Why do we celebrate Black History Month? To re-humanize a people

I believe that Black History Month is for everyone. However, Black History Month is important for Black people, and it’s important to understand why.

Problem, Solution

Colonialists had a problem. They were Christian, yet their method of slavery was inhumane. The solution was to decide that Africans were not human and thus were not eligible to be recipients of love as the Bible required; rather, they could be treated as cattle, as beasts of burden, and in an inhumane manner. To reinforce this, it is documented that they embarked on a systematic program of dehumanization.

Eliminated culture

To dehumanize, African slaves had to be separated from the vestiges and hallmarks of humanity – culture. Tactics included separating Africans from their tribesmen so that, on the plantation, they could not communicate, share their stories, their histories, or organize themselves; making it illegal for slaves to learn to read, or go to school; breaking apart the family unit, separating husbands from wives, parents from children, shredding apart trust by making it worthless to invest in relationships on plantation if slaves were only going to be sold, lynched or otherwise prevented from exercising any free will or self-determinism.

Eliminated history

Not only were Africans prevented from cultural expression, they were also prevented from custodianship of their histories of cultural expression. The  repository of culture, the place where culture is stored and maintained in order to be available for, and of value to, successive generations, is in history and the work of its curators. If there are no curators, and therefore no history, there is no culture, there is no humanity.

In thinking about these and many other tactics, it’s not hard to see the residual damage still entrenched within Black communities. After all, European/American slave trade lasted several centuries – generations of diaspora Africans knew no other way of life but as sub-human property of slave owners.

Restoring history, rebuilding culture

Black History Month, then, is one of many initiatives burdened with the challenge of recreating an historical context for people of the African Diaspora. There is so much data that have been lost or destroyed in the Middle Passage from Africa to the West, utterly unrecoverable, lost forever, especially genealogies connecting the African Diaspora to their rightful pasts. 

Thus does Black History Month not only seek to restore and rebuild what it can from the records that remain; it also serves to create new stories, new history of what has happened since the Great Passage, a New World context in which to reset the African Diaspora back into the fellowship of humanity and equality – it’s all about re-humanizing people.

Why is Black History Month in February?

Every year, the question "why did we get stuck with the shortest month of the year for Black History Month?" is asked.

I am almost ashamed to say I only learned the answer recently, in preparing for speaking at Durham College/UOIT’s Black History Month Mix and Mingle, last week.

But, I'm not fully ashamed because, as is the case with most Black History, the answer is out there, but it's not provided easily, one must actively go and get it, unlike normative histories that are entrenched in the standard curricula. That this question keeps coming up also demonstrates the continued value of Black History Month - there is still so much we have to learn.

So, while the answer is "out there", I’ll summarize it here to build up the content availability, and then add some OughtThoughts.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the second African-American to earn a doctorate from Harvard; the founder of the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (ASALH); the man whom many call the “father of Black History,” developed what he originally called “Negro History Week” in 1920. He set it for the second week in February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (12th) and Frederick Douglass (14th), two prominent players in the fight for abolition.

In 1926, Dr. Woodson changed the name to “Black History Week.” He died in 1950. In 1976, fifty years after Black History Week was established, the ASALH expanded Black History Week to the full month; and thus have we Black History Month.

In other words, “we weren’t stuck with” the shortest month – the person widely recognized as the greatest builder, defender and promoter of Black History, chose this month for its significance in our history. This is a big deal - at the very least, what we have in Black History Month is:

• a statement of self-determinism, and empowerment: February was not “given to us”, it was chosen, and expanded, by us; 

• a way marker: pointing to two leaders in our history and, by extension, pointing to the history itself - the literature, rhetoric and assembly in defense of abolition; the sheer mass of enterprises pitted against each other (one to maintain that old way of life, and the other to dismantle the old way and usher in a new way of life); the defiant inner-light of people who, despite all the negative reinforcement, still considered themselves “people” and could only will and drive towards the claiming and restoring of that dignity; 

• a symbol of joint interest: two leaders, from opposite racial “sides” who yet strove for a common goal - a common good;

• a nudge to learn, a catalyst for inquiry, discovery, learning. For all people.

