Black History Month is a month dedicated to the black people who have lived, survived and changed this world. We celebrate them by remembering their contributions to society now and in the past. We are still making history today and breaking barriers that are still in place. Knowing black history shows that anyone and everyone has the strength to make it and thrive during oppression.
Black History Month should be all year long, but I understand why it is one month because we still live in a society where black history is barely taught in school, and even fewer people celebrate the month in any way. African Americans are the descents of African slaves that were in slavery for over 200 years, and then pushed into a society that didn’t want to help or consider us as equals. I know that we have been through more than 400 years of oppression and horror. The least we can get is a month dedicated to our accomplishments and sacrifices that we made even with all the odds stacked against us.
This is a month of beauty and excellence. We can all learn from black history because it is American history. If I can learn about every invention that a white man created, then I can learn about the black man that did the first open-heart surgery or that a black woman got us to the moon or that a black person created the red lights that keep us safe. We would not be living right now or would still be in the stone age without black inventions. Black history is all of our history and should never be erased with people like me still alive. We will never forget and we will always speak.