February is Black History Month | 2009 at Schema : more than ethnic

Black History Month is significant to everyone who considers themselves a part of today's diversity. As I said in the post, Malcolm X and Yuri Kochiyama (February 2007), "Before feminism, multiculturalism and the Asian American movement ever influenced our current experience as cultural navigators, there was the resistance, courage and voice of black Americans and Canadians--in their fight against racism and pursuit for equality and social justice. How they have shaped our history in both the U.S. and Canada will likely never be adequately measured."

I've often been asked why just a month? That's a good question. In fact we should be recognizing the struggle and contribution of these pioneers everyday! I think we're moving in that direction. Recently, the groundbreaking election of a mixed-race, second-generation, culturally and religiously intelligent U.S. President (who is informed by being black) has certainly made it top-of-mind. But there's more to BHM than recognizing the acheivements of black Canadians or Americans because they're visibly or self-identify as black. It's also not just about African heritage. Let's remember that Irish and Jewish immigrants to the U.S. were once considered "black."

Black History Month is a special opportunity to acknowledge the histories of "peoples of colour"--the stories, experiences and journeys of being the "wrong colour", not just catgorically "black." They are stories of triumph and prevailing over unimaginable prejudice, but they also acknowledge a legacy of hate, inequality and racism, that are now an undeniable part of American and Canadian history. We take the time to remember and celebrate the triumph once a year because these stories also remind us of the hurt. They were, and are, traumatic memories. Acknowledging the collective trauma is part of the collectively healing process.

We owe a lot of the ethnic cool in our everyday lives to black history. Check out all the posts that have been tagged Black History Month. We also want to hear from you. Share with all the readers of schema what you're doing to recognize, contemplate or challenge the notions of "black history."

Alden E. Habacon
Founder, Schema Magazine