For those people who first celebrated Negro History Week almost 100 years ago, the whys and wherefores were no doubt well known. Having receded from plain view by the sands of time, it’s a good exercise for us to bring to the fore those whys and wherefores and appreciate what Black History Month can mean to everyone.

Durham College/UOIT Respects Diversity

I had the honour of spending precious, too-little time with Durham College’s President, Don Lovisa, and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s Provost, Dr. Richard Marceau, on the occasion of their Black History Month Mix and Mingle“Respecting Diversity”, organized by Rochelle Ramathe, Diversity Director, with special guests including Oshawa City Councillor Doug Sanders and Oshawa Mayor John Henry.

Their respective remarks showcased their level of leadership, not only in Durham Region, but of national and international scope, and it’s my pleasure to share them here.

It's noteworthy to mention that one of my closest friends is a senior engineering technician for a respected small firm in Toronto. In considering pursuing his P.Eng, he told me he would love to do the Durham College program, which speaks very highly to what's happening at Durham College academically. Kudos!

Even closer to home, my 13-year old son has demonstrated from an early age that he's got that wonderful combination of intellectual curiousity and mechanical inclination. Among the schools we've already begun to consider, as we plan his development, is Durham College.

So, it is no empty flattery when I say I appreciate Durham College - in my personal circles, DC keeps popping up, and when I engaged the Mix and Mingle, it was not at arms-length, but by embrace.

Mr. Lovisa, in preparing to speak at this event, told us that he started to do what we do these days – Google. At some point, he felt compelled not to just sit in front of the computer, but to go out and talk to his students, and he found much more insight into what “Black History Month” means to people.

A study published in 1995 in the Journal of Educational Psychology entitled “Learning facts versus learning that most questions have many answers: Student evaluations of contrasting curricula” (Nicholls, Nelson, Gleaves, Vol87(2), Jun 1995, 253-260), demonstrated that individual memorization of “closed” facts was not as efficient a learning method as collaborative discussion of questions with open answer possibilities, where it was possible to do the latter. Not to oversimplify, but in comparing with what Mr. Lovisa did, the results are the same – individually picking up a few facts from a Google search is one way to learn; but engaging open communication with others – tapping into the College’s diversity - was likely a better approach to getting a feel for the meaning of Black History Month.

Clearly, Mr. Lovisa either read this paper, or has read or been a part of similar research, or just intuitively knew this. Either way, it’s most evident that Durham College’s leadership intimately engenders principles of higher learning – not just theoretically, but practically, personally, sincerely. That is exciting.

Dr. Richard Marceau, Provost of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, found that the free society we enjoy today is due in large part to the initiatives of Black people who have championed freedom and equality, many to the ultimate sacrifice. Dr. Marceau also declared “we are all Africans” – dignified in our diversity, yet bound together as one in the fellowship of humanity. 

In other words, Durham Region’s leaders in higher education recognize indeed that “Black History Month is for everyone”, and that the legacy of Africa and the heritage of Africans has been bequeathed to all people. As such, connecting to that heritage is important, for everyone.

Durham College/UOIT are beacons beckoning people to come and discover opportunity in Canada; opportunity that is being developed and redefined in the labs and lecture theatres of higher learning; opportunity that is positioned to leverage its resource of a diversity that is engaged, active, outreaching and dynamic.

Mr. Lovisa and Dr. Marceau's remarks resonated throughout my preambles on why we celebrate Black History Month in February, why it is important, and the keynote which introduced the OughtThoughts Diversity 2.0 framework.

Oshawa’s slogan is “prepare to be amazed” – Durham College/UOIT’s Black History Month Mix and Mingle was, indeed, amazing.