Maybe instead of choosing a month to commemorate a people we should make sure we redo the entire curriculum. I really don’t see why I have to be overly subjected to King Henry, King Henry, King Henry, and Christopher Columbus and not cut that in half and utilize the time for some more noteworthy individuals. I mean after all they were all gluttonous and spoiled. Most of these monarchs ruined rather than built and Columbus simply stumbled across a land mass which was not only already occupied but I’m sure someone discovered it before he did.
It’s like the whole patent vs. discovery issue. Thank God for the World Wide Web and say what you want about Google but, I would be a dunce without that abundance of knowledge at my fingertips. My Dad can actually have lengthy conversations about history and little known facts. Me, well let’s say my brain was wasted on public education. Thank goodness for inquiring minds. My good friend, an honor student in high school actually asked me to pinpoint were Wembley stadium was. We were discussing where I lived prior to the US.. I watched her as she zoned in on France with her index finger. I was astonished, my response could have been,” What honor roll are you on?” or “How can Wembley be in France, if I’m from England, fool?” instead I calmly guided her hand to the proper land mass. The point I’m trying to make is we need to dedicate a month each year to making the importance of a peoples contributions to society whether for good or bad available in school.
This way they can appreciate everyday of their lives ,that way they can understand how other people including themselves struggled , fell, withstood, persevered, became dishonest, disgruntled, tempted , enlightened and all of the stuff that makes us who we are.
Until this time, let us continue with the month celebration, people do have a tendency to try and ignore the truth. There are a lot of people in denial out there; some use it as a coping mechanism. I was far removed when seeing slaves running through the woods in some movie or another. It became real to me when I saw actual iron leg cuffs. It was among a collection of old memorabilia from the plantation days. It wasn’t even like police handcuffs were it was fashioned to fit your wrists. This shackle was a heavy, elongated rectangular shaped piece of iron. it was so long it most definitely rested on your foot, couldn’t imagine running. Oh, how skillfully designed!
I think it might have weighed about 3 to 4 pounds each. I can’t even do a 30 minute Zumba class with 2lb ankle weights. Before the 20 minutes are up, all discombobulated, I’m stumbling back to the wall for my drink of Dasani, hoping that the one I’m drinking is mine. I’m not trying to make light of the situation, I just remember staring at those shackles for the longest time. Until we can better educate everyone regardless of color, February and October it shall be. I mean no harm no foul right?
The reality is people keep screaming about let’s celebrate out history all year round…but most of us do. however without the limited time window of opportunity and the small fanfare people look the other way. they are too busy to learn about afica, as they are “jamaican” or too bust to learn about the caribbean as they are “African”.
We seriously need to have Black history month and raise its profile too because until it’s embedded in peoples consciousness, there is no way of ensuring it appears in all history books alongside white history.
Just once, I’d like to see a history book that shows a photo of a black soldier in WW1 or WW2, instead of always being absent or relegated to the footnotes.
I appreciate your thirst for accuracy in UK History as well as American. I think you would really appreciate THE DOCUDRAMA”Filling The Gap”the untold story of Blacks in America during the civil war era. The film is also nominated for a 2011 NAACP IMAGE AWARD. visit essenceofhistory.com and also the 2011 NAACP IMAGE AWARDS website. I embrace the ideal of fillming a docudrama similar to filling the gap for the UK.