Black History Month is coming up. It’s the same month every year, and guess what…I am black in February and every day of the year. While I know most people go hard during black history month I want us to enjoy every month because every month is black history month. It’s not a one-off thing, and we aren’t black just for that month. Our history runs deep and we should celebrate the past and the future daily. So how can we do that? Here are some ways to celebrate every day of the year.
Read books by African Americans.
This isn’t hard to do: find a black author and read. You can do something heavy or do something fun, just read from a black writer all the time. As a matter of fact, I am part of a book club where we read women of color monthly.
Introduce filks that tell our story.
Sinners…you can start with sinners. It has a lot of meaning if you read between the lines. Watch movies that feature us and are about us. Introduce maybe one movie to your kids a month on movie night, and make it a habit to discuss the movie with questions and concerns.
Follow black creators and activists on social media
A great way to see black people in action is to follow them online to see what they are doing in real time. How they are achieving things, and how you too can be a part of history with your story.
Support black businesses
Support the small ones and the big ones. Back in 201,8 I made it a habit that year to buy from at least 3 black-owned businesses a month. Even if I don’t use the product or don’t need the product, I will still buy and maybe gift it or give it away.
Show up for racial injustices
Not just during Black History Month, should you take a stand but take a stand every day of the year. Something is always going on in America that is racist or just downright wrong (think how they are treating immigrants right now which we all are …more on that in a future blog post). Take a stand and help nonprofits or help the community make changes by showing up and donating your time or your money or your resources.
Remember there is Juneteenth in June and the anniversary of the March on Washington that you can teach your kids about or do something that represents those months or any other significant milestones in the black culture.
So here are some other things you can do.
- Join some black writers on substack. Lashawn has a great list you can find here.
- Buy from at least one black business a month if you can’t buy share with your audience
- When traveling, look for black businesses to support or buy from
- Attend local events, lectures, performances, and exhibitions that celebrate Black culture throughout the year
- Commit to learning about one significant figure or event in Black history each month that you weren’t taught in school
- You probably already do this, but read Black authors – they account for less thant 2% of the New York Times Best Sellers, we need to change that.
- If you have kids, talk about history beyond slavery and civil rights – let’s talk about all of the Olympians, astronauts, innovators in medicine, and technology, there are thousands.
- Cite Black scholars and creators as experts – we know of so many famous quotes by non POC, normalize focusing on the Black and brown experts
Black History Month is just the beginning; it should be a jumping-off point to broader conversations about Black excellence. When people begin to incorporate Black History into everyday conversation, without having to distinguish that it is, in fact, Black History, then we’ll know we’re on the right path. Until then, we have a lot of work to do.
