Are we settling when it comes to our black history? Are we content with the 28 days in which limited aspects of our culture are presented to us and our children? Are we fine with the fact that many of our children don’t know much about black history other than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream and Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus? Yes, there are stamps with Civil Rights leaders on them, commercials, and television specials but is that enough?
An opinion article by Kirsten West Savali of Clutch Magazine might cause you to really think about the way we look at our history and the way we allow it to be presented to us.
“Most of us don’t teach our children about Dr. King’s opposition to the Vietnam War or support of unions. We certainly don’t discuss how United States government agencies were found guilty for conspiring to assassinate him in 1999. Instead, we’ve become satisfied to let his legacy rest in ‘I Have a Dream.’ Many of us certainly don’t discuss Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Paul Robeson. What if our children knew that the most revered artists of a generation didn’t focus on ‘money, cars and hoes,’ they instead used their influence to speak out again injustice, regardless of who perpetuated it, and would have been caught dead before being found guilty of what Mr. Belafonte so eloquently described as ‘patriotic treason’?”
Read more at Clutch Magazine.
BMWK — Do you teach your children about our history or do you rely on television specials and their teachers during the month of February? Do you think teaching them about black history beyond Dr. King’s dream is important?
robert a. moore says
We DON’T speak to our children or discuss anything or anywhere near what we should about our African culture and heritage.Some of us are content and I’m sure as I’m African American,many European americans are very,very comfortable and feel very safe that we are EXTREMELY Dumbed down and don’t want to know or care about finding out our family tree,many,many very strong,powerful and highly intelligent Black people not only from America but Jamaica,Haiti,Brazil and certain other places as well as Africa.
I see an extreme complacency on our part and, absolutely no change in site as long as most of us keep doing what we’re doing.NOTHING.It seems as if since the Recession hit the country back in 2007 and 2008,Black America as always suffered the most.We can’t blame President Obama.I want that to be very clear.We have faced many challenges,hardships and struggles.Many of our people are so caught up into Jay Z,Drake,Lil Wayne,Rick Ross,Tyga,2 Chainz,Big Sean and so many other dumb,stupid non sense rappers that this and the dysfunctionalism of their homelife and neigborhood is all they know.
We’re very much responsible and very much to blame for so much that has gone wrong with us, but,most of us will never confess and admit it.I give much respect to those of us who are doing the very best they can to continue to fight and wage the endless war that has been set against Africans here in America and around the world.
Somehow,some way,we must figure out a way to really gage the young people in ways that will get them overwhelmingly excited about truly discovering and unlocking their glorious,historical past from their family roots to where they are from in Africa.
Kacey says
The comment about the way we allow our history to be presented to us is disturbing because it assigns power to someone else to teach us out history. We all have access to free library cards and the Internet. As black people, we should be taking it upon ourselves to learn about our history instead if waiting for someone else to feed us the information. People complain about having just one month to celebrate black history; yet nothing is stopping us from celebrating the other 11 months of the year. We don’t need permission from the man to do this–just genuine initiative and passion. If my children don’t know our black history, it’s as much the fault of mine as a parent as it would be if they grow up with no knowledge of the Bible.