How to Celebrate Black History Month with Intention
Every February, Black History Month around the United States often discusses the highlights of Black Americans who contributed to the fight for equality.
But like many others, growing up in the public school system, Black History Month was delivered with story book highlights of peaceful protests, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks refusing to sit in the back of the bus. The curriculum would lead you to believe the enslavement of humans was a mistake with no real impact on our current lives.
I hated sitting through class seeing images of Black people as slaves, learning about Jim Crow, and then being presented with MLK as if equality was achieved and the world was fair.
Luckily, my dad made sure to teach us about our ancestors but for years I believed our existence was only enslavement, poverty, and struggle with the path to acceptance being through entertainment. As I’ve gotten older and committed to self education, I learned about our great ancestral African history giving me a vast sense of pride and gratitude to be Black.
But it wasn’t an accident the American history presented was intentionally created to manipulate the truth, impacting current views of anti-Blackness and racism in the US. America was created for the benefit of white men with money and power on centuries of forced labor, abuse, rape, genocide, and oppression against the existing Indigenous people who inhabited this land and the brutal de-humanization of people from West African communities.
Our history as Americans is not a story to be proud of because it was paid with the price of blood and human flesh, violence, and evolving systems of oppression fueling our economy in the present.
“Racism and anti-Blackness are not unique to the US as its global neck grip penetrates through all countries because of colonization.”
In June 2020, the world ignited in outrage over the brutal and senseless murder of George Floyd in the course of eight minutes on camera, resulting in national and international protests against police brutality, anti-Blackness, and white supremacy.
A few months before George, Breonna Taylor was murdered in her home in the middle of the night by police officers. Ahmaud Arbery was jogging when he was murdered by white supremacists. The list of Black Americans murdered by police and white supremacy in the US is long and our lost lives continue to be denied justice.
The severe impacts of a global pandemic paired with the systemic racial inequities across the United States boiled to the surface as we all watched an endless stream of viral videos exposing our countries ugliest truths; anti-Blackness and racism pulses through the blood of our culture as Americans and denying it is a symptom of white supremacy.
Social media and corporate campaigns boasted undying support for Black Lives Matter and commitments to creating equality across educational systems, corporations, and individuals via Instagram posts in the form of black squares.
I received countless texts, messages, and phone calls from white folks in disbelief, shock, and even disgust about the displays of blatant racism or confusion of how racism was still possible in 2020. But for me, Black Americans, and Black people from the African diaspora, who often experience racism as a daily occurrence, it was painfully devastating but not surprising.
Racism and anti-Blackness are not unique to the US as its global neck grip penetrates through all countries because of colonization. But if there was an award in which country loves racism the most, America would sweep the competition to take home the gold because of our continued denial of its existence today.
This Black History Month is unlike any other in the past. Images of civil rights leaders and false equality cannot erase the truth of who we are as Americans and our legacy of white supremacy and violence. We have to be intentional about honoring the resistance of Black Americans by taking personal accountability, self reflection, and making a long-term commitment in unlearning the fairy tales and accepting the truth of how prevalent white supremacy systems and actions operate in our society presently and the individual responsibility required of us all.
Accept the internal work of anti-racism
Make a long term commitment to dissect your internalized white supremacy beliefs, ideas, and subconscious actions. Even if you personally believe you do not engage in racism and anti-Blackness, you inherited it and were taught it. Your first inclination may be to say to yourself, ‘not me - I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ but you do and I challenge you to honestly answer the question, would you trade places with a Black American if you are non-Black?
Why do you need to dissect your internalized white supremacy? Because the idea that a race is superior or inferior based on the depth or lack of melanin is immoral, inherited, abusive, violent and will continue to prevent you from personally developing, evolving, and being accountable for the systems white supremacy grants you, your children, family, and friends.
Additionally, not holding yourself accountable to unlearn makes your attempts at allyship and activism vain. It will continue to prevent you from developing meaningful relationships with BIPOC when your view of racism is only committed by people who are uneducated, from Southern states, or from a lower class which you believe gives you a pass from taking personal accountability.
unlearn internalized white supremacy through education
Read books that challenge your internalized white supremacy written by Black folks. I recommend exploring the book, Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor, written by Layla Saad.
This book takes you through journal prompts and provides specific examples of how, when, and why white supremacy sub-consciously exists in your daily thoughts and actions. I personally have worked through this book to understand my own internalized white supremacy because, again, I was born and raised in the US and despite being a Black woman, white supremacy shaped my ideas and actions.
consistently Bring in your community
Anti-racism work is not something you accomplish in five minutes, five months, or five years in your individual silo. It is a lifetime of development and will continue centuries after you are gone from this earth. Your personal responsibility is to consistently engage with the closest people around you about internalized white supremacy, systemic racism, and anti-Blackness so BIPOC people aren’t forced into positions of doing your work for you.
It can be difficult to talk about anti-racism when you do not utilize the resources, tools, and knowledge available to guide you through conversations with friends, family, and your social circle. But the information is always available to you and the biggest impact you can have in helping to create a more equally just community is through engaging with the people you spend your time with often and authentically.
“None of us alone can save the nation or the world. But each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so.”
Engage, participate, take action
Participate in virtual events created and managed by Black people, specifically by Black Queer folks.
Part of my Black History Month intention is participating in virtual events to root my connection with my Black community and learn more about the intersections of Black existence. Living in Idaho, our community of BIPOC folks is small but mighty and I feel lucky to have found them. Since engaging with more community during quarantine, I found a place where I authentically belong and feel comforted as a Black woman. The more you engage and learn the better equipped you will be at understanding the life saving importance of why your commitment matters.
Don’t stop being accountable
The discomfort you feel when learning about your internalized white supremacy does not come close to equating to the experiences and trauma Black and Indigenous people inherited and have to carry day to day. Ultimately, the more you learn about yourself the less fragility you will feel. We don’t need you to feel guilt and remorse, we want you to take action by holding yourself personally accountable and responsible for yourself and the people around you.
Black history is American history. It’s important to learn about the accomplishments, joy, and resistance we hold, however our stories and triumphs are not an exemption from personally making your community a safer, more inclusive, and loving environment.
So what are you going to do to hold yourself accountable today, tomorrow, and decades from now?