007, this needs to be re-examined.

For some 30-plus years, BHM has been recognized. To some. the designation of one month to a specific race has always been question. To me, the relevance and priority in which BHM nowadays is what bothers me. It appears it's almost gotten to the point of being recognized out of obligation, rather than want or desire. This is apparent from the government, to the corporate world all the way to our churches in our own communities. Many are like "oh, well let's talk about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks and call it a day."

The reality is, although those two were very influential, there were and still are many more blacks who had an impact on this country. I tried to explain this to my dear mother, who was in charge of the BHM program at our church back home. She said she was planning on having people read poems and pose as some historical black figures. Now, this was fine and all, but I tried to get her to see that it's important, particularly for the young people, that some current black heroes are recognized. In my opinion, that's where some of the problem lies. Our young people have no real role models to look up to. And I know sports figures and music people in a way are role models, but in this day and age, our youth need to see that you can be successful without being an NBA player or a rap star. It's all about being educated and having options.

So, this BHM, while it's a time of celebration, it also should be a time to review what this month was initially set aside for and how we can recapture that feeling. The only question is, how do we do that