YOU Are Black History!!
Hello February!!
The month set aside to Celebrate Blackness!!
I’m old enough to remember the days before 1976, when America began observing and Celebrating our Blackness. I was alive when Martin Luther King was assassinated. I remember watching the mournful celebrations of his life. And, the very next year, my parents moved our family down intoDixie.
They’d been raised in the urban communities of Jersey City, NJ. They were so happy to move our family into the Curry’s Woods “projects” there…..as it was a step up for us. As Providence would have it, a pastor of the church we attended, encouraged them to consider going to college. So, at 32 years of age, they took our family to a community of higher learning. As they began the process, they discovered their high ranking in high school…..though they were never encouraged to continue their education beyond that point. They also encountered bitter racism as they began to apply to christian colleges nearby. They were accepted at Oakwood College, an HBCU in Huntsville, AL. And, after making the arrangements, they packed us up in a rental truck and with a friend, we drove the 1,000 miles there.
I was 10 and my brother was 8. It’s the very first time I remember seeing the lines of demarcation….for myself. We’d experienced the regular micro-aggressions in our daily lives…..being followed in stores, etc. But, on our trip down south I saw the signs for White and Colored. When we arrived in Huntsville, we went to the mall, choosing to sit near the window and door in the restaurant…….in case we had to exit quickly. We refused to travel in Mississippi at night. I listened to my dad tell stories of having government commodities thrown at him. I heard the stories of how the white churches would stop service when students from our school would visit. I watched my mom integrate a white school as she did her student teaching.
Yet, everyday, as I moved through my routine growing up, I felt safe. Probably because I was in a community of my people at my HBCU - Oakwood. Located on the former Peter Blow and Job Key Plantation where Dred Scott was a slave and where his family is buried it was surrounded by cotton fields. A community impacted by the civil rights movement, host of an MLK speaking event and clearly committed to empowering all of us to know who we were. Because, when you know who you are, you don’t have to answer to what they call you. Making sure we were equipped to navigate our way through the miasma of racism in America. Being role models and problem solvers and helping us to chart our careers.
And, as I sat at the feet of my people of the movement where I was in that HBCU community, I learned so much good about me and my people. That our heritage dates farther back then the slave fields of America. We were made in the image of the Creator. We are gifted and strong and capable people of faith. We were promised by Him to be the head and not the tail, lenders and not borrowers, blessed in the city and in the field. And, those promises are still true.
But……as I look around at my people today and see how disparate our lives have become….because when one is affected, all are affected…….I wonder how we can change the narrative. It may mean that we look deeply inside our selves and commit to some things. The benefits of the Civil Rights movement have granted us access and accomplishment in ways some never dreamed of. But, have we lost sight of our anointing? Has the allure of the lights and the freedoms gained by the sacrifices of others made us forget who we really are? Do we need to take a second look at that? Has the weight of racism and inequity and violence broken our spirits so that we are more susceptible to illness and have become the worst in everything? Are we going to continue to sit in this narrative or work like our forefathers to change it?
We are the Black History that the future will read. Will it inspire hope or be a source of sadness to those who come behind? Our people have been in this land for 400 years. We know how far we have come. But when folk look back on us, what will they see? Are the choices you are making now breaking strongholds or building them. It’s clear from the movements we are now seeing that a lot of folk in America want to turn the clock back in time. And, nobody is coming to help us!! We are the answer to the change we need to see. We are our greatest advocates. We….You and I…..are the history makers today. What will that look like?
It’s time to unpack this yawl. It’s gonna be tough if we’re honest. You may need to find you some therapy to get through it. And, point others to it too. Let’s get healed. Make new choices. Get better outcomes. Let’s be about changing the narrative. We can do this. WE are Black History. Let us march on till victory is won!
Change the Narrative. I am Black History. Happy Wellness Wednesday!
I’m Still Shoutin’ Ova Here.
Donna
“So, God made man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Originally begun as a week in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, during the 2nd week of February, American Presidents since Gerald Ford in 1976 have officially recognized February as Black History Month. This year the theme is Black Health and Wellness. The theme acknowledges the legacy of not only Black scholars and medical practitioners in Western medicine, but also other ways of knowing (e.g., birthworkers, doulas, midwives, naturopaths, herbalists, etc.) throughout the African Diaspora. The 2022 theme considers activities, rituals and initiatives that Black communities have done to be well. Let’s continue to do our part to make our communities well.
#blackhistorymonth #history #black #blackityblack #cookinupgoodhealth #dredscott #oakwooduniversity #healthandwellness #changingthenarrative #wellnesswednesday