Celebrating Black History Month

Black history month is celebrated throughout February in order to remember the historic members who are an important part of history in America. It is very important for Americans to celebrate this month and dedicated to these people because it shows the representation of America that is not just white people in the majority, which encompasses a lot of America’s history. 

It is also a time to face the truth that United States history is not pretty and should not be taken lightly, as a lot of African Americans have suffered due to the U.S. We should take this into account and realize how important it is to celebrate these groups of people who haven’t been treated fairly for a long time. Black History Month initially began in 1915 in which Carter G. Woodson in Harvard created an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by African Americans and other people of African descent. 

One of the most memorable figures that are well-known is Martin Luther King Jr. who was the Civil Rights leader in the 1950s to 1960s. His entire life was dedicated to Civil Rights protests and activism and even died because of it. There is a Martin Luther King Jr. day as well to remember his death and the things he did. He helped with ending segregation in America as well as tried to end the stigma of racial minorities. 

There are so many other identifiable African American people that created American histories such as Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks. Even though it is Black History Month which focuses on African American historical figures, it is essential to always remember that these people are what created America what it is today. Although we should celebrate so many more people than just these few. Black History has become a glorified topic among our education system and by white people in general. A lot of times the black history we do learn about fulfills the white savior complex and not the reality of black history. One example of this was the Stonewall Riots led by Marsha P. Johnson who was a black trans woman. The reason these examples of empowerment were looked over is that they didn’t show white people in a good light and the government was seen as negative. 

As for more recently, the incident with George Floyd during last year starting protests all over America and even the world shows how unjust the government has been towards black people since America was created. With recent incidents of the police force being a cruel and unjust system we’ve seen it now clearer more than ever which should show how important this month is. 

 We should appreciate and think about them always as well as studying them in our classes which isn’t something we tend to do and is a big problem with our curriculum. It is important to be aware of their contributions and keep learning about what Black History Month is really about.