I've been reflecting on Black History Month and what it means in 2024 in the current political/racial/socio climate we are expreiencing. There are a couple of things that continue to standout to me:
💫I worry about our ability, as Americans/Westerners, to endure hardship. BHM is nothing more than Truth (capital T). That Truth is bloodied and violent and hard to reconcile with. It's also joyful, full of perserverance, and innovation. But our collective repulsion of hard Truths is reflective of our inability to endure in the face of hardship. And I will name here, that fact seems to be central to the identity of white America. I don't have a quip to make here, I'm just noticing how the inability to endure the hardship of Truth, is destroying us. I'm gonna sit with that a little more- it makes all the AI and technological advances make more sense to me. It's no longer virtual realtiy, it's simply augmented reality. And that seems to be what white America is striving for- an augmented reality. BHM puts us back in Truth...
💫Occupying a margainlaized identity often requires you to cut off parts of yourself for public acceptance. I'm sitting in my Blackness today and reflecting on what I've lost of myself for acceptance, and ultimately, survival in this world. And to take it a step further, I'm sitting with how I raise my children. Am I sending them mixed messages about who and how to be? "be proud of every kink, every curve, your wide nose, our AAVE..." but they see me and my spouse walk out the door for work and we've shrunk ourselves in many ways. I imagine that can be confusing in  some ways. I'm confused by it and I wonder of others (not just Black folk) expereience this. How do you expereince it?Â
💫Being Black is dope AF. It's dangerous, that's for sure, but damn- it's cool. The world couldn't continie to turn without the contributions af Black folk. And I mean...  we ARE the culture. Why does it feel like I am breaking someunspoken agreement when I say/type that? OH...the first point I made, we can't handle Truth.
💫People are afraid of the idea of Black power, because they equate it  with how white power is exercised. They are not the same.White power was introduced from fear and ideas of scarcity, that was then exercised through violence, physically, politically, and socially. The tenants of Black power are not even close to that. Black power rests on the quest of autonomy, access, and safety. It is then played out through voting, educational progress, socio-economic migration, and community collaboration. I wish folks would stop equating the two...
#BlackHistoryMonth #CelebratingBlackHistory