By Natasha T. Brown
“For the elementary school kid who is soaking in each word and image of those whose hues resemble their own looking for a role model and achievement to strive for, Black History Month is very much so relevant. We should not allow the videos of famous rappers, athletes, pop stars, reality television or even the nightly news or our history to be the only images that supplement for schools and shape the views of our youth. We make black history each day.“
As an elementary school kid, I remember the month of February as an inspirational 28 days in school, where teachers integrated many of the triumphant moments and history of black culture into my class curriculum. Each year, we learned about the important acts of Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr., and the historical March on Washington on August 28, 1963; Civil Rights Leader Rosa Parks and her refusal to move from the front of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1, 1955; about a Black American Scientist and Inventor George Washington Carver whose inventions led to the creation of Peanut Butter; the powerful rhetoric of Malcolm X and Angela Davis, the artists of the Harlem Renaissance and so on.
February was also the celebration of President’s Day and the various leaders who had seemingly impacted our country the most. As an inquisitive kid, I wondered why it was important to celebrate the United States Presidents during February – the only month reserved to honor black history and culture being that there were no black presidents in United States History. I understood that both our first president George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday fell during Black History Month and that Lincoln is credited with abolishing slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation signed on January 1, 1863, but I still had one main question: Why isn’t February reserved for Black History Month in its totality?
The American people have rewritten Black History Month.
For the first time in 2009 during Black History Month, we could say, “My President is black.” And in 2012 after a second Presidential election, the United States re-elected Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, permanently and proudly rewriting the history books to ensure that our culture is also a huge part of the Presidents Day celebrations that take place during Black History Month.
Our thinking about Black History Month and Presidents Day has expanded.
“At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington”
In 1915, Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History to broaden the understanding of Black history beyond slavery. Every year since 1926, the year of the first Black History celebration, the DC-association now named the Association for the Study for African American Life and History, has set the themes for the month. This year’s theme is, “At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington.”
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington.
These two important moments alone, and the American culture’s accomplishments around black achievement since they occurred should rejuvenate the conversations around the importance of Black History Month—at least for the children we are teaching who are developing their since of pride for African Americans.
As an adult, while I know that Black History Month is important, each year the question is raised about the relevancy of Black History Month. In a February 7 article in the Afro-American Newspaper, Daryl Scott, president of the Association for the Study for African American Life and History was quoted saying, “My goal is to the lay foundation so the association is able to sustain itself for another 100 years,” said Scott. “That means engaging the community in a better way to make history increasingly relevant.”
This statement falls within the context of a deep concern that students are graduating high school without the knowledge of American, consequently Black American culture, largely due to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and its focus for school systems to teach students to pass tests, versus understand important moments in history and culture that will enhance their global understanding of the world.
Supplementing African American History for Schools
There are consequences to each thought, word and action that we subject ourselves and our children to as it relates to the black culture. The images and stories of slavery will never dissipate, just as the television shows, characters, media images and negativity and positivity surrounding African Americans will leave lasting impressions.
For the elementary school kid, who is soaking in each word and image of those whose hues resemble their own looking for a role model and achievement to strive for, Black History Month is very much so relevant. We should not allow the videos of famous rappers, athletes, pop stars, reality television or even the nightly news or our history to be the only images that supplement for schools and shape the views of our youth. We make black history each day.
There are various events that can help enhance their knowledge further than slavery, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and even Barack Obama this Black History Month. Learn more below and through subsequent research. The next generation should never have to question the relevancy of this celebratory month nor the important achievements in black culture.
National Youth Summit
Feb 11, 2013
To commemorate of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will be hosting the National Youth Summit on Abolition on February 11, 2013. Experts, scholars, and activists will join together with high school students from around the country and the world in a moderated panel discussion to reflect upon the abolition movement of the 19th century and explore its legacy on modern-day slavery and human trafficking. The program will feature excerpts from the upcoming AMERICAN EXPERIENCE documentary The Abolitionists, which weaves together the stories of five of the abolition movement’s leading figures: Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Brown. Summit begins at 12:00 noon.
Location: National Museum of American History, National Mall, at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C
Harriet Tubman: The Chosen One
(Contact venue, program may be full.)
February 14, 2013 at 10:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:00-2:00 p.m. THEARC, 1901 Mississippi Ave., SE Washington, DC. THEARC Theater presents two free performances in honor of Black History month. The 45-minute show will be performed by one woman, Gwendolyn Briley-Strand, who will transform into over a dozen characters while taking the audience on one of the nineteen journeys Harriet Tubman traveled through The Underground Railroad. Ms. Strand is an expert on the life of Harriet Tubman and has performed this play since 1993 in many schools, universities and organizations throughout the United States.
African American Heritage Night at the Verizon Center
6-7pm Monumental Leaps: The Significance of African Americans in Basketball
7pm game: Wizards vs. Denver Nuggets
This is a pre-game discussion with notable sports and media figures, including Commentator/Author Michael Eric Dyson, Reporter David Aldridge and more.
The Wizards invites youth groups for both the panel discussion and game. Contact Monique Lewis at 202-292-1044 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and tell her Natasha Brown sent you.
Happy Black History Month and stay sophisticated,
-Natasha
Natasha Brown is a writer and founding communications strategist of Think Brown INK, a creative think tank and strategic communications agency, focused on cause communications programs for artists, entertainers and entrepreneurs. Follow her on Twitter @NBrownINK or @TBINatasha or her company @ThinkBrownINK.