By C. Ron Allen
By all reasonable expectations, February is one of my favorite months.
No, not because of Valentine’s Day but this time each year, we observe Black History Month.
It is one of my busiest and financially lucrative months. It’s the one time a year when black authors and public speakers such as myself are in high demand. Every institution and organization is looking to book one.
There is plenty of work to go around, especially since I and a few other black writers that I know tend to respectfully decline these invitations. Not that I couldn’t use the extra money or anything, but I resent being ghettoized, having people interested in what I do and what I have to say only during the month of February.
While I do not think we should relegate my history to a month, I think it is important for black people to know their history, and for white people to appreciate the contributions we made and continue to make to our country. In doing so we can and will uncover new truths about the journey we all share, and new promises for the next generation.
Such has been the case already this week.
This year, students at Village Academy in Delray Beach began a new learning experience. They are learning about blacks who changed the course of history through an on-campus museum. Teachers and volunteers have converted a portable classroom into the museum, complete with artifacts and live oral historians. The 30-minute presentations – dubbed “Through the Years, a Slice of Black History” – encompass profiles of prominent people, organizations and events and artifacts. Live recollections and experiences from local living legends are also infused into the presentation.
I find it amazing to see the students, from 3-years-old and up, walk into that room and leave with a greater appreciation of their history. That laboratory experience is more than they could have learned in any traditional classroom.
As we learn about the accomplishments of the many legends, I am left feeling like we still have not given full respect to the very legacies that we’re trying to honor. After all, these were phenomenal people who have accomplished phenomenal things, achievements that have been a tremendous benefit to the entire world, not just black people.
I must add that this is not, as some may be thinking, a 28-day vat of a factually flawed and at times fictional history of how bad the blacks had it in America. Students will not hear that whites are privileged and their ancestors had slaves. Instead, this experience is one that teaches all children factual history. They will discover that without George Washington Carver, there might not be peanut butter, and if C. Spencer Pompey had not intervened, black teachers in Palm Beach County would not receive equal pay as their white counterparts and later equal number of days for black students.
I find that the younger generations could care less about this month, and it seems like older generations are starting to share the consensus. The problem for many people is Black History Month (like every other habitual holiday in America) yields no meaning after it’s over. It’s the short, cold month of February (for some) when the gaudy decorations are pulled out and dusted off and goes back into your closet at the end of the season. So because of the short period, they see no need to extensively reflect and no reason to relate.
The organizers of the museum have promised “Black History 365” where they will highlight the accomplishments by blacks every day of the year. My only hope is that they will remain true to their promise and find a way to incorporate this rich information into their curriculum.
Our journey is far from over, but as I look back on all that our nation has accomplished, I think Black History Month is truly a time to celebrate the freedom to strive, to achieve, and above all to contribute to a better, stronger American community. Without it, future generations won’t even know or care that the ever present problems of black people are slowly but steadily slip-sliding off America’s radar.
C. Ron Allen can be reached at crallen@Delraybeachtribune.com