Yes, It's Black History Month

by Loryn Wilson · 2009-02-16 16:35:00 UTC
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In addition to being the same month as Valentine's Day and President's Day, February is also Black History Month. Founded in 1926 by writer and scholar Carter G. Woodson, it began as Negro History Week and fell in the week between Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln's birthday.

One summer I taught a Black literature course for 4-6th graders in Los Angeles. The kids were so happy and excited to read literature written by and about people who looked just like them. Multicultural education and history is so important-not just to children but to everyone in this nation. I realized how rare it was for some children to learn about the experiences of people of color in their schools, and how often the Black experience is boiled down to slavery and the civil rights movement, when we, as with most people of color are much more than that.

One thing the Black History Month reinforces is the way that race, gender, and class intersects. On my personal blog, Black Girl Blogging, I often discuss the difficult position many Black women find themselves in: being both Black and a woman, and feeling as if there are two strikes against you. Black History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements of Black women, from Shirley Chisolm to Madame CJ Walker, from Josephine Baker to Mary J. Blige.  I am proud of how smart and regal and blessed and brave and beautiful we are. And I'm proud to share all of these things with all of you out there in the blogosphere.

Happy Black History Month, everyone.

Loryn Wilson
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