Black History Month Continues

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Dear Student Leader,

Did you know that Black history includes fabulous Pharaohs and the disgusting Diddy? Our life’s story did not begin on slave ships and plantations, nor does it end with the fall of one or more entertainers.

African people share a global history replete with successes and failures. Our ancestors lived and experimented with math, science, literature, and technology before landing in America. Origins within the African continent and throughout the diaspora are chapters in a grand narrative.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week to help us understand the fuller scope of our unique heritage. One week evolved into a month of recognition in schools and communities.

The legacy continues.

On Saturday, I stood at the starting line of the Black Men Run Sacramento’s Black History Month Family 5k walk/race. The announcer asked the participants to say, “Black History Month,” moments before the event began. Runners repeated the chant, warmed up with some light stretching, and then left from a REI parking lot.

While I fumbled with a running app on my phone, my youngest child sprinted. He chased the leader along the 3-mile course and placed second. I finished a few minutes thereafter.

Distracted by a display of energy gels, I missed my wife when she returned ahead of schedule. It was a special moment. She hadn’t participated in a running race in almost twenty years.

I apologized, we took pictures, talked with my coworker, and left to attend my middle son’s soccer game. The weekend continued with a schedule full of activities.

On Monday, I returned to the office and paused to take the Pharaoh's picture in the header. It made me think about the history I don’t know.

I read a chapter in Dr. Molefi Kete Asante’s textbook, African American History: A Journey of Liberation.

The above timeline gets us to 1995. It includes the late Jesse Jackson's run for president, but it is incomplete. However, the inclusion of African origins before 1619 paints a fuller picture of our triumphs and tragedies.

Pan-African perspectives of Black history recognize the lives of Africans in Africa and throughout the diaspora. It links the empires of Kemet, Ghana, Mali, and Songhay to the quilombos in Brazil, and a street corner in Harlem. The quest for unity disrupts the divisive barriers created by colonialism and perpetuated via violence and systemic oppression.

Asante notes, “In 1255 C. E., the kingdom of Mali, at the center of Mali’s vast empire of smaller kingdoms, was the richest kingdom in all of West Africa. Mali was a major trading center and intellectual attraction for Arabs and Portuguese, among others.” Mali’s role in shaping human history is often overlooked.

School teachers dismiss Malian leaders such as Mansa Musa and their role in forming political, cultural, and military ideas. The story of the descendants of Africans in America often begins with the Middle Passage, also known as the Maafa. Despite efforts to increase awareness of African civilizations among organizations and individuals, school curricula continue to present a narrow perspective on history.

We’ve moved from Negro History Week to Black History Month, but we have removed culturally responsive curriculum during the other 8 months of the academic school year. The Trump administration announced a retreat from its previous stances on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, but challenges remain.

Schools continue to keep Black students in the dark about their bright past, brilliant reality, and bountiful future.

We must learn and write a new narrative. Our story will not be found between bottles of baby oil at a Diddy release party. Today, let’s pick up our smartphones and "get smart."

Use technology and other resources to support life-long learning. It takes humility to recognize we don’t know everything and courage to work on improvement. Leaders prioritize learning.

Let’s strive to read something related to Black history every week. We cannot limit our studies to the Americas; we must also explore the diaspora.

If you need help with this assignment, return to this blog. I will incorporate historical truths about the diaspora into each week’s post.

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